Douglas County sheriff’s deputies are investigating two unrelated deaths on the South Shore of Lake Tahoe.

Deputies went to a house in the 100 block of Mason Court in Glenbrook Monday night and found a 33-year-old man unresponsive in his bed.

Deputies had been called to the residence by friends who had not heard from the man in several days.

“While on scene, deputies also discovered narcotics inside the residence. It is unknown if any of these substances had been ingested by the decedent prior to death,” a press release says.

The person’ name is being withheld pending notification of his family.

The second death involves an 11-year-old boy.

Deputies were called about 6:25 Dec. 14 to the 700 block of Tina Court in Stateline. The boy was found hanging in the residence.

The initial investigation reveals no evidence of foul play in either case.

Dave Borges will present “The History of the South Lake Tahoe Stateline – Casino development” on Dec. 17 from 6:30-7:30pm. It will be at Explore Tahoe at the Visitor Center in the Stateline Transit Center, 4114 Lake Tahoe Blvd., South Lake Tahoe.

For more information, call (530) 542.4637.

Conditions may be better this morning than the afternoon on the slopes around Lake Tahoe because another storm is headed for the region. Here is the ski report brought to Lake Tahoe News readers by Curtis Fong, the Guy from Tahoe.

By Kathryn Reed

One day the roads are nasty and it’s slow going. Lake Tahoe looks uninviting, cold and potentially treacherous.

A day later and it’s like a different world. The lake is calm, the sky blue, the roads wet, but no big deal to drive.

Lake Tahoe -- worth the drive. Photo/Kathryn Reed

The views from Squaw Valley to South Lake Tahoe on Dec. 14 was Mother Nature at her best. Tree boughs are laden with mounds of snow. Piers seem useless this time of year. The lake is like glass.

Highway 89 at Emerald Bay remains closed, necessitating the long way around the lake between the South and North shores.

More snow is expected to come down today and Wednesday. Ski resorts are opening more terrain each day. Plenty of snow has fallen so obstacles are not an issue.

Some resorts don’t have all their amenities open and or terrain. But day passes are expected to be discounted for a few more days until the holidays are truly here.

Highs will be in the 30s-40s, with lows in the 20s — which means icy roads.

And to think winter isn’t even really here, at least according to the calendar.

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Letter to the community,

The Lake Tahoe South Shore Chamber of Commerce’s annual Holiday Gala was Dec. 10 at the Riva Grill. It was a resounding success with over 300 people in attendance. The evening brought generous support to local charities and demonstrated our community’s dedication to South Lake Tahoe.

A special thanks to Scott Craig and his staff at the Riva Grill for hosting the wonderful event for more than a decade! The food and drinks were as fabulous as ever, gorgeous decorations set the celebratory holiday spirit, and many in attendance won Riva-themed prizes.

The local charities benefiting from the Holiday Gala included Christmas Cheer, the South Lake Tahoe Women’s Center, and Tahoe Youth and Family Services. Nearly $2,300 in cash donations was collected and divided between the three charities. Christmas Cheer also received four 30-gallon trash cans filled with food donations. The LTSSCC delivered over 100 toys to the South Lake Tahoe Women’s Center and donated additional gifts and wrapping supplies to Tahoe Youth & Family Services.

Thank you to Steve Hunt from Lakeland Village for driving “Santa’s Sleigh” (the decorated van from Lakeland Village for the collection of food and toy donations), as well as Meeks Lumber & Hardware, Truckee River Tile, The Knitting Nest, Tahoe Bookkeeping Services, Sessions Salon, Sizzle Creations, Clear Blue Construction, Yellow Pager, Bistro Danielle, Beach Hut Deli, California Highway Patrol, Sierra Athletic Club, Lake Tahoe Historical Society and Tahoe Ridge Winery for their donations to the event.

Thank you again to all those in attendance, without whose generosity the community needs would be greater this season.

Isabella Mill, event coordinator Lake Tahoe South Shore Chamber of Commerce

Publisher’s note: Get in the spirit and share your idea for a gift valued at $20 or less. Click here for details.

El Dorado Winery Association has an easy-on-the-budget holiday gift idea.

