By Kathryn Reed

Michael Bischoff, candidate for Lake Tahoe Unified School District and Lake Tahoe Community College boards of education, was back in court last week.

This time is was for violating his probation stemming from a July 2010 felony driving under the influence arrest which he was convicted of in November 2010.

Michael Bischoff

In August, he told Lake Tahoe News he had been living in South Lake Tahoe for a little more than a year. This means the arrest came just after getting to town.

This is not the first DUI the 60-year-old has had, as was reported in the August story.

The Oct. 28 hearing was continued to Dec. 9.

Bischoff last week told El Dorado County Superior Court Judge Steve Bailey he has been attending AA meetings, is receiving counseling through Tahoe Turning Point, is on new medication and is looking for a job.

But this is not the only run-in with the law Bischoff has had in the 16 months he has lived in South Lake Tahoe. There are two restraining orders against him.

A woman who works for El Dorado County mental health department obtained the first restraining order in May. She crossed paths with Bischoff through his drug rehab program.

In a police report she says, “(Bischoff) began leaving sexually explicit messages, including what sounded like him masturbating while leaving the message.”

The second restraining order was issued in August. This was obtained by his now ex-girlfriend who he had been living with at Sky Lake Lodge.

She told officers Bischoff forced her to have sex, called her names and abused her cat.

It is not known where Bischoff is currently living after leaving the hotel in August.

He is on the Nov. 8 ballot for both boards of education.

By Laura Salinas

Homeless youth are living on the streets in thousands of communities nationwide, including ours. However, often we don’t stop to think about what led them to find refuge on the streets. Many of these adolescents are runaway and throwaway youth.

Tahoe Youth & Family Services is proud to be participating in honoring National Runaway Prevention Month this November. This national awareness campaign operates in conjunction with many national and local nonprofits including the National Runaway Switchboard and California Coalition for Youth.

Laura Salinas

The goal of this campaign is to promote awareness and to educate the public about solutions to prevent youth from running away. There are many factors that lead youth to run away or to be thrown out of their home. Some of the most common factors include: family conflict, abuse, sexual orientation, drug/alcohol related issues or escaping state care, such as foster care services.

For whatever reason youth choose to run away, life on the streets further exposes them to life threatening risks such as pregnancy, suicide attempts, substance abuse, sexual exploitation, or participating in criminal activity. This way of life may seem unimaginable to many of us; but the truth is that there are many youth in our community sleeping in the wilderness, wandering the streets and trying to find the means to survive.

Tahoe Youth & Family Services’ Drop In Centers strive to provide information, resources and supportive services to all youth who are homeless, couch surfing, living in poverty or who may be at risk of becoming homeless. Our Drop In Centers offer food, clothes, showers, laundry services, hygiene essentials, and help in obtaining proper identification.

Besides offering basic necessities, our Drop In Centers are a great place to relax and get off the streets. TYFS also offers a 24-hour crisis line: 800.870.8937.

Our current “wish list” for our Drop In Centers includes: socks, boxer shorts, disposable razors, blankets, sleeping bags, tents and backpacks. For more information on how you can help provide for our homeless youth, please contact Outreach Coordinator Cheyanne Lane at our South Lake Tahoe office (530) 541.2445 or email cheyanne@tahoeyouth.org. You may also contact Communications Coordinator Julie Franklin at our Gardnerville office at (775) 782.4202 or email her at julie@tahoeyouth.org. Our South Lake Tahoe Drop In Center is open 1-5pm Tuesday-Saturday. Our Gardnerville Ranchos Drop In Center is open Tuesday-Friday 3-7pm and Saturdays 2-7pm. Please “Like us” and Follow us on Facebook.

“How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world.” — Anne Frank

Laura Salinas is a youth advocate with Tahoe Youth & Family Services.

For an elegant evening of Champagne, hors d’oeuvres, fine wine, and a catered dinner, look no further than the Valhalla Holiday Gala on Dec. 3 from 5:30 to 10:30pm at the Grand Hall.

This holiday party benefiting the Tahoe Tallac Association features live music and a silent auction. The Tallac Site will be decorated in a winter motif, with the signature fireplace roaring.

Evening attire is recommended, and free valet parking will be provided.

