·      The second annual Lake Tahoe Dance Connection will consist of a camp from Aug. 12-14 and a dance intensive weekend Aug. 15-16 on the South Shore. To register, call 530.541.4660, ext. 717. Lake Tahoe Dance Connection is a product of the Lake Tahoe Community College Dance Department and Connect Community Education.

·      FNCTN and Tahoe Blue Vodka’s Triple Crown of Bartending competitions continue July 26 from noon-4pm at Steamers Bar & Grill in South Lake Tahoe. The event is free and open to all ages, with $10 tastings of 10 samples for attendees 21 and over.

·       On July 23 Saint Joseph Community Land Trust will receive a portion of the proceeds from Casey’s – An American Cantina (formerly Coyote Grill). The restaurant is in Round Hill next to Safeway.

·       There will be an open house July 29 from 5-7pm about the Envision Donner Pass Road corridor improvement project that goes from Coldstream Road to the McIver roundabout in Truckee. The meeting is in council chambers at the Truckee airport.

·       Tahoe Paradise Resort Improvement District’s board will meet July 23 at 6pm at the park.

Washoe County sheriff’s investigators have a new theory in the unsolved murder of a woman found off the Mount Rose Highway in 1982.

On July 17, 1982, a white female was found dead near the Sheep’s Flat area a few miles above Incline Village. The victim was wearing a powder blue T-shirt, blue jeans and yellow tennis shoes, and wore a bathing suit under her clothing. There was no identification.

An artist’s rendering of the victim.

Initially the victim was believed to be of European decent based upon her inoculation scar and unique dental work. The victim’s identification remains a mystery.

After taking a fresh look at the case, Washoe’s cold case unit investigators now believe the victim may have come from somewhere in the Western United States. Investigators believe she may never have been reported as missing to law enforcement because she may have become voluntarily estranged from her family and/or friends in the years prior to the murder.

Based on this new theory, investigators are hoping that someone may know of a situation where a young woman left her family in the late 1970s early 1980s and has not been heard from since.

The victim was estimated to have been between the ages of 25 and 35 in 1982. She was a Caucasian female with a medium colored complexion; 5-feet-5 to 5-feet-6; slender build; straight medium length light brown hair; and hazel eyes.

More unique descriptors include a vaccination scar on her right shoulder and a 4 to 5 inch horizontal surgical scar (possibly from a cesarean section birth) on her lower abdomen.

Although the victim’s dental health appears to have been in decline for a couple of years prior to her murder, the victim previously had extensive dental work by more than one dentist which included a unique porcelain faced three tooth gold bridge on the upper left side of her mouth as well as several other permanent and temporary fillings and crowns. One of the victim’s lower teeth was noticeably rotated and her upper front teeth were not symmetrical in appearance.

Detectives did not say how she died.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Investigators Dave Jenkins at DJenkins@washoecounty.us or Rick Bjelke at RBjelke@washoecounty.us, or call 775.328.6225.

— Lake Tahoe News staff report

This car is not drivable after crashing July 21 near Cave Rock. Photo Copyright 2015 Carolyn E. Wright

A single-car accident near Cave Rock on Tuesday left the driver with minor injuries.

The car wound up in the rocks on the side of the road. The name and hometown of the driver has not been released.

The accident occurred about 4pm July 21. About an hour later officials were still waiting for the tow truck to arrive.

One lane of Highway 50 was shutdown for a short period.

The cause of the accident is under investigation. The roadway was wet at the time with a thunderstorm having rolled through shortly before the crash.

— Lake Tahoe News staff report

The Super Scooper firefighting aircraft, for now, is calling Lake Tahoe Airport home. Photo/Kathryn Reed

By Kathryn Reed

Firefighting capabilities in the Lake Tahoe region have increased to a level not seen before when there wasn’t a fire already raging.

“This brings continuous water drops. That’s what sets it apart,” Kevin Merrill, national amphibious aircraft manager with the U.S. Forest Service, told Lake Tahoe News as he walked around the aircraft.

The Super Scooper firefighting aircraft – as it is known – arrived at Lake Tahoe Airport on Monday. The plane is considered a national resource so it could be pulled into service elsewhere at any even given moment. It is the only one in the country.

“It’s the perfect aircraft for this unit. It’s surrounded by the best water source,” Merrill said of Lake Tahoe.

What makes this Bombardier CL415 different than other firefighting aircraft is that it can operate more efficiently. It can scoop up 1,621 gallons of water in 20 seconds and then fly for three hours without refueling.

Other aircraft get water on land, which slows the process. Though those planes can hold up to 3,000 gallons. Helicopters are not as efficient as the Super Scooper either, according to Merrill.

“With severe drought conditions and lots of lightning fires so far, we anticipate this aircraft will greatly assist our ground-based firefighters this season,” Cheva Gabor with the Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit told Lake Tahoe News.

