Norma Santiago, who represents Lake Tahoe on the El Dorado County Board of Supervisors, will chair that elected body for the next year.

Norma Santiago

On Tuesday, Ray Nutting was elected first vice chairman and John Knight second vice chairman.

By Lindsey Sine, USSA

PARK CITY — The Olympic spirit will be ringing through the Wasatch Mountains as the 2010 Visa Freestyle International sets up shop at the 2002 Olympic venue, Deer Valley Resort Jan. 14-16 for aerials and two moguls events.

Athletes will be giving it their all in one of their last chances to make the 2010 Olympic team.

Joining Hannah Kearney (Norwich, VT), Patrick Deneen (Cle Elum, WA), Jeret “Speedy” Peterson (Boise, ID) and Lacy Schnoor (Draper, UT), who each already grabbed a ticket to Vancouver at Olympic Trials in December, will be the world’s best freestyle athletes, each looking to add the words 2010 Olympian to their resume as well.

Following the Deer Valley event, athletes will have one last chance in Lake Placid to land a spot on the Olympic team, which will be named back at Deer Valley Resort Jan. 26.

The action gets going with an exciting moguls competition featuring Kearney, Deneen, 2002 Olympic silver medalist Shannon Bahrke (Tahoe City, CA), World Cup podium performer Bryon Wilson (Butte, MT), World Champion Nate Roberts (Park City, UT) and World Cup aces Emiko Torito and Michelle Roark (both Denver).

With two World Cup podiums attributed to Wilson and one to Roberts thus far this season, as well as a slew of top-10 finishes on the women’s part, the Olympic moguls team looks to be one of the most challenging to make.

“Coming out of Olympic Trials and with only two World Cups left you’ve got a really motivated group of athletes,” U.S. Moguls Head Coach Scott Rawles said. “They know it’s going to take a lot to go to the Olympics and I think that everyone is bringing their A game to what we have going on. We’re really looking forward to it and we have a lot of great skiers ready to go.”

Hometown hero Roberts is geared up to reel in the second World Cup podium of his season, and nothing would make him happier than to do it in front of his home town.

“It’s the best event on our whole schedule and it brings in the most, and greatest fans in the world,” Roberts said. “It’s a skier’s course and every run is a challenge.”

Then, the aerialists will take the Olympic party to the air as Peterson, World Champion Ryan St. Onge (Winter Park, CO), World Cup winner Emily Cook (Belmont, VT), Dylan Ferguson (Amesbury, VT) and newcomer Ashley Caldwell (Lake Placid, NY) give the crowd some sky high acrobatics as the compete for a place in Vancouver.

“The Deer Valley World Cup is always exciting. It’s a premier stop and the best aerials site on tour,” U.S. Aerials Head Coach Matt Christiansen said. “It’s also a time where we’re trying to peak during the Olympics and we’re climbing and grabbing momentum there, and it’s exciting.”

After an entire summer of training in Park City, Cook, who resides in Park City, is excited to take her tricks to the snow for one of her last World Cup stops prior to the Olympics.

“I’m definitely looking forward to the event. It’s so nice to have a home crowd and a perfect site. Everything is perfect for us when we are here in Deer Valley,” Cook said. “I’ve had success here on the site in the past during Olympic Trials in 2006 and of course at the World Cup there last year. I’m super comfortable here and I’m excited to be able to compete.”

By Kathryn Reed

Lake Tahoe Unified School District’s board of education on Jan. 12 terminated Larry Brown.

Brown, 63, had been a security guard at South Tahoe High School. He was arrested in November on charges of furnishing marijuana to a juvenile — a 16-year-old female student at the school. He had been on unpaid leave since his arrest.

South Tahoe High now has one full-time security guard and can draw from a pool of others when need be.

Jim Watson, district Human Resources director, said the state budget will determine how many security guards the district employs in the futures. In the past, the district has had three plus the school resource officer whose salary is shared by the police department.

