Twenty-two nonprofits are sharing $48,000 from the 2014 American Century Championship.

Lake Tahoe Visitors Authority in partnership with NBC Sports and American Century Investments previously directed an additional $67,200 through on-site volunteer organizations and other efforts during tournament week to area high schools, Soroptimist International of South Lake Tahoe, South Lake Tahoe Booster Club, Boys & Girls Club of South Lake Tahoe, and the Gene Upshaw Scholarship.

From the $48,000, local cancer support programs involving Barton Memorial Hospital Foundation and the Cancer League received $13,000.

Grants of $3,000 went to Assistance League of Sierra Foothills, Christmas Cheer Food Bank, Food Bank El Dorado County, Suicide Prevention Network, and Tahoe Arts Project; with $2,000 each to Douglas County Parks & Recreation: Kahle Community Center, Lake Tahoe Educational Foundation, and Live Violence Free.

Programs receiving $1,000-$1,500 included Bringing Arts to Schools, El Dorado County Search and Rescue, Juvenile Service Council, Lake Tahoe Community College Foundation, Tahoe Basin Senior Citizens Center, Tahoe Community Church Food Pantry, Tahoe Magic, Tahoe Prosperity Center, Tahoe Regional Young Professionals, Tahoe Senior Plaza and Whittell Boosters Club.

The 26th annual American Century Championship is July 14-19.

Marcus Haven explains which elements rust first in water. Photos/Kathryn Reed

By Kathryn Reed

It’s possible many of the adults in the room were not smarter than a first-grader – at least on Friday.

Pink volcanoes, bottles of unknown substances, melting candy and crayons. Rows of tables with trifold cardboard displays explain what all of this is about.

“We wanted them to do science,” Shaina Lucas told Lake Tahoe News. “Why shouldn’t first-graders be able to do projects?”

Lucas is the first-grade teacher at Bijou Community School who last year started what is now an annual science fair.

Students worked on their projects for five weeks, focusing on a question and hypothesis. All last week they presented their experiments to their classmates, explaining the question they were asking, and then conducted the experiment or showed the finished product.

The culmination was Nov. 14 when they all had to answer questions for parents, staff and other adults.

Bijou first-graders show off their science experiments Nov. 14.

“I thought the steel and aluminum would rust first,” Marcus Haven told Lake Tahoe News. His reasoning was “those were two metals.”

The steel was rusting after having been in water four days.

Marcus put glass, galvanized steel, aluminum, copper, wood, steel and plastic in water to see which would rust first.

Others asked questions about oil and water, and what happens when distilled water is mixed with baking soda.

Kayden Morales tests the speed at which crayon colors melt.

Kayden Morales wanted to find out if different color crayons melt at the same rate. They don’t. Lighter colors melt faster.

He used a blow dryer to test his theory.

He and his mom correctly predicted the outcome, while his dad and sister thought the darker colors would melt faster.

For Krystal Octavo it was all about finding the M&M that melts the fastest. The first test was to put six colors on her palm, the second to hold them while making a fist. Both times the brown one melted first.

For students who are in the two-way immersion program they had to present their experiments in Spanish.

Winners of the Lake Tahoe South Shore Chamber of Commerce’s 7th annual Blue Ribbon Awards have been revealed.

They are:

Experience award – Blue Sky Events
Honorable mention: Ciera Steak & Chop House

Tourism award – Tahoe Sport Fishing
Honorable mention: Getaway Reno/Tahoe

Geotourism award – Lake of the Sky Outfitters
Honorable mention: South Tahoe Stand Up Paddle

Entrepreneur award –  Brandi Brown, Tahoe Production House
Honorable mention: Brian and Angela Luke, Artemis Mediterranean Grill

Customer service award – Bob Trim, Friday’s Station
Honorable mention: Matt Smithermier, Eloise Automotive & Alignment

Public agency service – Eric Guevin, Tahoe Douglas Fire Protection District
Honorable mention: Chris Stanley, South Tahoe Public Utility District

Large green business – Lake Tahoe Cruises | Zephyr Cove Resort
Honorable mention: Sierra-at-Tahoe

Wendell award for small green business –  Connie’s Clothesline
Honorable mention: Base Camp Pizza

By Melvin Backman, CNN Money

It’s not quite Pets.com, with its beloved sock-puppet. But it’s close.

