By Allison Aubrey, NPR

Yes, we love salt. It makes everything taste better. But as a society, we’re eating way too much of it. And, so are our children.

A study from researchers at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows that children in the U.S. between the ages of 8 and 18 are eating, on average, 3,387 mg per day. That’s about the same amount as adults. But it’s a lot more than the 2,300 mg daily limit recommended by the federal dietary guidelines.

And the result? Janelle Gunn, a public health analyst with the CDC, says it’s pretty clear. “We found that higher sodium intake was associated with higher blood pressure,” she says.

The association was strongest among children who were overweight. “We found among overweight and obese participants (in the study), that for every 1,000 mg of sodium they consumed, their blood pressure response was seven times greater (compared to healthy-weight children),” explains Gunn.

Overall, the researchers found that about 15 percent of the children in the study had high either elevated or high blood pressure. In adults, high blood pressure is considered a major risk factor for heart disease and stroke.

Read the whole story

El Dorado County Health and Human Services Agency, Public Health Division will begin conducting low-cost community flu vaccination clinics on Sept. 26, with additional clinics offered through mid-November. The seasonal influenza vaccine will be available in nasal mist and flu shot forms at the clinics.

“Everyone 6 months of age or older should get vaccinated against the flu annually for the best protection,” Lynnan Svensson, supervising Public Health nurse with the Public Health Division, said in a press release. “High-risk individuals, such as children under age 5, people 65 years and older, pregnant women and people with chronic diseases like asthma, diabetes or heart and lung disease are especially encouraged to be vaccinated. In addition, it is extremely important for health care workers and those individuals taking care of these high-risk persons to be immunized.”

The cost of the vaccine is $10, but no one will be denied service due to inability to pay; cash or check accepted. Parents should bring their child’s immunization records.

Updated information on the community flu clinics will be posted online and on the County Flu Hotline at (530) 621.6188.

South Lake Tahoe clinics:

• Sept. 26 through Nov. 14 from 9:30am to 12:30pm at the Senior Center, 3050 Lake Tahoe Blvd. No clinic on Oct. 17.

• Oct. 17 from noon-6pm at Bijou School, 3501 Spruce Ave., Teachers Lounge.

• Oct. 24 from 3-6pm at Lake Tahoe Airport.

West Slope Community clinics:

• Sept. 26 from 1-4pm at the Georgetown Fire Station, 6281 Main St.

• Sept. 27 from 12:30-3:30pm at the El Dorado Hills Senior Center, 990 Lassen Lane, in the Small Game Room.

• Oct. 3 from 10am-1pm at Pioneer Park, 6740 Fairplay, Somerset.

• Oct. 3 from 1-4pm at the Garden Valley Fire Station, 4860 Marshall Road.

• Oct. 9 from 1:30-4:30pm at the County Fairgrounds, 100 Placerville Drive, in the Organ Room, Placerville.

• Oct. 13 from 10am-1pm at the Divide Wellness Center, 6065 Highway 193, Georgetown.

• Oct. 18 from 1:30-4:30pm at the Cameron Park Fire Station, 3200 Country Club Drive.

• Oct. 24 from 2-4pm at the Community Church, 5061 Sciaroni Road, Grizzly Flats.

• Oct. 25 from 1:30-4:30pm at the Community Church, 6361 Pony Express Trail, in the Evergreen Room, Pollock Pines.

• Nov. 1 from 1-4pm at the County Fairgrounds, 100 Placerville Drive, in the Pavilion, Placerville. Drive through clinic.

• Nov. 6 from 12:30-3pm at the Mother Lode Lions Hall, 4701 Missouri Flat Road, Diamond Springs.

By Chad Hanson

Many people believe that extensive commercial logging on our national forests, especially clear-cutting, is a thing of the past – something that ceased back in the 1980s. Unfortunately, the U.S. Forest Service is now clear-cutting old-growth forests again on our public lands at taxpayer expense.

A current example is the Outback logging project north of Independence Lake in the Tahoe National Forest, where the agency is clear-cutting nearly 500 acres of old-growth forest. The Forest Service knows that public opposition to commercial logging on public lands has grown over the years, so the agency, with a wink and a nod, has creatively promoted the Outback project and others like it as “ecological restoration” and “forest health.”

