By Norm Clarke, Las Vegas Review-Journal

Nevada Secretary of State Ross Miller is retiring from mixed martial arts as an undefeated light heavyweight.

There goes that dream division matchup between Jon “Bones” Jones, the face of the UFC, and Miller, 1-0.

“I’m one and done,” Miller said. “Competing in an MMA event was on my bucket list. Now that I’ve got it done, I’ve got a day job and an important election coming up.”

The 6-foot-4, 205-pound Miller won his MMA debut/swan song, one of 10 amateur fights Saturday held by the World Fighting Championship (WFC) at MontBleu casino in Stateline.

Miller’s fight, the co-main event, was with Jamal Williams, a former high school wrestler and brawler.

Miller’s walkout music was “Fortunate Son” by Creedence Clearwater Revival, a reference to his father, former Nevada Gov. Bob Miller.

Reno Police Chief Steve Pitts, who often trains with Miller, walked the secretary of state into the octagon.

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The Tahoe Regional Planning Agency is putting on a webinar for people to learn more about the Regional Plan update.

The free event is Aug. 29 from noon-1pm.

The public will be given a chance to ask questions.

To  sign up, email kboosman@trpa.org.

There will be a neighborhood crime meeting Aug. 22 at 6:30pm.

We have been hit with a lot of crime in South Lake Tahoe. Officer Angela Kallstrom will be having an informal meeting with neighbors to discuss crime problems.

Meet at the rear entrance to South Tahoe High School by the Mt. Tallac High parking lot at end of 13th Street.

This is first attempt at fighting back at crime and a effort to get crime mapping here on the South Shore. We need to be better informed of all incidents in our town.

Thanks to Police Chief Brian Uhler, Lt. Brian Williams and Officer Angela Kallstrom to help inform us.

This is informal and any and all help to raise awareness of neighborhood crime is appreciated.

The goal is to inform. My goal is to have police incident reports posted somewhere where we can read daily. We will all be surprised how much crime goes on around us.

Block party time? I need input from other neighbors.

— Mike Lee

By Dan Tatzin

I do not envy the challenge facing California’s legislators and Gov. Jerry Brown. The bursting of the housing bubble, high unemployment, reduced property values and the never-ending Great Recession, coupled with the rising cost of government, have triggered a financial debacle from which state government may not recover for a decade. Even in difficult times, however, state officials should not forget the words of the Declaration of Independence: “Governments … [derive] their just powers from the consent of the governed.”

Pursuant to that spirit, in 1953 California adopted the Ralph M. Brown Act, which demanded that lawmakers make decisions openly and deliberate before the public. “The people of this State,” states the act, “do not yield their sovereignty to the agencies which serve them. The people, in delegating authority, do not give their public servants the right to decide what is good for the people to know and what is not good for them to know. The people insist on remaining informed so that they may retain control over the instruments they have created.”

Our lawmakers have seemingly forgotten these commands.

In what was billed as a cost-saving move, the Legislature and the governor recently suspended portions of the Brown Act — specifically those ordering local governments to post notices of public meetings in advance.

Don Tatzin is a member of the Lafayette City Council, which will continue to follow the Brown Act.

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Lisa Berry, wildflower aficionado and Lake Tahoe Community College adjunct instructor, says the fickle weather in the Sierra can result in a distinct advantage for wildflowers.

Berry has been leading wildflower hikes and studying the area’s wildflowers for almost a decade. This year’s dry winter season resulted in something she said she has never seen before.

“The light winter did take its toll on the flowers,” Berry said in a press release. “You didn’t see the explosions of color like we are used to, but what I found was when the conditions aren’t right for the normal flowers they are perfect for other flowers that usually don’t get a chance to bloom.”

Berry will be talking about her findings and presenting a slideshow of her discoveries on Sept. 5 at 7pm in LTCC’s Aspen Room. The talk is free and open to the public.

The South Lake Tahoe Rec Center is putting on a three-day water skiing-wakeboarding clinic for ages 12-16.

The classes are Aug. 22-24. Cost is $125.

Register by calling (530) 542.6056.

By Scott McCartney, Wall Street Journal

Sometimes the best vacation sightseeing begins before the wheels touch down on the runway.

A number of regularly traveled commercial flight paths showcase some of the nation’s most beautiful vistas, from the Grand Canyon to Alaskan glaciers to historic lighthouses en route to Portland, Maine.

Pilots have their favorites views, and some tell stories of days before high fuel prices when they would seek permission from air-traffic controllers to pass close by prime sites or even double back to give passengers on both sides of a plane a great view.

A “canyon tour” of the Grand Canyon used to be a popular request to air-traffic controllers—pilots would descend to 5,000 to 10,000 feet above the canyon and fly over the top of the Colorado River for spectacular views while approaching Las Vegas.

