By Jeanne Sahadi, CNNMoney

When you “go to the office” there’s an understanding that you’ll work at the same desk every day. Your spot … where you’ll sit in your chair and see pictures of your dog and your kids.

But at some companies, there is no assigned seating. Instead, employees must reserve a work space every day — be it a desk, office, quiet pod or meeting room — whatever suits the type of work they need to do that day.

It’s called hoteling.

It usually functions best when at least a quarter of employees will be working elsewhere on any given day — either at home, at a client’s or at a ski chalet.

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The California Highway Patrol is reminding everyone who celebrates St. Patrick’s Day that no one is immune from the consequences of drunken driving.

Last year on St. Patrick’s Day, the CHP made more than 120 arrests statewide for driving under the influence. This is a decrease from the 489 arrests in 2014 and 430 arrests in 2013.

More than 1,000 people have died in alcohol-related collisions in California every year since at least 2000, data collected through the Statewide Integrated Traffic Records System of the CHP shows. Approximately one-third of all traffic fatalities in the United States involved drunken drivers, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reports.

Ways to avoid impaired driving:

• Designate a sober driver before you go out to drink.

• If you become impaired and do not have a designated driver, call a cab, a ride-sharing service, a friend or family member, or take a bus.

• If you see a friend who is too drunk to drive, take their keys and call them a cab or ride share.

• Find out ahead of time if your community has a safe rides program, and use it.

• If you see a driver who appears to be driving impaired, do not hesitate to call 911.

Warren Miller Entertainment, Head and Squaw Valley-Alpine Meadows are looking for user-generated videos showcasing his or her skills as a skier/snowboarder or as a cinematographer/editor. Submissions are not limited to ski or snowboard footage. Video edits that demonstrate and amplify the mountain lifestyle are welcome as well.

The grand prize will include a ski and boot package from Head and an invitation to film with Warren Miller at Squaw Valley-Alpine Meadows during the 2016-17 season. The winning video will also be presented on-screen before every Warren Miller film tour screening in 2016.

Voting will be tiered and open to the public until the third and final round. At the end of the third round on Aug. 26, the four videos with the most votes will be put before a panel of judges including Jeremy Jones, JT Holmes, Jonny Moseley and representatives from Warren Miller Entertainment, Head and Squaw Valley-Alpine Meadows.

The submission period ends May 20.

More info is available online.

By Jenna Wortham, New York Times

When the National Society of High School Scholars asked 18,000 Americans, ages 15 to 29, to rank their ideal future employers, the results were curious. To nobody’s surprise, Google, Apple and Facebook appeared high on the list, but so did the Central Intelligence Agency, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the National Security Agency. The Build-A-Bear Workshop was No. 50, just a few spots behind Lockheed Martin and JPMorgan Chase. (The New York Times came in at No. 16.)

However scattershot, the survey offers a glimpse into the ambitions of the millennial generation, which already makes up more than a third of the work force.

By 2020, it will make up half.

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By Jenny Kane, Reno Gazette-Journal

Worldwide, horses have played an important role in wars, sports and agriculture.

In Nevada, they have helped to deliver mail on the Pony Express trail, they have riled the crowds at the rodeos, and they have changed the landscape of our high desert hills.

The Nevada Museum of Art’s newest exhibition: “The Horse,” focuses on humans and their relationship with horses from a natural history angle. The exhibition, which opened Saturday, will last through July 3 in the John Hawley Olds LaGatta Gallery and the Robert Z. Hawkins Gallery.

“If there’s one place to learn about horses and what they mean to our civilization, this is where you should go,” said JoAnne Northrup, director of contemporary art initiatives at the Nevada Museum of Art.

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Rosie

Rosie is a 1-year-old pit bull-Lab mix. She likes other dogs, and would like to meet yours before going home with them. She has lived with small children and was very gentle with them.

She was surrendered because her owner lost their home.

Rosie is a smart girl and would love to go to training classes.

Rosie 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 Brad Tyer, High Country News

The National Park Service’s 2016 centennial got off to a rocky start when militants occupied Oregon’s Malheur National Wildlife Refuge and Yosemite changed the names of well-loved landmarks.

More in line with the message, surely, are two well-timed new books.

“A Thinking Person’s Guide to America’s National Parks” is an almost painfully earnest re-assessment of the national park system at the century mark. Its 23 chapters dissect the parks — why, and for whom, they exist.

But for anyone already invested, “A Thinking Person’s Guide” makes an excellent armchair roadmap to the Park Service’s more than 400 sites and its many priorities and pursuits, which range from community farming partnerships within the Ebey’s Landing National Historical Reserve on Whidbey Island, Wash., to the Kaibab Paiute Tribe’s leadership in preserving dark skies at Arizona’s Grand Canyon-Parashant National Monument.

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Relaxation is a dominant feature of staying at the Northstar Lodge. Photo/Susan Wood

By Susan Wood

TRUCKEE – And a one, and a two and now three buildings are going up at the new Northstar Lodge across from the ski resort’s village. This is a Welk Resorts timeshare property operated by the famous family.