Tickets are $75 or $85, and may be purchased online or by calling (530) 541.4975.

Proceeds from the event are directed to the Tahoe Tallac Association, formed in 1979 with the goal of assisting the U.S. Forest Service in restoring the three estates on the Tallac Historic Site and producing the Valhalla Arts & Music Festival each year.

The Tahoe Grizzlies Squirts (ages 9-10), PeeWees (ages 11-12) and Bantams (ages 13-14) youth ice hockey teams are geared up for another season.

The two game home openers for the Squirt and Bantam teams are set for Nov. 5-6 at the South Lake Tahoe Ice Arena. The Grizzlies Squirts square off against the San Jose Jr. Sharks Girls Saturday at 4pm, followed by the Grizzlies Bantams home opener against the Santa Rosa Flyers at 5:45pm.

Sunday finds the fast paced Squirt action starting the day against the Jr. Shark Girls at 8:15am, followed by the hard-hitting action of the Bantams, concluding their home series against the Santa Rosa Flyers at 10am.

Admission is free. The rink is at 1176 Rufus Allen Blvd.

The PeeWee team will take the ice the following weekend against the San Francisco Pee Wees – Nov. 12-13. The puck drops for the Saturday contest at 5:45pm and then again on Sunday morning at 10.

The combined full season schedule including all the home game weekends is available from the Northern California Youth Hockey Association website.

By Tim Hauserman

Royal Gorge Cross Country Ski Area, including more than 3,000 acres on Donner Summit and the Rainbow Lodge along the Yuba River, is being put up for sale this month by a court appointed receiver.

The receiver, Douglas Wilson, took possession of the property after the owners of Royal Gorge defaulted on a $16.7 million loan on the property. It is the end of a short, tumultuous chapter in the history of what is known as the largest cross country ski resort in North America, a centerpiece of the Donner Summit community.

How did this happen?

Royal Gorge plans to operate this winter, but it is for sale.

In 2005, developers Kirk Syme and two brothers, Mark and Todd Foster, purchased Royal Gorge from its long-time owner and original developer, John Slouber. They paid a reported $35 million and set out to get approval for a cross country ski area based development that would include 900 residential units, several small lakes, retail and restaurant establishments and several new lifts.

Things didn’t work out like they had planned. They had difficulty finding enough water and sewage capacity. Public officials said they would need to build a second access road to the development because the current two-lane road that goes over a busy railroad track would be insufficient in an emergency.

Then there were those “Save Donner Summit” bumper stickers which popped up everywhere as folks on the summit railed loudly against the development.

But the nail in the coffin was the real estate bust. With a built up inventory of luxury golf course homes in nearby Truckee it is hard to picture someone beginning a 900 unit residential and commercial development at this point in the economic cycle.

What happens to the ski area?

Douglas Wilson’s managing director for Brokerage Services, Tom Olson, says the receiver will keep Royal Gorge Cross Country operating and will maintain the level of service. Royal Gorge General Manager David Achey agrees, stating that the receiver has been supportive of the ski area.

“We got guys painting, doing maintenance, summer trail work, looking into signage, maintaining grooming fleet. We are putting out a great product,” Achey told Lake Tahoe News.

This year Royal Gorge will allow dogs on several trails for the first time. The Wells-Fargo and Emigrant trails will form a dog friendly loop on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays.

Olson says the property is being put up for sale for $24 million and is being marketed extensively internationally. The receiver is contacting cross country and downhill ski resorts, as well as individuals who in the past have purchased large parcels for conservation purposes. In addition to the 3,000 acres of Royal Gorge, which includes the Summit Station building and a number of huts along the trail, the sale also includes Rainbow Lodge with its 114 acres along the Yuba River and about 300 acres of land in Negro Canyon above Donner Lake.

One party that has already expressed interest in the property is the Truckee Donner Land Trust. Trust Executive Director Perry Norris said his group has been interested in the Royal Gorge property for more than 20 years, especially the environmentally sensitive Van Norden meadow. Norris says the trust sees the best use of the land is for conservation, not development, and to keep the cross country center operating.

He doesn’t believe the value for the property is $24 million, however.

