Renelle Pinero @UNR

Locals on Opposite Ends of Redevelopment Projects

Community members, business owners, heads of local services such as South Tahoe Public Utility District (STPUD),  and even the office of El Dorado County are at odds with the support of the proposed redevelopment project at the “Y”. Many stated their case Tuesday, in front of City Mayor Kathay Lovell and other city councilmen during a  public hearing on the proposal of a second redevelopment project in the Lake Tahoe basin.  The opposing ideas and emotions from various community members left many with one question unanswered, “What about the hole?”

This abonded construction site, which lost funding in 2007, sits adjacent to the casino core.

The “hole” they are referring to is the first project left abandoned at the California and Nevada border, adjacent to the casino core, where a high end convention center was to be built. This new project is focused on the opposite end of town from the first redevelopment project.
The general argument was not “should we redevelop the Y area?” but “How can we afford to redevelop the Y when we already have a giant gaping hole at Stateline?”

Director of Housing and Redevelopment, Gene Palazzo, opened the floor for questions after a 20 minute Powerpoint presentation on the benefits of this second redevelopment projects. During his pitch, councilman Bill Crawford drilled him with questions like “How can we do all these marvelous things without money to spend?” Crawford went on comparing project 2 to project 1, saying the residents are “left out to dry if we have another agency out here creating more debt.”

Carl Reynolds, a representative from the local Citizens Alliance for Responsible Government says his organization opposes the redevelopment plan. Speaking from the podium, he looked the council members square in the eyes and said “you need to consider other options”.  He stated financing for the constructions would put a burden on STPUD rate payers and tax payers. During his plea to the council, he called on them to speak with business owners individually.

In a later interview, Reynolds said everyone wants to see the city prosper like it did before but “the notion that nothing will happen without redevelopment is a fallacy.” He said he’d like the decision to come to a public vote this year, since not everyone can attend public hearings.  Reynolds idea is to invest in local business that are struggling, but still open amidst the economic climate.

Before public comments, the city council clerk read a list of those in opposition or in support of the proposal. STPUD, El Dorado County Officers, and various community residents opposed the project, while Heavenly Ski Resort, Lake Tahoe Unified School District, South Tahoe Refuse support it.
Individual community members who took the podium also stated their interest in a public vote.

FACT Video News Release

Bijou Community School Looking to Raise Scores Again

Fifth year in California’s “Program Improvement” status, Bijou Community School in South Lake Tahoe makes on last push for progress with its Supplemental Education Services. Last week the school started their second round of the after school tutoring program of the school year, with hopes to increase test scores and meet the California Academic Performance Index (API) and Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) standards for the second year in a row and be removed from the government intervention program.

Of the 523 student currently enrolled in Bijou, 468 are classified at “socio-economically disadvantaged.” This means neither of their parents has received a high school diploma or they are eligible for the National School Lunch Program for free or reduced-price lunch. These students have scored “far below basic,” “below basic,” and “basic” according to standardized California education tests.

The Supplemental Education Services, or SES, are funded under a Title I grant, made for disadvantaged students. Federal dollars are used for teachers, transportation, and snacks for the kids.

Karen Tinlin, principal of Bijou, says both parents and students who qualify for the tutoring services have been very receptive.
“The parents understand,” she says, “that they don’t have the skills necessary to provide help at home.”

More than half of the students at the school are English Learners, meaning English is their second language. Many of their parents also do not speak English and according to South Lake Tahoe city records, 76% of adults in the surrounding neighborhood are employed in the hospitality and gaming industry. The average income in the neighborhood is $32,600, compared to $53,800 for the whole city.

The charts below show the student population by race and the number of English Learners.
(Data collected from ed-data.com, a site for information on California public schools)

Tinlin adds that the students “learn to accept the fact that they need help,” and don’t complain much about having to stay at school longer than some of their friends.
To keep the students engaged, the environment of the after school program is different from regular school hours. Students who usually sit quietly in the back of class are more inclined to speak up.
“We try to have fun,” says fourth grade SES teacher Bob Hickman, “and one of the goals is also to increase their confidence by building good study habits. When they get their homework done days ahead of time, they like to show it off and they feel good about it.”
Last year, Tinlin and her staff learned that if the students’ regular class teacher was also their tutor, the program was more effective. The kids build relationships with the teacher and become comfortable asking more questions. They are eager to demonstrate math problems in front of the class and don’t shy away.
The teachers allow time for the kids to do their homework, and the kids take advantage of the chance to ask the teacher questions about concepts they don’t understand.

