·      Tahoe Regional Planning Agency’s Advisory Planning Commission will have a hearing on the Kings Beach pier reconstruction project on April 13. The comment deadline has been extended to April 15. More info about the project is online.

·       The North Lake Tahoe Bridal Fair is Feb. 28 from 11am-3pm at the Olympic Valley Lodge. For more info, go online.

·      Tahoe Toastmasters is designed to empower people to develop communication and leadership skills. The next meeting is Feb. 22 at 6:30pm at the South Tahoe PUD offices, 1275 Meadow Crest Drive, South Lake Tahoe. There is no cost to attend.

·       Whittell High School senior Kate Krolicki will be one of 104 student delegates at the annual U.S. Senate Youth Program in Washington, D.C., in March.

·       Vikingsholm will be featured in on the Travel Channel on Feb. 12. The episode is titled “Queen Victoria Assassination, Lucky Lindy, Affair of the Poisons.”

Lake Tahoe South Shore Chamber of Commerce is offering a workshop Feb. 23 titled How to Protect Your Brand and Your Bottom Line from Negative Buzz.

The goal of the workshop is to teach attendees how to protect the reputation of their businesses online. Workshop topics include why you should care about social review site ratings, why negative reviews are a huge opportunity for your business, how to craft and manage a winning presence on social media sites, proven strategies for responding to reviews— good and bad – and free tools and resources for monitoring what people say about you online.

The workshop costs $20 for chamber members and $40 for non-members. It will be from 3-5pm at the chamber, 169 Highway 50, Stateline. For more information or to register, go online.

The former deputy forest supervisor for the Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit is now the leader of the Tahoe National Forest.

Eli Ilano has been the deputy on the Tahoe since 2010 and acting forest supervisor since the beginning of the year after Tom Quinn retired. He also had a stint as acting supervisor for LTBMU.

Prior to being hired by the U.S. Forest Service, Ilano worked for the Bureau of Land Management, and in the nonprofit sector focusing on natural resource issues.

“Recent discoveries on the frontiers of science: Higgs boson and gravitational waves” is the topic of an upcoming discussion at Lake Tahoe Community College.

James Brau is the Knight professor of Natural Science at the University of Oregon in Eugene, where he also directs the Center for High Energy Physics. He has spent the last several decades specializing in experimental high-energy physics.

Brau will explain in easy-to-understand terms about new discoveries in elementary particles, such as the Higgs boson, and what its discovery might mean for science in the years to come. He’ll also discuss what gravitational waves are, and explore brand-new evidence that just may prove their existence.

The free talk is Feb. 16 at 6pm in the Aspen Room at Lake Tahoe Community College.

·       Squaw Valley Alpine Meadows is hosting the 7th annual Kid-O-Rama celebration Feb. 13-20. For complete details, go online.

·      Mojo Green of Reno will be putting on a free concert Feb. 13 at Whiskey Dicks Saloon in South Lake Tahoe. Must be at least 21 to attend. Doors open at 9pm.

·       Tahoe Cross Country will be closed Feb. 12 because of school races at the Tahoe City facility.

·       Here is this week’s El Dorado-Tahoe roadwork schedule from Caltrans.

·      One Love Valentines Day Reggae Celebration featuring Pato Banton and the Now Generation from Birmingham, England, will be at Whiskey Dicks Saloon in South Lake Tahoe on Feb. 14. Must be 21 to attend. Tickets are $15 in advance or $20 that night. Doors open at 9pm.

Searching for plants that will lead to curing diseases has kept Paul Alan Cox traveling the world, protecting rain forests and coral reefs and studying patterns of wellness and disease among indigenous peoples. Cox, a renowned ethnobotanist, will talk about his work at UNR on March 10.

Cox is the director of the Institute for Ethnomedicine in Jackson Hole, Wyo. His current ethnobotanical research is focused on neurodegenerative illness with the goal of discovering new therapies for ALS and Alzheimer’s disease.

The free lecture will be at 7pm in the Redfield Auditorium in the Davidson Mathematics and Science Center on the university campus.

For more information, call 775.784.4591.

Caltrans will be performing grinding and paving work on sections of Highway 89 in the Tahoe City area this week.

The work will take place from Blackwood Creek Road to and including Fanny Bridge. It’s scheduled from 8am-3:30pm, Feb. 9-11. Expect one-way traffic control.

A number of potholes have developed on the highway because of the heavy amount of precipitation so far this winter, necessitating this repair work prior to a construction project resuming this spring that will rebuild the highway.

South Lake Tahoe Public Works Department has launched of a web-based service portal to allow anyone to add service requests, concerns, or issues that need to be addressed by city engineering, streets-transportation, and/or facilities department.

Simply go online to submit a request.

The purpose of the portal is to expedite community requests, concerns or issues.

The asset management component allows the city to track asset conditions, prioritize risk, forecast capital budget needs and create and manage capital projects.

The Washoe County Sheriff’s Office issued 131 speeding citations during a three-week, multi-agency Joining Forces traffic safety campaign in January.

From Jan. 5-21, the sheriff’s office joined with the Reno Police Department, Sparks Police Department and Nevada Highway Patrol for speed enforcement campaign as part of ongoing efforts by Nevada law enforcement agencies to increase public safety on the roads.

The total number of violations cited and warnings issued during this event was 275, these include:

• 131 speeding
• 16  cell phone use/distracted driving
• 31   motor vehicle registration violations
• 26   failure to show proof of insurance
• 19   driver’s license related violations
• 4     violation for running a red light
• 3     vehicle equipment violations
• 2     failure to yield right of way
• 1     seat belt violations
• 3     other violations
• 39   warnings.

Copyright attorney Carolyn Wright will be giving a free talk this month aimed at professional and amateur photographers.

Known as the photo attorney, Wright’s law firm is based out of Zephyr Cove. She is also a professional photographer and author of “Photographer’s Legal Guide.”

She will be speaking at the Carson City Library on Feb. 17 at 6pm.