By Ron Charles, Washington Post

Chapter 1: You stumble upon an interesting book at your neighborhood bookstore.

Chapter 2: You go home and order it from Amazon for half as much.

Chapter 9: Your favorite bookstore is bankrupt.

Booksellers call it “showrooming,” and it drives them crazy — and out of business. Barnes & Noble believes that 40 percent of its customers use the store as a place to discover and examine titles, but then buy the books online.

This bookstore in McCloud in Northern California is fine with browsers. Photo/LTN

How might “real” bookstores fight back against their Amazonian nemesis?

During an interview on BBC this weekend, UK HarperCollins CEO Victoria Barnsley referred to certain shoe shops that charge customers to try on merchandise. Perhaps, she suggested, bookstores could do that, too. The idea of asking customers to pay for the privilege of browsing physical books before purchasing them is “not that insane,” she said. Bookstores could become, in essence, “book clubs.”

Would you pay to page through novels in a book showroom?

People I spoke with in the industry saw no hope in that direction.

“If it comes to charging admission for customers to browse, we’re done,” said Mark Laframboise, the manager of Politics & Prose in Washington. Rather than expect customers to pay more, he placed the onus on publishers. “What we need is some recognition from publishers that people are learning about books at brick-and-mortar bookstores and buying them through a multitude of channels and platforms. Publishers, in recognition of this, should offer increased co-op and increased discounts to stores.”

Tim Huggins, a former bookstore owner in the Boston area who now works as an industry consultant, said that Barnsley’s idea made him “laugh and then cringe.” He imagined a carnival carney standing in front of the store shouting: “See the bearded lady turning pages! See the world’s tallest man with two-covered tomes!”

Eileen McGervey, the owner of One More Page Books in Arlington, had a similarly skeptical reaction. But she notes that her business is changing fast since she opened in 2011. “While I don’t see the ‘cover charge’ happening anytime soon (if ever) . . . sometimes there are events where people pay to see an author or participate in an event. But one of the things I love about today’s model is that anyone interested in learning about a book or being surrounded by books, can do it.”

Politics & Prose co-owner Lissa Muscatine said showrooming is a major problem for the industry, but not so much for her store. “As long as customers appreciate the services that indies provide — a gathering spot that offers human interaction, expert booksellers who can make thoughtful and customized recommendations, other kinds of programming, and the browsing and discovery experience that readers enjoy — we won’t have to contemplate something as draconian as charging people to browse the aisles. I certainly hope it never comes to that.”

Perhaps the closest example of the “book club” model is in the San Francisco Area, where the famous Kepler’s bookstore recently resurrected itself by collecting more than $700,000 in donations from area customers. The store is also exploring the possibility of selling charitable shares of its business. But that’s a particularly beloved store, set among a particularly wealthy clientele, and it remains open to anyone, whether they want to buy or just showroom.

Knopf Publicity Director Paul Bogaards scoffed at the idea of charging customers to look at physical books. “We already have a pay-to-browse model,” he said by e-mail. “They are called ‘libraries,’ and they are supported by our tax dollars.”

The Nevada Department of Public Safety Communications Center will have its telephone lines worked on Feb. 16 which may interrupt the ability dispatchers to receive phone calls.

These repairs and updates are scheduled to take place between 8am and noon. Additionally, there is a possibility the Nevada Highway Patrol emergency line may be out of service.

If anyone needs to make a non-emergency phone call for service, call (702) 486.4100, ext. 6 to reach one of the dispatchers in the NHP Las Vegas office. To report a highway-related emergency during the possible phone service outage, dial 911.

The NHP Las Vegas office will be dispatching troopers and other divisions of DPS in Northern Nevada during this period.

Dylan Hudson of Placerville pleaded guilty Feb. 15 to conspiring to manufacture, distribute, and possess with intent to distribute marijuana.

According to court documents, the 26-year-old was in charge of an interstate marijuana-trafficking conspiracy. More than 1,100 pounds of processed marijuana, more than $329,000 in cash, and eight firearms were seized during the investigation.

Hudson is scheduled to be sentenced May 3. He faces a statutory mandatory minimum prison term of five years, a maximum prison term of 40 years, and a $5 million fine.

— Lake Tahoe News staff report

South Lake Tahoe’s former Community Services director has filed a lawsuit against the city.

Stan Sherer worked for the city from January 2011 to July 2012. He was hired by then City Manager Tony O’Rourke and fired by City Manager Nancy Kerry.