DogVacay, which connects dog owners and pet sitters, recently announced a $25 million round of funding.

Founded in 2012, the company says it has 20,000 registered sitters and surpassed 1 million bookings last month. The company has raised $47 million including this round. It declined to disclose its revenue.

The company is sometimes described as “Airbnb for dogs,” because it lets dog owners avoid kennels the way the Airbnb lets tourists skip hotels. But CEO and founder Aaron Hirschhorn pushes back against that description.

DogVacay lets pet owners hire sitters that will either care for animals at the owner’s home or at the sitter’s.

Read the whole story

Staff Sgt. Bethany Brown is administered the Army oath Nov. 13 by Capt. David Robinson. Photo/LTN

By Kathryn Reed

For those who say the military is no place for a woman, they have not met Bethany Brown, Poli Policarpio, Sheryll Valencia or Christina Frolich.

These women on Nov. 13 shared with Soroptimist International of Tahoe Sierra some of their experiences.

Brown is so dedicated that on Thursday she retook the Army oath, which is done each time a soldier signs up for another stint. Right now she is stationed in Carson City.

“She is the best non-commissioned officer I have in my company,” Capt. David Robinson said.

Brown, who like the other women honored on this Veterans Day week, has been deployed multiple times. This time around she will be a recruiter for the Army.

She spoke about how when she was in Afghanistan a bomb went off about 10 feet from her. Most of the impact was to her midsection and hips.

“We walked away. That was huge because a lot didn’t walk away,” Brown said.

But the impact of war is often brought home.

“Twenty-two veterans commit suicide every day,” Brown said. “No veteran should take their life because they have already given so much.”

She spoke of a young woman at Fort Bragg who last weekend took her life. She was one of the best soldiers and no one saw it coming.

For Valencia, she got choked up when she spoke of the reasons to serve – of how it meant she was ultimately helping to protect her family and friends, as well as everyone else in the United States. In Iraq she worked 16 to 20 hour days. On occasion there would be a half or full day off.

Frolich joined when she was 20. Via a computer she was piloting unmanned aerial vehicles that were the size of a car. In Afghanistan they didn’t work well because of the mountains. Several of the half million dollar UAVs crashed.

Then they were used in Iraq. They were flying so slow they were shot out of the air, she said.

On her third deployment to South Korea she was injured while jumping out of a C130 with the Airborne. They were 800 feet above ground – which is low – and she ran into someone in the air.

“A female officer found me. I didn’t know where I was,” Frolich said. It’s rare for officers to have anything to do with enlistees. “There’s a lot of amazing women in the military. We take care of each other.”

Lake Tahoe Society for Storytelling & Enlightenment is a collaboration of Bona Fide Books of Meyers and local artist Jared Manninen.

LTSSE seeks to build community at Lake Tahoe and keep its history alive through inspired storytelling. In 2015, LTSSE will launch its first collection of illustrated Tahoe history books.

A sampler will be available this month at the Valhalla Holiday Faire  (Nov. 21-23), and at the Zawadisha Holiday Bazaar (Nov. 29).

By Sean Whaley, Las Vegas Review-Journal

CARSON CITY — A book documenting every Nevadan who gave his or her life while serving in the U.S Armed Forces was unveiled Monday by Gov. Brian Sandoval.

Sandoval, joined by representatives of Nevada’s Gold Star Families, the Nevada Military Support Alliance and the Nevada National Guard, unveiled the Nevada Fallen Heroes Book at a ceremony at the Veteran’s Memorial on the state Capitol grounds.

