Nevada students are invited to showcase their artistic talents and promote radon awareness by entering the Nevada Radon Poster Contest.

The contest is open children ages 9 to 14 who are enrolled in public, private, territorial, tribal, Department of Defense and home schools. Children can also enter through a sponsoring group, such as art, computer, library, reading, science, scouting, youth or 4-H clubs.

Posters should convey one of these messages: 1) What is radon? 2) Where does radon come from? 3) How does radon get into our homes? 4) Radon can cause lung cancer, or 5) Test your home for radon.

Posters will be judged on content accuracy, visual communication of the topic, reproducibility and originality. They can be created with crayons, markers, paint, collage, pencils, photographs or computer graphics. There is no fee to enter, but each child is limited to one entry. Entries must be received at 4955 Energy Way in Reno by Oct. 31.

Cash prizes are $75 for first place, $60 for second and $45 for third. The top three entries are also awarded cash prizes for their teachers or sponsoring organization’s representative.

For more info, call 775.336.0252.

The Lake Tahoe Historical Society is hosting a Chautauqua performance on Sept. 20.

Six figures from the past will come to life at the Valhalla Grand Hall on the South Shore starting at 5pm.

Tickets are $60 for historical members, $70 for others. The price includes dinner. Tickets are available by calling 530.541.5458.

Volunteers are protecting the “Entering the Lake Tahoe Watershed — Help Protect It!” signs that were installed in August 2014.

The signs are near Daggett Summit on Kingsbury Grade, Spooner Summit on Highway 50 and on the Mount Rose Highway.

Tahoe Douglas Rotary Club will maintain the signs on Daggett and Spooner summits. The Mount Rose is being cared for by Mark and Lisa Bruce, and Chris and Joy Benna of Reno.

“The signs are meant to help remind the millions of people who visit Lake Tahoe each year that they are entering a special place and have a duty to help protect its famously clear waters and environment,” a Tahoe Regional Planning Agency spokesperson said at the time of their installation. Each sign cost $35,000.

Paisley

Paisley is a 1-year-old female kitty who is a great mouser. She is quite playful, and is OK with well-mannered dogs.

Paisley loves to be around people, and can get a little over excited at times and play rough, so she would probably do best in a home without really small children. She was adopted fairly recently, but her new owner died so she is looking for a new home.

Paisley is spayed, microchipped, tested for FIV, 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’sFacebook 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

Lake Tahoe’s Movement of Wings will bring basin communities together on Sept. 5 to raise awareness about thyroid cancer.

LTMW aims to provide a fun, community-generated event that will provide support and a proactive way to fight this disease, while promoting a healthy lifestyle in one of the most beautiful places to run, Lake Tahoe. Proceeds will be donated to ThyCa.

ThyCa (Thyroid Cancer Survivors’ Association Inc.) is a nonprofit organization of thyroid cancer survivors, family members, and health care professionals. They are dedicated to support, education, and communication for thyroid cancer survivors, their families and friends. ThyCa also sponsors Thyroid Cancer Awareness Month, year-round awareness activities, and thyroid cancer research fundraising and research grants.

The Butterfly Effect 5K Run, Walk and Stroll benefits ThyCa and aims to inform the community on thyroid cancer, the fastest growing cancer in the United States.

The morning will start with a 5K run and walk at 9am and 9:05am, respectively, and a slightly shorter “stroll” option starting at 9:10am, for those who want a more moderate option or who may be fighting thyroid cancer but still want to participate.

After the races the Caterpillar Dash, a short race that is free for children 9 and under, will take place on the Village Green in Incline Village, followed by a Mutt Strut doggie dress-up contest and post-race Zumba dance party.

In addition to scheduled events there will be food trucks, face painting and arts and crafts for the kids, booths representing local businesses and nonprofits, and a silent auction with a variety of fabulous items from several favorite local businesses.

Attendees are encouraged to wear wings and colors representing the fight against thyroid cancer (teal, pink and blue). Wings will also be available for a small donation at the event.

To register or for more info, go online.

By American Legion

The abduction of then-11-year-old Jaycee Dugard 24 years ago from a bus stop in Meyers still resonates in the minds of many. After 18 years of enduring physical and emotional abuse, Dugard was released from her captors and reunited with her family in 2009.

The process of reconnecting with her family and healing from her past led Dugard to create The JAYC (Just Ask Yourself to Care) Foundation to help other families heal and reconnect that endured abduction or other traumatic experiences, such as military deployment.

