To the community,

Bueno, Marty and Tracy Kettlesen of Bert’s Café recently hosted a Spaghetti Night fundraiser for Tahoe Arts Project. It was a wonderful evening enjoyed by many.

All of us at Tahoe Arts Project would like to thank Crystal Dairy, Bonanza Produce and Rainbo Bakery and of course the staff at Bert’s for helping to make this fundraiser a success.

A big thank you to all of you who had dinner with us that evening and to Wendy David, Curtis Fong, Deb Howard and Carol Chaplin who helped serve our guests.

Thank you to Bueno and Marty for your continued support.

Tahoe Arts Project is a nonprofit organization that brings professional performing arts into the schools and community of South Lake Tahoe. Event proceeds will benefit over 5,000 K-12th grade students who see our programs.

If you would like to know how you can support Tahoe Arts Project, please call (530) 542.3632.

Thank you,

Peggy Thompson, executive director Tahoe Arts Project

“Tap Into Your Joyful Wisdom” is a workshop for women using transformative wholistic reintegration.

The TWR technique as people “face, erase, and replace your issues with grace”.

The next session taught by Change From the Inside Out coach Colleen Akiko Jackson is June 12 from 1:30-3pm at the Truckee Donner Senior Apartments Community Room, 10040 Estates Drive in Truckee.

All ages welcome. Donations accepted.

By Ted Long

This week we learned about two unlikely connected subjects, Hostage-Crisis Negotiations and the Emergency Services Department. The hostage presentation was by Detective Sean Fitzgerald. Like those before him, he was personable and likable, although he tried a little too hard, in my opinion, to by funny.

Many of us had hoped to hear some real life stories, like TV where the hostage negotiator, after hours of talk, brings out the suspect and all ends well. Instead, we heard mostly about some fundamental rules in hostage negotiation. Things like don’t promise anything, seal off the communication so the suspect only can talk to the negotiator, no jokes and be sure your mic is off or the phone is on hold before you start to talk with you fellow officers.

Ted Long

Hostage-crisis negotiation is not an exact science, however, the fundamentals are carefully observed. The basic idea is to relate to the suspect, not to agree. To encourage a positive conclusion with out specific promises, to let the suspect know, clearly, that the issue is limited to his surrender without directly saying so. Our instructor admitted he actually cried with a female suspect in sympathy for her dilemma.

Deputy Matt Cathey – again, another long-term deputy with about 20 years of service, led the second part of the evening. We were told about the OES center and how it operates. For me, the stories from the Angora Fire were most interesting. The OES has a center at the county office complex in Placerville and can be set up in an hour or two. When operating all the activity of fire, rescue, police and the various local, state and federal operations are directed from their. Evacuation planning and the actual evacuation is a prime function of the office. The county has a new service that will automatically give you an evacuation notice call. If you have a conventional landline, you are already connected, but to get your cell phone connected you need to go to the website or call (530) 621.4911.

An area of concern that I had not thought about was the possibility of floods in the Sacramento Delta. The area is rated as the second most dangerous after New Orleans and the possibility of a tidal wave on Lake Tahoe in the case of an earthquake. The OES has already worked out an evacuation plan for those two possibilities. Another task of the OES is to work with the various departments to deal with workplace violence, which can be a serious issue. Their role is to review and advise.

Also, Cathey coordinates the massive, more than 160-member search and rescue program. As a part of the presentation of the this voluntary program and the commitment on the part of the volunteers he gave great promo for CalStar, which every mountain resident should be a member of, the cost of a helicopter evacuation can run in to the tens of thousands and as a CalStar member it will cost you little.

Next week we visit the evidence room and begin preparation for our “traffic stops” exercise.

Ted Long is a South Lake Tahoe resident participating in the El Dorado County Sheriff’s Citizens Academy.

By Kathryn Reed

It may come down to Lahontan cutthroat trout vs. rainbow trout. And if the Lahontan trout don’t take hold and the rainbow is basically eradicated, there may be no fish left.

That is the worst-case scenario for Fallen Leaf Lake and Glen Alpine Creek. It’s also one the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service is not talking about.

When directly asked Wednesday night at the El Dorado County Fish & Game Commission meeting, the feds didn’t have an answer to what happens if the Lahontan are not successfully reintroduced to this water body.

