The board the oversees how Measure S/R money is spent on the South Shore is meeting Jan. 20 at 9am at Lake Tahoe Airport.

Here is the agenda.

Key items on the agenda include voting on whether the bonds go from being non-taxable to taxable. South Lake Tahoe, one of three partners of the joint powers authority, is asking for this change so operators of the ice rink may turn a profit. IRS rules say entities are not allowed to be for-profit operations when tax-exempt bonds are paying for the facility. The ice rink was built with Measure S money.

Other items include appointing committees to oversee how ball park and bike improvement funds should be spent.

Smoke visible in the Meyers area that is drifting into the Lake Tahoe Basin is a prescribed burn in the Eldorado National Forest near Iron Mountain Road.

Lake Valley fire officials say there is no reason to be alarmed.

The Truckee Donner Recreation and Park District is hosting a public information meeting to present the preliminary plans for the proposed Truckee Aquatic Center.

The architect will be on hand to answer questions and receive input from the public.

The meeting is Jan. 19 at 6:30pm at the Community Recreation Center.

Contact Amanda Oberacker for more information at amanda@tdrpd.com or (530) 582.2361.

Lake Tahoe Environmental Science Magnet School in Meyers is taking names for the fall 2012 kindergartners.

Children’s names need to be submitted to the school by March 29 at 3pm to be considered for the April lottery.

Youngsters must be 5 by Nov. 1, 2012, to be entered into this lottery.

The school is located at 1095 East San Bernardino Ave., at the end of Apache, off Highway 50 in Meyers.

For questions, email mtruszewski@ltusd.org.

Lahontan Regional Water Quality Board is taking comments on the waste discharge requirements, and monitoring and reporting program for the South Shore Fuel Reduction and Healthy Forest Restoration Project until Feb. 27.

The U.S. Forest Supervisor has signed-off on the project that is expected to take eight years to complete. The last hurdle to go forward is the Lahontan permit. If that is secured in April, work would begin when weather/soil conditions are ideal.

The Lahontan board is expected to vote on the permit at the April 11 7pm meeting in South Lake Tahoe. Location of the meeting has not been set.

The U.S. Forest Service project is designed to thin 10,000 acres on the South Shore. Lahontan is involved because of work in stream environmental zones.

The documents are available on the water board’s website.

— Lake Tahoe News staff report

The fourth annual Mardi Gras Magic Dinner & Dance to benefit Austin’s House is Feb. 17 at the Carson Valley Inn. This fundraiser recreates the party atmosphere of Bourbon Street in New Orleans on Fat Tuesday with food, music, dancing, raffle prizes and a grand prize drawing for a trip to The Big Easy.

The evening starts at 6pm with a cocktail hour. Then feast on a Cajun buffet dinner.

Dancing music is provided by Fabrizio.

Tickets are $50. Only 200 tickets will be sold. Call Austin’s House at (775) 267.6711 for tickets.

Austin’s House is the only emergency children’s shelter in rural Northern Nevada. Austin’s House provides services and care for up to 10 children from infants to age 18.

Each year Sierra Business Council hosts an event to recognize and encourage leadership in the Sierra, honoring community members as their work continues to achieve excellence in projects and approaches that foster community vitality, environmental quality, economic prosperity, and social fairness.

This regional award recognizes the thinkers and doers of the region.

Now is the time to nominate a person, organization or collaborative team who has embodied this type of innovative thinking in the Sierra Nevada in 2011,.

Nomination forms are online.

• Calstar landed at the top of Harveys on Jan. 10 to pick up a $21,400 check from the casino company so the air ambulance operator can buy night vision equipment.

• Another point-of-view regarding SnowGlobe from someone who was there from out of town.

• Las Vegas Review-Journal Publisher Bob Brown and Northern Nevada consultant Neena Laxalt are leading the committee to plan Nevada’s 150th birthday bash in 2014.

• Northstar is having a S’moresapalooza in the Village at Northstar on Jan. 15 at 3:30pm.

• Assemblywoman Beth Gaines, R- Roseville, received A grade from the National Federation of Independent Business, the nation’s top advocate for small businesses and job creation, for her strong, pro-business voting record. Her husband, state Sen. Ted Gaines, R-Roseville, scored 100 percent from the same group.

On Jan. 14, the Truckee-Tahoe Chapter of the Experimental Aircraft Association is hosting its monthly pancake breakfast and Young Eagles Flights.

Kids 8-17 who attend with their parents can fly for free out of Truckee Tahoe Airport.

Breakfast starts at 8:30am. Flight departures continue until 10:30am, weather permitting.

• January is national Learn to Ski and Snowboard Month and most resorts in the Lake Tahoe area have deals.

• Lake Tahoe Community College’s board of education packet is not available online. Meetings are usually the second and fourth Tuesdays at 6pm.

• The Tahoe Maritime Museum in Homewood is open to Tahoe locals for free through May on the second Saturday of each month.

• The Washoe County Sheriff’s Office received a $4,000 donation from the Truckee River Yacht Club to support ongoing efforts by community service work crews to protect trees along the Truckee River from beaver damage.

• General surgeon Scott Welker as of Jan. 16 will see patients at 2175 South Ave. in South Lake Tahoe.