South Lake Tahoe police Officer Aaron Crawford started as the school resource officer this week, with it being a full-time position beginning next week. Officer Scott Willson just retired from the department.

On Jan. 12 Crawford was already tested. He took two boys into custody who had been fighting, according to Principal Ivone Larson.

Larson said she is excited to have Crawford at the school.

By Kathryn Reed

Sam Borges, the man who built Borges Sleigh Rides, died Jan. 11, 2010. He was 85.

Mr. Borges died peacefully with his family beside him.

Born in Albany, N.Y., on Jan. 21, 1924, Mr. Borges was industrious from an early age. He moved with his mother and younger sister to California when he was 5. As a teenager he bought some cows in the San Joaquin Valley and started an early career as a dairyman and farmer.

Sam Borges

In 1955, Mr. Borges moved to San Jose, when it was still an agriculture community, and sold tractors.

It was in 1958 that he and his young family started to make annual pilgrimages to camp at Camp Richardson. He moved his family to South Lake Tahoe in 1965.

Mr. Borges got a job working for Dillingham Corporation helping to build what is now the Tahoe Keys. He was a backhoe operator and was responsible for putting many of the sewage lines in.

Something he remembered from a conversation he had with a casino executive before moving to Tahoe full time was that the South Shore needed a winter business for non-athletes.

It was 1967 that the sleigh business started. He worked at it part time for several years until it became his full-time job. From a postcard of a sleigh he was able to weld together his first sleigh.

“He found out horses eat all year-round so he decided let’s get the carriage rides going,” his son, David Borges, said.

A handful of years ago, another son, Dwight, took over the sleigh business.

Mr. Borges had a way with animals; he could practically talk to them and understand what was going on with them.

He was a wonderful storyteller. Anyone on a sleigh ride would be riveted by one of his stories.

He was even known to entertain the entertainers who were in town at one of the showrooms. Bob Hope joked that he wanted a private ride, but with it being Christmas Day, Mr. Borges did not oblige the comedian.

Ray Charles has a Christmas album with him holding the reins of the sleigh.

Several times the Borges horses were featured in the Rose Parade.

Last year his daughter-in-law, Dianna Maria de Borges, published a book titled “Sleigh Rides in Lake Tahoe: Memoirs of Sam Borges.”

Mr. Borges and his wife, Rosie, were both national water ski champions. He was on skis last summer gliding across Lake Tahoe. The two traveled much of the world together.

“He was fun to be around, he loved people,” David Borges said. “He could converse with anyone, at anytime.”

In 2002, Mr. Borges was chosen by the community to run the Olympic torch en route to the Salt Lake City Games.

Mr. Borges is survived by his wife of 60 years, Rosie, of South Lake Tahoe; sons Don, David and Dwight, all of South Lake Tahoe, and Dean of Carson City; seven grandchildren; and three great-grandchildren.

Services are pending.

The state Department of Education has awarded a three-year, million dollar grant to Lake Tahoe Unified School District which will create opportunities for enhanced and ongoing professional development for teachers in grades three through eight.

The California Mathematics and Science Partnership (CaMSP) program seeks to establish partnerships to improve the academic achievement of students in mathematics and science.

LTUSD, in partnership, with Salida District and Modesto City Districts in Modesto, and Lincoln District in Stockton, applied for the grant, called Summit to Sand. The grant was awarded in the amount of $339,201 per year for three years, totaling $1,017,603.

More than 30 teachers have been recruited for a unique three-year professional development program that draws upon the diverse geography of California to educate teachers and motivate students. Teachers will receive instruction in life, earth, and physical science, focusing on the natural environment of California in order to positively impact students’ English language arts and science achievement.

Faculty from Lake Tahoe, Columbia, and San Joaquin Delta community colleges will provide instruction at three summer institutes from 2010-12.

Summit to Sand brings together key partners to improve teacher quality, contribute to the research base on “place-based learning”, and pioneer much-needed partnerships with community colleges.

