• South Lake Tahoe Recreation Department is partnering with the Tahoe Tri Club to put on a Kids Triathlon on Aug. 18 at the South Lake Tahoe Recreation Complex at 1:30pm. Registration for the event is $35.

• A Kings Beach Commercial Core Improvement Project public meeting will be Sept. 4 at 6pm at the North Tahoe Event Center.

• Tahoe City Parks and Recreation Department is seeking local artists who are interested in displaying their artwork in public places. For more info, contact Shaun Chilkotowsky at (530) 583.3440 or shaunc@tcpud.org.

• Homewood Days Cornhole Tournament is Aug. 17. Call (530) 584.6839 for more info or show up ready to register at noon.

• The Lake Tahoe South Shore Chamber of Commerce in conjunction with U.S. Census Bureau is hosting a free workshop called Census Data for Grant Writers on Sept. 26 from 1-3pm at 169 Highway 50, Stateline.

• The highly regarded Squeeze In restaurants with locations in Truckee and Reno are about to start offering franchise opportunities.

• The Yardbirds original lead guitarist Top Topham has rejoined the band because founding member Chris Dreja is ill. The Yardbirds will be at Harrah’s Lake Tahoe on Sept. 14.

• Squaw Valley and Mammoth Mountain along with other ski resorts in the Mountain Collective are partnering with Protect Our Winters to deal with climate change. POW was established in 2007 by professional snowboarder Jeremy Jones of Truckee to reduce the impacts of climate changes on winter sports.

• South Lake Tahoe author Todd Borg’s latest release “Tahoe Chase” was an immediate Amazon Bestseller in multiple categories in the Kindle Store.

• Due to an illness, Dickey Betts & Great Southern have been forced to cancel several dates including Aug. 17 at Harrah’s Lake Tahoe.

Saint Joseph Community Land Trust is sponsoring a workshop on identity theft and fraud prevention Aug. 21.

Sgt. Pat Brooks of the Douglas County Sheriff’s Department is leading the discussion.

The class will be at the Douglas County Senior Center on Highway 50 and Warrior Way in Zephyr Cove. The event is free. It starts at 7pm.

For more info, call (530) 541.8930.

There will be a regional hazardous materials exercise taking place at Diamond Peak Ski Resort on Aug. 15.

The exercise will begin at 8am and last most of the day. The drill is being organized by the 92nd Civil Support Team from Las Vegas. Other entities participating will be the 9th Civil Support Team from Los Angeles, Placer County HAZMAT Team, Tahoe Douglas Bomb Squad, Washoe County Consolidated Bomb Squad, and North Lake Tahoe Fire Protection District.

There will be a large number of emergency vehicles and military vehicles involved during the drill.

• The Coalition to Protect Lake Tahoe has been formed to fight development in the basin. Members include the Sierra Club, Friends of the West Shore, Friends of Tahoe Vista, North Tahoe Citizen Action Alliance, North Tahoe Preservation Alliance, Washoe Meadows Community and Earthjustice.

• Nevadans will soon be able to have specialty license plates that benefit the Air Force Thunderbirds and Nevada Health Centers.

• After 55 years, the country’s largest professional organization for physicians, the American Medical Association, will no longer publish its news magazine.

• Through October, Liberty Utilities will pay people $35 to pick up an old refrigerator. For more info, call 877.289.8260.

Take the same precautions in your workshop as you do in your home.

Install smoke detectors and keep a fire extinguisher on hand that’s rated for fires involving wood and cloth, flammable liquids and electrical equipment. Mount the fire extinguisher near an exit and make sure it is ready to use.

Keep oily rags in covered metal containers and make sure flammable liquids are stored safely. Keep the shop clean, paying particular attention to switches, motors, and space heaters.

— Sallie Ross-Filgo, SLTFD

Squaw Valley is the first California ski resort to install electric car chargers.

Use of the four car chargers is free for guests. They are open daily.

Squaw installed two CS-40 pedestal chargers from Clipper Creek, offering four 30 amp, 240 volt, J1772 charging stations. J1772 charging stations are a SAE standard for electrical connectors for electric vehicles, meaning the chargers will be compatible with most electric cars on the market today.

The new charging stations are located at the western edge of the Far East Building at Squaw Valley, next to the Cornice Cantina.

Insights into Brain Health is the topic of a Sept. 5 lecture in Incline.

The Parasol Tahoe Community Foundation presents world-class experts from the Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health in a community forum on Alzheimer’s, multiple sclerosis and Parkinson’s.

Although the event is free, seating is limited so reservations are necessary — email jeane@parasol.org.

The event is from 5:30-7:30pm at the Donald W. Reynolds Community Non-Profit Center, 948 Incline Way, Incline Village.

Caltrans once planned to put a bridge in at Emerald Bay. Photo/Bill Kingman/Circa 1960

In the late 1950s, Caltrans presented various plans for a bridge across the entrance to Emerald Bay and rerouting Highway 89.

What Emerald Bay looks like today via Google.

Strong public opposition prevailed, and that idea was dropped in the 1960s. This was prior to the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency’s formation.

In the same time period, film manufacturer and processor Eastman Kodak declared that Emerald Bay was one most-photographed location in the world, second only to the Taj Mahal in Agra, India.

— Bill Kingman

• Services for Tom Wendell will be Aug. 18 at 3pm at Lake Tahoe Golf Course in Meyers.

• The Chart House restaurant in Stateline is one of OpenTable’s 2013 Diners’ Choice Award winners for the Top 100 Scenic View Restaurants in the United States.

• Read this article to find out about 10 foods people eat in the U.S. that are banned in some other countries.

• Here is Caltrans’ weekly roadwork schedule for the Sierra.