Make a plan, assemble a kit and stay informed – these are key components of emergency preparedness.

Washoe County Emergency Management, in collaboration with the North Lake Tahoe Fire Protection District, Washoe County Sheriff’s Office, and community partners, will be conducting an evacuation drill in the Second Creek area of Incline Village, NV. The purpose of this exercise is to test the effectiveness of the Regional Evacuation, Shelter, and Mass Care Plan in response to a simulated wildland fire west of the 2nd Creek neighborhood.

The evacuation drill will take place on August 16, 2023, from 9:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. Residents and local businesses in the designated area are encouraged to participate in the drill and familiarize themselves with the evacuation procedures.

During the drill, residents may receive alerts on their cell phones. If individuals are not already registered to receive emergency alerts, they can visit www.readywashoe.com to register and ensure they stay informed during emergencies.

Key Information:

• Date and Time: August 16, 2023, 9:30 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
• Shelter/Preparedness Fair: Incline Village Recreation Center, 980 Incline Way, Incline Village, NV 89451. 

Residents and participants are advised to remain vigilant and stay connected during the evacuation drill. By registering for emergency alerts and following www.perimetermap.com, individuals can receive timely updates and important information to ensure their safety and preparedness.

For more information and updates regarding the evacuation drill, please visit www.emergencywashoe.com/get-prepared/evacuation-drill or scan QR code with your mobile device. 

MEDIA INVITATION: Media is invited to the August 16, 2023 Evacuation Exercise, to learn about evacuation operations, emergency preparedness, interagency collaboration, and an opportunity to speak with agency personnel/interviews. Media staging will be located at the Incline Middle School parking lot, 931 Southwood Blvd., Incline Village, NV 89451.

Please RSVP to: Bethany Drysdale, bdrysdale@washoecounty.gov or Tia Rancourt, TRancourt@nltfpd.net.

Just prior to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine there was a movement afoot to erect a statue of Mark Twain in Odessa. But why, you might want to ask as I did. Well, the short answer is, “To promote goodwill and tourism.” Isn’t it a twist of fate that what we are sending them today is cluster munitions to protect themselves.

In 1867 Samuel Clemens booked himself aboard the Quaker City pleasure excursion from America to Europe and the Holy Land. It was billed as, “A picnic at Sea.” In truth it was more like a funeral procession without a corps, so Sam had to embroider his letters to the Alta California, that would later go into his first full-length book, The Innocents Abroad.” By the way, The Innocents Abroad served to sever America’s literary umbilical cord to the petrified opinions of Europe and the Holy Land, to become America’s literary Declaration of Independence.

In that epic book, Mark Twain envisions a glorious future for Odessa…

“Odessa is about twenty hours’ run from Sebastopol and is the most northerly port in the Black Sea. We came here to get coal, principally. The city has a population of one hundred and thirty-three thousand and is growing faster than any other small city out of America. It is a free port; and is the great grain mart of this particular part of the world. Its roadstead is full of ships. Engineers are at work, now, turning the open roadstead into a spacious artificial harbor. It is to be almost enclosed by massive stone piers, one of which will extend into the sea over three thousand feet in a straight line.” Samuel must be spinning like a lathe today…

According to the Odessa Review: “At the time of Twain’s visit, Odessa was young, vibrant and in the midst of construction. It was the same exact age as the United States, and in a similar position as an industrious, dynamic, cultural melting pot. It was these qualities which reminded Twain of America – and endeared the city of Odessa to him greatly.”

And the Eurasia Review wrote, “Uplifting the cultural cooperation between the United States and Ukraine has historically been a rather timid component; however, Mark Twain’s legacy is always vivid and will serve as the niche of brotherhood for centuries to come. A Statue of Mark Twain in Odessa will eternally be considered as the symbol of brotherly ties between the United States and Ukraine; it will serve as an exceptional platform that will promote rural tourism in the Black Sea Region.”

In an earlier turn of events, Russia issued a Mark Twain domestic postage stamp back in 1960, to commemorate Mark Twain’s 125^th birthday, and too, Russia gave me the warmest welcome I’ve had outside of Missouri, as an impressionist of Mark Twain. If only we could do that today, Sam Clemens, over there on the other side, would surely be smiling… 

Audio: https://anchor.fm/mcavoy-layne

Author: Greg Burkard, Jr. DO

During colder months, it can be challenging to maintain normal workouts, and most people regress even if they’ve stuck to a regular fitness routine. To complicate this reality, the muscles, tendons, and ligaments of the back can tighten and become less flexible, making them more injury-prone.

