South Lake Tahoe and Tahoe Tri Club are putting on the Turkey Trot on Nov. 17 at 10am at Bijou Community Park.
The goal is to find your inner turkey and run like there’s an oven warming up for you. Thanksgiving themed costumes are encouraged. Prizes will be awarded for best costume and most ridiculous costume to run in.
Register online. The race is at Bijou Community Park.
By Kathryn Reed
Three businesses that have never operated in South Lake Tahoe are expected to open their doors in 2014.
Auto Zone is going in next to Izzy’s Burgers on Highway 50. The martial arts building will be torn down. That used to be the garage where Buzz Springmeyer worked. His widow, Marjorie Springmeyer, still owns the land.
Construction on the new building will start in the spring.
The closest Auto Zone stores to South Lake Tahoe are in Gardnerville and the two in Carson City.
The building on the left will come down and a BevMo will be built; while on the right a shoe store is slated to go in adjacent to T.J. Maxx. Photo/LTN
Another building in South Lake Tahoe is also going to be razed next year. That is at the Y next to T.J. Maxx where a bike shop, standup paddle and Laundromat are located. In its place will be a 10,000-square-foot building for BevMo.
“We have not received an application for BevMo, however, we did have a pre-application meeting with them to tell them what would be required should they apply,” Judy Finn, associate planner with the city, told Lake Tahoe News.
However, two other officials with the city have told Lake Tahoe News that the Bay Area company is going to expand its operations here next year. BevMo – which is short for Beverages and More – has 146 stores based near San Francisco, Sacramento, Los Angeles, San Diego, Phoenix and Seattle.
No one from the corporate offices in Concord returned phone calls. However, city officials said the goal is for BevMo to open in November 2014.
There is a property dispute concerning the building that exists today. The owners of the T.J. Maxx building allege about 3 feet of the building are on their property. But because it will be demolished and a new one built it could be moved down Emerald Bay Road and still work.
Both buildings are owned by out of town landlords.
The space next to T.J. Maxx is going to be occupied by a shoe store, according to Mayor Tom Davis. He announced this at the Nov. 5 City Council meeting.
The exact store has not been made public, but unofficially it will be DSW, a designer shoe warehouse.
“I just spoke with the Garfinkle rep last week and they are still trying to resolve the water pressure issue with STPUD and Lukins before they can rent the tenant space,” Finn said. The shoe store has not submitted any paperwork to city planners.
While an agreement has been worked out between South Tahoe Public Utility District and Lukins Brothers Water, a contract has not been signed for the Garfinkle (aka T.J. Maxx building) to become a STPUD customer. It was supposed to be finalized in October.
Tahoe Wellness Center and Hot Gossip are teaming together to offer a free community meal to everyone.
Donations will be accepted.
The meals are every Sunday from 1:30-3pm at 3445 Lake Tahoe Blvd., South Lake Tahoe.
There will be a girls basketball clinic Dec. 7 from 4-6pm at Kahle Community Center in Stateline.
Coach Walter Morris will help improve skills and teach the sport of basketball. Morris taught basketball at two universities and played NCAA Division III basketball. He works at Lake Tahoe Community College teaching exercise science, sports nutrition and sports including basketball.
Reserve a spot by emailing assistant coach Tracy Owen Chapman at tracyowenchapman@gmail.com. Include name and age of player, skill level and contact info. To prepay, mail a $20 check payable to: TOC Business Marketing Solution, P.O. Box 18868, South Lake Tahoe, CA 96151.
By Jessica Calefati and Josh Richman, San Jose Mercury News
SACRAMENTO — A year ago this week, Californians were still locked in a fierce battle over Proposition 30, Gov. Jerry Brown’s ballot initiative that raised income taxes on the wealthy and the sales tax on everyone.
One side argued that the state needed a temporary infusion of cash to keep schools and vital state programs afloat until the economy fully recovered. The other side countered that new tax money would simply line the pockets of school bureaucrats and unionized teachers — and that thousands of overtaxed “job creators” would flee California and throw the state’s still-recovering economy into reverse.
But today, few Californians are arguing that Proposition 30, which to the surprise of many political observers sailed to an easy victory in last year’s Nov. 6 election, hasn’t been a good thing for the state.
It stabilized school funding in California for the first time since the Great Recession began, allowing school districts to avert thousands of teacher layoffs. It helped the Legislature balance its budget for the first time in years without slashing social programs. And it helped a state whose fiscal mismanagement used to be fodder for late-night comedians suddenly become a poster child of sound budgeting that some say Washington, D.C., politicians should model.