Five allegations are in the suit. They boil down to wrongful termination and age discrimination. Department heads are at will employees and do not have contracts with the city, nor are they part of an employee bargaining unit.

Stan Sherer

Sherer told Lake Tahoe News he is not able to comment on the suit at this time.

Nira Feeley, deputy city attorney, said the item would be on closed session March 5 for the City Council to discuss.

In the next week it should be decided if the matter will be handled in house or if outside counsel will be hired. City Attorney Patrick Enright leaves in May and Feeley is expected to go out on maternity leave in the summer for a short while.

The city was notified of the lawsuit on Feb. 11. There is a 30-day window to respond to the initial filing. The suit did not come as a surprise because Sherer had filed a claim against the city last year, which the council denied. This is the normal precursor to a lawsuit.

— Lake Tahoe News staff report

Get on the slopes before the holiday weekend crowds arrive.

Here is the Feb. 15 ski report.

— Curtis Fong

• This is National Freelance Writers Appreciation Week. Lake Tahoe News salutes these writers everywhere, but especially our own contributors. Thank you for all you do.

• The mile-long terrain park is open at Alpine Meadows

• The comment period on the Truckee area Canyon Springs draft environmental report has been extended to March 6. More info online.

• Lake Tahoe South Shore Chamber of Commerce received two awards from the Western Association of Chamber. The first award acknowledged the 3rd annual Sample the Sierra. The second award recognized the chamber’s work with TahoeFuture.

• White House B&B Murder Mystery Dinner in Genoa is March 23 at 7 pm. Tickets are $45 per person. Call (775) 782.4951 for reservations. Seating is limited and by reservation only.

By Kathryn Reed

A four-year project to restore a section of the Upper Truckee River is expected to start in June.

A major hurdle to make the U.S. Forest Service project a reality was overcome Thursday when the Lahontan Regional Water Quality Control Board unanimously gave its approval.

Because there will be disturbance to stream environment zones and projections are the turbidity of the river will exceed normal levels, the board needed to grant these allowances to occur during construction.

The U.S. Forest Service will begin restoring a section of the Upper Truckee River this summer. Photo/LTN

The Tahoe Regional Planning Agency Governing Board must sign off on the project. That approval is needed because more than 100 trees greater than 14 inches in diameter will be taken out because they encroach on the meadow. It may be on the April agenda.

“The project is necessary to help rewater the meadow system,” Nancy Gibson, Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit forest supervisor, told the Lahontan board Feb. 14. “It’s one of the primary reasons we are pursuing this project.”

This is one of many projects along the river. Some are completed, others are in the planning stages, and others are just being talked about.

With the Upper Truckee River being the largest tributary to Lake Tahoe, it carries the most amount of sediment. The goal is to make the waterway flow more naturally like it did before it was disturbed for ranching, building the airport and other needs. This in turn will mean less sediment reaching Lake Tahoe because the banks of the river will be more contoured, thus allowing the water to go over the banks and flood the meadow. The fine particles in the future will be deposited in the meadow.

The Forest Service will be repairing what’s called reaches 5 and 6, for a total of 13,000 feet of channel. The project starting this summer and what has the regulatory approval is for Reach 5, also known as the Sunset Stables Reach. The Forest Service and California Tahoe Conservancy own the land that runs parallel to and directly east of Lake Tahoe Airport.

Sunset Stables will be the staging area. By not having it at Elks Club it allows the annual summer flea market to remain open.

What is planned:

• Year 1: New channel construction, approximately 4,000 feet.

• Year 2: Remaining new channel construction, approximately 3,300 feet; utility line relocation. South Tahoe Public Utility District’s backup treated effluent export line and water line will be relocated and buried.

• Year 3: Irrigation and seasoning; no active construction.

• Year 4: Construct channel tie-ins, floodplain grading area, and connect new channel to Upper Truckee River flows.

Extra dirt that is needed will come from a South Lake Tahoe erosion control project.

During construction it’s likely areas will be off-limits to the public for safety reasons. The whole project is expected be done in October 2016.

In other action:

• The Lahontan board approved amendments to the Lake Tahoe Basin Plan.

By Mandy Kendall

I had, shall we say, an interesting day last week. Our puppy got a gastro-intestinal thing and proceeded to have multiple accidents around the house, a water pipe burst and was flooding our living room and then a speaker I had organized to come and present to a group of professionals called to say that his connecting flight had been canceled and he would not make the presentation. So when my phone rang in the middle of this, and I snapped a less than friendly welcome to the caller, I realized that I was perhaps feeling a little stressed.

