The Ironman Foundation Community Fund will give $50,000 in grants to initiatives and groups in the Lake Tahoe community.

The Ironman Foundation will donate funds to the North Lake Tahoe Fire Department toward the purchase of an off-road all terrain rescue vehicle and money to the Squaw Valley Fire Department to purchase additional rescue equipment. Grant funds will also be dispersed to numerous nonprofit groups including, KidZone Museum, Tahoe Cross Country Ski Education Association, Awaken INC, and Tahoe Nordic Search and Rescue.

This also marks the inaugural year for the Ironman Foundation Newton Running Triathlon Team. The goal of the team is to have athletes share the concept of “service through sport and commitment to community.” Twelve of the 44 members will be representing the team in Lake Tahoe and have identified Keep Tahoe Blue as a beneficiary of their team. These team members will be participating in a community service project today in Lake Tahoe to help with lake shore clean up. Additionally, the foundation team will support Keep Tahoe Blue with a donation of $16,000.

The inaugural Ironman Lake Tahoe is Sept. 22.

Fall is here and so is the large accumulation of leaves and pine needles. It’s best to clear your roof and gutters now before the snow renders them inaccessible.

Turned on heat tape under a buildup of leaves or needles can start a roof fire. South Tahoe Refuse will pick up all bagged leaves and pine needles left at the curbside on normal trash pick up days.

So take a little time now to do some housekeeping and hopefully we won’t be visiting you later.

— Sallie Ross-Filgo, South Lake Tahoe Fire Department

Proposed playground equipment for Bijou Community School. Photos/Provided

By Kathryn Reed

The “community” in Bijou Community School is real; it’s not just a name.

In part this has to do with how the South Lake Tahoe school site is used. It is the only park-like area with grass and a playground between Stateline and the city’s recreation center on Rufus Allen Boulevard.

And the community aspect is demonstrated with the support the school receives from people with children at the school and community members with no familial connection.

While it is a school, go around back and the park setting is evident. It has been a gradual transformation in the last few years. Gone is the dirt field where children would play. A large grassy area is now fenced off from the ball field. A fitness course has been installed. The blacktop has been repaved.

Children play on outdated equipment at Bijou Community School. Photo/Kathryn Reed

And it’s not just kids playing here during school. People in the neighborhood use Bijou long after the last bell of the day and on weekends.

But what sticks out is the play equipment – some of which was first installed in the 1950s. It’s old and doesn’t meet today’s safety standards.

A fundraising effort is under way to have all of that taken out and replaced with state-of-the-art play structures. It’s estimated that $100,000 will be needed to buy what parents groups want.

Next week is the annual walk-a-thon. It’s usually a $20,000 moneymaker. The goal is to double that amount this year and earmark all of it for playground equipment. Ideally, the equipment would be installed next spring.

Edgewood Companies has pledged $5,000, $20,000 in grants have been secured, and two anonymous donors have each committed $5,000 toward the project.

“It should be a community effort,” parent Kathy Haven said of the playground project. She has been spearheading this project and has a team of parents helping solicit donations.

The Bijou PTA is a nonprofit that has been able to rally parents and others to get a ton of work done that the school district doesn’t have the funds to do. This includes the benches that are now around the school and some of the landscaping.

Now, even the front of the school looks inviting.

A dry lakebed that was put in this last year was tested in August during a deluge. There’s a good chance had it not been there the rainwater would have reached classrooms. Last weekend volunteers were cleaning out the debris so it will be able to sustain the next downpour or spring runoff.

Bijou gets a substantive amount of volunteer time from parents. To have a child in the two-way immersion program one parent must spend 30 minutes a week in their child’s classroom and 30 minutes on one of 14 committees. There are 260 students in the Spanish-English program.

The committees are designed to help the whole school, not just TWI kids. They range from reading in English or Spanish at the library to working during recess to doing landscaping.

TWI started just in kindergarten, so there were 20 volunteers. Now the program has multiple classrooms in grades K-6, which has grown the volunteer pool. There are 60 new volunteers starting each fall as kindergarten TWI parents come onboard.

Bijou has also benefitted from taxpayer funded Measure G, Lake Tahoe Educational Foundation, Rotary of South Lake Tahoe, and a slew of businesspeople who have donated supplies and work hours to get things done.

Another example of Bijou being a community school is the number of after school clubs that nearly two-thirds of the students partake in. This year there are 18 clubs with 356 students participating.

Parents volunteer their time by sharing their expertise with groups of kids. Clubs range from cooking to cycling to ballet.

To donate to Bijou’s playground fund, email khaven@gmail.com.

To the community,

The California Tahoe Conservancy is about to approve the first two of a possible 322 “Asset Lands” sales. These initial sales generated $1.75 million.

The identified “Asset Lands” do not belong to the California Tahoe Conservancy; the lands belong to the citizens of California.

The executive director and this board are entrusted to be the protectors of its lands and Public Access, yet this agency has begun playing a dangerous game of monopoly.

When the public funded the agency with $108 million, there was no inkling it would become a real estate speculator and inventory clearing house: stripping the lands of entitlements, then reselling the parcels to the private sector which blocks public access, all to fund the agency and an untested scheme to become the tourist accommodation unit (hotel, fractional, timeshare) czar for Lake Tahoe.

Engaging in this new TRPA plan which also promotes development on conservation and forest land outside the urban boundary is not the CTC’s charge.

Where does the $1.4 million generated from the 15-acre Sherman Way parcel go? Will it buy old motels? Pay for salary increases? Who is keeping track and where is the transparency?

