So long 2011 Hello 2012

The Mayor is capping 2011 with the final blog of the year. With all the grim economic news, its nice to know the weather over the holidays has been great: no massive storms to hinder visiting, enjoying the recreation available here in the basin. Yes, many of us would like to see some more of the white stuff, but, be patient,it will come.

I would vote for the TRPA approval of the new Homewood Resort project as the best local news of 2011. Without that move, the future of the west shore would be in doubt. As wages stagnate on a broad front, visitors to our area have little incentive to spend with abandon. Housing prices continue their slide and overall real estate is seen as declining further. Perhaps relief will arrive in 2014 or 2015. Even then, all we can hope for is some stabilization or a bottoming out of declines. Until the partisan politics of out elected leaders give way to viable economic policies aimed at job creation, little will change for the middle class.

2012 Election Year
With the GOP candidate still to be identified, the first qtr of 2012 promises to be interesting across a broad swath of America. Primaries are still months away and Obama is salting away millions of donations to plow into his reelection campaign. Iowa caucuses will start on Jan 3rd. These peculiar sessions will only scratch the surface of voters real sentiments. The media and inkstains hope for some revealing trends, but I doubt anything of substance will be discened from results.

So, while celebrating the new year tonight, be grateful for an end to the US involvement in Iraq and the return of many of the troops, even though many just moved down the street to Kuwait to keep an eye on developments in Iraq.
Obama can take credit for this, but now Iran is threatening to close the Straits of Hormuz and close off oil tanker traffic. Good luck with this issue Mr. President!

Have a safe and sane New Year's, see you in 2012!

Via Magazine

Triple A(AAA) Insurance association magazine has a featured article for January/February on the pleasures and treasures of Lake Tahoe. With a winter scene of lakeshore, mountains, and snow covered rocks, it speaks volumes of life at the Lake!
The comprehensive article, like many written about the basin, highlights history, recreation, and attractions for families that abound around the Lake. It is well written and will certainly inspire many visitors to out West Shore in the coming months.

Ready Set Homewood Ski Village

Last Wednesday at the Governing Board Meeting of the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency, the board approved the first phase of the new Homewood Ski Resort. After five years of application process, approval means the owners can begin. The anticipated beginning of the construction phase is 2014, or about 2 years from now.
So, don't throw away your skis just yet, don't move to Florida just yet, don't think the Great Recession will last forever, it won't.
Many residents were skeptical that this project would ever get approval. Owners flatly declared some time ago that without approval as designed(and redesigned), this project would not go forward at all. With the economic future of California a bit shaky to say the least, business development has been lagging for several years. Without growth, the basin will continue to decline and very little opportunity will exist for any successful communities. The entire basin could become a ward of the state.
Environmental groups signed on with some doubt, but acknowledged the efforts of owners to be proactive when building out the design.
More information will be forthcoming, according to board chair, Norma Santiago, supervisor from El Dorado county.

Tahoma loses a friend

The Mayor reports the lose of our local hero/benefactor/resident/friend: Warren Hellman. The well known philanthropist passed away over the weekend of complications related to leukemia. The front page article in the Chronicle is too long to duplicate here, but is worth reading on SFgate.com.
We will miss his presence and his generosity. He has been coming to Tahoma his whole life, enjoying his family gatherings at Sugar Pine Point annually ever since he first came here over 75 years ago. While he has been witness to many changes here and in the Bay Area, he never forgot the enduring beauty of Lake Tahoe, Tahoma, its surroundings, and its people. He enjoyed playing his banjo in the lakeside gazebo at the Point, often accompanied by his band, The Wronglers.
Recently, the City of San Francisco renamed the Speedway Meadow in Golden Gate Park Hellman Meadow in his honor, a fitting tribute to the founder of the Not Strictly Bluegrass Concert held in that location every October for the last 11 years. It is a free concert open to all featuring the biggest names in country music and modern folk rock. He paid for it with his own money with which he was most generous.
R.I.P Warren Hellman

Weather we want

And now we know: it won't be a white Christmas in the ACCEPTED sense of the local word. Nice weather will persist for another week. The storm door is closed to Northern California, with snow falling in New Mexico and other southern locales.
Maybe it will change, we know it will change, but when? Nobody knows that. So, enjoy the holidays, take advantage: get out, move around while we can, unhindered by icy roads, snowdrifts, and blinding sleet.
Maybe we'll have a white New Year's. Maybe.

