CalSHRM and SHRA will be presenting California Employment Law Essentials for Business so small business owners, office managers, department managers and supervisors, and human resource practitioners who want to gain essential knowledge in the unique and complex system of California employment laws will have the opportunity to do so locally.

In partnership with Truckee Donner and North Lake Tahoe Chambers, this one-day eight-hour workshop is Sept. 14 from 8am–5:30pm, at the Hampton Inn in Truckee.

Gov. Jerry Brown signed almost two dozen human resources and employment-related bills into law effective Jan., 1 2012. Attendees will receive in-depth knowledge on California specific employment laws in the areas of Leaves of Absence & Worker’s Compensation, Employee & Labor Relations, Compensation & Benefits and Health, and Safety & Security.

The speaker is Mike Letizia, president-elect of California State Council of the Society for HR Management and brings more than 25 years of human resource, operations, training and leadership experience to his dynamic presentations.

The cost is $199 for current SHRA or SHRM members, $229 for North Lake Tahoe and Truckee Donner Chamber members and $249 for non-members. Seating is limited and advance registration is required for this popular workshop. To register, go online. For more information, call Laura Moriarty at (530) 573.0224.

Live at Lakeview returns today with another free concert at Lakeview Commons in South Lake Tahoe starting at 4pm.

More boats keep showing up, so organizers have a speaker just for them.

While cigarette and marijuana smoke have been problematic, the air was more the traditional mountain freshness last week. Many who were told this is a non-smoking event extinguished their smoke and took their butts with them.

A mix of locals and tourists sway to the various bands breathing life into the South Shore. Bring food or buy it there. Bike valet is free.

— Lake Tahoe News staff report

Estimates are more than 1,000 attend the Thursday concerts.

Plenty of ways to stay cool at Lakeview Commons every Thursday night. Photos/Kathryn Reed

Rules to follow.

By Susan Wood

STATELINE — From the moment she walked onto the stage filled with suspended seagulls and began her concert wearing cowboy boots and a bright, strapless dress, it became clear that Norah Jones would not be pigeonholed as an artist.

The singer, musician — who entertained a crowd of more than 4,000 Sunday night at the Harveys outdoor arena for the Lake Tahoe Summer Concert Series — allowed many songs off her new album “Little Broken Hearts” to dominate the performance.

She launched the concert with a slow, haunting “She’s 22,” which asks the listener: “Does she make you happy,” when she’s “so blue?” The mood set the stage for the rest of the evening, providing a moody haze that graced the Tahoe sky with a glorious sunset.

Norah Jones delivers a variety of music to fans Aug. 12 at Harveys. Photo/Jim Grant/Harveys-Harrah's

Mother Nature cooperated. And the crowd of wine-toting baby boomers politely accepted the musical journey Jones took them on.

But admittedly, the tunes she won five Grammy awards for and sold more than 25 million copies of spun the audience’s biggest applause. It was as though the fans remained hungry for those sultry, jazzy numbers from a decade ago off the “Come Away With Me” album. The compilation made her an instant success. Her second album “Feels Like Home” brought out the 33-year-old singer’s country flair, while the third “Not too Far” followed by “The Fall” began dropping Jones into a more alternative sound.

It’s no wonder the award-winning singer was tagged earlier this year performing incognito in a blonde wig with punk rock band El Madmo, CapitalNewYork.com reported. She wants to do her own thing.

Jones has been known to be open to many sounds in whatever venue. The transformation begs the question: To what extent does an artist cave to audience demands in giving them the familiar as opposed to opening their eyes and ears as an ambassador for new music at any cost?

Jones seemed to pull off the latter based on the foundation of respect she’s received in the music world.

New haunting tunes of love lost, risk and even murder off “Little Broken Hearts” accompanied that soft, finely-tune voice. The upbeat, bouncy “Say Goodbye” declared: “Don’t you miss the good old days when you let me misbehave?” Then, the creepy “Miriam” hushed the Tahoe crowd with a tale of fatal jealousy.

