By Mark Memmott, NPR

Declaring that “human influence on the climate system is clear,” a U.N.-assembled panel of scientists reported Friday that “it is extremely likely that human influence has been the dominant cause of the observed warming since the mid-20th century.”

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which brings together hundreds of researchers from around the world, adds that “warming in the climate system is unequivocal and since 1950 many changes have been observed throughout the climate system that are unprecedented over decades to millennia.”

Looking ahead, panel co-chair Thomas Stocker warns that “continued emissions of greenhouse gases will cause further warming and changes in all components of the climate system. … Heat waves are very likely to occur more frequently and last longer. As the Earth warms, we expect to see currently wet regions receiving more rainfall, and dry regions receiving less, although there will be exceptions.”

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The U.S. Forest Service will begin its fall prescribed burn program in the Eldorado National Forest as soon as weather conditions are favorable. Approximately 5,100 acres of National Forest land are slated to be burned this fall, winter and spring.

Prescribed fires are used to maintain forest health and to reduce fuels that could feed future wildfires.

Prescribed fires are ignited only when weather and fuel conditions exist that will ensure low to moderate burning rates and firefighting resources are available to keep fires within fire lines.

And El Dorado Hills man is going to prison for committing 28-tax related felonies.

A federal jury on Sept. 26 found Donald M. Wanland Jr. guilty of attempting to evade personal income taxes from 200-03, failing to file tax returns for 2005-07, and multiple counts of removing, depositing, and concealing assets from the IRS in defiance of a levy.

Wanland, 53, was taken into custody following the verdict.

According to evidence, Wanland, a financially successful Sacramento-area attorney, evaded paying taxes for years. For tax years 2000 through 2003, he filed tax returns showing gross income of more than $1.5 million, for which he admitted owing taxes of $448,451. But he paid nothing.

When the IRS tried to collect, Wanland concealed the bank accounts that he used to receive and spend his income, and then filed no tax returns at all for years 2004 through 2007, according to authorities.

He continued working for his law firm and received more than $1 million during those years. When the IRS placed levies on his income in April 2005, Wanland repeatedly defied the levies by continuing to funnel his income to the concealed nominee accounts. He spent the money on various items including a $2,700 weekend at Squaw Valley, payments on a Mercedes Benz and a Cadillac Escalade, gambling in Las Vegas, vacations to Mexico and Hawaii, limousine services, and expenses for the pool at his home in El Dorado Hills. He also withdrew hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash and wrote hundreds of thousands of dollars in checks out of the concealed accounts.

Wanland faces a maximum statutory penalty for tax evasion of five years in prison, and a $250,000 fine. The maximum statutory penalty for removing, depositing, and concealing assets in defiance of an IRS levy is three years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The maximum statutory penalty for willful failure to file tax returns is one year in prison and a $25,000 fine.

— Lake Tahoe News staff report

By AP

BROOMFIELD, Colo. — Vail Resorts’ fiscal fourth-quarter loss widened as some expenses rose.

The loss was smaller than Wall Street expected but revenue missed expectations, and its shares slipped in premarket trading Friday.

The ski resort operator lost $59.9 million, or $1.67 per share, for the three months ended July 31. That compares with a loss of $53.8 million, or $1.50 per share, a year ago.

Analysts, on average, forecast a loss of $1.77 per share, according to a FactSet survey.

Total segment operating expense increased to $168.7 million from $161.8 million, while interest expense climbed to $13.7 million from $8.4 million.

Revenue dipped 1 percent to $112.3 million from $113.5 million as the Broomfield, Colo., company made less money from its real estate segment. Wall Street was looking for higher revenue of $120.1 million.

Shares of Vail Resorts Inc. slipped 23 cents to $68.75 in premarket trading 45 minutes ahead of the opening bell.

For the year, Vail Resorts earned $37.7 million, or $1.03 per share. In the previous year the company earned $16.5 million, or 45 cents per share. Annual revenue climbed 10 percent to $1.12 billion from $1.02 billion.

