Union challenges LTUSD over Mt. Tallac principal

By Kathryn Reed

Last year Mount Tallac High School was run by a teacher on site, with the principal of South Tahoe High School the actual administrator. This year there is an administrator on campus.

This has led the South Tahoe Educators Association to file an unfair labor practice charge with the Public Employees Relations Board. Lake Tahoe Unified School District officials have this week to respond.

But a resolution could take months. Some form of mediation is likely to occur and could be the route to solving the dispute.

At issue is taking away a teacher’s position without the union agreeing to it. It is not about the people, but the jobs they are doing.

When Susan Baker was at the helm of the continuation school in South Lake Tahoe she was a teacher who was paid a stipend to run the facility. When she retired at the end of last year Karen Tinlin was brought from Bijou Community School to be principal of Mount Tallac.

Ivone Larson, principal of South Tahoe High School, had been the principal of Mount Tallac. Larson also oversaw the Independent Learning Academy and the Transitional Learning Center. Now those tasks fall to Tinlin.

“It was the recommendation of Susan Baker and Ivone Larson to have an administrator at that position,” Superintendent Jim Tarwater told Lake Tahoe News. “As the world turns, the roles change.”

It is costing the district about $10,000 more a year to have an administrator at Mount Tallac.

Jodi Dayberry, president of the local teachers’ union, said she could not comment on the issue because it is a personnel matter.

This is not the first time Mount Tallac has had an administrator at the helm. Jim Stevens was once the principal. When he left the principal at STHS oversaw both schools.




Tahoe author to talk about book on Siberia

bookLocal author Bill Morgan (pen name Wade Morgan) will be discussing his book “Six Days in Siberia”, a suspense thriller with overtones of a spy novel, on Oct. 1.

Morgan has more than 50 years of experience as a soldier, civil engineer, forest ranger, director of an environmental regulatory agency, management consultant and technical writer. He has been to Siberia three times, including an assignment in the town of Baikalsk where he conducted a seminar on conflict resolution for officials of that town.

The free event is presented by the Friends of the Library. It starts at 6pm at the South Lake Tahoe Library, 1000 Rufus Allen Blvd.

A book sale and signing will follow.




Letter: City thanks Barton volunteers

To the community,

The city of South Lake Tahoe would like to thank Barton Health’s leadership development team for its volunteer community clean-up throughout the residential neighborhoods surrounding Barton Hospital on Aug. 30.

Your volunteer efforts are truly appreciated.

Tracy Franklin, South Lake Tahoe public information officer




New U.S. citizens say the struggle was worth it

By Tovin Lapan, Las Vegas Sun

Here are the stories of three people who are on the cusp of naturalization and one immigrant who was sworn in as a U.S. citizen this summer:

Raquel Juarez, 21, is a diminutive Guatemalan with a wide smile and energetic personality who wants to be a U.S. citizen, thanks to John F. Kennedy.

Juarez has wanted to join the Kennedy-created Peace Corps since she was in seventh grade and her neighbor was a two-term corps member.

“He later became the country director in Jordan, and knowing him and then later becoming involved in community service myself really motivated me,” Jaurez said.

A third-year UNLV student, Juarez spent her youth in schools in the Lake Tahoe area and Guatemala. Her biological parents are both Guatemalan, but Juarez’s mother divorced her father and married a U.S. citizen when Juarez was 3 years old.

Read the whole story

 




A new perspective on passing

By Robert S. Wood

I just lost a dear friend of 50 years. She was more than a friend, more like a soul mate. Her passing reminded me of how little the public knows about death, and how fearful our traditional beliefs about it have become.

We know it’s the end of our physical life, and that’s about all. The rest is hope, fear, myth, superstition and wild conjecture. No wonder death is the biggest, longest-running source of anxiety in our lives.

Dissatisfied with what self-appointed authorities on death tell us, I set about researching alternative views, going back to ancient history, consulting the wisdom of the ages, new evidence, other cultures, modern science, metaphysics — everything I could find.