“Never did we hear until this year that the long-term goal would be to not have rainbow trout. We were assured of the cohabitation of rainbow, lake and Lahontan cutthroat trout,” Jane Mitchell, who lives most of the year at Fallen Leaf Lake, said during the May 29 meeting at the U.S. Forest Service office in South Lake Tahoe.

While a USFWS rep vehemently refused to say the goal is eradication of the rainbow trout, a fact sheet created by her agency asks and answers a question in such a manner that complete elimination is the presumed goal.

Why do all the rainbow trout have to be removed from Fallen Leaf Lake and Glen Alpine Creek?

• Rainbow trout are not native to the Tahoe basin

• LCT and rainbow trout are ecologically similar and will spawn together and hybridize

• Hybridization results in the loss of the native, lacustrine LCT delaying and creating additional challenges for the reintroduction and recovery program at Fallen Leaf Lake

• Rainbow trout currently occupy the same feeding level as LCT in Fallen Leaf Lake and their presence is slowing the growth rate of LCT

• Rainbows removed during the spawning season are donated to the food bank

• Data such as food habits, age, and reproductive maturity.

Source: USFWS

The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service proposed the reintroduction of the native species to Fallen Leaf Lake in 1999, with the first stocking occurring in 2002. The plan from the start was to stock the lake with 30,000 to 50,000 Lahontan yearlings each year.

Jane Mitchell talks May 29 about how the information coming out about the Lahontan cutthroat trout program has changed, while Victor Babbitt listens. Photo/Kathryn Reed

This strain of the LCT is the Pilot Peak. It doesn’t exist outside the Tahoe area. And it’s on the federal threatened species list.

After researchers in 2012 documented spawning of LCT, they also realized this trout was breeding with rainbow. According to Lisa Heki with the USFWS, allowing crossbreeding to continue would eventually wipeout the LCT.

Two weirs have been installed in the creek in March – one near the mouth and one by the bridge at Stanford Camp – to separate the two species. The rainbows that are caught are killed to see what’s inside. The fillets are given to a food bank. So far this has only happened to a handful of rainbow.

The USFWS would not answer why the rainbow weren’t relocated to another section of Glen Alpine Creek or into Fallen Leaf Lake.

Tom Barnes, a local resident, said, “It sounds like you want to destroy the rainbow trout fishery. It sounds like there is no recovery plan if this doesn’t work.”

Even though the LCT have not had a presence in this area for about 100 years and the rainbow are well established, government policy is for the native to take precedence over the non-native.

Some in the room wanted the USFWS to set an end date for what everyone calls an experiment. An end date defining success or failure.

“I’m not going to go there at this point because we have not given them a fair opportunity,” Heki said.

Even though the project has been going on for a decade, Heki said much of the first five years was not effective and involved a lot of learning.

It surprised most people in the room that the area where the LCT spawn can still be fished. Working on getting a temporary ban or at a minimum placement of signs discouraging the practice was talked about.

Victor Babbitt, who is on the local fish and game commission and runs a fly fishing business in South Lake Tahoe, is most frustrated with the economics of the situation.

He believes the decimation of rainbow trout in the Fallen Leaf Lake area along with what has been done to other local fisheries has the potential to cripple the local fishing industry and cost the area millions in lost revenue. The revenue is from fishing expeditions, sales of fishing supplies and tourists just not coming to town.

The reintroduction program has cost taxpayers about $2.5 million to date.

No action was taken May 29, but it was agreed better communication between the USFWS and the community is needed.

To the community,

On behalf of the families and staff of Sierra House Elementary School, the PTA would like to thank the following for their generosity and support. Their contributions toward our “Sierra House Rocks It, Vegas Style” fundraiser on May 18 are greatly appreciated.

All proceeds will go toward our annual 5th Grade Naturebridge Field Science Program at the Marin Headlands.

We’d also like to thank those who attended and John and the members and staff of the American Legion.

What a fun night!