Norah Jones and her band play one of two encores. Photo/Kathryn Reed

She even threw in “The Long Way Home,” a country tune by offbeat singer Tom Waits off the “Feels Like Home” album. Her tribute to the man who could cross as an everyday, gritty barfly gave the audience an inner look into her own soul searching for something interesting and unique.

Jones’ show (priced from $39.50 to $69.50) provided a journey of peaks and valleys, slow and fast, soft and hard – with some extremes from her four-man backup band engineered so hot it was difficult to hear that award-winning voice. At times, the pulsating bass was loud enough to vibrate the floor.

But no sooner than the crowd may have pondered chair dancing, she sat at the piano for an honest calling for her love’s “heart to be true” with the bluesy “What Am I To You” off “Feels Like Home.”

The most memorable song of the night was not dedicated to any man, but to her dog – with her canine’s ultimatum: “It’s him or me.” She, in turn, rewarded him in lyrics written specifically for any red-blooded, canine-loving Tahoe female. “You never lie, you don’t cheat,” and have “no baggage on your four feet.”

The crowd erupted in applause and laughter with a thorough understanding of the message.

“I guess this is the right audience for this song,” she said with a big smile.

The audience stayed fully engaged for the next tune – her biggest hit from 2002, “I Don’t Know Why.”

And still, there was a two-song encore with another smash hit from the “Come Away With Me” ensemble – “Lonestar,” written to match her Texas roots. Then, the band stood side-by-side again for the feel-good plucking number “Creepin In” from “Feels Like Home.”

It appeared Jones felt like home in Tahoe, telling the crowd: “It’s nice to be here,” while appreciating “the lake is so clear.”

Indeed, Jones may say she’s her own tough act to follow. And given the dynamic performance by Cory Chisel and the Wandering Sons, she may say the same thing about her opening band.

Cory Chisel and the Wandering Sons are destined to be the lead act one day. Photo/Kathryn Reed

“We’re happy to be in Tahoe for the very first time. We’re the mood setters. That’s our job,” said front-man Chisel, who added he was grateful to have their three-person ensemble’s “voices bounce off these beautiful mountains.”

The singer, guitarist donning a Jason Mraz-type hat delivered tunes both sentimental and introspective – bouncing from a love song to “the right person at the wrong time” to a caring tune about his new home state of Tennessee from “some natural born Yankees.” The song resembled a light kiss, and the emotion seemed real all over his face. The set ended with a rousing blues gospel tune.

Chisel’s sound and heart-felt messages are reminiscent of Bruce Springsteen or even the legendary poet, singer Neil Young – who appropriately so, packed the house last week with 6,500 fans on a weekday in Tahoe.

Country music superstar Toby Keith also delivered that many on a recent weekday night. Harrah’s-Harveys spokesman John Packer told Lake Tahoe News the concert series is “going great.”

“It’s better than last year,” Packer said.

And it’s not over.

The old lounge blues mixes with the 1980s pop blues when Joe Cocker and Huey Lewis and the News team up Aug 17. The next day, country sensation Sugarland — with its toe-tapping, finger-snapping style – will also play in Tahoe. Cabo Wabo’s own Sammy Hagar rounds out the summer Sept. 1 with the Red Rockers.

TAHOMA — Master the trigger pull and the bullet will pierce whatever I want it to.

That’s essentially what Sonny Piazza told me as he gave me a lesson in firearms Aug. 14. Piazza is one of two range instructors certifying El Dorado County sheriff’s deputies. I have a long ways to go before that happens.

Glocks are the most popular gun in law enforcement. Photos/Kathryn Reed

I shot a Glock 27 .40-caliber, a little smaller gun than what is pictured here. It fit my hand better. It fit and felt better than I expected.

I had shot a gun once before — probably 15 years ago. Adrenaline kicks in when that trigger is pulled. It takes practice to not let the recoil pull the gun up and for my left hand to stay on the gun.

