A group of Indonesian basketball players selected based on their ability to play and scholastic achievement were at South Tahoe High School last week.

“We initially scheduled scrimmages after school. That grew into having our students interact with the Indonesian team, have lunch together, shadow our students in class, have a whole school assembly for a quick demonstration of the teams playing,” Pat Harnett, STHS assistant principal, told Lake Tahoe News.

A representative from the Sacramento Kings coordinated the visit. For the past four years, the Indonesian team has visited Seattle. They were looking for a change. San Francisco, Sacramento, and Lake Tahoe were that change.

“It was a great opportunity to meet a player from another country who misled lead me about his shooting ability, and then joked about it on Google Translator!” senior Spencer Harnett said.

Junior Chase Waterman said, “It was a great opportunity … great to play with kids from another country. I hope we get to do it again in the future.”

— Lake Tahoe News staff report

A bear is released Sunday in the Sierra chased by a dog. Photo/John Axtell

Bears made sure Nevada Department of Wildlife officials didn’t rest this long weekend.

On Friday a female black bear was trapped in west Carson City, which has been a busy place for bears this fall. The female, which didn’t have cubs, was first caught in early October in west Carson.

“When we caught her the last time, we did not have the opportunity to perform aversive conditioning treatment on her as she was released near Marlette Lake. This time she was released southeast of the first location and we used bear dogs and rubber bullets to see if that scares the bear and keeps it away from humans,” NDOW biologist Carl Lackey said in a statement.

A male black bear captured in the Verdi/Gold Ranch area last July was caught again Saturday in Verdi, this time raiding a chicken coop. The 6- to 7-year-old bear was about 350 pounds when caught in July and now weighs about 400 pounds. The owner of the chicken coop was advised to do more to keep his chickens secure and safe from black bears looking for a meal. Lackey took the male bear well south of Verdi in the Carson Range to release it Sunday morning using the full aversive conditioning treatment.

NDOW has one remaining trap placed in the Caughlin Ranch area of southwest Reno. NDOW officials warn with unseasonably warm weather forecast for the next few days and a full moon on tap for next weekend, there is still time for bears to be a problem for people who do not take precautions to keep human food away from bears.

— Lake Tahoe News staff report

By Sabrina Tavernise, New York Times

The Food and Drug Administration last week proposed measures that would all but eliminate artificial trans fats, the artery clogging substance that is a major contributor to heart disease in the United States, from the food supply.

Under the proposal, which is open for public comment for 60 days, the agency would declare that partially hydrogenated oils, the source of trans fats, were no longer “generally recognized as safe,” a legal category that permits the use of salt and caffeine, for example.

That means companies would have to prove scientifically that partially hydrogenated oils are safe to eat, a very high hurdle given that scientific literature overwhelmingly shows the contrary. The Institute of Medicine has concluded that there is no safe level for consumption of artificial trans fats.

“That will make it a challenge, to be honest,” said Michael R. Taylor, deputy commissioner for foods at the FDA.

Dr. Margaret A. Hamburg, the agency’s commissioner, said the rules could prevent 20,000 heart attacks and 7,000 deaths from heart disease each year.

Read the whole story

By Jeremy Miller

“Thor: The Dark World” is the newest installment in the Marvel Studios franchise, and it doesn’t disappoint.

The film stars Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, Tom Hiddleston, Stellan Skarsgard, Christopher Eccleston, and the great Anthony Hopkins. The gang’s all here.

Ages and ages before the rule of Odin (Hopkins), there was a civilization known as Dark Elves. They possess the weapon Aether, which turns everything in its path into darkness. Their leader Malekith (Eccleston) was plotting to turn the lights off universe-wide using the Aether. Odin’s father showed up and put the kibosh on that idea, backed by thousands of Asgardian warriors.

Malekith flees, planning on seeking revenge. The all-powerful Aether cannot be destroyed so the Asgardians decide to hide it in a place that could never be found. But let’s be real, if that were the case, we wouldn’t have a story.

Jane (Portman) is back on Earth, waiting Thor (Hemsworth), as it’s been two years since she’s seen him. She stumbles across an anomaly that sucks her through a wormhole type thing and suddenly she’s face-to-face with the Aether. It works its way into her body, and bam. She’s back on Earth.

Meanwhile, Thor and his crew have been stomping all around the nine realms restoring peace throughout. Upon his return, he meets up with Heimdall, the mysterious and ultra-masculine badass that protects the gates to Asgard and keeps watch over the nine realms. He looks for Jane to give Thor his weekly update, but can’t see her. This gives Thor the perfect excuse to break his father’s rule on visitation to Earth. He beams down right as the wormhole spits Jane back to Earth. They reunite and it’s as hopelessly romantic as you could imagine.

However, he quickly discovers that she’s got something going on other than hormones. He decides to take her back to Asgard to check it out. Odin doesn’t like that one bit, and discovers that she’s full of Aether.

This awakens Malekith and he immediately attacks Asgard trying to retake his Aether and continue his plot to darken the universe. From here the battle spans from Asgard to Earth, and it’s high-octane action from that point until the credits role.

It comes as no surprise (if you’ve seen the trailers) that Thor enlists the help of his brother Loki (Hiddleston) who’s been in timeout in the dungeon since what took place in New York in “The Avengers”.

The story was exceptionally well arranged; it was perfectly written to keep you entertained until the very end. Not to mention, what’s a Marvel movie without the perfectly placed humor? Every character got a chance to be a little funny, and it was timed perfectly in between epic battle scenes.

