TRUCKEE, Calif. — If you have a camera or even a photo-shooting phone, you must have some great photographs of life in Truckee. Maybe it’s a photo of your little brother learning to ride a bicycle. Maybe it’s a picture of your pet. Or a remarkable sunset over Donner Lake, a flower pushing up through the snow, a hot dog skiing or boarding shot, or a group of friends rock climbing or swimming or hiking.

To date, the Truckee Public Arts Commission (TPAC) has hosted several exhibitions of work by local artists at the Truckee Donner Recreation Parks District’s Community Recreation Center, with its stunning natural light and expansive wall space. This winter, TPAC wants to make everyone an artist by sponsoring a community exhibit of everybody’s view of Truckee through the lens. Both film and digital photos will be accepted.

Amateur and professional photographers alike, of all ages, are invited to submit up to 12 photographs of the Truckee area for the upcoming exhibit titled “This is Truckee!” Images should be no larger than 8″ x 10,” and printed on premium photo quality paper. They do not have to be framed or mounted. Photographers should add their name and a caption to the front side of the photo. If you do not wish to be identified by the viewing public, please add your name and caption on the back of the page.

Look for the entry forms on the TDRPD website: tdrpd.com.

Images are due at the Rec Center by 5 p.m. on Monday, Jan. 30, and will be on display at the Rec Center from the beginning of February through May of 2012. An opening reception will be held on the evening of Friday, Feb. 10, 5-7 p.m. to celebrate all the contributing photographers.

The success of this show depends on community participation, so don’t be shy. For more information, e-mail tdrpd [dot] art [at] gmail [dot] com.

— Submitted to aedgett [at] sierrasun [dot] com

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Hey, Answer Girl,

Thank you for your article about made in the USA. (“Casper
merchants make it easier to buy U.S.-made items,” published Dec.
12.) I noted that the florists say 100 percent (of their products
are made here).

Does that mean they buy from an American distributor or that the
flowers are grown in the USA? Roses, chrysanthemums and carnations
mostly come from Colombia. Many countries supply fresh flowers of
all kinds to the U.S. — David

Dear David,

In my column, I printed a list that was provided to me of
downtown merchants and the percent of their products that are made
in the U.S. The Flower Gallery and Marvel Floral Art in Casper were
both listed as having 100 percent of florals made in the U.S.,
unless they are out of season and need to be special ordered.

When I spoke to Flower Gallery manager Melissa Scott, she said
that they do indeed stock U.S.-grown flowers, unless they are out
of season.

All of the flowers you mentioned are available and grown in the
U.S.

“It is easier and cheaper to get them in the States,” Scott
said.

When flowers are out of season in the U.S., they are
imported.

For example, peonies can only be grown in the spring and summer
months in the U.S. So, if you buy peonies at other times of the
year, they might come from Isreal.

Linda Marvel, owner of Marvel Floral Art, said that her store
does not carry 100 percent U.S.-made or -grown items.

Some of her flowers come from the U.S. and some come from other
countries. (When buying in bulk, it’s often cheaper to buy them
outside the U.S., she said.)

She also carries decorative items, such as lighted branches,
that are made in China.

Hey, Answer Girl,

I have heard rumors that the Village Inn downtown will open
again in the future. Is this true? — Kathy

Dear Kathy,

Courtney Ash, director of marketing for the Village Inn, would
neither confirm nor deny whether the restaurant will reopen.

Answer Girl tackles questions about Casper, the universe and
everything else. Submit your questions by email to Carol Seavey at
carol [dot] seavey [at] trib [dot] com, call her at 307-266-0544 or write to Answer
Girl, P.O. Box 80, Casper, WY 82602.

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Q: Several years ago in the food section of the Chicago Tribune there was a sidebar on creating a lettuce “rose” or “flower” to display on a buffet. The tiny box had a color photo of a head of lettuce transformed, I believe, into a flower with eight “petals.” I have searched the archives on chicagotribune.com and Googled until my fingers fell off but have had no fortune in finding the exact instructions. The only other detail I seem to recall is that you had to put the lettuce in ice water.

—Tom Saaristo, Chicago

A: You sent this question in months ago, Tom, and I’m sure you thought I had forgotten. Nope — but I couldn’t find what you were looking for either. And, frankly, I couldn’t image a lettuce “flower.” Fussy food garnishes — turning a carrot into a Volkswagen Beetle, say — hold no appeal for me. Then I found this story, from July 23, 1987, and I think it’s what you’re looking for — although there’s no talk of a buffet or ice water. The piece, by a writer for the Minneapolis Star and Tribune, extols the virtues of salads served hot or room temperature as entree.

