The winners for the 9th annual Blue Ribbon Awards were announced Nov. 10 at Hard Rock in Stateline.

Nearly 300 people attended the Lake Tahoe South Shore Chamber of Commerce event..

The winners are:

Geotourism Award
Winner: Taylor Creek Visitors Center, U.S. Forest Service
Honorable mention: Lake Tahoe Bicycle Coalition

Tourism Award
Winner: The Loft
Honorable mention: Coachman Hotel

Experience Award
Winner: Alpine Sierra Tours
Honorable mention: Treat Street, KRLT/KOWL

Entrepreneur Award
Winner: Debbie Brown, Coldwater Brewery and Grill
Honorable mention: Cassy Burnside, FATCO

Customer Service (Business) Award
Winner: Tommy Walker, Ciera at MontBleu
Honorable mention: Kimberly Templeton, Hard Rock Cafe

Customer Service (Public Agency) Award
Winner: Jody Filgo, South Lake Tahoe Senior Center
Honorable mention: Irma Salazar, Lake Tahoe Visitors Authority

Wendell Award for Green Business or Program
Winner: Tahoe Mountain Lab
Honorable mention: League to Save Lake Tahoe.

The slew of South Shore nonprofits received checks Nov. 10 from proceeds from the 2016 American Century Championship.

Each year the celebrity golf tournament organizers distribute money back to the community. This year $51,984 went to 20 organizations.

Grants ranging from $500 to $5,500 were awarded to: Assistance League of Sierra Foothills, Barton Foundation, BATS Bringing Art to Schools, Big Brothers Big Sisters of El Dorado County, Boys & Girls Club of Lake Tahoe, Christmas Cheer, Kahle Community Center, Kelly Ridge, Kiwanis Community Organization Inc. (Coats for Kids), Lake Tahoe Educational Fund, Live Violence Free, Saint Joseph Community Land Trust, South Lake Tahoe Cancer League, Suicide Prevention Network, Tahoe Arts Project, Tahoe Magic, Tahoe Regional Young Professionals, Tahoe Senior Plaza, Tahoe Turning Point and Tahoe Youth & Family Services.

Each year Soroptimist International of Tahoe Sierra and Soroptimist International of South Lake Tahoe collaborate to honor deserving recipients for two awards in our community.

The Violet Richardson Award honors young women in the community grades 8-11 who are engaged in volunteer deeds to make a difference in the community or beyond such as fighting drugs, crime and violence; cleaning up the environment; or working to end discrimination or poverty. Each Violet Richardson recipient will receive $100.

The Live Your Dream Award is given to women in the community who are the sole supporter of their family, and are overcoming many challenges to further their education and career opportunities in order to make a better life for their children.  Each Live Your Dream recipient receives $2,000.

Nominations for both of these awards are due Dec.1. For more info or an application, go online www.sitahoesierra.org or email Lydia Rogers at lydiajrogers@yahoo.com.

By Mark Robison, Reno Gazette-Journal

When can you start smoking (or eating, drinking or vaping) marijuana if Nevada’s Question 2 ballot initiative passes? When will stores start selling recreational pot in Reno?

We connected with Joe Brezny, spokesman for the Coalition to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol, to learn the answer to these and other questions that those looking forward to legalized recreational marijuana may want to know.

Two polls have given a slight edge to passage.

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Alpenglow Sports’s 11th annual Winter Film Series begins Nov. 17 at 7pm when local hero Dave Nettle kicks off the series at Squaw Valley’s Olympic Village Lodge with his show “Ski Mountaineering in the Tyrol: Hut to Hut Ski Touring the
Stubai Alps.”

Designed to inspire, motivate and educate, the series runs from November through February. It showcases four to five
famous athletes who tell various tales of adventure from remote mountain ranges across the globe. All shows are free and raffle prizes from sponsors are sold to raise funds for local nonprofit organizations.

To date, the Alpenglow Sports Winter Film Series has raised more than $70,000 for the North Lake Tahoe nonprofit community. The nonprofit beneficiary for the evening is the Tahoe Backcountry Alliance.

Wilma

Wilma is 2 years old, and is probably a German shepherd mix. She has short fur, weighs about 45 pounds, and her ears are about as big as her head.

Wilma seems to get along with other dogs, and walks nicely on the leash. She is sweet and mellow for a 2-year-old.

Wilma is spayed, microchipped, tested for heart worm, and vaccinated. She is at the El Dorado County Animal Services shelter in Meyers, along with many other dogs and cats who are waiting for their new homes. Go to the Tahoe animal shelter’s Facebook page to see photos and descriptions of all pets at the shelter.

Call 530.573.7925 for directions, hours, and other information on adopting a pet.

