Submitted by Tia Rancourt, North Lake Tahoe Fire Protection District, 11/12/2024

The Tahoe Fire & Fuels Team (TFFT) Fall Prescribed Fire Program continues for the next two weeks on Lake Tahoe’s eastern and southern shores, conditions and weather permitting. North Lake Tahoe Fire Protection District will burn piles around Incline Village, Tahoe Douglas Fire Protection District will burn piles near Glenbrook, Logan Creek and on Kingsbury Grade, and the USDA Forest Service Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit will burn piles off Luther Pass near the campground, near Columbine Trail off Pioneer Trail, near Fallen Leaf and Spring Creek roads.

Smoke will be present and is expected to travel in a north, northeast direction. View helpful Smoke Management Tips and the current air quality index at AirNow and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency/USDA Forest Service Fire and Smoke Map. View the prescribed fire map with project details at Tahoe Living With Fire. To be added to the prescribed fire notification list, email us.

Prescribed fires are a vital forest management tool used by land managers to help protect communities by removing fuels that can feed unwanted wildland fires. Burning excess vegetation also benefits forest health by making room for new growth which provides forage for wildlife, recycling nutrients back into the soil and reducing the spread of insects and disease.

Prescribed fire managers use different methods to remove excess vegetation (fuels) and reintroduce low-intensity fire into forests through pile, broadcast, and understory burning. Pile burning involves burning slash piles that are constructed by hand or mechanical equipment. Broadcast and understory burning use low-intensity fire to remove fuels under specific environmental conditions with fire confined to a predetermined area.

Historically, low-intensity wildfires ignited by lightning or native peoples routinely burned through fire-adapted ecosystems of the Sierra Nevada. These low-intensity fires burned at low temperatures and moved slowly across the ground removing forest debris such as pinecones, needles, limbs, dead and downed trees, and ladder fuels. Watch the Forest Service video for an in-depth explanation of low-intensity fire. Prescribed fires are intended to mimic these naturally occurring low-intensity fires that are essential to fire-adapted ecosystems. 

Prescribed fires may take place any time of year when conditions are favorable. Fall typically brings cooler temperatures and precipitation, which are ideal for conducting prescribed fire operations. Each operation follows a specialized burn plan, which considers smoke dispersal conditions, temperature, humidity, wind, and vegetation moisture. All this information is used to decide when and where to burn.

The TFFT strongly supports the use of prescribed fire under appropriate conditions and works closely with air quality districts to avert smoke impacts on the public. Smoke from prescribed fires is normal and may continue for several days after an ignition depending on the project size, conditions, and weather. Prescribed fire smoke is generally less intense and of much shorter duration than smoke produced by unwanted wildfires. Smoke from prescribed burns, wildfire or wood burning stoves may hang low to the ground at night and in the early morning due to a phenomenon known as a temperature inversion. A temperature inversion is when warm air “caps” cooler air, causing smoke to become trapped in valley bottoms at night and in the early morning.

Prior to prescribed fire ignitions, agencies coordinate closely with local and state air quality agencies to monitor weather for favorable conditions that will disperse smoke, conduct test burns before igniting larger areas to verify how well vegetation is consumed and how smoke rises and disperses before proceeding, post signs on roadways in areas affected by prescribed fire operations, email notifications to the prescribed fire notification list, and update the local fire information line at 530-543-2816. The TFFT gives as much advance notice as possible before burning, but some operations may be conducted on short notice due to the small window of opportunity for implementing these projects.

Learn more about living in fire-adapted ecosystems, prescribed fire and fuels reduction at Tahoe Living With Fire and get prepared, get informed, and get involved!

Originally published in Max Preps (CBS Sports), 11/10/2024, By Team Reports

With a playoff game on the line, Incline rose to the challenge on Friday. They took their game with ease, bagging a 48-0 victory over the Battle Mountain Longhorns. The Highlanders’ win was nothing new given the team hasn’t lost yet this season.