The story included a recipe in which iceberg lettuce is cut into wedges and arranged like a flower. Where the recipe came from isn’t clear; celebrity Chef Wolfgang Puck and his latest cookbook (alas unnamed) are cited in the story, however. The recipe name, too, is a mystery: A “lotus” salad without any lotus. Oh well, it was the 1980s. Let me know if this is what you wanted. And, if any reader has another idea of what this lettuce “flower” should be, contact me, too.

Lotus salad with stir-fried pork and vegetables

Prep: 25 minutes. Cook: 6 to 8 minutes. Makes: 4 servings

1 head iceberg lettuce

1/2 cup each: mirin (rice wine); rice wine vinegar; toasted sesame oil

1 to 2 teaspoons dry mustard

1 1/4-inch piece ginger, grated fresh ginger

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

1/2 pound boneless pork, cut into narrow slices

1 cup diagonally sliced celery (about 2 stalks)

1 cup fresh bean sprouts

3/4 cup snow peas, trimmed

1/2 cup sliced water chestnuts

1 large tomato, cut into julienne strips for garnish

1. Cut lettuce into wedges. Arrange wedges spoke-fashion on a serving platter (to form a flower shape). Make the dressing by combining the mirin, vinegar, sesame oil, mustard and ginger in a jar; shake well.

2. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in skillet. Stir-fry pork 2 minutes, or until done. Remove with slotted spoon. Add celery to the skillet, stir-fry 1 1/2 minutes. Add bean sprouts, snow peas, water chestnuts; stir-fry 1 1/2 minutes or until all vegetables are crisp-tender. Return pork to pan just to warm through.

3. Spoon the stir-fried mixture into center of the lettuce flower. Garnish with tomato in between the wedges. Serve with dressing.

Do you have a question about food or drink? E-mail Bill Daley at: wdaley [at] tribune [dot] com. Snail mail inquiries should be sent to: Bill Daley, Chicago Tribune, 435 N. Michigan Ave., Chicago 60611.

Twitter: @billdaley

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In 2012, Yahoo! News will tell the nation’s story through the experiences and views of real Americans like you. Watch the first Remake America video »

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While a biting winter wind blows outdoors, the bright sunlight of Tuscany bathes the new gallery inside the Post Road Art Center.   Twelve artists and their teacher are showing 40 paintings that depict the sun-saturated beauty of the Italian countryside around Siena, Italy, where they studied for a week last May in a centuries-old estate.

Their paintings are featured in “Green Tuscany,’’ a lovely exhibit showcasing work done by area artists and their teacher who are all members of the Concord Art Association.

The former agricultural estate now houses programs aimed at preserving Tuscan culture and protecting the environment.

Led by noted artist Ilana Manolson, each captured the farm at Tenuta di Spannocchia where they stayed, the surrounding fields and flowers and sky in their distinctive styles that, when viewed together, convey the rich profusion of moods and colors that have infatuated painters for centuries.

Verna Friedman favored rich acrylics that infuse commonplace objects with incandescent colors. Dayna Talbot mixed verdant greens and subtler earth tones to suggest the quiet harmony of the Tuscan landscape. Judith Schneider used quiet neutral colors to accentuate the brilliant reds and yellows that made her expressionist scenes simmer like glowing embers.

Post Road Gallery owner Randi Isaacson predicted viewers would be intrigued by the varied approaches of a dozen artists who were often painting similar scenes.

“They’re all in the same place essentially painting the same thing,’’ she said, “but they’re creating very different kinds of art.’’

Each artist is exhibiting three or four paintings while Manolson is showing a triptych which she’s expected to expand into a larger work. Most paintings in the show are for sale. The exhibit runs through Saturday, Jan. 28.

Isaacson credited Friedman for setting in motion a series of events which led to her decision to host the show.

Isaacson said Friedman, a Marlborough resident who works out of White Rabbit Studios in town and has shown her paintings in her other exhibits, told her about the study trip to Italy.

Since renovating her center last year, Isaacson now exhibits art in a new 16-by-22-foot gallery so works on display, don’t have to share space with supplies as before.

