Sierra Nevada College international studies Professor Ted Morse will speak March 31 at 7pm about the origins, power, and objectives of ISIS/ISIL, the violent terrorist group that has captured world attention.

Morse, a highly-decorated retired U.S. Foreign Service senior officer, is a frequent speaker on militant Islam. During his talk, Morse will cover the rise of ISIS/ISIL: who leads it; how it is attracting fanatics from around the world; the sources of its funding and expansion; as well as current efforts to counter its power and reach.

Over the course of his 50 year career, Morse has worked in long-term economic, political, security, and social development in Africa, Asia, Central America, the Caribbean, the Balkans, and Iraq and has been an international consultant for the U.S. and British governments, the United Nations, and the World Bank among others. He has received two Presidential Distinguished and Meritorious Service Awards and multiple Secretary of State Awards, including one for valor, as well as numerous other awards from USAID, the Defense Department, and several foreign governments.

The free event begins at 7pm on the campus of SNC in Incline Village.

• Tahoe Paradise Resort Improvement District is looking for a board member. This person is likely to be appointed at the March 26 meeting. The term expires Dec. 7. Directors must own property or be a registered voter within the boundaries of the district. If interested or for more information, contact district secretary Peter Nelligan at 209.985.8776 or panelligan@gmail.com

• Truckee is seeking an artist or artist team to design and install a site-specific outdoor art installation for the Brickelltown streetscape project area. The purpose of this project is to create a flush, surface-mounted art piece to recognize the region’s premier athletes. For more info email jprice@townoftruckee.com or go online.

• NV Energy Foundation awarded a $25,000 grant to support Sierra Nevada College’s environmental science programs.

• Based on concerns raised through public comment, the planning team for the King Fire Restoration Project on the Eldorado National Forest has developed several alternatives to the original proposed action. There will be a meeting March 25 from 6-8pm at the Best Western Plus Placerville Inn, 6850 Greenleaf Drive, Placerville to discuss ideas.

• The next free type 1 diabetes support group put on by Barton Health is April 7 at 5:30pm, 2170 South Ave, South Lake Tahoe.

• The Tahoe Regional Planning Agency Advisory Planning Commission on April 8 at 9am will discuss the Tahoe Valley Area Plan at the agency’s Stateline office. The South Lake Tahoe Planning Commission will discuss the plan April 9 at 3pm at Lake Tahoe Airport. Comments are being taken until 5pm April 14.

• David Pogue, host of NOVA “ScienceNow”, founder of Yahoo Tech, and an accomplished musician will present “Should Science Be Allowed to Be Interesting? One Man’s Insane Journey through a TV Career on PBS” at UNR’s Discover Science Lecture Series at 7pm April 2.

• Twelve students from South Tahoe Middle School were recently honored for their essays for the Soroptimist International of Tahoe Sierra Writing Festival. Sixth grade: Clyde Rypins, Jack Rich, Luke Mueller and Maddie Kay; seventh grade: Sophia Lamore, Allison Kennedy, Cameron Lehmann and Brandon Rios; eighth grade: Ryan Newberger, Casey Turner, Ashley Trejo and Michael Parsons.

• Tahoe Maritime Museums will be operating out of the Homewood building for one more summer, opening the new exhibition Racing Tahoe: Post WWII Powerboat on June 5. In the fall the museum will move into the two-story log building located on the corner of West Lake Boulevard and Granlibakken Road in Tahoe City.

• Douglas R. Hoffman as been appointed El Dorado County court commissioner. He will be based in South Lake Tahoe, but will serve in all of the branches in El Dorado County.

Several troopers from the Nevada Highway Patrol as well as other employees for the Department of Public Safety will be volunteering their time to raise money for Special Olympics Nevada and California on March 20 from 5-9pm at the Hard Rock Café inside Harveys at Stateline.

These volunteer waiters and waitresses will assist the restaurant staff as they work for “special tips.” As patrons are greeted, each volunteer will leave an envelope with each table for those wishing to make a donation. These tips are in addition to the regular server’s gratuity.

All of the extra tips stay in Northern Nevada and Northern California to pay for the sports training and competition activities for area athletes enrolled in Special Olympics Nevada/California programs.

The state Board of Equalization is warning Californians about tax-related phone scams.

The BOE has received multiple reports from taxpayers who received phone calls from someone impersonating a local police officer who demanded immediate payment for a tax liability and threatened arrest. The callers’ spoof police department or BOE telephone numbers on caller ID, creating the appearance that a legitimate party is calling.