“We are banking that at the end of the day the bank that is foreclosing on the property will see us as the best and strongest buyer. They had a very competent developer who tried to develop the property for six years and he didn’t move it one inch closer to the goal line,” Norris said.

The U.S Department of Homeland Security’s Federal Emergency Management Agency, the Federal Communications Commission, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration will conduct the first nationwide test of the Emergency Alert System on Nov. 9 at 11am.

The audio of the test will last 30 seconds. This will result in a total test time of approximately 45 to 60 seconds (including the data burst tones).

The public will hear a message indicating that “This is a test.” The audio message will be the same for radio, television, and cable.

The national-level EAS is a public alert and warning system that enables the president of the United States to address the public during extreme emergencies. Similar to local EAS tests, the nationwide test will involve broadcast radio and television stations, cable television, satellite radio and television services and wire line providers across all states and territories. Over the past two years and as part of ongoing national preparedness planning efforts, FEMA, the FCC and other federal partners, state, local, tribal and territorial governments, EAS participants, and others in the EAS community have been working toward making this test a reality.

NV Energy today reported that income for the third quarter is less than it was this time last year.

For the quarter ending Sept. 30, the energy company posted net income of $173.5 million, or 73 cents a share. In 2010, the company earned $177.5 million, or 75 cents a share.

Normally this is a high-demand quarter for NV with all the users in Las Vegas turning on their air conditioners.

The company is awarding a cash dividend of 13 cents a share, payable on Dec. 21 to shareholders of record on Dec. 6.

— Lake Tahoe News staff report

Jenny Anderson has her Lake Tahoe News T-shirt. The snow that is supposed to arrive Thursday and through the weekend could get you a shirt, too.

Send a picture of yourself with the white stuff to info@LakeTahoeNews.net — and feel free to write something about this fall tradition in Lake Tahoe.

Better get your blower tuned up.

Include your full name, mailing address and T-shirt size. The next nine people seen shoveling will be sent a Lake Tahoe News T-shirt.

The other way to get a T-shirt is for subscribers to send in a check of $40. In addition to the T-shirt, you will be added to our special NEWS list. People on this list are qualified for special benefits like ticket give-aways — like tickets to the annual Soroptimist wine tasting on Nov. 11 and the Festival of Trees and Lights’ family night Dec. 2 .

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By Ruth Blank

For a region still struggling with some of the worst economic conditions on record – a region that, even before the economy tanked, lagged the rest of the nation in philanthropic giving – proposals by the Obama administration and the so-called supercommittee to decrease the deductibility of charitable gifts are a very bad idea. They could severely damage our communities and set a dangerous precedent.

A recently completed multi-county study of philanthropic giving and attitudes in the region, the Greater Sacramento Generosity Project, highlighted the challenges local nonprofits face.

The project found that in El Dorado, Placer, Sacramento and Yolo counties only 62 percent of households had made a charitable contribution the prior year (compared to the national average of 66 percent). Worse, the average amount reported given locally was about $700 less, 38 percent below the national average.

These results mirror findings of a study called “How Americans Give” conducted by the Chronicle of Philanthropy several years ago. Using aggregate data from itemized returns, this study found that on average Americans reported contributing 7.12 percent of their after-tax income to nonprofits. In this region (Amador, El Dorado, Placer, Sacramento and Yolo counties), it was 6.85 percent. And the average amount per household given locally to nonprofits was about $1,100 (32 percent) less per household: $2,431 vs. $3,563 nationally.

Ruth Blank is CEO of Sacramento Region Community Foundation, Sacramento; Steve Heath is president & CEO, United Way California Capital Region, Sacramento. This commentary was co-signed by Linda Philip, CEO, Community Foundation of San Joaquin, Stockton; Andy Prokop, president and CEO, United Way of San Joaquin County, Stockton; and Caitlyn Stephen, executive director, Yuba-Sutter United Way, Yuba City.

Read the whole story

An alarm technician working at Raley’s at the Y in South Lake Tahoe accidentally tripped the fire sprinkler system today about 2:25pm..

The water contained a non-toxic glycerin additive.

About 200 gallons of the water spilled into the parking lot between Raley’s and Tahoe Donuts, creating slippery conditions.

Officials say here is no danger to the public.