Northstar will be an integral part of the the Interbike trade-show starting in 2018. Photo/LTN file

By Bicycle Retailer and Industry News

Interbike announced today that its 2018 show will be in Reno.

The three-day trade show in Reno will be preceded by a two-day consumer festival at Northstar, followed by a day-and-a-half-long trade demo event at Northstar before moving inside for the trade-only show at the Reno-Sparks Convention Center. Interbike has contracted the convention center through 2022. The full event is being called Interbike Marketweek.

“We’re extremely excited about this move for a multitude of reasons,” said Pat Hus, the vice president of Interbike. “For the first time in a very long time, we’ve been able to hit the reset button on Interbike and OutDoor Demo and give the industry something new and fresh that we couldn’t do in our previous locations. With the support and investment from the city of Reno we are going to be able to truly create a one-of-a-kind, weeklong celebration and experience around cycling. We also recognize that this is a critical time in our industry and that we need to provide a more cost-effective approach to exhibiting at the show, and we are now able to provide that.”

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A few empty trailers still occupy the parcel behind Hotel Azure. Photo/LTN

Publisher’s note: This is one in a series of stories about affordable housing in the Lake Tahoe-Truckee region. All articles may be accessed via the home page under Special Projects, 2017 Affordable Housing.

By Kathryn Reed

A few dozen South Lake Tahoe residents have been removed from their affordable housing units so more tourist accommodation units can be erected for a project that isn’t even permitted.

The owners of Hotel Azure, who live in San Francisco, also own the mobile home park behind that property along Rufus Allen Boulevard. Today it is a skeleton of what was once a low key housing area. The trailer park has been vacant for about four months.

“There were only about six tenants left prior to closing. All were bought out at fair market value and agreed to sell,” Rich Bodine, director of operations for the hotel, told Lake Tahoe News.

Where they went is unknown.

The people living in the trailers were renting space from Azure, which used to be called Inn by the Lake.

The plan is to put tiny houses on that land. But instead of them being available for residents, they will be a variation on hotel lodging. They come premade and will be placed on a concrete slab.

“It will give them a sense of renting a home, but still have amenities of a hotel,” Bodine said. The company wants to compete with the Airbnbs of the world.

Bodine predicted everything will be in place by 2019. First up, he said, is getting the infrastructure in place.

Really, the first step is getting the permits.

According to Tom Lotshaw with the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency, “… in 2013 the owners of the mobile home park submitted an application to subdivide the existing mobile home unit spaced, but that application had issues and has been on hold ever since.”

The city doesn’t even know about these plans.

“The Development Services Department is not aware of the project and there is no pending application proposing such a project,” South Lake Tahoe planner John Hitchcock told Lake Tahoe News.

With no project even being considered by the regulatory agencies, that 2019 date could be farfetched, and it means local residents could have still been in their homes.

The Birgeria americana predates Nevada’s most famous fossil, the Ichthyosaur, by more than 30 million years. Photo/University of Zurich

By Benjamin Spillman, Reno Gazette-Journal

If fishing reports existed 250 million years ago they probably would have warned anglers to bring extra sturdy line to Northern Nevada.

That’s because newly described fossil evidence shows the warm waters of the time were home to a toothy apex predator that chomped its prey like a modern shark.

“The surprising find from Elko County in northeastern Nevada is one of the most completely preserved vertebrate remains from this time-period ever discovered in the United States,” said Carlo Romano of the University of Zurich, lead author of a Journal of Paleontology article about the find.

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By Kathryn Reed

In the last five years, 137 environmental projects have been initiated in the Lake Tahoe Basin, with 207 in the planning stage. They will cost $1.5 billion to implement, but only $670 million has been secured.

This was some of the information delivered at last week’s Tahoe Regional Planning Agency Governing Board meeting.

Kim Caringer, TRPA’s division manager of the environmental improvement program, gave an overview of accomplishments to the board.

Project categories include: water quality, watersheds, habitat; forest health; transportation and air quality; sustainable recreation; science; and program support.

In the last year, 20 projects have been completed. These include work in the forest, aquatic invasive species, stream restoration, erosion control and air quality projects.

