·       Warren Miller’s “Here, There & Everywhere” will be shown Feb. 11 at 6pm at South Tahoe High School as a fundraiser for the ski team. Tickets are $15 each and may be purchased online starting Jan. 23. 

·       “Groundhog Day” (rated PG) will be shown all day for free at the Minden Library on Feb. 2. It will be played on a loop from 10am-4pm in the meeting room. Snacks and beverages will be available throughout the day. The Minden Library is located at 1625 Library Lane.

·      North Lake Tahoe Fire is hosting a blood drive Feb. 16 from 9am-5pm at the main fire station, 875 Tanager St., Incline Village.

·      David Baughman, 51, of Placerville has been appointed warden at California State Prison Sacramento by Gov. Jerry Brown. He has been acting warden since 2016.

·      Pickleball at South Tahoe Rec Center now has designated times: Mondays and Wednesdays from 6:30-9am, Tuesdays and Thursdays from 1-4pm, and Saturdays from 11am-2pm. Basketball hours are Saturdays from 2-5pm.

Placer County Board of Supervisors on July 25 is expected to approve a six-month transitional contract with the North Lake Tahoe Resort Association.

The contract would be effective from Aug. 1 to Jan. 31 for $1,779,496. NLTRA would be responsible for marketing the North Lake Tahoe area, limited transportation and developing capital projects with the cooperation of the county.

The two entities have been at odds since the county earlier this year drastically altered the contract because it had a desire to have more control. The county also wanted to eliminate the middleman and go right to its constituents.

The meeting will be in Tahoe City starting at 9am.

— Lake Tahoe News staff report

The Carson Ranger District on the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest is putting on ranger-led snowshoe treks every Saturday through March 18.

This is a way to explore National Forest lands, while learning about the natural, cultural, and geologic history of the Lake Tahoe area.

The walk begins at 10am, last three hours, and cover approximately 2 miles of moderately strenuous terrain. It is an off-trail exploration through the meadow and forest and offers views of Lake Tahoe and the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Walks may be canceled in the event of bad weather or dangerous road conditions such as when chains are required.

The guided snowshoe walks take place in Tahoe Meadows near the summit of Mt. Rose Highway, halfway between south Reno and Incline Village. 

There is no cost. Participants need to bring their own snowshoes.

Preregistration is required by Wednesday of the trek week. Larger groups are encouraged to call ahead to ensure adequate staffing. For more information, to sign up, or for weather related cancellation updates, call 775.722.3985 or email oldertrails@yahoo.com.  

The fourth winter Alpenglow Mountain Festival, is a celebration of human-powered mountain sports, events, clinics, equipment demonstrations, critically-acclaimed film and more, is Feb. 18-26.

Geared toward beginner and intermediate winter recreation enthusiasts, the Alpenglow Mountain Festival showcases some of the best activities Lake Tahoe has to offer – backcountry skiing and splitboarding, Nordic skiing, snowshoeing, natural history events and more.  

With over 50 individual events, the festival offers an immense range of activities that span daily ski and splitboard tours, avalanche education, critically-acclaimed film and natural history excursions for outdoor enthusiasts of all interests and ability levels. The majority of events are free, so space is limited and participants are encouraged to register online to secure spots.

The complete events schedule is online. Events are on the North Shore.

By Michael Scott Davidson, Las Vegas Review-Journal

Republican leadership in the Nevada Legislature appears split on a proposal to modify a decade-old property tax cap law.

Michael Roberson, the top Republican in the Senate, has vowed to stop the bill, but Assembly minority leader Paul Anderson is keeping a more open mind ahead of the legislative session that begins Feb. 6.

Assembly Bill 43, submitted by the Nevada Association of Counties, would modify formulas used to calculate annual property tax increases and set a floor of 3 percent for annual commercial property tax increases. The bill would not remove caps on annual increases of residential and commercial property taxes, which are set at 3 and 8 percent, respectively.

Read the whole story

Starting in February, the Minden Library will be showing movies every Saturday at 10:30am in the meeting room for free.  

