Lake Tahoe author Todd Borg has released his next book in the Owen McKenna mystery series.

“Tahoe Blue Fire” is about a former pro football player named Adam Simms who is suffering traumatic brain injury from his days on the gridiron. When Simms becomes the prime suspect in a series of brutal murders in Tahoe, Detective Owen McKenna can’t tell if Simms is being framed or if he is a diabolical killer who is faking brain injury.

Borg will be doing a series of signs. Here is the schedule:

South Lake Tahoe

July 24, 4-7pm: Signing at Artifacts, 4000 Lake Tahoe Blvd. (in the Raley’s Village Center near Stateline)

July 29, 6:30pm: Talk and signing at the South Lake Tahoe Library, Rufus Allen Blvd.

Aug. 2, 8:30am: Signing at Red Hut Cafe on Ski Run Boulevard.

Truckee

July 30, 5-7pm: Signing at The Bookshelf tent at Truckee Thursdays.

Reno

Aug. 1, 11am: Talk and signing, Sundance Bookstore at 121 California Ave.

Aug. 9, 8:30am: Signing at the Red Hut Cafe, 3480 Lakeside, No. 1.

Tahoe City

Aug. 1, 3pm: Signing at Geared for Games, Boatworks Mall.

Minden

Aug. 7, 6:30pm: Talk and signing at Shelby’s Bookshoppe, 1663 Lucerne St.

Carson City

Aug. 8, 8:30am: Signing at the Red Hut Cafe, 4385 South Carson St.

Sept. 29, 6:30pm: Talk and signing at Browsers Books, 711 E Washington St.

Burlingame

Aug. 15-16: Signing and exhibiting the entire series at the Burlingame Art & Wine Festival.

Placerville

Aug. 29, 3pm: Talk and signing at El Dorado Arts Council Art Space at Fausel House, 772 Pacific St.

Mountain View

Sept. 12-13: Exhibiting and signing the entire series at the Mountain View Art & Wine Festival.

Pleasanton

Sept. 18-20: Exhibit and sign books at the Pleasanton Harvest Festival at the Pleasanton Fair Grounds.

Genoa

Sept. 26-27: Exhibit and sign books at the Candy Dance Festival.

Sacramento

Nov. 6-7: Exhibit and sign books at the Sacramento Fine Arts Show.

Nov. 20-22: Exhibit and sign books at the Sacramento Harvest Festival at Cal Expo.

San Mateo

Nov. 13-15: Exhibit and sign books at the San Mateo Harvest Festival.

San Jose

Nov. 27-29: Exhibit and sign books at the San Jose Harvest Festival, San Jose Convention Center.

Quincy

Dec. 4, 5-7pm: Signing at Epilog Books.

By David Wainer, BloombergBusiness

Some wear sunglasses indoors, apply cold vinegar compresses or chew on ginger. Others sit in the dark for days. But there’s one thing most migraine sufferers agree on: the pharma industry has failed them.

Four drugmakers are working to fix that by bringing to market the first generation of drugs developed to prevent migraines. The products, designed to target a peptide known to touch off the pain attacks, all have blockbuster potential.

An early look at the drugs Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd., Amgen Inc., Eli Lilly & Co., and Alder Biopharmaceuticals have developed shows they work for about half of migraine victims tested, snuffing out some of the episodes that wreck their lives. The drugmakers are racing to cash in on a market that analysts say is worth between $4 billion and $8 billion and relieve the recurring spells that cost the U.S. economy an estimated $13 billion a year in lost work productivity.

Read the whole story

Train keeps fans on their feet for much of the July 21 concert at Harveys in Stateline. Photos/Kathryn Reed

By Kathryn Reed

STATELINE – Three dynamic men had fans on their feet for nearly four hours Tuesday night as they sang, danced and wowed the full house at Harveys.

San Francisco’s Train headlined the July 21 concert, but it was Matt Nathanson who got the crowd grooving in a way most opening acts aren’t able to do. His charismatic stage presence was engaging to the point one has to wonder why he and his band were first instead of the Fray.

Nathanson showed his power as he launched into the peppy “Gold in the Summertime” under what were overcast skies left over from the afternoon thunderstorm. The clouds parted and the sun came out as if on cue.

Matt Nathanson has a captivating stage presence.

Matt Nathanson drummer Konrad Meissner was essentially playing before a home crowd since he was born and raised in Truckee.

Nathanson talked about the relationship people have to music, admitting he wouldn’t have survived his childhood without it. He connected with a trio of youngsters who had no inhibitions to dancing to all of his music; at the end he gave them each a guitar pick.

