• Resort at Squaw Creek is turning 25 this year.

• The 256 businesses and 1,420 shoppers who participated in the Shop Local Holiday Contest in North Lake Tahoe-Truckee generated $407,476 in revenue for local businesses. This is an increase from 2012 campaign when $192,225 was generated.

• Winter Discovery Center at Tahoe XC is having a yurt fund-raising dinner on Jan. 31 from 6-9pm. For more info or to buy a ticket call 530.405.6689.

• South Lake Tahoe Recreation Facilities Joint Powers Authority meets Jan. 23 at 9am at Lake Tahoe Airport.

• The 10th annual Health & Life Science Expo at Tahoe Center for Environmental Sciences for children ages 6-12 and their families is March 18 from 4-6pm in Incline Village. It is free.

This is a 28-foot Titan T280 Pilot similar to the Washoe County Sheriff’s Office new Marine 9. Photo/Titan Boats

Washoe County Sheriff’s Department is replacing the boat that sank on Memorial Day with 28-foot Titan T280 Pilot aluminum boat with twin 300-horsepower Mercury outboard motors that cost about $275,000.

The new vessel will be ready for the upcoming boating season. It is expected to be delivered the second week of May.

It will be equipped with the most technologically advanced radar, sonar, and GPS systems to assist with search, rescue and lifesaving missions along with routine marine patrol functions.

The new boat replaces the 14-year-old Marine 9 vessel which sank at a mooring off Incline Village during extreme weather conditions on May 26. While the Sheriff’s Office is still waiting for a determination as to the exact cause of the incident, a survey of the old vessel conducted by Washoe County and Traveler’s Insurance found structural issues and concluded the boat to be a total loss.

The insurance company is paying $101,000, with the remaining $173,543.94 to come from drug forfeiture money. The all-volunteer marine unit will also ask for donations from residents of Washoe County to help support additional enhancements. Anyone interested in donating to Marine 9 may call 775.832.4104.

— Lake Tahoe News staff report

By Ed Joyce, Capital Public Radio

More than three years of drought has reduced reservoir storage in California and groundwater supply. Some wine grape growers in Amador County are worried the limited resource could make this season more challenging.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said that, barring “epic rain and snowfall,” the drought will continue through at least the spring and likely linger into the summer in California. That’s a worry for wine grape growers that rely on groundwater.

“There’s a lot of concern out there amongst growers that I work with in the four counties in the Central Sierra,” said Lynn Wunderlich, a Farm Advisor with UC Davis Cooperative Extension. She works with growers in El Dorado, Amador, Calaveras and Tuolumne counties.

Wunderlich said the rainfall in each of those counties varies significantly. Because of the drought, Wunderlich said some growers are extending their wells or digging new wells to increase groundwater supply.

Read the whole story

Tahoe Institute for Natural Science is putting on a five scotch tasting and dinner fundraiser in February.

The scotches will be accompanied by a four course meal designed to complement the flavors of the evening, with rib-eye steak as the main course.

The tasting will be led by Evan Fletcher, a scotch enthusiast and certified spirits specialist, bringing over 10 years experience in the spirits industry.

The single malt scotches of the evening are:

• Balvenie 14 year Caribbean Cask
• Aberlour A’Bunadh
• Glenmorangie The Taghta
• Mortlach Rare Old
• Bruichladdich Port Charlotte.

The event is Feb.  28 at 6:30pm at the Parasol Tahoe Community Foundation building, 948 Incline Way, Incline Village.

Tickets are $225 and must be purchased by Feb. 21. Go online to purchase tickets.

By Matt Higgins, New York Times

Stowing his side projects as a mogul and a musician for a moment, Shaun White was back on his snowboard beneath the lights at Buttermilk Mountain in Aspen, Colo., on Monday night, launching himself from the halfpipe during practice for this week’s Winter X Games.

A dominant and decorated competitor for a decade in a young sport, White, 28, is scheduled to compete in the superpipe final tonight to open the Games, which run through Sunday. It will be his first competition, and a chance to reaffirm his stature, since he finished a disappointing fourth in the men’s halfpipe final at the Sochi Olympics last February.