Before you spring into activity, take extra care by easing into your workouts and adopting healthy habits — your back and spine with thank you.

When first starting out, follow a few best practices:

• Ease In. By easing into your activities, you reduce the risk of injury that could sideline you for weeks. Your first workouts may also result in muscle soreness, and though you may not feel the pain immediately after a tough workout, about two days later the soreness may be so intense that you can’t lift your arm above your head — resulting in more missed workouts.
• Start small. Slow, gentle exercises, such as walking or stretching, are low impact and enough to wake up your body. Start with 10 minutes every day or every other day for a week. Then increase to 15 minutes the following week. Add five minutes to your workout each week until you’re walking for 30 to 45 minutes at a time. If you’ve been sedentary for weeks, check in with your health care provider before ramping up your activity.
• Gently progress. A good rule of thumb: Aim to increase your weight, time, speed or intensity no more than 10% per week. 10% of 10 pounds of weight is 1 pound, so safely increase strength training workouts by adding 1 pound per week. Similarly, if you’re running 5 miles per hour, a healthy increase would be 5.5 miles per hour next week. Also, keep in mind that running on hard ground is higher impact than running on a treadmill — which can cause extra strain on your joints and back. Make sure your body is ready before you progress to harder running surfaces.
• Stretch it out. Supple, well-stretched muscles are less prone to injury, and the large muscles in your back — responsible for much of our movement — are no exception. Properly stretch the muscles that will be used in your activity — practicing the twisting motions of golf or the explosive motions of tennis — before you begin.
• Patience is key. The longer your break, the more time you’ll need to get back on track. So, if you worked out three to four times per week prior to your fitness vacation, it will take about four to eight weeks to get back up to speed. 

Whether you plan to hike, tee up for a round of golf, or hit the trails on your bike, use these tips to protect your back and safely prepare for an active summer. 

Dr. Greg Burkard Jr. is an interventional pain and sports medicine physiatrist with Tahoe Orthopedics & Sports Medicine (TOSM), offering non-surgical solutions for back pain at the Center for Orthopedics & Wellness in South Lake Tahoe, and the TOSM office in Carson City, Nevada. To learn more, call 530.543.5554 or visit BartonOrthopedicsandWellness.com

Research published in Nature reveals concentrations of microplastics in 38 lakes with plastic debris from textiles frequently identified – Written by Jennifer Kent – UNR Media Contact (Photo Provided)

INCLINE VILLAGE, Nev. — Microplastics, small fragments of fibers from clothing, packaging and other plastic residue, have invaded freshwater lakes and watersheds globally and in alarming quantities, according to new research published in the scientific journal Nature under the title “Plastic debris in lakes and reservoirs.” Lake Tahoe, known for its purity and high level of legal protection, had the third highest concentration of plastic of 38 lakes tested around the world and higher than in the surface water at the ocean’s gyres where the floating islands of debris emblematic of the world’s plastic pollution crisis collect.

“One of the highest priorities at Lake Tahoe is to keep the water quality clear and pristine,” Sudeep Chandra, professor of limnology and director of the Global Water Center at the University of Nevada, Reno, said. “Clarity is the signature of Lake Tahoe and the mantra Keep Tahoe Blue is not taken lightly. With this study, we now know that plastics exist in high concentrations in Lake Tahoe and could be having an impact on the ecosystem and the animals living in the lake. This shows us that there are always emerging issues that need to be addressed so we can try to preserve the lake into the future.”

Still unknown is how the plastics are entering these freshwater ecosystems, particularly in the Tahoe Basin. Even lakes mostly undisturbed by humans saw some level of microplastics. 

“The results are remarkable because they show the extent of plastic concentrations in freshwater systems even in remote and highly protected areas,” Chandra, who is also University of Nevada, Reno at Lake Tahoe affiliated research faculty, said.

The global research was led by visiting postdoctoral scholar at the University of Nevada, Reno from the University of Milano-Bicocca in Italy, Veronica Nava. Under the supervision of Milano-Bicocca Professor Barbara Leoni, Nava worked with colleagues from around the world, including Chandra. 

