• A $2.7 million federal grant is allowing Tahoe Douglas Fire Protection District to fully staff the Zephyr Cove station.

• The Lake Tahoe aquatic invasive species watercraft inspection program received a silver Anvil award from the Public Relations Society of America.

• El Dorado County search and rescue is having a fundraiser June 19 starting at 5pm at Riva Grill in South Lake Tahoe. The cost is $18 for an all you can eat buffet and music by Deep Fried Mojo. Wet Woody’s will be $5.25 ea.

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

• There will be a Trout Creek Pocket Park and Creek restoration community meeting June 25 from 5:30-7pm at the intersection of Bridge and Jibboom streets in Truckee.

A colorful exhibition of space photography is on display at the Western Nevada College Main Art Gallery through Aug. 23.

The collection contains several dozen large photographs of Earth’s moon, planets in the solar system and their moons, and colorful nebulae.

The 2-foot long images are the creations of John Dykes, a Western Nevada Astronomical Society member and Jack C. Davis Observatory volunteer. His works are printed on thin metal plates that enhance the colors.

Copies of the photographs may be ordered, with the proceeds to help support the observatory.

The gallery is located in the Bristlecone Building on the Carson City campus.

Exhibition hours are Monday-Friday, 8am-9pm and Saturday, 8am-5pm.

The Lake Tahoe Community College Foundation’s second annual Taste of Gold fundraiser is July 13 from 6-9pm at the Ledbetter Terrace and Demonstration Garden.

It’s the biggest fundraiser of the year for the foundation, with proceeds going directly to support academic programs and student scholarships and achievement.

Guests can sample wines from a number of El Dorado County wineries and small-batch microbrews, along with food from several local restaurants.

Tickets are $75 per person, and can be purchased by contacting Marty Green at (530) 541.4660, ext. 753, or foundationAssistant@ltcc.edu.

• Chili cooks are invited to enter the Cowboys and Cornbread competition July 21 at the El Dorado County Fairgrounds. More info is online.

• Nicki Bluhm and the Gramblers will be opening for the Steve Miller Band at the Lake Tahoe Outdoor Arena at Harveys on June 22.

• Bill Schroeder of Carson City is now a master flight instructor emeritus. This makes him one of the most experienced flight instructors in the world.

• Christina Frohlich has taken over Gallanty Physical Therapy in South Lake Tahoe.

• CW and Mr. Spoons will bring the Western ragtime guitar and “wonder bucket” for a concert on the South Lake Tahoe library lawn on Aug. 14 at 6pm. Bring a picnic dinner. Concert is free.

NBC’s “Today Show” recognized South Lake Tahoe’s Lights on the Lake Fireworks display as one of the country’s top Fourth of July weekend celebrations. The American Pyrotechnics Association rates South Shore’s Fourth of July fireworks celebration as one of the top five displays in the nation.

The show is scheduled to begin at 9:45pm July 4. The fireworks are visible from all over town.

• Beginning June 17, CalFire’s Amador-El Dorado-Sacramento Unit will suspend dooryard burning permits.

• Cindy Martinez, Bijou Community School teacher, was appointed by the board of education to be principal for 2013-14.

• As of June 10, El Dorado County Superior Court’s telephone access for the public was reduced to 8am-1pm because of budget cuts and staff shortages.

• The South Tahoe Garden Club will present certified arborist William Probst on June 25 at the Demonstration Garden at Lake Tahoe Community College. Starting at 12:30pm he will talk about when to prune, which tools to use and how to prune vegetation.

• Squaw Valley is open for the summer. New activities include an outdoor climbing wall as well as free croquet, bean bag toss and a slackline park at the base area. Paintball is moving from High Camp to the base area. Mountaintop activities include free daily guided hikes as well as disc golf, tennis and geocaching, all of which are free with an aerial tram ticket or 2013-14 season pass.

Several troopers from the Nevada Highway Patrol, as well as other employees for the Department of Public Safety, will be volunteering their June 14 to raise money for Special Olympics Nevada and California.

The volunteers will wait tables at the Hard Rock Café at Harveys in Stateline during lunch and dinner. They will be working for “special tips.”

As patrons are greeted, each volunteer will leave an envelope with each table for those wishing to make a donation. These tips are in addition to the regular server’s entitled gratuity.

The East Shore Express, a park and ride bus that runs from Incline Village to Sand Harbor, begins service this weekend.

Buses will operate Saturdays and Sundays beginning the weekends of June 15-16 and June 22-23 from 10am to 8pm. Daily operations run June 29 through Sept. 2 with service from 10am-8pm. Buses run every 20 minutes on weekends. Hours of operation on the Fourth of July are 8am-8pm.

Roundtrip fare is $3 per person and $1.50 for children 12 and under, seniors and disabled. Fares include admission to Sand Harbor. Passengers transferring from Tahoe Area Regional Transit pay $1 with a transfer slip.

The East Shore Express loops from the old Incline Village Elementary School on the corner of Highway 28 and Southwood Boulevard to Sand Harbor.

• It was announced this week that the Sprint U.S. Grand Prix (Visa Halfpipe and Slopestyle Skiing) will be at Northstar Jan. 9-12.

• Bernadette Lovato is now the district manager for the U.S. Bureau of Land Management’s Carson City office. She is responsible for 4.8 million acres of federal lands in 11 counties in western Nevada and eastern California.

• Placer County Transit Services was named 2013 Rural Transit Program of the Year by the California Association for Coordinated Transportation.

• It must have been a slow news day. The San Francisco Chronicle on June 9 had the South Shore’s loop road as the lead story.

• Dwayne Dopsie and the Zydeco Hellraisers from New Orleans will take the stage July 27 at Tahoe Donner’s Concert on the Green. For more information, call (530) 587.9400.

Highway 28 between Ponderosa Ranch Road in Incline Village and Highway 50 at Spooner Summit will be closed June 18-20 from 9pm to 5am.

This is so a contractor working for the Nevada Department of Transportation can put down a flush seal to preserve the life of the road.

“If we were doing it during the day, traffic control would be for two weeks and there would be huge lines of traffic,” NDOT spokesman Scott MacGruder told Lake Tahoe News.

People who live along Highway 28 will be allowed to access their homes.

The Mount Rose Highway to Interstate 580 south to Highway 50 is the suggested route for getting to Carson City for those usually use Highway 28.