By Paul Nelson, KTVN-TV

For several years, Comstock Mining Incorporated has been trying to begin operations at an open-pit mine, in Storey County. This week, the mine began hauling and crushing ore, but not everyone is on board. Corrado De Gasperis is the mine’s president and CEO. He says about 100 employees are in the process of digging up 2.5 million ounces of gold and 24-million ounces of silver from the mine.

“At today’s prices, it’s almost $5-billion worth of value and we honestly feel that we’ve just started to define the resource,” De Gasperis said. “We’ve only drilled on less than 10% of our property.”

The 10 square mile parcel is partly between the towns of Gold Hill and Silver City. Some residents fear the mine will force people out, and bring in transient workers.

“You’re basically blowing up the community and starting all over again,” Comstock Residents Association Member Joe McCarthy said.

The mine has gotten dozens of permits and Storey County Commissioners have approved the operation, but the Comstock Residents Association says their voices have fallen on deaf ears.

“They want to know what the impact of this project is going to be on wildlife habitat, on our recreational areas, on our ground water,” McCarthy said.

“We committed to voluntary soil testing of any disturbances before we do it, and we’ve proven, now, the safeness of all the activities,” De Gasperis said.

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By Paul Takahashi, Las Vegas Sun

After months of reviews and revisions, U.S. Department of Education approved Nevada’s waiver from the stringent requirements of the No Child Left Behind Act.

The waiver no longer binds Nevada’s struggling schools to the 2001 law’s key mandate that all Nevada children be 100 percent proficient in math and reading by 2014.

Instead, the waiver announcement on Wednesday heralds a new school accountability system for the Nevada Department of Education, said state Superintendent Jim Guthrie.

The new accountability system includes a different method of measuring student achievement, more rigorous national standards and new school and teacher evaluation systems, he said.

“The time for excuses has stopped,” Guthrie said, citing a recent national report that ranked Nevada dead last in education. “By 2020 — on every important measure of student achievement — Nevada will be at least at or better than the national median.”

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Professional plans have been drawn up detailing 30 new features on the Corral Trail in South Lake Tahoe.

Help is needed to build table tops, hip jumps, log rides, berm turns, and rock drops on one of Tahoe’s favorite trails. The next trail day is Aug. 25 from 90am to 4pm. Meet at bottom dirt parking lot of Corral off Oneidas Street.

Bring water, lunch, bike, helmet, long sleeves and long pants, gloves, and glasses.

Tools, lunch, snacks, beer, and a barbecue at the end of the day will be provided.

RSVP via the TAMBA website for tool and food planning.

Do you have a favorite app that you want to share? Would you like to learn more about what great apps are out there?

Come to Appy Hour at the South Lake Tahoe library on Aug. 21 at 5pm.

No need to sign up. Just drop in with your device to join in the fun.

The library is at 1000 Rufus Allen Blvd.

By August, summertime will be winding down and vacations will be coming to an end, signaling that back-to-school time is near. It’s a time that many children eagerly anticipate — catching up with old friends and making new ones, and settling into a new daily routine.

The amount of money spent at family clothing stores in August 2011 was $7.7 billion. Only in November and December were sales higher. Similarly, sales at bookstores in August 2011 totaled $2.4 billion, the strongest sales month of the year, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

For back-to-school shopping, choices of retail establishments abound: In 2009, there were 28,520 family clothing stores, 7,092 children and infants clothing stores, 26,651 shoe stores, 8,945 office supply and stationery stores, 21,628 sporting goods stores, 9,390 bookstores and 8,663 department stores.

The number of children and adults enrolled in school throughout the country in October 2010 — from nursery school to college. – was 79 million. They comprised 27 percent of the entire population age 3 and older.

Seventy-two percent of children 3 to 6 enrolled in kindergarten who attended all day, as of October 2010.

By Kathryn Reed

STATELINE – Instead of finding people who wanted to trade blood pressure for salmon, Kim Wyatt found people who wanted to tell their stories.

“I believe in the power of stories changing lives,” Wyatt said.

That belief led her from a career in nursing to a life as a writer and editor, and now to being a book publisher. With her latest endeavor, she is able to tell even more stories.

As sole owner of Bona Fide Books in Meyers, this book publisher is putting into print the stories of locals and those living beyond the Lake Tahoe Basin.

On Aug. 8 she told a bit of her own story to Soroptimist International South Lake Tahoe. (For those who missed her talk at Harrah’s Lake Tahoe, she will be at the Soroptimist International Tahoe Sierra meeting Aug. 23 at 7:30am, South Lake Tahoe Senior Center.)

Wyatt told the group her love of literature and desire to promote community helped lead her to start Bona Fide.

Art vs. commerce was the subject of conversations she had with friends and colleagues prior to launching Bona Fide in 2009. It’s a topic creative types struggle with – rewarding work is not always the most profitable. At that time she decided to pursue her dreams even if the paychecks became less secure.

While her books are popular, the profit margin for publishers can be slim. Amazon takes 55 percent of the cut. Bookstores are few and far between, which means finding other retailers who will sell her wares.