Instead of just grading math worksheets and book reports, the teachers spend time with each individual to explain what they are doing right, and what they need to work on.
“It takes a long time,” says another SES teacher, Robert Fannan as he grades papers of students lined up at his desk, “but the feeling of accomplishment for them and that excitement on their faces when they get their work back is something we share.”

When asked if he liked the SES program, fourth grader Irvin Salcedo answered, “yeah, my teacher helps me with my homework and I can finish it before my friends.”

Click ‘play’ to hear Bob Hickman’s thoughts on SES.

In 2009, Bijou Community School made both the AYP and API goals. They had an API growth score of 689, a jump from the 2008 score of 525.

Dr. James R. Tarwater, Superintendent of the Lake Tahoe Unified School District, says “last year’s scores reflect perseverance by teachers, students, support staff, and parents. The ‘can-do’ attitude and the focus on individual students have collectively resulted in these remarkable results. This is not only a district accomplishment, but a community accomplishment.”

However, the statewide AYP goal increases 11% every year until 2013. By that time, every child in the state is expected to be at the level or proficiency, or advanced. According to Principal Tinlin, “that is a very lofty goal for us.”

If the school does not meet it’s API in Year 5 of the Program Improvement timeline, a local education agency must go forward with one of three options. The first option is to close the school completely and reopen it as a charter. The second is to replace all or most of the staff, which may or may not include the principal, who are relevant to the failure to make AYP. The last option is to enter a contract with an entity, such as a private management company, with a demonstrated record of effectiveness, to operate a public school.

Major restructuring can also include pairing the school with a higher performing school and combine students in each. In this case, Bijou would be paired with Lake Tahoe Environmental Magnet School, located in the suburbs on the other side of the city.

Superintendent Tarwater hopes the district will not have to result to those changes. “We’ve been charging at the scores for a long time,” Tarwater says, “so there is a common goal. With the SES, Tahoe Two-Way, parent involvement and students continuing hard work, all of those together, we can get out of this hole.”

The Academic Performance Index, better known as API, is a goal based on the aver level of parent’s education, the level of poverty for the school, and the racial and social stratification. The federal government determined these certain levels and skills necessary to consider a child “educated.”

A school’s API is a scale that ranges from 200 to 1000 and is calculated from the school’s performance in the Standardized Testing and Reporting (STAR) Program. The state has set 800 as the API target for all schools to meet.

[View with PicLens]

Tahoe Two-Way

Bijou’s Two-Way Language Immersion Program, known locally as “Tahoe Two-Way” is a bilingual education program in which participants learn an entire elementary school curriculum in both Spanish and English.
The goal of Tahoe Two-Way is to enrich the cultural understanding of both English and Spanish-speaking students. The children will more likely socialize with a variety of students because they will be able to communicate in the playground, in class or wherever they may be.

Parents must commit their sons or daughters to the program for six years, from kindergarten to fifth grade because the curriculum is based on what is called the “90/10 Model.” The classes are divided as close as possible to being 50% English Learners, and 50% English-speaking students. The teachers begin by speaking 90% in Spanish and only 10% in English to kindergarten classes, then work their way each year to speaking 50% in both languages. The Spanish students become empowered from the start because they act as the initial translators to their fellow students.

Karen Tinlin says it has made a “world of difference for our community,” she adds, “for the first time in a long time, parents are actually choosing to enroll their kids in Bijou.”

She does not know yet if the program will help to raise the API and AYP scores because this school year is the first time Two-Way students will be taking the state tests.

Click here to learn more about Tahoe Two-Way.

It’s Not Easy Being Rich

To his friends, Rich is one of the most enthusiastic people you will ever meet. He is passionate about his job and his family.

Richard Heffelfinger has the voice of a salesman, you can feel his energy in the air. Whether it’s the busiest week of the year, or a mind-numbing low occupancy day at the hotel, he is always giving the best customer service behind the concierge desk of Harrah’s Hotel & Casino. If you were a snowboarder from out of town  looking for the best place for rental equipment, you’d never guess he was struggling to make ends meet for his family.

He can be heard from across the lobby in is enthusiastic tone, making dinner reservations or telling tourists about his favorite ski spot. His hazel eyes light up as he gives an energetic “Good morning!” to not just hotel guests, but fellow employees walking by too. He seems to always be excited about something,  maybe it’s just his love for the beautiful city of South Lake Tahoe he spends his work day talking about to vacationers from all over the world.

“People just don’t realize,” he says, “that the infrastructure to keep this world class tourist destination afloat is comprised of many people barely getting by.”