What I discovered excited and intrigued me. Instead of the negative, morbid, depressing beliefs we know so well, I found a highly optimistic outlook that contradict our grim, fearful views.

My discoveries so excited me, they inspired me to write a couple of books on what I learned — good news about death with the potential to create a new paradigm and save untold suffering worldwide.

My friend’s death reminded me that local readers in these difficult times might benefit from hearing what I learned — especially older readers who increasingly wonder and worry about death as it draws closer.

Instead of being something to dread, I learned, death can be something to look forward to when the time is right, a wonderful end to suffering, a blessed relief. Experts say it’s generally far less traumatic than birth.

Little known modern science reveals that our traditional fearful beliefs about death are all wrong. We can pass away whenever we want, they say, by simply letting go of the life force that keeps us alive.

Mind-boggling quantum physics, building on the discoveries of Albert Einstein in the 1920s, says we actually cannot die until we make the decision to depart this lifetime. Think of the implications.

Instead of having no control over the time and manner of our passing, just the opposite turns out to be true. So our lifetime fears of death from any cause are groundless.

Ultra modern science assures us we can depart this old world whenever we want, because we create all the events of our life with our thoughts not our actions. It therefore follows that we determine when we’re ready to leave this lifetime. Instead of fearfully waiting for our bodies to fail, we can simply let go of them.

Why make an unconscious decision to let the body fail, when you can consciously decide when to depart? When you’re mentally completely ready, you can just go to sleep one night firmly intending to wake up on the other side. And you will.

As I wrote in “Peaceful Passing, Die When You Choose with Dignity & Ease,” ”It’s the path of passing chosen by wise men and women down the ages, and it’s increasingly employed today by enlightened, spiritually aware, advanced thoughtful people everywhere.…”

Applied science tells us: (1) We can die whenever we want, easily, painlessly and peacefully. So there’s no longer a need to wait helplessly for death to overtake us.

We can avoid all the pain and suffering of lying hopelessly in some hospital bed while our relatives wring their hands and our savings disappear. Sadly, that’s how most Americans die nowadays.

(2) It means we’re safe from death from any source — from accident to illness to natural calamity to murder, terror or war — safe from every kind of threat — as long as we believe ourselves safe and wish to continue living. So our lifetime fear of death no longer has any basis.

(3) Knowing that everyone who dies made the decision to do so frees us from needing to grieve for them, because they went willingly. We can mourn for our loss of them, but not for their loss of life, because they made the decision to pass.

(4) Quantum physics also tells us that there can be no real death. Only the body dies. Our mind, soul and spirit live on. Death of the body is therefore not the end, a happy belief now shared by a majority of Americans.

Our personal beliefs about death and dying profoundly affect the quality of our lives. Changing our beliefs about death to conform to those supported by modern science can create a new and happier paradigm of death in America, with the potential to prevent untold needless suffering

Making the final decision to depart requires a combination of belief, desire and willpower, but anyone can do it. So why wait until you’re dying to change your beliefs? Why go through life with the brakes on, when you can take back control of your life — and assure yourself an easy death.

Changing your beliefs now, well in advance of need, can dissolve your fear of death and provide you a new lease on a happier life — paving the way for a happier passing, irrespective of your religious or spiritual beliefs.

This discovery lifted a great weight off my shoulders and brought me a new freedom, because now I know I can cross over whenever I want, and until them I’m perfectly safe. I didn’t need to grieve for my friend because I know that she was ready to go. Instead I rejoice in the end of her suffering and her blessed relief.

Clinical scientific studies of near death experiences confirm that all deaths require an individual decision to let go of life. So do the people who once walked the earth who have died and now speak to us from first hand experience from the other side. What they tell us is entirely consistent with the findings of modern science.

So, there really is an easy way to kick the bucket, cross over, buy the farm, turn out the lights and say goodbye. It’s an option that’s truly good news for all of us.

Robert S. Wood and his wife spend half the year in Lake Tahoe and the other half in Sedona. He is the author of a dozen books, including the original trail guide to Desolation Wilderness.