Kathryn Reed's target from 4 yards out.

Piazza is patient. He talks about treating any firearm as though it is loaded. He is quick to make sure my index finger comes off the trigger as soon as I shoot.

Don’t ever point at something unless I intend to shoot it, he tells me.

I stand straight at the target so if the bad guy were to shoot, he gets my whole vest and not under arm that isn’t protected.

From 7 yards out I hit the “head”, knock over the bowling pin and splinter the clay; from 4 yards the “body” has holes that would have sent that bad guy to the coroner’s office.

— Kathryn Reed

By Jennifer Conlin, New York Times

Like many affluent parents, Carolyn Everson, an executive at Facebook who lives in Montclair, N.J., with her husband and 9-year-old twins, is committed to raising “socially conscious” children, as she puts it. For that reason she did not hesitate to sign her family up for a trip to Kenya last August with Me to We, a company that offers what its Web site calls “transformative trips.” At a cost of $4,195 per person (excluding international airfare), guests spend 10 days immersed in African culture while participating in community development programs and living in “rustic, luxury cottages.”

In Kenya, Everson’s family carried jugs of water on their backs alongside tribal women, and helped build a school. They learned beading, planted trees and listened to lectures over leisurely dinners.

In Everson’s view, the trip was a success. “My daughters are growing up in a very privileged town,” she said. “This trip was a chance for us, as a family, to play a global role in helping others while also expanding our worldview.”

Travel — “fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness” in the words of Mark Twain — has long been a way to broaden one’s perspective. What is changing, at least for some parents, is the kind of trip that offers such broadening. A decade ago it was enough to peer into the Grand Canyon or bike through Tuscany. Now, galvanized by disasters like Hurricane Katrina and 9/11, and aware of the insulating effects of wealth, many parents are using travel to deliver to their children potent doses of real life.

Some parents, particularly those who are doctors or educators with a toehold in a foreign community, design family volunteer trips themselves. Others are signing on to organizations like Me to We, a partner company of the children’s rights charity Free the Children. And while it is hard to miss the incongruity in spending thousands of dollars to inoculate children against the scourge of privilege, traveling abroad costs money, period; for families with limited time and a desire to help, these organizations fill an obvious need. Me to We has seen family participation double over the last few years, while Globe Aware, which offers trips to 15 countries, had a 100 percent increase in the number of families signing up from 2003 to 2008. More recently, that number jumped 22 percent in the first half of 2012 compared with the same period last year. Chris Clum, executive director of Experience Mission, which arranges Christian mission trips around the world, estimates that 50 percent of the 3,000 to 4,000 volunteers who travel with his 10-year-old organization each year are now families.

Not surprisingly, the effects of children’s involvement in service travel are showing up in areas like education. “Everyone in admissions started seeing essays about these volunteering trips six or seven years ago,” said Bev Taylor, the founder of the Ivy Coach, a New York-based college admissions counseling service. “Now we have to tell kids not to write about them.”

Though that is unlikely to dampen interest, keep in mind that such trips can be more complicated than the brochures suggest. Below are some common questions with answers collected from families who have taken such trips, and experts who are aware of the risks and rewards.

Read the whole story

Native basketweavers from California and Nevada will gather at the Gatekeeper’s Museum in Tahoe City for the 9th annual Basketweavers’ Gathering.

This event features Native American weavers and artisans demonstrating the tradition of basket weaving and other traditional arts. Baskets were once critical survival tools and sacred tools of worship found in virtually all North American native cultures. Today, the creation of these functional and/or ceremonial containers is a highly stylized art, kept alive by dedicated artists and passed along to successive generations from person to person.

The Gatekeeper’s Museum sits on grounds where Washoe people spent their summers.

The Gatekeeper’s Museum is also home to the Marion Steinbach Indian Basket Museum, a world-class collection of more than 800 utilitarian and fine baskets from more than 80 tribes throughout California and western North America, including the Washoe people. In addition, the museum features the Bogart Washoe Basket Collection of exclusively Washoe baskets.

