By USSA

LAKE LOUISE, Alberta – Lindsey Vonn (Vail) took her 70th World Cup victory and third Lake Louise sweep on Sunday with a 1.32 second win over Austria’s Tamara Tippler.

The third World Cup win of the weekend for Lindsey Vonn didn’t matter quite as much to the speed queen as rounding off her career victory tally to a solid 70.

“My stepmom wrote me yesterday saying, ‘Sixty-nine is great, but I like round numbers so could you please just make it to 70?’ Last year I had 60 here, so it’s kind of nice,” said Vonn. “Seventy is a pretty big number.”

Vonn hushed any doubters who wondered if she could put an end to Swiss skier Lara Gut’s super G streak at Lake Louise, which had spanned the past two seasons, but there were more than a few bets on the line before she even pushed out of the starting gate.

“It was a big deal. I feel like there were some people that doubted whether I could win today, especially because Lara had won the last couple races here in super G. Also my technician made some bets with people, so I felt a little bit like I had to come through. It was my physio Lindsay’s last day with me traveling on the road, so I kind of wanted to end with a bang,” said Vonn.

With her smoothest of three runs all weekend, Vonn unseated race leader and practical unknown Tippler. Starting third, Tippler had capitalized on an early run down a pretty clean track and held a somewhat miraculous lead over the field, considering that her previous best super G finish was 21st in the 2014 Val d’Isere race and her career best had come yesterday with 16th in the downhill. Only Vonn was able to overtake the 39th-ranked super G skier on the day.

For all the spectacle of Vonn’s trifecta, Tippler’s teammate Conny Huetter also leaves Lake Louise with three podium results herself after finishing third in the super G. Before coming to Canada this year, Huetter had only stood on a World Cup podium once in her career.

Gut was looking for her third consecutive super G victory at the venue, but her run – 1.77 seconds off Vonn’s winning pace – proved only good enough for seventh place. She secured three top-10 results over the weekend but not a single top-five finish, and Vonn leapfrogged over both her and Mikaela Shiffrin (Eagle-Vail, Colo.) to take the lead in the overall.

In the finish area, Gut shook her head and said through a chuckle, “Europe. I have to go back to Europe,” indicating that she is looking forward to stronger results on more familiar snow surfaces.

Although Shiffrin yielded her overall lead to Vonn, she emerged from the day with a solid performance in the debut World Cup speed race of her career. From bib 32, she made technical turns down the top of the course and crossed the finish line in a respectable 15th place.

Two other U.S. Ski Team athletes finished in the points – Laurenne Ross (Bend, Ore.) was 12th, and Stacey Cook (Mammoth Mountain) 17th.

By G. Scott Thomas, San Francisco Business Times

It pays to have a college diploma — and preferably more than one.

The linkage of education and income couldn’t be clearer in new data collected by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The typical worker with a master’s degree earns 20 percent more than a colleague who holds a bachelor’s degree and 98 percent more than somebody who never went beyond high school.

And there’s a second benefit. The danger of unemployment declines dramatically as the level of educational attainment rises.

Read the whole story

Lake Valley, CalFire and South Lake Tahoe crews help at the Dec. 6 accident in Meyers. Photo/Provided

It took Lake Valley fire paramedics 90 minutes to extricate a woman from her SUV on Sunday after it rolled over in Meyers.

The 17-year-old driver, whose name has not been released, was on Highway 89 near Portal when she went into a ditch. The cause of the Dec. 6 accident is under investigation.

CalStar flew the girl to Renown Medical Center in Reno with a fractured femur.

— Lake Tahoe News staff report

Barton Health’s certified enrollment counselors are available to help people enroll in Covered California and Medi-Cal plans.

One-on-one enrollment sessions are available on Dec. 8 and Jan. 20 from 3:30-6:30pm each day.

Both sessions will take place at Lake Tahoe Community College in Computer Lab D123. Enrollment counselors will help individuals and families walk through the process of signing up and selecting a health care plan.

Individuals and families may also set up a private appointment by calling 530.600.1984. There is no charge for any of these services. English and Spanish appointments are available.

All attendees should bring a picture ID, Social Security number, and household income to the enrollment session.

