The UC Cooperative Extension is helping people train to be a master gardener volunteer. Master gardener volunteers are people of all ages and from all walks of life with a common desire to help others learn about gardening and landscaping.

Any resident of Amador or El Dorado county may apply for one of the 24 openings. Residents of El Dorado County will train in Amador County. but will be El Dorado County master gardeners.

Applicants need Internet access. Most communication will be through email and websites. Weekly class quizzes and homework will be online.

For more information, call (530) 621.5528.

El Dorado County is constructing disabled access improvements to the parking lot and sidewalks at 2850 Fairlane Court, Building C in Placerville.

Work on the project will begin Nov. 12 and continues through Dec. 1, unless delayed due to weather.

The main entrance to Building C will remain open and fully accessible at all times, however, parking will be limited. The parking aisle closest to the building will be partially closed to through traffic. Additionally, temporary disabled parking will be relocated during construction.

If you have any questions or concerns, contact Dave Spiegelberg at dave.spiegelberg@edcgov.us or (530) 642.4940.

Tracy Protell, child and adolescent psychiatric specialist, has joined Sonia Rupp at Barton Psychiatry. Protell treats patients with developmental, behavioral, emotional and mental disorders.

She brings experience in the latest research and therapies related to autism, attention deficit disorder, anxiety, mood and other psychiatric disorders associated with medical conditions in children and adolescents.

Tracy Protell

“South Lake Tahoe is a big change from my last five-years living in Pittsburgh, but prior to that I attended medical school in Reno and had grown up in Truckee,” she said in a press release. “I do feel as though I am returning home and am so glad to be back.”

As a native of Truckee, Protell became an avid skier and snowboarder during the winter months and she wakeboards, water skis, hikes and golfs the rest of the year.

For more information, call Barton Psychiatry at (530) 543.5691.

A $68,000 grant awarded to Placer County by the California Office of Traffic Safety through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to fund officers to keep an eye on individuals who are on probation for felony DUI or multiple misdemeanor DUI convictions.

County officials say repeat misdemeanor DUI offenders are overrepresented in traffic crashes involving alcohol or other drugs, often with tragic results.

Supervision for these high-risk offenders will include unannounced home searches, random alcohol and drug testing and monitoring to ensure compliance with court-ordered DUI education and treatment programs.

The Intensive Probation Supervision for High-Risk Felony and Repeat DUI Offenders grant is aimed at reducing the number of people killed and injured in alcohol and other drug-related collisions in the county. In 2010, 14 were killed and 199 injured in such crashes in Placer County.

The Placer County Probation Department will also collaborate with other local law enforcement agencies to conduct DUI/driver’s license checkpoints and warrant service operations targeting individuals who fail to make court appearances after DUI arrests.

Thirty pounds of marijuana with an estimated street value of $75,000 was found at a Truckee residence on Friday.

Truckee officers were investigating a suspicious subject in the Sierra Meadows neighborhood on Nov. 9 when they contacted an individual at his residence and discovered approximately 30 pounds of processed marijuana and an active marijuana grow.

Police have not released the name of the individual who was arrested because other potential subjects are under investigation.

Officers said they found processed marijuana packaged for sale in half pound and pound quantities.

— Lake Tahoe News staff report

Curtis Fong, the Guy from Tahoe, is back with his ski reports. Today marks the first one for the 2012-13 ski season.

Fong, an award-winning writer who has been covering the ski industry for decades, will be providing daily ski reports for Lake Tahoe News. They will consistently appear each morning, usually by 8am, starting next week. Look under the Ski Conditions category at the top of the page to find that day’s report.

Here is the Nov. 10 ski report.

South Lake Tahoe’s Turkey Trot is Nov. 17, with sign-ups beginning at 10am.

Entry fees are $2 per runner.

Races are run snow, rain, or shine at the Parks and Recreation complex at 1180 Rufus Allen Blvd.

Race distances range from 25 yards to 2.8 miles for adults. Youth races begin at 11am and adults at noon.

This event is sponsored by the Tahoe Optimist Club.

For more information, call (530) 542.6056.

‘Skyfall’

Rated PG-13

5 out of 5 bagels

By Howie Nave

Before I even start, do not let anyone tell you about this movie because the “whoa” factor is pretty incredible with this one. That said, right from the beginning I like a movie that starts out with the action in your face before the credits even start to appear on the screen. So be forewarned: if you arrive late, you’re only hurting yourself.

If you’re a casual Bond fan, you’ll enjoy the action and the story stands on its own to make for a very good movie.

However, if you’re a true Bond fan, you are going to leave the theater more than satisfied at the references made from other Bond flicks that will make you laugh knowing some of the legendary characters from prior Bond movies.

Director Sam Mendes (“American Beauty”, “Road to Perdition”) not only pays homage to James Bond with this being the 50th anniversary of the classic spy franchise, but J.J. Abrams injects life into the stoic “Star Trek” franchise. Mendes electrifies with his first Bond movie, “Skyfall.”

The title sequence launches into Adele’s brilliant song of the same name with Daniel Kleinman back doing his trademark gun barrel sequences that is very impressive. And like a short teaser trailer all its own, sets the viewer up for the feature to follow.

Kleinman also did the title sequences for “Golden Eye” and “Casino Royale.” This is his sixth collaboration as title designer in the Bond series and his second with Bond character Daniel Craig.

