El Dorado County Community Emergency Response Team program educates people about disaster preparedness for hazards that may impact their area and trains them in basic disaster response skills, such as fire safety, light search and rescue, team organization, and disaster medical operations.

Using the training learned in the classroom and during exercises, CERT members can assist others in their neighborhood or workplace following an event when professional responders are not immediately available to help. CERT members also are encouraged to support emergency response agencies by taking a more active role in emergency preparedness projects in their community.

The CERT Academy is offered to prospective CERT volunteers through the El Dorado County Office of Emergency Services in cooperation with Georgetown Fire District.

The academy consists of 24 hours in six day:

May 8, 6:30-8:30pm

May 9, 6:30-8:30pm

May 10, 8:30am-4:30pm

May 15, 6:30-8:30pm

May 16, 6:30-8:30pm

May 17, 8:30am-4:30pm.

Although the training is being held in Georgetown it is open to all county residents.

For more information or to sign up, call Laura Webster 530.333.0214 or Bob Maherly 530.823.6680.

• There is still time to register to vote for the June 3 primary in California. Nevada’s primary is June 10.

• Here is the El Dorado-Tahoe roadwork schedule from Caltrans for this week.

• The owners of Tahoe Keys Marina are opening a deli in May next to the Fresh Ketch. It will sell beer and wine, too.

• North Tahoe Public Utility District has given California State Parks its 30 days’ notice for operating Kings Beach State Recreation Area and boat launch facility. Starting May 15 it’s up to the state to operate the facility. The two public agencies have been bickering for some time.

• Carson City Fire Department is presenting the Nevada Wildfire Awareness Month Kickoff on May 3 from 10am-2pm at Mills Park. The event will promote this year’s wildfire awareness message, Prepare Your Home For Wildfire, encouraging residents to better prepare their homes and properties now to survive future wildfires.

Start Smart is aimed at helping newly licensed and future licensed teenage drivers become aware of the responsibilities of being a licensed California driver.

The next class is May 6 at 6pm in the South Tahoe High School student union. Students and parents are invited.

All classes are free and last approximately two hours. To reserve a space, contact the California Highway Patrol at 530.577.1001.

The program was created to reduce the the number of teen injuries and deaths resulting from motor vehicle collisions.

Sten Seemann of South Lake Tahoe has two VIP tickets to Brian Howe at Boomtown because he is one of Lake Tahoe News’ paid subscribers.

On occasion paid subscribers receive special benefits. He happened to win the contest Friday. The reward was two tickets to the May concert.

It’s fast and easy to fill out a paid subscriber form.

Here are reasons to do so:

“LTN is an excellent source for local news and issues that is timely, relevant and convenient. I do not have TV service, so I rely on LTN. I like the email brief because it is easy to quickly scan to see if there is an article I would like to read.” — Sten Seemann

The email Seemann refers to is the Daily Digest. This is free. Just put your email address in at the bottom right of the home page. Then you will receive an email each morning listing what has been posted in the last 24 hours. Clicking on a particular headline gets you to the full story.

Lake Tahoe News needs paid subscribers for two reasons — 1. It’s required by law to keep our adjudication so we may publish legal notices. You may have noticed earlier this year we added a category at the top of the home page called Legals. El Dorado County Superior Court in November deemed Lake Tahoe News an adjudicated publication; 2. Cash flow keeps us in business. It’s as simple as that. We have advertisers who we are thankful for, but we rely on readers as well.

– Lake Tahoe News staff

This train started rolling more than 100 years ago. Photo/Nevada State Railroad Museum

According to the Nevada State Railroad Museum, the McKeen Motor Car Company of Nebraska built 152 gasoline-powered “railcars” between 1905 and 1917.

A new McKeen Motor Car (No. 22) entered into service for the Virginia & Truckee Railroad on May 9, 1910, and made round-trips between Reno and Minden. No. 22 was retired and sold 35 years later.

The train became a diner in the 1940s. Photos/Nevada State Railroad Museum

Its body became a stationary diner in the 1940s, and by the 1980s it had become Al’s Plumbing Supply office in Carson City.