Some pilots still request permission for a procedure known informally as the “Bay Tour” on southbound flights leaving San Francisco. Controllers instruct pilots to level off at 2,000 or 3,000 feet above sea level as they follow the bay out to sea, flying over the Bay Bridge, past Alcatraz and then over the Golden Gate Bridge. At the Golden Gate, flights turn to a southwesterly compass heading and climb to 10,000 feet to continue to Southern California.

“This takes special coordination with air-traffic controllers, but if they are not too busy, they will usually comply with the request,” said Russ Webber, a US Airways captain based in Phoenix. He’s also asked controllers for routings that offer great views of Half Dome and El Capitan in Yosemite National Park and Lake Tahoe.

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Animal enthusiasts and their dogs of all shapes and sizes are encouraged to take part in the inaugural Humane Society of Truckee-Tahoe’s Tennies & Tails event Sept. 1 at 9am at the Truckee River Regional Park.

Participants and their dogs will park (for free) and register at the Regional Park on Brockway Road in Truckee before going along the Legacy Trail to traverse a course set up along the riverfront trail.

This event is not just limited to dog owners and their furry friends. In fact, the only requirement is support for the Humane Society — animal lovers without their pets, kids, families with strollers, young and old alike are welcome.

Tennies & Tails will be comprised of two races. A three-mile run will commence at 9am and a one-mile walk will follow at 9:10am.

Participants are encouraged to gather sponsors for their run or walk to help increase the total amount of money raised.

For those who preregister, Tennies & Tails registration is $20 for each dog owner plus their leashed dog. Two leashed, well-behaved dogs under control are permitted per owner. All registered dogs must have current vaccinations.

Day-of registration fees increase to $30, and participants can register as early as 7:30am.

Children under 5 years old are free. To preregister or for more info, go online or call (530) 587.5948.

All proceeds from Tennies & Tails will go toward much-needed building funds for the HSTT animal shelter which is currently under construction.

By Eliza Barclay, NPR

Doctors need to prescribe exercise to patients who don’t get enough exercise, a Mayo Clinic expert says.

“You’ve got a bad case of deconditioning,” the doctor says.

Actually, it would be the rare doctor who would say that to anyone. And though it might sound like something to do with hair, in fact, deconditioning is a familiar and more profound problem: the decidedly unnatural state of being physically inactive.

At some point in the last few decades, the human race went from being a species that is active most of the time to one that is increasingly sedentary. The Lancet recently called it an “inactivity pandemic,” responsible for 1 in 10 deaths worldwide. That’s a major shift, and a major public health problem, many researchers have pointed out. Inactivity is linked to heart disease, diabetes and some types of cancer.

Now Michael Joyner, a physiologist at the Mayo Clinic, argues in a commentary out this month in the Journal of Physiology that one way to deal with the problem is to make physical inactivity a mainstream medical diagnosis. It’s one of the most common preventable causes of illness and death, and Joynes writes, there is “one universally effective treatment for it — exercise training.”

Shots called up Joyner to get him to elaborate a little more on just why doctors need to get more involved with this problem.

“The entire medical research industrial complex is oriented towards inactivity,” he tells us. Insurance companies will reimburse patients for pills for diseases related to inactivity, but rarely for gym memberships. “Physicians really need to start defining the physically active state as normal,” he says.

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By Chris Buckley, KOLO-TV

SAND HARBOR — Beachgoers at Lake Tahoe’s Sand Harbor got quite a surprise Friday afternoon. It was part of a new business venture that’s making appearances all over the west coast.

A water-powered jet pack that has been hitting oceans, lakes and rivers to promote a new drink called Air is in Tahoe.

“Air is the first ever sparkling water with alcohol,” said marketing rep Jack Cookson. “It tastes exactly like sparkling water but has 4% alcohol and berry and citrus flavors, only 95 calories all natural flavorings.”

The drink hit shelves this summer and a company official says the jet pack is what their product is all about. Pilot Wes Dawson took the jet pack for its first voyage on Lake Tahoe.

“It’s an awesome exhilarating feeling we think our product’s pretty awesome so it tied in pretty good. We feel our product makes water more exciting and we feel this product makes water more exciting also. We thought they went together pretty good,” said Dawson.

It certainly got the crowd’s attention.

“That thing’s pretty cool,” said spectator Jon Debay. “I’ve seen it online but never in person and that thing is literally amazing. I want one.”

You need a special certification to fly it but no one is really sure what kind of certification you need to use it on Lake Tahoe. Park officials cut Friday’s flight short.

“We’ve had some mishaps with rangers and patrols but generally once we talk to them they’re fine with it. They’re just shocked at first.”

Promoters are not not giving up, so keep your eyes open on Tahoe shores this weekend.

The “Air” line has created jobs all over the west coast, and you can find it on the shelves in Reno right now and in the Tahoe area by the end of the month. They’re hoping to fly the jet pack at Zephyr Cove on today.