“The mechanism of transport of these plastics is not clear, especially when we talk about very small fragments or textile fibers,” Nava said. “We are wearing a lot of synthetic clothes, the majority of which are made of polyester, and they end up in aquatic systems. Even from far away, there can be atmospheric circulation and patterns that can carry these plastics a long way.”

Another culprit is single-use plastics. These once-used and discarded items break down and are believed to enter the watershed in a number of ways.

“It’s not that plastics are not useful,” Nava said. “There are many applications where using plastics is necessary and other materials may be much more damaging to an ecosystem. There are some types of plastics, however, especially the single-use plastics, that can be avoided, eliminating it as a problem.”

Lake Tahoe has a record of science-driven conservation policies and programs to address human impacts. Not only has wastewater been transported out of the basin for decades, $660 million in water quality improvements have been invested through the Lake Tahoe Environmental Improvement Program. In June of this year, the region also began managing the impacts of outdoor recreation and tourism more holistically. The new Lake Tahoe Destination Stewardship Plan is tackling environmental issues facing the Lake Tahoe Basin, prioritizing litter enforcement and environmental sustainability and stewardship.

Julie Regan, executive director of the bi-state Tahoe Regional Planning Agency, added additional perspective about the findings.

“We’re absolutely concerned about the implications for human health as well as the lake’s vulnerabilities to microplastics. Lake Tahoe has been solving tough problems through science-driven policy for years,” Regan said. “If any area can work to understand microplastics and reduce the impacts, it’s our region. This area of research is relatively young and emerging questions are coming from each new study. Expanding our understanding of microplastics in the environment, how they travel, their sources and their impacts is a critical next step to make sure Tahoe doesn’t fall victim to a global problem.”

From global to local: how Lake Tahoe compares

Lead researcher Nava worked with colleagues from around the world, including Chandra, to collect samples from 38 lakes located in 23 different countries, spread across 6 continents and representing a range of environmental conditions. The team compared these to similarly sampled water in the subtropical ocean gyres currently considered some of the greatest plastic accumulation zones in the world.

Filtering for plastic larger than 250 microns (about the width of three strands of hair), the researchers confirmed the presence of microplastics in all 38 lakes, highlighting high levels of plastic debris from textiles and clothing such as polyester, polypropylene and polyethylene. Three of the lakes – Lakes Lugano and Maggiore at the Swiss-Italian border and Lake Tahoe – showed concentrations of microplastics higher than observed in the ocean gyres.

“If you consider the variables in our study that seemed to be connected to the presence of plastics, Lake Tahoe was different – we didn’t have any of these consistent variables,” Nava said.

Two types of lakes were shown to be particularly vulnerable – lakes in densely populated areas and large lakes with more ways for plastics to be deposited such as having a large watershed, greater water inflows, large shoreline length and greater shoreline development. Lakes Lugano and Maggiore, both densely populated and with wastewater inlets, saw the greatest concentrations of microplastics. Lake Tahoe, which had the third highest plastic levels, is an anomaly in the study. The area surrounding Lake Tahoe is not densely populated, wastewater has been exported for the past 50 years, and policies are in place to limit excess runoff into the lake.

“We still believe that the concentration of plastics is linked to the human presence, whether from leaving trash on the beach or other small ways where plastic can end up in the water,” Nava continued.

Large lakes like Lake Tahoe hold water for longer than smaller, shallower systems which can impact the accumulation of plastic debris. For Lake Tahoe, that timeline is 650 years. Additionally, the region sees large seasonal influxes of recreators using the lake. 

“What this study underscores is that everyone has a role to play,” Regan said. “It’s our collective responsibility to take care of Lake Tahoe – to pick up our trash, leave no trace, leave only footprints on the Tahoe shoreline and to be aware that our modern-day convenient lifestyle does come at a cost.”

The City of South Lake Tahoe recently banned the use of plastic bags as well as single-use plastic water bottles, which will go into effect in 2024. The non-profit League to Save Lake Tahoe has piloted the use of robots programmed to clean up trash on the lake shore and coordinates large community beach clean-ups. The Lake Tahoe Destination Stewardship Plan outlines additional priorities to combat plastic from entering the lake.

Understanding the impact

Chandra hopes to help Tahoe managers address the plastic issue by establishing where the plastic is coming from and how to keep it from accumulating in the lake, but also to understand the impacts of these high levels of microplastics in the lake. These include the potential transfer of plastic debris through the watershed into other systems, changes in the water’s nutrients or oxygen levels, and the infiltration of drinking water.