“The new gallery space gives visitors an unencumbered look at the art we’re showing. It’s a better experience for the viewer and that makes it better for the artists,’’ she said.

Friedman and other artists in the show said working under Manolson’s direction with fellow artists in Italy provided encouraging feedback and exciting new subjects to paint.

In Tuscany, she directed group members to paint in morning and afternoon sessions and brought them together around 6 p.m. to critique one another’s work.

An Iowa native with several degrees in art who has taught painting at several schools, Friedman said the eight days in Italy gave her a rare opportunity to work en plein air. She described herself as “a colorist’’ who uses bold colors to depict a sense of place.’

In “Seat Under the Arbor’’ and “At the Pool,’’ Friedman goes beyond strict realism by using heightened colors to create “semi-abstract’’ scenes that convey the way the brilliant Tuscan sunlight inflamed her own perceptions.

Talbot said she aimed to “translate the simplicity of life in Tuscany into my paintings.’’

A Carlisle resident whose family roots extends back to Umbria, she is showing three oil and acrylic landscapes she described as “a little experimental, a little all over the place.’’

As her scenes become less representational, Talbot seems to be exploring the power of subtle colors to express complex moods.

“There’s a little expressionist feel in my paintings. But they’re also realistic,’’ said Talbot. “There’s no social or political message. They’re all about the relationships of color, composition and form.’’

Throughout her stay at the Spannocchia estate, Schneider watched with growing fascination as the leaves on a cactus blossomed into “richly-colored flowers.’’

In gorgeous mixed media paintings, the Framingham artist captured the fertile abundance of a garden terrace and courtyard by using subtle colors to inflame the reds and orange hues that brought her landscapes alive.

While others might regard her feverishly-colored scenes as tending toward expressionism, Schneider said, “To me, my work is very realistic.’’

“”My brain is thinking. But my hand is doing the work,’’ she said. “It’s an automatic expression of what I see.’’

The Essentials:

WHAT: “Green Tuscany’’

WHERE: Post Road Art Center, 1 Boston Post Road E, Marlborough

WHEN: Through Jan 28

HOURS: 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday through Saturday; Thursday until 7.

Admission: Free

INFO: 508-485-2580, www.postroadartcenter.com

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THE popular horticultural centre in Jalan Sungai Buloh-Subang comes alive again with Chinese New Year plants and flowers, even though the operators are still worried about the status of their Temporary Occupation Licences (TOL).

Many of the nurseries have been decked out in shades of red, gold and yellow, as they wait for more batches of flowers to arrive from Cameron Highlands and China soon.

“Chrysanthemums are most popular among our customers to spruce up the room with a touch of Spring. Others like orchids, Chinese flowering crabapple and azaleas are also loved by many,” said nursery operator Y.K. Tan, who runs Permai Garden Landscape.

Elegant touch: Orchids with large blooms and elegant figures are a popular choice among the Chinese for Chinese New Year.

“Like last year, we are expecting about 20 types of plants and flowers for Chinese New Year. Most of them are from Cameron Highlands and they will be sent here soon,” he said.

Do look out for other plants that have auspicious significance, such as the Guan Yin Bamboo that represents advancement, and a new product called Prosperity Garlic, as garlic sounds like “count” in the Cantonese dialect, symbolising an inflow of cash.

“Buy this to get rich with a lot of money to count,” another operator remarked.

Getting ready: Nursery operators in Jalan Sungai Buloh- Subang getting ready for a busy period next week.

Golden lime trees have also arrived in many of the nurseries, filling the air with not only a sweet tangy scent, but also optimism and cheerfulness to embrace the Year of the Dragon.

Sungai Buloh is famous for its nurseries, there are more than 70 nurseries along Jalan Sungai Buloh-Subang alone.

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The memorials turned into massive tributes of candles, cards, photos, stuffed animals and flowers that blanketed areas of up to 60-by-100 feet.

Others that came later include a 9-foot, 11-inch sculpture of an angel forged from World Trade Center steel in memory of Green.

Several of the shooting victims visited the memorials before they were dismantled and put in storage boxes for safekeeping until a permanent memorial is erected in the coming years. Items from the hospital alone filled 60 boxes.

Shooting survivor Susan Hileman called the memorials a “giant hug” from the community.

Her favorite memorial sign read, “Plant seeds of peace and love will grow.”

