The inherent dangers of having so many homes located in such dangerous terrain prompted University of Nevada Cooperative Extension’s Living With Fire program six years ago to sponsor the first

The annual Nevada Wildland-Urban Interface Fire Summit is Oct. 1-2 at the Grand Sierra Resort in Reno.

It will give homeowners and firefighters a chance to compare notes, plan strategy and discuss in detail what they need to do to protect their neighborhoods from fire.

Research indicates that pre-fire activities performed by the homeowner – such as creating defensible space, removing pine needles from rain gutters, replacing wood shake roofs and screening vents – can significantly improve house survivability during wildfire.

The summit is an opportunity for homeowners to learn what they can do. The event is free, but participants need to register by going online.

A highlight of this year’s program will be a review of the Caughlin Fire from the eyewitness accounts of homeowners and firefighters. This discussion will be led by North Lake Tahoe Fire Protection District Fire Chief and Caughlin Fire Incident Commander Mike Brown.

• The M.S. Dixie II and Tahoe Queen on Sept. 1 will race along Tahoe’s South Shore in a four-mile race for the title of the fastest paddle-wheeler on the lake. For more info, call 800.238.2463.

• South Lake Tahoe’s library (1000 Rufus Allen Blvd.) is hosting a Princess Party on Oct. 6 at 2 pm. Wear your best gowns, crowns and diamonds. Games, crafts and refreshments will be available for your royal enjoyment. For more info, call (530) 573.3185.

• People who don’t want to pay the rural fire tax fee the state is imposing might want to click on this link.

• Labor Day fireworks on the South Shore start at 8:30pm Sept. 2 — not Labor Day.

• South Lake Tahoe City Council candidate JoAnn Conner is having a series of coffees to tell people about her platform: Aug. 30, 7-9am, at the Simple Bliss Vegan Cafe in Swiss Chalet Village; Sept. 5, 5-7pm at Hot Gossip Coffee Shop in Bijou Center; and Sept. 9, 9-11am, Don’s Cakes by the Lake, 661 Emerald Bay Road.

The bands that will battle Friday during CASA El Dorado’s Best Sunset Band fundraiser have been announced.

Taking the stage Aug. 31 at Lakeview Commons in South Lake Tahoe will be Groovebox, In Escrow, and Cash Only.

The crowd will determine the winner.

The free event is from 3-8pm. But it costs to vote. That is how CASA will make money.

Besides music, there will be a trampoline, bounce house, paddleboard lessons, craft vendors, food, beer and wine.

• To celebrate “The Godfather’s” 40th anniversary, there is a Monopoly board game out – and it includes Lake Tahoe properties.

• Tahoe Prosperity Center has hired Mone´ Haen to be CEO.

• Fire Fest, presented by Kiwanis Club of Lake Tahoe, is Sept. 29 from 10am to 3pm at Lake Tahoe Airport.

• The 27th Lake Tahoe Autumn Food and Wine Festival is now nine days – Sept. 1-9. Go online for more information.

• Kiwanis Club of Tahoe Sierra’s annual SeptOberfest fundraiser is Sept. 27 at 6pm at MontBleu in Stateline. Tickets are $35 — which includes food, wine tasting and beer. Call (530) 318.9197 for more details.

Will Richardson of the Tahoe Institute for Natural Sciences will talk about the fall migration in Tahoe and the effects of change climate patterns on migration and the birds and wildlife found in the basin on Sept. 18.

The event is at the South Lake Tahoe branch library, 1000 Rufus Allen Blvd.

The free event starts at 6:30pm.

For more information, call (530) 573.3185.

Ask an improv actor what is improvisation’s most challenging skill, and chances are pretty good they’ll say making up a song. That’s what improv actors and students will be practicing Sept. 1 in a workshop taught by song improvisation masters Laura and Rick Hall.

The workshop will focus on using musical or song improv as a natural extension of a scene and building vocal confidence with various musical styles.

The workshop is designed for improv actors, students and improv theater teachers.

Classes are from 10am-noon and 1:30-3:30pm at Unity at the Lake, 1195 Rufus Allen Blvd., South Lake Tahoe. Cost is $55.

For information, contact Gerry Orton at (530) 318.2180.

El Dorado County voters have the option to not receive a paper sample ballot.

Go online and click on the sample ballot opt out link next to the green leaf, and follow the directions.

This allows voters to begin receiving the sample ballot via email.

• Do you want to win two tickets to the Signature Cocktail fundraising event for Barton Health Foundation? If yes, then check out this story.

• To win those tickets, you must be part of Lake Tahoe News’ special NEWS team. You do so by becoming a paid subscriber.

• The Heavenly Mountain Run will challenge trail runners with a 5.8-mile run ascending from the 6,565-foot California Base Lodge to the Tamarack Lodge at 9,150-feet on Sept. 2. Register online.

• The Sierra Club is staging a publicity event Aug. 29 at noon when more than 5,000 petitions, letters and public comments will be delivered to the U.S. Forest Service’s South Lake Tahoe office “in support of strong protections for the forests and watersheds of the Lake Tahoe Basin”.

• Here is the Caltrans roadwork schedule for this week in El Dorado-Tahoe and the Sierra.

With the completion of $130,311 in energy improvements, South Lake Tahoe expects to see an annual savings of $19,623 by reducing kilowatt hours by 186,889.

The improvements were paid for by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Energy Efficiency Conservation Block Program under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

Approximately 150 lights at the Motor Pool Building and 88 streetlights on Ski Run Boulevard were switched from incandescent bulbs to LED.

More than 200 interior lights were switched from T12 lights to higher efficiency T8 lights at the police department. And ore than 50 occupancy sensors, designed to shut off lights when offices are not in use, were also installed.

Other city facilities switched more than 400 lights to the more efficient T8 bulbs.

Anchor stores in the Bijou Center in South Lake Tahoe have changed through the years.

TRPA was not around in 1965 to regulate the color scheme.

Why the yellow painted ovals on the roadway in 1965?

— Bill Kingman

Bijou Center 2012

Bijou Center 1965