The 32 year old, known simply as either “Rich” or “Heff” to his friends, works 10 hour shifts five days a week as a hotel concierge manager.  During peak winter and summer days he’ll come in a sixth day to ensure his department is well-staffed.  He also makes extra money delivering local area guidebooks to hotels around town.

Two years ago, the Heffelfinger family qualified for various types of government assistance when they lived on the California side of Lake Tahoe, but after moving across the state line only six miles away, those benefits were stripped from them. “It’s kind of an odd situation. In California, for a family of four with my current income, we qualified for all sorts of government assistance including Medi-Cal and reduced rates on public utilities,” he explains, “then moving into the Nevada side of Tahoe, we essentially lost all those benefits.”

When their second son Cody was born last year, their insurance covered most of the expenses, but not everything. Their family was left with more than $10,000 in medical bills. But, if they had remained residents in California, Medi-Cal would have taken care of everything.

Different states offer various assistance programs for struggling families. Click the links below to compare the different eligibility requirements for each state.*CalWorks-is a cash aid program for low income families to meet their basic needs. It also provides education, employment, and training programs to help families get jobs and move towards self-sufficiency. Child care, transportation, work expenses and counseling are available for families in work activities.

State Medical Assistance

California Eligibility

Nevada Eligibility

Despite the constant bill-paying and demanding work schedule, Rich is an open an optimistic person. “I’m not ashamed to say I’m living paycheck to paycheck,” he says.  Heffelfinger is driven to keep his wife Chandelle, and their two kids Dylan and Cody happy by being there for them to celebrate important events such as birthdays and the first day of preschool. No matter how many hours of work he has to put in, he likes being able to make things, like a trip to Disneyland, happen for them. He says putting a smile on their faces “is not just an option.”

“I’ve known Rich for a long time, before marriage” says Vanessa Heckendorn, his employee and friend, “and his whole persona has changed since then. He’s more focused and dedicated because of them.”

So he shows up to work every day wearing a $500 pair of shoes he bought used on eBay for $20 and a $50 haircut he usually gets for free for promoting the local shop. He says, “I look a million bucks so hotel guests can trust my $200 dinner recommendations.”

Heffelfinger says the idea of image and “looking the part” is true for a lot of people in the area. Their clientele is mostly made up of recreational gamblers and people just looking to have a good time. People in the tourism industry are accustomed to seeing wealthy people with money at their leisure, name brand snowboarding jackets and expensive designer handbags. He says it puts pressure on the locals to think it is the norm outside this town and is something they need to aspire to.

“He works very hard to support us,” says his wife Chandelle, “and in return we try to understand how demanding his jobs can be.” She says Rich is very dedicated to his job and he knows you have to be willing to put in the hard work to earn the best things in life. He wants his two little boys to grow up and be hard working and driven as well.

http://studentdev.jour.unr.edu/rpinero/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/RichFinal.mov

He’s a born people pleaser and has friends from all walks of life. When he enters a local bar or coffee shop, it seems that everyone knows who he is, and they’re always happy to see him.

“You can tell he loves his job and is always there for us,” says Heckendorn about Rich as a boss, “When my car broke down he’d make sure I had a ride to and from work, and would offer to pick me up in the middle of his shift.”
“He’s a natural leader,” says Richard Smiler, another employee of Heffelfinger, “he knows what he has to do and has fun doing it.”

In a recent employee opinion survey, Rich was the highest ranked supervisor for the whole property.

South Lake Tahoe: “Poverty with a view.”

Behind the line of trees sits a Marriott Grand Residence Club, a high-scale shopping center and Heavenly Ski Resort.

Chase Barrera is 17 years old and lives two blocks away from Heavenly Ski Resort. The resort is walking distance from the California-Nevada border and attracts both skiers and snowboarders from around the world. Though he’s lived in this area all his life, Chase has never learned to ride the powder like most of his friends.

“At about 50 bucks a pop we could never afford it,” he says about ski lift tickets, “It was way too much that we could just spend on food and things we really needed.”

Chase says he didn’t think about it as missed opportunity until he started working in the service industry. Everyday people would tell him how lucky he was to live in such a beautiful town, to be able to ski or go out on the lake at his leisure.

He lives in a low-income apartment complex just down the street from the four local casinos that are the main source of the towns revenue. There are dozens of apartment buildings in the area that are out of date and eyesores to those who see the South Shore as a beautiful and wealthy place to live.

A study done by Urban Mapping in 2007 shows 23% of children in the city were living below the poverty line, seven points more than the 16% for the state of California.