It was another big night for Tommy Williams, who threw for 408 yards and five touchdowns while completing 75% of his passes. He has been hot , having posted three or more passing touchdowns the last five times he’s played. Lucas Mcnamara helped Williams out on the ground, picking up 93 receiving yards and a touchdown, while also rushing for 44 yards and a touchdown.

Incline’s victory was their seventh straight at home dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 9-0. Those good results were due in large part to their defensive effort, having only surrendered 5.4 points per game. As for Battle Mountain, they now have a losing record at 5-6.

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Submitted by IVCBA member, David Vomund of Vomund Investments

A strange thing happened after the Federal Reserve lowered interest rates in September.  Mortgage rates rose.  In fact, the 30-year fixed mortgage rate is higher now than when the Fed lowered rates.  I’m not surprised.  Let me explain.

When I watched the news covering the Fed’s rate cut there was near universal belief that mortgage rates would fall.  National and local news reporters said so, too.  Upon hearing this I told my wife that rates were going to go higher.  Why?  I’ve learned that when everyone expects something then the market will almost always go in the opposite direction.

The market is a discounting mechanism.  It doesn’t price assets based on what is happening today.  Instead, it reflects what is expected to happen.  The Fed had already signaled that they were going to cut rates so they fell long before the Fed meeting.  In May the 30-year mortgage rate was 7.2 percent.  By the time the Fed cut rates in September mortgages had dropped to 6.1 percent.  Now they are 6.9 percent.  This paradox is why there is the saying, “buy the rumor, sell the news.”

What many people don’t understand is the Fed doesn’t control mortgage rates.  The Fed controls short-term interest rates, which is why money-market rates have dropped and are still falling after the Fed’s second rate cut.  Mortgage rates, however, follow long-term rates.  Long-term rates are determined by the market and reflect expectations for inflation and deficit financing.  If a Fed rate cut is seen as inflationary then long-term rates and mortgage rates will rise even as short-term rates fall.

Where will mortgage rates go from here?  There isn’t a consensus.  Famed investor Paul Tudor Jones believes increased government spending will be inflationary and that, combined with a ballooning national debt, will push rates higher.  That would be a problem for bonds, which is something we’ll need to closely watch. 

  Others believe mortgage rates will trend lower, but not to the 3 or 4 percent rates of the recent past.  Rates settling in the 5.5 to 6.0 percent level seem likely.

If you are looking to refinance a mortgage, I suggest using no-closing-cost refinancing.  You accept a slightly higher mortgage rate but don’t pay any closing costs.  Then whenever rates fall you can refinance again knowing that it is only costing you time and effort.  After all, no one really knows how far mortgage rates could fall.  

David Vomund is an Incline Village-based Independent Investment Advisor.  Information is found at www.VomundInvestments.com or by calling 775-832-8555.  Clients hold the positions mentioned in this article.  Past performance does not guarantee future results.  Consult your financial advisor before purchasing any security.

Nevada has always been a betting man’s jungle. Before casinos we bet with each other, and here’s how one friendly wager played out on a Saturday afternoon away back in 1862…

Leo Hechinger was a stocky Dutch German who threw a keg party on his B Street Virginia City deck every Saturday afternoon during the month of May to celebrate the end of winter. His mining friends tossed a half-dime into a mason jar, and the end of winter celebration began…

A keg was delivered by horse-drawn wagon at high noon, and on this particular Saturday the young lad delivering that keg could not wrestle it out of the wagon. He was maybe sixteen-years-old and thin as a rail, so the boys started taking bets on whether that lad could deliver, or not. Well, the poor boy gave it his all, which was not quite enough, and he dropped the keg on the ground, which brought a groan from half of his audience, and a cheer from the other half. Then Leo walked over, hefted that keg, and carried it up onto his deck like it was a child. 

“Leo,” somebody shouted, “I bet you could carry that keg to the summit of Sun Mountain!”

