By Sarah Heise, KCRA-TV

A man was arrested Wednesday after he shot and killed his mother and brother inside an El Dorado County home, deputies said.

At about 5:15pm Nov. 11, officers went to a home in the 5400 block of Rocky Ridge Road in the Oak Hill area.

According to the El Dorado County Sheriff’s Department, a woman said her husband, who drove up Tuesday from Sacramento County to his mother’s house to help his mom with some chores, had not come home Wednesday afternoon.

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By Kathryn Reed

TRUCKEE – A sense of enthusiasm is in the air when people start talking skiing in the Sierra. At least for this season.

Mother Nature is cooperating with ski executives’ desire to have plenty of white stuff available pre-Thanksgiving. Natural snow combined with freezing overnight temps that are ideal for snowmaking are allowing many resorts to open this week – with all three of Vail Resorts’ Tahoe properties opening Saturday.

“There’s so much optimism for the season,” Mike Reitzell, president of the California Ski Industry Association, told Lake Tahoe News.

Reitzell on Tuesday completed a 36-day tour of 23 California resorts. It was a 3,500-mile journey that ended that day at Shasta Ski Resort.

The morning of Nov. 10 was spent talking to the Truckee Donner Chamber of Commerce and hearing from North Shore industry folks.

Reitzell is new to the job, having taken over for Bob Roberts earlier this year. Reitzell’s roots are with the legal side of the ski industry. He worked for Duane Morris LLP’s Truckee office. The firm specializes in sports and recreation law.

He acknowledges membership in the association has dropped in recent years. It’s something he is paying attention to. The association is made up of a mix of downhill and cross country resorts. The board is considering expanding membership to other ski related entities like visitors authorities, though they would not be voting members.

Northstar on Nov. 10 is shrouded in clouds, while its slopes are covered with snow. Photo/Kathryn Reed

While this season is starting out well, the industry – especially in California-Nevada — has taken a beating because of the lack of snow. For the last four-drought years snowfall is 75 percent of average. Most resorts last year were never able to open all of their terrain. Many lifts stopped running well before their normal mid-April closing.

Lack of snow and terrain has in turn led to a decline in skier visits the last four years. Stats from the California Ski Industry Association show 7.7 million skier visits in 2010-11, 5.9 million in 2011-12, 5.8 million in 2012-13, 5.4 million in 2013-14, and 4.6 million in 2014-15. That is a 40 percent drop.

“Smaller resorts have had a difficult time, but they are all still here,” Reitzell said. “They recognize the need for a fiscally sound business.”

He said there is a resiliency among resort operators, noting they’ve weathered droughts and other economic downturns besides the current situation.

Still, the lack of visitors has many resorts turning to other activities besides skiing and snowboarding – like ropes courses, music, and indoor fun.

One of the more than 100 people at the Tuesday meeting asked what could be done to attract millennials and families.

For Reitzell, he said it’s about packaging lessons and equipment at a good price point. It’s also just about getting them to the mountains. Playing in the snow is a start, then perhaps they will want to graduate to the slopes.

Greg Dallas, CEO of Sugar Bowl-Royal Gorge, isn’t convinced the Tahoe market as a destination is overpriced for families. He pointed to how Disneyland is $120 a day and families are still going there.

He and Reitzell said how the smaller, feeder resorts can attract the newbies, get them to fall in love with the sport and create lifelong riders.

For Beth Howard, vice president and general manager of Northstar, what keeps people returning is the brand promise – from snow surface to culinary excellence to traditions.

“There’s a tremendous variety offered by all resorts in California,” Reitzell said. “Whatever experience people want they can find it in California.”

Publisher’s note: This editorial is from the Nov. 6, 2015, Deseret News.

Federal and local prosecutors in states such as New York, Florida, Massachusetts and Nevada are busy investigating the daily fantasy-sports industry to see whether it qualifies as gambling or violates various laws. The subject even led to a somewhat memorable political debate moment recently as New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie launched a verbal assault against a moderator, claiming a question about fantasy sports was irrelevant, given the many problems facing the nation.

But there is mounting evidence that the daily fantasy-sports movement, which has begun an aggressive marketing campaign during sports broadcasts and now has the sponsorship of some major sports leagues, is indeed a threat worthy of discussion.

And arguments that the game involves the skill of its participants, not chance, are looking feeble, indeed.

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By Shivani Vora, New York Times

Hotels may be giving a lot of attention to upgrading in-room technology, but a handful are going the old-fashioned amenity route: creating in-room libraries.

These libraries help guests make a meaningful connection with their hotel, said Bobby Zur, who owns Travel Artistry, a consultancy in Franklin Lakes, N.J.

“Books in your room are a counterrevolution to technology overload and are almost comforting for guests,” he said. “They also give the properties a unique identity.”

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By Kathryn Reed

Quick, easy and healthy don’t always go together. They do with this recipe.

What I like about it is that this could be changed in so many ways with the vegetables that are used as well as what it is wrapped in. And it would be easy to substitute chicken for the tofu.

If you pickle more veggies, that would require more vinegar and sugar. It would also be possible to use water and not just increase the vinegar. Red onion would be tasty. This part can be made a couple days ahead of time. The longer the vegetables marinate, the stronger the flavor.