The film’s director, Alan Taylor, came from television directing, and you would have never guessed. The action sequences held true to the Marvel franchise, they were just as epic and awe-inspiring as those in “The Avengers”. I really expected an overabundance of cheese between Thor and Jane, but they did a pretty good job of keeping it mellow while at the same time giving enough to satisfy the inner sap in all of us.

The film’s crescendo was amazing. It was loud, explosive, epic and full of character driven emotion. It was everything you’d want to see in a super hero movie and as far as sequels are concerned, it’s my favorite Marvel sequel thus far.

Why the close to perfect but not quite perfect rating you ask? Wellmhere’s the deal. The plot was perfect – not too simple, not over the top – until the end. Jane and the gang play a little too much of a role in saving Earth (again) that almost lost me. Other than that, it’s a very well rounded experience. Go see it; it’s the kind of movie that reminded me why I love going to the movies as much as I do.

South Lake Tahoe resident Jeremy Miller has more movie reviews online.

The Friends of the Library Book Sale is the place to get great books at bargain prices.

The event is Nov. 16 from 10am-3pm.

All proceeds benefit Friends of the Library and are used to support various library services, and free programs for children, teens and adults.

The library is at 1000 Rufus Allen Blvd., South Lake Tahoe.

By San Jose Mercury News

A new way of measuring poverty reveals California has by far the biggest share of people in economic despair, eclipsing states such as Mississippi and Louisiana, when housing and other costs are factored.

The alternative yardstick, known as the supplemental poverty measure, found nearly 2.8 million more people are struggling across the country than the traditional benchmark shows.

This is how some people get to Bread & Broth in South Lake Tahoe. Photo/LTN file

That makes a big difference in California, where the broader measure counts more than 8.9 million people living in poverty between 2010 and 2012 — a report released Wednesday by the U.S. Census Bureau shows — far higher than the 6.2 million living in poverty tallied the official way.

“Anyone who has moved to California from somewhere else knows the dramatic increase of the cost of living,” said Ann Stevens, director for the Center for Poverty Research at UC Davis. “It’s not more surprising that California looks more impoverished. It is really driven by the cost of housing. California is a very expensive place to live.”

Using the alternative measure, California had the highest poverty in the country between 2010 and 2012 — 23.8 percent — followed by the District of Columbia and Nevada. The official measure ranked Louisiana, Mississippi and New Mexico at the top during that period.

Read the whole story

By Alex Morales, Bloomberg

The only three living diplomats who have led the United Nations global warming talks said there’s little chance the next climate treaty will prevent the world from overheating.

The specific goal, to hold temperature increases to 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit, was endorsed by envoys from 190 nations in 2010. It’s considered the maximum the environment can bear before climate change becomes more dangerous. Delegates to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change meet in Warsaw starting Nov. 11 to work on a treaty that could be agreed to in 2015.

The comments from the current and former executive secretaries to the UNFCCC add to the urgency of the Warsaw talks. Humans already have emitted more than half the greenhouse gases needed to surpass the 2-degree target, a panel of scientists brought together by the UN concluded in September. The World Bank last year said the planet is on track to warm by 4 degrees this century, a level that would raise the seas, worsen droughts and make storms more violent.

“There is nothing that can be agreed in 2015 that would be consistent with the 2 degrees,” said Yvo de Boer, who was UNFCCC executive secretary in 2009, when attempts to reach a deal at a summit in Copenhagen crumbled with a rift between industrialized and developing nations. “The only way that a 2015 agreement can achieve a 2-degree goal is to shut down the whole global economy.”

Read the whole story

California Department of Fish and Wildlife officials are analyzing DNA from an animal that was roaming at Donner Lake. It may be a nonnative California red fox or a native Sierra Nevada red fox.

The animal was first seen on Halloween and then early last week in North Lake Tahoe.

The Sierra Nevada red fox was believed to be extinct until it was spotted in 2010 near Sonora Pass.

 — Lake Tahoe News staff report

David Foster, international artist and sculptor specializing in traditional and contemporary fine art applications, will share his life in the little Tuscan town of Pietrasanta, Italy, as he follows in the footsteps of Michelangelo.

Foster, who taught at Lake Tahoe Community College for 32 years before retiring in 2008, will present a slideshow with images of the studios in which he works, the marble mountains his pieces come from, as well as the entire cultural experience of la vita Italiana.

As a practicing and exhibiting artist, Foster produces bronze and marble sculpture. Since 2001, he has emphasized marble carving in Pietrasanta, Italy, and at his Lake Tahoe studio.

The Dec. 10 6pm event is sponsored by Friends of the Library It is free and open to all. The library is at 1000 Rufus Allen Blvd., South Lake Tahoe.

For more info, call (530) 573.3185.

Pioneer Trail wasn’t always paved. Photo/Special Collections Department UNR

In 1963, Pioneer Trail was paved only from Highway 50 near Stateline to just south of the Glenwood Way junction.

It was a very bumpy dirt trail beyond that, an original portion of which still exists parallel with today’s paved road, running alongside STPUD’s black-lined holding ponds and the KTHO radio towers. It serves now as a gated STPUD access road at Black Bart Avenue just behind the closed postal neighborhood delivery center building).

Today Pioneer Trail is an alternative to Highway 50. Photo/Bill Kingman

Pioneer Trail was also once the Pony Express route.

The construction and joining of Al Tahoe Boulevard circa 1965 resulted in paving all of Pioneer Trail.

The pictures look north toward Black Bart Avenue comparing approximately 1965 with 2013.

–– Bill Kingman