Lake Tahoe Community College is seeking submissions of poetry, fiction, and creative non-fiction for its 25th annual edition of “The Kokanee” literary journal.

Writers must be current LTCC students, faculty, or staff, or an alumni who has taken at least one class at LTCC.

For poetry, writers may submit up to five single-spaced, typed poems of no more than 10 pages. For prose, submit up to two pieces of literary fiction or non-fiction, typed, double-spaced, and paginated, consisting of no more than 20 pages total.

All submissions should include a cover page that states “Kokanee Submission,” and includes the author’s name, physical address, phone number and email address, as well as a statement of eligibility that indicates whether the writer is a current or former student, or a current staff or faculty member of LTCC.

Send writing and cover page with contact information to Suzanne Roberts, Room A274, by Dec. 1, or submit materials by email to kokanee@ltcc.edu. All accepted work must be submitted in electronic form upon acceptance.

For more information, contact Roberts at robertss@ltcc.edu or 530.541.4660, ext. 708.

It is a sad time for the Sierra Club – Michael Donahoe, the most energetic, focused, passionate and caring man I’ve known, who provided more than 10 years of leadership to the TASC, has left us for that place out there graced with a perfectly clear deep blue lake surrounded by unspoiled forested mountains.

Michael cared for the lake as few do.

He helped launch the TASC along with Shannon Raborn and Heidi Hill Drum and proceeded to work hard to protect the lake and the shoreline, expand the TASC, faithfully manned the TASC booth at the farmer’s market in South Lake Tahoe from its inception – rallying people to the cause of protecting the shores and the lake from the TRPA’s expansion plan.

When TRPA didn’t listen, Michael led us into the shorezone lawsuit against the TRPA, which TASC won.

He worked hard, built relationships with deciders, and strongly opposed a big subdivision near Kingsbury, but the TRPA stacked the hearing schedule, limited testimony from Michael’s famous hydrology expert and approved the project. Even after what was a major blow, Michael soldiered on, giving his support and encouragement and advice to all of us, always urging us to work to protect the lake that he and we love.

I have a large hole in me that will take some time to heal. I will miss Michael’s advice and support as the TASC continues his work to protect the natural resources of the Tahoe basin that we all love.

I’ll look for Michael’s spirit on our mountain trails and think about the time we were all granted to experience such a talented and positive man who had a very large following. I think of Michael and his circles of friends, from the nude beach friends to the poker group friends, from an annual large family domino tournament, to a drumming circle, to Burning Man.

Michael did it all, with love and great humor.

Michael is irreplaceable.

— Laurel Ames

Chris Davenport, extreme skier of international fame, will be sharing his experiences Dec. 18 as part of the Alpenglow Sports’ Winter Film Series.

Davenport’s show Lessons from the Mountains: The Art of Risk Management will discuss the important aspects of risk management as he takes the audience up and down the world’s highest peak, 29,029-foot Mt. Everest.

The event is Dec. 18 at 7pm at the Olympic Village Lodge in Squaw Valley.

The winter film series is designed to inspire, motivate and educate. The event runs November through March and showcases five famous athletes. All shows are free and raffle prizes from sponsors are sold to raise funds for local nonprofit organizations. The Sierra Avalanche Center, Lake Tahoe’s local avalanche forecasting agency, is the beneficiary for Davenport’s show.

By Candace Taylor, Wall Street Journal

A home on Lake Tahoe with more than 600 feet of sandy beach is seeking $34.5 million.

The property was once owned by the family that founded Hills Bros. Coffee.

In 1998, real-estate investors Carole and Robert McNeil purchased 5 acres for $10 million, and have since added to the property. The McNeils tore down the original house and built a bigger home around 2001.

Read the whole story

By Sam McManis, Sacramento Bee

LONE PINE  — These days, sad to say, movie location scouts are so eager to flee California for cushy tax enticements that they don’t even deign to shoot films supposed to be set in the Golden State on our terra bella.

Toronto is sometimes fobbed off as Los Angeles, Vancouver stands in for San Francisco. Heck, in the recent film “Kill the Messenger,” a scene in a Sacramento Capitol news bureau was filmed in Atlanta.

Atlanta? Really?

Ah, but once, there was a California town – mountainous and craggy, sandy and tumbleweed-strewn – that stood in for any hundreds of far-flung locales on the silver screen.

Need a place that can look like the Khyber Pass in Afghanistan (“Charge of the Light Brigade,” 1936) or maybe the vastness of the Himalayas (“Gunga Din,” 1939)?

Go to Lone Pine, the cinematic little town up Highway 395 in Inyo County.

Read the whole story

Columbia

Columbia is a nice Chihuahua who has been at the shelter for two months.

She is friendly, house trained, and loves to be held on your lap. Maybe she hasn’t been adopted yet because she’s a bit aloof at first. But when she warms up to you, she is a great, affectionate girl.

