Chad

Chad is an 18-month-old playful shepherd mix who is happiest when playing with other dogs or people, but he’ll also play with toys by himself if he has to.

Chad will do best with an experienced owner who is willing to take him to classes and give him lots of exercise, because he’s a young, strong boy who’s had little training. But his personality more than makes up for that!

Chad is neutered, microchipped, and vaccinated. He is at the El Dorado County Animal Services shelter in Meyers, along with many other dogs and cats who are waiting for their new homes.

Go online to see photos and descriptions of all pets at the shelter.

Call (530) 573.7925 for directions, hours, and other information on adopting a pet.

For spay-neuter assistance for South Tahoe residents, go online.

— Karen Kuentz

In the first episode of “Higher Unplugged”, a new series by Teton Gravity Research, Truckee snowboarder Jeremy Jones reveals why he has abandoned iconic peaks for obscure terrain.

By John Przybys, Las Vegas Review-Journal

It’s a once-in-a-lifetime event that might just rank up there with the return of Halley’s Comet, Super Bowl III or the Apollo 11 moonwalk.

Call it (as many already have) Thanksgivukkah, the confluence that arrives this week of the secular holiday of Thanksgiving and the beginning of the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah.

Hanukkah this year begins at sunset Wednesday. So, Thanksgiving will mark the first full day of Hanukkah, and that’s a combination of words no one sees, or will see, very often.

Hanukkah and Thanksgiving last shared the same date during the 1800s, although, technically, there wasn’t a national Thanksgiving Day holiday back then. And it won’t come again, according to some estimates for another 77,000 years or so.

Given both Thanksgivukkah’s rarity and its novelty, it’s not surprising that Americans — never ones to miss a chance to celebrate something new — have jumped all over it.

Commemorative T-shirts? Check. Collectible doodads? Check. Hanukkah turkey menorahs? Check (seriously).

But beyond all of the novelty and well-meaning fun is a more practical question: How do you do a Thanksgiving-Hanukkah mashup when there’s no real precedent for anyone having done one before?

Read the whole story

By Andrew Doughman, Las Vegas Sun

Americans now know that President Obama erred when he told the nation that people can keep their health plans if they like them.

In Nevada, about 25,000 people in the individual health insurance market received cancellation notices, leading to an apology from the president and a proposed fix.

But this isn’t over.

The same principle that led to people receiving cancellation notices also applies to businesses. Workers will face a lot of changes to the health care market in late 2014 as business owners seek to comply with business-related provisions of the health care law that start Jan. 1, 2015.

The timing means workers and business owners will face disruptions in the health insurance market right as Republicans and Democrats are competing to win votes in the Nov. 4, 2014, election.

“It’ll be what you’re hearing now about the individual (health insurance) plans times 10,” said one health insurance broker with large-business clients in Las Vegas.

That’s because the individual insurance market is small. Many more people get insurance through small-group or large employer health plans.

Many of these plans already provide better coverage than individual health plans, but they’ll still have to comply with the law come 2015.

Read the whole story

By Anthony York, Los Angeles Times

SACRAMENTO — He has millions of dollars in his campaign account, solid approval ratings and a small number of potential challengers who are virtually unknown, but Gov. Jerry Brown still won’t say whether he’ll run for re-election next year.

As recently as Tuesday, the governor deflected the question at a public event. “I am aware that in November of next year there will be an election,” he said, “and I will make some decisions regarding that.”

Two days later, he joined deep-pocketed Hollywood luminaries in a campaign fundraiser at the Bel-Air home of Disney studio chief Alan Horn.

Although Brown stays mostly out of the spotlight, his aggressive fundraising — and his preference for biding his time — put the safe money on a run for an unprecedented fourth term as governor, a race he would enter as a strong front-runner. And experts say that despite an already respectable war chest, it behooves him to wait.

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Sewer and water rates are going up for Tahoe City Public Utility District customers.

When the board approved the 2014 budget this month the increases were part of the $8.7 million operating budget. Sewer rates will increase by $1.73 per month. Water rates will increase $3.27 per month on average for customers using 112,000 gallons of water per year.

TCPUD is planning $9.1 million in capital improvements. About $3.5 million of that will come from grants.

The budget does not include general raises for employees.

 — Lake Tahoe News staff report

By Rocklin and Roseville Today

AUBURN — A campaign proposing to expand the Granite Chief Wilderness Area by more than 10,000 acres west of Lake Tahoe has raised concerns at the Placer County Water Agency.

In a report to the PCWA Board of Directors on Nov. 21, Director of Resource Development Andy Fecko and natural resources consultant Marie Davis said the area proposed for expansion includes the watershed above Hell Hole and French Meadows reservoirs, which are major features of the agency’s Middle Fork project.

The project supplies water to significant portions of Placer County and produces enough hydroelectric energy to power a community of over 100,000 homes.

A wilderness designation is the most restrictive land management strategy available on federal lands. No vehicle, helicopter or other motorized access, forestry and fuel load management operations, or land improvements are permitted, and fire management activities are severely limited in such areas.

Read the whole story

The Landing Resort in South Lake Tahoe is expected to open Dec. 12. Photos/LTN

By Kathryn Reed

The sound of construction equipment continues to hum from Landing Resort & Spa despite its anticipated opening in two weeks.

