By Karen Kaplan, Los Angeles Times

Victims of bullying were more than twice as likely as other kids to contemplate suicide and about 2.5 times as likely to try to kill themselves, according to a study that quantifies the emotional effects of being teased, harassed, beaten up or otherwise harmed by one’s peers.

Children and teens who were taunted by cyberbullies were especially vulnerable — they were about three times as likely than other kids to have suicidal thoughts, the study found.

The findings, published online Monday by the journal JAMA Pediatrics, puts the lie to the old adage about sticks and stones. Cases of kids like 12-year-old Rebecca Ann Sedwick (who jumped to her death in a cement plant after classmates taunted her and asked “Why are you still alive?”) and 15-year-old Jordan Lewis (who shot himself in the chest after being picked on at school) are not just flukes.

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By Cy Ryan, Las Vegas Sun

CARSON CITY — The state Board of Finance approved the sale of $1 million in bonds to preserve historic buildings in Nevada, with a small share going to Clark County.

There were 15 requests to the commission asking for a combined $2.1 million, but the commission was limited to allocating $1 million.

The commission approved $180,000 to the Nevada Indian Commission and $100,000 each to the White Pine Historical Railroad Foundation and the Thunderbird Lodge Preservation Society at Lake Tahoe.

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By Kim Minugh and Ed Fletcher, Sacramento Bee

PLACERVILLE — Investigators say it could be days or weeks before they understand exactly what led to the deaths of two women in their Placerville home last week, but they indicated Tuesday that they are not searching for suspects.

“At this time, we know of no threat to the safety of the general public,” El Dorado County sheriff’s Sgt. Dan Johnson said in an email to the Sacramento Bee.

In the meantime, family and friends of the women – Carolyn Hague, 62, and Crystal Ann Ward, 58 – have been left grappling with more questions than answers.

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The Tahoe Keys, once the largest marsh in the basin, has long been a source of degradation of clarity for Lake Tahoe. Photo/Kathryn Reed

By Kathryn Reed

Lake Tahoe’s clarity took a turn for the worse in 2013, with visibility decreasing by 5 feet.

Data released March 13 show the average annual clarity level for 2013 at 70.1 feet. This breaks a two-year gain. The measurements have been taken continuously since 1968, when the Secchi disk could be seen to a depth of 102.4 feet.

UC Davis researchers use what looks like a white dinner plate to measure clarity by dropping it over the side of a boat at various locations throughout the year to record how far down someone on the boat can see it. The highest value recorded in 2013 was 90 feet and the lowest was 49 feet.

“Clarity in Lake Tahoe largely reflected what we saw in the weather in 2013,” Geoff Schladow, director of the UC Davis Tahoe Environmental Research Center, said in a statement. “At the beginning of the year, clarity was lowered by large stream inflows. At the end of the year, the low inflows resulting from the drought conditions helped to improve clarity.”

Clarity continues to improve in the winter (December-March) and decline in the summer (June-September).

Lake Tahoe Clarity Readings

• 2013: 70.1 feet
• 2012: 75.3 feet
• 2011: 68.9 feet
• 2010: 64.4 feet
• 2009: 68.1 feet
• 2008: 69.6 feet
• 2007: 70.1 feet
• 2006: 67.7 feet
• 2005: 72.4 feet
• 2004: 73.6 feet
• 2003: 71.0 feet
• 2002: 78.0 feet
• 2001: 73.6 feet
• 2000: 67.3 feet
– Source: UC Davis

Researchers said the large stream inflows in winter 2012-13 were mainly responsible for the lower values. At 63.8 feet, summer clarity nearly mirrored 2012’s 64.4 feet. Still, summer clarity is trending downward.

Through various programs agencies around the lake are trying to restore clarity to 97.4 feet. Reducing fine sediment from reaching Lake Tahoe is one of the major goals.

Even though the 1997 inaugural environmental summit created the environmental improvement program and more than a billion dollars have flowed to the basin for water quality projects, it wasn’t until 2013 that a regional monitoring program for urban stormwater was initiated in the basin. Urban stormwater runoff is believed to be the major contributor to reduced clarity at the lake.

All of the programs and money spent, though, have nothing to do with the shoreline where most people recreate. It wasn’t until last year that the powers that be decided to make a concerted effort to study the muck that is making swimming at some beaches resemble any lake in the U.S. because of the algae and murkiness.

By Jon Hurdle, New York Times

PHILADELPHIA — More Americans used buses, trains and subways in 2013 than in any year since 1956 as service improved, local economies grew and travelers increasingly sought alternatives to the automobile for trips within metropolitan areas, the American Public Transportation Association said in a report released Monday.

The trade group said in its annual report that 10.65 billion passenger trips were taken on transit systems during the year, surpassing the post-1950s peak of 10.59 billion in 2008, when gas prices rose to $4 to $5 a gallon.

The ridership in 2013, when gas prices were lower than in 2008, undermines the conventional wisdom that transit use rises when those prices exceed a certain threshold, and suggests that other forces are bolstering enthusiasm for public transportation, said Michael Melaniphy, the president of the association.

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Tonka is racking up vet bills after being shot by a narcotics officer in South Lake Tahoe. Photo/Provided

Tonka, the dog that was shot last month during a drug raid, had surgery this week to remove the bullet.

Three more teeth had to be removed because they were shattered from the bullet entering below his left eye, traveling through his mouth, through his tongue and into his neck.

The two drainage tubes in his neck should be removed in a week.

So far, Tonka has racked up more $3,000 in medical expenses.

A day of grooming will be provided by Best in Show Groomers in Stateline on March 16 form 9am-5pm. All of the money raised will go to help Tonka. Call for an appointment — 775.901.2671.