“I don’t know that taxpayers much appreciated it, but it helped the state cover its costs,” said Joseph Henchman, a vice president at the Tax Foundation, a nonpartisan tax research group based in Washington.
Unmanned aerial systems, or drones, may be relatively small, but could have a big impact on Nevada’s economy and natural resources, especially when the necessary pieces and experts come together to do the work and research.
To that end, University of Nevada Cooperative Extension, in partnership with the Governor’s Office of Economic Development and the University’s Center for Economic Development at the College of Business, is having a public workshop on unmanned aerial systems, with a focus on how communities in Nevada can become involved with this economic initiative. The workshop will be broadcast 9am-3pm Nov. 18 from Cooperative Extension’s Lifelong Learning Center in Las Vegas via videoconference to 16 locations in Nevada, including the UNR campus.
The workshop has three parts. Morning presentations will be about efforts to bring the unmanned aerial systems industry to Nevada, a lunch panel will introduce representatives from the Nevada System of Higher Education who are involved in UAS research and instructional efforts, and an afternoon session will focus on applications and economic incentives.
For more information or to register, contact Steinmann at steinmannf@unce.unr.edu or (775) 784.1931.
By John Burnett, NPR
With mainline religious congregations dwindling across America, a scattering of churches is trying to attract new members by creating a different sort of Christian community. They are gathering around craft beer.
Some church groups are brewing it themselves, while others are bring the Holy Mysteries to a taproom. The result is not sloshed congregants; rather, it’s an exploratory approach to do church differently.
Leah Stanfield stands at a microphone across the room from the beer taps and reads this evening’s gospel message.
She’s a 28-year-old leasing agent who’s been coming to Church-in-a-Pub here in Fort Worth for a year and occasionally leads worship.
“I find the love, I find the support, I find the non-judgmental eyes when I come here,” she says. “And I find friends that love God, love craft beer.”
Beer and Hymns is an event at the annual Greenbelt Festival in London. Since 1974, Greenbelt has brought people together to explore faith, arts and justice issues.
Every Sunday evening, 30 to 40 people gather at Zio Carlo brewpub to order pizza and pints of beer, to have fellowship, and have church — including communion.
Leah Stanfield, a leasing agent in Fort Worth and regular attendee of Church-in-a Pub, hands out bread during communion at the tavern.
Pastor Philip Heinze and his Calvary Lutheran Church sponsor Church-in-a-Pub, whose formal name is the Greek word, Kyrie.
Some patrons are understandably confused. They come in for a brew and there’s a religious service going on in their bar. They expected Trivia Night and they get the Holy Eucharist.
How does a community deal with and recover from a tragedy that shocked the entire world? Lake Tahoe Community College Theater Arts Department will explore that question in its production of “The Laramie Project: Ten Years Later.”
The play by Moisés Kaufman, Stephen Belber, Leigh Fondakowski and Greg Pierotti seeks to understand a town that is forced to cope with the aftermath of a brutal hate crime, while also facing their own biases and fears under the media spotlight.
“The Laramie Project: Ten Years Later” will be at LTCC this month. Photo/Provided
The play, an epilogue to the original “The Laramie Project,” will be presented Nov. 15, 16, 21, 22, 23 at 7:30pm, and Nov. 16 and 24 at 2pm in the Duke Theatre. Discussions with the cast and audience will follow each performance. The play contains mature subject matter and may not be suitable for children under 15.
In addition to revisiting the people whose words make up the original play, the epilogue includes interviews with the two murderers, as well as Matthew’s mother, Judy Shepard.
Zeina Barkawi, a close friend of Matthew Shepard’s, will be joining the director and cast for a discussion with the audience following the Nov. 17 matinee performance. Barkawi is also featured in the new documentary film, “Matt Shepard is a Friend of Mine.”
Tickets are $10 for general admission, $7 for seniors and groups of eight or more, and $5 for students with a valid student ID and children under 13. Tickets may be purchased in advance at the LTCC Bookstore Monday through Thursday 10am-7:30pm and Friday from 9am-2:30pm. The Box Office will open one hour prior to performances. For information, call (530) 541.4660, ext. 207.
By Kathryn Reed
Children not listening, talking when it’s not their line and parents almost looking more bewildered. It’s impossible at this juncture to know who the angels, shepherds or wise men are. Joseph is one of the tall boys. Mary is twirling a doll – aka Jesus.
“The whole play is supposed to be chaotic and I expect it will be,” Ginger Nicolay Davis said of “The Best Christmas Pageant Ever” days after this particular rehearsal. She laughs a little when she says this. But this veteran South Lake Tahoe actor knows that rehearsals look nothing like the end product.