Thank you to:

American Legion

Café Fiore Italian Restaurant

Steamers’ Bar & Grill

Fat City Food Company

Straw Hat Pizza

Cakes by Grace

Harrah’s/Harveys Lake Tahoe

Lake Tahoe Beach & Ski Club

Lake Tahoe Golf Course

Sierra-at-Tahoe

Elements Day Spa

Lake Tahoe Massage & Skin Care

Moxy Fitness

Jump4Fun

Reno Aces

San Francisco 49ers

Lake Tahoe Cruises

Imagine Salon

Adore Boutique

Tahoe Bowl

Classic Cue

Sessions Salon

Acqua Hair Design

Mont Bleu Resort & Casino

Stateline Brewery

Tahoe Tot Spot

Grocery Outlet

Jennifer Bronken

Sober Grad Night Board of Directors

Robert and Jennifer Hart

Anthony and Erin Howard

Jill Rice

Chris and Heather Wildman

Jo Anna Chamarro

Kristen Perry

Shandi and Nick Ashmore

Edna Schwartz

Kellee Koeppen

Allison McClea

Ryan and Carey Galles

Morgan Cook

Merete and Jim Smith

Heather and Nick Bauer

Melody and Matt Levitt

Theresa and Brent Wolfe.

Sincerely,

Theresa Aguillon-Wolfe, Sierra House Elementary PTA secretary

U.S. Forest Service fuels management crews will resume prescribed fire operations on the East Shore on May 30.

Crews expect to burn approximately 1 to 3 acres west of the Spooner Summit area. Operations are scheduled to last through the day, weather and conditions permitting.

Residents and visitors can expect to see smoke from this prescribed fire project area. Smoke may be visible on Highway 50.

The Forest Service strives to minimize the impacts of smoke on local communities. Smoke-sensitive residents should consider staying indoors and keeping doors, windows and outside vents closed.

To directly receive prescribed fire updates, send an email to pa_ltbmu@fs.fed.us.

• The Fields Advisory Committee of the South Lake Tahoe Recreation Facilities Joint Powers Authority will meet June 3 from 4–6pm at Lake Tahoe Airport.

• Truckee’s Town Council and Planning Commission are having a workshop regarding the Truckee Springs project on June 6 at 6pm at council chambers, 10183 Airport Drive.

• Mammoth Mountain is open for skiing through June 1.

• Jim Promo will be general manager of The Landing Resort & Spa in South Lake Tahoe, while Jon Sween will be director of sales and marketing.

• The Bicycle Advisory Committee of the South Lake Tahoe Recreation Facilities Joint Powers Authority meets June 7 from 9-11am at Lake Tahoe Airport.

By Kristin Jones, Wall Street Journal

A unit of Berkshire Hathaway Inc. has agreed to buy NV Energy Inc. in a deal that values the Nevada-based utilities company at $5.59 billion.

The deal has an enterprise value of about $10 billion, the companies said. Representatives from the companies weren’t immediately available to comment on what is included in the enterprise value.

MidAmerican Energy Holdings Co., the Berkshire Hathaway subsidiary, has agreed to acquire the energy company at $23.75 a share, a premium of around 23 percent to NV Energy’s Wednesday closing price.

The transaction, which is subject to state and federal approval and other conditions, is expected to close in the first quarter of 2014.

“Part of what attracted MidAmerican to NV Energy is its solid commitment to the state of Nevada” and its performance as a high-quality energy company, said MidAmerican Chief Executive Greg Abel, adding that the company is impressed with the strategic direction of NV Energy Chief Executive Michael Yackira.

Abel said MidAmerican brings stability, expertise and competitively priced capital to NV Energy.

NV Energy will operate under its current name as a separate corporate subsidiary of MidAmerican, and it will continue to be based in Las Vegas.

NV Energy supplies power to residents on the Nevada side of the Lake Tahoe Basin.

Upon completion of the deal, MidAmerican Energy Holdings will have assets of around $66 billion and its regulated utilities will serve 8.4 million customers.

NV Energy’s Sierra Pacific and Nevada Power units have cut expenses, particularly fuel purchases, in an effort to counterbalance lower revenue recently. The company’s first-quarter earnings rose 76% as it sharply reduced expenses.

NV Energy shares rose 23 percent after hours to $23.75.

South Tahoe High School’s annual Pops Concerts are June 3 and June 5 from 7-8:30pm in the Tahoe Arts and Design Academy.

Tickets are $5.

Under the direction of Casson Scowcroft, the orchestra, band and jazz band will perform Monday featuring “Music through the Ages”. On Wednesday, the chorus, advanced chorus and glee club under the direction of Bob Grant will present “It Ain’t Easy Being Green”.

All proceeds will benefit STHS/TADA to provide opportunities for students beyond traditional curricular offerings such as guest conductors, special events, commissioning musical pieces, and more.

Susan Baker talks about the Young Parents Program she created at Mount Tallac High School in South Lake Tahoe.