“Peter and Wendy” is production the Missoula Children’s Theatre is putting on this fall.
Auditions for children 5-17 are Nov. 2 from 4-6pm at South Tahoe Middle School’s multipurpose room. There are more than 60 roles.
Rehearsals are Nov. 3-6, with the performance Nov. 7 at 3pm and 6pm.
Auditions are free, with a $50 charge per child to participate.
For more information, contact Peggy Blowney with Tahoe Arts Project at 530.542.3632.
South Lake Tahoe Police Officer Mark Hounsell and Argo in 2011. Photo/LTN file
By Kathryn Reed
An eight-year veteran with the South Lake Tahoe Police Department died Oct. 17 in a single-vehicle rollover accident near Fallon.
Officer Mark Hounsell, 42, was driving to their home in Minden when the Chevrolet Suburban for unknown reasons left the road and rolled several times. The accident occurred about 5pm, approximately 20 miles east of Fallon.
Also killed in the crash were Hounsell’s wife, Jeanne, 34, and their friend Laura Fisher, 33, of Washington, Ill. Seat belts were worn by all, according to the Nevada Highway Patrol.
In the vehicle were the Hounsells four children who are between the ages of 4 and 14. The injuries they sustained are not life threatening.
Hounsell was a K9 officer for part of his tenure with South Tahoe, most of his time was spent on patrol. Prior to being hired in May 2007 by SLTPD he had worked for the Douglas County Sheriff’s Department.
“One of the things I appreciated about Mark was the thoroughness of his work,” Police Chief Brian Uhler told Lake Tahoe News. “He loved what he was doing. It’s not uncommon for our patrol officers to do deeper work than normal. Mark took it to another level.”
When tourists were arriving in town to find their vacation rental they booked was bogus and they had no lodging, it was Hounsell who traced the origins of the criminals to foreign countries and then back to Colorado.
“You could sense from him that he really didn’t like people being victims of criminal acts and he would go the distance to find the suspects,” Uhler said.
Mark Hounsell’s parents, who are from Southern California, arrived in Northern Nevada on Sunday and met with Uhler. He said they conveyed to him how proud their son was to be working for SLTPD and how much he enjoyed his job.
They will be meeting with members of the department and LifePoint Church clergy on Monday to plan the services.
“Our police officers and unsworn staff all feel like they want to help in some way shape and form. It’s a difficult time because there is not a lot that can be done. There is a certain feeling of helplessness and a great sense of loss,” Uhler said.
Flags at the city’s police and fire stations are being flown at half staff.
“Northern Grease”, an independent documentary that tells a story of snowboarders and surfers learning the social and environmental impacts of resource extraction in Northern Canada, will be shown at three Lake Tahoe locations this fall.
Local Freshies in association with Beyond Boarding created the film. The Tahoe showings are fundraisers for Beyond Boarding and the League to Save Lake Tahoe.
Longtime snowboarder and environmentalist Mike Basich will be presenting how he got involved, living off the grid and the topic of the tiny house.
The shows are:
· Oct. 23 at Himmel Haus (3819 Saddle Road, South Lake Tahoe). Doors open at 7pm and show starts at 8pm. No cost.
· Oct. 24 at the Chateau (955 Fairway Blvd., Incline Village). Doors open at 6pm and the show starts at 7pm. No cost.
· Nov. 4 at the Tahoe Art Haus (475 N. Lake Blvd., Tahoe City). Doors open at 7pm and show starts at 7:45pm. Cost — $12.
A bothy bag shelter is used to warm someone and get them in dry clothes. Photo/Provided
By Michelle Foster
I learned three valuable lessons on my Tahoe Rim Trail through hike.
1. Always through-hike with a partner.
2. Field-test my gear before taking it on a multi-day hike.
3. Take the advice of seasoned explorers.
Letti and I were 30 miles into our planned 165-mile through-hike around Lake Tahoe when we found ourselves in a very dangerous situation.
On Oct. 2, we spotted a mountain lion five miles into our hike on the first day. Early in the morning on the second day, very close to our camp spot, we discovered fresh lion tracks. At this point we were 20 miles from our starting point. It may have been a different lion, but my hike became worrisome and I could not enjoy myself thinking about the lion attacking Letti. Likely, she was his target.
About 29 miles into the hike on the second day, I decided to end the hike the following day. My mind was consumed with the thought of the lion. I was no longer enjoying myself. A mile or so later at around 4pm, I found a great camp spot. It was 10 miles from town in one direction and seven miles the other. An open field close to a cliff with tall trees and flat ground, it was beautiful. The sun was shining. It was warm and windy.