“This season is not a big contest year for me,” said White, who has remained busy with his many outside interests, including playing guitar and touring with his band, Bad Things, which released a self-titled debut album last year on the Warner Bros. label.

Last year, White, who used to ride for Northstar, bought a majority stake in Air & Style, a competitive snowboarding series and music festival with events in Austria and China. He has expanded the franchise to the United States, where it will take place at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Calif., on Feb. 21. He is also chief executive of Shaun White Enterprises, an umbrella organization for his sponsorships with Target, Burton Snowboards, Oakley sunglasses and others.

Read the whole story

By USSA

ASPEN, Colo. — The first day of X Games 2015 is in the books, and the women’s superpipe gold medal is in familiar territory. In a field stocked full of eight world-class freeskiers from countries spanning the world, Maddie Bowman (Meyers) stomped her first run through Buttermilk’s halfpipe to win another gold medal.

Brita Sigourney (Carmel) took third.

For the first time since the late Sarah Burke won back-to-back-to-back X Games gold medals in the halfpipe, Bowman won her third consecutive X Games gold medal on Wednesday night in Aspen. Considering Bowman also won Olympic gold in Sochi in the same event, it is fair to say that women’s halfpipe skiing has a true champion representing the sport.

“Tonight was awesome, and I can’t believe it happened,” said Bowman. “I grew up idolizing Sarah Burke, and the first time I met her was at X Games. Sarah is the reason we’re here. To win X Games three times in a row, like Sarah, is pretty special.”

Bowman’s winning run came on her first attempt of three through the halfpipe. Exhibiting technical tricks, large amplitude, and stylish grabs throughout her entire run, Bowman compiled a winning scored of 85.66. Bowman linked a right-side 900 with a left-side 540 and then later nailed a left-side 900 and right-side 720 in succession to show she can spin in both directions. The spinning combinations, switch takeoffs and landings, down-the-pipe airs, and unparalleled style proved to be a winning equation for Bowman, again.

“The secret for winning is just having fun,” Bowman said at the bottom of the halfpipe, another gold around her neck. “When you’re having a great time with your friends is when you ski the best.”

Rounding out the podium behind Bowman were Japan’s Olympic bronze medalist Ayana Onozuka in second and Sigourney in third, respectively. Both women went into their third runs through the halfpipe with the ability to outscore Bowman, and both athletes put in solid attempts. In the end, however, Bowman’s score proved to be too much.

“To win a medal here is a great honor,” says Bowman. “Tonight was really special.”

By Riley Snyder, Associated Press

CARSON CITY — Nevada health department officials are expecting a financial penalty from the federal government over simmering issues with the state’s food stamp program.

Welfare program administrator Steve Fisher told a legislative budget committee Wednesday he expects the penalty due to delays in processing food stamp applications and a high error rate.

States are required to hit certain benchmarks for accuracy and timeliness to receive food stamp grants. Nevada’s error rate on food stamp applications hovers around 8 percent, which is nearly twice the national average, Fisher said.

An administrator with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food and Nutrition Service sent a letter to Nevada in September detailing the program’s issues and threatening to withhold federal grant funding if the state Department of Health and Human Services didn’t submit a corrective action plan.

Fisher said the health department is taking steps to fix the program’s problems, including hiring more full-time workers and reworking the method used to estimate the number of cases.

Legislators expressed apprehension over the department’s plans and asked for more information about future hiring.

“It does us no good to give you positions when you don’t have people in place,” Assemblywoman Marilyn Kirkpatrick, D-Las Vegas, told Fisher.

Fisher said he didn’t know the amount of the penalty because federal officials were still compiling data from the last fiscal year. The program was fined $144,000 when it was sanctioned in 2010.

Food and Nutrition Service spokesman Michael Ladd said the federal agency will take action sometime between April and July, depending on when the food stamp information is fully processed.

Food stamp applications have increased significantly over the last decade, with more than 450,000 Nevada residents expected to be enrolled in the program by 2016.

Two pilings of the Tahoe Keys pier remain in the water. Photo/Kathryn Reed

By Kathryn Reed

January is destined to be a record for the weather books. And it might be for some companies in the Lake Tahoe Basin, too.

