BlueGo is offering extended hours on the South Shore some of its bus routes for New Year’s Eve.

• Route 53 will run until 3am.

• Route 50 will run extra bus service every 15-20 minutes from 7pm-3am.

• Route 23 will run extra bus service every 30 minutes from 7 pm-3am.

• Additional oncall door to door service will be from 7pm-3am. Call (530) 541.7149, ext. 3 to make a reservation.

• After 7pm, Route 50, 53 and the oncall bus will not use the Stateline Transit Center bus stop. Use the Holiday Inn Express bus stop on Highway 50 near Pioneer Trail instead.

• After 7 pm, Route 23 will not use the Stateline Transit Center bus stop. Use the MontBleu side entrance bus stop instead.

South Lake Tahoe AAUW will welcome members, guests and the public as the group examines geotourism and a sustainable Tahoe at the Jan. 8 meeting at 10am in the Aspen Room at Lake Tahoe Community College.

Two guest speakers will be featured. Susanne Stone, author of “Lake Tahoe, A Guidebook with a Point of View”, is a long time local who wrote her guidebook well before the word “geotourism” was popularized. Stone will talk about her book and why she wrote it.

Jacquie Chandler, executive director of Sustainable Tahoe, one of the pioneers of the geotourism movement, will speak on how this aspect of tourism can help build a durable economy and enhance local pride while also preserving authentic features of a special area.

At this meeting, a $4 optional brunch will be available as well as complimentary beverages. For more information or to reserve a spot, call (530) 541.2799 or email slocumsrus@msn.com by Jan. 6.

Tour de California provides serious recreational cyclists the opportunity to ride a complete stage of the Amgen Tour of California — and the most challenging stage of the 2011 race at that.

Riders will cover the same route as the professionals on Stage 7 of the Amgen Tour of California, from Claremont to the Mt. Baldy Ski Area on May 7.

The actual race starts in South Lake Tahoe on May 15.

While extremely challenging and requiring a high level of fitness and mental toughness, there will be ample support on May 7 for the recreational rider to help athletes see if they have what it takes to ride the route of the Amgen Tour of California.

Details of the route will be available in January. For more information and to register, go online.

By Kim Minugh and Bill Lindelof, Sacramento Bee

The search for a missing snowboarder near the Alpine Meadows Ski Resort came to a tragic conclusion this morning when rescuers found her body in a tree well, according to authorities.

Rescue helicopter crews spotted the body of 25-year-old Shawnte Marie Willis of Tahoma this morning on a part of the mountain that previously had been off-limits to rescue crews because of inclement weather, Placer County sheriff’s Lt. Jeff Ausnow said in a press conference.

Authorities believe Willis might have hit a tree while snowboarding, Ausnow said. Her body was found in a tree well.

Read the whole story

By Kathryn Reed

About 200 customers on the South Shore are still without power as crews from Sierra Pacific Power continue to rectify the problem.

A handful of customers around the lake are also off the grid.

“All three of the circuits that had been knocked out of service yesterday by falling trees and tree limbs are back in service. Sierra Pacific Power has fresh crews at work restoring service for the customers still affected by outages and we hope to have electric service restored to everyone sometime tonight,” Karl Walquist, spokesman for the utility said late Thursday morning.

Sagging and downed power lines were the norm Wednesday in Tahoe. Photo/Kathryn Reed

Those in the Al Tahoe neighborhood of South Lake Tahoe heard furnaces turn on about 3am.

Although South Tahoe opened the rec center as refuge Wednesday night, no one showed up.

When the power is out and temperatures begin to plummet, freezing pipes are always a concern. Typically South Tahoe Public Utility District does not recommend running water because of the waste involved and then having to treat it as sewage.

However, South Tahoe PUD spokesman Dennis Cocking said on a temporary basis in circumstance like the night of Dec. 29 it’s reasonable to keep a trickle of water flowing to prevent pipes from freezing.

Heat tape and keeping the house warm, then opening cabinet doors where the pipes are, are the normal ways to help prevent pipes from freezing.