Columbia loves children and small dogs.

Columbia 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

Tahoe-based nonprofit Zawadisha Fund is teaming up again with Bona Fide Books to offer an opportunity to shop locally while having global impact this holiday season.

Connect with contemporary local artists, crafters and entrepreneurs at the 4th annual Zawadisha Holiday Bazaar on Small Business Saturday: Nov. 29 from 10am-3pm at Bona Fide Books,1069 Magua St., Meyers. Entrance is free.

There will be modern African jewelry and housewares from Zawadisha; soaps, sponges and skincare from Tahoe Mountain Soap Co.; hand-crafted jewelry using Swarovski Crystals, pearls, genuine leather, stones and shells from BellaDrops; ceramics by Francis Rider; velvet pumpkins and acorns from Wildwood DIY Boutique; nourishing wellness and beauty products from LiveStock; mixed media jewelry and gifts from Squirrelsnest Boutique; eclectic items from Rear View Miracles; locally published books from Bona Fide Books; tea and health-centered ceramics from Wellness Arts by Erin Crow; bullet crystal necklaces and 14k filled delicate geometric pieces by Cat Makes Things; handmade glass bead, leather and sterling silver jewelry by Range of Light Designs; and driftwood art-chimes from Tahoe Schnorkelwood.

More information about vendors and the event may be found .

Zawadisha is a nonprofit social enterprise whose missions to empower, entrust, and expanded opportunities for women.

Sierra Nevada Ballet will be performing “Peanutcracker – The Story in a Nut Shell” on Dec. 6 in the Bob Boldrick Theater in the Carson City Community Center at 2 and 7pm.

Based on Lev Ivanov‘s original ballet “The Nutcracker,” “Peanutcracker” is a shorter, 45-minute narrated version that is designed for families with younger children to introduce them to ballet.

This year’s performances will feature Malik Berry from the Dance Theatre of Harlem and Chloe Felesina
from Ballet X and the Sierra Nevada Ballet professional company. More than 50 local children will perform.

The Youth Theater Carson City Showstoppers will present classic Christmas songs before the 2pm event and the Carson City Symphony’s Strings In The Schools group will perform holiday music prior to the 7pm performance. The pre-show entertainment starts 45 minutes before each event.

Ticket prices start at $6 for youth (15 and under); all other tickets are $11 and can be reserved by calling
Gina Nelson at 775.220.4452 or emailing gina704@msn.com. Tickets are also on sale on-site before each
show.

By Lousi Sahagun, Los Angeles Times

John Muir is the patron saint of environmentalism, an epic figure whose writings of mystical enlightenment attained during lone treks in California’s wilderness glorified individualism, saved Yosemite and helped establish the national park system.

As the first president of the Sierra Club, Muir shaped enduring perceptions about how the wild world should be prioritized, protected and managed.

But now some critics are arguing that the world has changed so much in the century since his death that Muir has gone the way of wheelwrights.

He is no longer relevant.

Read the whole story

Forty-nine local organizations and projects got a monetary boost from Heavenly and Kirkwood mountain resorts.

The checks were given out under Vail Resorts EpicPromise. The dollar amounts that entities received was not disclosed.

Recipients for the 2014-15 grants cycle include:

Amador Community College Foundation, American Youth Soccer Organization Region 282, Austin’s House, Barton Hospital Foundation, Boys & Girls Club of Lake Tahoe, Bread & Broth, CASA El Dorado, Christmas Cheer, Clean Tahoe, Diamond Valley Elementary, Discovery Blind Sports, Douglas County School District – Adapted Physical Education Program, Douglas County Education Foundation, Douglas County Sheriff’s Office, Folsom High School PTA, Heavenly Valley Ski Foundation, Kids & Horses, Kirkwood Ski Education Foundation, Kirkwood Volunteer Fire Department, Lake Tahoe Bicycle Coalition, Lake Tahoe Community College Foundation, Lake Tahoe Education Foundation, Lake Tahoe Environmental Magnet School, Lake Tahoe Humane Society, Lake Tahoe’s Shining Stars, League to Save Lake Tahoe, Live Violence Free, Mefiyi Foundation, Minden Rotary Club Foundation, Northern Nevada Children’s Cancer Foundation, Pau-Wa-Lu Middle School, Rite of Passage, Sierra Avalanche Center, Sierra House Elementary, Ski Duck, SOS Outreach, South Lake Tahoe Family Resource Center, South Tahoe Amateur Hockey Association, South Tahoe High School Nordic Ski Team, South Tahoe High School Sober Grad Task Force, South Tahoe Middle School, South Tahoe Middle School Nordic Ski Team, Sugar Pine Foundation, Tahoe Arts Project, Tahoe Fund, Tahoe Institute for Natural Science, Tahoe Magic, Tahoe Rim Trail Association, and Tahoe Youth & Family Services.