The Tahoe Area Sierra Club and the Tahoe Institute of Natural Science are co-sponsoring the Sierra Club’s community meeting in South Lake Tahoe on July 18 from 7-9pm.

Laird Blackwell, professor and leading author on mountain wildflowers, will speak. Blackwell will present his new book on California wildflowers, including a slide show highlighting the most beautiful flowers now blooming in the Lake Tahoe area. He will also be signing books, which are available at Hooligan’s bookstore in Truckee.

The free public event is being held at Unity of the Lake Center, 1195 Rufus Allen Blvd.

The U.S. Forest Service Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit is hosting four information sessions for public review and comment on its Forest Plan revision.

Each session will provide an overview of the four plan alternatives detailed in the Draft Environmental Impact Statement.

The sessions are scheduled for July 17 at the Forest Supervisor’s Office, 35 College Drive, South Lake Tahoe, at 2-4pm with a second session from 6-8pm.

Two more sessions will be held July 18 at the North Tahoe Conference Center, 8318 North Lake Blvd., Kings Beach, from 2-4pm and 6-8pm.

A session will be held online on July 19 from 1-3pm. More information on how to participate in the webinar is available at the USFS web site.

For more details, contact Adrian Escobedo, Forest Civil Rights Officer, at (530) 543.2758 or by email at aescobedo02@fs.fed.us.

• The South Lake Tahoe City Council is holding a special meeting at the Bonanza Park, 1209 Bonanza Ave., July 14 at 10:30am. The park opening follows at 11am.

• The South Lake Tahoe Planning Commission granted the “locally unique” designation to signs at the Stardust and Tahoe Beach and Ski Club.

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

• Edgewood Company and the city of South Lake Tahoe invite the public to the opening of the Bonanza Neighborhood Park on July 14 from 11am to 1pm. The park is located at 1209 Bonanza Ave.

• Tahoe Arts Project is having auditions for Missoula Children’s Theater production of “The Wizard of Oz” on the lawn of Valhalla Tallac Historic Site on July 16 from 10am to noon. For more information, contact Peggy at (530) 542.3632.

• Sweetwater String Band and Grant Farm will be performing at Beerfest and Bluegrass at Northstar Village on July 14 from 3-7pm. Tickets are $30 in advance and can be purchased online or at the Tickets & Season Pass office in the Village, or for $38 at the door.

Chesley Burnett “Sully” Sullenberger, the pilot who became famous when he emergency landed a commercial flight in the Hudson River off Manhattan, will be a guest speaker at the 2012 Lake in the Sky Air Show “Pre-Flight” party at the Embassy Suites Resort from 6:30-9pm on Aug. 24.

Sullenberger also will sign books. He has written two books, “Highest Duty,” a memoir of his life and the events surrounding the landing of U.S. Airways Flight 1549, and “Making a Difference:Stories of Vision and Courage from America’s Leaders.”  The Manhattan Dolls will also perform.

Sullenberger will host a second book signing on Aug. 26  at Lake Tahoe Airport, 1901 Airport Road.

The Lake in the Sky Air Show runs Aug.24-26 at the airport and will feature aerobatic performances by several top performers including Bill Cornick, Jon Melby and Spencer Suderman.

Go online for more information.

The Law Enforcement Torch Run is arriving at South Lake Tahoe Moose Lodge on July 14 when riders from four locations in the Bay Area and Central California take part in the fundraiser to benefit the Northern California Special Olympics.

Approximately 50 riders, passengers, athletes, and support crew are expected to start arriving at about 4:30pm for a dinner and celebration. The  cops will be wearing bright tutus rather than service revolvers. Jody Filgo, the South Lake Tahoe Area Director for Special Olympics, has arranged for local athletes to greet the riders.

The local Moose Lodge is a co-sponsor of the event. Proceeds support the training and competition that is provided free to the 14,000 athletes who compete in the Northern California Special Olympics.

Over the last three years, law enforcement agencies in the region have raised more than $1 million annually through torch runs. Internationally, law enforcement agencies raised more than $40 million for the Special Olympics last year.

South Lake Tahoe Moose Lodge 1632 is located at 961 Eloise Ave., South Lake Tahoe.

For more information, contact Barry Keil at (530) 545.1087, or call the Lodge between noon and 8pm at (530) 541.1632.

Lake Tahoe South Shore Chamber of Commerce said it has completed its wayfinding project, an effort to produce aesthetically-pleasing road signs identifying area attractions.  Twenty-four signs are now installed throughout South Lake Tahoe.

The project was initiated with funding provided by the South Lake Tahoe and El Dorado County in response to research showing that visitors to Lake Tahoe wanted help finding beaches, parks, boat launches and other local sites.

Most of the sign are on Highway 50, which required Caltrans approval that took two years to obtain.

— Lake Tahoe News staff report

Tahoe Center for Orthopedic will host its annual Tahoe Sports Medicine Symposium on Aug. 3-4 at Harveys in Stateline.

Keynote speaker will be Michael Fredrickson from Stanford University. Additional speakers will be several Barton Health orthopedists, radiologists, physical therapists, athletic trainers and physicians, the symposium is geared toward providing an update of current trends in sports medicine including musculoskeletal care, evaluation and treatment algorithms for surgical treatment, rehabilitation and injury prevention.

For more information on the Tahoe Sports Medicine Symposium, call (530) 543.5767.

The Tahoe Rim Trail Association is looking for volunteers for work crews to improve the safety, connectivity and recreational quality of the Rim to Reno trail system.  Workdays begin July 14 at the Mt. Rose Trailhead at 9am to 4pm and will continue every Thursday and Saturday until Oct. 20.

Last year, 500 people volunteered, completing 1.75 miles of new trail between Galena Falls and Relay Peak, while U.S. Forest Service and Nevada Conservation Corps crews completed several miles of the trail leading south from Reno.

The association hopes to recruit 1,000 volunteers for its 2012 effort.

The Rim to Reno trail system will connect existing trails and create a new system that includes loops and will be accessible through the Mt. Rose Summit Trailhead, U.S. Forest Service’s Thomas Creek and White’s Creek Trailheads, and Washoe County’s Galena Creek Regional Park, Lower White’s Creek and Lower Thomas Creek Trailheads.

To volunteer, register online or contact Lindsey at (775) 298.0239 or via email at trails@tahoerimtrail.org.

Volunteers are needed to help remove one of Tahoe’s most prolific aquatic invasive weeds, Eurasian watermilfoil, during a community event at Baldwin Beach on July 15.

The project is a partnership of the League to Save Lake Tahoe, the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency, and the U.S. Forest Service Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit. Preventing the introduction and spread of aquatic invasive species is a top priority for all three agencies.

Volunteers will be working in a large swale (similar to a shallow pond) adjacent to Lake Tahoe, which is infected with Eurasian watermilfoil. Help is needed to remove barriers, pull out dead milfoil, and install new barriers in new sections of the swale. All ages and abilities are welcome to participate.

Registration is required. For more information or to sign-up, contact Flavia Sordelet with the League to Save Lake Tahoe at (530) 541.5388 or email events@keeptahoeblue.org.