Lake Tahoe Markets honors the Nevada Senior Farmers’ Market Nutrition Program.

The SFMNP provides low-income seniors with coupons that can be exchanged for eligible foods at participating Nevada farmers markets. The purpose of this program is to increase the consumption of fresh fruits and vegetables, herbs and honey and to supplement the nutritional needs of Nevada seniors.

To qualify, a Nevada resident at least 60 years old must meet specific income guidelines and sign up at a local distributing agency site. To find a location, call 775. 353.3758.

SFMNP Coupons will be accepted at all Lake Tahoe Markets, including at Lampe Park in Gardnerville on Wednesdays, Lakeside Inn & Casino in Stateline on Wednesdays, the market at Tunnel Creek in Incline Village on Thursdays and the one at Tahoe Biltmore in Crystal Bay on Fridays.

By Josh Richman, San Jose Mercury News

For the first time in seven years, more California voters say they’re financially better off compared to the previous year than not, a Field Poll finds.

Forty-four percent of the state’s registered voters are feeling they’re doing better now than a year ago, while 28 percent say they’re worse off and 28 percent say there’s no change, the poll found. But the level of optimism on this and other questions differ dramatically, depending on where the voters live and how much money they make.

Nowhere is the outlook sunnier than in the Bay Area, where those who say California is having good economic times are tied with those who say we’re in bad times, at 35 percent each. This probably is the result of who lives and works in the Bay Area: Democrats and more affluent people are far likelier to say we’re having good times, according to the poll.

But the rest of the state is also feeling somewhat better.

Read the whole story

Nevada State Parks is putting on an evening hike along the Deadman’s Creek trail to watch the sunset and moonrise. The July 12 full moon is a “super moon,” which means the moon is at its closest point to the earth.

This will be a two-mile moderate hike that is limited to 30 participants; reservations are required. Call 775.687.4319 or email washoelake@hdiss.net to reserve your spot. Submit your name, phone number and the number of people.

Wear sturdy hiking shoes. Participants should also bring water, a camera and a flashlight. Dogs are allowed on this hike, but must remain on a leash.

The event is from 8:30-10:30pm. Meeting location will be made known upon registration.

Truckee police officers seized approximately 38 pounds of processed marijuana from a traffic stop on Interstate 80 on June 26.

At approximately 8:15pm a California Highway Patrol officer conducted a traffic stop on a grey Dodge Charger on eastbound Interstate 80 near the central Truckee off ramp. An officer observed several indicators of possible narcotics trafficking.

Truckee K-9 Trax and his handler responded. Several cardboard boxes and two large plastic storage containers had 31 heat sealed plastic packages of processed marijuana, according to officials. The estimated street value is more than $100,000.

The driver, Eric Draffen, 52, of New York was arrested on three felony counts of narcotics trafficking, possession, and possession for sales.

— Lake Tahoe News staff report

By Dionne Searcey, New York Times

Tracy Murphy was managing a nonprofit agency five years ago when her mother became seriously ill with heart problems. She promptly left her job to care for her, a task that has consumed Murphy ever since.

“For me, it was a no-brainer,” said Murphy, who lives in Syracuse. “When I was growing up she sacrificed for me.”

Murphy, 54, set aside her career aspirations, drained her savings account and eventually sold her gold jewelry to help make ends meet while shuttling her mother, who is 85, to doctors’ appointments and running errands.

“I always felt like I can find another job eventually — but I only have one mother,” she said.

Murphy is part of a small but economically significant group that is bucking a powerful decades-long movement of women of all ages into the labor market. In the years since the last recession began, many women like Ms. Murphy, in their late 40s and early 50s, have left the work force just as they were reaching their peak earning years.

The demands on middle-aged women to care for their parents, particularly during difficult economic times that force many families to share resources, are not the only reason for the shift. Some economists also attribute the unexpected phenomenon to extensive budget cuts by state and local governments, which employ women in large numbers and were hit harder during this recession than in previous downturns.

Read the whole story

The South Lake Tahoe Police Department has increased its vigilance in enforcing state and city fireworks laws to protect public health and safety.

Virtually all fireworks that explode, shoot into the air or move along the ground are termed “dangerous”, and are illegal anywhere in California. Discharging any type of fireworks, including “safe and sane” fireworks, is against the law in South Lake Tahoe. This includes devices such as simple sparklers.

Police will confiscate any fireworks and issue citations to violators. Possession of larger style fireworks may be prosecuted as a felony.

