North Lake Tahoe Fire Protection District is gearing up to begin prescribed burning this week depending on weather conditions and local as well as regional resource availability.

The fire district wants to assure locals that if any one of several conditions that must be met in order to conduct a controlled burn is not within prescription, the district will not move forward with the projected burn.

For folks that are smoke sensitive, we recommend shutting all doors and windows and remaining inside as much as possible until any lingering smoke has dissipated.

• Harrah’s Food and Wine Festival in Lake Tahoe is Oct. 28-30.

• Tahoe City’s Chapel of the Transfiguration, aka The Outdoor Chapel, is now on the National Register of Historic Places.

• The Tahoe Regional Planning Agency on Sept. 29 gave out two Lake Spirit Awards. Ruth Dworsky was recognized for creating defensible space for the 88-acre Carnelian Woods Townhouse Association. Mahmood Azad, former engineer with Douglas County, was singled out for increasing the county’s level of engagement on Tahoe water quality and clarity issues.

• The state Board of Equalization released the El Dorado County Assessment Practices Survey Report on the quality of the 2009-10 El Dorado County assessment roll, representing approximately $27.4 billion in value. The report states that most properties in El Dorado County are assessed properly, and that the overall quality of the assessment roll meets state standards.

• Keith Lyford, the director of instruction at Old Greenwood in Truckee, has been named the Northern California PGA Section Teacher of the Year.

Lake Tahoe Community Pumpkin Festival is a free nonprofit event.

Local businesses will have booths, they’ve donated prizes and materials, there will be children’s games, contests and activities as well as a raffle and food.

The event is Oct. 14 from 5:30-8:30pm at 143 Michelle Drive, Stateline.

For more information, click on festival.

• Fire+Ice restaurant in the Heavenly Village will donate all October proceeds from its Strawberry Shortcake to the National Breast Cancer Foundation.

• There is a blood drive in Incline Village on Oct. 14 from 10am-5pm. Click on flyer for details.

• The Concrete Masonry Association of California and Nevada has given South Tahoe High awards for Education Design for the Construction, Arts, and Transportation Academy and Sustainable Design for the Stadium View building.

• Sierra-at-Tahoe is offering free passes to 270 students in Lake Tahoe Unified who got straight A’s or had a 4.0 gpa last school year.

• The National Rural Health Association named Tahoe Forest Hospital in Truckee one of the top 100 Critical Access Hospitals in the United States.

• Here is Caltrans’ Sierra roadwork schedule for this coming week, as well as the El Dorado-Tahoe schedule.

The Al Tahoe neighborhood in South Lake Tahoe is having a clean-up day on Oct. 15 from noon-3pm. Meet at Regan Beach.

This clean-up day event is the result of feedback from a neighborhood service team meeting this summer. The clean-up event is focusing on collecting trash, not large scale items such as furniture.

Trash bags are being provided courtesy of the Caltrans Adopt-a-Highway program.

Participants should put out their filled trash bags in front of their homes for regular trash collection.

The flyer has more information.

A simplified fare structure will greet BlueGo passengers this weekend, and a new route between Minden and Carson City begins Monday.

The Ranchos to Carson City routes will begin at 6:20am with the last run at 5:15pm, Monday-Friday. Fares are $4 for intercity trips and $2 within the local areas with half-price fares offered to youth, seniors and those with disabilities. Transfer stations are located at Tillman and Kimmerling in Gardnerville, and in Carson City at Washington and Plaza streets.

The revised route structure will be evaluated throughout October. The finalized schedules will go into effect after Thanksgiving.

Keeping people safe online is the goal of October’s National Cybersecurity Month. The Washoe County Sheriff’s Office wants to help by providing daily cyber safety tips on Twitter.

The series of 31 tips covers topics ranging from identification theft to cyberbullying. Residents can have the information sent directly to their Twitter feed by following “WashoeSheriff” on Twitter.

Daily tips will also be distributed directly to members of AlertID and available online.

For more information about the Northern Nevada Cyber Center, call (775) 785.6200.

Incline Village Community Hospital and the North Lake Tahoe Fire Protection District will be offering flu vaccines beginning Oct. 1 for residents of Incline Village and Crystal Bay. The charge for the vaccine is $20 per shot. Medicare billing will be available (bring a copy of your Medicare card).

The vaccine is available at Incline Village Community Hospital, 880 Alder Ave. as well as the main fire station at 875 Tanager St. Fire district personnel will also visit homes or businesses by appointment at no additional charge.

The vaccines are for ages 3 years old and above, however the fire district will be administering for ages 12 years old and above.

To make an at-home or place of business appointment or to find out about flu vaccine information, call the Incline Village Community Hospital at (775) 888. 4201, or the North Lake Tahoe Fire Protection District at (775) 831.0351, ext. 0.

The Washoe County Sheriff’s Office is asking for volunteers to help turn the tide on graffiti vandalism by taking part in a graffiti cleanup event at the Sun Valley Community Center from 10am-2pm Oct. 6, weather permitting.

The department is also looking for concerned citizens to donate paint, brushes and gloves to the effort.

Graffiti vandalism is now one of the public’s foremost quality of life concerns. Scrawls of graffiti are popping up everywhere throughout Northern Nevada: parks, highway overpasses, street signs, even the most pristine of landmarks.

For more information, contact Katie Stueve at (775) 328.3361.

South Lake Tahoe residents cultivating medical marijuana must submit an application for a permit no later than Dec. 20 or face a fine of $1,000 per day. Applications and permit procedures are available online.

The city is also providing opportunities for residents to report a possible marijuana cultivation operation in their neighborhood. Residents may submit the information online and anonymously through the city’s website.