environment

The Tahoe Regional Planning Agency received a positive ruling in the opening stages of the lawsuit challenging the Homewood Mountain Ski Area Master Plan that was filed by the Sierra Club and the Friends of the West Shore, a Lake Tahoe environmental group.

February 09, marks a special day in the life of yours truly.

It is my one-year anniversary writing about the Great Outdoors at Internet website Carson Now.

Time certainly flies when you are having fun, and it has been both a totally enjoyable and a totally memorable year of writing about all kinds of activities in the Great Outdoors, both near and far away.

Extreme snow sports legend and Transformers film wingsuit stuntman JT Holmes has finished shooting promotional TV spots for the Tahoe Fund’s Plate for Powder program, which gives purchasers of California and Nevada

The Tahoe Regional Planning Agency Executive Director, Joanne S. Marchetta, will host a “fireside chat” at Lake Tahoe Community College on Wednesday, February 8 from 6:00 – 7:30 p.m. on “21st Century Environmentalism and the Regional Plan Update.”

President Barack Obama visited Las Vegas today on a swing through the West, talking up energy development to create jobs and reduce the country’s dependence on foreign oil.

In comments delivered at the United Parcel Service hub on East Arby Lane, President Obama said development of natural gas reserves would serve both these purposes.

The president jogged out to loud, enthused cheers from a clearly friendly crowd.

The snow forecast to hit the Lake Tahoe region during the next few days is expected to give the Tahoe Fund's Plate for Powder program a boost along with Sierra ski resorts and businesses. Drivers who purchase a California or Nevada Tahoe vehicle license plate will receive two free ski lift or Nordic tickets to the resort of their choice. New Tahoe plates cost $50 in California and $61 in Nevada.

The U.S. Forest Service Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit has approved a project that will reduce wildfire risk to communities on Lake Tahoe's South Shore and restore the health of the area's forests. The South Shore Fuel Reduction and Healthy Forest Restoration Project will thin trees and brush on more than 10,000 acres of national forest system land from the Nevada state line to Cascade Lake.

CARSON CITY – A panel of key gaming figures and state officials will begin meeting next month to consider the impact of Internet gaming and other technological advances on Nevada’s major industry.

Gov. Brian Sandoval announced his five appointments to the Gaming Policy Committee yesterday. The full 11-member committee has not met since 1984. Sandoval will serve as chairman.

Carson Girls Softball is a non-profit organization committed to providing young ladies (ages 5 - 18) in the Carson City area the opportunity to play recreational fastpitch softball in an organized environment. Program goals are to teach girls the fundamentals of softball while promoting good sportsmanship and encouraging exercise and citizenship. In-Person Registration, January 28 and February 4, 9AM – 1PM, Carson City Community Center Gym (851 East William Street). 

Back when I used to write staff editorials for "the newspaper" some years ago, there was a requirement that you had to actually know something about the subject matter before you started writing.

After reading this editorial about the DREAM Act, I can see this standard no longer applies.

People can have different opinions, but not different facts. This editorial fails to accurately describe what the DREAM Act is, and instead suggests it would give amnesty to every illegal alien in the country.

Wonders Soccer Academy from Carson City is collecting old cell phones and ink cartridges through January 30, 2012 for the purpose of team fundraising and help meet the needs of the players. Wonders Soccer will receive money for each item collected during the fundraiser. The items will be turned in to a company that specializes in recycling and refurbishing used technology.

The Homewood Mountain Resort project, which cleared the strictest of environmental hurdles at Lake Tahoe, is now being sued by a consortium of groups including the Sierra Club who, among other things, wish to stop promised environmental improvements, job creation and economic revitalization to the ailing west shore Sierra community.
The Tahoe Regional Planning Agency, which oversees development and environmental protection at Lake Tahoe, was told it was being sued on Thursday because of its recent approval of the Homewood Mountain Resort Ski Area Master Plan project.
EarthJustice, on behalf of the Sierra Club and Friends of the West Shore, lists both TRPA and Placer County as defendants in the lawsuit filed Thursday in U.S. District Court of Eastern California. Absent from the suit is the League to Save Lake Tahoe, which implied that it likely wouldn't sue when the project was unanimously approved last month by the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency's Governing Board.

The Heavenly Ski and Snowboard Foundation will kick-off the 12th Annual Kinder Kup Race Series at Heavenly Mountain Resort, South Shore Lake Tahoe, on Sunday, January 22, from 8am to 2pm. Open to all skiers and snowboarders age six and under, the Kinder Kup series is designed to introduce young athletes to competition in a friendly environment. No previous race experience necessary and all abilities are welcome. Entry is $20 and includes a World Cup only competitor lift ticket if needed.

On behalf of the Sierra Lutheran High School faculty and staff, I would like to cordially invite you to attend a special Information Night for prospective families on Thursday, January 12, at 6:30 p.m.

Sierra Lutheran, northern Nevada's only Lutheran high school and the only Christian high school in the greater Carson City / Carson Valley area, will offer attendees a comprehensive look at the many programs and opportunities that have allowed SLHS to become one of the state's top high schools, as supported by the school's 99-percent college matriculation rate.