The event is Sept. 22-23, 11am-4pm.

Cost is $5 for North Lake Tahoe Historical Society members and $10 for non-members. Children ages 12 and younger are free with an adult.

For more information, call (530) 583.1762.

By Janet Fullwood, Sacramento Bee

As Americans set out on their summer getaways, millions grapple with the same question: What to do with the dog?

Last fall’s flap over Mitt Romney’s Irish setter traveling in a crate atop the family station wagon raised awareness of how not to travel with a pet, but it also made a point: Dogs are part of the family. And increasingly, they’re going on vacation with us.

A recent survey by Destination Analysts and DogTrekker.com found that 41 percent of leisure travelers who own dogs have traveled with a canine co-pilot in the past two years. Many more said they would do so if it weren’t for confusion over dog-friendly policies, frustration over exorbitant fees and difficulty finding things to do with four-legged family members at the destination.

No bones about it, travel with tail-waggers, like travel with young children, has its challenges – getting Rowdy to settle down in new environments, for one. As I’ve learned in my role as editor of the website that commissioned the dog-travel survey, plotting a successful trip takes more than just punching a destination into your GPS and jumping into the car with your four-legged friend.

Research and advance planning are key.

Read the whole story

The start of a new school year can be challenging for children.

But thanks to residents at Kelly Ridge, an ABHOW community in South Lake Tahoe, some elementary school students will return to class with backpacks filled with school supplies.

This is the third year Kelly Ridge residents have filled about 20 new backpacks with items such as pencils, pens, crayons, paper, scissors and rulers. The backpacks will be delivered to Bijou Community School students.

Kelly Ridge residents filled backpacks for Bijou students. Photo/Provided

Residents will add notes of encouragement to the backpacks, giving the students an extra push to start the school year.

“A lot of kids don’t have extra things,” says Mary Burke, who formulated the idea for the backpack project along with Florence Roach. “I love kids, and I can’t stand to see some of them do without.

“I have grandchildren, and I knew they start each school year with a new backpack, so the idea just came up.”

In the past, the backpacks were simply dropped off at the school. This year, Shanks says she hopes residents will be able to give the backpacks to students in person.

Dean has been at the shelter for several months, and we can’t figure out why.

He is a very good natured Jack Russell/Chihuahua (maybe) mix, 6 years old, who likes other dogs.

He came to the shelter because his owner didn’t want him anymore. He’s affectionate and walks nicely on the leash. Dean caught the eye of a shelter benefactor who has paid his adoption fee, so all he needs is a great new owner to adopt him.

Dean is neutered, microchipped, 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 online to see photos and description 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

For years Valhalla has been hosting artists during the summer months for the Artist in Residence program. This various artists are in the Vikings Room annex located inside the Valhalla Grand Hall.

Each featured artist is generally on site from 10am to 4pm. Artists can choose to exhibit their art, sell their work, set up a work station and produce art, or even offer mini-lessons to future artists.

The Artists in Residence Program offers a unique opportunity for locals and visitors to meet artists and learn more about their work. The exhibition is free.

Featured August artists are:

Kit Night is an award-winning painter and member of Oil Painters of America. She’s known for her uplifting and radiant color. Her work, which is influenced by jazz, redefines how we think of contemporary still life, which

includes large oils of glasses. She will also be showing smaller work in a variety of subjects including some new plein air landscapes. Kit will be in residence through Aug. 20.

Peter Steinhart is an artist from Palo Alto. He describes his artwork for the free showing as “Thirty-six Views of Tallac”, borrowing from Hokusai’s first volume of his famous views of Mt. Fuji in Japan. He will be in residence from Aug. 23-29.

The Tallac Historic Site is located two miles past the intersection of highway 50 and 89, just past Camp Richardson, on the lake side of Highway 89. Turn right on the street with the sign Valhalla.