By Ashley Welch, CBS News

These days, it seems like it’s the American way to be constantly in a rush — and eating on the way. Whether you’re scarfing down breakfast on the commute to work or grabbing a bite while you dash through the mall, it’s an all-too-familiar pattern.

Now, new research suggests that this habit of eating on the go could be doing some major damage to your waistline.

In a small study, published Thursday in the Journal of Health Psychology, researchers from the University of Surrey in the U.K. looked at 60 women, some of whom were dieting and some of whom weren’t. They were each given a cereal bar to eat under three different conditions: One group watched a five-minute clip of the television show “Friends” while eating; the second group ate while walking around the hall; and the final group ate while sitting and talking with a friend.

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The El Dorado County Health and Human Services Agency, Public Health Division is hosting community meetings, focus groups and an online survey to solicit public input for its community health assessment.

Public health staff will share information about the overall health of the community.

Community meetings are:

• Sept. 14, 3-4pm at the El Dorado County Public Health Education Room,1360 Johnson Blvd, Suite 103, South Lake Tahoe.
• Sept. 17, 5-6pm at the El Dorado Hills Library, 7455 Silva Valley Parkway, El Dorado Hills.
• Sept. 28, 11:30am-12:30pm at Pioneer Park,  6740 Fairplay Road, Somerset.
• Sept. 30, 10-11am at the Georgetown Community Center, 6329 Lower Main St., Georgetown.
• Oct. 1, 1-2pm in the Placerville Library Conference Room,  345 Fair Lane, Placerville.

In addition to the community meetings, residents may provide input by completing an online survey. The survey closes Aug. 31.

The report is expected to be released in December.

With September being National Healthy Aging Month, the Senior Day Care Services and Senior Programs of the El Dorado County Health and Human Services Agency has tips for seniors to promote health and longevity.

They include:

• Get moving — Exercise and other physical activities are good for you. Studies show that people who exercise not only live longer, they live better. Regular exercise and physical activity can reduce your risk of developing some diseases and disabilities that often occur with age. For example, balancing exercises help prevent falls (which are a major cause of disability in older adults), strength exercises help build muscles and reduce the risk of osteoporosis, and stretching exercises help you stay limber.
• Get involved — Studies show that people who are involved in hobbies, social and leisure activities, and who volunteer in their communities, generally report higher levels of happiness and lower levels of depression. Studies have even shown that staying socially active may reduce the progression of Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia.
• Get checked — Regular check-ups, screenings and immunizations are important for good health. Bring concerns to your healthcare provider sooner rather than later. Remember that mental health is also important. If you find that you are feeling blue, see a mental health provider.

The El Dorado County Senior Day Care Centers and Senior Programs offer many ways for older adults to stay active physically and socially. Activities include daily group exercise classes, crafts, guest speakers, support groups, live music, senior trips, healthy meals and more. For more information, call 530.621.6369 or go online.

Sparky

Sparky is one of several medium-large dogs at the shelter right now. Like the others, Sparky is a very active, friendly 1-year-old who likes other dogs. He is a Labrador-hound-pit bull mix who has lived with children and cats. He also loves the water, and will do well in training classes.

Sparky is neutered, microchipped, tested for FIV, and vaccinated. He 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

Dierks Bentley puts on a rousing performance Aug. 23 at Harveys. Photos/Kathryn Reed

By Kathryn Reed

STATELINE – Dressed in his signature tight T-shirt with biceps bulging as he stroked the guitar, there is no doubt why People magazine earlier this year named Dierks Bentley country’s hottest guy.

However, Kip Moore, the third opening act, might have a good chance to usurp that title from Bentley.

For those who weren’t admiring Bentley’s physique, there was plenty to applaud about his music in the 15-set plus, two encore show at Harveys on Aug. 23. It was a mix of soulful and playful lyrics.

Bentley’s music has garnered him 12 Grammy nominations.

Life hasn’t always been so great for Dierks Bentley. This is obvious from the lyrics on his latest album “Riser” that was released in 2014. It’s a bit introspective, a bit spiritual and definitely memorable.

The rough stretch, though, produced three No. 1 singles — “I Hold On”, “Drunk On A Plane” and “Say You Do.”

A few “pilots” were in the audience Sunday, including one who was invited on to the stage during “Drunk on a Plane”.

Fans Sunday night at Harveys knew the lyrics as well as the country star. It was like a sing-along at times.

“Riser” – Bentleys seventh album – was released the year after his father died and his third child was born. “Riser” is a song about resilience and determination, and is where the album title comes from.