I had tortillas on hand so that is why I used them. And they don’t have to be warmed. I was having this for dinner, so it seemed better to heat the tortillas. Any bread product would work. All this could also be tossed with greens for a salad.

If you don’t like spicy, then start out with just a little hot sauce with the mayonnaise. Keep adding until you get the heat you want. I used veganaise – it’s what was in the refrigerator.

Tofu Wraps

½ C rice vinegar

2 tsp sugar

2 medium carrots

4 radishes

1/3 cup mayonnaise

4 tsp hot sauce

1 (14-ounce) container extra-firm, water-packed tofu, drained

1 T (or more) canola oil

1 T (or more) sesame oil

4 (12-inch) tortillas

1/3 English cucumber, halved lengthwise and thinly sliced

1 C cilantro

Simmer rice vinegar and sugar in a small saucepan over medium heat until sugar is dissolved.

Shred carrots or cut into thin matchsticks, and thinly slice radishes.

Pour liquid over carrots, radishes. Set aside for at least 30 minutes.

Pat dry tofu. Cut in half length-wise. Cook in canola oil. You want enough oil so it does not stick to the pan. Drizzle sesame oil on both sides of tofu. Cook until there a good sear on both sides.

Mix mayonnaise and hot sauce.

Warm tortillas.

Spread mayonnaise mixture on each tortilla. Fill with sliced tofu, veggie mix, cucumber and sprinkle with cilantro. Roll up and then cut in half.

By The Street

Caesars Entertainment’s third quarter earnings results missed analysts’ expectations.

The Las Vegas-based holding company, which operates casinos such as Harrah’s Lake Tahoe and Harveys at Stateline, reported a loss of $5.44 per share.

Revenue increased to $1.14 billion, up from $1.01 billion in the year-ago period.

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By Amy Miller, KTVU-TV

According to a widely held belief, you can’t squeeze water from a rock. But researchers from UC Berkeley who are trying to better understand where water is stored in nature are challenging that old adage.

After nearly 10 years of studying a steep, 20-square-mile area near the South Fork Eel River in coastal Mendocino County, the scientists have shown that for trees and other plants, deep and highly fractured rock formations beneath the Earth’s surface are a much larger water reservoir than was previously known.

The work to understand the role that “rock water” plays in the hydrologic cycle began in 2006 when researchers from UC Berkeley embarked on a multi-year study sponsored by the Keck Foundation called the Hydrowatch project. It was designed to precisely monitor and measure the pathways of water in Mendocino County’s Angelo Coast Range Reserve as it cycles from the groundwater table to the tops of trees and into the atmosphere.

“We were really interested in learning the fate of precipitation in the land surface,” explains Todd Dawson, professor of Integrative Biology at UC Berkeley. “So really trying to figure out when precipitation arrives at the site, where does it get into the rock, where does it get into the stream, how does is recharge the ground water, how much of it is used by the vegetation, and ultimately, how much of it ends up in the streams and going back out to the Pacific Ocean.”

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By Katy Murphy, Bay Area News Group

Students applying to the University of California were heartened to hear Tuesday that the university has a new plan to help meet the soaring demand of in-state applicants by increasing in-state undergraduate enrollment by 10,000 — roughly 20 percent — over the next three years.

The budget state lawmakers approved last June earmarked an extra $25 million for the University of California if the system registered 5,000 more in-state students by the 2016-17 academic year. But UC also plans to add 5,000 more slots over the two following years.

The proposed expansion follows a period of intense criticism of UC and months of intense wrangling with the Legislature over funding, tuition and enrollment.

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The U.S. Forest Service Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit will begin the sale of Christmas tree permits on Nov. 16 and end Dec. 24 at noon.

Permits cost $10 each (cash or check are preferred on the South Shore, cash or check only, no credit cards on the North Shore), with a limit of two permits per family. Permits must be purchased in person, are not transferable and are sold on a first-come, first-served basis.

Permit holders may choose from a variety of pine, fir or cedar in designated cutting areas.

In support of Every Kid in a Park, established under presidential proclamation, the Forest Service will offer one free Christmas tree permit to fourth-grade students who present a valid paper voucher or durable Every Kid in a Park pass. To obtain the paper voucher, go online.

Cutting a Christmas tree offers a traditional holiday experience, while helping to thin the forest of excessive smaller diameter trees, which creates a healthier forest over time.

Maps to designated cutting areas are provided at the time of purchase.

Matt Panks, South Lake Tahoe American Legion commander, leads the Veterans Day ceremony. Photo/Lisa Herron

Nearly 100 people filled the American Legion Hall in South Lake Tahoe this morning to pay tribute to veterans near and far, those serving and those who have served, those still alive and those who have died.

Legion Cmdr. Matt Panks offered a tribute, while South Lake Tahoe Mayor Hal Cole and El Dorado County Supervisor Sue Novasel shared their sentiments.

Veterans Day is always celebrated on Nov. 11 at 11am to mark the end of World War I.

Normally small U.S. flags are placed on the grave markers at Happy Homestead Cemetery in South Lake Tahoe to recognize those who have served in the Armed Forces. That was not able to happen this year because of the snow.

— Lake Tahoe News staff report