Total skier visits rose 14 percent to approximately 7 million, while ticket prices also improved.

CEO Rob Katz said in a statement on Friday that season pass sales for the upcoming ski season are showing strong growth, up approximately 23 percent in sales dollars as of Sept. 22.

For fiscal 2014, Vail Resorts expects net income in a range of $37 million to $55 million. Analysts predicted $40.2 million.

By Mandy Kendall

A little while ago I wrote about the harmful effects of the sun on our skin and how to help prevent damage. Unfortunately, as hard as we try to protect our skin during those summer months, prevention is not always 100 percent effective. So, now that summer has come to a close, here are some Qwik-e tips on ways of helping to repair the skin damage that might have been inflicted.

Exfoliating — Performs a number of functions. It removes layers of dead skin cells (which can make your skin look dull and old), it can help speed up cellular turnover, increase cell renewal and help your skin creams work more effectively by allowing them to penetrate new skin cells. There are various ways of exfoliating, from scrubbing with granulated creams, scrubs, peels, masks, and home micro-dermabrasion systems or using a chemical to dissolve the skin cells. Whichever you choose, follow the instructions carefully and don’t expose your skin to the sun for a few hours afterward. Just before bed (2-3 times a week) is always a good time to exfoliate.

Mandy Kendall

Supplements for your skin – Any kind of anti-oxidant creams will help to rejuvenate your skin. Lotions containing vitamins A and C contain strong anti-aging properties. Vitamin C, topically applied in a cream, contains powerful antioxidants that help fight off the free radicals that cause damage in the first place. Vitamin A helps promote the generation of new skin cells as well as drawing water up to the surface of the skin. Be aware that vitamin A can increase your skin’s sensitivity to the sun, so creams with vitamin A should be applied at night.

LED light therapy — Originally discovered by NASA for wound healing, LED light promotes cellular activity and renewal. A study by Advanced Laser and Dermatologic Surgery Clinics showed significant improvement in skin condition following a series of LED light therapy treatments. Treatments are generally experienced in clinics and spas, but equipment is now available to use in your own home.

Continue protection — Even during the winter our skin is exposed to the UVA/UVB rays that can cause long-term damage, so try to use a daily skin cream that has an SPF of at least 15. Be sure that the sunscreen that you are using is a “broad spectrum” lotion that will help block out UVA and UVB rays.

From the inside out — Much of our skin’s condition is dictated by our lifestyle. Plenty of sleep, plenty of water, unprocessed healthy foods and limiting the smoking and drinking vices will all go toward vibrant, healthy skin.

Until next time.

Mandy Kendall operates Health Connective in South Lake Tahoe, which aligns wellness seekers with their ideal wellness provider. If you have questions, would like some advice, or would like to request some Qwik-e tips on any health and well-being topic, drop her an email at connect@healthconnective.com or keep an eye out on Lake Tahoe News for regular Qwik-e tips on how to make healthy changes one Quick and Easy step at a time.

By Kathryn Reed

Nationally ranked wrestler in high school. Green belt in martial arts. World traveler. Accomplished artist. Motivational speaker.

This is a great resume – and one that is similar to many people’s. What makes Brett Eastburn different, a word he probably would not use, is that he has no arms or legs. The 41-year-old was born with a congenital birth defect known as Quad-membral Limbs Deficiency.

When he played high school basketball the other team just stared as he scooted down the court dribbling the ball. They didn’t bother to cover the guy under the basket because they never thought Eastburn could throw the ball. He could. And he soon became his coach’s secret weapon.

“Handicaps are not always where they appear to be,” Eastburn said, pointing out that the other team’s preconceived thoughts about his ability became a disability for them.

Brett Eastburn signs autographs Sept. 26 for South Tahoe Middle School students. Photo/Kathryn Reed

The message Eastburn brought to the entire South Tahoe Middle School student body on Sept. 26 was about what people can do.

“When you say you can’t you are right because you aren’t even going to try,” Eastburn told the nearly 800 students as well as the adults in the room.

