The Latino Commission and Family Resource Center are having a party to celebrate Mexico having 200 years of independence.

The event is Sept. 30 from 5-8pm in the multipurpose room of South Tahoe Middle School.

It is free. Food will be for sale. Profits go toward educational programs at Bijou and Sierra House Elementary schools.

The U.S. Forest Service opened an office in Incline Village this month.

The North Shore office located in the Washoe County Incline Service Center at 845 Alder Ave. is adjacent to the library. It will be open Thursday through Saturday from 10am-3pm.

The new location sells Desolation Wilderness permits, as well as fuelwood permits and Christmas tree permits during the appropriate seasons, offer maps and books for purchase, writes campfire permits, posts information on Forest Service job openings, and provide general information for visitors and residents.

The phone number is (775) 831.0914.

• The nomination deadline for Lake Tahoe South Shore Chamber of Commerce’s 3rd Annual Blue Ribbon Awards is Oct. 1.

• Roadrunner gas station in Meyers is having a birthday party Oct. 1. Check out the website to learn about its pricing program to entice locals to buy local.

• Dan Spano, who owns Paradise Real Estate in South Tahoe, sold the Paradise Timeshare Resale business to Carl and Jean Thoms of Reno.

• About 40 marijuana growers in California joined the Teamsters this month; the first growers in the nation to be in a union.

• Lakefront Wedding Chapel in South Tahoe was the site of the wedding of Bernie Salazar, a participant in ‘The Biggest Loser” – season five.

• In recognition of their dedication to service and safety, the Squaw Valley National Ski Patrol, the volunteer arm of the ski patrol, was selected as the winner of the 2009-10 National Outstanding Large Alpine Patrol Award.

• Lira’s Minden grocery store is closing Oct. 2.

• South Lake Tahoe Police Canine Association is hosting K-9 Trials Sept. 25 at 3pm at the ball fields behind South Tahoe Middle School. It’s free and open to the public.

• The Tahoe Regional Planning Agency Governing Board voted this week to take 90 days to evaluate the judge’s decision in the shorezone case.

There will be “meet and greet” for Clint Curtis, the District 4 candidate for U.S. Congress, on Sept. 26 at 3pm.

For full information, check out the Lake Tahoe Democratic Club website.

The draft ordinance of South Lake Tahoe’s marijuana cultivation ordinance is expected to be discussed at next week’s pot committee hearing.

More input was given at this week’s meeting. Representatives from the three medicinal marijuana collectives, concerned residents, city staff and others are working on crafting language for the ordinance.

The South Lake Tahoe City Council is expected to take up the issue Oct. 19. Council meetings begin at 9am.

The next committee meeting is Sept. 29 at 3pm at Lake Tahoe Airport.

— Compiled by Kathryn Reed

Residents in the Tahoe Truckee Sierra Disposal service area may drop off natural wood debris on Sept. 25 for free from 7:30am-2pm.

This offer is open only to property owners — no commercial customers. Proof may be required. A limit of three yards (approximately 20 bags) per trip, or 3-yard capacity trailers.

Acceptable items include tree limbs and brush, pine needles, yard trimmings and dry grass and dead leaves. No garbage, stumps, construction debris, dirt, sod or rocks.

Where: Cross Country Ski Area, 925 Country Club Drive, Tahoe City

Homewood South Lodge (Tahoe Ski Bowl)

North Tahoe Regional Park (Snow Park Area)

For more information, call North Tahoe Fire at (530) 546.2212.

• Kirkwood Mountain Resort hired Michael Dalzell to be director of sales and marketing. He has worked for Intrawest and was most recently at Kicking Horse Mountain Resort.

• Lake Tahoe South Shore Chamber of Commerce board voted last week to support California Proposition 22.

• Lahontan Regional Water Quality Control Board will vote Nov. 16 on the amendment to Lake Tahoe’s Tahoe Maximum Daily Load. No time yet for the meeting at Lake Tahoe Community College in South Tahoe.

• The premiere of Matchstick Production’s “The Way I See It” is Oct. 2 at 8pm at the MontBleu theater in Stateline. Cost is $15.

• Lake Tahoe Museum in South Lake Tahoe is open Saturdays from 11am-3pm and by request for groups. Just call (530) 541.5458.

• The Nevada State Board on Geographic Names voted to name a cove near Incline Village for Samuel Clemens, better known as Mark Twain.

The South Lake Tahoe Garden Club will host a public meeting on Sept.28 at the Lake Tahoe Community College Demonstration Garden Pavilion. Guest speakers will be John Marchini from South Tahoe Refuse and Craig Witt from Full Circle Compost in Carson Valley.

They will discuss the current program taking garbage from Tahoe to the valley and turning it into rich black compost.

The program will be an opportunity to learn about an “Earth Friendly” project and to see the newly renovated college garden.

Bring a sack lunch if desired. Light refreshments will be served before the noon presentation.

For more information, call (530) 541.4654

Just days after receiving notification of an Outstanding Website Award from the Interactive Media Awards, the website of the Carson Valley Visitors Authority has been recognized with a WebAward for Outstanding Achievement in the Travel category from the Web Marketing Association.

It was one of 16 travel sites recognized out of thousands.

“If you judge the importance of the award by the other sites named, we are at the top of top,” Bill Chernock of the visitors authority said in a statement. “Among the other 15 honorees are Universal Orlando for its Harry Potter attraction site, and the visitor sites for Kentucky, Oklahoma, Philadelphia, the Bahamas and Britain. Those organizations have a lot of resources to produce their sites.

“We had great partners in John Merry at NetPilot Web Solutions and Bruce Rettig of Charter Advertising/Design and our job now is to keep adding good content and encouraging users to add information and share the site.”

Bona Fide Books is having a Book Exchange on Sept. 25 form 10am-2pm.

Drop off the books you’ve already enjoyed and leave with the ones you’ll love next.

Literary fiction, nonfiction, and curiosities welcome.

Coffee cake and serenades are part of the fun.

Bona Fide is at 1069 Magua St., No. 4, Meyers — behind the Getaway Café.