Fireworks on July 4 just off Stateline. Photos/Howie Nave
A vibrant display.
A spectacular pyrotechnic display filled the night sky on the South Shore. Beaches were crowded, as temps were in the 80s.
The next fireworks show will be the Sunday of Labor Day weekend.
By Kathryn Reed
U.S. Forest Service employees are using three herbicides now through September to rid the Lake Tahoe Basin of invasive weeds.
The chemical treatment will cover about 12½ acres in nearly 70 locations.
“This is part of a continuing terrestrial invasive plant treatment project since 2011. Most infestations that have been chemically treated exhibited greatly reduced quantities of invasive plants in following years. Many now have no plants at all,” Courtney Rowe, forest botanist, told Lake Tahoe News. “This is part of a larger ‘early detection, rapid response’ invasive plant management strategy, in which the LTBMU tries to eradicate or control certain priority invasive species that have high ecological impacts but currently exist at a low number of infestations before these species spread to a point that their eradication/control is unfeasible.”
The USFS is trying to eliminate invasive weeds from the Lake Tahoe Basin. Photo/Courtney Rowe
The plants the Forest Service is trying to eradicate are whitetop, Dalmatian toadflax, yellow toadflax, hoary cress and Canada thistle.
Rodeo, Milestone, and Telar are the products that will be applied via backpack sprayers and other handheld tools.
The agency conducted an environmental analysis in 2010 that addressed safety concerns.
“That analysis states that the project’s control methods would pose little safety risk to workers or the public as long as safety practices and resource protection measures are enforced,” Rowe said.
Rowe said the drought tends to make plants flower sooner, but there is no evidence there are more of them.
The problem with the invasive non-natives is that they can overrun native species, which leads to their disappearance. This can then impact wildlife, cause erosion problems, which then impairs waterways.
The project areas include: the 64 Acres parking lot, Angora Fire area, Baldwin Beach meadow, Burke Creek trail, Luther Pass campground, Heavenly Creek Meadow, Heavenly Mountain Resort, Rabe Meadow, Lower Truckee River below Tahoe City, and Spooner Summit fire station.
Weed infestations on Forest Service urban lots will be treated near: Ralph Drive, Terry Lane, Ski Run Boulevard, and Mt. Rainier Drive in South Lake Tahoe, Sugar Pine Drive in Incline Village, Marge Court in Zephyr Cove, and Pine Street on Kingsbury Grade.
During spraying, caution signs will be posted for at least 48 hours after treatment. Orange and black caution tape will mark the boundary around each treatment area. Rowe said most of the areas are small, and some include targeting less than a handful of plants.
By Bill Frezza, Forbes
Half a billion dollars. That’s how much the California Teachers Association and the powerful Service Employees International Union have spent on California politics since 2000. The unions’ return on that “investment”? A legislature totally beholden to them for political support and campaign contributions.
Here’s another mind-boggling number: Half a Trillion Dollars. That’s an estimate of the unfunded public pension liabilities racked up by California’s state and municipal governments due to overly generous pay and defined benefit pension plans lavished on unionized government employees.
If you thought the bankruptcies of Stockton, San Bernardino, and Vallejo were entertaining, break out the popcorn to watch the next fiasco California’s famously progressive citizens voted themselves into. That first wave of municipal bankruptcies demonstrated that the odds of the state’s public pensions paying out at full value are virtually zero. The donnybrook that breaks out when the rest go sour is going to be a monster movie scale spectacle.
Jim Lacy, former Chief Counsel for Technology at the U.S. Department of Commerce and General Counsel to the U.S. Consumer Products Safety Commission, has been sounding the alarm. His new book, “Taxifornia”, lays out the numbers and illustrates them in horrifying detail, with stories you just can’t make up—like rank-and-file firefighters making $348,000 a year who can retire at age 55 at 90 percent of salary. Meanwhile, California’s poverty rate has soared to become highest in the nation (almost one in four Californians now live in poverty, according to the Census Bureau).
As my guest on last week’s RealClear Radio Hour, Jim makes the case why the rest of us should care about California’s taxpayers becoming ATMs for retired school teachers, bus drivers, police, and firefighters. “Because it’s happening throughout the rest of the country,” Jim explains. “The Detroit bankruptcy is based on the same premises.” Coming soon to a theater near you!
California has the highest state income tax in the nation, the highest state sales tax, the highest gas tax, and some of the highest corporate and property taxes. Yet, all that cash is barely enough to cover current expenditures. Governor Jerry Brown’s claim of a surplus would disappear in a heartbeat were the state to follow generally accepted accounting principles.
“Plastic Paradise: The Great Pacific Garbage Patch” will be shown at the Cedar House Sport Hotel in Truckee on July 8.
Bay Area native and award-winning television host/journalist, Angela Sun, has documented the Great Pacific Garbage Patch long rumored to exist. Her film premiered at the San Francisco Green Film Festival in June 2013 and has since garnered 12 independent film festival awards, including the Jury Award for the Wild & Scenic Film Festival in early 2014.
Truckee instituted a plastic bag ban following in the footsteps of many other concerned communities throughout the world. The ordinance restricts the distribution of single-use plastic carryout bags and allows single-use paper bags only if the bag is purchased for a charge and made of a minimum 40 percent post-consumer recycled content, containing no old-growth fiber.
Doors to the screening open at 6pm. Tickets may be purchased in advance at Cabona’s in downtown Truckee or by calling 530.587.3161. They are $20 for adults and $15 for students. Tickets will be available that night for $25. Proceeds from ticket sales benefit Mountain Area Preservation.
