To the community,

On June 23, the Lake Tahoe Windjammers Yacht Club took the opportunity to help people in need at Bread & Broth’s evening dinner served at St. Theresa Church’s Grace Hall.

By sponsoring an Adopt A Day, the LT Windjammers Yacht Club funded the hot, full course meal for the 96 guests who attended the dinner. While enjoying the nutritious meal, the evening guests also enjoyed socializing in a safe, inviting environment.

“It is a wonderful experience to give back to the community. There are a lot of people in the community down on their luck and it is wonderful to be able to assist them,” said Ernie Jones, commodore for the LTWYC.

Joining Jones were fellow LTWYC members Russ Noorda, Ann Jones, Diane Martin and Laurel Schmidt.

This energetic crew kept really busy bagging giveaways, dishing out roasted herb chicken, sweet potatoes, veggies and fruit and green salads, and helping the B&B volunteers with the evening cleanup.

Bread & Broth would like to thank the Lake Tahoe Windjammers Yacht Club for their incredible service at the evening’s dinner and their $250 donation to cover the dinner’s costs. LTWYC’s Adopt A Day sponsorship helped lessen the hunger of many members of the Lake Tahoe South Shore community, making their day a little bit better.

For more B&B information, go online or find us on Facebook.

Carol Gerard, Bread & Broth

By Richard Chang, Sacramento Bee

Placer County Sheriff Ed Bonner has passed two milestones – 40 years serving in the same agency and winning a sixth term. Bonner began his career as a Placer County sheriff’s deputy in 1974 after graduating from UC Berkeley. The Placer choice was an easy one, and not just because he was a local product who grew up in Loomis and graduated from Del Oro High School.

“Placer County called first,” Bonner said, chuckling as he explained that he had also applied to the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Department and Roseville Police Department.

On June 3, Bonner was elected to a sixth term after running unopposed. The 63-year-old sheriff has never faced a challenger.

The Sacramento Bee sat down with Bonner to talk about his career and other issues facing the sheriff’s office.

How did you rise through the ranks?

I was always a good student. In the sheriff’s office culture back then, education was not required. Having a university education helped me prepare for advancement. When I started, I was the most junior deputy, badge No. 39, but in six years was promoted to sergeant. As a deputy, I worked in patrol, at the jail and as a detective. Each experience was challenging and increased my potential to be promoted.

Read the whole story

Beaches in Lake Tahoe are getting more crowded with temps rising and holiday crowds arriving. Photo/LTN

While it’s sizzling in the Lake Tahoe Basin this week, no records are likely to be broken.

“Last year it was very hot this time of year as well,” Zach Tolby, meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Reno, told Lake Tahoe News.

July 1 is expected to be the hottest day of the week in South Lake Tahoe with a high of 88. The record of 92 was set in 2013. Going forward temps will drop a bit.

A red flag warning has been issued for Tuesday from 1-9pm for much of the Sierra – stretching from Mono County to Interstate 80 near Truckee. Isolated and scattered thunderstorms are in the forecast.

Tolby said rain wouldn’t accompany all of the lightning, which poses a greater threat for fires to occur. Plus, wind gusts up to 60 mph are forecast; those are more likely in western Nevada.

Thunderstorms are also in the forecast for Wednesday, but not as wide spread.

— Lake Tahoe News staff report

Douglas County needs a new boat after this one sank while moored at Zephyr Cove Marina. Photo/LTN file

A second patrol boat at Lake Tahoe sank this season.

This time is was Douglas County Sheriff’s Department that lost a vessel earlier this month. In May, it was a Washoe County sheriff’s boat that sank.

“Our boat sank due to structural deficiencies in the hull. It has undergone multiple repairs and is simply too old for the rigors of service on Tahoe,” Douglas County Undersheriff Paul Howell told Lake Tahoe News.

It had been moored at Zephyr Cove Marina.

The department is going to use a boat from Nevada Department of Wildlife for the rest of the summer.

“We anticipate the purchase, build, and delivery of a new boat by January,” Howell said. It will cost between $200,000 and $300,000.

Because of the age and condition of the boat the department was already in the process of buying a new one. The deadline for request for proposals is July 14.

— Lake Tahoe News staff report

By Kathryn Reed

St. Theresa School has shuttered its doors.

The Catholic K-8 school in South Lake Tahoe that opened in 1960 will not be offering classes in the 2014-15 school year. Also being displaced are preschoolers.

While the rumor of the school’s closure has been ongoing for years, it is finally a reality. Principal Anne Filce told Lake Tahoe News she was too busy to comment.

The enrollment has been dropping for years, with just more than 50 students this last school year. St. Theresa opened 54 years ago with 120 students. It operated for nine years before closing. Then it reopened in August 1994 with 121 students.

“We are prepared. We can handle it,” Lake Tahoe Unified School District Superintendent Jim Tarwater told Lake Tahoe News of the influx of students. “If we have to make another class, we can, though schools are fairly full.”

