The U.S. Forest Service Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit will be offering permits for the public to select and cut holiday trees in the Tahoe basin beginning Nov. 22.

Permits cost $10 each (cash or check only, no credit cards) with a limit of two permits per family, valid for cutting on or before Dec. 25. Permit holders may choose from varieties of pine, fir or cedar, in designated cutting areas, and must abide by specific permit conditions for proper and responsible collection.

Permit sales will be available at two locations:

* On the South Shore, permits will be sold at the LTBMU Forest Supervisor’s Office located at 35 College Drive, South Lake Tahoe. This office is open Monday through Friday from 8am-4:30pm and Nov. 27 and Dec. 4 during the same hours.

* On the North Shore, permits will be sold at the North Shore Forest Service Office located at 855 Alder Ave., Incline Village. This office is open Thursday through Saturday from 8am-4:30pm.

Both offices will be closed Thanksgiving. The last day to purchase a permit is Dec. 23.

• TRPA and Placer County  public hearing/community open house on the Homewood Resort Master Plan on Nov. 23 has been canceled.

• Voters in Tahoe Truckee Unified School District boundaries will vote in March whether to continue the Measure A parcel tax. Measure A adds an average of $3.7 million per year to the budget for programs and resources, including music, PE, libraries, AP classes, counseling, technology and more.

• Fresh Ketch Pray for Snow Party is Nov. 17 from 7:30-11:30pm in South Lake Tahoe.

• Truckee poet Karen Terrey is participating in 30 Poems in 30 Days, raising money for Center for New Americans in Western Massachusetts to help families in need.

• Missoula Children’s Theater production of “Treasure Island” is Nov. 20 at 2 and 6pm at South Tahoe Middle School multipurpose room. Cost is $10 for adults, $5 for children/seniors. For more information, call (530) 542.3632.

• The 15th annual Valhalla Holiday Faire is Nov. 20-21 from 10am-5pm. The Valhalla Grand Hall is off Highway 89 on the South Shore.

Nevada State Parks has published a 2011 calendar containing full-color images of many of Nevada’s state parks, from Lake Tahoe to Berlin-Ichthyosaur in central Nevada to Cathedral Gorge and Valley of Fire state parks in the southern region of the state.

Many of the images in the calendar were submitted by visitors.

Calendars may be purchased here. A free preview of the calendar is available at that link. A portion of sales goes to State Parks.

The California Highway Patrol is offering a driving class called Winter Driving Safety & Survival.

Winter Driving Safety & Survival is aimed at helping educate all drivers about the hazards of winter driving. The class was created in an effort to preemptively reduce the incidence of injuries and deaths resulting from winter-related motor vehicle collisions and incidents.

With the use of still photographs and videos, officers in attendance will address drinking and driving, winter preparation, snow tires, speed limits, snow chain installation, anti-lock braking systems, stopping distances, restraint use and more. This class is conducted within the classroom and does not offer any behind the wheel training.

The class will be Nov. 16 at the South Tahoe High School Library and is free. Class starts at 6pm and will conclude at approximately 8pm.

This class is highly recommended for new drivers, drivers unfamiliar with winter driving conditions and drivers wishing to learn more about winter driving.

Active military and Armed Forces veterans may enjoy a free dinner at the Forest Buffet at Harrah’s Lake Tahoe in Stateline tonight in honor of Veterans Day.

Military identification is necessary.

Literary Journal Lollapalooza at Bona Fide Books in Meyers is the celebration for two Lake Tahoe literary journals — the Edge and the Kokanee.

The event is Nov. 18 from 7-10pm, 1069 Magua St., No. 4, Meyers — behind the Getaway Cafe.

Tahoe Community Church has been in operation for 26 years and is again distributing a Thanksgiving dinner bag to those in need on Nov. 23 from 3-4:30pm.

The church is a half mile up Kingsbury Grade at the corner of Kingsbury Grade and Daggett Way.

The dinner bag includes a turkey and the fixings to go with it for families to prepare their own Thanksgiving meal. The fixings include stuffing, potatoes, gravy, canned yams, cranberry sauce, rolls, and more.

Last year the church served more than 550 people from California and Nevada. This distribution is first come, first served, but there hasn’t been a year when they’ve run out of Thanksgiving dinners.

As always, it is a challenge to provide this large amount of food to those in need, and donations are welcome. To help, bring any of the items listed above to Tahoe Community Church on Nov. 16-1, from 9-4pm.

For more information, call Tahoe Community Church at (775) 588.5860.

With a potential vacancy in Assembly for the seat representing Lake Tahoe, speculation is two women well known to South Lake Tahoe would vie for it.

But the rumor mill is inaccurate this time around.

Kathay Lovell and Norma Santiago told Lake Tahoe News they have no interest in running for the seat if Ted Gaines were to win the Jan. 3 special election for the state Senate seat. Gaines faces Ken Cooley for the seat of the late Dave Cox.

Kathay Lovell and Norma Santiago

“I am confident Ted Gaines will be successful winning the Senate seat. No, I am not intending to run for his Assembly seat,” Lovell said.

Santiago responded, “That’s a big no. I have many projects to complete in my remaining time as county supervisor. There is no way that I would walk away from my constituency at what to me is a very pivotal time.”

— Kathryn Reed

U.S. Forest Service fuels management crews will continue prescribed fire operations in the Pioneer Trail area of the South Shore today, weather permitting.

Additionally, fuels crews will conduct operations on an urban lot in Tahoe City. If favorable weather conditions continue, operations are expected to continue through the week.

Residents and visitors can expect to see smoke from prescribed fire project areas. Smoke management is part of every prescribed fire burn plan, and efforts will be taken to reduce actual or potential smoke impacts on community areas.

• Aimi Xistra-Rich is leaving her PR job at Heavenly to be executive director of the Heavenly Ski and Snowboard Foundation.

• Boulder Bay hearings before the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency for November have been canceled and will be rescheduled at the applicant’s request. The Nov. 10 APC meeting has been canceled.

• Expect boat inspections starting in May at the following bodies of water: Boca, Stampede, Prosser Creek and Martis Creek reservoirs, and Donner, Independence and Weber lakes.

• The Tuesday-Thursday lunch deals provided by Lake Tahoe Community College culinary arts students are sell-outs. The last one for the quarter is Nov. 11 — it will be Chinese.

• The U.S. Forest Service is hosting a meeting Nov. 18 at 6pm at the South Lake Tahoe office to discuss the Meyers Landfill.

• Truckee resident Gaylan Larson has been appointed to the vacant seat on the Tahoe Truckee Unified School District board.

• Mammoth Mountain opens Nov. 11.