·      The Pipe Keepers training is Nov. 12 from 2-4pm at the League to Save Lake Tahoe office, 2608 Lake Tahoe Blvd., South Lake Tahoe. RSVP online.

·      Mount Rose Ski Resort plans to open Nov. 4; lift tickets are $10. Boreal is set to open Nov. 6.

·       South Shore resident Jennifer Quashnick will read from her book “Sierra Nevada River of Lies” at Bona Fide Books in Meyers on Nov. 7 from 4-5:30pm.

·       State Sen. Ted Gaines, R-El Dorado, earned an A grade for the ninth year in a row from the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association for the 2015 legislative session.

·       FiftyFifty Brewing Company in Truckee has withdrawn its application to build an 18,500-square-foot brewing facility on a 7.8-acre parcel on West River Street adjacent to the Truckee River.

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

·       The 2016 Mustaches of Placer County calendar is available. All proceeds go directly to Placer County museums, benefitting exhibits, conservation of their collection of photographs and education programs. For more info, go online.

·       The 11th annual Passport to Dining is Nov. 12, 6-9pm at the North Tahoe Event Center in Kings Beach. Go online to buy tickets.

·       NaturaMed in Kings Beach recently hired nutritionist Gretchen Dunbar.

·       Kiplinger released a state-by-state tax guide for retirees. Nevada is on the list of places that is favorable to retirees, while California is considered a state not good for retirees.

El Dorado County Connections – One Stop has free services to help people who need a job.

Through the county’s Dislocated Worker Program, unemployed and underemployed residents can receive free assistance, including help with job searches and paid on-the-job training, money for vocational or technical school tuition, or for specialized certifications, and more.

The program can assist individuals in all occupations, from blue collar workers to high level executives. Applicants do not need to be low income to qualify, however certain restrictions may apply. Up to $8,000 in benefits is available to each person accepted into the program.

Free orientation sessions about the program are open to the public every Wednesday at 10am at 3047 Briw Road in Placerville. Preregistration is not required.

Connections One – Stop has an office in South Lake Tahoe at 3368 Lake Tahoe Blvd., open Monday-Friday from 10am-4pm. For more information, call 530.573.4330.

·       An indoor pickleball court will be installed at the South Tahoe Recreation Center later this month.

·      The 17th annual Tahoe Cross Country Ski Swap is Nov. 14 from 10am-3pm. Register sale equipment Nov. 13 from 3-8pm. For more info, call 530.583.5475.

·       Placer County anticipates the final environmental impact report for the Village at Squaw Valley Specific Plan, along with the draft EIR for the Plumpjack Squaw Valley Inn, to be ready for review in late 2015 or January 2016.

·       Starting this month Caltrans will be contracting with landscape crews to begin the installation of native California plants on the embankments of the overcrossings raised for the Interstate 80 vertical clearance project Raise 80” – part of which is in Placer County.

·       The proposed Canyon Springs subdivision is scheduled to be considered by the Truckee Planning Commission on Nov. 16 and Nov. 17 at 6pm in the Truckee Town Hall Council Chambers, 10183 Truckee Airport Road.

Tahoe Tactical Team has expanded its business coaching program to include companies and entrepreneurs in Douglas County.

A grant from the Nevada Governor’s Office of Economic Development enables Douglas County residents on the South Shore to be eligible for business mentoring and educational events. These services were previously only available to South Lake Tahoe residents via a government-funded grant obtained by the city.

Since November 2010, the program has assisted more than 140 South Lake Tahoe individuals by providing them the training and skills necessary to launch and operate successful enterprises, as well as giving them the insight to realize their idea may not be viable.

For more detailed information about the program call 775.588.1728, ext. 300.

Wampas Cat Cafe in South Lake Tahoe in the 1950s. Photo/Del Laine collection/Lake Tahoe Historical Society

The Wampas Cat Cafe of the 1950s stood where Scusa restaurant stands today, on Highway 50 at Sierra Boulevard in South Lake Tahoe.

Scusa has been one of the more successful eateries in this location. Photo/Bill Kingman

After being the Wampas Cat, there was Poor Pierre’s, then Poor Pedro’s, then a succession of other dining venues including Mexican, Thai, and Hoss Hogg’s.

Diagonally and across the highway in the 1950s was Schmidt’s Bakery. According to long-time local resident Del Laine, a locally-written poem called “The Mighty Wampas Cat” by “Wrongfellow” explains that Schmidt’s Bakery stood “…catty-wampas to the Wampas Cat.”

The Baumann family opened their historic Swiss Chalet Restaurant there in 1957, said to have been one of the two longest-lasting continuous family-owned businesses at Lake Tahoe — nearly 55 years — the unidentified other business apparently being on the North Shore.

Local Debbie Brown owns the Cold Water Brewery. Photo/Bill Kingman

After remodeling in 2013, at the Swiss Chalet Restaurant site now is the Cold Water Brewery and Grill.

— Bill Kingman

·       The U.S. Forest Service Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit has lifted fire restrictions. Campfires are allowed with a valid permit in the following areas: Luther Pass, Blackwood Canyon and Watson Lake campgrounds, as well as the Meiss roadless area. For more info, call 530.543.2694.

·      The Festival of Trees and Lights at MontBleu in Stateline is Dec. 2-6.

·      Lake Tahoe South Shore Chamber of Commerce is putting on a guest services workshop on Nov. 18 from 1-5pm at 169 Highway 50, Stateline. Cost is $20 for members, $40 for others. Go online to register.

·      Outside magazine has listed Whitney Peak hotel in Reno as having one of the best hotel gyms in the country – in particular its climbing wall.

·      Mommy and Me Support Group meets Tuesdays from 10am-noon at Barton University, 1077B Fourth St., South Lake Tahoe. For more information, contact Krista Carson at 530.600.1958 or kcarson@bartonhealth.org.

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Don’t forget to set your clocks back an hour tonight before you go to bed.

At 2am Nov. 1 it’s time to return to standard time.

The whole reason for this, according to the federal government, is energy and fuel savings.

Each year the two South Shore Soroptimist clubs collaborate to honor two local women in the community.

Eligible applicants must be women who provide the primary financial support for their families and
are enrolled in or have been accepted to a vocational/skills training program or an undergraduate
degree program. Each recipient will receive $2,000, and is then eligible for up to $10,000 at the national level.

The award honors women who have faced a challenge such as poverty, domestic or sexual violence, divorce, the death of a spouse, or other life challenges, yet had the courage and fortitude to turn their lives around.

Information and application forms are available here and here.

The deadline to apply is Dec. 1.

The Washoe County Sheriff’s Office and the Second Judicial District Court have been receiving numerous calls about an ongoing phone scam in which the scammers identify themselves as District Court or sheriff’s personnel.

The scammers then claim the potential victims owe a substantial fine for failing to report for jury service.

The Second Judicial District Court does not impose monetary sanctions for missed jury service over the phone. Additionally, the Second Judicial District Court does not accept payments over the phone.

Anyone who has been a victim of this scam, or who receives such a call, is encouraged to take down as much information as possible, such as a name and call back number, without giving any information to the scammer. Then contact the Washoe County Sheriff’s Office at 775.785.9276.