By Yun Long, Reno Gazette-Journal

It’s pricey to fill up the tank in South Lake Tahoe.

According to the AAA September survey released Tuesday, the town, along with Eureka, Calif., is the most expensive place to fill up in the contiguous U.S. at $4.08.

St. Louis has the cheapest gas in the nation with $3.25.

Across Nevada, prices rose in September. The average for a gallon of unleaded fuel jumped 17 cents to $3.71. The average price in Reno increased 14 cents to $3.81, after a 6-cent rise in August.

“Although demand for gasoline has fallen over the past week, which typically helps keep prices down, storms in the Gulf and East Coast have applied upward pressure on gasoline prices in several parts of the country,” AAA Nevada spokesman Matt Skryja said in a release. “In Nevada, the state’s average price for gasoline has recently been relatively steady.”

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Updated Sept. 14 9pm: The driver of the 2011 Dodge Avenger 4-door sedan was 49-year-old Gregory Brewer of South Lake Tahoe. The truck driver was 43-year-old Marcus E. Freemyer of Reno.

By Kathryn Reed

A head-on collision near Glenbrook on Tuesday morning did not result in life-threatening injuries for either driver, but it did make for a slow drive.

Nevada Highway Patrol Trooper Chuck Allen told Lake Tahoe News the driver of the Dodge sedan was taken to Renown Medical Center in Reno for a “significant injury to the leg.”

A truck carrying Lake Tahoe Marathon medals was in an accident Sept. 13. Photos/Les Wright

The driver of the truck was not injured.

The driver of this sedan sustained a leg injury.

Allen said the driver of the car took his eyes off the road, drifted into oncoming traffic headed west and then struck the three-axle truck.

Les Wright, who runs the Lake Tahoe Marathon, said the truck involved in the accident was on its way to the South Shore to make a delivery.

“Every year something happens to our finishers medals. While stuck behind traffic for 45 minutes today I got two calls from our importer and our delivery truck that the delivery truck was in a serious accident,” Wright wrote in an email to several people.

The 10:50am accident blocked three lanes of the highway for about 30 minutes. The entire highway was open at 3:18pm.

By Linda Fine Conaboy

STATELINE — Oprah Winfrey Network has reportedly been given exclusive media rights to witness the opening of the safe found at the old Bill’s Casino in Stateline.

Lake Tahoe News was at the casino Tuesday at 2pm – the time Douglas County sheriff’s Sgt. Jim Halsey had said the safe would be cracked.

Instead, a construction worker said Oprah’s people would be allowed in when they arrived, but he would not let this reporter in.

Several calls to Mike Laub, the current owner of the property, about this new development have gone unanswered. So, what he might have been paid to keep the news away from local and other media is not known, nor is it known if the safe was opened or if it was taken elsewhere.

The construction worker told LTN the contents of the safe would be revealed in January when the results of the filming would be disclosed.

Laub had brought in other locksmiths to try to open the safe, but all were unsuccessful.

The safe was discovered during the major remodel of Bill’s Casino. (A CVS and Dotty’s casino will be the two anchors.)  Previous owners Harrah’s Entertainment did not know about the safe that was discovered in the walls of the building, under a stairway.

Before it was Bill’s the site was Barney’s Casino. According to authorities, the safe could be linked to the 1968 murder of the old Barney’s proprietor, Richard Chartrand.

Because Chartrand was killed in 1968 in a spectacular car bombing as he departed his home in the Skyland neighborhood, and because the killing has never been solved, the buzz is this may have been a mob-style murder. Rumors have it that there is a great deal of money still missing, leaving investigators wondering if it could be stashed in the newly-discovered safe.

By Cathy Locke, Sacramento Bee

A 46-year-old Mexican national has been sentenced to 11 years and 3 months in prison for his involvement in a marijuana and methamphetamine trafficking conspiracy in El Dorado and Placer counties.

U.S. District Judge William B. Shubb on Monday sentenced Adrian Ortega-Diaz of Michoacan, Mexico, one of 12 people in a drug trafficking conspiracy that involved multiple firearms, and significant quantities of marijuana and methamphetamine, according to a federal Department of Justice news release.

According to court documents, Ortega-Diaz acted as a manager of a conspiracy to grow marijuana on public lands and to distribute marijuana and methamphetamine in Northern California. He and his co-conspirators were charged with running two marijuana grows, one in El Dorado County and one in Placer County, on public land, with each containing more than 1,600 plants. Investigators seized a number of firearms and more than 3,300 marijuana plants, plus several pounds of high-grade methamphetamine in Elk Grove and the Stanislaus County community of Denair.

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As part of its Chamber EDucation program, the North Lake Tahoe Chamber of Commerce in partnership with the Sierra Economic Development Corporation is hosting “How to Start a Business” Workshop on Sept. 23 from noon to 1:30pm at the Tahoe City Public Utility District Boardroom, 221 Fairway Drive, Tahoe City.

Deadline to register is Sept. 19.

This workshop, taught by Brent Smith of the Sierra Economic Development Corporation, will assist attendees in minimizing their risks and walk them through the steps in the business start-up process. They’ll also learn about free resources.

