While no particles are expected to land near Tahoe from the Perseid meteor, this  piece of a meteorite was found in the Sutter Mill area. Photo/LTN file

Although the annual Perseid meteor showers will peak next week, the night sky will begin to filled with the light show this week.

The best time to look up will be between midnight and dawn. The best days will be Aug. 12 and Aug. 13.

What people are seeing is debris entering the atmosphere at 130,000 mph as Earth passes through the comet Swift-Tuttle.

Instead of leaving the suspicious device in the forest, a woman living on Bella Coola brought it back to her house.

Then she called the El Dorado County Sheriff’s Office. Deputies from the bomb unit came to the South Shore to handle the call last week. The device was X-rayed and then blown up to destroy it.

“It turned out it was a homemade ‘adult toy’ that someone had left in the forest,” sheriff’s Lt. Pete Van Arnum told Lake Tahoe News.

— Lake Tahoe News staff report

A motorcyclist from Southern Nevada was seriously injured Sunday when a van making a U-turn struck him.

Joshua W. Hanlon, 20, of Henderson was pinned under the 1981 VW van, as was his 2013 Kawasaki. He was airlifted to Renown Medical Center in Reno with serious injuries.

The driver of the van, Peter Z. Kwan, 75, of San Francisco was also taken to the Reno hospital by helicopter, but he did not sustain serious injuries. Kwan was cited at the hospital for making an improper U-Turn.

Nevada Highway Patrol Trooper Chuck Allen told Lake Tahoe News that Kwan was in the westbound lane when he flipped a U-turn to go east, didn’t see the motorcyclist and the collision occurred.

The accident happened about 3:30pm Aug. 4 on Highway 50 between Zephyr Point Presbyterian Conference Center and Zephyr Cove Resort.

— Lake Tahoe News staff report

By Jack Newsham, Sacramento Bee

Foothill residents, as well some property owners in the Lake Tahoe Basin, are bracing for the second year of “fire prevention fees,” a $150 charge that a class-action lawsuit alleges is an illegal tax.

The state Board of Equalization began sending bills two weeks ago to more than 700,000 Californians who own land in the 31 million-acre “state responsibility area” where the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection is responsible for fire protection.

In October, El Dorado County joined the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association’s lawsuit seeking to block the state’s fire fees on rural properties, but hearings have barely begun.

Read the whole story

With horses, riders and a movie theme, the Washoe County 4-H Horse Program and University of Nevada Cooperative Extension present Summer ReRuns 2013, an open horse show and fundraiser for Washoe County 4-H horse club leaders on Aug. 25.

Open to all horse, and riders of all ages, the show will feature events in showmanship, English and western riding and timed events. The show takes place at the Lemmon Valley Horse Arena, 11400 Deodar Way (at the corner of Alaska and Chestnut) in Lemmon Valley. Registration is at 8am. The show begins at 9am and will conclude at approximately 4pm. Spectators will be admitted free of charge.

Participants are asked to preregister by mail by Aug. 22. The preregistration fee is $6 per class plus a $5 nonrefundable administrative fee. Day-of-show entries are $8 per class, $2 for every change of class and a $5 nonrefundable administrative fee. All proceeds go to the Washoe County 4-H horse club leaders to help fund horse science and horsemanship training projects for 4-H youth in Washoe County.

For questions or forms, contact Sam Mitchell at (775) 336.0259 or mitchells@unce.unr.edu.

By Justin Bachman, Bloomberg Businessweek

The low-fares, high-fees business model is expanding across the airline industry, and now a third ultralow-cost carrier appears ready to enter the battle between Spirit Airlines and Allegiant Travel for America’s cheapest travelers.

Frontier Airlines, the Denver airline known for the majestic wild animals painted on its jets’ tails, may soon become a legitimate down-market competitor.

William Franke, Spirit’s chairman and managing partner of Indigo Partners, a private equity firm that focuses on airlines, is negotiating to acquire Frontier Airlines from Republic Airways and turn it into the same type of operation he pioneered at Spirit, Dow Jones reported this past week. Indigo will sell its 16 percent stake in Spirit, and Franke and another Indigo partner, John Wilson, will resign from Spirit’s board next month.

Republic, which flies regional jets on behalf of the major airlines, acquired Frontier in August 2009 as a way to diversify its revenue beyond the contracts it signs with the large hub-and-spoke airlines. But that experiment largely failed, and Republic has been trying to sell the airline for more than a year. Last week Republic told investors it had signed a nonbinding agreement with a buyer to negotiate Frontier’s sale.

Frontier could present Phoenix’s Indigo an opportunity to expand the leisure-travel model in the U.S. that has enjoyed immense popularity worldwide, with players such as Ryanair, easyJet, Wizz Air and Volaris. Such airlines offer low fares but then assess fees for nearly every aspect of a flight, from water to carrying aboard a bag.

Frontier also has an attractive asset in its early orders for new versions of Airbus’ A320neo and A319neo models. Two years ago, Republic placed 40 firm orders and 40 options for the new planes, giving it a lucrative placement in the order queue for a hot-selling airplane, Cowen & Co. aviation analyst Helane Becker says.

Franke, a former chief executive of America West Airlines, has compiled “a really good track record” in the industry, Becker says, calling Frontier “definitely a turnaround story” that could eventually be sold to a larger carrier or taken public in three to five years if any revamp is successful.

Barbecues are a fun summer tradition when operated in a safe manner. Only use approved lighter fluid. Never use gasoline or any other flammable liquids to start the charcoal.

