Join the half million other Nevada residents who have already signed up to participate in the fourth annual Great Nevada ShakeOut organized by the UNR’s Seismological Laboratory.

The even is Oct. 17 at 10:17am. Remember to “Drop, Cover, and Hold On” for at least 60 seconds.

The Great Nevada ShakeOut is an annual opportunity to practice earthquake safety and prepare for the possibility of a major earthquake. Participation at work is encouraged. Businesses, organizations, schools, and government agencies can register and have their employees practice the “Drop, Cover, and Hold On” action or have a more extensive emergency drill.

So far, 127,155 participants in the counties of Carson City, Douglas, Lyon, Storey and Washoe are registered for the event.

For more information and to sign up for the drill, go online.

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The Ironman Foundation Community Fund will give $50,000 in grants to initiatives and groups in the Lake Tahoe community.

The Ironman Foundation will donate funds to the North Lake Tahoe Fire Department toward the purchase of an off-road all terrain rescue vehicle and money to the Squaw Valley Fire Department to purchase additional rescue equipment. Grant funds will also be dispersed to numerous nonprofit groups including, KidZone Museum, Tahoe Cross Country Ski Education Association, Awaken INC, and Tahoe Nordic Search and Rescue.

This also marks the inaugural year for the Ironman Foundation Newton Running Triathlon Team. The goal of the team is to have athletes share the concept of “service through sport and commitment to community.” Twelve of the 44 members will be representing the team in Lake Tahoe and have identified Keep Tahoe Blue as a beneficiary of their team. These team members will be participating in a community service project today in Lake Tahoe to help with lake shore clean up. Additionally, the foundation team will support Keep Tahoe Blue with a donation of $16,000.

The inaugural Ironman Lake Tahoe is Sept. 22.

Fall is here and so is the large accumulation of leaves and pine needles. It’s best to clear your roof and gutters now before the snow renders them inaccessible.

Turned on heat tape under a buildup of leaves or needles can start a roof fire. South Tahoe Refuse will pick up all bagged leaves and pine needles left at the curbside on normal trash pick up days.

So take a little time now to do some housekeeping and hopefully we won’t be visiting you later.

— Sallie Ross-Filgo, South Lake Tahoe Fire Department

• El Dorado County Board of Supervisors are expected to adopt a $587 million balanced budget for fiscal year 2013-14 on Sept. 24.

• Abbi Agency and Boost Creative Services have merged to form one marketing company.

• In honor of Nevada’s 150th birthday in 2014, Nevada magazine is publishing a book titled “Historical Nevada: 150 Memorable Images in Celebration of the Silver State’s Sesquicentennia”. Each book is $29.95 plus $6 shipping and handling. To pre-order, call (775) 687.0610.

• Users on the Rubicon Trail will experience temporary delays in accessing the trail in the area of the rest stop at Ellis Creek on Sept. 20 from 10am-3pm and again Sept. 23 from 7am-4pm. These delays are due to work on the Ellis Creek Bridge.

The El Dorado County Senior Nutrition Program Home-Delivered Meal Service has a critical need for volunteer drivers.

Volunteers are especially needed to help deliver meals in the South Lake Tahoe, Cameron Park, El Dorado Hills and Placerville areas. Senior Nutrition Program volunteer drivers deliver meals once a week from 10:30am to noon, Monday through Friday, and also check on the well-being of program participants.

Volunteers not available for a weekly commitment may serve as back-up drivers who fill in as needed.

The Senior Nutrition Program is a service of the El Dorado County Health and Human Services Agency. To volunteer, or for questions about the Senior Nutrition Program, call (530) 621.6160. For information about other senior programs and services in El Dorado County, call (530) 621.6369.

BloodSource will have a blood drive in South Lake Tahoe on Oct. 7 from noon-6pm.

Blood drive participants will receive a parking validation for Lake Tahoe Resort Hotel.

The blood drive is sponsored by the Barton Memorial Hospital Auxiliary.

Walk-ins are welcoem. Donors must weigh at least 110 pounds, be at least 17 years old (16 with a signed BloodSource Parental consent form) and be generally healthy. There is no upper age limit for blood donations. Donors must bring a photo ID and should drink plenty of fluids before donating.

For more information, call Larry Coffman at (530) 577.0328. For donor eligibility questions, call BloodSource at 800.995.4420.

South Tahoe High School Performing Arts Booster Association presents “A Car Wash Fundraiser” on Sept. 21 from 10am-3pm.

This is a one-off performance by students of the drama, choral and music departments to raise money to help support the performing arts at STHS, including this year’s production of “Young Frankenstein”.

Come by 1154 Emerald Bay Road (Kelly Shanahan’s office, between Bert’s Cafe and Lake Tahoe Pizza).

Donations of all sizes will be accepted.

A song and dance may be included, too.

Lake Tahoe South Shore Chamber of Commerce and the U.S. Census Bureau are teaming up to present two workshops focusing on how to navigate through the Census website and the American FactFinder website.

The workshops will be Sept. 26 in the chamber Conference Room at 169 Highway 50, Stateline.

Bring a laptop to participate.

Census Workshop for Business Owners begins at 9am, and Census Workshop for Grant Writers begins at 1pm.

Space is limited; register in advance online.

Expect highway closures and traffic delays in the North Lake Tahoe area on Sept. 22 because of the inaugural Ironman Lake Tahoe race.

Northbound Highway 89 will be completely closed from Fairway Drive in Tahoe City to Squaw Valley Road from 7am to 5:30pm on race day. Southbound Highway 267 will be closed from Northstar Boulevard to Kingswood/Commonwealth Drive in Kings Beach from 8:30am to 4pm. Highway 28 will be closed in both directions in Kings Beach from Fox Street to the Highway 267 intersection from 6:30-9:30am during the athletes’ transition from swim to bike.

The eastbound Interstate 80 off-ramp to Highway 267/89 and the Highway 89 on-ramp to westbound I-80 will both be closed from 6:30am to 3:30pm.

Access to residential streets from the highways will be closed at several locations as well. There will be traffic-control operators and CHP officers stationed on intersections around the lake during the race. Detours will be available and roadside electronic message boards deployed around the course.

Competitors will start at Kings Beach State Recreation Area for the swim course, then transition into the bike ride along highways 28, 89 into Truckee and onto 267 over Brockway Summit and then back down to Highway 28, repeat the loop, and then continue onto Highway 89 again before finishing at Squaw Valley. From there they’ll run down to Tahoe City and back on the Truckee River bike path adjacent to Highway 89 before crossing the finish line at Squaw. Competitors have 17 hours to finish, with the last swimmers in the water by 7am, the bike course closing at 5:30pm and the run course closing at midnight.

• Outside magazine says Squaw Valley is the No. 1 resort in North America.

• The 18th annual Holiday Faire at Valhalla Grand Hall on the South Shore is Nov. 22 from 5:30-8:30pm, Nov. 23 from 10am-5pm and Nov. 24 from 10am-4pm.

• Squaw Valley’s annual Oktoberfest will transform the village into a miniature Bavaria on Sept. 28 from 2-6pm.

• The East Shore Express ridership increased 21 percent this summer compared to the inaugural 2012 season for the bus service. There were 14,652 passengers.