To the community,

The Mueller family really enjoys making people happy. As owners of Adventure Mountain Lake Tahoe, the sledding, tubing and snow play resort located at the top of Echo Summit, they provide winter activities that can be enjoyed by people of all ages.

Continuing their generous spirit of wanting to make people’s lives better, Linda and Jim Mueller host several Bread & Broth Adopt A Day of Nourishment sponsorships annually.   After hosting an AAD earlier in the year on May 5th, the couple along with their son, Max, were the hosts and volunteers for the Monday meal at St. Theresa Grace Hall on Oct. 16.

“Bread & Broth provides a great service to the South Lake Tahoe Community and Adventure Mountain Lake Tahoe is happy to help and play a part in giving back to our community,” commented Linda Mueller.  

Unfortunately, many of our Tahoe South Shore neighbors are food insecure and live in constant survival mode. Thanks to the Muellers’ generous donation, their Monday meal fed 95 folks who are vulnerable and were very much in need of a hot, nutritious meal.

The Adopt A Day of Nourishment program is a funding source for B&B’s Monday meal.   In addition to the $250 donation, the AAD program offers sponsors the opportunity to participate at their dinner event giving them the ability to personally serve others, lend a hand at the meal and have a humbling and uplifting experience.  B&B would like to thank the Mueller’s and Adventure Mountain for their on-going support of B&B’s efforts to feed the hungry through the AAD program.

Carol Gerard, Bread & Broth

The Truckee Ranger District on the Tahoe National Forest will conduct prescribed fires this fall and winter to reduce build-up of hazardous fuels and to move towards restoring forest ecosystems.

Planned projects include low to moderate intensity understory burns of vegetation on the forest floor and burning piles of stacked woody material.

The goals of these projects are to re-establish natural ecosystems using fire, reduce the severity of future wildfires, and provide added protection for communities in the wildland urban interface. Prescribed fire helps to promote a diverse and more resilient forest, as well as improve habitat for wildlife.

The Forest Service is also working to reduce fuels by thinning dense stands of trees and brush using mechanical thinning, mastication, and hand removal of vegetation throughout the Tahoe National Forest.

All prescribed fire projects are conducted in accordance with a specific, approved prescribed fire burn plan.

The following is a list of prescribed fire projects currently planned for this fall and winter on the Truckee Ranger District:

·         Highway 89 near Prosser Hill Off-Highway Vehicle (OHV) Area – 1,000 acres of understory burning, approximately two miles north of Tahoe Donner and Prosser Lakeview/Prosser Heights and adjacent to Klondike Flats.

·         Multiple Piled Material Operations – Sagehen (300 acres); Serene Lakes (2 acres); Henness Pass Road north of Stampede Reservoir (5 acres); Highway 89 (2 acres).

Smoke from prescribed fire operations is normal and may continue for several days after lighting, depending on the project size.

LimeBike this month raised $50 million in Series B funding to expand its reach.

The bike share company was in South Lake Tahoe this summer on a pilot program and expects to return next summer.

The cash infusion will be used to grow operations, support ongoing upgrades to the bike design and the mobile app, and increase the fleet tenfold.

The San Mateo-based company wants to have a million users by the end of the year.

The company is in 12 cities and on eight college campuses.

— Lake Tahoe News staff report

By Molly Sullivan, Sacramento Bee

Raley’s, Nob Hill and Bel Air stores have joined the ranks of grocery stores recalling prepackaged and frozen vegetable products from Mann Packing that may be contaminated with listeria. So far, health officials have not confirmed any listeria cases in Sacramento County.

Customers who purchased products included in the recall are being notified through emails and phone calls, said Raley’s spokesperson Chelsea Minor.

Read the whole story

By Megan Brancaccio, Moonshine Ink

As I walk into the Coffeebar Bakery — located on Donner Pass Road, less than a mile from Highway 80 — it’s hard to focus on anything but the smell of roasted coffee beans and the spread of various baked goods. The shop hardly seats 10 people, and serves mostly as a grab-and-go location.

When my latte is ready, I turn to exit, but I am distracted by four quaint paintings on the otherwise blank, grey wall. According to a placard next to the pieces, the artist is a Reno/Tahoe local named Annika Peterson.

I pause to admire the paintings of lavender and peony before going forth with my day — a day that was altered, even if only for a brief moment — by art.

Read the whole story

·       El Dorado County is launching an economic development campaign called Elevate to El Dorado. More info is on the website launched just for this campaign.