It’s a bulky looking plane, which goes beyond the two massive turbo prop engines. There are mooring cleats on the nose and it has an anchor.

Being able to fly super slow allows it to skim a water body’s surface. The length and depth of a lake are two of the basic factors in determining if it is suitable for the Super Scooper. Fallen Leaf Lake could be used if wind were not a factor.

The 3-year-old plane will not be in Tahoe forever. This is year two of a five-year test project. The Forest Service has a contract with Aeroflite out of Spokane.

Last year it flew about 300 hours and dumped 1.5 million gallons of water. The five-member crew (two pilots, two mechanics, one flight manager) flew in Florida, Oklahoma, Michigan, Washington, Oregon and Southern California in 2014. This year the plane has been in Tennessee, Florida, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Alaska and now Lake Tahoe.

At the end of the five-year contract the Forest Service will evaluate the feasibility of the Super Scooper being used more extensively.

By Howard Stutz, Las Vegas Review-Journal

Caesars Entertainment Corp. struck an agreement with a large group of the casino company‘s second-tier debt holders, which gives the creditors “a substantial improvement in recoveries” once the bankruptcy restructuring of its largest operating division is completed.

In a statement released late Monday night, Caesars said the agreement with the creditors, who are owed billions of dollars, is effective once 50 percent of the holders have signed on to the plan. Caesars did not say what percentage of the group had approved of the deal.

Caesars owns Harrah’s Lake Tahoe and Harveys.

Under the agreement, the bond holders signing onto to the plan will receive a forbearance fee of at least $200 million in convertible debt to be issued by Caesars Entertainment “in consideration for forbearing in respect to certain alleged defaults.”

Read the whole story

Tom Ritchie

A memorial service for Tom Ritchie will be at Rojo’s in South Lake Tahoe on July 24 starting at 8pm.

Ritchie passed away at Renown Regional Medical Center on Jan. 1 after receiving fatal injuries in a fall. He was 60.

He moved to Lake Tahoe in 1979. He spent a lot of time hiking and enjoying the outdoors.

During his years in South Lake Tahoe, Ritchie played with the local band Lightning Rose, and then as lead guitarist and singer for Thunder Rose. Friends are encouraged to bring musical instruments to play.

By Associated Press

Nevada again ranked poorly in a national child welfare report, coming in dead last when it comes to education.

According to the latest Kids Count Data Book issued by the child advocacy group the Annie E. Casey Foundation, Nevada ranked 47th overall among the 50 states.

The state scored in the bottom five in three of the four categories, including economic well-being, education and health. It ranked 43rd in family and community.

And despite being credited for improvement on many factors, Nevada still had an increase of children living in poverty and in high-poverty areas and with a single-parent family and with parents without secure employment.

A state education spokeswoman says programs have been implemented to address the problems but that the report using 2013 data doesn’t reflect them.

Work begins this week on the U.S. Forest Service Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit’s plans to improve the Camp Richardson area.

The first phase of the Campground and Vehicle Circulation Best Management Practices Retrofit is designed to meet current standards for water quality protection and universal accessibility. About 250 trees in the campground on the north side of Highway 89 will be removed.

Campsites and roads will be moved from sensitive stream environment zone areas. A portion of the Pope-Baldwin Bike Path (locally known as the Camp Rich bike path) will be moved from the highway shoulder. A new campground entrance will also be created.

The first phase of the project is expected to be complete by October.  Phase two on the south side of Highway 89 is anticipated to begin in September 2015 and be finished by June 2016.

For more information, go online.

The Tahoe Rim Trail Association, Tahoe Institute for Natural Science, and city of South Lake Tahoe are partnering for a three-day program that will introduce teens (ages 12-14) to a wildlife survivor’s state of mind.

The youth backcountry camp has teens unplugging and gaining a greater awareness of Tahoe’s natural inhabitants.

Participants will learn about wilderness survival, navigation (map/compass and GPS), leave no trace wilderness ethics, local ecology and geology, and backcountry cooking and nutrition. Participants will backpack approximately three miles per day and develop crucial backcountry skills while out on the Tahoe Rim Trail.

The Aug. 1-3 camp costs $295.

Gear, food and transportation will be provided for all participants. All programs are instructed by experienced and well-trained staff from the TRTA, TINS and the city.

Registration is available online.

The inaugural beach-wrestling tournament at El Dorado Beach is July 25 starting at 11am.

There will be kids as young as 5 competing, as well as high school students, an open division and a women’s event.

People younger than 18 compete for free. Open division wrestlers pay $5 each, with the winner getting half the purse.

For more info about the South Lake Tahoe contest, contact Ryan Wallace at email sltwrestling@yahoo.com or 530.318.9112.