The book contains over 800 names of men and women who died in service to their country dating back to the Civil War and Nevada’s statehood.

Read the whole story

Tina

Tina is a friendly cat who likes to play. She is just 1-year-old, and would love to cuddle with you on a cold winter night. She would be happiest as the only kitty in your household.

Tina’s adoption fee has been sponsored.

Tina 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’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

TOCCATA-Tahoe Symphony will present Parts I & III of Handel’s Messiah along with carols the audience can join in singing on Dec. 12, 14, 19, and 21.

Locations are as follow:

Dec. 12 7pm: First United Methodist Church, 209 W. First St. Reno.

Dec. 14 3pm: Cornerstone Church, 300 Country Club Drive, Incline Village.

Dec. 19 7pm: Grace Church, 1220 Robb Drive, Reno.

Dec. 21 3pm: St. Theresa Church, 1041 Lyons Ave., South Lake Tahoe.

Cost: $30 adults, $25 seniors, $5 students, $40 preferred.

For more info, call 775.313.9697.

Firing of the cannons is a tradition at Fort Ross. Photos/Kathryn Reed

By Susan Wood

JENNER – More than two centuries later, one can still hear the Russian influence in the voices amid the grounds of Fort Ross State Historic Park.

Although lesser known in contrast to other California parks, this 3,386-acre park represents one of the oldest in the system. The Fort Ross Colony established it in 1812 through a cooperative company of U.S. and Russian settlers. With help from the Alaskan Alutiiq native Americans, the establishment 11 miles northwest of Jenner on Highway 1 became a large trading base for Russians seeking other venues to hunt fur-bearing marine mammals. They found them here on the wild Sonoma Coast.

The Russians and Americans worked together in building a colony with a stockade and homes for the settlers who tended a wheat farm and other crops. The cooperation lasted through the Gold Rush days until John Sutter bought the holdings in 1841. From there, Sutter sold to rancher George Call who exported apples, dairy products and wood supplies such as railroad ties. He, in turn, sold the property to the California Historical Landmarks Committee in 1903.

Coming out of the California State Park’s 100-year anniversary, one can still experience the spirit of that engrained cooperation today.

The original buildings still dot the landscape.

The park recently celebrated with its second Harvest Festival featuring a grand tasting of 11 local winemakers including the area’s own Fort Ross Vineyard and Tasting Room perched high up from the Sonoma Coast bluffs and featuring the oh-so temperamental Pinot Noir. There was also an artisan cheese maker from Freestone, along with tours and activities commemorating the park’s bountiful tradition.

The event can be a blast, literally.

“Fire in the hole,” many of the hundreds in attendance yelled, as park employees stuffed and lighted the cannon on the grounds of the stockade. The process appeared to take so long, one could almost imagine the enemy would have already climbed the stockade wall and attacked long before the cannon went off.

But today’s contemporary cannon blast is all in good fun. Attendees were instructed to cover their ears, along with dignitaries in attendance. Among them was Sergey Ivanovich Kislyak, who has served as Russia’s ambassador to the United States since 2008.

The acreage of the state park extends to the Pacific Ocean.

“It’s wonderful that a lot of Americans devote time to preserving Russian heritage and to try to pass that on from one generation to another,” Kislyak told Lake Tahoe News.

He then darted off to tour the grounds, complete with a general store, grain windmill and a residence built in 1836.

The ambassador was in Sonoma County for a conference on U.S.-Russia relations – diplomatic efforts intended to curb recent strained interactions around the world.

But Fort Ross represents a microcosm in relations of what could be in say a perfect world. At the festival, many Russian accents could be heard from visitors. This included one San Francisco couple who toured the site for the first time and declared their allegiance and support of preserving this heritage.

—

Notes:

• 19005 Highway 1, between Jenner and Timber Cove

• 707.847.3286.