Lawrence Welk had a penchant for fine things, and it shows in the latest 4-star mountain version of his resort cluster that started in Escondido and expanded into Palm Springs, Cabo San Lucas and Branson, Mo. – the country-western capital of the United States. Breckenridge, Colo., another Vail Resorts stronghold, is up next for the Welk group. It will launch in 18 months, then Poipu on the island of Kauai in 2019. The American musician and waltz king died in 1992. His grandson now runs the Welk properties, marking 50 years in business last year.

Each property has its own character. Branson is known as “a very big show town,” Northstar Lodge General Manager Michelle Morikawa told Lake Tahoe News on a recent visit. Escondido in San Diego County marks a historic journey that began as a trailer park. Palm Springs is elegant in appearance. Pictures of Cabo make one want to pack a swimsuit and grab an umbrella drink.

The Northstar Lodge, which started out in the first building as a Hyatt property, is structured as a timeshare property with mostly fractional owners and 11 whole owners who sublet their units. One can buy into a unit for 240,000 points equaling one week a year at a value of $30,000.

A third building on the property is almost complete; and it, too, will have pool views. Photo/Susan Wood

The Welks’ core values are all about family, so the principle translates into its business.

“Our primary selling point focuses on quality time with family. (Having this) forces you to take a vacation,” Morikawa said.

From the looks of the entire fourth floor of the second building dedicated as a sales preview center, prospective owners can dream big on how they plan to spend that quality time. There’s even a digital map of the world that indicates unit purchases at all Welk Resorts in real time. It’s mesmerizing to follow. The company boasts more than 50,000 owners.

Accents and touches make the property unique. With the first structure called the Washoe building labeled “mountain traditional” and the second called the Fremont considered “mountain contemporary,” they both offer something different and special. The third structure being built now will be called the Snowshoe building named after another famous Tahoe name — John “Snowshoe” Thompson, who delivered the mail from Placerville to Genoa carrying a 90-pound pack on 11-foot skinny skis with a balancing pole during the 1800s. The up-and-coming building now marked by a large crane one can watch from the swimming pool patio will have 32 units with 2-, 3- and 5-bedrooms with lock-offs.

Since this is the Tahoe-Truckee area, Morikawa reminded LTN that the LEED-certified property had to follow a master mountain association set of guidelines.

“We need to stay conducive to the setting,” she added. The property blends into the mountainside and remains limited on how much it may expand in footprint.

Nonetheless, what it has runs big in terms of things mountain visitors seek. Having its own on-site underground parking structure at a resort known for challenging parking issues would be reason alone to buy.

This attention to detail in satisfying owners is so important to Morikawa that she hired snowboard instructor Casey Dowling to fill the role as concierge extraordinaire in fulfilling owners’ and guests’ requests for activities. One such popular activity is “ride with Casey” where one can get up-close-and-personal guidance from this snowboarding expert.

And talk about convenient. Just ask Jacquelyn Derian and Zach Boebel. They were using her brother-in-law’s unit and were so comfortable that they graced the property carrying their snowboards in their robes.

“We like the amenities,” Derian Boebel said.

A full-size kitchen makes long stays comfortable with not having to eat out every night. Photo/Susan Wood

This nearly ski-in, ski-out property makes it easy to get up on the backside of Northstar for first turns with a ski and boot valet feet from accessing the 5-diamond Ritz-Carlton Lake Tahoe’s Highlands Gondola. Afterward, one may partake in the après ski feel by walking through the village and having a cocktail in the cushy seating next to the ice rink or cozying up to the fire at TC’s Pub with a brew and fiery chili.

Then again, the Northstar Lodge is comfy enough to find refuge for the night – holing up in a unit to watch the Super Bowl, watching a movie in a private theater complete with oversized chairs with cup holders, playing a game of billiards in the next-door recreation center, doing laps in the 25-meter pool, chilling in one of two hot tubs, consuming gooey s’mores by the fire pit on the Sierra Terrace or playing chess in the large community room in the Washoe building.

“People come up for winter, and not everybody skis,” Morikawa said.

For those who want to just relax in the unit, there are plenty of modern conveniences and considerations for the discerning tastes.

On the counter where it’s easy for at least four people to belly up to the large kitchen’s activities, a cocktail shaker, ice bucket and corkscrew await the owner. The tasteful cabinetry is stocked with all the modern conveniences. Stainless steel appliances create a welcoming look. There’s no reason to go out, unless there’s no desire to cook – especially with the rich sound of a Bose stereo system set up in the kitchen to keep the party going.

The units have a distinctively warm feel. All the fireplaces help with that. In the two-bedroom unit, a gas fireplace creates ambience and warmth in each room, along with another in the living room and yet a fourth on the patio.

The barn-wood adorning the walls plastered with upscale art make the place friendly. The fixtures are new. Welk Resorts set out its own brand of environmentally friendly toiletries labeled “Ecology.” Welk Resorts even conducted smell tests for the brand. Speaking of, the bathrooms are an experience all their own. Both bathrooms adjoining the bedrooms have oversized tubs and huge showers. And the soft bathrobes can keep one inside for the day.