“Its a little funny I guess,” he says describing the area of town where he grew up, “right behind these high-class art galleries and swanky hotels, its pretty ghetto.”

 The two bedroom unit he lives in houses his four other siblings along with his mom and dad. For as long as he can remember, Barrera never had his own bedroom, or even shared a bedroom with this brothers. He sleeps on the couch in their living room overdecorated with family pictures.
  Like most adults in the neighborhood, his parents work full-time jobs at the casinos. Both are employed as slot hosts and make under $15 an hour.

After graduating high school last June, Barrera has been working as a valet attendant for one of the casino resorts and is trying to save money to go to school. ”Right now I’m making minumum wage, and I’m not going to drop that on a lift ticket and ski gear,” he jokes, ”But my boss keeps cutting hours because because no one wants to travel these days.”

Stable incomes are rare for people who depend on revenue driven by tourism and ski season. The four casinos experience waves of layoffs in the shoulder season between summer and winter. Additionally, casino employees count on gratuities as a good portion of their income. With the current state of the economy, tourists and avid skiers are now less likely to travel far and leave only meager tips for people in the service industry.

Heavenly is one ski resort attempting to address the issue by offering free ski lessons to locals working in hospitality. Patrick Daniels is an associate for Heavenly Ski Resort and says when they first started giving free lessons, he was surprised at the turnout.

”At first I thought maybe most people just didn’t like snow so didn’t bother to get on hill,” he says, ”but then we realized we were teaching  people who didn’t get the chance to learn because they were working or didn’t have the money.”

Participants need only present an employee ID or a paystub with an ID to enroll in the lessons.

Testimonies Made By Clinton’s Personal Secretary Shows Cover-up Attempts

WASHINGTON- A series of sworn testimonies made by President Clinton’s personal secretary, Betty Currie, were released today, unveiling attempts to cover up his sexual relationship with former intern, Monica Lewinsky.

Currie admits that the President made a series of statements to her in order to mask Lewinsky’s visits to the Oval Office. The statements Currie testified hearing from Clinton were “I was never alone with Monica Lewinsky, right?” “You were always here when she was here”, “we were never really alone”, “Monica Lewinsky came onto me, and I never touched her,” and “You could see everything, right?”

To all of these statements made by Clinton, Currie answered “right” to assure him that she thought they were all correct.

The testimony also reveals that President Clinton’s efforts to have Lewinsky return to work at the White House after she was transferred out because according to Currie “she had this reputation as being a stalker.” Currie said that though she told President Clinton that it would not be a good idea to have Lewinsky return to the White House, he still insisted that he was going to try.

Currie, who was also responsible for clearing people in and out of the President’s office, says she cleared Lewinsky into the West Wing “maybe a dozen” times. She also made several phone calls to Lewinsky at Clinton’s request and saw many gifts given by Lewinsky.

She and Lewinsky even developed the nickname “Kay” that they sometimes used when communicating to each other secretly.

Phony Cop Arrested After Pulling-over Shreveport Mayor

Daniel Niederhelman was arrested last Monday after attempting to stop a driver who turned out to be Cedric Glover, the mayor of Shreveport.

Glover told police that an unmarked car with a flashing in-dash light pulled up behind him and a man approached his car. Niederhelman then recognized Glover, turned around, and sped off in his white Chevy Monte Carlo.

The mayor took down the license plate number and contacted local law enforcement. He followed Niederhelman to a nearby office building, where he was later arrest by police on one count of impersonation of a peace officer.

Police said Niederhelman, 21, works for a private security firm and was using the light to maneuver through traffic. They confiscated the light, along with a handgun, from the phony cop.

Serena Williams Apologizes After Tirade That Cost Her the Semifinals

Serena Williams issued an apology Monday after a careless outburst during the U.S. Open Tennis Championship, losing the semi-finals match to Kim Clijsters 6-4 7-5.

Her apology reads as follows:

“I want to amend my press statement of yesterday, and want to make it clear as possible – I want to sincerely apologize FIRST to the lines woman, Kim Clijsters, the USTA, and tennis fans everywhere for my inappropriate outburst. I’m a woman of great pride, faith and integrity, and I admit when I’m wrong. I need to make it clear to all young people that I handled myself inappropriately and it’s not the way to act — win or lose, good call or bad call in any sport, in any manner.”