Tens of millions of taxpayer dollars are spent every year subsidizing commercial logging on our public lands, and the Forest Service profits not only from these funds, but also from the timber sales revenue generated by selling trees on national forests to private logging corporations. The agency keeps most of the revenue for its own budget.

With such a perverse incentive for forest management abuse on public lands, it is no wonder the agency is increasingly finding creative ways to justify selling large trees, including old-growth trees, for its own profit. In order to do so, however, it must mislead the public and misrepresent the science.

In the environmental assessment for the Outback project, for example, the Forest Service claims that some logging of conifer trees is needed in order to promote growth and regeneration of aspen stands. However, the existing science simply does not support the notion that old-growth forest must be clear-cut in order to accomplish this. Far from it.

In fact, the Forest Service’s own study, conducted in the northern Sierra Nevada, found that thinning only smaller, younger trees within just 30 feet of aspen stands effectively encouraged aspen growth and regeneration. In stark contrast, in the Outback project the Forest Service is clear-cutting 150 feet or more from aspen trees in huge swaths, even removing the great majority of the large conifers 8 feet around and bigger, which are 250 to 300 years old based upon my count of the tree rings. Some even larger, older trees are slated for logging if the agency completes the remaining 200 acres of the Outback project.

Like a time warp back to the 1980s, the Outback environmental assessment also suggests that this extreme commercial logging is somehow necessary in order to “reduce fuels” and prevent patches of higher-intensity wildland fire where most of the trees are killed. However, it has been well known and established scientifically for many years that aspen regenerates and grows most vigorously after wildland fire, especially where fire burns hotter.

It has also been known now for decades that such post-fire areas, called “snag forest habitat,” are a natural part of the mixed-intensity fire regimes in these forests and, unlike clear-cuts, comprise one of the most biodiverse and ecologically important forest habitat types in Western forests, due to standing dead trees. The snags, as they are called, are used for foraging and nesting by native woodpeckers, such as the rare and imperiled black-backed woodpecker, as well as native flowering shrubs and dense pockets of natural forest regeneration, which provide habitat for many small mammals, native species of flying insects and the flycatchers and other birds that feed upon them.

So, if you hike around on our national forests these days, prepare yourself. With projects like Outback, and the self-serving Orwellian doublespeak used to justify it, what you see may look and feel a lot like 1984.

Chad Hanson is the director of the John Muir Project of Earth Island Institute, based in Cedar Ridge in the northern Sierra Nevada.

Updated Sept. 18 10:05pm: Power is restored to all customers.

——-

Updated Sept. 18 9:15pm: All of the Keys north of Texas has power restored. A burned jumper has been identified in the overhead portion. Once that is fixed, the remaining customers will have their power restored within the hour.

———

Part of the Tahoe Keys and state streets in South Lake Tahoe are in the dark tonight.

Liberty Utilities said the outage was reported about 7:45pm Sept. 18. Crews are on the scene trying to figure out the problem.

Until the cause is determined there is no estimate of when power will be restored.

A spokesman for the utility told Lake Tahoe News he is not sure how many customers are without power, but said it’s quite a few.

— Lake Tahoe News staff report

Barton Health and family nurse practitioner Patience Wenck are hosting a free community wellness lecture Oct. 3.

The topics include general breast and women’s health information, when to get a mammogram, the effectiveness of self breast exams and a test called the Halo Pap Test.

The talk is from 6-7pm at Kahle Community Center in Stateline.

Call (530) 543.5537 for more information.

Update: City officials are saying it will be after midnight when people will be able to return home.

By Kathryn Reed and Susan Wood

A South Lake Tahoe man was taken to Barton Memorial Hospital after being burned while trying to put out a structure fire Tuesday night and two houses were completely destroyed.

The fire on April Drive in South Lake Tahoe started a little before 6pm Sept. 18.

It did not take long for Peter Darvas' house to be fully engulfed in flames. Photo/Damian Frisby

Peter Darvas, who owns the larger of the two houses, is the person who was injured. He was being treated at Barton for burns to his face and shoulders. Officials told Lake Tahoe News he was trying to put the fire out and in the process was injured.

Fire officials said it is too early to know the cause of the fire and estimated damage.

Flames spewed from windows and the shake roof was disintegrating as firefighters attacked the flames from the ground and the ladder truck.

People in the area of Pioneer Trail were being evacuated.

