• South Tahoe High Principal Ivone Larson is up for the California Governor’s Council on Fitness and Sports Principal of the Year Spotlight Award. Voting is online.

• Washoe County sheriff’s Lt. Heidi Howe has received the national designation of Certified Jail Manager through the Jail Manager Certification Commission. Howe is one of 357 jail professionals nationwide to have achieved this designation and the first in Northern Nevada.

• Tahoe Valley Elementary is one of 12 finalists in the Gold Country Region and 116 schools statewide in the 2011 Governor’s Challenge Competition. Winners will be announced in September.

• Yahoo lists South Lake Tahoe as the No. 8 destination for Fourth of July – saying it’s all about the fireworks.

• Traci Des Jardins is executive chef at Manzanita at the Ritz Carlton at Northstar. Read about what a day in her life is like.