By Bob Egelko, San Francisco Chronicle

A federal judge in San Francisco has ordered Safeway to pay almost $42 million to customers nationwide who bought groceries from the market chain’s website and were unaware that they were being charged 10 percent above store prices.

U.S. District Judge Jon Tigar granted $30.9 million in damages and $10.9 million in interest Monday to online shoppers who had registered with Safeway.com between 2006, when the website opened, and November 2011, when the company reworded its policy to declare that online prices “may differ from your local store.”

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By Jason Hildago, Reno Gazette-Journal

Fresh powder apparently isn’t the only thing hitting Lake Tahoe in December.

Ridesharing service Uber is planning a simultaneous launch on both sides of Tahoe before the end of the year, filling a key market in its Nevada and California territories.

Uber was not able to provide a specific date for the launch but it could happen as early as late this week, spokeswoman Laura Zapata told the Reno Gazette-Journal.

“We’re building supply and gearing up for it,” Zapata said by phone. “People have been asking about Tahoe, especially here in the Bay Area right now because they’re hearing that ski season is going to be awesome.”

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By Mariam Baksh, Huffington Post

Democrat John Oceguera, a former speaker of the Nevada assembly who’s running for Congress, resigned his lifetime NRA membership because of what he said was the group’s opposition to “any legislation that would help keep guns out of the hands of terrorists.”

“I am law-abiding gun owner, and have been a Life Member of the National Rifle Association,” Oceguera wrote in letter to NRA CEO Wayne LaPierre on Thursday,posted on Oceguera’s campaign website. “I grew up in a family of hunters. But more importantly, I’m a father and a husband. I believe that keeping our families safe is our most fundamental priority.”

Oceguera’s NRA resignation followed last week’s mass shooting in San Bernardino that police said was carried out by a husband and wife using legally purchased assault-style rifles and semi-automatic pistols.

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·       The California Highway Patrol office in South Lake Tahoe is collecting toys for less fortunate kids. Drop off new, unwrapped toys at the office in Meyers at 2063 Hopi Ave.

·       Nevada Project Heartbeat donated a Cardiac Science Powerheart G3 Plus Automatic External Defibrillator (valued at $1,895) to Washoe County Sheriff’s Office.

·       There will be a celebration of life for Mikey Sheehan on Dec. 11 at 7pm at the Lakeview Loft above Dart Liquors in Stateline.

·    El Dorado County Connections – One Stop is hosting a free employer forum on Dec. 17 at 10:30am at the El Dorado County Child Support Services Building, 3883 Ponderosa Road in Shingle Springs. For more information, call 530.642.4850.

Sweets will be featured at the Douglas County Public Library in Zephyr Cove on Dec. 12 at 10am.

Miss Carol will be on hand to help children build gingerbread houses using graham crackers and candies.  Families may create a fun, edible craft to take home.

Children ages 5 to 11 may attend. Space is limited. Sign-up by Dec. 9 by calling 775.588.6411.

All supplies will be provided by the Friends of the Douglas County Public Library. The library is located at 233 Warrior Way in Zephyr Cove.

Whitney Gardner at a World Cup event earlier this year. Photo/Clément Bucco-Lechat

By Scott Powers, Team USA

Whitney Gardner realized quickly she was overmatched when she first competed in the Audi FIS Ski Cross World Cup.

The competition was stronger and more experienced. The jumps intimidated her. The features scared her. The courses were too challenging. She was constantly falling. She just wasn’t meeting her own expectations.

Ever since she transitioned into skicross from alpine skiing, Gardner had strove to someday compete on the World Cup tour. But now that she was there, she had to admit she wasn’t ready. That was difficult.

“It was hard because it was my dream,” said Gardner, who grew up in a family of skiers in South Lake Tahoe. “I never thought I wouldn’t, but it was so distant. It was surreal I was able to compete. I didn’t know if I would have the opportunity again, so I took it.”

The 21-year-old Gardner is concentrating on her upcoming World Cup season, but somewhere always in her mind is reaching the Olympic Winter Games. Skicross has been contested at the past two Winter Games, but the United States has yet to qualify a women’s competitor.

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