Although not explored in the current study, Chandra plans to pursue these answers in future research. 

“At the University of Nevada, Reno at Lake Tahoe, we are poised to address this challenge,” Chandra said. “My hope is to conduct an experiment with Dr. Nava, as well as our colleagues from the Desert Research Institute, that evaluates the impact of plastics on Lake Tahoe. We are starting to design experiments now and hope to make a comparison with other lakes and Northern California and Oregon as well as Italy.”

As research progresses, partnerships between scientists and organizations like TRPA, the League to Save Lake Tahoe, the Tahoe Fund and other groups influential in planning and implementing conservation efforts will continue to prove essential. 

“Protecting Lake Tahoe’s incredible water quality is at the center of everything we do and our conservation programs to control local pollutant sources have become a model for other areas,” Regan said. “Microplastics and other emerging issues have been on our radar for several years and we’re fortunate to have some of the world’s greatest scientists studying our lake and helping protect it. We hope these findings continue the long tradition of relying on science to guide policy and restoration programs to protect Lake Tahoe for generations to come.”

– @unevadareno –

Editor’s Note: Additional video b-roll and photos can be found at the url: nevada.box.com/v/tahoe-plastic

Originally published in the Tahoe Daily Tribune 07/11/2023, Written by Miranda Jacobson

INCLINE VILLAGE, Nev.— The Incline Village Board of Trustees have appointed Diamond Peak Ski Resort general manager Mike Bandelin as acting general manager of the district following a separation agreement with the former general manager. 

The decision was unanimously agreed upon by the board at their meeting on Wednesday, June 28, who agreed the process of finding a new general manager was a high priority moving forward. 

Prior to the appointment of Bandelin as acting general manager, director of finance Paul Navazio was filling the role. However, it was announced at the meeting that Navazio has accepted a new position out of the Lake Tahoe area, leaving both the director of finance and general manager position vacant. 

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Some years ago I was invited to participate in a Chautauqua out in Warrensburg, Missouri, alongside Harry Truman and George Washington Carver. We had a grand time of it, and enjoyed each other’s company ever more when we were off duty. In our Warrensburg wanderings I happened to notice a statue of a dog, a hound dog named, “Old Drum.” I thought it quaint to have a statue of a hunting dog in the town square, and attributed it to the soft hearts of the good citizens of Warrensburg. They even sent me home with a pin of Old Drum, dated 1870.

But it was not until recently, when I became curious about Old Drum, that I discovered it was more than sentimentalism that prompted the casting of that statue. Old Drum was murdered, and the suit for damages in the loss of a good hunting dog went all the way up to the Missouri Supreme Court back in 1870.

Was a good hunting dog worth $50 or not? That was seemingly what the trial was all about, until a wily old legal expert, George Vest, stood up to make a case for the worth of a dog as a pet, and effectively delivered a eulogy of Old Drum…

“Gentlemen of the Jury, the best friend a man has in the world may turn against him and become his enemy. His son or daughter that he has reared with loving care may prove ungrateful. Those who are nearest and dearest to us, those whom we trust with our happiness and our good name, may become traitors to their faith. The money that a man has, he may lose. It flies away from him, perhaps when he needs it the most. A man’s reputation may be sacrificed in a moment of ill-considered action. The people who are prone to fall on their knees to do us honor when success is with us may be the first to throw the stone of malice when failure settles its cloud upon our heads. The one absolutely unselfish friend that man can have in this selfish world, the one that never deserts him and the one that never proves ungrateful or treacherous is his dog.”

For the first time, perhaps ever, the worth of a hunting dog was shifted from dollars to heartstrings, and guess what? The Missouri Supreme Court sided with heartstrings. Old Drum’s owner was awarded $50 plus court costs, and Old Drum got his due justice along with that priceless statue in the town square. Yes, it was finally established by law that the worth of a pet dog was equal to, or perhaps in excess of, the worth of a hunting dog. But of course we dog lovers have known that all along. Suddenly, that pin of Old Drum 1870 that they gave me so long ago in Warrensburg, is worth the world to me. I wonder how Harry Truman and George Washington Carver are getting along…

Audio: https://anchor.fm/mcavoy-layne