The Fray, which has been around since 2002, is led by singer/pianist Isaac Slade. But the sounds they produced were nothing compared to Matt Nathanson, nor could Slade’s personality come close to Nathanson’s.

Pat Monahan of Train sings his way through the aisles at Harveys.

Pat Monahan – front man for Train – proved why this San Francisco-based band is still a favorite with fans after 21 years on the music scene. So many bands just play their music, thinking that is enough. Many crank up the bass or turn the song into something that sounds nothing like the recording – to the point it’s ruined or unrecognizable.

Not so with Train. The sounds were rich and the atmosphere was like they were playing a private party for the nearly 7,000 people who were dancing all night.

It was pure entertainment under the stars at Lake Tahoe as they cranked out hit after hit in a 17-set musical showcase that also included three encores. This is a band worth seeing more than once. Train was here in July 2014, playing for another appreciative crowd.

In between favorites like “Meet Virginia”, “Calling all Angels” and “Hey, Soul Sister” Monahan interacted with the crowd. He is definitely a showman.

He joined Nathanson and Slade’s leads by getting off the stage and singing through the crowd. The three of them sang the Beatles’ hit “With a Little Help from My Friends”.

Pat Monahan, Matt Nathanson and Isaac Slade

From the stage Monahan eagerly took selfies with countless fans – taking the picture with their phones. He then sent pictures out on the band’s Twitter account.

Shirts – one that was even signed that night by all the band members as he was wearing it – were thrown to lucky fans.

Monahan showed his softer side just before singing “Marry Me” by giving a shout out to his wife on what was their eighth wedding anniversary. It was the only time a hush fell over the crowd.

The night started with “Just a Memory” off the band’s latest album “Bulletproof Picasso”. Singles from the 2014 “Bulletproof Picasso” have not gotten much airtime. Only “Angel in Blue Jeans” broke into the Billboard Hot 100 list. That didn’t faze fans — they knew the lyrics to most every song.

In November, Train is expected to release its first holiday album with the working title of “Christmas in Tahoe”. Three original songs will accompany covers.

“There’s a couple of traditional covers on there, but we tried not to do the same stuff everybody else does,” Monahan told Billboard magazine. “Like, our favorite song on it is from The Band called ‘Christmas Must Be Tonight,’ so it’s that kind of record where it’s a vibey, make dinner around Christmas time and listen to an alternative kind of Christmas album.”

“A Midsummer’s Night Dream” will be at the Boathouse Theatre on the South Shore for one weekend.

The July 23-25 performances begin at 7:30pm.

“The course of true love never did run smooth,” wrote William Shakespeare in his most famous comedy.

The play will be presented with a Tahoe twist. The actors are all young adults.

Director Nannette Niven has a cast of 20 including Bjorn Hedqvist, Stephanie Hernandez, Zoe Greco, Tyler Martin, Steve Huerta, Zane Brady, Hunter Turney and Jered Stowell.

For tickets or more info, go online.

Tom Ritchie

A memorial service for Tom Ritchie will be at Rojo’s in South Lake Tahoe on July 24 starting at 8pm.

Ritchie passed away at Renown Regional Medical Center on Jan. 1 after receiving fatal injuries in a fall. He was 60.

He moved to Lake Tahoe in 1979. He spent a lot of time hiking and enjoying the outdoors.

During his years in South Lake Tahoe, Ritchie played with the local band Lightning Rose, and then as lead guitarist and singer for Thunder Rose. Friends are encouraged to bring musical instruments to play.

By Sue Manning, AP

A 1-pound squirrel and 90-pound dog didn’t let their size disparity stop them from dueling.

The rodent died in the recent run-in with Kimberlee Jaynes’ pet Skip, but the Shar Pei and golden Labrador mix got a long scar on his face and was lucky not to lose an eye.

“Skip has a vendetta now,” said Jaynes of Portland. “When he sees them, his ears go up — he’s looking for them.”

Temperatures are rising, and so are wildlife attacks against pets. Dogs and cats encounter wildlife more often in the summer as people and pets spend more time outdoors and drought and forest fires push wild animals outside their usual territory, veterinarians say. Warmer weather brings out hikers and campers when wildlife is likely to be active and aggressive — often protecting their young broods from perceived threats.

In regions suffering from drought, including the Northwest and California, animals from sea lions to bears must search farther for food, sometimes into populated areas. The dry spell also worsens wildfire season, which can leave habitat scarred and meals even harder to find.