On his website, Bentely says, “Life in general has a way of knocking you down. It’s different reasons for different folks – could be personal reasons, could be family reasons, your job, drugs, alcohol. That song really applies to anybody that’s lived. There have always been those moments when we have to get back up and get on our feet. They are defining moments … breakthrough moments.”

On Sunday night – while he played “Riser” and “I Hold On” to the appreciative audience, it was obvious there was something more to the songs than just lyrics. You could feel the passion and sentiment Bentley has for the words he is singing.

Several times he mentioned how this was his first trip to the area – adding he wants to come back.

Before the star took to the stage Kip Moore, Maddie & Tae, and Canaan Smith warmed up the nearly full house. Bentley brought each of them on stage to sing with him.         

If Bentley’s singing career ends anytime soon he has a fallback plan. In July 2016 he will open his fourth Whiskey Row restaurant. This one will be in Las Vegas. They started in his home state of Arizona where there are eateries in Tempe and Scottsdale, there is also one in Chicago.

By Marilynn Marchione, AP

Scientists have finally figured out how the key gene tied to obesity makes people fat, a major discovery that could open the door to an entirely new approach to the problem beyond diet and exercise.

The work solves a big mystery: Since 2007, researchers have known that a gene called FTO was related to obesity, but they didn’t know how, and could not tie it to appetite or other known factors.

Now experiments reveal that a faulty version of the gene causes energy from food to be stored as fat rather than burned. Genetic tinkering in mice and on human cells in the lab suggests this can be reversed, giving hope that a drug or other treatment might be developed to do the same in people.

The work was led by scientists at MIT and Harvard University and published online Wednesday by the New England Journal of Medicine.

The discovery challenges the notion that “when people get obese it was basically their own choice because they choose to eat too much or not exercise,” said study leader Melina Claussnitzer, a genetics specialist at Harvard-affiliated Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. “For the first time, genetics has revealed a mechanism in obesity that was not really suspected before” and gives a third explanation or factor that’s involved.

Independent experts praised the discovery.

“It’s a big deal,” said Clifford Rosen, a scientist at Maine Medical Center Research Institute and an associate editor at the medical journal.

“A lot of people think the obesity epidemic is all about eating too much,” but our fat cells play a role in how food gets used, he said. With this discovery, “you now have a pathway for drugs that can make those fat cells work differently.”

Several obesity drugs are already on the market, but they are generally used for short-term weight loss and are aimed at the brain and appetite; they don’t directly target metabolism.

Researchers can’t guess how long it might take before a drug based on the new findings becomes available. But it’s unlikely it would be a magic pill that would enable people to eat anything they want without packing on the pounds. And targeting this fat pathway could affect other things, so a treatment would need rigorous testing to prove safe and effective.

The gene glitch doesn’t explain all obesity. It was found in 44 percent of Europeans but only 5 percent of blacks, so other genes clearly are at work, and food and exercise still matter.

Having the glitch doesn’t destine you to become obese but may predispose you to it. People with two faulty copies of the gene (one from Mom and one from Dad) weighed an average of 7 pounds more than those without them. But some were obviously a lot heavier than that, and even 7 pounds can be the difference between a healthy and an unhealthy weight, said Manolis Kellis, a professor at MIT.

He and Claussnitzer are seeking a patent related to the work. It was done on people in Europe, Sweden and Norway, and funded by the German Research Center for Environmental Health and others, including the U.S. National Institutes of Health.

Obesity affects more than 500 million people worldwide and contributes to a host of diseases. In the U.S., about one-third of adults are obese and another one-third are more modestly overweight.

The FTO gene turns out to influence obesity indirectly, as a master switch that affects two other genes that control thermogenesis, or burning off energy. It’s long been known that brown or beige fatty tissue — the so-called “good fat” — burns calories, while the more common white fat stores them. The body constantly makes fat cells, and the two genes determine whether they become brown or white ones.

In one experiment described in the medical journal, researchers blocked the faulty gene’s effect in mice and found they became 50 percent leaner than other mice despite eating a high-fat diet, and burned more energy even when asleep.

In other tests on human cells, blocking the gene’s effect increased energy burning in fat cells. Editing out the problem gene in human cells in the lab also restored normal metabolic function.

Researchers don’t know the impact of having just one faulty copy of the gene but think it has less of an effect than having two copies.

Several companies are trying to develop treatments to stimulate brown fat, and the new research suggests a novel approach.

