By Sam Stanton, Sacramento Bee

Trial for Luis Enriquez Monroy Bracamontes was set Friday for next October, but only after the suspect in the slaying of two Sacramento-area deputies briefly objected, telling a judge he preferred an earlier date.

“So for me, it will be better in March,” Bracamontes told Sacramento Superior Court Judge Steve White, adding that waiting for October 2017 – three years after he allegedly gunned down Sacramento sheriff’s Deputy Danny Oliver and Placer sheriff’s Deputy Michael Davis Jr. – is “too long.”

The suspect, a 36-year-old Mexican citizen who was in the United States illegally at the time of the shootings, relented after his court-appointed attorneys, Norm Dawson and Jeffrey Barbour, conferred with him quietly at the defense table in their latest effort to prevent their client from upending the court proceedings.

Read the whole story

By Associated Press

The slowly improving economy could boost travel over the Thanksgiving holiday to levels not seen in nine years.

AAA forecasts that 48.7 million Americans will travel, the busiest Thanksgiving period on U.S. roads and skies since 2007, the year before the global financial crisis plunged the U.S. economy into a deep recession.

The auto club AAA said that it expects 1 million more Americans to venture at least 50 miles from home, a 1.9 percent increase over last year.

The forecast was assembled at research firm IHS, which said it considered jobs, household net worth, the stock market, prices for gasoline and airline tickets, and other factors.

The researchers did their number crunching in mid-October, about three weeks before the surprising outcome in the presidential election.

The AAA forecast predicts that from Wednesday through Sunday about 43.5 million Americans will take long car trips, 1.9 percent more than last year. AAA expects 3.7 million will travel by air, a 1.6 percent increase. Bus and train trips will grow less than 1 percent, the auto group said.

An airline-industry trade group is a bit more bullish. Airlines for America predicts that air travel will rise 2.5 percent over last year’s holiday, although the group considers Thanksgiving travel spanning a 12-day period that began Nov. 18.

Planes are likely to be packed over the holiday, and bad weather or airline computer malfunctions can slow things to a crawl. If the unexpected happens, be ready to react quickly.

The Tahoe Basin Area Plan passed the first hurdle when the Placer County planning commissioners approved the document last week.

Next month the Board of Supervisors will vote on the plan, which also includes the Tahoe City Lodge project. The Tahoe Regional Planning Agency Governing Board will be the last stop in January.

The area plan is a TRPA required document. It will be a guide for development for the next 20 years for most of the North Shore.

The hotel would be the first new lodging facility in Tahoe City in decades. Samir Tuma wants to build 40 traditional hotel rooms near the lake. An additional 31 one-bedroom and 47 two-bedroom suites are planned. The suites would be sold; with the idea most of the time owners would have them in the rental pool for tourists. They would be deed restricted.

— Lake Tahoe News staff report

The second installment of Tahoe City’s Alpenglow Sports’ 11th annual Winter Film Series is Dec. 1.

At 7pm (doors open at 6:15pm) prominent Canadian ice climber and paragliding pilot Will Gadd will continue the series at Squaw Valley’s Olympic Village Lodge. Gadd, one of the top outdoor adventure athletes in the world, will show “30 Trips of a Lifetime in 60 High-Speed Minutes: Winning the X Games, Ice Climbing Niagara Falls, and Paragliding Over the Grand Canyon.”

Gadd, known as “Captain Adventure,” is a living legend. He continually pushes the boundaries of ice climbing and, even after having won every major title from the World Cup to the Winter X Games, still manages to impress. Always eager to rise to a fresh challenge, Gadd also broke the world distance record on a paraglider not once, but three times. He was also the first person to cross the U.S. by paraglider after a grueling seven-week trek.

The second annual Tahoe Film Fest is Dec. 1-4.

Many of the award winning films in the lineup were previously screened to rave reviews, such as “Before the Flood” produced by and starring Academy Award winner Leonardo DiCaprio, at nationally and internationally recognized events like Sundance Film Festival and Toronto International Film Festival. While environmental films will take center stage, 22 films including American independent and documentary films and select foreign films will be screened at the Incline Village Cinema and the Village Cinemas at Northstar.

National and international guests will join the festival including directors Roland Emmerich, Agustin Castaneda, Tom Donahue, Guillermo Ivan, Roberto Sneider and actors Paul Rodriguez, Maria Conchita Alonso, Andrew Keegan, Rafael de la Fuente, Reynaldo Pacheco, Patricia De Leon, Sol Rodriguez, Kendrick Sampson, David Castro, Travis Hope and others.

The final night of the Tahoe Film Fest includes a gala benefiting the Sierra Watershed Education Partnerships (SWEP) at Northstar.

For detailed information about the films and to view film trailers, go online. To purchase Tahoe Film Fest tickets, go online.