By Jason Blevins, Denver Post

Snowy Colorado buoyed Vail Resorts in first three months of the 2013-14 ski season as the historic drought in California shriveled visitation and revenue at the company’s three Lake Tahoe-area resorts.

Skier visits at Vail Resorts’ Colorado ski areas — Vail, Beaver Creek, Breckenridge and Keystone — climbed 11.9 percent in the three months ending Jan. 31, compared with the same period last season. But a 73 percent decline in snowfall around Lake Tahoe triggered a 27.7 percent decline in visitation at the company’s California resorts — Heavenly, Northstar and Kirkwood.

The rough winter in California forced the company to decrease its projected earnings for fiscal 2014 by about 10 percent.

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By MarketWatch

Caesars Entertainment Corp.’s fourth-quarter loss widened sharply as the casino operator recorded $1.96 billion of asset impairment charges, though revenue improved.

The asset-impairment charges stemmed from deteriorating market conditions in Atlantic City and potential changes in the expected useful life of certain property assets, the company said.

Operationally, revenue fell for the company’s casino segment on increased regional competition and continued softness in the domestic gaming market in some U.S. markets outside of Nevada, along with the reduction of revenue from the partial sale of the company’s Conrad Punta del Este casino in Uruguay in the second quarter of 2013. This revenue decline was offset by growth for the company’s food and beverage, and rooms segments, as well as management fees.

Caesars is the parent company of Harrah’s Lake Tahoe and Harveys.

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A Stateline man was injured Tuesday when the Subaru he was driving collided with a Peterbilt tractor towing a semi-trailer with 66 head of cattle.

The March 11 accident happened about 3:53pm on Highway 88 at the intersection of Waterloo Lane in Douglas County.

Twenty-five head of cattle died March 11 in the Carson Valley when the truck they were in overturned. Photo/Provided

Nevada Highway Patrol troopers said evidence at the scene and witnesses indicate truck driver Grant T. Terpstra, 25, of Stockton, who was traveling south on the two-lane highway, failed to obey the traffic signal and proceeded into the intersection on a red light and struck the right side of the Subaru, which was traveling west on Waterloo Lane.

After hitting the Subaru, the big-gig struck the traffic signal light pole and sheered an adjacent power pole.

George N. Jaqua, 61, of Stateline was airlifted to Renown Medical Center in Reno with non-life-threatening injuries. Terpstra was not injured.

Twenty-five cows were killed, while the remaining 41 were either uninjured or sustained minor injuries. They were secured in a nearby pasture. The cattle were being transported from Yerington to Escalon.

The intersection was closed for nearly six hours. As of Wednesday morning the traffic light was still not operating. Four temporary stop signs have been erected to control the flow of traffic until those repairs are made, which may take several days.

Terpstra was cited for failing to obey a traffic signal light.

— Lake Tahoe News staff report

By Anne Knowles

MINDEN – Douglas County is back on track, but it’s unlikely the county will return to the earlier high growth that once fueled its budget.

In 2013, 947 homes were sold, the most sales since 2005, at an average price of just less than $300,000, the highest since 2008. Assessed values, which dropped 29 percent from 2009 to 2014, are expected to increase 4 percent in 2015. And 108 residential building permits were issued last year, the most since 2007, although well below the 537 permits issued in 2005.

“Building permits are a good leading economic indicator,” Steve Mokrohisky, county manager, said at the second annual Financial State of the County on March 10 at Carson Valley Inn. “That pales in comparison to the 500 plus permits we had in the 2004, 2005, 2006, but we probably won’t get back to those levels ever.”

Taxable sales are also up. In 2013, they approached $600 million, the highest since 2008, and are already ahead of $300 million at the halfway point in fiscal year 2014. But Mokrohisky warned that taxable sales fund little in the county, which depends on Nevada’s consolidated tax for more than a quarter of its budget.

And unemployment in Douglas County, he said, remains stubbornly high at 9.6 percent in December 2013, although that’s the lowest rate in five years.

Among the highlights for the county is a recent bond upgrade to AA from Standard & Poor’s, the first upgrade in 10 years and the highest rating in the county’s history.

Mokrohisky, who is leaving April 11 to take a new job in Lane County, Ore., said the county faces several challenges, including deteriorating infrastructure such as roads and water systems. On March 20, the Douglas County Board of Commissioners is having its meeting in Stateline to discuss consolidation of aging water systems at Lake Tahoe.

Another goal is to revitalize the downtowns of Gardnerville, Minden and the South Shore using Genoa as a model, said Mokrohisky.

And the county must balance the need to control expenses with maintaining “our greatest asset,” a vibrant workforce, he said. During the downturn of the last half decade, the county has reduced its personnel costs by $1 million, eliminating 65 full-time equivalents and negotiating contracts with employees that have stabilized costs. That’s helped bring expenses below revenues. From 2002-09, county revenues grew 5.7 percent while expenses climbed 7.5 percent. From 2010 to 2013, revenue growth dropped to 1.8 percent while expenses were kept to 0.4 percent growth. The projected annual average growth for the next five years is 2.3 percent for revenues and expenses.

At the meeting, the county also launched an annual award for local businesses called the Spotlight Award. Seven businesses were honored in categories such as retail, manufacturing and hospitality. The businesses were American AVK, a maker of water hydrants and valves in Minden; Carson Valley Inn, the Minden casino/hotel/motor lodge/RV park; Edgewood Companies, owner of 500 Lake Tahoe acres and operator of Edgewood Tahoe Golf Course; Fresh Ideas, a Gardnerville gift shop; RO Anderson, an engineering firm; Red Hut Café, the 55-year-old restaurant operator with locations in Lake Tahoe, Carson City and Reno; and Soaring NV, a gliding school which took home the entrepreneur award for its owner, Laurie Harden.