Although the risk is high that tee times could go unsold, golf clubs will be able to cancel tee times three days in advance, after a 5-0 vote by the Incline Village General Improvement District Board of Trustees Wednesday.

The three-day cancellation period is not new, however, operations of the Championship Golf Course have been substantially revised to give golf clubs preference on the course, and more tee times by reducing more profitable non-resident play.

The golf clubs have been given the highest priority for the course, with residents second, followed by guests and non-residents, said IVGID General Manager Bill Horn. Employees cannot schedule a tee time until after 4 p.m.

Trustee Chuck Weinberger explained that the golf clubs are important customers because they have the leverage to bring in more rounds of golf. The collaborative partnership with the golf clubs, combined with the grow-in policy (using the golf course less in order to improve the course’s health), could impact the number of rounds which have been at 26,000 for the past three seasons.

Washoe County Treasurer’s Office is now accepting property tax payment online by credit card and electronic check. The treasurers’ office has seen increasing public demand for adding online payment services. The electronic feature was made available earlier in the month for testing. During the first month of availability, the treasurer’s office received 434 payments representing $575,000. Forty-six percent of the payments were by electronic check.

“I am pleasantly surprised at the acceptance and usage of this service, especially in light of the fact that we have not advertised this feature while being in test mode,” said Bill Berrum, Washoe County treasurer.

The Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit will close its North Shore office, temporarily beginning Thursday, April 23. The office is located at 3080 North Lake Blvd., Tahoe City.  Beginning Friday, May 29, the office will reopen on Fridays only through the end of October 2009.  The new Friday office hours will be 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and 1 to 4:00 p.m. All visitor information services, including sales of woodcutting permits and issuance of overnight Desolation Wilderness permits, will be available. The Forest Service will reassess North Shore office hours by mid-October to accommodate Christmas tree permit sales.

The Forest Supervisor's Office in South Lake Tahoe, located at 35 College Drive, will continue regular visitor hours for information and permits. The hours are 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m, Monday through Friday.  For more information, call (530) 543-2600

Space Science for Schools provides free public programs each month of 2009 celebrating the 400th Anniversary of the Galilean Telescope and how it has changed the way we conduct evidence based science since.

IYA 2009 Monthly Themes:
April: "Observing Our Distant Universe",
May: "Observing Our Daytime Star",
June: "Observing Our Stellar Neighborhood",
July: "Observing Stellar Graves and Nurseries".
August: "Observing Solar System Rocks and Ice"
September: "Observing Major Planets and Moons"
October: "Contemplating the Fate of the Universe"
November: "Observing the Secret Lives of Stars"
December: "Discovering New Worlds"

April Calendar:  This month we explore the depths of our Universe   

By understanding how galaxies were formed, how they are distributed and how they are mysteriously moving away from each other, we can look back in time to a beginning, the Big Bang.