Giorgio

Giorgio is one of seven dogs who was transferred to Tahoe from a Central Valley shelter last week. Four of the dogs in this group have already found a new home.

Giorgio is a nice 1-year-old Chihuahua mix. He loves to play. He would greatly enjoy regular interaction with other dogs either at home or on play dates. He is great with kids and we think he is fine with cats, although he has not had much exposure to them.

Giorgio is with two other little dogs at the shelter and they are a bit noisy, but take them out of the kennel and you’ll see their true personality.

Giorgio is neutered, microchipped, tested for heart worm, and vaccinated. He is at the El Dorado County Animal Services shelter in Meyers, along with many other dogs and cats who are waiting for their new homes. Go to the Tahoe animal shelter’s Facebook page to see photos and descriptions of all pets at the shelter.

Call 530.573.7925 for directions, hours, and other information on adopting a pet.

For spay-neuter assistance for South Tahoe residents, go online.

— Karen Kuentz

By Kathryn Reed

One ingredient not on most Thanksgiving menus is fresh powder. With Mother Nature looking like she will be delivering an ample serving of the white stuff this week to Lake Tahoe ski resorts, it might be a tough choice for some people – powder day or being in the kitchen all day.

The chefs at Heavenly Mountain Resort have 2,200 pounds of turkey ready to cook on Thursday so you don’t have to.

This is the first year the resort will prepare a traditional Thanksgiving dinner for guests. In the past the meal was reserved for employees working that day. (They will still get to eat for free this Thanksgiving.)

Chef Pete Brinckerhoff is responsible for Heavenly’s Thanksgiving menu. Photo/Heavenly Mountain Resort

Pete Brinckerhoff is new to the Heavenly team, coming from the Riva Grill-Caliente group in the basin. He will be the one with the chef’s hat on at Tamarack Lodge. Claude Goode is the executive chef who roams between the various food outlets on the mountain. Steve Turner is the bigwig overseeing all of the food and beverage operations at the resort.

“We have listened to our guests and were adding more for the restrictive diets,” Turner told Lake Tahoe News. “On the Thanksgiving holiday we get a great crowd from the Bay Area, scenic riders, different ethnic groups. And they want more vegetarian options.”

The Thanksgiving menu at Heavenly:
• Slow roasted Tom turkey
• Mashed potatoes (lacto vegetarian)
• Turkey gravy
• Sautéed green beans (vegan)
• Cornbread stuffing with sun dried cranberries and candied Walnuts (vegan, contains wheat)
• Sweet potato pie with Oreo crust and marshmallow topping (lacto vegetarian)
• Cranberry dressing (vegan)
• Pumpkin Pie with whipped cream (lacto vegetarian)
• Vegetarian option – Heavenly Crispy Thanksgiving Tofu

While burgers are the No. 1 seller no matter the day, the culinary team has done its research to know how much food to have for the holiday. They factor in weather, hotels share occupancy numbers, and historical numbers all play a part in knowing just how much of each side to prepare.

The dinner will be served starting at 10:30am at all of the lodges that are open. For sure this means Tamarack. East Peak is a possibility. With the resort not opening until Wednesday, not all of the decisions have been finalized — including the cost of this special meal.

Mixologists are coming up with specialty drinks for the occasion — maybe something with Wild Turkey.

“Chef Claud knows one of my pet peeves is to not run out of food,” Turner said.

This means there’s a good chance that those who don’t make it to Heavenly on Thanksgiving could get some leftovers the next day.

“I love the turkey sandwich the next day,” Brinckerhoff told Lake Tahoe News. But he added, “The way we are cooking there probably won’t be a lot of leftovers.”

This is because the 25-pound turkeys are being cut apart and cooked separately instead of as a whole bird. This dramatically speeds up the cooking time, while also allowing for food to be coming out of the oven more frequently instead of hours apart. Plus, it’s a way to cut down on having a lot of extras.

“With the Tamarack Lodge we have the latest, greatest equipment. We have chill blasters so it would be like fresh again the next day. It’s not held in a warmer,” Goode said.

At Tamarack there is also a CVap oven. It’s cooking with steam, which helps food stay moister.

East Peak’s kitchen isn’t conducive to preparing the whole Thanksgiving meal so it will be transported there from Tamarack.

Brinckerhoff has been tasked with coming up with the menu — which is fairly traditional.

“One of the unique sides I’ve done in the past is a family recipe. My grandmother used to make a sweet potato casserole with marshmallows on top. It was one of my favorites,” Brinckerhoff said. “I did a twist on that by putting in an Oreo crust, then the sweet potato, and marshmallow on top.”

Brinckerhoff is sharing the recipe with Lake Tahoe News readers:

Brinckerhoff Family’s Sweet Potato Pie

5 pounds sweet potatoes

1 pound butter

3 C Oreo crumbles

1 bag marshmallows

1 tsp cinnamon

½ tsp nutmeg

The crust

Soften a quarter pound of the butter to 80 degrees. Place the butter and cookie crumbs in a mixing bowl and mix until the cookie crumbs holds together when compressed.