Concert in Genoa park

Genoa Concert on the Green is Sept. 8 from 4-6pm.

The Old West Trio will play Western classics from Sons of the Pioneers and Gene Autry to contemporary artists Ian Tyson and Tom Russell.

The concert is at the Genoa Town Park on Nixon Street.

Bring a blanket and picnic dinner.




Feds change stance on marijuana policy

By Joe Mozingo, Ari Bloomekatz and David G. Savage, Los Angeles Times

In a significant policy shift by the Obama administration, Attorney General Eric Holder Jr. signaled Thursday that the federal government would no longer interfere in states that allowed commercial marijuana sales as long as they were strictly regulated.

The move comes two years after the Justice Department said federal drug agents would not tolerate large-scale or commercial pot businesses and began a campaign to shut down dispensaries and growers. The crackdown was particularly aggressive in California, where hundreds have been shut down.

The new policy suggests the federal government is trying to find a workable balance between federal law, which prohibits all marijuana use, and laws in a growing number of states such as California that permit it.

Read the whole story




Pedestrian hit in Stateline dies from injuries

The Carson City man who was struck by a vehicle on Highway 50 in Stateline last month has died.

Cody J. Dobson, 31, was hit Aug. 10 and died 13 days alter.

No one has been arrested.

“The family of Cody Dobson would like the driver of this crash to know a fatality has resulted in this tragic incident. They have set up a bank account with US Bank in the event anyone would like to donate money. The account number is 153755984306,” the Nevada Highway Patrol said in statement.

Officers said Dobson may have been walking on the highway or stumbled from the adjacent sidewalk just east of MontBleu casino prior to being struck. One witness who stopped to render aid told troopers he was driving west when he observed a person lying in one of the eastbound lanes. When he turned his vehicle around to provide assistance, he saw a full size blue Dodge pickup strike the downed pedestrian. The pickup may have a camper shell matching the color of the vehicle.

Officers also said alcohol appears to be a contributing factor because Dobson displayed signs of intoxication at the scene and the hospital.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Trooper Doug Hildebrand at (775) 689.4623 or dhildebrand@dps.state.nv.us.

— Lake Tahoe News staff report




Truckee animal shelter set to open

Homeless pets will soon have a much-improved place to await adoption as the Humane Society of Truckee-Tahoe and partner, Truckee Animal Services, prepare to open the community’s first public animal shelter.

Everyone is invited to attend a grand opening of the new facility on Sept. 28 from 10am-6pm at 10961 Stevens Lane, off of Stockrest Springs Road in Truckee.

The Truckee animal shelter opens this month. Photo/Whitby Bierwolf

The Truckee animal shelter opens this month. Photo/Whitby Bierwolf

Adoptable pets will be available immediately. The new shelter will comfortably house more than 20 dogs and 60 cats, as opposed to the eight dogs and 25 cats at the old facility.

The new location has more windows allowing more natural light, indoor-outdoor access for dogs, a quarantine area, medical treatment room, and administrative area. The larger location will also allow the organization to offer adoptions 40 hours per week, Tuesdays through Saturdays from 10am to 6pm.

The Humane Society of Truckee-Tahoe continues to seek donors to assist with final shelter construction funding needs, and naming opportunities are still available for various wings of the new facility. To become a Hero with the Heroes Now & Forever campaign, call (530) 587.5948.




League looking for help to clean Zephyr Cove

The League to Save Lake Tahoe will be participating in the Great Sierra River Cleanup on Sept. 21and will be hosting a cleanup site at Zephyr Cove Beach.

During the first four years of the Great Sierra River Cleanup more than 14,700 volunteers have joined together to remove more than 550 tons of trash and recyclables from watersheds throughout the Sierra Nevada.

This effort, in partnership with the California Coastal Cleanup Day, serves to promote good stewardship on all of our waterways, from the source to the sea.

Preregistration online is requested, but not required.

The cleanup is from 9am-noon.