I had cell phone reception at my chosen camp spot, so I called the hotel and changed my reservation. Originally, we were going to be hiking until the 10th. The next day, I planned to hike out to the Big Meadow trailhead seven miles away. From there I would get a ride back to my car. After setting up camp I checked the weather and discovered that thunderstorms and rain were in the forecast from 8pm to 6am. It was close to sunset, and the next possible camp spot was about two miles away. By the time I packed up camp and moved it would be dark.
Mistake No. 1, I decided to stay at my current camp at 9,400 feet.
By 7pm, I was comfy in the hammock and Letti was sleeping underneath.
Mistake No. 2, she started to shiver so I put my down jacket on her. I put her arms through the armholes and zipped it up around her. It fit her really well.
The storm arrived right on schedule. At 8pm the winds picked up and it started snowing, raining and hailing. Hard. At one point during the start of the storm Letti ran off and came back without my jacket. My only other jacket was a thin rain jacket.
One thing I was not aware of is that you need a blanket or sleeping pad to go between you and the hammock. My sleeping bag was not enough and I was cold (because of the wind whipping under). But, I was able to keep semi-warm.
Mistake No. 3 was using the hammock. My boyfriend, a very experienced outdoorsmen, advised against it. In fact, he recommended I bring a tent. I did not listen and decided to go with only the hammock. The hammock is supposed to go over you like a bivy, protecting you from the rain or snow. At about midnight I realized the snow had been getting in the hammock and I was completely submerged in water. By this time the storm had picked up significantly. The wind stung the exposed skin on my face and hands. The sky continued to pelt out an unwelcome mixture of snow and rain. I knew that being cold and wet was not good.
I rolled out of the hammock and found a spot in the snow to laydown. It was so cold. I was soaking wet. I could not stop shivering. I brought Letti in with me, moved around but nothing would keep me warm. I finally let Letti out of the bag because she started to shiver and she was freezing. She got out and started running around playing in the snow. I made the plan to keep moving inside the bag until the sun came up, at which point the storm was supposed to end. I would quickly pack our stuff and hike the seven plus miles out. Until then, I knew I had to keep moving. I moved around inside the bag, did push-ups and planks for the next five hours to keep warm.
The fourth and most important mistake I made was to not take my situation seriously, as the other three mistakes were occurring. I waited so long to do something that by the time I did, I was too weak to do anything about it. I should have taken action immediately. Especially after I got soaking wet at midnight in the middle of the storm.
At 5am on Oct. 4, I was exhausted and still unable to stop the shivering. Every time I tried to leave the shelter of the bag, I would convulse and shiver worse. I thought about hiking out and knew it was going to be difficult, possibly very dangerous. Another storm was supposed to roll through at 8am. It would take me four hours to hike out, possibly more in the snow. In the condition I was in, I did not think it was safe to hike out soaking wet and exhausted only to get caught in another storm with no shelter. I also knew I could not stay there. It was too cold, exposed to wind and I was beginning to feel very sleepy … my body was giving up. This scared the crap out of me. So I called for help.
I called 911, and spoke to two different gentlemen on the phone. They asked me about my situation and asked if I needed help. “Yes, please!” Thank goodness I had my Garmin GPS with me. I was able to give 911 my exact location. The GPS had been a handy tool as I was planning the hike. I marked every water source, camp spot and possible exit route, now it was helping to give the rescuers my location.
The sheriff’s office told me that the El Dorado Sheriff Search and Rescue would be calling me and to charge my phone if I could. Shortly after Jo, the El Dorado Sheriff Search and Rescue incident commander called me. She told me to get out of my wet bag and walk around and make a fire. I told her I could not make a fire because everything was wet, and I could not leave the shelter of the bag because of how cold I was. All I could do was sit in a huddled position and rock back and forth for heat. Jo told me to eat, drink some water and move inside the bag. She called me a couple of times to check on me and give me updates. It was really awesome knowing help was coming.
The search and rescue team arrived about five hours after first contact. Two women from the team immediately put me into a pop-up shelter and inside a warm, dry sleeping bag.
They helped me take off my wet clothes (I had a difficult time moving my fingers and hands) and put warm clothes on me. They then placed Nalgene bottles filled with hot water inside the sleeping bag. After I was warmed up, they gave me hot chocolate and a muffin. Those women were awesome. They asked if I could hike down, that they had special access to a route that was about an hour and a half away. Finally warm and knowing the trailhead was close I had the motivation I needed. I knew, I could hike out.