“I heard explosion after explosion and I saw the (corner) house on fire and it caught the house next to it (on fire) in three seconds,” Karen Holmes, who lives on the street over, told Lake Tahoe News. “It’s the most incredible thing I’ve ever seen.”

Holmes, who grew up in South Tahoe, looked across the street and saw Hal Cole’s horses running around a bit frantic. Cole, who was not home at that the time of the fire, lives on the other side of Pioneer Trail from the fire.

While Darvas does have animals, it is not known if they are OK. No one was home at the residence next door on April.

Holmes echoed Fire Chief Brian Uhler’s sentiments that the town was lucky there was no wind. Uhler and area firefighters were at first concerned the fire would spread uphill into the forested area.

It is not known what the explosions were, however Darvas is a well-known artist so it could have been some of those supplies.

Darvas also is known for having a lot of debris in his spacious yard. The city has hauled some of his stuff away and the two sides have been dealing with abatement issues.

At the time of the call South Tahoe crews were gathered at the airport. More than 60 people and 15 pieces of fire equipment were on the scene. They included South Tahoe, Lake Valley, Tahoe Douglas, Fallen Leaf Lake, and U.S. Forest Service. El Dorado County sheriff’s deputies and California Highway Patrol also assisted.

Traffic was still being rerouted around the area and likely will be well into Tuesday night as fire crews keep attacking the flames. Liberty Utilities crews are also on scene because of downed utility lines.

ngg_shortcode_0_placeholder (Click on photos to enlarge. Photos/Kathryn Reed)

Congratulations to “Kathy” for winning the two tickets to Saturday’s San Francisco Giants game.

She wrote, “Hi, I would love to see the game, As I am a California Resident, My father was going to take me to a Game ,but got sick, and passes away, I never went and would love to see a real live game in person, as I never had the chance to see one in person, I would be so thrilled, its one thing that is on my bucket list, Thank you.”

We are sure your dad will be with you in spirit.

Dress warm — it’s a 6pm game.

For those who didn’t win, thank you for participating. And if she doesn’t respond to our email, we’ll have to find someone else who really wants to go!

Lake Tahoe News will have some sort of give-away in the future. Everyone who is part of the NEWS Team is in the running for these freebies. All you have to do is fill out the paid subscriber form to be part of the team.

There will be a fundraiser for the Leonard family on Sept. 22 from noon to 3pm at the Flight Deck restaurant at Lake Tahoe Airport.

Requested donation is $10. There will be drawings and a silent auction.

All proceeds will go to the family to help them meet expenses.

For more information, click on the flyer.

By Matt Weiser, Sacramento Bee

For the first time, California anglers and hunters can file required harvest reports online rather than by mail.

The California Department of Fish and Game has unveiled a new Internet service that allows hunters and fishermen to report how many fish they caught or results of deer or bear hunts.

The data is required for certain wildlife species to help state officials manage populations and set harvest quotas in future years. But until now, it could only be submitted by the hunter or angler using forms or tags sent in the mail. Fish and Game officials say the new system is faster and easier, though reports can still be submitted by mail.

Such reporting is required for species including bear, antelope, elk, bighorn sheep, deer, abalone, lobster, steelhead and sturgeon. In many cases, regulations require reports for these species to be submitted even if none were taken.

The new service can be found online. Hunters or anglers must enter their name, date of birth and driver’s license number. Then they will find an option to enter harvest data.

Many children in South Lake Tahoe are in need of a special voice. These are children who have been abused or neglected and have not had a voice to speak for their safety and needs.

The South Lake Tahoe office of CASA El Dorado is offering a fall training class for adults interested in becoming a volunteer advocate and a powerful voice in court for children. Classes will begin Oct. 1 and will be each Monday and Wednesday through Oct. 29 from 5:30-8:30pm. Classes are at Lake Tahoe Community College in the Aspen Room.

Each person completing the training is eligible to become a CASA.

CASA volunteers are appointed by a judge and advocate for a child’s best interest in court. Many of these children have been removed from their homes and are placed in foster care. The CASA volunteer is often the only consistent person in their life during a traumatic time, serving as an advocate, a mentor, and a friend.

The CASA program in South Lake Tahoe is serving more than 100 children, but has children waiting. The requirements of a volunteer are: a heart for children and a few hours of time.

Call Amanda Morozumi or Alexis Foley at the CASA office at (530) 573.3072 for more information and to sign up for the fall training.