Following a foot fault in the last game of the second set Saturday, she was assessed a second penalty point for shouting profanities and shaking her racket and ball at the lineswoman. The penalty point was the match point, giving Clijsters a berth in the final. (The first penalty point was assessed when Williams smashed her racket at the end of the first set.) The 2008 U.S. Open Singles Champion was fined $10,000 for unsportsmanlike conduct, and $500 for smashing her racket.

Clijsters went on to win the women’s singles title by defeating Caroline Wozniacki 7-5 6-3. The 26-year-old player from Belgium became the first mother to win a Grand Slam singles event since Evonne Goolagong Cawley in 1980.

Reno Radio Broadcast

Today we may be feeling the effects of typhoon Melor that hit Japan Thursday with gusts reaching one hundred twenty miles over the Sierra Crest and gusts of thirty to forty miles at lower elevations in Reno. The remnants of Melor are currently making its way across the north Pacific and will hit Reno in the next few days. The national weather service says that the Reno area can receive up to an inch of heavy rain after winds calm down Tuesday night.

The national association of business economists discussed the recession this morning in their annual meeting in St. Louis. A survey of its members revealed that the recession that began in December of two thousand seven is now over. The group says they don’t see the rate of unemployment falling below nine point five percent by the end of next year. They told MSNBC that the strength of the recovery is “likely to be more moderate than those typically experience following steep declines.”

Starbucks gets slapped with a lawsuit from Carly Simon after terrible sales of her new album “This Kind of Love.” The coffee giant is being charged for unlawful, unfair and fraudulent business practices. Simon told the New York Times she only received a portion of what was promised. She also admits to falling on dire financial straits and cannot make payments on her house on Martha’s Vineyard.

Intern Reveals Sexual Relations with President Clinton

WASHINGTON– Under sworn testimony today before a grand jury, former White House intern Monica Lewinsky admitted to having a sexual relationship with President Clinton, but said she never had sexual intercourse with him.

When asked if their genitals actually touched each other, Lewinsky answered “grazed each other, yes.”

Lewinsky also provided evidence that White House aids were aware of the intimate relationship between her and President Clinton and took measures to cover it up. Lewinsky also admitted to lying on a sworn affidavit earlier this year, when she denied having a sexual relationship with President Clinton.

Lewinsky was given immunity from prosecution in exchange for her grand jury testimony.

Their flirtation started on August 9, 1995, at a departure ceremony when the President had made eye contact with her. She describes it as “more intense eye contact than I had experienced with him before.” According to Lewinsky, a more intense flirtation continued on from a distance the next day, at a birthday party on the South Lawn.

On Nov 15 of the same year, President Clinton and Lewinsky had a light encounter in Leon Panetta’s office in the West Wing. Lewinsky said she had been answering phones, and President Clinton came down several times that day. Lewinsky testified that the flirtation continued that evening. He invited her into George Stephanopoulos’ office and took her into his study. The two kissed during that encounter and later performed oral sex. Lewinsky testified that they talked briefly afterward and acknowledged that there had been chemistry.

Two days later, while the staff was working late during a furlough, Lewinsky and President Clinton snuck away when she went to use a restroom. She had a pizza stain on her jacket and went to wash it off. When she came out, the President was standing at the doorway and said “you can come out this way.” Lewinsky said that in a back hallway they became intimate again.

The two did not have sexual intercourse because, according to Lewinsky “he didn’t want to.” She added that the President said there was too much of a consequence for him in doing that.

Lewinsky’s testimony also included President Clinton’s private matters, such as not wanting to ejaculate when she performed oral sex. She said they talked about this subject many times and he always told her it had “issues to do with trust and not knowing me well enough at first and then not feeling right about things.”

In her testimony, Lewinsky also admitted to having phone sex with President Clinton more than 10 times. She says that they had numerous phone conversations and would also leave each other voice messages. Lewinsky said “one time it was late at night when I was not home and it was whispered kind of loudly, you know, ‘Come on. Its me.’ Something like that. It was always nice to hear his voice.”

Lewinsky testified that President Clinton told her he felt a little unsafe about leaving the messages on her phone.

They considered ending their secret relationship twice, once on Feb 9 1996, and the second on May 24. Lewinsky called the second encounter “D-Day” which stood for dump day.

Lewinsky’s friend, Linda Tripp, who worked in the Pentagon, knew about the sexual encounters. Lewinsky stated that she told Tripp “most everything” about her sexual relationship with President Clinton and was truthful most of the time.

Their relationship was not all sexual as Lewinsky said they “enjoyed talking to each other and being with each other.” They secretly exchanged letters and gifts on a regular basis. Letters and notes were hidden in folders when Lewinsky “visited” with the President.