Leo set that keg down, smiled at the boys, and said, “Don’t know if I could, or if I couldn’t, but I’m willing to try.” 

That started it. The boys began placing bets and talking up next Saturday’s happening. Word spread like fire in a mine, and the following Saturday speculators came from as far away as Hangtown to place their bets and bear witness to what could go down as the most Herculean Feat in the history of Nevada… 

It was said $30,000 was wagered on a side, which was held in a sort of escrow. One man from each side of that bet was assigned to accompany Leo, to safeguard that the keg would either touch the ground, or be borne to the summit of Sun Mountain, one thousand feet straight up. A keg of beer back then weighed over a hundred pounds, and Leo Hechinger weighed all of 145 pounds. 

Well Leo wrestled that keg from one shoulder to the other, and then down onto his hips and every which way you could conceive of lugging a keg, and yes, Leo Hechinger made it to the summit of Sun Mountain without that keg ever once touching the ground…

And what was amazing about that feat was that Leo knew he could do it, for he had done it before -at midnight.

That’s the kind of person we used to bet with back in early Nevada. Yes, Leo Hechinger was the sort of loveable character that was waiting in the weeds for you back in those hoary old days before a more sophisticated means of lightening our wallets would arrive here in the great state of Nevada…

Audio: https://open.spotify.com/show/7Fhv4PrH1UuwlhbnTT23zO

Originally Published in the Tahoe Daily Tribune, 11/07/2024, Written by Brenna O’Boyle

INCLINE VILLAGE, Nev. – For the second time, Alexis Hill has beat Marsha Berkbigler for the County Commissioner, District 1, seat, according to unofficial results. 

Incumbent Hill received 24,567 votes or 56.18% of the vote, according to unofficial results listed on Secretary of State Francisco Aguilar’s website on Wednesday, Nov. 6, at 12:39:53 a.m.

Berkbigler, a former 8-year County Commissioner, earned 19,159 votes or 43.82%. 

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Submitted by IVCBA Member PTSD NOW! 11/06/2024

PTSD NOW! has funded mental fitness/ resiliency training for more than 2500 men and women serving in Nevada, Arizona, Vermont, and Connecticut.

With your continued support, we continue to work to bring mental fitness training across the United States. In addition, we continue to provide direct therapy for active duty, reservists and veterans at no cost to them. Since 2021, we have committed over $500,000 to support the men and women in need.

These same individuals, in all likelihood, would not have received any counseling without the financial support of PTSD NOW!

Today, as we look at the conflicts around the globe, the issues we face have only been compounded! Conflicts continue in Ukraine and the Middle East and Gaza have spilled over to Lebanon and now Iran. The future for our service men and women is very uncertain with many National Guard personal currently being deployed to the region for assignments.

Our hope is that Veterans day will not be just another day but rather remembering the commitment and sacrifice of those who serve and have served We take for granted the men and women who protect our nation will always be ready to respond, when called to duty. We simply assume they will stand up and give their lives to protect us and our freedoms.

Unfortunately, in many cases, when our soldiers return, they are not the same person as when they deployed. Many times they are changed and more often than not, it is difficult to return to the lives they once enjoyed before deployment. That is where we, PTSD NOW!, come into the picture. We provide the tools which are needed to build mental fitness and resiliency and if needed counseling and therapy .

We are very excited to be working with the National Guard identifying apps which can be provided to active duty and reservists to create connectedness along with a mental and physical checkin on a daily basis. This new technology is very appealing to the young men and women joining the service today. The confidentiality allows higher participation and a connection to those the soldier picks as their support group.

PTSD NOW! has made and continues to make a difference for those who serve, so please make a donation today so our work may continue.

Please mail a check today or donate online at www.ptsdnow.org

Craig W Rauchle

President & Founder

Chase Rauchle PTSD NOW!

www.ptsdnow.org

craig.rauchle@ptsdnow.org