To the community,

Our Lake Tahoe … is America’s national gem.

The quality of our water … is the lifeblood of our communities.

We drink it … we cook with it … we play in it … we rely on it for the nourishment of our souls.

Our Lake Tahoe water fills our bodies and minds with the promise of what is possible for all of us.

Every day, it assures us there is still enrichment and wonderment in our world.

Its astonishing beauty is available to each of us who live here … and to those who visit.

We never tire of looking at it … and we never, ever, take it for granted.

Our water permeates everything around us and in us … our forests, our wildlife, and even our hearts.

Our Lake Tahoe’s water brings life to our children, to our schools, and to our dreams and our passions.

We will always protect it and preserve it for future generations. Always.

It is a mandate given to us by the universe itself.

Others, however, view Lake Tahoe only as a source of money and wealth.

And their greed is insatiable.

Their lust is practically incomprehensible.

And we who live here suffer … because of them.

So, who would you prefer to believe?

Them, or us?

Welcome to the Lake Tahoe Summit.

Bill Casey, Incline Village

Tahoe Show — a National Physique Committee & International Federation of Bodybuilding sanctioned amateur and pro bodybuilding, figure, bikini, physique and fitness championship — is Aug. 24 at MontBleu in Stateline.

A grant from the Lake Tahoe Visitors Authority is allowing the Tahoe Show to add IFBB Pro Figure, bringing in pro female figure athletes from around the world.

Spectators will see the area’s best athletes, live backstage interviews, celebrities and countless professional athletes on and off stage. Plus, spectators will have the chance to sample an array of health and fitness related items from vendors.

Those who cannot make it to the show can watch it on the Internet.

Expected at the show are about 250 competitors.

For tickets, information, registration and a full event schedule go online, email Chris@TahoeShow.com or call (775) 267.7564.

The 10th annual Downtown Truckee Wine, Walk & Shop is Oct. 5 from noon to 4pm.

For $45 ($40 in advance), attendees will receive a special anniversary commemorative wine glass, a program and map to participating venues and five tickets for food tastings at any of the participating locations in the heart of downtown Truckee. Additional food tickets may be purchased for $2 per ticket. There will be more than 30 wineries participating.

Tickets are available online.

In the last nine years, the Downtown Truckee Wine, Walk & Shop event has donated more than $25,000 to local nonprofit organizations. This year’s Downtown Truckee Wine, Walk & Shop nonprofit partner is the Humane Society of Truckee-Tahoe.

The $715.2 million budget for 2013-14 that the Placer County Board of Supervisors are expected to approve Sept. 24 is 2.1 percent less than last year’s budget.

Supervisors were updated Aug. 15 on what the next fiscal year looks like during a budget workshop. A public hearing on the budget is scheduled for Sept. 10, with adoption two weeks later.

In June, the board approved an interim budget of $690.5 million since the 2013-14 fiscal year began July 1.

Supervisors postponed making a decision Thursday on how to allocate more than $8 million in unallocated one-time funds, a total that includes almost $5.8 million in the general fund and $2.3 million in the public safety fund. That decision could be made at the Aug. 20 board meeting.

Staff is recommending the bulk of the funds be used to help return county reserve and contingency funds to pre-recession levels.

“We have some reasons for optimism,” Chief Assistant County Executive Officer Holly Heinzen told the board. “At the same time, we have some reasons for caution.”

Key reasons for optimism include the county’s improving revenue picture and past board actions that have helped keep costs pressures under control.

Reasons to be cautious include the expense of employee benefits, state and federal actions that affect counties and the need to open and operate Placer County’s new jail in Roseville.

During the workshop departments made presentations to the board.

Priority-based budgeting is an approach that seeks to increase transparency in the budget process while helping ensure county resources are allocated based on board and public priorities.

— Lake Tahoe News staff report

The Washoe County Sheriff’s Office Detention Facility has seen an increase in calls by individuals reporting they were notified that a friend or family member had been arrested and needed money for bail.

It’s really a scam.

These scams usually involve someone claiming to be a representative of a law enforcement agency, a friend of the alleged arrestee, or someone posing as the person arrested. They often ask for wire transfers through services such as Western Union.

The sheriff’s office does not accept services such as Western Union and does not notify family of arrests.

To report an incident of fraud, contact your local law enforcement agency or report the incident to the Internet Crime Complaint Center online.

The El Dorado Community Foundation has $70,000 to give away for programs and services that enhance the lives of youth in the Lake Tahoe Basin.