He started to draw to prove his point. To do so Eastburn put a marker next to his cheek that he held there with what he has of a left arm. (He is quick to point out that his nickname on his high school basketball team was stub.)

When he’s done with drawing Garfield he asks the audience if they could do the same thing. Most said no. To which Eastburn said, “You have missed the point of the presentation.”

And then Eastburn explained how by breaking the process into pieces it is easier to accomplish the goal. It’s starting with a circle, making some squiggles and other shapes to have the finished piece of artwork.

He said people tend to fail when they try to do everything at once.

Sitting on a table Eastburn was able to show the students how he can throw a football without fully developed limbs. He has no hands or elbows. He put a spiral on a football that might have Jim Harbaugh wondering if Colin Kaepernick should be replaced.

Eastburn readily admits these skills didn’t come easily. It took multiple times at failure to be able to be accomplished at what he desired to do.

“No” does not appear to be in his vocabulary.

He knows people can be uncomfortable when they see him. But if the number of students who sought his autograph after the assembly is any indication, STMS kids thought he was someone special.

Principal Beth Delacour told Lake Tahoe News it is good for students to realize “we are more alike than different.”

(Soroptimist International Tahoe Sierra paid for the presentation.)

Students were able to ask him any question. He said he uses a toothbrush for his teeth, a razor to shave, has no problems going to the bathroom by himself, and wiggles into his clothes. He has different ways to handle silverware for eating.

Eastburn sprinkles humor into much of what he has to say. After all, he is also a standup comedian. He’ll be at the Pioneer Underground in Reno at 8 tonight. (It’s for adults.)

Last year Eastburn published a book about his life called “I’m Not Missing Anything”. He and his wife, who is able bodied, travel the world spreading the message that people can do what they want if they put their minds to it.

By Thomas L. Friedman, New York Times

Countries that don’t plan for the future tend not to do well there.

When you watch the reckless behavior of the Tea Party-driven Republicans in Congress today, you can’t help but fear that we’ll be one of those. What makes it all the more frustrating is that in so many ways we have the wind at our back, if only we’d pull together to take advantage of it.

Thomas L. Friedman

In a world that rewards imagination, we have an incredible melting pot of immigrants that constantly blends together new ideas from technology to commerce to the arts. In a world where secure, clean energy is a huge asset, our investments in efficiency and discoveries of natural gas, if properly exploited, have the potential to pull manufacturing back to America from all corners of the globe. In a world where the big divide is no longer between developed and developing countries but rather between high-imagination-enabling countries and low-imagination-enabling countries, we remain the highest-imagination-enabling country in the world — and we have the innovative companies, start-ups and venture capitalists to prove it. In a world where so many countries are struggling with diversity, we do so as well, but at least we’ve reached a point where we could twice elect a black man for president, whose middle name is Hussein, who defeated a woman in his own party and then four years later a Mormon from the other. No one else does that.

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A 2-year-old male black bear was captured Sept. 26 in Incline Village.

The trap was moved from a location near Gardnerville Wednesday morning and put in Incline that afternoon.

The 160-pound bear had never been handled by Nevada Department of Wildlife officials before. It has been tranquilized and processed, and will be released back into the wild on Friday somewhere on the Nevada side of the Lake Tahoe Basin.

Processing includes affixing an ear tag, capturing various DNA samples and tattooing an area in the bear’s mouth.

The traps set in Yerington, Topaz Ranch and in the foothills of Reno are still set.

— Lake Tahoe News staff report

Brett Eastburn, who was born without arms and legs, brings his humor and motivation to South Tahoe Middle School on Sept. 26.

Lake Tahoe Marathon means road closures starting Friday and continuing through Sunday.

There will be a road closure Sept. 27 between Spring Creek and the top of Emerald Bay from 6:50-7:30am.

On Sunday about 2,000 athletes will run down Highway 89 from Tahoe City and various points in between to Spring Creek Road bike path. The road will be closed at 6:30am starting near Spring Creek Road and ending at 12:30pm.

There will be slow traffic going around the lake on Saturday during the bike race.

More info is online.