,,,

Follow Amanda Lee Myers on Twitter at https://twitter.com/#!/AmandaLeeAP

,,,

Online:

AP interactive – http://hosted.ap.org/interactives/2011/congresswoman-recovery/

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Staring at a colorful display of balloons, flowers and candles
at a makeshift memorial in East Oakland, Todd Walker estimated he
went to at least 50 of the funerals for this city’s 110 homicide
victims in 2011.

He attended one more on Friday, this time for Oakland’s last
homicide victim of the year, 5-year-old Gabriel Martinez, Jr., who
was shot and killed near his father’s taco truck a week
earlier.

“Safe streets should be the main priority of this city, period!
There are no more excuses,” said Walker, a community activist who
is often asked to attend services by the victims’ families,
pointing to a large banner with Gabriel’s image at the memorial
site that said “Alto a la violencia” _ stop the violence in
Spanish.

This rough-edged port city that struggles for a reprieve from
the violence saw its homicide total hit triple digits last year for
the fifth time in the past six years. There were 95 homicides in
2010, a five-year low that brought promise and some optimism.

But a number of the slayings in 2011 sparked community outrage
and national attention. A man was shot in broad daylight in
November near the Occupy Oakland encampment outside City Hall, and
a beloved restaurant owner in East Oakland was fatally shot in
April during an early morning attempted robbery.

Gabriel, known by his family as “Little Gabrielito,” was one of
three little boys felled by bullets. Three-year-old Carlos
“Carlito” Nava was gunned down while being pushed in a stroller by
his mother in August.

Last month, Hiram Lawrence was taken off life support after
being shot in the head while in his father’s arms during a rap
video shooting; he died nearly three weeks shy of his second
birthday.

“Ain’t no tomorrow for (Gabriel)! Ain’t no tomorrow for little
Carlito down the street or baby Hiram! Do something for these kids
who are alive so they can live to see tomorrow,” said Walker, also
a well-respected area youth football coach. “How many more babies
are going to have to be shot and killed?”

In addition to the spike in homicides, violent crime in Oakland
increased by 6 percent in 2011. Property crimes also increased by
10 percent compared to 2010. The city’s first homicide this year
occurred Wednesday when a man was shot and killed in East
Oakland.

Last year was a tumultuous for Oakland in other ways, as well.
Popular Police Chief Anthony Batts resigned in October, citing
frustration over his department’s scant resources. That came before
police dismantled two large Occupy Wall Street encampments and
arrested hundreds during violent clashes with protesters that drew
both worldwide attention and scrutiny.

Embattled Mayor Jean Quan, who faces two recall campaigns, has
been criticized by residents and civic leaders for her handling of
the Occupy protests.

And the killings of the three children in a four-month span have
put a particularly harsh spotlight on crime in her city.

“They have struck a nerve and touched the city’s heart and
reignited a lot of community action to seek justice,” Quan said.
“These deaths involving children seemed to have broken the barrier
in terms of folks communicating with the police and hopefully
something positive will come out of it.”

Longtime Oakland Councilman Ignacio De La Fuente said a poor
economy, gangs, drugs and robberies were the primary causes of
homicides last year. He has grown increasingly frustrated as city
leaders were at odds with each other last year over proposed gang
injunctions, curfew and anti-loitering ordinances to help combat
the crime.

Oakland’s crime rate runs counter to national trends:
Preliminary FBI crime figures for the first half of 2011 show
violent crime dropping across America _ nationally, homicides
dropped nearly 6 percent, robbery 8 percent and assaults 6 percent
for the first half of last year.

Oakland’s homicide rate is twice that of neighboring San
Francisco, which recorded 50 homicides both last year and in 2010.
San Jose, the Bay Area’s most populous city, saw its 2011 homicide
total rise to 41 _ more than double the previous year’s, yet still
far lower than Oakland’s.

David Kennedy, a criminologist, said Oakland’s homicide rate
partly reflects the failure of city leaders to follow through on
crime-fighting initiatives.

“They simply have the inability to stay focused and keep on
track. The city gets easily distracted and can’t stay the course,”
said Kennedy, who directs the Center on Crime Prevention and
Control at John Jay College in New York.

Kennedy, who created the Operation Ceasefire initiative that
helped lower crime in several major cities, said Oakland has not
shown enough commitment to keeping residents safe.

“When a city has had consistently high levels of violence such
as Oakland and given that there are now proved approaches to
reducing that violence, failure to do so is a failure of core civic
leadership,” Kennedy said.