A weekend pass for the Jan. 30-31 Bring out the Barrel event is $20; Sunday only is $15; Designated drivers $5,

The weekend features wine tasting throughout El Dorado County, light food pairings, and the opportunity to purchase “futures” of limited quantity wines.

Purchase tickets here.

Jason Hidalgo, Reno Gazette-Journal

The holidays are looking a lot merrier for Lake Tahoe this season as an improving economic outlook, combined with an assist from Mother Nature, has the lake’s resorts and lodges more optimistic about the remainder of the year.

Several properties are reporting an uptick in bookings as of early December, including the traditionally slow weeks preceding Christmas and New Year’s. The addition of a new high-profile property, the Ritz-Carlton Highlands, Lake Tahoe, also is adding some extra buzz to the region.

Add a healthy dose of early snowfall to the mix, and Tahoe’s hotel and resort industry is hopeful it has the recipe for a better holiday season this year.

Read the whole story

By Kathryn Reed

MEYERS — Any day now several boxes will arrive at a Marine base in Afghanistan with the return address of Meyers, California, USA.

“It was kind of amazing to me,” Annie Brejc said of collecting things to send the soldiers. It hit home with her how she sleeps in a warm bed every night, but the soldiers aren’t so fortunate.

Annie Brejc and Tatum Bunnett

She and her fourth-grade classmates at the Environmental Magnet School in Meyers filled box after box with items for soldiers so they would have something special to open at the holidays.

Tatum Bunnett said some of the items were every day things that she takes for granted – like a toothbrush and toothpaste.

Teachers Kim Ilvento and Jen Seely put the project together as they were preparing to teach a lesson about Veterans Day last month. It morphed into something bigger.

They chose a particular troop from a website because these men and women wanted ornaments for a tree they’d dubbed “things worth fighting for”.

The fourth-graders decorated wooden star ornaments with words that they wanted the soldiers to fight for – things like family, freedom and peace. A picture representing what America means to the students was part of the ornament as well.

Poems by the students were also sent to the soldiers.

“The outpouring from the kids was amazing,” Ilvento said of the donations.

Eight boxes were full of things like blankets, DVDs, cocoa, popcorn and current magazines. These were all things the soldiers had requested.

Larry Brown, the South Tahoe High School security guard accused of smoking pot and drinking beer with a female student, is expected to be in court Dec. 30.

Brown, 63, will be arraigned on one charge of furnishing marijuana to a juvenile.

Brown was arrested Nov. 6 during a routine traffic stop in South Lake Tahoe after El Dorado County sheriff’s deputies said they smelled marijuana coming from the vehicle.

Brown was placed on administrative leave by Lake Tahoe Unified School District. It’s not known if he is being paid.

Looking for something exciting that your kids can do during the holiday break? Do your kids like mysteries? Environmental detectives are needed to help figure out the mystery of dying fish.

On Dec. 30 from 1-4pm, the UC Davis Tahoe Environmental Research Center will host a mysterious family science day. Families are welcome to join in to help solve a problem that has developed in the fictitious Gray Area. The fish in this community are dying and nobody knows why.

Join us at the scene of the crime at the Tahoe Center for Environmental Science in Incline Village, where you will be able to conduct scientific experiments and decide for yourself which one of our suspects is responsible for poisoning our water and wildlife.

Through hands-on activities and games, students will be able to learn about many of the environmental issues not only affecting the Gray Area, but also threatening Lake Tahoe.

Students will be learning about the causes and effects of many environmental threats by testing water clarity, sediment run-off, water pollution, acid rain and oil pollution.

By the end of the day, once the mystery is solved, students will have a chance to discuss solutions to some of the environmental problems they learned about and be able to apply it to their daily lives.

Our program is designed for students in grades 4, 5 and 6, but all families are welcome to join in on the fun. For children under the age of 9, we request that a guardian is present throughout the program.

This event is free and open to the public but an RSVP is mandatory and space is available on a first come, first served basis. For more information or to RSVP, contact Megan Farka at mjfarka@ucdavis.edu or (775) 881.7560, ext. 7483.