I left the pop-up shelter to find that the other half of the SAR team had packed up my stuff and were prepared to carry it out. The hike out was sloshy, cold, and mostly downhill. My body and feet were very sore, my hands were not cooperating, but I kept moving and talking to the team. Letti really enjoyed the hike out. There was a handsome Shepard search dog that she played with most of the hike out. She did not have to worry about her pack, because they carried it for her.
At the trailhead a sheriff’s deputy was waiting to take me to an ambulance.
The paramedics took my vitals and checked my feet. Everything was normal. They asked me if wanted to go to the doctor and I said no. All I wanted to do was get to my hotel, take a hot shower, eat an entire pizza, and pass out. Spending several hours at a hospital sounded horrible.
I thanked the SAR team, and I got to meet Jo. The search team said she is like the mother of the team. A tough-ass-woman who knows her stuff. She was a light in the darkness on the phone. A great incident commander.
From there, a deputy drove me to my car about a half an hour away. Upon arrival to the Spooner Summit parking lot, I was shocked to discover that my car had been broken into. Thieves busted out my back passenger window and took my purse and overnight bag with all my clean clothes and shower stuff.
The deputy could not file the report because he was from California and my car was parked in Nevada. While waiting for the Nevada police to arrive, the sheriff was kind enough to share his lunch with me. Refreshing Gatorade and the best pizza I have eaten in my life.
The Nevada policeman took my statement and told me that he wished I had contacted the police department before parking my car at Spooner Summit. He said that two or three car thefts happen in that area a week from people who are out of town and through-hiking on the Tahoe Rim Trail.
After filing the police report, I went to Wal-Mart to buy clean dry clothes, a toothbrush, and duct tape so that I could tape up the window. No places were open to fix the window, so I decided to drive back to Salt Lake City and have it fixed at my dealership.
That night, I slept deeply for over 12 hours in the hotel room. During the eight-hour drive home, I had a lot of time to think about what I had experienced. I cried, laughed, and I was overwhelming thankful to be alive.
I realized the most important thing I did right during my survival experience. Bringing Letti. A smart, athletic, 16 month-old Belgian Malinios, she knew staying in the wet sleeping bag was a bad idea. She fought to get out and run around to stay warm. I tried to force her to stay in the bag with me, but I realized she was getting too cold, which made me realize I could not just lay in the bag. I had to move inside the bag. I worried about her all night. I heard her circling around my bag growling and barking at the night. The thought of her condition and what she was doing kept me from falling asleep when my body wanted to give up. When she heard the SAR team coming her bark echoed through the mountains, alerting the team to my location. Letti saved my life.
I am forever grateful to the El Dorado Sheriff Search and Rescue team for rescuing me, from myself that day.
I am home now. Warm, safe and very happy to be alive. Letti is doing very good – her normal hyper-happy self. She is getting extra love, snacks and attention from me. She totally deserves it.
I plan to continue my hike around the Tahoe Rim next summer with a trusted hiking partner, field-tested gear, and an extra pair of clothing. But most important, I will be armed with the knowledge and experience needed to recognize when I am in a dangerous situation and to react immediately.
To the community,
Lake Tahoe South Shore Chamber of Commerce thanks the Tahoe Regional Young Professionals for partnering on a great networking event this past Thursday.
Tahoe Chamber also thanks our gracious host Tahoe Beach Retreat for providing a beautiful venue for the evening in addition to delicious food and drinks. The event brought together approximately 100 young professionals and chamber members for a fun evening of relationship building.
Thank you to all who came out to support a great community event.
Shannon Earley, Lake Tahoe South Shore Chamber of Commerce
· Soroptimist International of South Lake Tahoe and Soroptimist International of Tahoe Sierra are offering the Live Your Dream Award to women working toward additional skills training and education. Submission deadline is Dec. 1. More info in online or email zippygirl@att.net.
· Tahoe Valley Campground is celebrating 40 years of being in business on the South Shore.
· Here are the Caltrans roadwork schedules for this week for El Dorado-Tahoe and Sierra.
· Dan Costa, entrepreneur and CEO of First Tactical, will speak Oct. 21 at 11:30am at Sierra Nevada College in Incline Village. The talk is entitled: When did work become a four-letter word?
· Diamond Peak’s master plan will be presented to the Incline Village General Improvement District board at a special meeting Oct. 21 at 5:30pm at the Chateau, 955 Fairway Blvd., Incline.
