Yogurts compete for space on store shelves

By Sarah Nassauer, Wall Street Journal

These are dark days for fans of regular yogurt.

The creamy snack is being edged out on grocery store shelves by its thicker, tarter, higher-protein sibling, Greek yogurt.

Over a third of the yogurt in a typical grocery store is now Greek, in varieties from low-fat to fruit-on-the-bottom to tubes for kids. Because shelf space is limited, the Greek squeeze means consumers have had to say goodbye to some varieties of traditional-style yogurt and more obscure flavors. (R.I.P. Stonyfield Farm’s Whole Milk White Chocolate Raspberry and Strawberry Acai flavors.) Pudding cups, margarine and other products with the misfortune of usually sitting near yogurt also are harder to find.

“It certainly has crowded out everything I like to eat,” says Kimberly Davis, a 38-year-old resident of Plattsburgh, N.Y., who doesn’t like the taste of Greek yogurt but eats traditional yogurt often.

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Hike to bring awareness about ovarian cancer

Zephyr Cove resident Susan Henson, an ovarian cancer survivor and cancer awareness advocate, was selected this summer to attend the Ovarian Cancer National Alliance conference in Washington, D.C.

She had the opportunity to learn about the latest advances in treatment with the expectation that she would help raise the level of awareness of ovarian cancer among her family, friends and within her community.

On Sept. 7, Henson is organizing a free hike to fulfill her pledge to bring awareness to ovarian cancer and create an opportunity for others that have been touched by this disease.

The hike will be on the Incline Flume Trail also known as the Northern Flume. The hike is 9 miles point-to-point starting from the Mt. Rose Highway trailhead and ending at the the Tunnel Creek Cafe in Incline. Meet at the Tunnel Creek Café at 8am to carpool to the starting poing.

An alternative out and back hike is possible for those who want to shorten the distance.

For questions, contact Sue Henson at (775) 588.5368 or Sjhensu@aol.com.

Since 1999, September has been proclaimed National Ovarian Cancer Awareness month. Teal is the color for ovarian cancer.




Caesars officials downplay bankruptcy rumors

By Richard N. Velotta, Las Vegas Sun

The publisher of a newsletter about Las Vegas is encouraging readers not to put money down on hotel reservations or make deposits in casinos operated by Caesars Entertainment, citing the prospect of a bankruptcy filing.

Caesars owns Harrah’s and Harveys at Stateline.

“In an abundance of caution, this newsletter advises you not to deposit any funds (deposits for hotel reservations, deposits in the cashier’s cage or not redeeming casino chips, etc.), in … Caesars hotels, until the situation at Caesars becomes clearer,” Publisher Bill Mandel said in his Openings and Closings in Las Vegas newsletter distributed Monday.

While analysts have speculated on a Caesars bankruptcy filing, company insiders said executives aren’t considering it.

A UNLV gaming expert said that even if Caesars were to file for bankruptcy protection, it’s highly unlikely that it would affect hotel reservations and casino deposits.

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Guitar concert benefits South Tahoe High

Double neck guitar phenom Ian Ethan Case will play a benefit concert for South Tahoe High School on Sept. 12 at 6pm.

This will be a solo performance by Case.

This is a fundraiser for the school.

The performance will be in the South Tahoe High TADA Theater, 1735 Lake Tahoe Blvd., South Lake Tahoe.

The $10 tickets will be available at the door.




Memorial run-walk for soldiers shot in Carson City

Soldiers and airmen of the Nevada Guard are set to participate in an informal memorial run-walk to commemorate the victims of the International House of Pancakes shooting on Sept. 6, 2011.

The run/walk will start at the Carson City IHOP at 3883 S. Carson St. at 6am Friday.

Shooting survivor Sgt. 1st Class Jeremy Mock will lead a pack of Guard runners and walkers on a 5-kilometer route from the restaurant to the Office of the Adjutant General complex at 2460 Fairview Drive in Carson City. Tracy Kelly, widow of Lt. Col. Heath Kelly, is set to greet the runners at the finish of the route.

For information, call Staff Sgt. Mike Getten at (775) 544.8539.




Wildfires and climate change go together

By Kate Galbraith, New York Times

SAN FRANCISCO — The huge wildfire scorching one of America’s most beloved national parks, Yosemite, has rained ash on San Francisco’s water supply and jolted the nation.

Experts say this is just a foretaste of major fires to come, in the United States and much of the world.

Increasing incursions by humans into forests, coupled with altered forest ecology and climate change, will make fires bigger and more destructive, with implications for air quality as well as homes and infrastructure.

“We face the increased risk of fires almost everywhere,” said Chris Field, director of the department of global ecology at the Carnegie Institution for Science, who is co-chairman of a working group for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

There have always been forest fires, of course. But their patterns are changing because of people.

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U.S. university enrollment on the decline

By Janet Lorin, Bloomberg

The number of U.S. university students declined by almost half a million last year, following years of growth, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

The decrease was driven by students 25 and older, with 419,000 fewer enrolled in the fall of 2012 from a year earlier, according to data the Census Bureau released today. The number of college students younger than 25 also declined.

The cost of college continues to rise as the population of college-age students drops. After two decades of growth, the number of high-school graduates probably peaked at 3.4 million in the 2010-2011 school year, the Western Interstate Commission on Higher Education said in January. College enrollment at the undergraduate and graduate levels had grown to 3.2 million between 2006 and 2011 before the decline.

One group that didn’t follow the trend was Hispanics, whose numbers grew by about 447,000 between 2011 and 2012.

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Precautionary lockdown over at STHS

South Tahoe High School was on a temporary lockdown this morning.

South Lake Tahoe police officers were in the area on a case involving a high-risk warrant. It was at their request the school go on lockdown. This was done as a precautionary measure.

The lockdown was over at 9:31am Wednesday.

— Lake Tahoe News staff report




Sign up for historical tour through Al Tahoe

The Lake Tahoe Historical Society will host its popular walking tour of Al Tahoe at 2pm Sept. 7.

Reservations must be made to tour leader Lee Vestal at lavestal@outlook.com. Leave name and phone number on the message. The first 10 people will be accepted.

Meet at the museum (2058 Lake Tahoe Blvd.. next to Senior Center in South Lake Tahoe).

A suggested $10 donation is requested.

Allow 2.5 hours for the tour.

 




California spends $428 mil. to combat plastic

By KTVU-TV

California communities are spending $428 million dollars a year to keep plastic and other trash off the streets and keep it from polluting waterways and beaches, an environmental group said in a new report.

For many, “soda bottles, food wrappers, and cigarette butts are just forgotten bits of muck that hit the street and wash away, forgotten. That waste doesn’t just disappear though, and it is very expensive to clean up,” the Natural Resources Defense Council said in an “issue brief” about the litter problem.

The study, released on Aug. 28, was based on information supplied by 95 communities around the state on how much they spent on street sweeping; litter pickup; waterway and beach cleanup; storm drain cleaning and maintenance; installation of devices to trap trash that flows down storm drains with runoff, and public education programs about litter’s impact on waterways.

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