For spay-neuter assistance for South Tahoe residents, go online.

— Karen Kuentz

By Abby Stevens, Moonshine Ink

The vote was simple — to elect Truckee’s next town constable — but the politics turned deadly.

Jacob Teeter

The role of town constable wasn’t easy back in the late 1800s. Truckee’s reputation as a town was fraught with poker-playing gun-toting transients. The Truckee jail was built in 1875 out of a necessity to create order, and elected officials put it to use.

Of the Truckee lawmen, Arthur Andrus was first town constable, elected by the Nevada County Board of Supervisors in 1867. Andrus lasted only a few months before turning the position over to Jacob Teeter. The patrolling area was the Meadow Lake Township, which included the town of Truckee and the entire eastern end of Nevada County, according to Guy Coates of the Truckee Donner Historical Society. This large swath of unsettled wilderness mixed with the bursting town of Truckee made the area every lawman’s nightmare.

Teeter was appointed constable at age 26, a job that combined the full power of a policeman with judicial functions as well. He earned the respect of the town after tracking down and jailing a couple of well-known bandits. Teeter had his quirks: He never carried a firearm although he knew how to use them, and instead carried a pickaxe around as his main weapon, according to the historical book Fire & Ice. Teeter would often remark that his pick never once “misfired” on him.

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By Kathryn Reed

A little used meeting space at Lake Tahoe Community College is now a dedicated area for veterans.

“You don’t have to be a student to access these services. We are considering ourselves as a hub and will be able to refer vets to other services,” Aaron Barnett, the LTCC counselor who oversees the center, told Lake Tahoe News. “We’ve never had a place for them to meet before.”

The South Lake Tahoe school has been helping vets for years, especially with those using the post-Sept. 11 GI Bill. The Veterans Resource Center expands the offerings and gives those who have served a place to call their own.

Lake Tahoe Community College has created a Veterans Resource Center. Photo/Provided

At any given time LTCC averages about 30 veterans who are enrolled. With the center, it will be easier to welcome non-students into the fold and provide them with help as well.

The center is equipped with computers, printers, copiers, television, comfortable furniture, a fridge (snacks, water and coffee will be provided for free), and other amenities. It’s part work space, part lounge.

But it’s also a resource center to get information about financial aid, veteran benefits, priority registration, as well as obtain general assistance regarding transitioning back into civilian life.

The state is advocating community colleges have these centers for vets. LTCC started working on this one a year ago. More than half of all veterans who receive education benefits in California’s public higher education systems attend one of the 113 community colleges.

Counseling will come in many forms. A readjustment therapist from the Veterans Affairs center in Reno is at LTCC every other Thursday. If the need increases, it’s possible he could come every week. Stress management and psychological services are also available.

Greg Hoover, who served in the Marines for 20 years, will be the student worker in the center. By having students who are also veterans work in the center the goal is to boost camaraderie. Barnett and other LTCC employees will be available to work in the center as needed.

The El Dorado County Community Foundation provided money to outfit the LTCC center. El Dorado County dedicates a portion of transient occupancy tax dollars to veterans services. Those are the funds the community foundation is tapping. The college’s foundation has also been a player in getting the center started.

—–

Notes:

·      The public unveiling of the center will be Nov. 10 from 12:30-1:30pm. It is located in Room A203 on the second floor of the main building.

The films “Here and Now” and “Tahoe: The Daily Routine” are coming to South Lake Tahoe and Incline Village.

“Here and Now” showcases the skiing of Eric Hjorleifson, David Wise, Wiley Miller, Thayne Rich and Cam Riley with friends and their escape to the outdoors. This is 4Frnt’s sixth movie highlighting that in a world where nearly everyone’s head is buried in a mobile device, friendships and interactions between human beings are dwindling away, thus the need to be in the here an now.

The first showing is Nov. 19 at Basecamp Hotel (4143 Cedar Ave., South LakeTahoe). Doors open at 6pm and the show starts at 7:30pm. Show is free.

The second airing is Dec. 16 at Diamond Peak (1210 Ski Way, Incline Village). Doors open at 4:30pm and the films start at 6:30pm, with a $5 cover charge.

By Reno Gazette-Journal

Every good Nevadan knows that home means Nevada, home means the hills … now they can wear their state pride by putting silvery rills on their grills.

The Department of Motor Vehicles has released a Home Means Nevada license plate. Beginning this week  motorists can request the Home Means Nevada plate when registering a vehicle or ordering a new plate.

The Home Means Nevada plate can fit up to since characters, the same as the Nevada Sunset design standard plate, which has been in use since 2001. Personalized plates with the “Home Means Nevada” design will be available beginning early next year.

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