By Jennifer Kaplan, BloombergBusiness
Shaun Gindi brought a duffel bag stuffed with 1,000 twenty-dollar bills to open a checking account at his local Chase branch. He was successful. Until the branch closed the account a week later.
As the owner of two marijuana shops and a weed warehouse in Colorado, where the drug is legal, Gindi is a pariah to banks, which face expensive compliance hurdles and uncertain legal consequences because ganja still violates federal law. Of the more than7,600 banks and credit unions in the U.S., only 220 accept cannabis cash, according to the U.S. Treasury Department.
Anthony Rivera says he has a solution: an American Indian banking system.
Rivera, a Harvard Business School graduate who led the 1,940 members of the Acjachemen Nation in Southern California for nearly a decade, says native governments could legalize marijuana. His organization, CannaNative, is trying to link tribal leaders from the 566 sovereign American Indian nations with finance professionals and legal-marijuana businesses to use the expertise gained from decades of managing casinos. That way, he said, they can go where big institutions such as JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Wells Fargo & Co. fear to tread — banking the legal-pot industry’s estimated $3 billion in annual revenue.
The Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control is putting on a free seminar for businesses on Oct. 26 from 1-5pm at Lake Tahoe Airport.
The LEAD (Licensee Education on Alcohol and Drugs) seminar will:
· Provide information on what is acceptable identification; the best way to check I.D.; how to refuse service; signs and prevention of illicit drug activity, and more.
· Give facts about criminal, civil, and ABC liability.
· Provide an update on California alcohol laws.
· Include handouts.
Register online before Oct. 25. On the day of the training, bring a copy of the business’ABC license and plan to arrive a few minutes early to sign in.
The last day to purchase a U.S. Forest Service fuelwood permit is Nov. 13 and the last day to cut wood is Nov. 15.
Permits cost $20 per cord, with a two-cord minimum purchase and a limit of 10 cords per household. Permits have specific conditions and complete information is provided when the permit is issued. Maps to designated cutting areas are provided and must be in the permit holder’s possession along with the valid permit.
Forest roads and gates begin closing in late October for soil protection and public safety. Some cutting areas may not be accessible by vehicle in areas where gates have closed.
For specific forest road closure dates, go online.
For more information, call the South Shore office at 530.543.2694 or the North Shore office at 775.831.0914.
By Kathryn Reed
It needs something.
That was the conclusion Steve, Denise and I came to after I first made the original recipe. My sister, Pam, came up with the somethings. She increased the amount of all the spices and added mozzarella, which is what the recipe below calls for.
Zucchini isn’t one of the most flavorful vegetables, so it is always going to need something to give it a bit of pizzazz. This veggie does have nutritional benefits – such as not having many calories, and being a good source for potassium and anti-oxidants.
Using a mix of yellow and green zucchini makes the dish look prettier. And no need to barbecue if you don’t want to. The oven works fine; the char will be missing and there will be a slightly different flavor. Frozen corn could also be substituted for fresh if it’s not in season.
It’s also possible to assemble these a couple days before baking/serving. This is what my sister did for my birthday bash.
Zucchini and Corn Lasagna
3½ pounds green zucchini and yellow squash, ends trimmed, thinly sliced lengthwise
1¾ tsp kosher salt, divided
3 T olive oil, divided
½ C shallot, chopped
7 garlic cloves, chopped
2 C raw corn kernels (from 2 or 3 ears corn)
2 tsp fresh thyme
15 ounces ricotta cheese
8 ounces mozzarella, grated
1¼ C shredded Parmesan cheese, divided
1 large egg, beaten to blend
½ C basil leaves, chopped
4 T chives, chopped
½ tsp pepper
1½ T butter, divided
Place zucchini in a single layer on baking sheets that are lined with paper towel. Sprinkle with 1½ tsp salt. Let sit for 30 minutes.
Heat 1 T oil in a medium pan over medium heat. Add shallot and garlic, stirring until beginning to brown. Add corn and thyme until corn is just hot. Transfer to a medium bowl. Stir in ricotta, half of Parmesan, mozzarella, egg, basil, chives, pepper, and remaining salt.
Press water out of zucchini with paper towels. Brush zucchini with remaining oil. Grill zucchini until grill marks appear on both sides.
Grease 9 x 13 pan. Arrange a quarter of zucchini crosswise in bottom of dish, overlapping slightly. Evenly spread one-third of corn-cheese mixture over zucchini. Repeat process 2 more times, ending with zucchini. Sprinkle remaining Parmesan on top and dot with remaining butter.
Bake in 375-degree oven until lasagna turns golden brown, about 45 minutes. Let rest before serving.