This is Craig’s third outing as James Bond and, at 43, is still young enough to pull off a few more in the franchise. Rumor has it that he was offered at least four, possibly five more in the franchise which, if it’s true, would make him the longest running Bond by beating out Roger Moore who played Bond for seven movies.

All I know is that Daniel Craig is my favorite Bond in the franchise — dare I say, maybe even more so than Sean Connery? I’m going to take some heat for that comment, but Craig best encapsulates the multi-faceted character that is James Bond.

Trademarks of any great Bond flick are the villains. You can’t have a great spy unless you have an equally bad nemesis who challenges you and makes it personal. And here with Javier Bardem’s very badass and mentally whacked–out character, 007 has his hands full. Javier is simply brilliant in the role of Silva and pushes it like no other baddie I’ve seen in quite some time. Of course Judi Dench returns as the always-magnificent M who never lets on that she secretly admires Bond for getting the job done. And this time Bond and M are intricately twined, which gives “Skyfall” a great storyline that breathes between the breathtaking action scenes throughout. It gets pretty deep and I’ll just leave it at that.

The supporting cast is top-notch; making this movie even more of a delight than I was expecting. Ralph Fiennes as Gareth Mallory, who thinks some changes are needed at the MI6 Headquarters, is marvelous as is the new Q, played by Ben Whishaw. This marks the first time that a Q in the franchise was actually younger than the Bond character.

And what would any James Bond movie be without its Bond girls? Well guys there are two, but can’t say much more than that as to whose heart he wins. We have the very sexy Berenice Marlohe who turns the heat up on the screen and the just-as-sexy Naomie Harris.

Every character in “Skyfall” is like pieces to a successful puzzle and if any of them were missing would just weaken the movie. “Skyfall” is classic Bond, at its best paying homage to the franchise in a handsome way what with this being its 50th year and one of the best James Bond outings that I’ve seen since the last century. There will definitely be another Bond film coming that much is certain.

“Skyfall” is rated PG-13 for intense violent sequences throughout, some sexuality, language and smoking and clocks in at 145 minutes.

Howie Nave is host/emcee/manager of The Improv at Harveys. You can hear him Monday-Friday 6 to 10am on KRLT FM-93.9.

By Rob Leri

Thanks to everyone who spread the word about how critical the vote was for us on Tuesday. I am pleased with the passage of Proposition 30. This provides a restoration of approximately $1.6 million in ongoing funding for Tahoe Truckee Unified School District.

While this is a significant gain for us, we are still deficit spending and using reserves, so we will continue to need some reductions in expenditures in order to balance our budget.

Although early winter storms hampered some of the meetings, I truly appreciate all of you who came to show support and interest in implementing our new vision for the school district and to share your thoughts and ideas. It will take ongoing collaboration among parents, teachers, and district staff to make this vision a reality for our scholars. We are checking on dates to schedule another evening Coffee and Conversation meeting in Truckee later this month.

Rob Leri

There was a lot of speculation about the two snow days in early October — why they were called and the outlook for the rest of the school year. The early nature of these storms and the heavy amount of snow in a short time presented some unique challenges. If we’d had these same conditions later in the year, it’s possible that one of the snow days would not have been called. In the future, we will start posting a brief description on the TTUSD website about the reason a snow day is called.

On Oct. 18, the entire district participated in the Great American Shakeout to practice what to do should an earthquake hit during school hours. This was a great opportunity for staff and students to discuss emergency preparedness in general and to hone safe space practices and inform students of the best way to seek further help, when needed. Furthering our emergency preparedness efforts, the district recently purchased a new radio system. The new system serves every facility in the district and now meets FCC narrowband requirements so that communication is now clearer and more immediate should an emergency arise.

TTUSD’s energy saving and greening efforts continue to earn recognition from other districts and the industry. Since Anna Klovstad, C.E.M./project manager for TTUSD, introduced an energy saving plan for the district in 2008, TTUSD has saved more than $1 million. Students, faculty, and parents have embraced the effort and contributed to the district’s success. Most recently TTUSD was recognized by Western Area Power Administration, a division of the U.S. Department of Energy, with a top headline story on their October Energy Services Bulletin.

We continue to celebrate our status as an All-America City and recognize our local early childhood educators, elementary school teachers, parents, and community organizations who work toward the goal of all students reading at grade level by 3rd grade. Third-grade reading is key to long-term student achievement because third grade is when the focus on reading changes from learning to read to reading to learn. If students aren’t able to read instructional materials across the curriculum, their chance for success throughout school diminishes.

A great way for you to help your child advance his or her reading skills is by helping build their vocabulary. Help your child practice words that they don’t know that they come across when reading. Provide a simple definition for your child, then use it in another example and encourage your child to come up with their own example. Finally, try to keep new words active by using them within your house. The more words a reader knows, the more they are able to comprehend what they are reading or listening to.

Please don’t forget to continue reading with your child over the holidays and school breaks. Thanks for making reading an integral part of your child’s life.

Rob Leri is superintendent of Tahoe Truckee Unified School District.

The Truckee Planning Commission on Nov. 20 is scheduled to discuss the Trails and Bikeways Master Plan.

Updated maps will be presented at the 6pm meeting in council chambers.

The commission’s recommendation will be before the town council Nov. 27.