Place the cookie crust evenly in the bottom of a 9 x 9 baking dish. Make sure the crust is spread evenly.

Sweet Potato Pie

Peel the sweet potatoes and cut them into large chunks. Place the sweet potatoes in a large pot of water. Put the pot over high heat and cook until soft.

Remove the potatoes from the water and place in a large mixing bowl. Add the cinnamon, nutmeg and the rest of the butter. Mash the sweet potatoes until smooth, do not over whip.

Place the mashed sweet potatoes on top of the cookie crust. Spread the potato evenly, then top with the marshmallows

Bake the sweet potato pie until the marshmallows are golden brown.

To the community,

An “awesome group” from Kirkwood Mountain Resort’s food and beverage department was on hand on Nov. 7 to donate their time at Kirkwood’s Adopt A Day sponsorship.

“We want to start off by thanking Bread & Broth for giving us the opportunity of giving back to the community,” wrote Jamie Welch on behalf of her fellow sponsor crew members. “While some of us are from out of town, we appreciate the hospitality Lake Tahoe’s community members have shown us. This has been a heartwarming experience and we hope to help again in the future.”

Welch is the general manager of the Sun Rise Grill and her fellow crew members were Justin Husley, general manager at Timber Creek; Emily Hancock, assistant general manager at Timber Creek; and Brad Lodge, food and beverage administrator. With all of their experience in food service, these folks were a very welcome addition to the volunteers who make the evening meal event happen. They were a fun, enthusiastic and energetic group that just added to the general feel good atmosphere at the dinner.

With the funds provided by Kirkwood, the dinner guests were served baked chicken and sauce over noodles, roasted veggies, salad and a great assortment of pies and cakes donated by local stores. Bread & Broth would like to give a special thank you to Kirkwood Mountain Resort and their four sponsor crew members for making this nutritional and filling meal possible for the community’s hungry, at risk population.

For more B&B information, go online www.breadandbroth.org.

Carol Gerard, Bread & Broth

By Sarah Litz, Reno Gazette-Journal

John Abbott opened his mouth to have his cheek swabbed for DNA collection.

The 64-year-old from Susanville said he knew it wasn’t much, but it was the least he could do to find his uncle, who was a prisoner of war during World War II.

“Right now, there’s this big, empty hole,” Abbott said. “Maybe I can hope for closure. Maybe this (sample) will help.”

Abbott along with another 160 people from Nevada, California, Oregon and Idaho gathered at the Grand Sierra Resort on Saturday morning to be briefed on what the government is doing to help bring loved ones home. Personnel from the Department of Defense, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency and Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory met with families to inform them and the public of the efforts being made to account for missing service members.

Read the whole story

By Philip Marcelo, AP

BOSTON — Daily fantasy sports rivals DraftKings and FanDuel have agreed to merge after months of speculation and increasing regulatory scrutiny.

The two companies made the announcement Friday, saying the combined organization would be able to reduce costs as they work to become profitable and battle with regulators across the country to remain legal.

The companies have each raised millions of dollars through investors and sponsorship deals, but state attorneys general, lawmakers and regulators have questioned whether their online games — in which players pick teams of real life athletes and vie for cash and other prizes based on how those athletes do in actual games — amount to illegal sports betting.

The companies said in their statement that the merger, which still requires federal approval, would help them more efficiently lobby policymakers for a “standard regulatory framework” for the relatively new industry, which grew out of the traditional season-long fantasy sports competitions played by millions of Americans.

DraftKings CEO Jason Robins, who would take over as chief executive of the new company, said the merger also would help the companies develop a better product — like offering more varied contests, developing loyalty programs and improving their website features.

“Being able to combine DraftKings and FanDuel presents a tremendous opportunity for us to further innovate and disrupt the sports industry,” said FanDuel CEO Nigel Eccles, who would become the combined company’s board chairman.

The deal, which has been rumored for months, has raised questions among analysts about whether the merging of two companies that represent about 90 percent of the daily fantasy sports market would violate federal anti-trust laws. Larger companies like Yahoo, ESPN and CBS Sports dominate the broader fantasy industry, but are relatively small players in daily fantasy.

The companies didn’t address regulatory concerns in their announcement.

It’s also not yet clear how the merger will work on a practical level.

Financial terms were not disclosed Friday and the companies will maintain their separate brand names and operations until the deal is finalized, likely later in 2017.

The combined company is expected to be co-headquartered in New York and Boston under the agreement. DraftKings is currently based in Boston and FanDuel in New York.

And seats on the board of directors would be split evenly between the two companies, with three directors from DraftKings, three directors from FanDuel and one independent director.