According to the National Fire Protection Association, on a typical Fourth of July, fireworks cause more fires in the U.S. than all other causes combined.

South Lake Tahoe police officers were clearly visible at the first Live at Lakeview concert on June 26.

“Last night, we issued several citations for mostly smoking and drinking offenses,” Police Chief Brian Uhler told Lake Tahoe News. “Our intent is to make clear the desire to keep the Live at Lakeview event family friendly. Last year, we were not as enforcement oriented as we could have been in hopes of voluntary compliance. It was clear that this was a mistake as people took advantage and harmed the event atmosphere.”

Cigarette and pot smoking have been a growing concern at the concerts, which are now in their third year. Smoking of any kind is not permitted at the city owned facility.

The City Council last year at the end of the concert season had directed the police department to have a greater presence at the venue.

“We will continue the pressure to keep people from breaking the law at this event throughout the summer,” Uhler added.

The free concerts are every Thursday from 4:30-8:30pm through Aug. 28.

— Lake Tahoe News staff report

By AP

RENO — Lingering drought is taking a toll on wildlife across Northern Nevada, shrinking deer herds on the high desert, drying up fisheries in the valleys and starting to push everything from bears to snakes into urban neighborhoods they normally don’t frequent.

Mule deer especially are showing signs of stress, and some fisheries may be lost altogether by the end of the summer as a result of a third consecutive year of serious drought, state wildlife officials say.

“It’s stressing the animals, and it’s stressing the habitat itself,” David Catalano, a supervisory biologist with the Nevada Department of Wildlife, told the Reno Gazette-Journal.

Snowpack was low after a dismal winter, leading streams and creeks that normally flow into July or later to go dry in March or April, Catalano said. That’s causing small animals like rabbits and squirrels to flock to neighborhoods where water, grass and insects are plentiful.

“They’ve got a mini-ecosystem that is flourishing, so all these little critters are drawn there,” Catalano said. “Now they are all competing a lot more for shelter and for foraging.”

The rodents in turn attract predators. Catalano said calls regarding snakes on people’s property in the Reno-Sparks area have increased significantly since the drought began.

At Lake Tahoe and across the Carson Range, hungry bears are on the move because they can’t find the berries and other natural food sources they normally depend on.

Meanwhile, since 2012, Nevada’s mule deer herd has declined from an estimated 112,000 animals to about 108,000 this year, said Cody Schroeder, the department’s specialist on the animal.

The grasses and flowering plants mule deer eat in the summer are increasingly scarce, as well as the sagebrush and bitterbrush they consume in winter. As a result, the deer are slowly wasting, and the youngest are most at risk, Schroeder said.

Fish are in trouble, too.

Kim Tisdale, Nevada’s supervisory fisheries biologist, said the Carson and Walker rivers could go dry.

“We could lose those fisheries,” Tisdale said. “It’s a possibility. We’re hoping not.”

They lack the same upstream storage of the Truckee River, which likely will have enough water to protect fish there, Tisdale said.

But Lahontan and Rye Patch reservoirs are down significantly. Very hot weather this summer could kill off fish by robbing those fisheries of dissolved oxygen, Tisdale said.

Wildhorse and Willow Creek reservoirs in Elko County are facing serious risks of a die-off. The state lifted catch limits in the two lakes in mid-May to try to empty them of fish before conditions become uninhabitable.

Now is a good time to go fishing because area lakes have recently been stocked with trout.

The California Department of Fish and Wildlife put 15,000 pounds of rainbow trout into Caples Lake last week. Browns and mackinaw are also found in this lake near Kirkwood.

Officials are putting 1,000 pounds of trout into the east and west forks of the Carson River this month. Before the holiday weekend, Alpine County said it plans to stock the river with 1,800 pounds of rainbow.

Silver Lake has also been stocked by the state.

It might have helped Northern Nevada casinos to have a local horse in the Kentucky Derby and Preakness in May. Gaming revenue was up in Stateline, Reno and the entire state last month compared to the prior year.

One of the owners of California Chrome, the winner of those two races, works in Gardnerville and lives in Topaz Lake. Sports books were busy because of this.

The Nevada Gaming Control Board on Friday released May’s gaming revenue numbers.

At Stateline, casinos brought in $17 million – an increase of 8 percent compared to May 2013. Reno revenue was $52 million – an increase of 4 percent. Nevada as a whole collected $970 million for an 8.11 percent increase.

The three online poker websites in the state saw an 8.8 percent increase in revenue from April to $862,000.

— Lake Tahoe News staff report