Additional partners include UC Davis’ Tahoe Environmental Research Center, the San Joaquin County Office of Education in Stockton, CSU Monterey Bay, and the Monterey Bay Aquarium.

By Walt Cook, Union Democrat

U.S. Geological Survey hydrologists will host a public meeting Thursday to discuss the Sierra’s groundwater resources, a source of drinking water for many county residents.

The event is scheduled from 1-3pm at the Tuolumne Utilities District headquarters, at 18885 Nugget Blvd., off Tuolumne Road, Sonora. The meeting is being conducted by the USGS and the State Water Resources Control Board.

Specifically, hydrologists will discuss the initial results of a study of untreated groundwater from wells and springs throughout the Sierra Nevada. Their full report is expected to be completed in a year.

Read the whole story

By KCRA-TV

SACRAMENTO — Dreams for Olympic gold could be dashed for Sho Kashima, as the skier from Lake Tahoe has become injured.

Kashima reported on Twitter Tuesday that doctors have diagnosed that he tore “at least” his ACL, which

Sho Kashima

means six months recovery and that he could be out for the Winter Games.

Read the whole story

Lake Tahoe Music Festival — July 22–Aug. 7.

The North Shore festival annually draws more than 12,000 concert-goers for an unmatched outdoor concert experience with tickets from $25 and a lineup of nationally recognized artists.

The summer concert series supports the nonprofit festival’s educational outreach programs which include an Orchestra Academy for aspiring college-level musicians and a free after-school instruction program for elementary school music students in the Truckee area.

For more information about the 2010 Lake Tahoe Music Festival, visit www.TahoeMusic.org or call (530) 583-3101.

At the Jan. 12 Douglas County School District board of education meeting, the seven members picked new leaders.

Teri Jamin is now president. Tom Moore is vice president and Keith Roman is the clerk.

By USSA

FLACHAU, Austria – The U.S. Ski Team’s Sarah Schleper (Vail, CO) took the lead for the U.S. Tuesday, taking 17th during a World Cup night slalom in Austria. Marlies Schild of Austria won. Lindsey Vonn (Vail, CO) did not finish, but still leads the Audi FIS Alpine World Cup overall by 112 points.

Schleper, who was the only U.S. athlete to make it to the second run, was knifing the top of the Hermann Maier Streck and had a decent lead, but lost some time in the middle to match where she started the second run with 17th.

“I was supporting the whole team on the second run and I didn’t execute as well as I could have, a couple mistakes here and there,” Schleper said. “It was set like a highway again, so you had to go full-risk and I think I probably risked it 80 percent when I should have been going 120 but I’m psyched to get points.”

According to U.S. Women’s Alpine Head Coach Jim Tracy, the risk would have made a difference for Schleper.

“Sarah had a good first run and she was solid in the second run. I think that she could have probably let it go and attacked more in the middle of the course,” Tracy said. “But still, it’s a top 20 and we’re not complaining.”

The good news for Schleper was grabbing additional World Cup points, which will get her back inside the top 30 on the slalom start list.

After an incredible World Cup sweep in Haus, Vonn has a minor slip up in the night slalom, straddling a gate with her right ski midway down the course in the first run for a DNF.

The women now move on to races this weekend in Maribor – the last time they will be in action before the Olympic Team is named on Jan. 25.

Flachau, Austria, Jan. 12, Women’s Slalom

1. Marlies Schild, Austria, 1:37.89

2. Maria Riesch, Germany, 1:38.23

3. Kathrin Zettel, Austria, 1:38.31

4. Tanja Poutiainen, Finland, 1:38.70

5. Katharina Duerr, Germany, 1:39.23

–

17. Sarah Schleper, Vail, CO, 1:41.08

–

36. Sterling Grant, Amery, WI, 50.90

40. Hailey Duke, Boise, ID, 51.08

50. Julia Mancuso, Olympic Valley, CA, 51.87

55. Kaylin Richardson, Edina, MI, 52.49

–

DNF: Lindsey Vonn, Vail, CO

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