Obituaries Notable

The Mayor sadly reports the passing of several notable personalities of diverse backgrounds, careers, and life paths:
Cesaria Evora, 70, the folk singer from the Cape Verde Is., singer/songstress of a wide variety of material, notably, several of her songs were used in the popular Italian miniseries "Il Meglio Gioventu", " The Best of Youth", a 6 hour family saga that began in the '60s and followed a family/Italy through the post War period of modernization into the new millenium.
She died of heart complications.

Christopher Hitchens, noted writer, author of several books; a Brit who became an American citizen. He wrote for Vanity Fair among others. He was an atheist and often targeted religious groups and icons, such as Mother Theresa. He also attacked, in a variety of publications, Henry Kissinger, for various shortcomings. His wit and engagement with opponents endeared him even to his detractors. He was 62, and died at the Anderson Institute in Texas, of esophageal cancer. He wrote about his illness and its effects on his life, which he noted, was often marked by heavy smoking, drinking, and other dissipating, unhealthy habits.

Andy Varlow, 79, in Marin County. A Greek immigrant, who survived WW II just barely, when Nazis executed 1,000 men from his village and set fire to most of the buildings there in. He emigrated to the US and served in the US Army in Korea, and became a naturalized citizen. He started a number of businesses, including restaurants and taverns. He was a real estate investor, owning significant properties in downtown San Francisco. He was a generous philanthropist, supporting many favorite causes including the National Parks and the Smith Film Center in San Rafael. He was an author of several books, one of which told the story of the Nazi takeover of his village during WW II. He died of complications of leukemia.

Germany Has a New hold on Europe

Readers of any business news have been rewarded of late at good coverage of the Euro bloc and its finances and politics. Do we care? Does anybody outside of Europe care? Why don't the Brits
care? The big meeting Saturday in Brussels, Belgium, was intended to demonstrate that European states could settle their financial markets by agreeing to terms intended to improve sovereign debt problems and reassure investors that they are serious this time about reform. Well, it didn't really happen. Lots of smoke and mirrors, lots of rhetoric, but not much else. Economists and academics agreed it will take 2-3 years to finalize any binding agreements among the nations in the Euro zone. Great Britain refused to sign on board, no doubt reflecting her reluctance to accept the Euro currency in 1999. It was more the idea that the City of London, Europe's anointed financial center, would remain so. Without that guarantee, London opted out.
Does this affect Tahoma and the West Shore? Of course. With the fate of the Homewood Mountain Resort in the hands of would be investors/developers, the world of high finance directly affect the future of out lakeside habitat, for better or worse.
Stay tuned.

Meeks bay Fir District Budget 2011 2012

The Board of Directors has approved a new budget for 2011/2012. needless to say, there has been an increase in expenditures across the board. Details will soon be posted.
One has to ask the question: Should the chief of a small, seasonal fire district make as much per year as a senior pilot for a major American airline?

minister of aviation and aerospace

Our aviation guru, the Minister of Aviation, touched down in the Bay Area over the weekend to deliver a report on current matters related to his specialty. Transportation was an issue this trip as his main vehicle was having engine issues and had to be de;ivered to the auto maintenance shop.
But, this did not alter the basic plan to explore the delights of the Valley of the Moon(on the weekend of the lunar eclipse,to boot). The Mayor had promised the Minister and his aide-de-camp a tasting trip into the northern reaches of Sonoma Valley.
In obvious distress with some lower back pain, the Mayor prescribed a double dose of Aleve(the miracle drug) and it worked like magic. Shortly thereafter, an afternoon was spent in the wine country, specifically B.R. Cohn Winery and Olive Press. The Pinot was wonderful and the Syrzin exceptional. Lunch was taken in Glen Ellen at the Fig Cafe, a fine, local establishment on many lists of good eats in Sonoma.
The Aviation maestro has plans to head north today, to Oregon, to inspect some agricultural aspects of the Ashland area and how the general aviation business can adapt to local business interests and needs. A report will be filed upon his return.