Never add additional fluid once the fire has been started because it is extremely dangerous.

After your barbecue, place the used coals in a metal container with a tight fitting lid.

Leave the container on a non-combustible surface for at least three days before discarding them in the trash.

Have a fun and safe barbecue season.

— Sallie Ross-Filgo, SLTFD

William and Benjamin

William and Benjamin are two of the 20 kittens currently waiting at the shelter for their new homes.

These boys are 5 months old, and are as playful and crazy as kittens can be. They are having fun with their kennel-mates right now, but they should get into homes as soon as possible. William and Benjamin are jet black, and the other kittens range from orange to silver to brown.

The shelter also has five nice adult cats, some of which have reduced adoption fees.

William and Benjamin are neutered, microchipped, and vaccinated. They are at the El Dorado County Animal Services shelter in Meyers, along with many other dogs and cats who are waiting for their new homes.

Go online to see photos and descriptions of all pets at the shelter.

Call (530) 573.7925 for directions, hours, and other information on adopting a pet.

— Karen Kuentz

The log has names of children from South Lake Tahoe who have died. Photos/LTN

Publisher’s note: The children’s memorial on Highway 50 and Wildwood Avenue in South Lake Tahoe will be rededicated on Aug. 9 at 6pm. Tahoe Production House is filming the ceremony as part of a documentary that will be available on DVD. The following is from the committee that has spearheaded the replacement of the log that contains the names of children in the area who have died. 

When and how was the Children’s Memorial founded?

Driven by the tragic death of her son, Rory, along with his two friends Sandy Haynes and Casey Wells in an automo¬bile accident, Sue Hrbacek-Miller hoped to place, in a public location, the tree that the car struck on the night of Feb. 2, 1991. City Manager Kerry Miller offered a resting place for the tree in its present location. Artist Dan Jones donated the design and work to create the tree that was dedicated on Oct. 2, 1994. When dedicated, the tree had plaques representing 36 lost loved ones. After Sue turned over the memorial to the city of South Lake Tahoe in 2003 it has managed the tree. The tree currently has 226 plaques, in remembrance of loved ones from 11 states and four foreign countries. The original tree endured 20 seasons of exposure and was no longer able to accomplish its purpose. The new tree will last permanently.

Why the new permanent tree and its dedication?

The Memorial Tree Committee could have replaced the original tree with another wood tree of similar size. However, the committee also recognized that doing so would necessitate again doing a replacement in another 20 years. The ability to repeatedly do that would be doubtful and artist Dan Jones was available now to re-create the tree in a manner consistent with the original. The new tree, recre¬ated with a concrete-polymer material, will be a permanent memorial.

What are the goals and plans of the Memorial Tree Committee?

Mission: First, to establish a tree that will be a permanent memorial to the loved ones recognized with plaques on the tree. Further, to establish a permanent Memorial Park that will be an asset for use by resi¬dents and visitors to our South Lake Tahoe community.

Funding: The permanent Memorial Tree and Memorial Park will be entirely funded by private contributions from individuals and organizations. The funding is overseen by the city of South Lake Tahoe’s GIFT (Great Ideas For Tahoe) program. This is a 501(c)3 nonprofit corporation. To date, the committee has been successful in raising the funds to accomplish the tree replacement. The success of the tree replacement effort was heavily dependent on donated and/or at cost discounted labor and materials. The committee expects the Memorial Park part of the mission to also be accomplished with a large component of donated assistance. The city of South Lake Tahoe will maintain the tree and memorial park when they are completed.

What is the schedule for completion of the Memorial Park?

The committee is already working on the necessary permitting for construction in conjunction with the city of South Lake Tahoe to obtain the funds for the new Memorial Park of South Lake Tahoe. The goal is to have sufficient funding in place to begin work on the park in 2014. Complete park construction will be entirely dependent on the combination of funds raised and volunteer commitments of materials and labor for the work to be done.

How can you help make the Memorial Park a reality?

Funding: Please make contributions in whatever amount you can afford to GIFT Inc., Memorial Park and mail to: 1901 Airport Road, South Lake Tahoe, CA 96150. Your funds will be in the custody of the city of South Lake Tahoe who will maintain supervision of the program.

Volunteer Assistance: Visit the website to understand the work involved in the Memorial Park’s construction and establish in what ways you might assist.

To the community,

Golden Bear Events and the American Legion Post No. 795 and Auxiliary would like to thank the community of South Lake Tahoe for a successful Fourth of July parade and event.

Visitors and locals alike joined the parade and the hundreds of spectators to show appreciation for our fallen soldiers, veterans, active duty military, and our independence. Many joined the vendors after the parade and celebrated at the Legion post.

Special thanks to Tahoe Valley Pharmacy for allowing us to stage the parade in their parking lot. Thanks also goes out to Brooke Laine for arranging for the Lake Tahoe Soroptimist Club International and members of the South Tahoe Alumni to provide convertibles and vintage vehicles to carry our soldiers from World War II, Vietnam, Desert Storm, and other conflicts. Thank you to the fire departments and law enforcement for their help to maintain safety.

We appreciate those business owners who took the time to participate in the parade and the event to celebrate the Fourth of July, honor our military, and support the American Legion in this fundraiser. A big thank you to Wally’s Hot Springs Resort and Spa, who was a Gold Sponsor for this event. All proceeds benefited our local American Legion Post No. 795.

The parade can be viewed online.

JoAnn Conner, Golden Bear Events