Dugard spoke to members of the American Legion’s Americanism Commission Aug. 29 during the organization’s 97th National Convention in Baltimore about the foundation and how Legionnaires can support its programs.

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Chautauqua performers Chuck Baldauskas and Doc Durden present Buffalo Bill & Wild Bill: Pals Together Again at the Dangberg Ranch in Minden on Sept. 2.

William F. Cody worked as a trapper, gold prospector and Pony Express rider all by the age of 14. During the Civil War he became a wagon driver for a Kansas Union Volunteer Cavalry unit, as well as a clerk, messenger and a scout. It was as a buffalo hunter for the U.S. Army and the Kansas Pacific Railroad that he earned the nickname Buffalo Bill. In 1872 Cody became a stage actor where he later met Wild Bill Hickok. As a successful and established actor, Cody was able to develop his own outdoor production which became famously known as “Buffalo Bill’s Wild West”.

James Butler “Wild Bill” Hickok went west at age 18 as a fugitive from justice, first working as a stagecoach driver, then as a lawman in the territories of Kansas and Nebraska. He fought and scouted for the Union Army during the Civil War and gained publicity after the war as a scout, marksman, actor and professional gambler. He was involved in several notable shootouts and was shot from behind and killed while playing poker in a saloon in Deadwood, Dakota Territory. The card hand which he held at the time of his death came to be known as the “Dead Man’s Hand”.

This is a free outdoor event. It starts at 6:30pm. The park is located at 1450 Highway 88. Bring a lawn chair. Dogs are not permitted in the park.

South Lake Tahoe’s Friends of the Library is putting on two events in September.

The first in Sept. 15 at 6pm. In partnership with the Lake Tahoe Historical Society the Friends are bringing back author Mary Jo Sonntag. Her presentation will answer questions about the early pioneers in the area, what pioneer life was really like, and what diseases pioneers experience.

Her award-winning book, “Write, If You Live to Get There” tells the true story of her ancestors’ migration from Vermont to Tahoe through a series of family letters spanning more than 120 years. Book sale and signing to follow.

On Sept. 19 at 1pm author Jackie Boor will present “LOGAN: The Honorable Life and Scandalous Death of a Western Lawman”. Boor is the great-granddaughter of this historic sheriff and has unearthed the untold story of his 1906 murder. Dealing with rowdy miners, drunken gamblers, and even Wild West legends like Wyatt Earp was a routine part of the job for onetime Sheriff Logan. This is a story steeped in local history (Logan Shoals and Logan Creek are named for this historic sheriff). There will be a question and answer session, book sale and signing to follow.

Both events are free and at the library on Rufus Allen Boulevard.

El Dorado County Health and Human Services Agency, Public Health Division will begin conducting low-cost community flu vaccination clinics on Sept. 23, with additional clinics offered through mid-November.

Seasonal influenza vaccine will be available in nasal mist and flu shot forms at the clinics.

Shot are recommended for people 6 months of age or older. In addition to the flu vaccine, the newly recommended pneumococcal vaccine for seniors called PCV 13 (which protects against pneumonia), will also be available at the flu clinics for those who medically qualify.

The cost per vaccine is $10, but no one will be denied service due to inability to pay; cash or check accepted. Parents should bring their child’s immunization records.

South Lake Tahoe dates:

Sept. 23, Sept. 30, Oct. 14 and Oct. 28 from 9:30am to 12:30pm at the Senior Center, 3050 Lake Tahoe Blvd.

Oct. 14 and Oct. 28 from 3:30-6:30pm at Bijou School, 3501 Spruce Ave., in the teachers’ lounge.

Nov. 4 from 3-6pm at Lake Tahoe Airport, 1901 Airport Road.

By Melody Gutierrez, San Francisco Chronicle

SACRAMENTO — A particular security-enabled paper used to print all vital records in California is in short supply after the Ohio business that produced it suddenly closed, forcing some counties to ration the number of birth and death certificates people can buy.

County registrars say the only other company capable of producing the specific type of paper required by state law is in Canada, and they are working to at least temporarily contract with that company.

Lawmakers say the paper shortage has raised a question of whether some of the security features required by state law for vital records are outdated. In the meantime, counties say they are scrambling to meet the public’s needs for the documents.

Counties are also working to have the plates used to produce the paper for vital records sent to them from the now-closed Ohio business, Sekuworks LLC, to ensure that fraudulent copies of crucial identity documents can’t be produced. Sekuworks representatives could not be reached for this story.

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