Taxpayers should never give any personal information or make a payment to anybody making such a call. You will receive a bill (a notice of determination or demand for immediate payment), which means you have a tax or fee amount due by the date indicated. I

If you believe you have received such a call,  call 800.400.7115.

• Camp Richardson’s Snowshoe Cocktail Races is March 21 at 7pm. Sand or snow the race will go on behind the Beacon restaurant alongside the lake.

• El Dorado County has extended the deadline to apply for the Court House Blue Ribbon Committee to March 20 at 3pm. Here is the application.

• University of Nevada Cooperative Extension’s Living With Fire Program will be honored next week at the national Wildland Urban Interface Conference in Reno with a national Wildfire Mitigation Award for its leadership role in promoting fire adapted communities. The Living With Fire Program was nominated by the Nevada Bureau of Land Management.

• Tahoe Area Sierra Club’s April 2 meeting is about climate change and solutions. The Tahoe Citizens Climate Lobby will present ideas on fighting climate change through legislative action. The Sierra Club will discuss its Beyond Coal Campaign and Liberty Energy’s energy source. Tahoe Solar Designs will also provide alternative ideas on how to produce clean, renewable energy. It starts at 7pm at Unity at the Lake, 1195 Rufus Allen Blvd., South Lake Tahoe. No cost to attend.

• Lake Tahoe Unified School District Superintendent Jim Tarwater will be Rotary Club of South Lake Tahoe’s speaker March 25 at noon at Harrah’s Lake Tahoe. The public is invited.

Truckee Donner Public Utility District customers who sign up for a free residential energy survey will receive two free LED light bulbs.

Truckee Donner Public Utility District  has been helping their commercial customers transition to LEDs and improve their bottom line for years. In 2013, TDPUD introduced a $5 per bulb residential electric customer LED rebate and demand for this program has risen more than 300 percent in one year.

To get the free LED light bulbs, TDPUD customers can call the Conservation Department at 530.582.3931 for an appointment. An energy surveyor will visit the customer’s home and conduct a visual survey. Based on what is needed, the customer will be provided with free energy and water saving products, including installation of up to 24 energy-efficient light bulbs (including the two LEDs) and two shower heads. The survey typically takes 90 minutes.

The Eldorado and Tahoe national forests are trying to get rid of surplus vehicles.

The online auction is March 23-27. Sixteen vehicles and two flat bed trailers will be sold to the highest bidder. To find this auction, enter the sale number 91QSCI-15-014 on the web page.

Potential bidders may inspect the vehicles starting March 23 at 9am.

Twelve vehicles and two flat bed trailers are located at the Eldorado National Forest facility at 2350 Carson Road, Camino. Two vehicles are located on the Inyo National Forest facility at 798 North Main St., Bishop, and two vehicles are located at the Tahoe National Forest facility at 12019 Charles Drive, Grass Valley.

• Friends of the Library in South Lake Tahoe are having a book sale March 28 at 10am at the library – 1000 Rufus Allen Blvd.

• North Tahoe Public Utility District’s annual Snow Fest Pancake Breakfast raised $1,500 for the nonprofit Dog Day in the Park and the future Tahoe Unleashed Dog Park planned in the North Tahoe Regional Park. Dog Day in the Park also raised an additional $300 from merchandise sales during the breakfast.

• Sugar Pine Foundation is looking for people to help plant seedlings in April. For more info, go online.

• There will be a book reading of “The Happiest Tree in the Forest” at the Incline Village Library on March 25 at 4pm. Illustrator Ana Valdez and author Michelle McLean will be there. Signed copies of the book are $15.

• South Lake Tahoe is putting on meeting about the vacation home rental code on March 24 at 5:30pm at Lake Tahoe Airport.

The Avoid the 6 El Dorado County DUI Task Force will be deploying roving DUI patrols on St. Patrick’s Day in several communities throughout the area, looking to stop and arrest drivers who are impaired by alcohol or drugs. These DUI patrols are, in addition to regularly scheduled patrol officers, all looking for the tell-tale signs of an impaired driver behind the wheel.

In 2013, there were 31 people killed in drunken driving crashes on St. Patrick’s Day. During the St. Paddy’s Day period from 2009 to 2013, there have been 276 drunken driving fatalities. March 17 has become a deadly day in the United States, with a dramatic spike in drunken driving fatalities.

The El Dorado District Attorney’s Office offers this advice to partygoers: “Get ahead of the decision this year. If you know you’re going to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day with alcohol, then figure out a plan ahead of time for how you’ll get home. Don’t wait until you’re too buzzed to decide, and don’t let your friends drive drunk.”