·       Zephyr Cove Tennis Club’s Tahoe Tennis Classic will be July 26-29, 2018.

·       The Carson Valley Arts Council will present the Tony Furtado Trio in concert at CVIC Hall, on Nov. 3 at 7pm. For information or to purchase tickets, go online.

·       Lake Tahoe Community College is going through the accreditation process. The review team was on campus this month. The formal report is expected in February.

·       Power will be out in the Christmas Valley area along Grass Lake Road and Grass Lake Way on Oct. 24 from 9am-5pm to replace a damaged pole.

By Dale Kasler, Sacramento Bee

Larry Ellison has made billions in high technology and has a knack for buying glitzy real estate properties. Can the founder of Oracle Corp. bring his Midas touch to a faded Lake Tahoe resort once owned by Frank Sinatra?

Ellison’s Lawrence Investments has been cleared to buy the Cal Neva Resort & Casino for $35.8 million, according to U.S. Bankruptcy Court records. A federal bankruptcy judge approved the sale on Oct. 16 after no other bidder surfaced for the fabled property.

The Cal Neva has gone through a succession of owners over the years and has been unable to regain its Sinatra-era luster. The resort, which straddles the California-Nevada border and includes a 10-story hotel tower and a small casino, has sat idle since 2013.

Read the whole story

To the community,

Ever since we moved to South Lake Tahoe 38 years ago, we have been proud to call this city our home. Between our community spirit of caring and sharing, excellent schools, and the inspiring nature of the lake and mountains, we are truly fortunate to live in such a special place. We recently hosted our foreign exchange student from 20 years ago and we were proud to show him all of the community upgrades such as Heavenly Village, Lakeview Commons, Harrison Avenue, South Tahoe High School, and the new Whole Foods project.

Although these community upgrades are visible improvements, not everything is perfect in South Lake Tahoe. A persisting problem that plagues our city is the deteriorating state of our aging streets and roads. These failing streets increase vehicle maintenance costs and reduce our quality of life. Dangerous potholes and cracks must be repaired promptly to improve safety for all residents and visitors to our city. This is why we must support Measure C on the November ballot.

Measure C will fix potholes and pave, maintain and repair local streets and roads. It will improve roadway safety for drivers, pedestrians and bicyclists, and will provide safe routes to school for children. Not to mention, repairing our roads through Measure C will reduce fine sediment pollution from roads, improving lake clarity and water quality.

We all agree that our roads must be repaired, but there is some disagreement as to why Measure C is the best option. But some things seem clear.

First, we need improvements now. The longer we wait, the more expensive road repairs will become, placing an even bigger burden on our city. Measure C is a solution that will begin repairs immediately, reduce costs through coordination with Southwest Gas and qualify our city for matching funds from the State.

Second, if we want reliable, dedicated road funding, we need to look beyond the city’s existing General Fund budget. For over 50 years, our city has struggled to pay for the road maintenance, repairs and improvements we’ve needed. This is because, upon South Lake Tahoe’s founding, the city’s budget was formatted to prioritize other services like public safety over road repairs. This means that funding is inconsistent at best and often by default. Measure C provides a dedicated source of consistent funding that is not vulnerable to fluctuations in the city’s budget.

Third, Measure C has the highest fiscal accountability standards of any road repair solution. Three-tiered accountability provisions include a legal mandate that funds only be spent on roads in South Lake Tahoe, a roads management authority separate from the City Council that manages funding and an unpaid Citizens’ Oversight Committee that supervises road spending. Essential items and services, like groceries and medicine, are exempt from any costs, and Measure C is the only solution that ensures tourists help pay for their impact on our roads. If you are of the same belief as we are, that the city should be held accountable for all spending, then you will agree that there is no better option for fiscal responsibility than Measure C.

Opposition to Measure C has offered no solution to fixing our roads, other than demanding the City Council re-examine the budget. This is the same group that calls the City Council irresponsible with spending. Their solution is to leave our roads’ future in the hands of the very individuals they say they don’t trust to manage funding. This is not a solution at all. We need Measure C – a fiscally-responsible, reliable solution to fix our roads starting now.

Our community has come together to support this important measure, with a coalition including the El Dorado County Taxpayers Association, both the local Democratic and Republican parties, both local chambers of commerce, the League to Save Lake Tahoe and many more all recommending a yes vote on Measure C. We urge you to join us in making the smart choice for the future of our city. Vote yes on Measure C.