The train becomes a plumbing business. Photo/Nevada State Railroad Museum.

In 1996, it was donated to the Nevada State Railroad Museum in Carson City and now is the only restored and operable McKeen motor car in existence . It is also a National Historic Landmark.

Railcar returns to old glory. Photo/Nevada State Railroad Museum

Restored railcar. Photo/Bill Kingman

On National Train Day, May 10, the museum will offer rides on No. 22, celebrating its 104th anniversary date since being delivered to the V&T.

— Bill Kingman

Washoe County Sheriff’s Office is enhancing the Resident Deputy Program in Incline Village.

After more than six months of planning and preparation, two Washoe County Sheriff’s patrol deputies and their families are now full-time residents of the community in which they serve, joining Deputy Paul Longshore who has been a resident deputy in Incline for 15 years.

Even though 24-hour patrols were maintained in Incline Village during the recession and the Incline Village substation remained open, the office was not able to assign more than one resident deputy.

In conjunction with reinstating resident deputies, the sheriff’s office is also in the process of upgrading the Incline Village substation. After 50 years of nonstop operation, the substation is getting a well-deserved floor-to-ceiling make over.

Lake Tahoe Sustainability Collaborative has received two grants dealing with Safe Routes to Schools. Both On Our Way grant applications were collaborative processes with South Lake Tahoe and Lake Tahoe Unified School District.

The $156,000 grant will fund assessment and planning for South Tahoe Middle School, making the area safer and more accessible for students and addressing connectivity gaps to the greater South Lake Tahoe community. This is designed to lead to shovel-ready projects for Safe Routes to School construction funding applications in the coming years.

A $10,000 grant will fund preliminary assessment and project prioritization for the four elementary schools in LTUSD, as well as prepare a full Safe Routes to School planning grant application for a LTUSD Master Plan and engineering, design, and environmental review in order to prepare shovel-ready projects for high priority projects.

There will be a Safe Routes to Schools community meeting April 30 from 5:30-7:30pm to help rank the biggest safety issue at each school and discuss ways to improve safety. The meeting is at the middle school multipurpose room.

For more info, email jenniferdonlonwyant@altaplanning.com.

• The American Century Championship is offering complimentary tickets to military for the 25th anniversary of the celebrity golf tournament, July 15-20. All active duty, reservists, National Guard and veterans receive one complimentary ticket and one complimentary guest ticket for each day of the tournament. Apply by going online.

• The next free Tapping Tuesday is May 6 from 6-7pm at Rejuvenate behind Nephele’s on Ski Run Boulevard in South Lake Tahoe. This month’s theme is Affirmations that Really Do Work. For more info, contact Rosemary Manning at 530.541.6565 or email tahoehealthtouch@gmail.com.

• Placer County Superior Court is looking for residents to serve on the 2014-15 grand jury. For more information, call 916.408.6186. Applications must be received by May 16 at 3pm.

• The Lake Tahoe Educational Foundation’s annual Celebration of Education is May 14 from 4-5:30pm at Lakeland Village’s Pavilion. There will be presentations by local students, refreshments, and entertainment. The event is free.

• Zephyr Cove Tennis Club now has a website. The group is also on Facebook.

Tahoe Douglas Rotary Club is hosting its annual Burger Night on May 1 from 3-8pm.

The dinner is at Red Hut Cafe in the Ski Run center in South Lake Tahoe.

All proceeds from the evening support the vocational scholarship program at Whittell and South Tahoe high schools.

Tickets for the Burger Night are $10 each, which includes a burger, home fries and soda. Tickets are available from any Tahoe Douglas Rotarian. Presale tickets are preferred, but there will be some available at the door.

• The annual wagon train will roll through the South Shore on May 31.

• Heidi Hill Drum has been hired as executive director of the Tahoe Prosperity Center.

• El Dorado County Fair is June 12-15 in Placerville.

• “As You Like It” will be performed July 11-Aug. 24 at Sand Harbor during the annual Lake Tahoe Shakespeare Festival. There will be entertainment on Mondays, too. For more info, go online.

• Jon Sween of Lake Tahoe is now director of sales at Hampton Inn & Suites Carson City.