“It’s a potential target” for drug development, said Sam Klein, an obesity researcher at Washington University in St. Louis. He called the work “an amazing study” and “a scientific tour de force.”

Rudolph Leibel, an obesity expert at Columbia University in New York, used the same term — “tour de force.” Still, some earlier research suggests the FTO gene may influence other aspects of obesity such as behavior and appetite.

“It’s possible there are several mechanisms being affected,” and that fat-burning is not the whole story, he said.

Before taking the stage Saturday night at the Silver Legacy in Reno, Johnny Mathis stopped by UNR, the site of his record-setting high jump.

The singer and entertainer returned to campus to reminisce about his record 6-feet-5½-inch high jump set in 1956. This was 2 inches shorter than the Olympic record. At the time he was attending San Francisco State on an athletic scholarship.

A San Francisco Chronicle article that year featured he and future NBA star Bill Russell, noting them as the top two high jumpers in the city of San Francisco. Mathis and Russell, who attended the University of San Francisco, would become close friends, and often traveled to college track and field meets together.

Ty Cobb, a university alumnus and former special assistant to Ronald Reagan, witnessed the achievement which took place in the former Mackay Stadium located in what is today Hilliard Plaza, the open area in front of the Mack Social Science building. In his chronicle of the Mathis-Nevada story, Cobb wrote: “As a young high school student, I used to enjoy going up to the old Mackay Stadium at the University of Nevada to watch track and field events. I recall in 1956 catching this young, relatively short student from San Francisco State set a new high jump record for the stadium. I couldn’t believe how someone so small in stature could jump that high.”

Mathis’ campus visit, was initiated by Cobb.

For Mathis, 1956 would prove to be a monumental year. Following his record jump, he was asked to try out for the 1956 U.S. Olympic team. At the same time Columbia Records requested Mathis – who had been singing in Bay Area clubs – travel to New York City to begin work on his first recording. He chose singing.

Marley Reel and Mike Miller with their screen printer. Photos/Terra Breedan

By Terra Breeden

MEYERS – A spider-like machine sits in the middle of the garage with its arms jutting into the small space.

“Careful that thing is hot,” says Marley Reel, co-owner of Rise Designs.

The sizzling screen printer dominates the room. Reel squeezes past the machine and tries to avoid tripping over the pair of boisterous dogs bounding about his feet.

“Yep. This is where the magic happens,” Reel’s partner, Mike Miller, says proudly.

This is the office-store-studio of Rise Designs.

Rise Designs’ creations are inspired by nature.

Located in Meyers, Rise Designs is a graphic design and clothing company that was founded by Miller and Reel in 2007. Specializing in hats, T-shirts, and sweat shirts as well as logo and event poster designs, Rise has become increasingly successful in Lake Tahoe as its bold prints and strong design work has gained recognition around the lake.

“All of these designs are hand painted,” Miller said as he gestured at the canvases and trucker hats stacked around the garage.

Dripping with bright colors, paintings of mountains, rivers, snowboarders and mountain bikers line the walls. The vibrant artwork depicts scenes from Lake Tahoe. All of the outdoor activities and natural beauty of Lake Tahoe is portrayed on the paintings.

“Our stuff stems from nature, that’s our thing,” Reel said. “We are Tahoe guys and we like nature, it’s all about being outside and enjoying the outdoors.”

Almost all of the designs are motivated by the landscape of Lake Tahoe.

“We get out. We hike, we bike, we snowboard, and that brings us to the outdoors which is where we get our inspiration for our artwork,” Miller said.

Before founding Rise Designs, Reel was a graphic design student from Vermont and Miller hailed from Southern California, graduating from Arizona State University with a degree in industrial design. The two met at Sierra-at-Tahoe where they worked in the season pass office.

“Meeting up with Marley was key for us to develop our business and sustain ourselves in town,” Miller said. “We couldn’t really work at a resort for the rest of our lives, but we love it here.”

Reel said, “So, I approached Mike and was like, hey we should do some artwork together.”

The rest was proverbial history as the two founded the company Rise Designs. They started the business with a couple of sweat shirts printed with their designs by a local screen printing company. Right afterward, the company that printed the shirts went out of business and put their screen printer up for sale.

A water color by Mike Miller.

“Marley and I were like, hey this is an opportunity – we are going to buy this screen printing setup,” Miller said.

It wasn’t an easy task starting a business from scratch. Neither Miller nor Reel had ever run a business before and they had to learn how to do everything one step at a time.