Minister of Latin American Affairs

Our globetrotting minister, Mr. B., will return to California on Wednesday, to confer with the Mayor on the State of Affairs south of the border. He will deliver his report on the Bogata Conference and its outcomes, and outline new agendae for 2012, which will include some details of his promotion w/i the OAS.
We look forward to his report.

Front Page Snow Report

Ski fans ans other snow junkies, the news coverage of conditions has begun in earnest. Sunday's Chronicle had a lead story pointing out the lack of the white stuff inside the basin. Unlike last season(remember then?), not much snow has fallen to date this season. Remarks by those persons interviewed definitely point out year-to-year differences as normal, that is, seasonal weather does not follow a straight line continuum: it varies, and we data collectors like to point out variations as newsworthy items to SELL newspapers.

So, until the heavy storms begin, look for more articles with the lament of no new snow.

Kubota World

The Japanese are amazing and they make amazing machines. The Mayor and his deputies have known this fact for years. Ever since a Sony transistor radio was gifted to the young mayor by his father(sometime in the 50's), this was understood. This was followed by a Kenwood stereo receiver-state of the art for music reproduction, a treat for the audiophile. Then the assorted Japanese cars that showed up: Toyotas, Hondas, Lexus, etc.
Out in the rice paddies of Honshu, Kyushu, ans Shikoku, farmers were converting from oxen to motorized equipment powered by Japanese made motors of exceptional longevity, reliability, efficiency, affordable cost. The Yanmar motor became widely recognized as best in class. This was punctuated by the John Deere Tractor Corp. of America, when in the 70's, they opted to install Yanmar motors in their line of compact tractors to compete with Ford/New Holland, International, and all the rest. And then there is Kubota.
That bright orange signature color has become commonplace on the landscape, showing up in all the usual places: farms, ranches, orchards, vineyards, stables, feed lots, golf courses, city parks, and construction sights. The Kubota line, from compact to massive, has been able to compete with the big boys now for years. So, it was not surprising that the Minister of Agriculture submitted a request for a piece of machinery that would expand the stable of rollingstock : a fine Kubota L2600DT. A great tool to complete jobs often requiring significant man hours. NOw, the job can be done in shorter time and with far fewer man hours invested. This equals savings in dollars!
A view to the website of Kubota will tell you all you need to know. Have fun.

Windy California

Santa Anna winds, those hot, dry, winds from the interior basin and range part of the west, have returned to the west coast. Damage has occurred, mostly in Southern California, and in a few other spots in the coast ranges. PG&E and SC Edison are doing their best(?) to restore power to many affected communities. El Dorado county has apparently been spared.
Snow? When? Maybe? Weather forecasts do not include any storms with potential snow. Temps near the coast set records Friday with highs in the 70's. Oh, well, it's not a perfect world.
Keep the faith. Christmas is still 3 weeks away. Put up some lights, do the tree, help the economy and your neighbor.

San Francisco
The first weekend of December was perfect in S.F. in may ways: the Bay way flat with breezes, ideal for a sailboat race in full swing, spinnakers aloft with an east wind, no less. There wasn't a cloud in the sky. The Legion Of Honor Museum of SF is hosting an exhibition of Impressionist painter Camille Pissarro- great show. As a bonus, some French funerary carvings are also on exhibit-magnificent work of Carthusian monks. The show was well attended and continues until 2012.
Resorts at tahoe
Seems like most resorts will open next weekend-depending. Without a good dumping, not much will happen other than the man made stuff for limited skiing.
Keep your fingers crossed.