These movies are geared toward adults and teens (rated PG to PG-13). Free coffee and treats will be available.  

February’s theme is romantic award-winning films:

·         Feb. 4: “Breakfast at Tiffany’s”  (not rated)

·         Feb. 11: “Chocolat”  (PG-13)

·         Feb. 18: “Barefoot in the Park” (not rated)

·         Feb. 25: “Casablanca” (PG)

The Minden Library is located at 1625 Library Lane.  

By USSA

KITZBUEHEL, Austria – On the world’s toughest downhill course, one small mistake is the difference between finishing on the podium and 10th place. Just ask Steve Nyman (Sundance, Utah), who finished 10th in Saturday’s Hahnenkamm Audi FIS Ski World Cup downhill where the top 10 were separated by just 0.84 seconds.

Italy’s Dominik Paris took the victory over two surprise Frenchmen, Valentin Giraud Moine in second and Johan Clarey in third. Nyman, who chose bib 1, soaked in the start festivities and was well on his way to a great run until the Hausberg section on the world’s most famous downhill course.

“It was really cool starting No. 1,” Nyman said. “They have the big gong going up there, the countdown, and everybody is psyched to see the first guy kick out of the gate. I definitely had some nerves, but I executed really well until the Hausberg. I landed off that round, and that’s a long side-hill traverse, and not carrying the speed across that cost me a lot of time.”

Nyman led four Americans into the top 30 Saturday, including Tommy Biesemeyer (Keene, N.Y.), who started bib 50 and posted a career-best 23rd place finish – scoring his first World Cup downhill points – on his first race down the Hahnenkamm.

“I’m happy to walk away with 23rd today,” Biesemeyer said. “It was my first time down Kitzbuehel. To get my first downhill points with a career-best downhill result here in Kitzbuehel is a day to remember.”

Andrew Weibrecht (Lake Placid, N.Y.) was 19th and Travis Ganong (Squaw Valley) was 29th. Jared Goldberg (Holladay, Utah) finished 40th and Bryce Bennett (Squaw Valley) finished in a three-way tie for 41st.

Austria’s Marcel Hirscher, who did not race Saturday, continues to lead the overall World Cup standings with 980 points. Norway’s Henrik Kristoffersen is second with 692 points and France’s Alexis Pinturault is third with 655 points.

By USSA

GARMISCH-PARTENKIRCHEN, Germany  – Lindsey Vonn (Vail) is back on top.

In only her second race since returning from a pair of injuries that sidelined her for almost a year, Vonn won Saturday’s Audi FIS Ski World Cup downhill on the Kandahar course for the third time in her career. Saturday’s win marked her 77th career World Cup victory, moving her closer to the all-time mark of 86 wins set by the legendary Swede Ingemar Stenmark.

“I’m so happy that it only took me two races to get back on the top step,” Vonn said. “Honestly, I wasn’t sure after Zauchensee how long it would take me. I proved to myself today that all the work that I put in is really coming through.”

Starting bib 17, Vonn posted the fastest times at four of the five intermediate splits ahead of second-place finisher Lara Gut of Switzerland and third-place finisher Viktoria Rebensburg of Germany, both of whom looked on with surprising disbelief in the finish at what Vonn had just accomplished.

“I’ve worked really hard to come back and I feel like sometimes I come back so quickly that everyone forgets how much time and energy, blood, sweat and tears it takes to come back without any training and just jump in there,” said Vonn, who was 13th in her first race back last weekend in Altenmarkt-Zauchensee, Austria.

Vonn’s victory led four Americans into the top 20, including Breezy Johnson (Victor, Idaho) in 11th; Laurenne Ross (Bend, Ore.) and Stacey Cook (Mammoth Lakes) tied for 18th. Jackie Wiles (Aurora, Ore.), who grabbed her first career World Cup podium in third last weekend in Altenmarkt-Zauchensee, finished 26th. Leanne Smith (North Conway, N.H.) was 37th.

Johnson was well on her way to a career-best World Cup result until the second-to-last racer to start, Ricarda Haaser of Austria, wearing bib 53 came down and posted her best World Cup downhill finish in 10th.