Mandy Kendall

We all experience stress in our lives in a variety of ways and on a number of different levels. There’s the short term – I’m going to be really late for my appointment if this traffic doesn’t move along – type stress. There’s the medium term –I can’t wait until this project is over and I can relax again – type stress. Then there is the long term chronic – I can’t see a way out of this – type of stress.

While the short-lived stress might not seem as bad as the longer lasting versions, the tendency is that we will have multiple short-term stressful situations that all add up to having about the same impact on us as one big stressful event.

You may have heard people say a little stress is good for you, but research is showing that no stress is particularly good for you and studies are finding the significant impact stress can have on our health.

Columbia University Medical Center equated chronic stress with being as dangerous as smoking five cigarettes a day. During their research they discovered that people who said they felt overwhelmed and anxious were 27 percent more likely to suffer a heart attack than those who said they weren’t under any undue stress.

Increasingly stronger correlations are being discovered between stress and sickness. Studies are showing that cortisol, produced when you are under stress, impacts the immune system and causes more inflammation than an actual cold would produce, thereby increasing the symptoms and the duration of the illness.

There is some good news however. Studies of cancer patients found those who underwent stress management programs had a significantly better physical recovery than those who didn’t.

So here are a few Qwik-e tips on how to help lower those stress levels and improve your overall health.

Listen to your heart — If your heart starts racing, or you can feel your heartbeat in your chest (and you are not physically exerting yourself) chances are you are experiencing something you perceive to be stressful. Try and remove yourself from, or resolve to change the situation. If your heart is not in it, then chances are, if you go ahead and do it any way, it will only lead to you feeling some sort stress.

Don’t stress to impress – Life’s too short to do things for other people that puts stress in your life. Politely saying no can be a very liberating and calming experience.

Go to your happy place – Looking at, or thinking about, a place (or person or thing) you love can have a remarkably soothing effect on your body and your mind. The Mayo Clinic reports that a good belly laugh produces happy endorphins in the brain and relaxes muscles, which is very effective for stress relief.

Avoid stress eating — I know it might seem fairly obvious that a junk food fest is not the best remedy for combating stress, but here is why. Stress slows down our digestive systems (supposedly stemming back to when we thought it more beneficial to delay digesting our food and run away from the saber tooth tiger first). This increase in digestion time however leads to increased weight gain. Conversely, healthier foods like nuts and fish (admittedly not exactly what we might crave when we are stressed out) may reduce inflammation and reduce anxiety.

Put it in perspective — Whenever I got in an emotional state growing up my dear old mum used to stop me in my tracks and say, “Is anyone going to die?”. Sometimes things get blown out of proportion and taking a moment to assess what is going on and focusing on what’s really important can really calm things down.

Find your thing — There will be something for all of us that we know just calms us down. It could be talking a walk, watching a movie, chatting with friends, exercising. etc. Whatever your de-stresser is, try to do more of it.

Let it out – When all else fails, sometimes you just need to let off steam. Pick an appropriate place, the more private the better, and let … it … out.

Until next time.

Mandy Kendall operates Health Connective in South Lake Tahoe, which aligns wellness seekers with their ideal wellness provider. If you have questions, would like some advice, or would like to request some Qwik-e tips on any health and well-being topic, drop her an email at connect@healthconnective.com or keep an eye out on Lake Tahoe News for regular Qwik-e tips on how to make healthy changes one Quick and Easy step at a time.

Diamond Peak Ski Resort and the Incline Village General Improvement District rewards Incline Village students for academic success with its Excellence in Education Program.

Students enrolled through grade 12 in Incline Village schools, including the Lake Tahoe School, receive a free 2012-13 season pass in exchange for a report card with straight-A’s. The offer is also for children of Incline Village property owners attending other schools.

To claim the complimentary season pass, students must present the original report card from the period ending Jan. 18, 2013, at Diamond Peak Guest Services. Students who have already purchased season passes receive a full refund.

Diamond Peak’s Excellence in Education Program is designed to recognize the importance of academic success and reward the hard work and dedication of students in the local community.

For more information, call (775) 832.1177.

A San Jose woman died while skiing at Homewood Mountain Resort on Feb. 13.

KNCO-AM is reporting medical personnel were not able to revive Yesenia Guadalupe Garcia-Ramirez.

This is a recording from the radio station of Placer County sheriff’s Deputy Dina Erwin talking about the fatal accident.

— Lake Tahoe News staff report