• Douglas County has redesigned its website.

• The Placer County Master Gardeners are selling a 2015 gardening calendar with the theme is California Dreaming … Beautiful Gardens with Less Water.” More info is available online.

• Lake Tahoe Community College on Oct. 8 at 7pm will host novelist Josh Weil and poet Travis Mossotti. The writers will read selections from their works, answer audience questions, and sign copies of their books, which will be available for sale. The free event is in the Aspen Room.

• Shield Security Solutions is open on Lake Tahoe Boulevard in South Lake Tahoe.

• South Lake Tahoe Ducks Unlimited’s annual fundraising dinner is Oct. 3 on the Tahoe Queen. The event starts at 6pm. Tickets are $70. RSVP to Diane at 530.544.8618 or dianearlin@aol.com, or Frank at 916.984.3073 or fleonardi@ducks.org.

There will be two meetings in October about the Meyers Area Plan.

Both are informational in nature.

The first is Oct. 16 starting at 9am. The El Dorado County Planning Commission is having a workshop to receive an update, get feedback and offer direction about the plan.

The second meeting is Oct. 28 starting at 9am. This is the El Dorado County Board of Supervisors’ annual lone meeting in Tahoe.

Both meetings are at Lake Tahoe Airport.

• South Lake Tahoe Fire Department is having an open house Oct. 11 from 10am-2pm at each of the three fire stations.

• At the annual Barton Foundation cocktail contest MontBleu’s bartender Ken Newbold won the people’s choice award for his Holidaze concoction – made of smoked Tahoe Blue Vodka, infused hops, and homemade cranberry juice. Holidaze will be the featured cocktail at the Barton Gala in December. Erick Martinez from Riva Grill received the most tips and was named most congenial bartender.

• Carson City Chamber of Commerce is offering a trade mission to China departing April 7. Reservations must be made prior to Oct. 10. For more info, call 775.882.1565.

• The Institute of Museum and Library Services awarded $150,000 to the UC Davis Tahoe Environmental Research Center to create an interactive public exhibit at the Tahoe Science Center located in Incline Village.

• Popa Chubby will be performing at the Crystal Bay Club Casino in Crystal Bay on Oct. 2.

The Nevada Division of Environmental Protection is making materials available to participants in the statewide Recycled Art Contest.

Recyclables, including plastic bottles, newspapers, aluminum cans and steel cans, may be picked up in the lobby of the Bryan Building, 901 S. Stewart St., Carson City on Oct. 3. Call 775.687.9466 to schedule a time.

The art contest is open to all Nevada residents. Projects must be composed of used recyclable materials.

Submission of entry form and photos of artwork are due Oct. 31. Winners will be announced prior to America Recycles Day, Nov. 15.

Rick Grosberg, a professor of evolution and ecology at UC Davis and founding director of the Coastal and Marine Sciences Institute at the Bodega Marine Laboratory, will deliver a different approach to family values on Oct. 16.

His research focuses on how species of marine invertebrates, ants and fungi use competition and cooperation to maintain genetic variety.

Families are a unique arena where conflicts of interest often arise between males and females, between parents and offspring, and among siblings. Family members may often die for each other, but given the right circumstances they will also harm each other. What are the basic rules that in the rest of life that govern whether individuals should harm or help each other? In this talk, Grosberg considers this question using an evolutionary foundation from research on the family dynamics of snails, seahorses, ants, birds, and bees.

The program will begin at 6pm at 291 Country Club Drive in Incline Village on the campus of Sierra Nevada College. Cost is $5.

• Tahoe Douglas fire is offering a free hands only CPR and AED class at Kahle Community Center on Oct. 1. The class is for ages 13 and older. Sessions are form 9:30-11am and 1-2:30pm. RSVP by Sept. 30th by calling 775.586. 7271.

• The North Lake Tahoe chamber/resort association member lunch (which is open to non-members) is Oct. 17 at 11:30am at the North Tahoe Event Center in Kings Beach. Improving the business climate of North Lake Tahoe is the theme. Go online to register.

• Tahoe Nordic Search & Rescue receive a community fund grant from the Ironman Foundation.

• The South Lake Tahoe Planning Commission on Oct. 9 at 3pm will have a public hearing about a two-story storage facility being built on Emerald Bay Road. At the same meeting commissioners will discuss the first phase of the Greenway Bike Trail that will go from Sierra Tract to Van Sickle Bi-State Park.

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

Donner Summit
Photo/Caltrans

This single photograph from 1964 depicts the then and the now of highway travel over Donner Summit.

The twisting two-lane road seen on the lower half of the photo is historic “U.S. Route 40,” also known as part of the Lincoln Highway. Crossing Donner Summit, it passes Donner Ski Ranch, Sugar Bowl, Donner Lake, and continues eastward through Truckee then on to Reno. It also has one of the most-photographed bridges in the country, the Rainbow Bridge, the design of which includes a curve and a grade.

Highway 40 was the only access north of Tahoe to reach the Squaw Valley Winter Olympics of 1960.

In 1964, the modern Interstate 80 divided freeway opened. I-80 appears as the parallel white streaks across the top half of the photo.

Old “U.S. Route 40” is known now as Donner Pass Road.

— Bill Kingman

Lake Valley Fire Protection District is putting on an educational forum on Measure H on Oct. 8 from 5:30-7pm at Fire Station 7 at 2211 Keetak St in Meyers.

Measure H is on the Nov. 4 ballot. It is a special flat rate parcel tax for properties served by the Lake Valley Fire Protection District to fund the following programs: wildfire prevention and suppression programs, the Angora Peak Fire Crew, and equipment and facilities repair and replacement.

The district serves the California side of the South Shore outside of the South Lake Tahoe city limits, east to the state Line, north to Emerald Bay, south to Pickett’s Junction in Alpine County, and west to Twin Bridges.

For more info, go online.

Tahoe Arts Project is hosting the third annual Holiday Festival on Nov. 15-16 at South Tahoe Middle School’s multipurpose room.

That Saturday the event is from 10am-4pm. It ends at 3pm on Sunday.

It will feature art, craft and food vendors, entertainment, raffle prizes, and a visit from Santa. Admission is free.

For more info, call 530.542.3632.

Tahoe Arts Project is a nonprofit organization that presents performing arts in the schools and community of South Lake Tahoe.

Assistance League of Sierra Foothills’ fifth annual Homes for the Holidays tour in El Dorado Hills and surrounding area is Dec. 6-7.

This is an opportunity to get an idea for your own holiday decorating. The tour features six homes throughout El Dorado County including QT Farm, a sustainable and elegant fiber farm producing sheep, alpaca, goat, rabbit and llama wool. Also on the tour is a French country home, replete with vintage and natural holiday décor amidst sweeping panoramic views of the American River.

In addition to the six featured homes, Pottery World in El Dorado Hills will be sharing their secrets for creating stunning holiday decor with holiday floral demonstrations to help you create some magic of your own.

The tor is from 10am-5pm each day. Tickets are $25 for adults and $10 for children 12 and under. Tickets can be purchased at: Pottery World -­ Rocklin and EDH California Welcome Center -­ EDH Caffè Santoro-Cameron Park (Merrychase Drive and Safeway Center) Folsom Chamber of Commerce – Folsom El Dorado County Chamber of Commerce – Placerville.