Nonprofit organizations, churches, schools and service organizations whose programs enrich the lives of children in the area have until Sept. 16 to apply. Grants of up to $5,000 will be considered with funding issued in the fall.

Applications and more information is online.

Updated Aug. 17 12:50pm:

The body of the 17-year-old who drowned at Emerald Bay was recovered this morning.

Javon Lamar Green of Southern California had been swimming from the boat his family had rented to Fannette Island when he went under and never resurfaced. The distance between the boat and island is estimated to be 25 yards.

The drowning occurred about 3:10pm Aug. 16. He was found about 72 feet below the surface.

The cause of death is under investigation.

—-

Updated Aug. 17 6:35am:

El Dorado County sheriff’s dive team will return to Emerald Bay this morning in hopes of recovering the body of the youth who drowned on Aug. 16.

Deputy Greg Almos told Lake Tahoe News the boy was swimming from Fannette Island to a boat off the south side of island when he went into distress for an unknown reason and subsequently drowned.

Other children were in the water at the same time.

At this time the name, age and hometown of the child are not being released.

 — Lake Tahoe News staff report

By Chris Healy

It is mid-August and the appetite of the Sierra Nevada black bear is about to take a dramatic swing upward. Motivated by signals from nature known as zeitgebers, the bears will spectacularly increase their daily caloric intake from 3,000 calories per day to upwards of 25,000 calories per day.

This physiological wonder is known as hyperphagia. Nature’s dinner bell is ringing.

“Hyperphagia is a period where bears eat as much as they possibly can so they can put on as much fat as possible to carry them through winter hibernation,” said biologist Carl Lackey. “Nothing much gets in the bear’s way when they are this hungry.”

Bears in Tahoe sometimes like to forage for people food. Photo/Janice Eastburn

Armed with that big appetite and motivated by zeitbegers like decreased daily sunlight and cooler morning temperatures, the bears will search far and wide in the hunt for food. Those 25,000 calories are the human equivalent of eating about 50 cheeseburgers per day over the next three months.

The moon will be full or nearly full for 10 days beginning this weekend (Aug. 17-24) just at the time that the bears begin to ratchet up their appetites.

“They will eat up to 20 hours per day during a full moon period as they pile on the fat,” stressed Lackey. “People living in bear country should not be tempting these already hungry bears with easy access to garbage, bird feeders, bowls of pet food or ripened fruit falling from trees.”

Areas most at risk of attracting bears by granting access to garbage and other attractants are the Lake Tahoe Basin (especially Incline Village), west Carson City and the foothill areas of Douglas and Washoe counties.

Nevada has had two dry winters in a row and the natural foods that the bears desire are not in abundance in the wild lands.

“Plants that create nuts and berries like manzanita, squirrel tail, snowbush, desert peach and rosehips are highly desired but not always abundant in dry years,” Lackey said. “It will be a busy next three months in bear country.”

People needing to report nuisance bear activity can call the NDOW’s Bear Hotline telephone number at (775) 688.2327. For information on living with bears, go online.

Chris Healy works for the Nevada Department of Wildlife.

Firefighters have the American Fire that is burning in the Tahoe National Forest 45 percent contained.

In seven days the fire has charred 11,950 acres near Foresthill. The majority of the fire area is within the North Fork of the Middle Fork of the American River.

Lightning predicted for as early as Sunday afternoon may bring additional complexity and increase the potential for new starts, fire officials warn.

Smoke continues to an issue east of the fire.

 — Lake Tahoe News staff report

By Tracy Miller, New York Daily News

If you’re under 55, you might want to re-think that fourth, fifth or sixth cup of Joe: A new study holds troubling news for younger coffee lovers.

Drinking more than 28 cups of coffee a week – about four per day – was linked to a 21 percent higher mortality rate in men and women of all ages, and a 50 percent higher mortality rate in people under 55 years old, according to a study of 40,000 people published in Mayo Clinic Proceedings.

The findings come from an analysis of data from the Aerobics Center Longitudinal Study cohort, which followed a group of men and women over an average of 16 years between 1979 and 1998. Study subjects ranged in age from 20 to 87 years old, and were asked to estimate their weekly coffee consumption at the outset.

Over time, the heavy coffee drinkers were more likely to have died from any cause than the moderate or non-coffee drinkers. This was particularly significant among people under 55: Younger men who drank about 28 cups of coffee a week had a 56 percent increased risk of death compared to non-coffee drinkers, and younger women had double the risk of dying.

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