Janet Steinmann and Mimi Komito, longtime herb gardeners in Lake Tahoe, are putting on a class called Tasty Mountain-Friendly Herbs.

The master gardeners will teach people all about herb gardening in Tahoe. They will share tips on how, when and where to grow a delicious herb garden in Tahoe’s sometimes challenging climate.

Food and drink will be shared with participants to feature the many uses of herbs.

The free workshop is July 9 from 5:30-6:30pm at North Lake Tahoe Demonstration Garden, Sierra Nevada College, 999 Tahoe Blvd., Incline Village.

By Blair Anthony Robertson, Sacramento Bee

You can spend lots of cash outfitting your kitchen – with designer pots and pans, with gadgets large and small – and wonder where all the money went. That’s not the case with cast iron. It’s inexpensive, sturdy as a tank, versatile as a Swiss Army knife and, best of all, will probably outlive you.

A 12-inch skillet, for example, costs about $30 and has a life expectancy of, say, forever.

Once considered impossibly clunky and old-fashioned, cast-iron cookery has made a major comeback in recent years. A new generation of home cooks has discovered the nonstick potential of a well-seasoned skillet. People are sautéing, searing, frying, making flapjacks and even baking bread.

Yes, cast iron, which has been around for centuries and mass-manufactured since the 1800s, is cool again, in large part because no cookery seems to retain heat better. And, with a little bit of knowledge and care, you create a nonstick surface nearly the equal of Teflon-coated pans, which tend to last but a few years.

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Barton Health has $25,000 in grants to give away this year.

The deadline to apply is June 27.

Grants fund proposals that address the health and wellness of individuals in the South Shore. Priority will be given to the top three health concerns: substance abuse, access to healthcare, and mental health.

For more info, contact Kindle Craig at 530.543.5612 or go online.

By Kathryn Reed

Douglas County voters clearly want Ron Pierini to be sheriff.

Assuming he carries the momentum he had Tuesday into November, he will continue on as sheriff.

Ron Pierini

With 100 percent of the precincts reporting June 10, Pierini dominated his opponents by tallying 69.36 percent of the votes with 6,335 votes. David Brady had 20.67 percent, 1,888; and Michael Gyll 9.97 percent, 911.

The top two – Pierini and Brady – meet again in November.

“It’s been quite an experience for me because I never had to go out and do the things I am today. I look forward to November,” Pierini told Lake Tahoe News.

Pierini was appointed to be sheriff by county commissioners and then elected in 1997. Every four years since then he had not had a challenger until this year.

He spent time going door-to-door, at debates and talking to residents at other locations.

“It solidified the fact we are doing a good job,” Pierini said of the feedback he received.

He has led a department that has seen its budget cut by $2 million and the loss of 10 positions. Despite the cutbacks, the department’s arrest to prosecution rate is 38 percent. Nationwide the average is 22 percent.

Pierini praised his deputies for the work they do and their ethics, underlining the fact the department has not had to deal with any scandals.

In the other contested race in Douglas County, incumbent Jim Wheeler will retain his seat in the state Assembly. The District 39 representative had 4,435 votes for 62.32 percent, while challenger Robin Reedy has 2,681 votes or 37.68 percent. This seat extends to Lake Tahoe.

Nevada was expecting a low voter turnout that could set a record. The state allows early and mail-in ballots. Those could account for two-thirds of the votes cast. They represented 18.74 percent of the votes in Douglas County.

By Stephen Magagnini, Sacramento Bee

Next month, the largest gambling emporium in Sacramento County will open in a long-dormant shopping center on Antelope Road off Interstate 80 in Citrus Heights.

Kings Casino LLC of San Diego has invested $15 million in the Stones Gambling Hall, a double-barreled complex with two card rooms and a Wild West flair built around a 180-seat bar and restaurant. Developer Ryan Stone, a newcomer to the casino business, said he’s in the process of filling 400 jobs for dealers, cashiers, cooks, bartenders, waiters and security guards.

Tingle called Stones Gambling Hall a “mini-version of Thunder Valley,” the wildly successful Indian casino on Highway 65 in Placer County. Tingle said the card room would have a restaurant equivalent to those found in Indian casinos.

In order to compete with Thunder Valley and other Indian casinos, Stones Gambling Hall will have to attract the region’s Asian gamblers, who play pai gow poker as well as poker, blackjack and baccarat, said Ken Adams, a Reno-based gambling consultant. The casino’s location right off I-80 could help, he said.

