• The summer evening speaker series at Taylor Creek Visitor Center in the South Shore is every Wednesday and Thursday evening through August at the Lake of the Sky Amphitheater. Here is the schedule.

• South Tahoe Public Utility District’s 2011-12 budget is on its website for all to read. Then go to the Finance Department page.

• Check out Tahoe Regional Young Professionals at work. Filming was done by Brandi Ledbetter of South Lake Tahoe’s Princess Productions.

• Where We Met Gelateria and Espresso Bar has opened in Tahoma.

• Tahoe City’s inaugural Farm to Table Dinner is July 19 from 6-9pm at Commons Beach. More in formation is online.

Lake Tahoe News is sending more people to the American Century Celebrity Golf Tournament this week.

The latest people to win a pair of tickets to one day of the July 12-17 event at Edgewood Tahoe in Stateline are: Amin Aminian, Richard Matera, Julia Nold and Rich Thurow.

Crews erect tents July 10 for the celebrity golf tournament. Photo/LTN

Final preparations for the tournament were being put into place Sunday, with tents being erected, barriers being hauled to the correct place and bartenders at Brooks’ Bar & Deck practicing their mojito-making skills.

If you did not win one of the multiple pairs of tickets Lake Tahoe News gave away in the past few days, tickets are on sale each day of the tournament.

South Lake Tahoe’s public pool is closed today until at least 1:30pm for maintenance.

For more information, call (530) 542.6056.

• Every Saturday in July and August from 9-10:30am there are natural history hikes of Sugar Pine Point State Park. The free tours start and end at the Nature Center on the day use side of the park. Wear comfortable walking shoes and bring water.

• Community Air Service Initiative is a group trying to bring commercial air service to the South Shore.

• Thunder Valley Casino Resort’s hotel has earned the Four Diamond rating from AAA.

• Former Lake Tahoe Unified School District Superintendent Rich Fischer speaks out about journalist Jose Antonio Vargas, who recently revealed he is an illegal immigrant.

• El Dorado County’s taxable real estate and personal property valued dropped 1.4 percent to $25.3 billion. Placer County figures won’t be available for a few weeks.

The South Lake Tahoe Recreation Facilities Joint Powers Authority will continue its public hearing regarding the possibility of turning the 2000 voter approved Measure S into Measure R on July 13 at 1pm in the Creekside Room (near the cafeteria) at Lake Tahoe Community College.

Lake Tahoe News has tickets to the July 12-17 annual American Century Celebrity Golf Tournament at Edgewood Tahoe in Stateline.

All Lake Tahoe News subscribers are eligible to win. If you aren’t a subscriber, it’s free. Just enter your email address at the bottom right of the home page.

The winner of the pair of tickets must answer the question below and then the winner will be picked randomly from those who respond:

What is your favorite memory of one the previous 21 celebrity golf tournaments at Lake Tahoe?

Congratulations to Ron Zehren, Irene Kaelin and Cathy Vogelgesong — they are all going to next week’s celebrity golf tournament courtesy of Lake Tahoe News.

They all know Aaron Rodgers has won $21,932 at the tournament to date.

There will be one more opportunity to win tickets via LTN on Sunday. The winners will be announced Monday.

Lake Valley Fire Protection District is continuing to offer a free chipping service to county and South Lake Tahoe residents.

For piles larger than 2 cubic yards, Lake Valley FPD is continuing its curbside chipping program through this season but can only accept piles this size or larger. For smaller piles, contact South Tahoe Refuse regarding the Recycle/Green Waste Program.

For chipping pile guidelines, visit Lake Valley’s website. The guidelines are located in the Fire & Fuels Division section.

When your pile is ready, call (530) 577.2447 to put your name on the list. Chipping is scheduled by zones, so it may take several weeks to get to your pile.

The free chipping program provided by Lake Valley FPD is funded by the U.S. Forest Service.

• Reminder — horses have the right of way over bikers and hikers.

• “The Pot Republic”, a joint investigation by PBS and the Center for Investigative Reporting, will air as a Frontline segment July 26. For more information and times in your area, go online.

• Tahoe Truckee Unified School District is having two superintendent workshops – July 11 from 6:30-8pm in Tahoe City at North Tahoe High School Library and July 12 from 6:30-8pm in Truckee at the Truckee High School Library. For more information, call (530) 386.2940.

• The chain link fence at the Garfinkle building (former Mikasa/Millers Outpost) at the Y in South Lake Tahoe is for the roofing project. The city says no word yet on the tenants or further design review for the exterior of the building.

• Three contributors, one night: Janet Smith, Joseph Flannery and Ruth Rhodes will read passages from their essays in “Permanent Vacation” at the El Dorado Arts Council in Placerville on July 29 at 7pm.

• Here is the Caltrans Sierra roadwork schedule for next week. The Tahoe roadwork schedule is here, too.

Caltrans is alerting motorists that pavement repairs may delay traffic in Truckee the week of July 11 crews repair pavement at various locations on highways 89 and 267.

Motorists can expect traffic controls on Highway 89 at Deerfield Drive from 6am to 6pm Monday through Wednesday while works crews replace damaged asphalt in the intersection. On Thursday and Friday, from 6am to 6pm, work crews will replace asphalt on Highway 267 at Northstar.

Drivers can expect uneven pavement and delays of up to 20 minutes. The California Highway Patrol will also be on scene to assist with traffic control and enforce all traffic laws.