The 20th World Spay Day is Feb. 25.

In addition to offering spay/neuter vouchers during the month of February, the Lake Tahoe Humane Society is having an open house that day from 2-7pm. The office is at 870 Emerald Bay Road, Suite 104, South Lake Tahoe.

This is an opportunity to learn about the agency’s services and programs.

The society is accepting unopened bags and cans of dog and cat food for the emergency pet food bank.

For more information, contact Liz Maul at (530) 542.2857 or info@laketahoehumaneandspca.org.

Board of Equalization member George Runner will host a telephone townhall for small business owners on Feb. 19 at 2pm.

The free event, co-hosted by the National Federation of Independent Business, will provide specific information to small business owners on how best to avoid common tax errors.

Those wishing to participate may register by calling (916) 445.3032. Individuals who pre-register will receive a telephone call at the start of the event inviting them to connect to the townhall.

The telephone townhall will inform small business owners about how to protect themselves from common tax traps such as missing records, successor liability, underreporting of tax, and invalid resale certificates. Information about these issues will help small business owners avoid making potentially costly mistakes.

• Here is the weekly El Dorado-Tahoe roadwork schedule from Caltrans.

• The inaugural Gone Bonkers Kids Ski and Snowboard Race is March 2 from 1-4pm at Granlibakken in Tahoe City. It is for ages 5-12. Cost is $5 for Granlibakken guests and $25 for others.

• Dodge Ridge is open.

• Alice Jones is now director of fiscal services at Lake Tahoe Community College.

• Gov. Jerry Brown has reappointed Lai Lai Bui, 40, of Shingle Springs, to the Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training. She has been on the commission since 2005.

The original M.S. Dixie paddle-wheeler was retired in the 1990s. Photos/Bill Kingman

The M.S. (Motor Ship) Dixie was brought to Lake Tahoe in sections in about 1948, having served on the Mississippi River.

The Dixie in 1972.

After the Amundson family of Lake Tahoe lengthened, widened, and added a third deck, the M.S. Dixie debuted as a cruise ship in 1972. It docked variously at Ski Run on the beach, at Timber Cove Pier, and at Zephyr Cove, which became its permanent port.

The initial dinner cruises to Emerald Bay offered steaks from several backyard-type barbecues placed outside on the Dixie’s rear deck.

Twenty years later, the M.S. Dixie was replaced by a brand new M. S. Dixie II, the largest ship on Lake Tahoe. It is based at Zephyr Cove.

M.S. Dixie II

Jim Amundson has converted the old retired Dixie into a service barge which remains the main platform for our annual 4th of July and Labor Day fireworks shows over the lake.

The original M.S. Dixie is now the barge used for the annual South Shore fireworks.

Singer Ray Donoho’s website details the debut Dixie where he performed.

— Bill Kingman

The Mental Health Division of the El Dorado County Health and Human Services Agency wants input on the county’s Mental Health Services Act (MHSA) Programs Plan for fiscal year 2014-15.

Community members may provide input via email or at one of the community meetings this month or in March.

MHSA’s primary focus is on the unserved and underserved. MHSA looks at the needs of all ages.

Copies of previous MHSA Plans, as well as upcoming community meeting dates and times, can be found online.

For more information about MHSA or the plan, call (530) 621.6340.

Random Acts of Improv is the resident improvisation company of the Theater Arts Department at Lake Tahoe Community College.

They will be performing Feb. 21 at 7:30pm in the Duke Theatre. Tickets are $5 at the door.

This family-friendly show will feature seasoned improvisation performers, as well as a few fresh faces. For more information, call (530) 541.4660, ext. 240 or email Boulanger@ltcc.edu.

The sixth annual Cowboy Mardi Gras fundraiser to benefit Austin’s House is Feb. 28 at the Carson Valley Inn from 6-10pm.

The party atmosphere of Bourbon Street in New Orleans on Fat Tuesday features food, music, dancing, games, raffle prizes, and a silent auction.

The Cowboy Mardi Gras starts at 6pm with a cocktail hour. Dinner is a western BBQ buffet featuring tri-tip beef, pulled pork and mesquite rubbed chicken with all the trimmings. Beer, wine and cocktails are also available. After dinner is music, dancing and games.

Tickets are $50; (775) 267.6711.

Washoe County Regional Animal Services has extended its free microchipping campaign for an additional two years. Washoe County pet owners may microchip their pets for free at animal services through January 2016.

Because microchips have proven themselves as invaluable to their mission, Regional Animal Services initiated a yearlong free microchipping campaign in January 2013. The campaign’s goal was to microchip 5,000 pets by the end of January 2014.

The goal was exceeded by well more than 2,000 pets.

A microchip is a small, electronic chip enclosed in a glass cylinder about the size of a grain of rice. The microchip is activated by a scanner that receives an identification number which is linked to the pet owner’s contact information stored in the Animal Services’ database.

For more information, go online.

• Steve Harness, who has been with KRLT and KOWL radio stations on the South Shore for almost seven years as a disc jockey, program director and operations manager, is now general manager of the stations.

• In response to the state’s severe drought, Caltrans is launching a statewide educational campaign on the state’s highways urging all Californians to conserve water. California’s more than 700 electronic highway signs will display a water conservation message.

• While the investigation is still open, El Dorado County sheriff’s officials say there are no leads in the January bomb threat at Sierra-at-Tahoe.

• South Lake Tahoe Wedding & Honeymoon Association is putting on the Something Blue Wedding Expo on March 16 from noon-3pm at MontBleu in Stateline. Tickets are $15 in advance or $18 at the door.

• Members of the iconic 1980s rock band Dire Straits have launched a 25-city tour as the Straits with a March 28 stop at MontBleu in Stateline. The show begins at 9 p.m. Tickets are $35 through Ticketmaster or by calling the MontBleu Box Office at 888.829.7630.

On Feb. 19 there will be a California legal update workshop for business owners.

Topics will include new employment laws and how they will impact business this year.

Lake Tahoe South Shore Chamber of Commerce is putting the even on with HG Business Law of South Lake Tahoe.

The workshop will be at the chambers conference room at 169 Highway 50, Stateline from 5-6:30pm.

Cost is $20 for members, $30 for non-members.

For more info, contact (775) 588.1728, ext. 312 or searley@tahoechamber.org.