By Sean Whaley, Las Vegas Review-Journal
CARSON CITY — Nevada has received a one-year extension from the U.S. Department of Education for flexibility from some provisions of the No Child Left Behind Act, a state education official said Thursday.
Superintendent of Public Instruction Dale Erquiaga said the extension of its flexibility waiver will run through the 2014-15 school year.
Nevada’s waiver has been effective in providing support for the critical elements of reform in the state’s annual plan to improve student achievement, he said.
Nevada, along with 41 other states and the District of Columbia, are currently operating under requests for flexibility from certain provisions of what the state Education Department called the “outmoded” No Child Left Behind Act.
Without the extension, Nevada would be required under federal law to meet the requirements of the act and “adequate yearly progress” would again be the measure of school performance.
Boaters leaving the Tahoe Keys Marina on July 4 have until 9 to get back if they are trailering their boat tonight. Photo/Kathryn Reed
By Kathryn Reed
Beaches in the Lake Tahoe Basin have been busy all day with people having fun and misbehaving.
Nevada Beach’s prime fireworks viewing spots were full by 11:45 this morning, with Douglas County sheriff’s deputies not allowing people in because the lot was full.
Venice Drive in South Lake Tahoe was full of vehicles. The beach was not crowded at Cove East, but the boat traffic was constant in and out of the Tahoe Keys Marina.
New this year is the marina is closing the launch at 9pm July 4 instead of extending it to midnight like years past. An employee said he was not given a reason for the change.
This could mean some fireworks revelers will be spending the night on their boat unexpectedly. The launch opens at 8am Saturday.
The ever-increasing sandbar by Cove East could present a problem for boaters because it is not marked. Another potential obstacle is the barge that is anchored near the channel not far from shore.
U.S. Forest Service and El Dorado County sheriff’s officers broke up three large parties on Ski Beach. There have been arrests for probation violation, possession of cocaine, and outstanding warrants. Several citations have been handed out for underage drinking and marijuana possession.
Cheva Heck, spokeswoman for the USFS, told Lake Tahoe News the best news is there have been no illegal fires.
At USFS beaches on the East Shore, as of 5pm Friday there had been 30 citations, 50 warnings for alcohol possession where it is banned, and 15 citations for minors in possession of alcohol.
Douglas County sheriff’s deputies arrested two people on charges of drug possession.
The fireworks on the South Shore that are set off near Edgewood Tahoe are set to start at 9:45pm. The wind, so far, is not a factor.
By Les Christie, CNN Money
NEW YORK — Forget about your GPA or paying for that graduate degree. What employers really care about are the skills you bring to the table.
While the vast majority of employees believe their college education has helped them in their career, 72 percent said getting trained in a specific skill is more highly valued by their employer, according to a survey of more than 2,000 adults by job listing site Glassdoor.
“Employees with college degrees believe that their education helped get them through the door, but about half say it has no relevance to the work they’re actually doing,” said Rusty Rueff, Glassdoor’s career and workplace expert.
The survey also revealed just how little attention employers pay to an applicant’s college performance, with 80 percent of respondents saying they had never been asked about their grade point average during a job interview.
The annual air show at Lake Tahoe Airport is going to be a month later than years past. The 25th annual Lake in the Sky Air Show is Sept. 20.
The show had to be canceled last year because smoke in the basin from fires outside the area made flying conditions hazardous.
This year’s show which will include aerobatic performances by several top performers including Bill Cornick, Jon Melby and Spencer Suderman. There will be sky divers, kids’ activities, war birds, classic car show, police K9 demonstration, bomb robot, helicopters, chili cook off, food court, beer and wine garden, fire trucks, fly bys, and more.
Gates open at 8am. Tickets are $10/adults, $5/kids, and free for those 5 and younger.
• The U.S. Swimming Association Invitational (July 18-20) at South Lake Tahoe’s pool will include 440 swimmers between the ages of 5 and 18 years. There is no cost watch. For more info, call 530.542.6056.
• Author Arlene Morgan presents her new novel “Roots of the Vine” on Aug. 6 at 6pm at the South Lake Tahoe Library, 1000 Rufus Allen Blvd.. She will also discuss the process of writing and self-publishing a book. The event is free.
• Now that California State Parks is the operator, the North Tahoe Beach Pavilion will no longer accept new reservations for private events. It will be free on a first come, first served basis for larger groups. On July 12, July 26 and Sept. 6 existing reservations will be honored.
• Explore Tahoe An Urban Trailhead is hosting an interactive “Patio Program” July 12 from 11am to 2pm. It’s a time to learn about local wildlife and habitat through interactive activities. It is free and appropriate for all ages. For more info, call 530.542.6056.
• The Tahoe Tri Club and the South Lake Tahoe Recreation Department are putting on the second annual Tahoe Kids Triathlon on July 13. Call 530.542.6056 for more information.
By Robert D. Dávila, Sacramento Bee
Ken Payton, a newspaperman and outdoorsman who covered the Lake Tahoe area and Sierra Nevada foothills as a longtime reporter for the Sacramento Bee, died June 21 at 87.
Ken Payton
Mr. Payton, who bicycled solo from his Citrus Heights home to St. Augustine, Fla., at 82, died after a recent muscle disease left him unable to swallow food, his daughter Susanne said. His health had declined since his wife of 61 years, Dolores, died last February.
A handsome, physically imposing man with a quiet and professional manner, Mr. Payton was a dedicated and dependable reporter for more than 25 years at The Bee. He started in 1966, when McClatchy Newspapers blanketed Northern California with stringers and reporters, and worked as the paper’s full-time staff writer at the north shore of Lake Tahoe.
“He was a good journalist, worked hard and never complained,” former Bee reporter Jon Engellenner said.