With these challenges, authorities warn against getting too close to wildlife. As visitors flood national parks and other wilderness areas this summer, attacks against people also have ramped up: Several tourists at Yellowstone National Park have been gored or tossed into the air by bison when they crowded the large animals.

After Skip’s squirrel encounter, veterinarians at the DoveLewis Emergency Animal Hospital in Portland stitched him up and gave him antibiotics. They also have treated dogs, cats and backyard chickens for attacks by raccoons, coyotes, wild rats and even dive-bombing crows, Erica Loftin said.

Threats can stem from animals that people think are gentle, such as deer, said Gretchen Schoeffler, an emergency and critical care vet at Cornell University Hospital for Animals in Ithaca, N.Y. Almost any wild animal is capable of striking, from beavers and groundhogs to owls and swans, she said.

“Most wildlife, if they feel threatened in any way, they are going to react defensively,” Schoeffler said. “And chances are the domestic animal is going to come up on the short end of a stick there, especially if it’s a wild animal of any size.”

Rabies, usually from bats and foxes, is the biggest risk, though most cities and counties require vaccinations for dogs and cats, veterinarians said. A series of shots can prevent the infection from taking hold in people, but not in pets, Loftin said. If they are exposed, all doctors can do is give a vaccine booster and quarantine them, she said.

Wild animals carry other potentially deadly diseases, including the plague. It’s rare but its risk increases in summer as travelers and their pets come into contact with squirrels, mice, prairie dogs or the fleas that feed on infected animals in places such as northern Arizona, Idaho and Colorado, where a teen died of the illness last month.

“Wildlife is wildlife. Appreciate them at a distance,” Schoeffler said. “We only do harm when we try to interact with them. If we alleviate their fear of people, that probably won’t serve them well in their future.”

A few warnings for pet owners:

• Always see a vet if a pet is attacked. There might be crushed tissue, damage to organs or an infection.
• Watch for signs of infection and go to the vet if swelling, discoloration, discharge from the wound, lethargy or lack of appetite are present.
• Don’t wrap a limb. To avoid cutting off blood supply, try a clean cloth compress over the wound.
• A couple of stings from bees, wasps, yellow jackets or hornets probably don’t warrant a vet visit unless a dog is allergic or very small. But if the dog has been swarmed, get there as quickly as possible.
• Keep dogs on leashes and in your control.

By Allen Pierleoni, Sacramento Bee

Next time you’re headed for Truckee or Lake Tahoe via Interstate 80, take a detour at Exit 168, Rainbow Road/Big Bend. Turn right at the stop sign to find the Rainbow Lodge & Tavern. It’s well worth a look, especially if you want to grab a bite; lunch and dinner are served from 11:30am to 8pm Fridays and Saturdays, with Sunday brunch 10am to 2pm.

The 33-room B&B was built from local granite and massive timbers in the 1800s, when it was a stagecoach stop. By the 1920s it had become an inn and mini-resort. It’s a familiar landmark to generations of Sacramentans who have stayed and played there over the decades, cross-country skiing in the winter and hiking in the summer.

After a series of dead-end trails (including years in receivership) and ownership changes dating to the 1990s, the lodge was purchased in 2013 by a Rocklin-based family, who refreshed it and installed a whole new kitchen.

Read the whole story

Author Todd Borg returns to the South Lake Tahoe Library on July 29 with “Tahoe Blue Fire”, the 13th book in the Owen McKenna Tahoe mystery series.

“​​Tahoe Blue Fire” is about former pro football player Adam Simms who is suffering traumatic brain injury from his days on the gridiron. When Simms becomes the prime suspect in a series of brutal murders in Tahoe, Detective Owen McKenna can’t tell if Simms is being framed or if he is a diabolical killer who is faking brain injury.

Borg will shares his writing techniques and story​ ​lines with the audience.

There will be a book sale and signing to follow the free 6:30pm reading.

The library is at 1000 Rufus Allen Blvd.

Kalani

Kalani is a 15-month-old pup who is friendly, bouncy, and full of energy. She likes to chase balls and loves to play and wrestle with other dogs. Kalani is sweet and well-mannered.

She was DNA tested and the results show she is Siberian Husky crossed with Staffordshire Terrier. Kalani is anxious to find a forever home. She is spayed, microchipped and vaccinated.

Kalani is at the El Dorado County Animal Services shelter in Meyers, along with many other cats and dogs that are waiting for their new homes. For more information on all the animals that are available at the Tahoe shelter, go to the Tahoe animal shelter’s Facebook page to see photos and descriptions.

Call Animal Services at 530.573.7925 for directions to the shelter, hours and other information on how to adopt your next pet.