De La Fuente agrees.

“I feel like there are no words to describe collectively as
elective officials how we have failed to get a hold of this reign
that is destroying our city, and even killing our babies,” De La
Fuente said. “I don’t think we have an excuse.”

City Council President Larry Reid adds, “Cincinnati still has
1,200 police officers. In Oakland, we barely have 700 officers on
the streets. Our police department is undermanned and needs
additional officers to handle this violence.”

Both councilmen said the city and Quan need to make improving
public safety the top priority.

“If Occupy Oakland can get thousands of people to shut down our
port, but yet and still there is no huge outcry about the loss of
life in this city, that says a lot about us,” Reid said.

Quan said last year’s homicide rate began to decline during the
summer after the city rehired dozens of officers laid off in 2010.
She also noted the city’s latest strategy is to have police and
other law enforcement agencies, including the Alameda County
Sheriff’s office and the California Highway Patrol, concentrate on
the city’s 100 most violent blocks.

“This covers 5 percent of the city, but where 92 percent of the
murders take place,” Quan said.

After bringing balloons to little Gabriel’s makeshift memorial
on Wednesday, Tashana Newsom, 36, a lifelong Oakland resident and
mother of five teenagers, wiped away tears and wondered aloud when
the violence would end.

“When is it going to stop?” said Newsom, 36. “I’m sick and tired
of seeing people dying.”

© 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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Flower bulbs are a forgiving bunch. They can be buried upside
down, stomped on or ignored, yet most will bloom for several
seasons.

There are the occasional no-shows, of course – those that fail to
flower and deliver the first burst of color in early spring. Here’s
why some bulbs fall short, and what you can do about it:

• Bad bulbs: Even proven flower bulbs can go bad. “Give them the
squeeze test,” said Brent Roozen, spokesman for Washington Bulb
Co., the continent’s largest tulip grower, in Mount Vernon, Wash.
“If there are brown or black spots on them or they’re soft to the
touch, don’t use them.”

• Poor timing. Spring-blooming bulbs need time to go dormant if
they’re to bloom. Planting dates vary with the climate but often
extend into the winter. Just get them into the ground early enough
so they can develop roots.

• Expired shelf life. “You can’t carry them over (from season to
season). The bulbs will dry,” Roozen said. “When customers ask me
about the best time for planting, I always tell them
‘today’.”

• Crowding. “Bulbs will grow, even if you don’t give them enough
shoulder room,” Roozen said. “But in a few years, the flowers and
the blooms will progressively get smaller.”

• Predation: “Tulips are the ‘chocolate cake and ice cream’ of the
bulb world if there are voles or deer in the area,” said Becky
Heath, co-owner of Brent and Becky’s Bulbs at Gloucester, Va. “We
spray our tulips with a nasty smelling substance to mask their
sweet smell, and it really helps, but sometimes for only one year.”
Daffodils, leucojum, galanthus and colchiums are the bulbs to
choose if you want something that no animal eats, she said.

• Environment. “If bulbs are a failure because they fail to bloom
year after year, it’s probably because the gardener is in ‘shade
denial’,” Heath said. “There can be a lot of sun when the bulbs are
in bloom, so that seems like enough sunlight. However, when
photosynthesis happens after flowering time, which is crucial for
the bulb to generate enough nutrients for the next seasons, the
leaves are on the trees and there often isn’t enough sunlight. Then
the bulbs dwindle.”

• Planting depth. “Bulbs planted at too shallow a depth are
vulnerable to frost heaves that can expose them to drying winter
winds and cold,” said Hans Langeveld, vice president and owner of
Longfield Gardens LLC, a source of bulbs and perennials in
Lakewood, N.J. Plant tulips and daffodils 6 inches deep where
winters are the coldest, he said. Plant smaller bulbs like crocus
and muscari 4 to 5 inches deep.

• Over-watering in summer. Most bulbs come from arid climates and
thrive where summers are dry, Langeveld said.

Plan to start a new batch next fall unless bulbs are labeled “Good
for Naturalizing,” he said. “Most tulips are annuals for American
gardeners, but some are famous for coming back, including the
Darwin hybrids. Other naturalizers include daffodils and other
narcissi, muscari, alliums and crocuses.’

For more about the care and feeding of flower bulbs, visit
http://www.clemson.edu./extension/hgic/plants/landscape/flowers/hgic1155.html.

© 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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