It remains to be seen where the St. Theresa students will go. Some families live in Nevada, so Douglas County School District is an option. The nearest Catholic school is in El Dorado Hills.

LTUSD is preparing for an additional 35 students for next school year, which starts Aug. 25. This includes St. T kids and others. This is the second year in a row that LTUSD enrollment is projected to increase.

Tarwater said the bulk of the St. Theresa kids are in grades K-5.

Many of the parochial students have had interaction with LTUSD students either through music, assemblies or outside activities. Most go on to attend South Tahoe High School.

The biggest change will be for the sixth-, seventh- and eighth-graders who will be at one school of about 800 students. But even for the elementary age, if they transfer into Lake Tahoe Unified, most of those K-5 schools are at about 300 students each.

LTUSD has class size reduction in grades K-3, which means a maximum of 22 kids per teacher. To go over that amount means losing state funding. That is why it’s possible depending on where the students land and in what grade more teachers will be needed.

What will become of the St. Theresa’s School remains to be seen.

By KCRA-TV

A study from UC Davis finds most people are making significant mistakes when it comes to cooking chicken.

It found that 65 percent of them did not wash their hands before touching poultry — in fact, half of them washed their chicken instead.

“But what happens is the water splatters and there’s an aerosol that’s created,” said Christine Bruhn, director of the Center for Consumer Research at UC Davis. “And salmonella or any pathogen that could be on that chicken is spread for 2 feet all around your sink.”

Washing the chicken is a habit that Nancy Coben admits she’s been doing for decades.

“Oh yes,” she said. “Always.”

After KCRA 3 told her the UC Davis study showed she was actually spreading bacteria by washing the chicken, Coben said, “All right, I’ll take you up on that. I won’t do it anymore.”

Read the whole story

By Steve Scauzillo, San Gabriel Valley Tribune

Not too long ago in this season of California’s massive and extended drought, climate experts saw a small glimmer of hope on the horizon: Predictions for a wet El Niño season coming in the winter that would bring badly needed rain and relief to a parched state.

Now that glimmer is fading fast, and the drought has gotten even worse.

A minimal amount of snow remains on Mount Tallac. Photo/LTN

One hundred percent of California is in a severe drought, 77 percent is in an extreme drought and 33 percent is in an exceptional drought, according to a report released last week by the National Drought Mitigation Center in Lincoln, Neb.

“Those are remarkable numbers,” said Mark Svoboda, a climatologist and the center’s monitoring program leader.

The drought monitoring team in Lincoln has never seen an exceptional drought since it started keeping detailed data in 1999. The D4 category — a foreboding maroon color on a California drought map — extends from Sacramento and the Bay Area through the Central Valley, Santa Barbara and Ventura counties.

fight the drought, now in its third year, Svoboda said.

Predictions for a much-anticipated wet 2014-15 winter are waning.

Read the whole story

Zephyr Cove Tennis Club is getting into the Independence Day spirit with a Star Spangled Hump Day on July 2.

Players are encouraged to dress in patriotic colors, with a prize going to the best dressed. Play starts at 5:30pm. The doubles mixer is for adult players of all abilities.

The Hump Day Mixers are $10 for club members, $15 for non-members, and $5 for spectators (meal only). The fun includes a barbecue, raffle prizes and lots of tennis.

Participants are encouraged to bring a side dish or dessert, as well as beverage of choice that does not come in a glass container. No advance sign-up is required.

For more info, call 775.588.2229.

Zephyr Cove Tennis Club is on Warrior Way off Highway 50.

• Thunderbird Lodge is  offering Friday wine and cheese tours in July and August for $100. For reservations, go online.

• There is a Type I Diabetes Support Group the first Tuesday of each month at 5:30pm in Barton Memorial Hospital’s board room.

• The second annual Lake Tahoe Dance Festival is July 15-17 in Tahoe City. For more info, go online.

• Lavish Green returns to the Live at Lakeview stage in South Lake Tahoe on July 3 to celebrate their 19th anniversary of performing music. The free event runs from 4:30-8:30pm.

• Here are the El Dorado-Tahoe and Sierra roadwork schedules.

In the Vermicomposting: Worms + Kitchen Scraps = Gold workshop will teach people how to create a simple and inexpensive worm bin, what to put in the bin, what to keep out, and how to keep worms happy.

Master gardeners in Lake Tahoe will also talk about the benefits of composting for the earth, landfills, and home gardens.

Worm composting is a great way to help Mother Earth, but it also offers children of all ages a fun way to learn about life cycles, the need to feed soil in the garden, and overall natural processes.

The free classes are from 5:30-6:30pm.

Dates are:

• July 28 — Lake Tahoe Community College Demonstration Garden, 1 College Drive, South Lake Tahoe
• July 29 — TERC Tahoe City Field Station, aka Historic Fish Hatchery, 2400 Lake Forest Road, Tahoe City
• July 30 — North Lake Tahoe Demonstration Garden, Sierra Nevada College, 999 Tahoe Blvd., Incline Village.