“There is no off-button,” Reel said. “You are always working on it and thinking about it. It’s just the two of us. If we aren’t doing it, nothing is happening. We have to keep moving forward.”

But all of the hard work is paying off. Since 2007, Rise Designs has become a successful clothing company that specializes in outdoor adventure clothing and graphic design.

Rise Designs clothing is carried in many stores throughout Lake Tahoe including Gaialicious, Sports LTD, Tahoe Rock and Ride, and the visitors centers in Incline Village and Tahoe City. They also do graphic design work for local companies. They have designed beer labels for Cold Water Brewery, hats for the Humane Society, and worked with the League to Save Lake Tahoe.

“When we first started we used to extend or arms to businesses for projects,” Reel said. “But these days, companies call us because they know our design work.”

Although Rise Designs now has hundreds of clients and participates in events all around the lake, the two still maintain their creative roots.

“We are both artists,” Miller said. “I have been asked ‘what do you want to do with your life’ and I want to be drawing, I want to sustain my lifestyle, and I want to be a Tahoe resident. I want to live the life that I choose.”

The next step toward fulfilling that goal is for Rise Designs is to move to a bigger workspace, the garage is too crowded for their growing business. Reel and Miller want to keep the company based in Meyers.

“Meyers is a big part of what we do and where we came from,” Reel said. “It’s a great community here.”

Reel and Miller also have tons of ideas for new Rise Designs products.

“We really love doing hats,” Miller said. “There are so many different designs we can do and they are so much fun.”

But they don’t want to confine themselves to one type of clothing.

“Our goal is to put our designs on all types of products,” Miller said. “And who knows what that might be in the future, it might even be watches or socks.”

The only thing certain is that Reel and Miller have a strong partnership and a love for their art; it’s what has been the driving force behind Rise Designs since the beginning.

“You have to have passion in what you do,” Reel said. “If you do it because you love it, not for money or other reasons, your passion will take you there.”

By Perri Klass, New York Times

A little more than a year ago, the American Academy of Pediatrics issued a policy statement saying that all pediatric primary care should include literacy promotion, starting at birth.

That means pediatricians taking care of infants and toddlers should routinely be advising parents about how important it is to read to even very young children. The policy statement, which I wrote with physician Pamela C. High, included a review of the extensive research on the links between growing up with books and reading aloud, and later language development and school success.

But while we know that reading to a young child is associated with good outcomes, there is only limited understanding of what the mechanism might be. Two new studies examine the unexpectedly complex interactions that happen when you put a small child on your lap and open a picture book.

This month, the journal Pediatrics published a study that used functional magnetic resonance imaging to study brain activity in 3-to 5-year-old children as they listened to age-appropriate stories. The researchers found differences in brain activation according to how much the children had been read to at home.

Read the whole story

TOCCATA Tahoe Symphony Orchestra and Chorus will finish the 2015 Tahoe Summer MusicFest with a concert series in September.

The concert series commemorates the 14th anniversary of the 9/11 tragedy and features Verdi’s “Requiem” (selections) and Mendelssohn’s “Violin Concerto” with guest artist Elizabeth Pitcairn performing on the legendary Red Stradivarius Violin.

The concert will open with with soloists Joy Strotz, Anna Helwing and Irina Kasimova, sopranos; Liudmila Mullin, mezzo soprano; Michael DeWayne and Chris Nelson, tenors; Stuart Duke and Chris Langton, baritones, and includes the 70 voice Tahoe Symphony Orchestra Chorus. The “Requiem” is composed in seven sections, but only five will be performed.Maestro James Rawie, TOCCATA’s Founder and Artistic Director, will conduct all performances.

The concerts are:

• Sept. 16, 7pm in the Corpus Christi Catholic Church in Carson City (3597 N. Sunridge Drive)
• Sept. 18, 7pm at St. Theresa Catholic Church in South Lake Tahoe (1041 Lyons Ave.)
• Sept. 20, 3pm at Cornerstone Church in Incline Village (300 Country Club Drive)
• Sept. 22, 7pm at Our Lady of the Snows Catholic Church in Reno (1138 Wright St.).

Tickets for all concerts are available at the door or online. General admission is $30 adults and $25 for seniors. Youth/students under age 23 with valid ID are $5 for seating 15 minutes prior to concert time, and under 18 are free admission. Preferred/reserved seating is $40 and $15 for youth/students.

For more information, call 775.313.9697 or email ToccataTahoe@gmail.com.