The amenities don’t end there. If one wants to venture out, there’s a babysitting service for those with youngsters to look after.

Services expand into all seasons. Northstar is known for more than skiing. It has a world-class mountain bike park. With that in mind, the Lodge comes with bike storage.

When an owner runs out of ideas, Northstar Village has its own set of events. The minute a guest arrives, the front desk worker hands over a list of activities to launch the stay.

—–

Notes:

• Northstar Lodge is located across from the Northstar Village at the base of the Northstar-at-Tahoe ski resort off Highway 267 in Truckee.
• Telephone: 530.562.3900.

By Scott Mayerowitz, AP

LOS ANGELES — Hotels are going for a new minimalist look to attract younger guests, but the move has left some experienced travelers angry, wondering how they’re expected to get work done without a desk.

Younger travelers, hotels note, just want a clean and efficient space to stay. They spend less time in rooms and like to socialize and work in vibrant lobbies with a sense of community.

So carpets are being replaced by easy-to-clean laminate floors. Tubs are being ripped out in favor of glass showers. And instead of working at a desk, guests are increasingly expected to use glorified window sills or oversized TV trays.

If those “flexible workspaces” aren’t conducive to creativity, hotels are hoping to nudge guests to bring their laptops to the lobby, where they might buy a glass of wine while typing away.

But for seasoned travelers who enjoy working in the quiet of their rooms this has caused major headaches.

“Flexible, I have no problem with. Unusable, is what I have a problem with,” says Don Wright, 59, a computer consultant from Lexington, Kentucky.

Often, these surfaces aren’t “bigger than a sheet of paper,” he says, adding that a laptop might fit, but not also a binder full of documents.

Wright has spent up to 200 nights a year in hotels and understands that many make changes to cater to younger travelers. But he can’t imagine any millennial deciding not to stay in a hotel because the room has a desk. But for older road warriors, a lack of a desk is a deal breaker.

“When you are 25 all is well and you can roll up in a ball and sit anywhere,” Wright says. “But when you turn 45, 50 or older, your body doesn’t like those types of positons.”

It’s such a concern that frequent traveler forums online list desk-less hotels to avoid.

Charles Kron, a 51-year-old insurance company training consultant from Atlanta, criticized Marriott in one such discussion for “moving away from being a business hotel chain.”

On one trip, he used the ironing board as a desk.

Heading to the lobby isn’t a solution.

“I’m not on the road to be social,” says Kron, who spends 150 nights a year traveling. “I’m on the road to get work done.”

Marriott CEO Arne Sorenson says guests no longer want a full dresser, closet and desk. Removing some items gives rooms a greater sense of space. Add a big TV, fast Wi-Fi and they are happy.

“We can go too far if we say no work surface is the approach,” Sorenson says. “That’s not what we are doing. Increasingly, we settle in a place where there is a desk. It’s a smaller desk. It might sometimes be a flexible space.”

Sorenson says the goal is to make rooms feel more modern.

Take the bathroom. Historically, it was a small space with a door that swung in. By swapping the tub for a shower and converting the door to slide into the wall, the space feels larger.

“People expect a better bath experience than they expected 25 or 30 years ago,” Sorenson says. The redesigned rooms are “very much like that experience you have at home.”

While Marriott has taken most of the heat from road warriors for removing desks at some properties, it isn’t alone. Several chains have been pushing new designs that upend the traditional room.

At Best Western’s new Vib brand, bed headboards double as desks. Closets have been replaced with hooks on the wall and instead of a dresser there are drawers under the bed. Hilton’s new Tru won’t have closets. Instead there will be an open space with hangers and hooks on the wall. And the desk is replaced with a chair that includes a spot for a tiny laptop or tablet. Starwood’s Aloft brand also skips out on the closet, instead offering some hangers behind a curtain in a built-in wall in the bathroom.

While hotels say this is what customers want, there is also a cost-savings. The big hotel chains don’t own most of their properties but license out rights to them. And the owners and developers are pushing the parent companies to cut costs.

“They are more concerned about the (construction) cost, because they don’t have enough time to make that up if we hit a downturn,” says Best Western CEO David Kong. “People can’t make the numbers work.”

That’s one of the reasons Hilton’s Tru will cost about $84,000 a room to build, compared to $110,000 for its Hampton Inn brand. And Best Western just launched a new brand, Glo, which will cost $65,000 per room for construction.

These rooms are also easier to clean meaning hotels can pare down their housekeeping staff.

“This industry is starting to figure out what is efficient,” says Scott Berman, who looks at the hotel industry for consulting and accounting firm PwC. “It begins with labor.”

The Pacific Jazz Combo will perform at South Tahoe High School’s theater on March 18 at 7pm.

The Pacific Jazz Combo comprises students from the University of Pacific Conservatory of Music. The group’s musical selections range from classic jazz masterpieces arranged by the members to original compositions.

Tickets are $15 for adults and $10 for children and will be available at the door. Money supports Tahoe Arts Project.

The Pacific Jazz Combo will be performing in the South Shore schools the week of March 14-18.