Greg and Jean Bergner, South Lake Tahoe

Publisher’s note: This is one of a series of stories about Lake Tahoe area athletes who hope to compete in the 2018 Olympics in South Korea.

By Susan Wood

PARK CITY, Utah – Experience counts in most facets of life.

So at age 33, alpine skier Julia Mancuso is counting on that theory to take her onto the podium in February in South Korea for the Winter Games.

Through the years, the four-time Olympian who hails from the Lake Tahoe area when she’s not in Hawaii has racked up 100 career victories in her sport. At the Games of 2002, 2006, 2010 and 2014, she’s taken home one gold and bronze medal each as well as two silvers in various skiing disciplines. But from first glance at an Olympic media summit in Park City last month, she’s not done.

Her gym in Truckee is thriving. She’s happily married. And she took a bit of a respite coming off a hip injury that forced her to skip the Audi FIS Women’s World Cup she helped her home resort Squaw Valley to host.

But the flame is still within Mancuso.

Julia Mancuso is eager to participate in her fifth Olympics. Photo/Kathryn Reed

When asked at a press conference what it meant to her to win Olympic gold, she beamed.

“I passed those Olympic rings every day on my way to school – to see the flame burning,” she said of her childhood in Truckee where her skiing career started. She knows it’s special to grow up in a town that once hosted the Olympics.

But don’t kid yourself. The thought of whipping down a slippery mountain slope with two planks attached to her feet at speeds some people drive on a highway can be taxing physically and mentally. It’s not easy.

“It’s been difficult coming back with my hip. But I’m training and getting stronger,” she said of her surgically repaired joint. Mancusco has hip dysplasia and has fought off the pain. She remained on crutches for half the year.

Now as she approaches the Games in PyeongChang, it’s a new day. Therein comes a new outlook. She even got to do a test run last year, enjoying both “the course and the culture.”

“Skiing is actually easier than walking,” she told Lake Tahoe News. But for other racers on the conference stage such as superstar Mikaela Shiffrin of Colorado, she warned them not to expect she’d somehow be handicapped.

“Don’t be fooled,” she quipped.

“I love skiing as fast as possible. There’s no judge on how to get there. Just the clock is the judge,” she said.

Her wisdom through adversity has provided a new lease on life. In some respects, it’s therapeutic helping other injured athletes as she does with her support of the High Fives Foundation. The Truckee-area nonprofit was founded by Roy Tuscany in 2009 to help with injury prevention awareness and help for those severely injured.

She knows the anguish of coming off an injury far too well.

Squaw Valley’s Olympic rings from 1960 still inspire Julia Mancuso. Photo/LTN file

“It’s been hard. I just wait for the day when I wake up, and it gets better. Everything has its peaks and valleys,” she told LTN during a roundtable discussion. “But I know anything’s possible. I just want to stay positive. I have the desire to ski fast. I just expect my body to keep up.”

Indeed, this is a racer with five World Cup medals to complement five Olympic versions.

Now as the season approaches, Mancuso has considered improving with baby steps. She hopes to shave off seconds when considering making the team. With a short window, some athletes will discover they qualify within weeks of the Olympics.

And at this Olympics, there are new additions to the repertoire of ski events. In particular, alpine skiing comes up as a team sport. Male and female skiers have an equal role to play. With the event moving away from an individual focus, skiers will be working together and pooling their efforts. The winners of each heat advance to the next round. The two teams left standing slug it out for gold.

Mancuso commended the expansion, but for purist alpine racers, the team skiing event is described as more of a spectacle for viewership.

It will be the first time South Korea has hosted the Winter Olympics – thus launching a spate of Asian Olympic Games. Tokyo will host the 2020 Summer Games. Then, Beijing will bring on the 2022 Winter Games.

Next year’s Games are slated from Feb. 9-25.

Jose DeJesus Rodriguez Quezada

Douglas County sheriff’s investigators want to question Jose DeJesus Rodriguez Quezada in regards to a murder this month at Hard Rock in Stateline.

Kevin Leroy Edwards, 56, of Reno was found dead in a hotel room on Oct. 3.

Authorities are not saying how the two knew each other or how Edwards died.

Quezada, 44, is being called “a person of interest.” Officers are considering him armed and dangerous. He could be traveling in Northern Nevada. They added that he frequents homeless shelters and truck stops, and is friendly with the transgender community.

Edwards’ BMW had been missing, but has since been found in Wadsworth.

— Lake Tahoe News staff report