Twenty percent of adults in Nevada said they smoke, but of those, 40 percent say they have considered quitting or would like to take action to quit smoking. The New Year brings a chance to act on the desire to quit. Why not make your health a priority this year and resolve to quit smoking?

To a packed house of observers, the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency Governing Board voted to approve Phase 1 of the Homewood Mountain Resort Ski Area Master Plan at their monthly meeting on Wednesday, December 14.

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Sierra Front Field Office (SFFO) has made available for public review and comment the Nevada Broadband Telemedicine Initiative Environmental Assessment (EA).
The fiber optic cable project would connect, maintain and operate a statewide telemedicine network and would serve a minimum of 36 hospitals and medical facilities, with additional capacity available to serve public safety entities, educational institutions, and Tribal governments.
The comment period will close January 4, 2012.

Help make a child smile at Christmas by attending the second annual “Cookies with Santa,” a benefit for The Ron Wood Family Resource Center, Saturday, Dec. 10, at Adele’s Restaurant and Lounge.

The Ron Wood Family Resource Center helps individuals, families and the community locate assistance and provides an array of support services.

The fun takes place from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. and includes a visit and photograph with Santa Claus, cookies, cocoa and cider, as well as acoustic Christmas music performed in the lounge by The Dowell Boyz.

UPDATED 8:35AM: California State Parks is investigating vandalism that happened over the weekend on Washoe Meadows State Park land near the Lake Tahoe Golf Course. Electronic equipment and river monitoring devices were damaged or destroyed. Two logs were found to have graffiti sprayed on them, saying "Stop Golf" and "Save the Park."

In a news release, the Tahoe Regional Planning agency announced changes to the two-day agenda of Governing Board meetings taking place on Wednesday, Dec. 14 at Granlibakken, and Thursday, Dec. 15 at the TRPA offices.

The Dec. 14 agenda remains unchanged and includes a proposed adoption of the Final Environmental Impact Review and Environmental Impact Statement for Homewood Mountain Resort on the west shore of Lake Tahoe.

For the second consecutive year Carson City has been listed by e.Republic's Center for Digital Government and the Digital Community Program as being among the top U.S. metro areas to effectively use the internet and technology.

Keeping a promise made during the 2011 Nevada Legislature, the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency has taken the first step toward giving local governments in the basin control over permitting and other rules.

%u201CTRPA's goal is to operate more on a regional scale where we can be most effective at protecting the Lake Tahoe environment and to shift some level of permit review responsibilities to local governments,%u201D said Executive Director Joanne Marchetta.

Unemployment figures released this morning show the state's overall unemployment rate held steady at 13.4 percent, still the highest in the nation and well above the 9 percent national average.

Carson City's jobless rate dropped to 12 percent in October, down from 12.4 percent the previous month. In October 2010, the unemployment was 13.1 percent.

Unemployment in the Las Vegas metro area dropped to 13.1 percent, down from 13.4 percent in September. The Reno metro area also saw a drop, from 12.6 to 12.1 percent.

Full press release below.

A committee of the Lake Tahoe Regional Planning Agency Governing Board took a major step forward this week in moving toward a different permitting system at Tahoe where many parcel-by-parcel regulations would shift to local county or city governments.

By John Heil
California is expected to see a boost in its local mountain economies as a result of a new legislation that now permits year-long recreation opportunities on U.S. Forest Service ski areas. The Ski Area Recreational Opportunity Enhancement Act of 2011, which was signed by President Barack Obama on Nov. 7, is estimated to create and annually sustain up to 600 extra jobs nationwide.

The Carson City Board of Supervisors is seeking applications from individuals who may be interested in serving on the Carson City Cultural Commission in the following categories:

•CITIZEN-AT-LARGE

There are two positions open for a three (3) year term that expires January 2015.

By the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency
As the Lake Tahoe Regional Planning Agency prepares to reorganize and reformat its code of ordinances to make it more user-friendly, an equally user-friendly summary of the proposed edits and procedural changes has been prepared and is available to offer greater clarity to the public, according to the Agency.

By Li Terrell / South Tahoe Now
Reinvention: We're all in this together.
This is the vision of the proposed Edgewood Tahoe Lodge at Stateline.
The plan by Edgewood Companies is to create a unique world-class destination that delivers significant economic, environmental and community benefits to South Shore Lake Tahoe.  
“That is one of the things that investment can bring to the community, said Patrick Rhamey, vice president of Real Estate for Edgewood Companies. “We have continued to re-invest our property over the years and hope to be a pathway for others to follow.”

NEWS RELEASE — As part of its Lake Tahoe Regional Plan Update, the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency released last week the public draft of an overhauled Code of Ordinances that is already more than one pound lighter in print than the current code. Most of the changes in the draft document will not need to wait for the TRPA's scheduled adoption of the Regional Plan Update in 2012 to take effect.

By Kristi Boosman
The Tahoe Regional Planning Agency announced the winners of the Lake Spirit Awards honoring "real people making real progress protecting Lake Tahoe" at their first-ever Community Appreciation Day event held on September 29 at TRPA's office.