In 2016, $94.6 million was spent on environmental projects in the basin. California contributed the most with $53.1 million, $13.2 million from the feds, $12.6 million in private sector funding, $8 million in local government dollars, and $7.6 million from Nevada.

Of note is that while the federal Lake Tahoe Restoration Act was signed last year by President Barack Obama, it has not been funded. It is supposed to bring $415 million to the basin in a 10-year period. The original LTRA was approved by Congress after President Bill Clinton launched the Lake Tahoe Environmental Summit in 1997. (This year’s summit is Aug. 22, 10am at Valhalla, hosted by Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif.)

The LTRA is expected to be one of the theme’s at this year’s summit. With Harry Reid no longer in the Senate, it means more work for the current California and Nevada delegations. The senators have often been in lockstep on Tahoe issues, while members of the House have not always been in agreement.

Other summit agenda items will include climate change, the impacts of last winter and sustainable recreation.

By Kathryn Reed

Five years ago today one of the saddest and what turns out to be best things happened. My friend Joy died and her dog became a member of my family.

When Joy was diagnosed with cancer the previous fall one of the first things she did was ensure AJ’s future. I tried to avoid the conversation, but Joy wouldn’t have it. And, really, how could I? Her strength to have this most difficult discussion was the prelude to nearly a year of moments that made me admire my friend even more. She taught me how to die with grace and dignity.

Joy and AJ

AJ was Joy’s 9-year-old dog. Her baby. Her child. This part greyhound, part yellow Lab and part things we don’t know was her companion.

The three of us would walk on occasion. AJ provided me with my dog fix since at the time I was dog free.

That last year of Joy’s life I became AJ’s primary dog walker. Joy told me AJ soon recognized the sound of the Jeep pulling into the driveway and would get excited. (She still does.) Sometimes the three of us walked, but in the last months it was just me and AJ.

I miss those walks – the three of us. I miss my friend more than I ever imagined, and love this dog of ours more than I thought possible.

It took me a while to consider myself AJ’s mom; somehow doing so seemed to diminish the memory of Joy. But I know Joy wanted me to be mom; and that brings me comfort.

I remember the first time AJ got into my Jeep. She sat on my lap as we drove. We were going for her mani-pedi as Joy called it. AJ knew it was just a nail trim. She didn’t look back at Joy – which I heard all about. But she also made driving down Highway 50 a bit challenging. I finally got her into the passenger seat.

Now she is a regular there. I often take her on errands with me. I’m not sure which one of us wants the company more.

It wasn’t an easy transition for AJ. She had become Joy’s protector, not wanting people to get close – especially as Joy spent more time in bed. AJ transferred that protection to me. This wasn’t good.

I enlisted the help of Karenina with Dogs with Issues for some training sessions. AJ was softening and at the same time starting to have a firm grasp of my heart.

Hiking to Winnemucca Lake in 2015.

Joy wasn’t AJ’s first mom. We don’t know what abuse she may have endured that led her needing to be rescued.

She still has issues. She doesn’t like other dogs in her house; doesn’t even really like them in their home. She can be temperamental on occasion. And she really doesn’t like men in sandals or flip flops.

AJ sleeps on my bed now; something I had never allowed a dog to do. She even uses a pillow. On special occasions or when I’m feeling sad or there’s thunder she’s invited onto the couch. (This is our little secret.)

I have more pictures of AJ than any human family member or friend. I’ve stopped thinking it’s weird to have a dog as a best friend.

She’s 14 now. That’s how old my last dog lived to. She’s smaller than Bailey, so I’m hoping there’s a few more good years ahead of us. There are too many hikes I want to go on, too many bunnies and squirrels for her to chase, too much life to still share.

Sometimes we talk about Joy; we even talk to Joy. I thank my friend all the time for AJ. That’s not to say I wouldn’t rather have my friend be alive, and for AJ to be with her. But clearly that’s not going to happen.

On this anniversary of Joy’s death, I will smile at knowing she knew what she was doing when we had that difficult conversation, then I’ll hug and kiss on AJ and be thankful for the gift my friend gave me.