STPUD had to contend with the power outage on Wednesday with generators. The district has a five-day supply of diesel on hand for such occasions.

Continued cold and snowy weather are in the forecast for the Lake Tahoe area through Monday. While the low tonight in South Tahoe is expected to be 1 degree, it is nowhere near the minus 11 degrees Truckee recorded for this date in 1911.

Highs will hover in the high 20s, low 30s through Monday. A chance of snow is forecast for this afternoon, Friday night and for the weekend.

On Jan. 6, the Slowrollers Bike Club is hosting the annual “After Christmas Christmas Party” to benefit local friend and skier Darren Johnson. Johnson was caught in an avalanche backcountry skiing near Kirkwood on Nov. 28.

The path took him over a rock cliff, and while amazingly he didn’t have any injuries from the neck down, he sustained massive head trauma. After being airlifted to Reno, surgery added a metal plate to his head, another under his left eye, which he’d almost lost. After 10 days in ICU, Johnson remained hospitalized for another 20 days and is now in a rehab unit in Las Vegas for two to three months.Despite all that trauma, he has no brain loss, but the left side of his face has extensive nerve damage.

DJ, as he’s known to friends, is an experienced backcountry skier and has skied all along the Sierra with childhood pal, Glen Plake, among others. Growing up in South Lake Tahoe with Plake, the two were featured in several Greg Stump ski films in the 1980s.

The benefit is at Mo’s Place from 6-9pm, 3600 Lake Tahoe Blvd. in South Lake Tahoe.

There will be a place to make donations at the door, along with raffle and auction items.

For those who can’t make the event, an account has been set up for Darren at Bank of the West, under the name of Andy Kaufer.

It’s going to be cold on the slopes, but all that fresh powder will get you warmed up.

Here is the ski report from Curtis Fong, the Guy from Tahoe.

By Robert Rodriguez, Fresno Bee

A day after a 29-year-old Fresno man died at the China Peak ski area, the Fresno County Coroner’s Office is working to determine the cause of death.

Fresno County Coroner Dr. David Hadden said the autopsy of Peter Eli Shelby was expected to be completed Wednesday evening, but it may be the end of next week before he receives toxicology results.

Shelby was found Tuesday about 2:30 p.m. near one of the resort’s ski runs in deep, powdery snow near a tree.

About 50 people, including members of the Fresno County Sheriff’s Office search-and-rescue team and trained volunteers, began searching for Shelby on Monday night after a friend reported him missing about 3:30 p.m.

The two had spent the day snowboarding at the east Fresno County ski area, said sheriff’s spokesman Chris Curtice.

“At one point, the friend was going back up the hill when Shelby zipped by him and [the friend] thought he would see him at the bottom of the hill,” Curtice said. “But he never found him again.”

Tim Cohee, owner of China Peak, said that while he does not know how Shelby died, it’s always important to ski with a friend, especially in areas of new, deep snow.

“Snowboarding is adventurous, and it’s always thrilling to find new terrain,” Cohee said. “But you have to be in control and ski with a friend in case something happens.”

Read the whole story

By Rob Hotakainen, McClatchy News Service

WASHINGTON – The cannabis industry has flexed its muscles in 15 states, including California, where it’s legal to smoke marijuana for medical purposes.

Now the industry is ready to go to work in Washington.

A new trade group, called the National Cannabis Industry Association, aims to bring together sellers, growers and manufacturers and to promote pot on Capitol Hill.

“Our intent is to be the go-to organization in Washington for this industry,” said Aaron Smith, the group’s executive director.

For the past five years, Smith worked as California director of the Marijuana Policy Project.

“Coming out of California and expanding into this national field is pretty exciting,” he said. “It’s pretty clear that the medical marijuana industry is becoming recognized more and more by the mainstream as a fully legitimate part of the economy.”

Read the whole story

Explore Tahoe, located at 4114 Lake Tahoe Blvd. in South Lake near the Heavenly Village, is now selling California Sno-Park permits. These permits are $5 for a single day or $25 for a season pass and are valid at any California Sno-Park site.

Explore Tahoe may be reached at(530) 542.4637.