“Permanent Vacation” came out last year. It’s all about people who have lived and worked in national parks in the West.

“I did an anthology because I didn’t want to screw up anyone’s career,” Wyatt said.

“Tahoe Blues” is another collection of stories, but this time they are not all non-fiction. Sixty essays fill the book – all about Tahoe. Life in Tahoe is such a popular topic that she got a call this month from someone inquiring about purchasing 350 copies for people attending an event. This reflects another unconventional way to get her books into people’s hands.

Bona Fide also has a poetry contest each year in honor of Wyatt’s friend and Lake Tahoe poet Melissa Lanitis Gregory who died in February 2009 at the age of 47. (Submissions for the third book will be accepted through Aug. 31.)

The goal is to publish three to five books a year. In the works is one about the Tahoe Rim Trail; with proceeds going to the association that oversees the 165-mile trail around Lake Tahoe. (Submissions are open until Dec. 1 for this collection.)

But it’s not just about Wyatt and her books. Bona Fide HQ is the place for artist receptions, workshops and other events. It is where kids can read to dogs through the Buddy Program. And it’s where college interns launch their careers.

In five years, Wyatt plans to have the Tahoe Center for Writers, which in part will be a national residency program, launched.

More information about Bona Fide Books may be found online.

A little more than one year ago the El Dorado County library added a digital library service to its collection. With this service library patrons have access to thousands of books that are available for download 24/7.

In the past year El Dorado County patrons have downloaded more than 8,600 books using this service.

To check out eBooks or downloadable audiobooks users need a valid library card, a compatible digital device, and an Internet connection.

A complete list of compatible devices can be accessed online. Books expire automatically. There are no late fees.

For more information or assistance, visit the South Lake Tahoe branch of the El Dorado County Library at 1000 Rufus Allen Blvd. or call (530) 573.3185.

By KRNV-TV

HOMEWOOD — California Game Wardens say they do not have enough evidence right now to charge anyone with shooting the bear found dead in Homewood last week. Game Warden Patrick Foy tells News 4 they lack any conclusive evidence that would lead them to the bear’s killer.

Michael Garton lives along the beach where the bear was found. Foy says he was considered a person of interest, but declined to answer questions by officials and has since hired an attorney. Outraged residents allege Garton has a shotgun and used it on the bear, but Foy says there is no proof of this.

Foy says dozens of people claim to have video of Garton with a shotgun, but that video has not made it to the Department of Fish and Game. Foy says, if this video exists, it needs to be brought forward and could be used as evidence.

By Kathryn Reed

As expected, leaders from California and Nevada came up with a compromise nearly at the eleventh-hour before Monday’s Lake Tahoe Environmental Summit.

When leaders met a year ago the promise was made to both state governors that by this year’s summit some sort of consensus would be achieved.

Claire Fortier

A committee of Tahoe Regional Planning Agency Governing Board members has been meeting to hash out the updated Regional Plan and bring the environmental documents together, which was achieved earlier this year. They reconvened earlier this summer to work on items the group had not been able to agree to.

A second committee was also formed that included people beyond the Governing Board. The idea was if everyone sat at the table, it might mean compromise could be achieved and lawsuits avoided.

It has been publicly known for some time California Secretary of Natural Resources John Laird and Nevada Director of Conservation and Natural Resources Leo Drozdoff have been meeting with stakeholders on a variety of issues that could see the light of day at the Aug. 13 summit.

Laird, when he was at the California Tahoe Conservancy meeting in June, said he was all but certain something would be brought forward at the summit, so reaching consensus is not news.

What will be news are the agreements.

No specifics have been released to the public, otherwise media outlets would have reported on them. South Lake Tahoe Mayor Claire Fortier in a press release on Aug. 10 spoke in generalities: “That agreement, which addressed everything from building height to drive up windows, bike friendly town centers to decks and stream environmental zones, was a masterful compromise.”

But the Governing Board still needs to vote on all of this for any of it to be policy. And legal action still needs to be avoided for it to be a working document.

While consensus has been reached in the past regarding the Regional Plan, the real history is that it got derailed by special interest groups and is five years overdue.

While Fortier went on to write, “The future of Tahoe has been re-established as a collective vision, not a battleground over regulations vs. state rights,” she did not say what the vision is or whose vision. It is not known if the average resident is considered a stakeholder or just people with the means to sue and vote on policy are stakeholders.

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Note: The Lake Tahoe Environmental Summit is Aug. 13, 10am at Edgewood Tahoe in Stateline. Gates open at 9am. It’s free and open to the public.

Tahoe Arts Project is having an evening of music on the beach on Aug. 16 from 7-9pm at Lakeshore Lodge and Spa in South Lake Tahoe.

Music will be from Niall McGuiness, Trey Stone and John Shipley.

Bring blankets and low back chairs, but no pets. Sodas, baked goods and ice cream cones will be available for sale.

A suggested donation of $10 per person will support Tahoe Arts Project’s mission of bringing professional performing arts into the schools and community of South Lake Tahoe.

Call (530) 542.3632 for more information.