AJ (Audrey Jean) is proof that something magical can come from something so sad. It took me a while to appreciate that. The circle of life is quite powerful.

By Andrea Thompson, Climate Central

The West is ablaze as the summer wildfire season has gotten off to an intense start. More than 37,000 fires have burned more than 5.2 million acres nationally since the beginning of the year, with 47 large fires burning across nine states as of Friday.

The relatively early activity is quickly becoming the norm, with rising temperatures making the fire season longer than it used to be. The warming fueled by greenhouse gases is also helping to create more and larger fires as it dries out more vegetation that acts as fuel for fires.

This new fire situation means that western states need to be begin to rethink how they prepare for and combat fires, as well as how fire-prone land is developed.

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By Benjamin Spillman, Reno Gazette-Journal
 
A Tahoe-area wildlife activist is suing Nevada officials he says falsely accused him of domestic terrorism.

The activist, Mark E. Smith, is suing the Nevada Department of Wildlife and several of its employees he says, “maliciously continue to make,” misrepresentations.

Smith’s lawsuit targets wildlife biologist Carl Lackey, game division administrator Brian Wakeling and deputy director Jack Robb.

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Updated 12:34pm:

By Kathryn Reed

Placer County has put itself further into debt by agreeing to give employees four years of raises.

Supervisors on July 25 granted the more than 2,000 employees a 4 percent wage increase starting in August, a 3 percent increase in July 2018, 2 percent increase in 2019, and another 2 percent in 2020. The agreement is actually for five years, ending in June 2022.

The county’s 85 confidential and unclassified non-management employees are receiving the same wage increase.

The nearly 250 upper managers have not received a salary increase. “That’s not to say we won’t at some date in the future be considered for a raise – but at this time, nothing is on the table,” county spokeswoman DeDe Cordell told Lake Tahoe News.

The last spike in salaries for the union members was an agreement from 2014 that included a combined 6 percent raise over the last three years.

The new raises will cost taxpayers $7.9 million this fiscal year. The county projects the annual impact over the remaining length of the agreement to range from $13.5 million to $20 million. Those figures include merit increases and pension costs.

Those pension expenses are what have been glossed over – last week and earlier this summer when the $796,495,106 2017-18 budget was approved. The General Fund is about $460 million; this is considered the discretionary spending account. It includes wages. But when wages start taking up more of the budget it means less money for services. Services include repairing roads and other basics that residents expect government to provide.

For every dollar that goes to wages, approximately another 50 cents of taxpayer money go to pension costs. Retirees are given a defined amount of money they get to retire with for what can be decades after they’ve done any work for the county. (Placer retirees also have health benefits.)

David Boesch, county chief executive officer, in the budget report on June 13 barely mentioned CalPERS. The same goes for the July 25 staff report.

Earlier this year the state Public Employee Retirement System notified all member agencies that their obligations would be increasing. For Placer County the annual obligation is going from $54 million to more than $100 million a year. This was before the raises that were approved for the next four years.

According to PensionTracker, in 2015 the pension debt per household in Placer County was $10,573. That means each household in the county would have to pony up that amount to pay off the county’s CalPERS debt. (In El Dorado County it’s $12,856 and in South Lake Tahoe $24,757.)

Placer County has no substantive plan to deal with the rising retiree costs. CalPERS can say it needs more money and member agencies have no choice but to pay. It would take an act of the Legislature to change how thing are run.

For cities and counties that choose the status quo in terms of how to do business, layoffs will be the ultimate answer in how to pay for the raises because revenues can’t keep pace. Giving raises is the easy out; providing that instant gratification for all within the agency instead of looking for innovative solutions or being fiscally conservative. It remains to be seen if multi-year raises are the prudent thing for elected officials because it’s the taxpayers – aka voters – who are left footing the bills that never end.

By Hudson Sangree, Sacramento Bee

Sacramento home builders are trying to deal with a severe shortage of construction workers by training high school students in summer internships. They want the teens and their parents to consider the possibility that a construction career might be a good alternative to college, though that can require some convincing.