The CTC posts property and notifies neighbors 300 feet away a mere 10 days before the sale is approved. These parcels are not just affecting the property values of the neighbors 300 feet away, it affects the whole community. As is the case with the following three Asset Land parcels:

a. 5.76 acres off Queens Way (Kingswood West) — This acreage is surrounded by residential homes and used extensively by the neighborhood.

b. 14.56 acres above Estates Drive and Donner (North Tahoe Regional Park Tahoe Vista) — Currently this parcel is heavily used by the public for hiking, ski skating, cross country skiing and access to the balance of the North Tahoe Regional Park and Forest Service lands.

c. 9.21 acres off Ward Creek (West Shore) — The public heavily uses this parcel for hiking, ski skating, cross country skiing and access to the balance Forest Service lands.

If the agency won’t notify the public of its intentions, concerned residents will be forced to.

Asset Lane sales guidelines are vague and unspecific. Simply stating: “These parcels simply aren’t needed for ongoing restoration or recreation projects,” said CTC Executive Director Patrick Wright, “but their sale could generate significant revenue to support the Conservancy’s top priorities, including restoration of the Upper Truckee River and expansion of Tahoe’s bike trail network.” Is ambiguous at best. This description could be applied to all their holdings and is an inadequate justification for eliminating the public’s access to open space.

How much of CTC’s 6,000 acres of open space has an ongoing restoration or recreation projects?

CTC must perform the following actions:

The CTC shouldn’t be allowed to sell the 322 designated Asset parcels unless:

1. There are hard and fast specific guidelines for protecting lands

2. The affected Community is adequately notified, including neighbors within 1,000 feet.

3. Once on the Asset Land list, the potential sites are permanently noticed. It’s not enough to notice adjacent owners 10 days before board approval.

4. It is clearly explained where the money to purchase each site came from, i.e. 1990 bond.

5. It is clearly explained where the money is going. (CTC salaries, buying old motels, promoting concentrated development?)

6. Clearly outline restrictions on further development. Explain to the Public that these parcels could be fenced.

Thank you,

Ann Nichols, president North Tahoe Preservation Alliance

Head spinning Halloween costume get-ups will be mashed into a giant four-ring party at one price on Oct. 26 during the 35th annual Freakers Ball at MontBleu in Stateline.

Doors open at 8pm. Tickets are $25 in advance and $30 the week of party; go online or call the MontBleu Box Office at 888.829.7630.

The party is spread over four MontBleu venues — Opal, Blu, the convention center and the Haunted Zone Party Pit.

For VIP table and bottle service call (775) 586.2000.

• El Dorado County Board of Supervisors are expected to adopt a $587 million balanced budget for fiscal year 2013-14 on Sept. 24.

• Abbi Agency and Boost Creative Services have merged to form one marketing company.

• In honor of Nevada’s 150th birthday in 2014, Nevada magazine is publishing a book titled “Historical Nevada: 150 Memorable Images in Celebration of the Silver State’s Sesquicentennia”. Each book is $29.95 plus $6 shipping and handling. To pre-order, call (775) 687.0610.

• Users on the Rubicon Trail will experience temporary delays in accessing the trail in the area of the rest stop at Ellis Creek on Sept. 20 from 10am-3pm and again Sept. 23 from 7am-4pm. These delays are due to work on the Ellis Creek Bridge.

By Melissa Pandika, Los Angeles Times

As climate change heats our oceans, you’d expect temperature-sensitive marine species to flee poleward to cooler waters. So why have some headed to warmer regions toward the equator?

Scientists have solved the puzzle. For the most part, these animals are relocating to cooler waters. But since the effects of climate change can vary widely across regions, sometimes those cooler regions are closer to the poles and sometimes they’re closer to the equator.

In other words, marine animals are still reacting to climate change, but at a local scale. And they’re doing it so reliably that you can actually measure the speed and direction of those changes by watching where animals go, according to a study published Thursday in the journal Science.

The mystery began with observations of species such as the shortbelly rockfish and torpedo ray, which live along the California coast. As Pacific waters got warmer, these creatures moved farther south, to seemingly warmer waters.

Read the whole story

Snow is in the forecast. Yes, really.

Not much is expected to fall on Saturday and what does is likely to stay above 7,500 feet, according to the National Weather Service in Reno.

A low-pressure system will be moving into the Lake Tahoe Basin on Sept. 21 that will bring wind, rain and snow. The bulk of the precip and coldest temps are forecast to be north of Tahoe.

It’s supposed to be a fast moving system that will arrive in the morning.

While the mercury fell to the low 30s overnight Tuesday, no records were broken.

The low in South Lake Tahoe for Wednesday and Saturday nights is expected to be 30 degrees, with it in the 40s in between those days.

The highs are expected to fluctuate Thursday to Sunday from 73-to-70-to-59-to-62.

The Weather Service says the temperature swings are normal for the basin this time of year.

— Lake Tahoe News staff report

The music of legendary R&B artist Tina Turner will be featured in Simply the Best, a free tribute concert on Sept. 28 at MontBleu in Stateline.

But the time is still a mystery.

Singer Stephanya has filled Turner’s famous high heels with soulful interpretations of her most beloved songs.

For information, call 888.829.7630.

The El Dorado County Senior Nutrition Program Home-Delivered Meal Service has a critical need for volunteer drivers.

Volunteers are especially needed to help deliver meals in the South Lake Tahoe, Cameron Park, El Dorado Hills and Placerville areas. Senior Nutrition Program volunteer drivers deliver meals once a week from 10:30am to noon, Monday through Friday, and also check on the well-being of program participants.

Volunteers not available for a weekly commitment may serve as back-up drivers who fill in as needed.

The Senior Nutrition Program is a service of the El Dorado County Health and Human Services Agency. To volunteer, or for questions about the Senior Nutrition Program, call (530) 621.6160. For information about other senior programs and services in El Dorado County, call (530) 621.6369.