The cost is $55/person and participants need to bring their lunch. To register, call the Sierra Economic Development Corporation at (530) 823.4703 or email info@sedcorp.biz.

This class will also be repeated Oct. 13 in Tahoe Vista at Mourelatos Lakeshore Resort.

By Kathryn Reed

Rochelle Nason was adamant Wednesday morning when she spoke with Lake Tahoe News – saying she is not resigning as executive director of the League to Save Lake Tahoe. However, a press release arrived at 2:34pm saying otherwise.

Nason did not answer the phone when called this afternoon.

The press release says, “League to Save Lake Tahoe Executive Director Rochelle Nason has resigned today, effective October 2011, after nearly 20 years of working to protect and restore Lake Tahoe. League Program Director Carl Young will serve as interim executive director, with Nason serving as a senior advisor, until a new executive director has been selected.”

Rochelle Nason

Nason has had the top position since 1993, having been the League’s attorney for one year before becoming executive director.

The League has been chastised more than usual in the past year for continually suing entities in the Lake Tahoe Basin. Many call the environmental group obstructionists who only file lawsuits, provide no real leadership and offer no solutions to the problems in the basin.

While the League is based in South Lake Tahoe, Nason spends the bulk of her time in Berkeley. She said in the press release that traveling between the Bay Area and Tahoe is not something she wants to continue.

The last lawsuit the League lost was the decision last month regarding the Sierra Colina project in Stateline.

Dissension in the ranks surfaced this summer when Nason said the League’s annual fundraiser on the West Shore at a house that involved an illegal extension of a pier was essentially no big deal. The League’s board president, Robert Damaschino, said otherwise. At the time, in a statement, Damaschino said, “The League to Save Lake Tahoe views the environmental violations that took place at the site of our fundraiser as a very serious matter. We support the efforts of TRPA and the landowner to correct them and assure they are not repeated.”

Most board members never issue statements, instead deferring to staff to speak for the League.

In the Sept. 14 release, Damaschino praised Nason’s leadership – “The entire Lake Tahoe Basin will continue to benefit for years to come from what she has accomplished over the past two decades.”

A reception for Dorothy Davis’s collection “Around the Lake in Silk” will be at Bona Fide HQ in Meyers on Sept. 29 from 5:30-7:30pm.

The event is free. Refreshments and entertainment will be provided.

“Around the Lake in Silk” is a collection of watercolor paintings on silk, featuring iconic Lake Tahoe landscapes, which include images from the Angora Fire and local wildlife.

A 14-year resident of South Lake Tahoe, Davis is a native Californian, born into a family of artists. She has long been fascinated by the natural beauty of the basin, attempting to capture it in whatever medium is at her disposal. She considers herself an expressionistic painter and is best known for her silks, but also works in oil, watercolor, printmaking, sculpture and ceramics. Davis has studied art techniques at local colleges, and has attended plein air workshops with renowned artists such as Charles Movalli, Addie Chernus and Lady Jill Mueller.

Davis’s work will be on display at Bona Fide Books throughout October and can also be seen at Tahoe Art League’s Showcase Gallery in the Ski Run Center at 3668 Lake Tahoe Blvd., Ste. E.

Bona Fide HQ is located at 1069 Magua St., No. 4, behind the Getaway Café in Meyers.

For more information, contact Kim Wyatt at editor@bonafidebooks.com or visit the website.

Unity at the Lake celebrates International Peace Day on Sept. 21 from 5:30-6:00pm at Regan Beach in South Lake Tahoe.

For more info, call (530) 544.2266.

• Camp Richardson’s annual Oktoberfest is a two-day event on the South Shore. The Oct. 1-2 fun includes beer, arts-crafts for sale, German dancing, pumpkin patch and more.

• Expect traffic controls in the Stateline area on Sept. 18 between 7-11:30am for the Iron Girl triathlon.

• Skate the Lake brings in money for cancer research.

• More than 3,000 attendees took part in the 26th annual Lake Tahoe Autumn Food & Wine Festival last weekend, with Six Peaks Grille getting top honors from the industry judges and PlumpJack Café taking home the People’s Choice award. Go online for a complete list of winners.

• The 10th annual Village Oktoberfest at Squaw Valley is Oct. 1 from 2-6pm. Tickets are $10 and include a half liter glass and one beer with additional beers at $5 each.

• Today at 3:15pm and repeated at 6:15pm, Darrell Wayne interviews Ben “Coach’ Wade, aka The Dragonslayer. Wade is back for the third time on “Survivor.” He now coaches in Susanville and comes to Tahoe when he can. The interview can be heard on KTHO radio FM-96.1.

Artown is looking for a regional artist to design the 2012 festival poster. The selected artist will receive $3,000 and their final work will be used for the Artown 2012 festival poster and serve as creative inspiration for all marketing materials including the website, magazine, advertising and mobile app.

Regional is defined to include the Lake Tahoe area and the following Nevada counties: Carson City, Douglas, Lyon, Storey, Churchill, Pershing, Washoe, Humboldt, Lander, Eureka, Elko and White Pine.

Deadline is Nov. 4.

For more information, call (775) 322.1538 or email office@renoisartown.com.