Placer County is in the process of developing a sustainability plan, outlining ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and manage climate risks that threaten property value, natural resources and quality of life.

Two community workshops will offer a chance to learn about the plan’s purpose and goals, and how to become involved in the planning process.

The plan inventories current sources of greenhouse gas emissions in unincorporated Placer County and will outline the county’s strategy to reduce them in a way that maximizes economic benefits from energy savings and operational costs, improves infrastructure and further benefits the county and community. Additionally, the plan is intended to provide a streamlined environmental review process related to GHG emissions analysis for land development projects.

It will also describe strategies to prepare the county and residents to reduce and adapt to the effects of climate risks like wildfire, drought and flood.

California law calls for reducing greenhouse gas emissions statewide to 40 percent below 1990 levels by 2030.

Placer expects to complete its sustainability plan in spring 2019.

The workshops will be April 24 in Loomis and April 25 in Kings Beach. Both will begin with a presentation by county staff, with staff available afterward to answer questions and take feedback in an open-house style workshop.

The Kings Beach event will be from 6-8pm at North Tahoe Event Center.

·      Lake Tahoe South Shore Chamber of Commerce is having a charity mixer for Connect for Kids on April 26, 5:30-8:30pm at South Lake Brewing Company, with food by Verde. Cost is $15 for members, $20 for others.

·      On April 10 the Douglas County School District board of education is expected to approve a 3 percent salary increase for Superintendent Teri White that will be retroactive to July 1, 2017.

·      Here is the Sierra roadwork schedule from Caltrans for the next week.

·      Leadership Lake Tahoe is having a fundraiser May 10, 5-9pm to raise funds and support for microscopes to advance K-5 education in Lake Tahoe Unified School District. The event is at Tahoe AleWorx.

·      Tahoe Truckee Snapshot Day, a water quality watershed monitoring event, will be May 19 starting at 9am. Meet at Lake Tahoe Community College. Teams led by trained volunteers will go out to streams throughout South Tahoe to collect data to create a snapshot in time of water quality.

Expand SEO knowledge with none of the hassle at the April 18 Level UP workshop put on by the Lake Tahoe South Shore Chamber of Commerce.

This workshop will feature discussion on SEO tactics, increasing visibility in search engine results and essential website and content strategies. Workshop facilitators are Dan Keenan, graphic designer and owner of Hatchback Creative, and
Kathleen Hood, digital technology consultant at Local Boost Service.

The cost for each Level UP workshop is $10 for chamber members and $20 for non-chamber members. This workshop is a “lunch and learn” style so bring your “brown bag” lunch.

The workshop is at the chamber office in Stateline.

·      Truckee residents Rick and Nancy Holliday, founders and owners of Holliday Development, have donated an apartment in downtown Truckee to the Humane Society of Truckee-Tahoe. The house, to be called the Holliday House, will be rented to HSTT for $1 per year. In turn, Tahoe Getaways will manage the rental pro bono, with all proceedings going to the Humane Society.

·      Thousands of communities across the United States, including Truckee, will participate in the Drug Enforcement Administration National Drug Take Back day scheduled for April 28 from 10am-2pm.

·      The Washoe County Sheriff’s Office Citizen Corps is offering an emergency preparedness and response training academy beginning April 12. To sign up for training, call Michael Perry at 775.325.6928 or email mperry@washoecounty.us. For more information, go online.

·      Glazed and Confuzed Tahoe Donut is now located inside Tahoe Beach Retreat in South Lake Tahoe.

·      Zephyr Cove Library will be closing at noon April 13 for a special event to honor library volunteers.

Lake Tahoe Humane Society is accepting applications to join its board.

An informational meet and greet for prospective board members is scheduled at the agency’s office (884 Emerald Bay Road) on April 7, 5-6pm.

A second meeting will be on April 9, 5-6pm. The meetings will include an overview of the Humane Society’s mission, history, and board responsibilities. The agency is particularly interested in recruiting board members with experience in finance, human resources, real estate, the law, fundraising, special event planning, and animal rights advocacy.

Request an application by emailing lthumanesocietyboard@gmail.com. Applications must be emailed by April 20.

Join Alpenglow Sports, Klean Kanteen, and Keep Tahoe Blue are putting on an Earth Day celebration at Sunnyside restaurant in Tahoe City.

Plastic straws will not be allowed. Instead, Klean Kanteen will give away reusable stainless steel straws in a focused effort to keep Tahoe straw-less.

More than 500 million straws are used each day in the United States. That’s enough straws to wrap around the Earth 2.5 times every day.

The event is April 22 at 4pm.

·      The Pony Express Trail through El Dorado County will be closed April 9-27 for the falling and removal of designated dead and dying trees.

·       Gavin Pretor-Pinney, founder of the Cloud Appreciation Society, will give a talk April 14 at the Sports Aviation Foundation’s annual meeting at the Carson Valley Inn at 6:30pm. Advance tickets are 40.  No ticket sales at the door.  Contact Erin Eichhorst at 775.782.9871 for information or tickets.

·      Reno Whole Foods Market is giving 5 percent of all their net sales to the Tahoe Rim Trail Association on April 19.

·      Anyone wishing to be apply to be on the Lake Tahoe Humane Society’s board of directors may pick up an application on April 7 from 5-6pm at the office on Emerald Bay Road.

·      The South Lake Tahoe City Council on April 3 approved an ordinance to regulate the use and sale of expanded polystyrene (also called EPS, white plastic foam and Styrofoam) food containers and products in the city.

·      Here are the El Dorado-Tahoe and Sierra roadwork schedules from Caltrans for the week.

·      Zephyr Cove Library on April 11 at 4pm will be showing “Gnomeo & Juliet” (rated G). The movie and popcorn are free.

·      The National Society Daughters of the American Revolution is organizing a chapter in the South Lake Tahoe area. For more info, contact Sally Holcombe at sallyholcombe@me.com.

·      The 4th annual Rock Tahoe Half Marathon will be June 16. The 13.1-mile course starts on the mountain top at Spooner Summit and drops more than 1,000 feet as it winds down Highway 50 to the finish line at the Hard Rock in Stateline.

·      America’s Most Beautiful Bike Ride is a 72-mile ride that circumnavigates Lake Tahoe. The 27th annual event will be June 3. It starts and ends in Stateline.

The Future of the Stewart Indian School will be the topic of a talk on April 10.

Lake Tahoe Historical Society is bring Sherry Rupert, executive director of the Nevada Indian Commission, for a narration of the past and future of the Stewart Indian School that was established in 1890.

The talk begins at 7pm at Camp Richardson Hotel on the South Shore.

It is free for members and $3 for nonmembers.

Law enforcement agencies throughout Nevada will be focusing on distracted drivers from April 1-15.

The Nevada Highway Patrol will be working to urge motorists to keep their eyes on the road and put away cell phones or other items that cause distractions. On average, texting takes your eyes off the road for 4.6 seconds. When traveling at 55 mph, that is enough time to cover the length of a football field.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said deaths reached 3,477 in 2015 due to distracted driving. Distracted driving is any activity that diverts your attention from driving, including talking or texting on your phone, eating, drinking, talking to people in your vehicle, fiddling with the stereo, entertainment or navigation system.