With her second-place finish, Gut took 80 points out of Mikaela Shiffrin’s (Eagle-Vail, Colo.) overall World Cup lead. Shiffrin leads the overall standings with 1,008 points. Gut is second with 773 points. Slovenia’s Ilka Stuhec finished seventh to maintain her overall World Cup downhill lead over Gut in second and Italy’s Sofia Goggia in third.

By Jim Krajewski, Reno Gazette-Journal

Low numbers and a lack of experience will take Incline football out of the 2A and into independent status next season.

The Highlanders forfeited three games last season, at Battle Mountain, and home games versus 2A state runner-up Yerington and 2A state champion Pershing County, because athletic and school officials thought the games were not safe for the Incline players.

At the Nevada Interscholastic Activities Association Board of Control meeting on Wednesday at the Silver Legacy, the members voted to allow Incline to play football as an independent team for one season in 2017.

Read the whole story

California Conservation Corps members help Lake Tahoe Community College on Jan. 18 with snow removal. Photo/LTN

By Lake Tahoe News

Caltrans is alerting motorists traveling to the Sierra, particularly those using Interstate 80 over Donner Summit or Highway 50 over Echo Summit, to be prepared for significant travel delays through Monday.

Expect passes to be closed at times either for avalanche control or to clear wrecks. For current road conditions, click on the state icons on the home page of Lake Tahoe News.

Non-essential travel is being discouraged on Sunday and Monday, even on local streets.

The National Weather Service in Reno has issued a winter storm warning through 4am Monday. “Travel into the Sierra on Sunday could be nearly impossible. Strongly consider staying at home on Sunday,” the agency says.

Liberty Utilities and Nevada Energy anticipate outages as snow and trees bring down lines. Prepare in advance by having other sources of lighting and heat, and keeping communication devices charged.

Residents in Tahoe-Truckee are reminded to clear gas meters of snow and are encouraged to clear neighborhood fire hydrants.

Backcountry adventure could be deadly. Ski resorts are having a hard enough time keeping up with conditions.

Sierra-at-Tahoe on Jan. 20 issued this statement, “The forecast is calling for an additional 3-4 feet of snow to fall throughout the weekend with as much as 3 inches falling per hour at points, so please be patient as we work to get lifts spinning and trails open. This is what dreams are made of, but guest safety is always our top priority, which means delayed starts and limited operations are sometimes necessary during the variable conditions we’re expected to face throughout the weekend. If it’s closed, it’s closed for a reason. Please respect all closures and signage.”

Squaw Valley’s record snowfall for January came during the 1981-82 season with 175 inches. In the first 20 days of this year, the resort has received 115 percent of that accumulation.

The U.S. Forest Service office in South Lake Tahoe will be closed Monday because of the storm.

Waste Management in Incline Village will close collection and transfer station operations on Jan. 23 because of the incoming storm. Residential collection will occur Jan. 28 for customers who are missed Monday. Commercial collection will be Jan. 26.

El Dorado County continues to deal with infrastructure problems because of the January storms. In the Tahoe, staff have been working 24 hours a day to plow roads, clear blocked drains due to snow berms, and remove downed trees.

There is a sinkhole on Arapahoe Road between San Diego Street and Country Club Drive.

Current West Slope road closures:

• Fort Jim Road at Newtown Road — failing drainage structure.
• Kyburz Drive — mudslide/trees/ debris blocking drainage. Will take several days to remove. Local access available for residents.
• Weber Creek at Jurgens/Luneman — low water crossing flooded and unsafe for vehicle traffic.
• Cosumnes Mine Road at North Fork of Cosumnes River — bridge approach failure. In addition, other sections of the road not associated with the bridge, have slid down the slope.
• Peavine Ridge Road just to the north of Highway 50 – The road is slipping.

County staff has been responding to calls regarding hundreds of downed trees, flooding, potholes, and small and large slides. The most significant slides have occurred along Salmon Falls Road, Rock Creek Road, Mosquito Road, Newtown Road, Forni Road, and Hassler Road.