“There’s a negative stereotype about dirty jobs,” said Rick Larkey, executive director of the North State Building Industry Foundation. The group is leading the effort to recruit 5,000 new workers over five years in Sacramento, Placer, Yolo and El Dorado counties. A big part of that is the outreach to high-school students through internships and after-school programs.

The foundation’s pitch on its website is that a four-year college degree isn’t the guarantee of financial success it used to be. The American workforce is in desperate need of skilled technicians, and incomes for construction work can rival jobs requiring four-year degrees without the expense of college.

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Kim Iliffe hits a forehand with partner Keri Mills en route to winning the women’s 10.0 division on July 30. Photo/ZCTC

By Lake Tahoe News

It was hard to find a time when Kim Iliffe wasn’t on one of the six courts at Zephyr Cove Tennis Club in the last four days.

The Mill Valley resident was the lone player entered in three events at the Tahoe Tennis Classic. She walked away the winner in two divisions and reached the semi-finals in the third event.

Also having a two-win tournament was Carolyn Wright of Zephyr Cove.

This 34-year-old all doubles tournament on July 27-30 set a record with 215 players.

Iliffe paired with Michael Kiskinen of El Dorado Hills in the mixed 10.0 division to get the best of David Hardern of Gold River and Amanda Walker of Gold River 6-7, 6-4, 6-3.

Iliffe and Keri Mills of Carmichael retained their title in the women’s 10.0 division by beating Jeanette Berry of Reno and Laura Pierce of Reno 6-2, 6-3.

Iliffe was also playing in the 9.0 division. With partner Dawn Schlagel of Sacramento they made it to the semi-final round where they lost to Berry and Pierce 6-0 7-5. In the finals on July 30, Berry and Pierce beat Penne Burgess of Carson City and Shannon Schuld-Gray of Carmichael, 6-4, 1-6, 6-3.

Wright teamed up with Barbara Cooper of South Lake Tahoe in the women’s 7.0 division to beat Denise Higgins of Gardnerville and Rhoda Shaponik of South Lake Tahoe 6-1, 7-5. All four have been teammates on the ZCTC 3.5 USTA team.

In the 7.0 mixed Wright and Thor Spargo of Fair Oaks defeated last year’s champions Craig and Donna Rockwood of South Lake Tahoe 6-3, 6-2.

Other results:

·        Women’s 8.0: Donna Kaneko of San Jose and Lauri Selover of San Jose defeated Karen Frederick of San Jose and Patricia Spratt of San Jose 2-6, 7-6, 6-2.

·        Women’s 6.0: Nancy Cumming of Rancho Palos Verdes and Jean Van Well of Incline Village beat Kari Beronio of Zephyr Cove and Carol Romero-Bergren of Zephyr Cove 6-2, 6-3.

·        Men’s 10.0: Tony Matkulak of Reno and Kevin Strawn of Reno beat Ryan Johnston of South Lake Tahoe and Mohamed Irfan Lakdawala of San Francisco 2-6, 7-6, 6-2.

·        Men’s 8.0: Fernando Quinones of San Francisco and James Reed of Modesto beat Duane Catania of Incline Village and Vincent Catania of Elk Grove 6-2, 6-1.

·        Men’s 6.0: Carl Bergren of Zephyr Cove and Ted Cloward of South Lake Tahoe beat Mike Riley of Incline Village and Dan Smith of Zephyr Cove 6-1, 6-2.

·        Men’s 50 doubles: Geoff Garret of Rocklin and Ken Vowell of Lincoln defeated Lee Shin of South Lake Tahoe and John Wlcek of South Lake Tahoe 6-3, 4-6, 6-4.

·        Men’s 65 doubles: Kurt Chan of Gold River and Tad Yukawa of Palm Desert beat Dan Bohannon of Orange and Mark Peterson of Truckee 6-4, 6-2.

·        Men’s 70 doubles: David Heldt-Werle of Reno and Steven Privette of Sparks beat Brian Silvestri of Stateline and Brian Streck of Galveston, Texas, 6-1, 6-2.

·        Mixed 8.0 doubles: Andrew Stinnett of South Lake Tahoe and Joyce Youngs of South Lake Tahoe beat Fernando Quinones of San Francisco and Amy Warden of Modesto 6-3, 6-1.