Steve Jacques, who used to run Steve's Transmission in Meyers, has quite possibly found a unique way to sell real estate and wants to share it with others.

He's using his Woodfords property as the site for a quasi open-house scheduled Saturday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at 705 Sunrise Trail. Jacques, who said he dreamed up the marketing idea, is trying to sell that house.

The free event is billed as a property trading outlet for those who want to upgrade or downgrade from their current situation in a soft real estate market. An informational handout dictates it's "a new opportunity to advertise your property for sale or trade at no expense." Jacques, who's not a real estate agent or broker but has gained experience investing in property, noted in the information that he invited investors from the San Francisco Bay Area.

More information may be obtained at (530) 694-2982.



A new networking organization called TGIF (They're Great In Fact) is forming on the South Shore. The idea involves bringing business and professional people together to learn the art of "proactive networking."

Those interested in knowing more about it may call (530) 544-2875 (ext. 6).



Resort Sports Network, a national television network dedicated to resort communities with a South Lake Tahoe office, announced last week it closed on the sale of its company to private investors.

The sale was subject to Federal Communications Commission approval on the transfer of the broadcast licenses, which took place last month.



Consumers increased their borrowing at a more modest pace in December as credit card debt went up at the slowest rate in nine months, The Associated Press reported last week.

The Federal Reserve indicated that consumer credit rose at a 3 percent annual rate in December, the smallest gain since October and far below the 6.9 percent surge in borrowing in November.



Productivity, the most important ingredient in rising standards of living, increased in 2006 at the slowest rate in nine years while labor costs shot up at the fastest rate in six years, The Associated Press reported last week.

Productivity, the amount of output per hour of work, rose by 2.1 percent for all of 2006, down slightly from a 2.3 percent increase in 2005.



As the cold slowly loosens its grip on California's Central Valley, the pink and white flowers on fruit and nut trees are just beginning to blossom and growers are scrambling for a dwindling supply of bees to pollinate their fields, The Associated Press reported last week.

Harsh weather across the country, pesticides and mites are blamed for killing off billions of bees needed to pollinate just about every crop throughout the year.

The topic came up during California's beekeeper conference at Stateline a few months ago.