A night of bowling will help Animal Coalition of Tahoe.

At Tahoe Bowl on March 20 from 6-8pm a portion of the proceeds will benefit ACT’s spay-neuter program and the El Dorado County Animal Shelter. There will also be a raffle.

The Animal Coalition of Tahoe has been working hard since the Mutt Strut in October to raise funds.

More than 1,600 spay-neuter vouchers have been distributed in the past nine years.

At Tahoe Bowl a portion of the beer and pizza sales also go to ACT.

For more information, call (530) 307.3638 or email info@tahoeanimals.org.

• The Bicycle Advisory Committee of the South Lake Tahoe Recreation Facilities Joint Powers Authority will meet March 1 form 9–11am at Lake Tahoe Airport.

• Earthly Delights in the Northstar Village has launched a new website.

• This story-video proves why one should not throw a snowball while on a chairlift.

• The Fields Advisory Committee of the South Lake Tahoe Recreation Facilities Joint Powers Authority will meet Feb. 25 from 4 – 6pm at Lake Tahoe Airport.

• Vail Resorts CEO Rob Katz shares the company’s success story in this video from Bloomberg:

The Tahoe Fund, an environmental nonprofit raising funds for environmental improvement projects in the Lake Tahoe Basin, received an Every Day Capacity Building Grant from the National Environmental Education Foundation.

The grant program is made possible through support of Toyota Motor Sales USA, Inc.

This grant will provide resources to help the Tahoe Fund expand its online fundraising capacity and donor management capabilities. The Tahoe Fund was one of 29 grantees selected from a pool of 160 applicants.

Founded in 2010, the Tahoe Fund is a bistate nonprofit dedicated to raising money for environmental improvement projects that will improve lake clarity, enhance recreation and build a stronger sense of environmental stewardship in the basin.

How many of you are frustrated with Lake Tahoe News lately because it’s slow to load or you can’t even get on?

(Really, you don’t have to answer — we share your pain.)

With the redesign came a new server — one that clearly is not functioning well. We are hoping to have the problem corrected sooner rather than later, but it is likely to mean some intermittent problems through the weekend.

Thank you for your understanding and patience.

Kathryn Reed, LTN publisher

The Truckee Donner Recreation & Park District is considering a public sale of the Truckee Veterans Building.

The board of directors of the recreation district is having a meeting March 5 at 6:30pm to receive public input on the potential sale. It will be at the vet building.

The district is considering selling the building to Tahoe Forest Church.

The board is also considering splitting off the Rocking Stone and the grass area and making it a public park. The district offered the building for sale to public entities, receiving no inquiries.

For more info, contact Steve Randall at steve@tdrpd.org or the board of directors at board@tdrpd.org.

Placer County sheriff’s deputies are beefing up enforcement of cell phone laws Feb. 25-March 8.

The enforcement is part of a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety, the U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to eliminate motorists’ hand-held cell phone use and texting. The effort is a special federally funded pilot program using the region to test tactics that may be employed nationally in the future.

California’s distracted driving law bans all drivers from using hand-held devices and texting while operating a motor vehicle. However, in 2011, the Department of Motor Vehicles reported 460,487 handheld cell phone convictions, up from 361,260 in 2010.

Distracted drivers in Placer County talking on a hand-held cell phone or texting will receive a first-time ticket costing a minimum of $159, with a second offense costing $279. But the goal of the special enforcement operation is not to issue tickets, but to raise awareness of the dangers of distracted driving.

• Turn off your phone and/or put it out of reach. Include in your outgoing message that you can’t answer while you are driving.

• Don’t call or text anyone at a time when you think they may be driving.

• The Truckee Donner Land Trust has been accredited by the Land Trust Accreditation Commission, an independent program of the Land Trust Alliance. It is one of 201 land trusts from across the country to have this designation.

• Barton Memorial Hospital hoped to have its Level 3 trauma center designation the first quarter of 2013. Now fingers are crossed it will happen before 2014.

• Drug Store Project is all-day April 2 at Lake Tahoe Community College. For more information, email lhuard@ymail.com.

• Goldfish are becoming a problem in Lake Tahoe. Check out this report from KCRA-TV.

South Lake Tahoe is accepting applications for the Spring 2013 Citizens Academy. The academy will be on Wednesday’s from 5:30-8pm from April 10-May 15.

The Citizens Academy is a free, six-session interactive course designed to provide residents with an in-depth look into municipal government, as well as, information about the services and programs of the city.

This course is open to all community members and provides an opportunity for residents to increase their knowledge about the workings of local government and have a desire to become more involved in the shaping and development of their community.

To enroll, complete the Citizens Academy application and return to city offices located at 1901 Airport Road, or fax to (530) 542.7411 or -mail to tfranklin@cityofslt.us by March 22 at 5pm.

Beginning the first week of March and continuing into April, staff from the Nevada Division of Water Resources, Office of the State Engineer, will be measuring groundwater levels in wells throughout various hydrographic basins within Washoe, Humboldt, Pershing, Lander, Elko, Eureka and White Pine counties.

The data collection is part of an ongoing effort to assess hydrologic conditions throughout Nevada.

Division staff will be measuring water levels primarily in irrigation and stock wells.

Contact Tim Wilson at (775) 684.2873 for more information.

Douglas County School District board of trustees is seeking input concerning the formal graduation ceremony at the two high schools.

Currently, there is a formal ceremony for students receiving a standard, special education adjusted, advanced or honors diploma and a separate ceremony for the adult diploma recipients.

The standard, advanced and honors diplomas require a minimum of 23 credits, passage of all high school proficiencies, and completion of district competencies. The adult diploma requires 20.5 credits and passage of all high school proficiencies.

Students not meeting the graduation requirements do not participate in either ceremony.

Trustees are considering combining the two ceremonies. Take this survey to have your opinion heard.