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

— Dale Payne

Imagine Dragons’ lead singer Dan Reynolds at Harveys on July 18. Photos/Kathryn Reed

By Susan Wood

STATELINE – Kids imagine slaying dragons. So why not have them join the fun with the band that slays the demons of the dull and mundane?

High energy was what Saturday night’s Imagine Dragons show at Harveys was all about. It was almost sold-out, with a twist on the attendance – more kids than usual.

One of them, Ashlyn Collins of Reno, was grinning from ear to ear before the show started. The 9-year-old had planned attending this concert six months ago. Her favorite is “The River,” one of the band’s sparse slow melodies.

“The minute she heard they were playing, she said: ‘Mommy, mommy, mommy, we have to go’,” her mother Kristi Collins said. “She heard them in the elevator today and almost lost it.”

Then, the keyboards’ slow buildup magnified the stage, and the mother said: “Oh, my God. Here we go.”

The indie, alternative rock band kicked off the night with its hit “It’s Time,” another fave of Ashlyn’s.

Ben McKee, left, of South Lake Tahoe is the bassist for the Las Vegas-based band led by vocalist Dan Reynolds.

The kid attraction may have to do with the contemporary hit band’s latest popularity on the Billboard charts. Or, it could be its high-energy play on stage. During the blockbuster hit “Radioactive,” the core four members of the rock band – three of them named Dan – were all simultaneously playing various drums. Drummer Daniel Platzman looked as though he would need a massage after every banging performance, especially for “Radioactive.”

The performance might have the attendance believe they were radioactive. This was the last song of the night. The audience waited in anticipation, but oddly the band never returned for an encore.

It turns out lead singer Dan Reynolds was getting over a cold and knew he couldn’t hit the high notes for his two planned encores.

In between, the men cranked out number after number of high energy tunes that prompted many in attendance to fist pump, dance and jump around – basically mimicking front-man Reynolds’ style.

The music was so electrifying with hot lights, Daniel Wayne Sermon’s hot guitar, Platzman’s throbbing drums and pulsating bass from South Lake Tahoe’s own Ben McKee that the sounds made the air vibrate.

The Las Vegas-based group – named the “biggest breakthrough band of 2013” by Billboard magazine is known for its up and down tempos. This performance with many songs off its “Smoke and Mirrors” album proved to keep that tradition.

“Shots,” “Gold,” “I’m so sorry” and “Friction” kept people standing – though the latter number felt like a song that screams at you if you’re not paying attention.

It was nearly a full house at the July 19 concert.

There weren’t many slow moments in the dozen-song set, with the exception of Reynolds opening up to the audience about his struggle with depression. The song “Release” depicts that challenge, with lyrics: “I’ve let me down” and “heaven talks but not to me.”

“For many years, I’ve struggled with depression. Many people do. I’m here today to stop you from not doing the things you love and are passionate about,” he told the captive audience. “Pursue your dreams. This isn’t the end all.”

From that, “Release” started with a sweet, sentimental-sounding guitar, a testament to how Sermon can mix up the night with hard-driving electric strings and sometimes a mandolin as with “It’s Time.”

Reynolds and Sermon worked off each other’s energy, with both Mormons throwing in occasional religious overtones. Take their mega hit “Demons,” which launched the audience off the chairs and singing.

This was ideal for Reynolds, who fought off a cold during the performance and even told bassist McKee with his signature deep voice that he should sing lead for the evening.

“I’ll be using you a lot,” Reynolds quipped to the audience early on in the show.

Reynolds engaged the concert-goers on occasion, with Tahoe-specific banter about the American Century Championship staged here for the week. He admitted to pulling for San Francisco 49er quarterback Steve Young, a fellow Mormon.

But it was Justin Timberlake, aka J.T. — a new attendee of the celebrity golf event, who occupied much of the banter.

Reynolds dedicated lyrics like “I keep coming up short” to celebrity participants who are not doing well.

“That song is for you J.T.,” he said, but later recanted that Timberlake may be doing fairly well. “And who doesn’t like J.T.?” (Timberlake finished the tournament tied for 34)

The unpredictability of Reynolds was present on stage, leading the audience in a yoga stretch at one point and in another a toast to embracing who you are – a common theme in Imagine Dragons lyrics.

“Can you drink to that Tahoe?” Reynolds bellowed.

Imagine Dragons has won an American Music Award for favorite alternative artist, a Grammy for best rock performance, five Billboard Music Awards and a World Music Award.

The Harveys Summer Outdoor Concert Series continues with Americana band Train on Tuesday, followed by country great Kenny Chesney on the following night.