• Lake Tahoe Unified School District Superintendent Jim Tarwater has been invited to be a speaker at the AVID annual Conference in Orland to share LTUSD’s progress in infusing Advancement Via Individual Determination concepts in grades 4-12. LTUSD is the only AVID District in the world. The organization is paying Tarwater’s expenses.

• Tahoe Center for Environmental Sciences in Incline is one of three green buildings to receive the Livable Buildings Awards for 2011 by the UC Berkeley’s Center for the Built Environment.

• Lake Tahoe Community College academic year 2012-13 will have its winter break coincide with Lake Tahoe Unified’s. School will resume Jan. 17, 2013.

• Caltrans has released its Sierra and El Dorado-Tahoe roadwork schedules for this week.

U.S. Forest Service fuels management crews are scheduled to resume prescribed fire operations Dec. 20 on the West Shore in the Bunker Road area of Tahoe City.

Crews expect to complete one-fourth of an acre and operations may continue through the week.

Residents and visitors can expect to see smoke from these prescribed fire project areas. Smoke may be visible on Highway 89 on the West Shore. The Forest Service strives to minimize the impacts of smoke on local communities. Smoke-sensitive residents should consider staying indoors and keeping doors, windows and outside vents closed.

To directly receive prescribed fire updates, send an email to pa_ltbmu@fs.fed.us.

Forest Service staff will post road signs around areas affected by prescribed fire, and update the local fire information line at (530) 543-2600, ext. 6.

Other federal, state and local fire management agencies may also be conducting prescribed fire work during this period.

• On Jan. 1, in El Dorado County birth certificate fees will increase by $2 to $21; death certificates will go from $12 to $14.

• Carson City IHOP is open after being closed in the aftermath of a deadly shooting in September.

• An interview with White Wolf owner Troy Caldwell on UnofficialNetworks.com gives some insight into how a deal to link Alpine and Squaw is progressing.

• The Tahoe Heritage Foundation received $7,050 from Tahoe Mountain Milers. The running club raised the money during the 2011 Kokanee Salmon Run. These funds will be used to support next year’s Kokanee Salmon Festival and the college internship summer program at Taylor Creek Visitor Center.

• Eric Schaefer has been elected as president of the South Tahoe Public Utility District board and Jim Jones vice president.

Volunteer are needed for the SnowGlobe Music Festival in South Lake Tahoe the nights of Dec. 29-31.

Go online to volunteer.

Then click on the “Contact Us” tab at the top of the page; then the “Volunteer” link to register.

Volunteer assignments include:

· Trash collection

· Assistance at shuttle stops

· Water refill program

· And more.

Publisher’s note: Lake Tahoe News is looking for gift ideas that are less than $20. Find out how to make a suggestion.

It would be hard to find much above $20 at the Adidas store in South Lake Tahoe. Everything is half off already discounted prices.

Shoes, shirts and sweats are all more than reasonably priced.

The store at the Y is closing for good on Christmas Eve.

Tahoe Center for Orthopedics’ and U.S. Ski and Snowboard Team physicians Terrence Orr and Jonathan Finnoff will give a lecture focusing on ski and snowboard injury prevention and treatment options on Jan. 5 from 6-7pm at Lake Tahoe Community College (One College Avenue, South Lake Tahoe).

The event is free.

In addition to ski and snowboard injury awareness, surgical and non-surgical approaches to injury treatment will be addressed.

Orr and Finnoff bring years of winter injury experience, serving Lake Tahoe and beyond. From the beginner snowboarder to the advanced skier, this talk will address a multitude of accident scenarios and prevention techniques.

This lecture is part of Barton Health’s 2012 wellness lectures. Attendees will receive an attendance “punch card” and automatically be entered to win a 2012-13 season pass to a Lake Tahoe ski resort, in addition to other prizes.

For more information, call (530) 543.5656.

• Catch up with snowboarder Elena Hight of South Lake Tahoe in this video before the Dew Tour starts this weekend in Breckenridge.

• “Vagina Monologues” will be performed Feb. 24-25 at 7pm at the Blue Angel Loft in South Lake Tahoe. Tickets are $15.

• Tahoe Maritime Museum in Homewood is open 10am-5pm Friday-Saturday-Sunday in the winter.

• The Soaring Society of America picked Minden-Tahoe Airport to host the National Open Soaring Competition in June. Minden will be the starting point for the 10-day event.

• Residents of El Dorado, Alpine and Amador counties just have to show a local ID to ski free Dec. 20 at Kirkwood. Those are the three counties the resort’s property sits on.

Publisher’s note: Lake Tahoe News is looking for gift ideas that are less than $20. Find out how to make a suggestion.

Dirk Yuricich Photography has a wide range of items for the holiday season.

Notecards: Boxed sets of 10 different notecards for $20. We just counted and we now have more than 100 different Notecard sets (apologies that we don’t yet have all 100 sets on our website). Nice stocking stuffers or hostess gifts.

Gift Certificates: Available in any dollar denomination and may be redeemed at either gallery or studio/gallery, over the phone, or at our booth at art festivals.

Thank you to all who were looking for our 2012 calendar; we didn’t make one for 2012, but plan to get a 2013 Calendar out early next year to ensure that we’ll have one for you next year.

— Dirk and Lisa

• Cork & More in South Lake Tahoe is celebrating 35 years in business.

• Sierra-at-Tahoe opens with limited terrain on Dec. 17. Sierra will have the first snowboard park in the world that features iconic Star Wars themes to introduce children as young as 3 to snowboarding. The Riglet Park is a partnership with Burton Snowboards and Lucasfilm.

• Advanced lodging bookings going into the holidays are up 35 percent in North Lake Tahoe compared to 2010. North Tahoe’s transient occupancy tax was up 15 percent for the fiscal year ending June 30, compared to 2009-10.

• The Tahoe Queen ski shuttle start date has been moved to Jan. 17.

• Country pop music singer Karla Robinson will be at Sugar Bowl ski resort for free Dec. 17-18 from 2-5pm.

• Douglas County School District board of education will discuss on Jan. 10 how to proceed with the Kingsbury Middle School property. The meeting is at the county library in Zephyr Cove starting at 3:30pm.

• Heavenly Mountain Resort opened Stagecoach Express on Dec. 14, giving skiers and snowboarders top-to-bottom skiing and riding on the resort’s Nevada side. Stagecoach Lodge is open with food and beverage, as well as rental and retail services.

The California Highway Patrol South Lake Tahoe area will conduct a Child Safety Seat Check-Up event Dec. 17 from 11am-3pm.

Certified car seat technicians from the CHP will be available to show parents how to properly and securely install a child safety seat in their vehicle.

National studies show three out of four car seats are not being used correctly, making children at risk of serious injury or death.

A California law that takes effect Jan. 1, extends the length of time a child must use a child passenger restraint or safety seat by two years while riding in a motor vehicle. The new law means child passengers must ride in either a car seat or booster seat until the age of 8 or until they are 4 feet 9 inches tall.

The CHP will also be collecting toys, non-perishable foods and new or lightly used jackets as a part of their annual CHiPs For Kids Holiday Drive. tems donated will be kept locally and given to Christmas Cheer for distribution.

The event is at the Y in South Lake Tahoe in the Raley’s/Kmart center.