Billed as Lake Tahoe’s first five-star resort, the property was once a throwback to “old Tahoe” and now has the makings of a modern, upscale hotel.

It’s expected to open Dec. 12, with introductory room rates of $149 per night for one of the 88 rooms. Rooms come with fireplaces and decks.

While the hotel claims to have private beach access, in reality anyone can pay to go to Lakeside Beach.

Bikes will be free to use. In the winter ski valet and boot warmers are available.

The 3,600-square-foot rooftop deck is designed for parties, weddings and other events.

A pool, hot tub and five outdoor fire pits are on the grounds.

Included on the property, which used to be the Royal Valhalla in South Lake Tahoe near Stateline, is a restaurant called Jimmy’s. It’s based on owner Jim Demetriades’ Mammoth restaurant. Jimmy’s will serve Greek-seafood. Based on the menu out front it will not be a place vegetarians will visit.

British chef Maria Elia will be running the kitchen. She is well versed in Greek cuisine. In September her third cookbook was published. It’s a collection of recipes inspired by her Greek heritage. The restaurant includes private dining alcoves with fireplaces and outdoor fire pits with views of the lake from the patio. The wine list includes 250 labels from around the world.

A mix of about 70 full-time and part-time employees is expected to work at the resort during peak times.

Contractors are still working on the Landing Resort.

However, getting to this point has not been completely smooth.

There is a question as to whether trees were poisoned or more taken out than needed, they’ve angered neighbors, the hotel is already on its second marketing and sales director, and it has dropped a local spa operator in preference of running it in-house.

Controversy has arisen with a neighbor and the fence that now divides the two properties. Plus, the fence was initially put in without a permit.

“Once we were aware that the fence was being constructed, our staff contacted the project manager to notify them of the fence permit requirement. They then submitted an application and a permit was issued. This is not the ideal sequence when it comes to permitting construction work, but we often are notified of, or see work being done without proper permits and once we contact the property owner they follow up with the required permit application,” Hillary Roverud, chief planner with South Lake Tahoe, told Lake Tahoe News.

Jim Promo, general manager of the resort, told Lake Tahoe News the fence issue has been resolved with neighbor Jake Parnell. It’s short in front and at least 6-feet-high in Parnell’s back yard. Parnell used to be able to see to the lake from his back yard. Now he can’t. Parnell, who lives part time in South Tahoe and part time off the hill, had yet to see the fence as of last week so he didn’t have a comment.

Some of the trees that were removed conveniently opened up better views of the lake, especially from where weddings will take place. Promo said weddings are going to be a large component of their business.

“We had an arboriculturist come out. They made recommendations. The trees we took were basically diseased,” Promo said.

The Tahoe Regional Planning Agency forester tagged four lodgepole and one Jeffery to be felled.

According to TRPA spokesman Jeff Cowen, one of the trees that came down was because trenching work for a utility line was done on the wrong side of the tree and when it was done on the correct side the tree was then severely compromised.

He said one of the trees was in the city’s right-of-way. It was taken out because it would eventually have to go when the city put in a curb.

More info about the Landing Resort & Spa may be found online.

To the community,

On Saturday, I saw an elderly man with a gas can struggling to inch his way forward, one step at a time. I stopped, offered him a ride and helped him get in. He told me he ran out of gas and needed to get to a gas station, which was about two miles away. That would have been an all day journey for this gentleman and he was grateful for the lift.

Steve Kubby

As we headed for a gas station, we talked and I learned several years ago he injured his back and was told he would never walk again. So just being able to walk was a huge win for him and now he was even looking forward to riding a bike again.

Once we got the gas, we had to spend some time looking for his truck because he had forgotten were he had parked it. We found his truck, said our goodbyes and as I drove away something unexpected happened.

I felt the weight of the world lifted from my shoulders.

Helping this gentleman had forced me to look at what difficult challenges others must face on a daily basis. It made me realize how fortunate I am and how much I have to be grateful for. It only took a few extra minutes of my life to help a fellow member of our community, but the reward was priceless.

Steve Kubby, South Lake Tahoe

By Matt Sledge, Huffington Post

NEW YORK — After years of secrecy, the National Security Agency’s phone records surveillance program had its day in open court on Friday, as civil liberties lawyers asked a federal judge in New York to shut it down, and government lawyers claimed ordinary Americans cannot legally challenge it.

U.S. District Court Judge William H. Pauley III did not immediately rule on issuing an injunction against the NSA program. But he did push the government on whether it respected Americans’ rights to privacy and freedom of association, and whether Congress was adequately informed about the program.

“Never before has the government attempted a program of dragnet surveillance on this scale,” warned Alexander Abdo, a staff attorney at the American Civil Liberties Union. The group brought its lawsuit against the program in June, just days after NSA leaker Edward Snowden revealed its existence. The ACLU is arguing that the government’s surveillance exceeds both its powers under the Patriot Act, and under the First and Fourth amendments.

Department of Justice attorney Stuart Delery said ordinary Americans have no standing to challenge the collection of their call records. Citing a 1979 Supreme Court ruling, he said Americans have no reasonable expectation of privacy for those records, and that only phone companies can challenge their collection.

Read the whole story