But Davis admits there are a couple boys she wonders about. They have a few lines and know them well. It’s just that they say them at random times and never at the right time.
Director Dave Hamilton talks to the actors about how the scene is supposed to unfold. Photo/LTN
Davis is producing the play for Barton Foundation’s fifth annual Festival of Trees & Lights. Dave Hamilton is directing the production and Diana Evans is co-producing. Davis, Hamilton and Evans all have ties to the Tahoe Tallac Association. This play is a partnership with Barton Foundation.
Forty children are part of the show, ranging in age from 5 to 12. The 10 adults in it will be performing alongside at least one of their children.
“It’s the right little show to get anyone in the mood for the holidays,” Davis told Lake Tahoe News. “There is a religious component, but it’s a funny look at it.” Even the non-religious will enjoy it, she said.
“The Best Christmas Pageant Ever” is about a woman putting on a church Christmas pageant. The problem is the worst kids in town are part of the cast. It’s about how those kids and the Christmas story meet head-on.
The Tallac Association has long wanted to do a winter play, but the boathouse where summer events are staged isn’t heated. Talks began a couple years ago about partnering with Barton Foundation. The goal is this particular play could run for multiple years during the Festival of Trees and Lights, with the cast changing.
Davis chose this play because of the age group of actors involved. There aren’t many opportunities for elementary and middle school students to act on the South Shore.
Of course there are challenges with this group, but nothing the adults aren’t ready to overcome. Hamilton is patient and tolerant of his young charges. Practicing at the Grand Hall at Valhalla, he tells them where to go, answers questions and keeps an eye on the moving young people. When one boy wants to sit instead of stand, Hamilton says fine but has him move so the audience would see him.
The cast will have three days to rehearse on the actual stage of MontBleu so the kids can get a feel for what show time will be like. Of course, all of this is after the weeklong Thanksgiving break when no rehearsals are scheduled.
Davis said it’s all part of the chaos – some choreographed, some not.
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Notes:
• “The Best Christmas Pageant Ever” is Dec. 5-6 at 6pm and Dec. 8 at 2pm. All shows are in the MontBleu showroom. Tickets are $20 for ages 9 and older, $10 for ages 2-8. For tickets, go online.
• The Festival of Trees and Lights is Dec. 4-8 at MontBleu.
• For more details about the entire festival, go online.
By Bob Schieffer, AARP
I was a footnote of sorts to the awful events of that weekend in 1963 when John Kennedy died in Dallas.
In those days, I was the night police reporter on my hometown newspaper, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. President Kennedy had made a breakfast speech in Fort Worth before going to Dallas on that fateful day.
When we got word he had been shot, I raced to the office and, as I pulled into the Star-Telegram parking lot, the bulletin came over the radio: The president was dead.
Bob Schieffer
There was total bedlam in the newsroom. Every phone was ringing. I grabbed one. A woman caller asked, “Is there anyone there who can give me a ride to Dallas?”
“Lady,” I said, “we’re not running a taxi service. And besides, the president has been shot!”
“Yes,” the woman said. “I heard on the radio that my son is the one they arrested.”
It was Lee Harvey Oswald’s mother.
I jotted down her address and told her I would be there shortly to take her to Dallas. The paper’s automobile editor, Bill Foster, was test-driving a Cadillac that week, so I commandeered Bill and his sedan and drove to the address on the west side of Fort Worth that Mrs. Oswald had given us. She was standing on the curb, and we drove her to the Dallas police station. I sat in the back with her; Bill drove, and I interviewed her along the way.
In those days, we never told people who we were unless they asked. Since I always wore a snap-brim hat, the Dallas cops assumed I was a young detective. At the station, I just approached the first policeman I saw and said, “I’m the one who brought Oswald’s mother over from Fort Worth.” The officer took us to a room in the burglary-squad office. After a while, Mrs. Oswald asked me if they would let her see her son, so I approached the chief of homicide and asked.
Things were much more informal in those days, but I was still stunned when he said, “We should probably do that,” and we were ushered into a holding room off the jail.
I was on the verge of the biggest story of my life — a chance to question the man who was charged with killing a president.
It was not to be. After six hours in the police station, an FBI agent finally did what someone should have done when I arrived: He asked who I was. He was not amused to discover I was a reporter. He told me to leave immediately, seemed in a mood to kill me and said something to that effect.
I never got that scoop. But I had gotten the first interview with Oswald’s mother, my story was picked up by both Time and Newsweek, and for the next two days I covered the awful story that left the nation in shock and altered America forever.