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By Jennifer Medina, New York Times

LOS ANGELES — A Los Angeles Superior Court judge ruled Tuesday that teacher tenure laws deprive students of their constitutional right to an education, a decision that hands teachers’ unions a major defeat in a landmark case that overturns several California laws that govern the way teachers are hired and fired.

“Substantial evidence presented makes it clear to this court that the challenged statutes disproportionately affect poor and/or minority students,” Judge Rolf M. Treu wrote in the ruling. “The evidence is compelling. Indeed, it shocks the conscience.”

The ruling, which declared the laws governing how teachers are hired and fired in California to be unconstitutional, is likely to set off a slew of legal fights here and in other states, where many education reform advocates are eager to change similar laws. The ruling brings a close to the first chapter of the case, Vergara v. California, but both sides have made it clear that they plan to appeal any decision that goes against them to the State Supreme Court.

The plaintiffs argued that California’s current laws made it impossible to get rid of low-performing and incompetent teachers, who were disproportionately assigned to schools filled with poor students. The result, they insisted, amounted to a violation of students’ constitutional rights to an education.

But lawyers for the states and teachers’ unions said that overturning such laws would erode necessary protections that stop school administrators from making unfair personnel decisions. They also argued that the vast majority of teachers in the state’s schools are competent and providing students with all the necessary tools to learn. More important factors than teachers, they argued, are social and economic inequalities as well as the funding levels of public schools.

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• Soroptimist International South Lake Tahoe is looking for someone to design the poster for November’s wine tasting. Entry dealing is July 1. For more info, call 530.867.4586.

• The Bicycle Advisory Committee of the South Lake Tahoe Recreation Facilities Joint Powers Authority will meet June 13 from 9-11am in the upstairs conference room at Lake Tahoe Airport.

• A proposed bike park at Bijou Community Park will be on the June 12 8:30am South Lake Tahoe Parks and Recreation Commission agenda. The meeting is at the rec complex on Rufus Allen Boulevard.

• The two major Las Vegas newspapers are reporting seeing Don Marrandino hanging back in Southern Nevada hanging out the Hard Rock Hotel. He used to run Harrah’s Lake Tahoe and Harveys. Local rumor is that he will take over the former Horizon that is being redeveloped into a Hard Rock themed hotel.

• Bona Fide Books is accepting submissions for the 2014 Melissa Lanitis Gregory Poetry Prize through Aug. 31. For more info, go online.

The West Shore’s Glenridge Water Company’s water tank has been prone to vandalism, with the latest coming late last month.

Dry sticks and logs were placed against and all around the water tank to create a campfire in the woods. The area is extremely dry and this kind of activity could lead to a catastrophic forest fire.

“Before this recent incident, the majority of the vandalism was tagging the water tank with graffiti.The owner has assumed it’s kids messing around at the tank,” Kelli Twomey with the water agency told Lake Tahoe News.

“The campfire didn’t cause much damage, but the concern is the risk of something like this causing a forest fire.”

Community members are asked to report any suspicious behavior near the water tank, which is located just north of Meeks Bay, in Glenridge. Call the water company at 530.525.6659 or the Meeks Bay Fire Department at 530.525.7548 with any information. A reward is being offered.

— Lake Tahoe News staff report

By Eli Segall, Las Vegas Sun

After years of court battles, Las Vegas alcohol distributor Larry Ruvo’s company has been awarded more than $5 million from a competitor that was found to have illegally undercut him.

But whether Ruvo, who also has a place in Glenbrook, collects all of his court-ordered payments is another issue.

District Judge Mark Denton last week ordered alcohol distributor Guy Azera’s companies to pay Southern Wine & Spirits of Nevada $5.36 million in damages, fees and interest.

The ruling comes almost a year after a local jury found that Azera’s firms had committed fraud, civil conspiracy, unfair competition and other tactics that illegally crimped Ruvo’s business.

It was the first time a Nevada jury awarded punitive damages for violations of the state’s alcohol distribution laws, and Ruvo’s victory in the case helps ensure that consumers drink authentic, quality alcohol, his attorney E. Leif Reid said.

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Artist Avery Palmer will give a talk on his artwork and a demonstration on his ceramic techniques at Lake Tahoe Community College on June 20.

The 6pm event will be in Room F101. It is free an open to the public. Palmer will present slides and discuss his ceramic sculptures, paintings and drawings.

On June 21 from 9-11am in F104 Palmer will demonstrate various ceramic building and texturing techniques, as well as surface painting applications. The demonstration is open to all current LTCC students, staff and faculty.

Space is limited for both presentations.