By Phil Willon, Los Angeles Times

Devout cannabis advocates and social justice reformers believe this may finally be the year that California voters legalize all marijuana, and that optimism has led to a mashup of proposed statewide ballot measures — more than 20 filed so far.

They vary from a one-sentence constitutional amendment that simply declares California adults are free to “grow, own [and] purchase” marijuana to a 62-page treatise on how to best regulate and tax legal pot.

But just one has attracted the deep-pocketed donors and leading advocacy groups to emerge as the clear favorite to make the November ballot — the so-called Adult Use of Marijuana Act.

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More bare skin than usual has been seen around the Lake Tahoe Basin lately as temps feel more like spring than winter.

The National Weather Service in Reno is predicting Friday to be the warmest day of the week. It could hit 60 in South Lake Tahoe, 59 in Truckee and 56 in Tahoe City.

Most of the high records for Feb. 26 are well into the 60s. The exception is South Lake Tahoe. The record for that date is 57, so if the forecast holds, it will be a new high.

“We will still be well above average through early next week,” NWS meteorologist Tony Fuentes told Lake Tahoe News. “We don’t have any big storms coming in.”

He said a weak system may “brush by” the area Friday night and another one Sunday night into Monday.

— Lake Tahoe News staff report

This hole, slightly smaller than a manhole cover, is what what Samantha White fell into on Feb. 21. Photo/Marin County Sheriff’s Department

By Jodi Hernandez, NBC Bay Area

A Marin County Sheriff’s Office search-and-rescue crew is credited with saving the life of a 10-year-old girl.

Officials said the girl on Feb. 21 fell into a 10-foot hole after a snow bridge she was on gave way in the Sierra. The search-and-rescue team just happened to be hiking down the same trail after spending the day training when it came across the incident at Castle Peak in the Tahoe National Forest.

“The snow just swallowed her up,” said Hilda White, mother of the rescued girl. “It was perfect timing that they happened to be coming down from the peak and happened upon my husband within 15 minutes of her falling in.”

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By Mike Higdon, Reno Gazette-Journal

The owner of Lake Tahoe Brewing Co. was arrested on charges of felony theft Monday morning after Carson City sheriff’s deputies found people taking property out of the brewery in downtown Carson City and putting it into a moving van.

Felony theft means stealing property valued at more than $3,500 and is punishable by one to 10 years in prison or $10,000 fine. The amount of the alleged theft is $45,000. Owner Michael Candelario was being held at Carson City jail for $25,000 bail.

On Jan. 27, Lake Tahoe Brewing closed because its brewing equipment stopped working in October 2015.

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Mike Wolfe and Frank Fritz haul their find back to their vehicle. Photo/American Pickers

By Kathryn Reed

“American Pickers” has been on TV for nearly a decade and not a single episode has featured someone from the Tahoe-Reno area. That might change.

This show that airs on the History Channel is labeled a documentary, but it’s also part reality show.

Mike Wolfe and Frank Fritz scour people’s collections – most of them unrefined – to see if it might have value. They are considered pickers, and they call themselves antique archaeologists.

Wolfe says his fascination with junk started at age 4. Fritz started his own collections as a kid. Together, the friends have been traveling throughout the United States for 20 years looking for treasures.

They find the old items that no one is using and often refurbish them after buying the goods from the owner. Negotiations for the price are often done on camera.

On the show they delve a bit into the historical significance of their treasures.

It’s as though nothing is off limits. They have found motorcycles, classic cars, bicycles, one-of-a-kind memorabilia, old musical equipment, vintage clothing, military items and early firefighting equipment. Toys is one category they really like.

Producers were in the area in 2014, but to no avail. They are trying again to find someone who might have just the right something for Wolfe and Fritz to analyze. Filming is set to begin in March.

A spokeswoman for the show said there is a process for how it all unfolds, but she wouldn’t give Lake Tahoe News the specifics. She said the show is authentic and nothing is preplanned.

—–

Notes:

·      “American Pickers” airs Wednesdays on the History Channel.

·      To have a collection reviewed, email your name, phone number, address and description of the collection and photos to americanpickers@cineflix.com.

Publisher’s note: This editorial is from the Feb. 14, 2016, Deseret News.

If a citizenry’s willingness to voluntarily give of its resources to charity is an indication of national character, the United States is doing well, indeed. Study after study shows Americans give generously. That was curtailed only slightly by the Great Recession, but it has surged once more as unemployment rates drop.

The latest such report, published by Blackbaud, looks at how nonprofit fundraising efforts did in 2015. The news is good.

Overall, charitable giving increased by 1.6 percent over the previous year. Faith-based giving was a big part of this, as other studies, most notably the recently released Almanac of American Philanthropy, have shown.

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By Seth A. Richardson, Reno Gazette-Journal

With the Democratic caucus in the rearview mirror, Nevada now turns its attention to Tuesday’s Republican caucus.

By most accounts, real estate mogul Donald Trump is leading the pack followed by Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio in a race for second, mirroring the last two races in New Hampshire and South Carolina. Retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson is campaigning in the state trying to eke out a decent showing while Ohio Gov. John Kasich forwent Nevada in favor of the 11 states that will vote on March 1.

Recent polling shows Trump at 45 percent, leading Rubio with 19 percent and Cruz with 17 percent.

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By Associated Press

WASHINGTON — The number of traffic deaths in the United States rose 8 percent from 2014 to 2015, the largest year-to-year percentage increase in a half-century, according to estimates by the National Safety Council.

About 38,300 people were killed on U.S. roads, and 4.4 million people were seriously injured, the council said. That would make 2015 the deadliest driving year since 2008.

The council said a stronger economy and lower unemployment rates were probably among the key factors, along with lower gas prices. With driving more affordable, more people are on the road. Average gas prices were 28 percent lower last year than in 2014 and are projected to continue dropping this year.

The Transportation Department estimates a 3.5 percent increase in the number of miles driven by motorists in the United States in 2015.

The council’s estimates correspond with one from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, which also found an 8 percent increase in fatalities for the first half of 2015.

Among the biggest increases last year were in Oregon (27 percent), Georgia (22 percent), Florida (18 percent) and South Carolina (16 percent). Only 13 states showed improvement, including New Mexico (a 20 percent drop), Kansas (down 7 percent) and New Jersey (lower by 2 percent).

The estimated cost of motor-vehicle deaths, injuries and property damage in 2015 was $412.1 billion, according to the council, a nonprofit organization created by Congress to promote safety. That total includes wage and productivity losses, medical expenses, administrative expenses, employer costs and property damage.

By Vivian Ho, San Francisco Chronicle

Records detailing police misconduct and serious use of force, long kept confidential, could become public in California if legislation announced Friday is passed into law.

State Sen. Mark Leno, seeking to tighten accountability amid a national conversation over police shootings and a push for law enforcement reform in San Francisco, introduced a bill that would roll back a 1978 law and subsequent Supreme Court rulings that prompted cities to close police disciplinary cases to the media and the public.

It’s the second time Leno has pushed to restore such access, but stopping the bill will be a top priority for police unions, who argue that accountability can be achieved without violating officers’ privacy.

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Motorists can expect delays on Highway 89 in the Tahoe City on Feb. 23-25 when Caltrans resumes pavement repair work.

The work is scheduled to take place from Ward Creek to and including Fanny Bridge in Tahoe City from 8am-3:30pm. It will require one-way reversing traffic controls.

A number of potholes have developed on the highway because of the heavy amount of precipitation so far this winter, necessitating this maintenance repair work prior to a construction project resuming this spring that will rebuild the highway.