No snow means no money for many businesses, which in turn means no paycheck or a smaller one because of reduced hours for employees. And with locals not making money, it then means less being spent throughout town.

For the first 20 days of the month the city has recorded a trace of moisture, according to the National Weather Service in Reno. The driest January was in 2003 when 0.03 inches fell.

Tahoe City hasn’t recorded any wet stuff this month. The record low precip for January was in 1991 with 0.08 inches.

It is the water equivalency that the Weather Service measures.

If the storm that is on the horizon for Jan. 27-28 materializes, this January may not be a record. But it will still likely be one of the worst on record.

Rain is what is being predicted for 8,500 feet and below. That means water on most of the already sketchy ski slopes.

For consecutive seasons Tahoe area resorts have been unable to open all of their terrain. This means not being fully staffed. And now hours are being cut. Tahoe Donner Cross Country, Dodge Ridge, Donner Ski Ranch, and Badger Pass have closed in the last week. That could change if Mother Nature comes through.

The only snowmen in Tahoe right now are inflatable, like this one at Tulare Avenue and Highway 50 in South Lake Tahoe. Photo/Toogee Sielsch

Tennis nets are back up in some places. Bikes were never put away for the season.

Vacancy signs were the norm last weekend – a three-day weekend that in the past often had lodging properties full.

While last summer was good for so many businesses in and around Tahoe, the same may not hold true for 2015. If snow, rain, and runoff don’t fill Lake Tahoe, the boating season could be over before it starts. It’s hard for most boats – except human powered – to access most of the marinas.

Tahoe Keys Marina owners have not taken out a dredging permit. It’s up to Aramark – operators of the Tahoe Queen – to dredge the Ski Run Marina. No permit has been sought and the Queen is not operating because of the low water level.

While there are plenty of things to do besides be on the lake in the summer, it is a big draw.

The only benefit of the low lake level may be larger beaches to accommodate more people. But one beach this month became off limits. Tahoe Keys Property Owners Association has put a fence up so only homeowners can access the sand and pier.

It’s going to be near beach-like weather this weekend.

Other records being set are for heat. It was 58 degrees in South Lake Tahoe on Jan. 18 – a record. The previous high was 57 in 1985. Another record may be set this Sunday where the forecasted high is for 62 degrees. The previous high was 57 in 1982.

Tahoe City on Jan. 25 may break the 1984 record of 51 degrees.

“It just continues to be mild and dry,” Jessica Kielhorn, meteorologist technician in Reno, told Lake Tahoe News.

Publisher’s note: This editorial is from the Jan. 21, 2015, Los Angeles Times.

Today, the 42nd anniversary of the Supreme Court’s landmark ruling in Roe vs. Wade, the House of Representatives is scheduled to vote on a bill to ban abortions at 20 weeks. The bill is expected to pass the House and may pass the Senate as well, although it is almost certain to be vetoed by President Obama.

But even if it won’t ultimately become law, it is worth pausing for a moment to think about what this bill is about. Under Roe, women have a constitutional right to an abortion up to the point of viability of the fetus outside the womb, which is about 24 weeks.

The bill would flout that, based on the claim that a fetus can feel pain at 20 weeks — an assertion rejected by most medical experts who have studied the issue and who have concluded that all the neurological elements necessary to experience pain are not completely in place and functioning at that point.

Read the whole story

• Registration is open for the June 7 America’s Most Beautiful Bike Ride – 72 miles around Lake Tahoe. Click here for more info.

• An electronic copy of the South Lake Tahoe’s 2014-15 budget document is available online.

• Lake Tahoe Community College Foundation’s Speaker Spotlight Series on Jan. 28 features Bruce Armbrust, a mathematics and physics instructor at LTCC. Armbrust will present Worlds Beyond Our Own, a look at the history and science behind the search for other planets. The free event starts at 6pm.

• Coldwell Banker McKinney & Associates is celebrating 30 years as an affiliate of the Coldwell Banker network.

• Guild Mortgage opened an operations center in Reno to process, underwrite and fund loans for its Nevada branches, including Lake Tahoe.