Late afternoon winds on Sunday are playing havoc with efforts to fight the Bison Fire.

The fire is making a run to the northeast and is burning through the Slater Mine Area. Commercial structures have been lost, but the number of structures is unknown at this time.

Containment of the nearly 9,300-acre fire has dropped from 30 percent to 15 percent.

No injuries have been reported at this time. Firefighters are reporting a large amount of local traffic in the area and are asking people to stay away from the area.

Pine Nut Road remains closed to non-residents at the intersection of Out-R-Way and more road closures may follow. A voluntary evacuation notice remains in effect for about 20 homes in the area.

The blaze started July 4 by lightning.

This is video of the smoke plume shot July 5 by Go West Foto.

— Lake Tahoe News staff report

Sierra Nevada Ballet has selected the famed Coppelia ballet for its summer performances which are scheduled for July 27 at Nightingale Hall as part of the Artown Festival and July 29 on the outdoor stage at Sand Harbor State Park in conjunction with the Lake Tahoe Shakespeare Festival.

A comic love story, Coppelia is filled with fantasy and reality as it tests the relationship of the heroine, Swanilda, and hero, Franz, through the romantic device of a beautiful lifeless doll created by the obsessive Dr. Coppelius. The ballet showcases series of comic mishaps that end in a happy marriage celebration.

Based upon the original choreography with a modern twist, is choreographed by Rosine Bena and presented by some of the finest performers in the business.

For more information and to purchase tickets, visit the ballet’s website.

Rescue crews take an injured hiker July 7 to the Calstar helicopter. Photo/Damian Frisby

Updated 5:40pm:

A 26-year-old woman was knocked unconscious when she fell at Lover’s Leap on Sunday.

Nour Mardini was on the Lower Buttress area of the rock structure when she dislodged a boulder the size of a picnic table and then fell about 30 feet. When the rope went tight she swung into the granite face. Mardini was rappelling with  her husband on belay. According to officials, he did not see the fall.

Lake Valley firefighter Luke Anderson went over the edge to Mardini who was more than 100 feet from the top and more than 200 feet from the bottom. He was able to lower her to the awaiting ground crews. Calstar transported her to Renown Medical Center in Reno with severe head injuries.

Assisting with the July 7 rescue were El Dorado County search and rescue, U.S. Forest Service, El Dorado County Fire, and CHP with another helicopter.

— Lake Tahoe News staff report

There will be a six-lesson, eight-hour course on boating safety developed by the U.S. Coast Guard on July 13.

The instructors will teach boating safety to adults and youths (grades 6-12). A basic course will provide information on a variety of subjects of importance to anyone using a boat.

The 8:30am-5pm class will be at the Tahoe Keys Homeowners Pavilion, 56 Ali Wai Blvd., South Lake Tahoe.

The cost is $15.

For more info, call (530) 541.4654.

By Jeff Maher, News 10

Researchers have found that when the weather gets hot, so does one’s temper.

On hot days individuals are more likely to encounter road rage, or have someone cut them off. Drivers may also be seen speeding more than usual. So why the link between temperature and one’s mood behind the wheel?

According to doctors, an increase in body temperature leads to an increase in physical arousal, and arousal is linked to aggressive behavior. The heart rate goes up and the blood pressure rises as the body tries to cool itself off.

There is also a link between hot temperatures and an increase in crime. Ellen Cohn, a criminologist at Florida International University looked at two years of crime stats in Minneapolis and found that more crimes were reported during summer than other months.

However, it could be argued that there is simply more opportunity for criminals during the warmer months. For example, summertime is when people generally leave their homes for vacation which generally coincides with an increase in burglaries.

A study published in 2012 found that even mild dehydration can alter a person’s mood. After losing just 1.5 percent of the body’s normal water volume, study participants were fatigued, experienced headaches and were more tense and anxious.

By Kathryn Roethel

It may seem like the screens on your electronic devices consume your every waking hour. Now, new research indicates that, if you use smartphones and tablets before bed, they may be cutting into your sleep hours, too – or at least delaying them.

New research from the Mayo Clinic shows that smartphones and tablets set at their brightest settings and held very close to the face emit enough light to suppress the body’s production of melatonin, a hormone the brain releases when lighting is dark or dim.

Read the whole story

By Deborah Sullivan Brennan, San Diego Union-Tribune

Californians trimmed their trash to a record low last year, according to state figures showing that residents discarded an average of 4.3 pounds per day of garbage last year.

That’s down from the previous low of 4.4 pounds per person per day in 2011, according to the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery, known as CalRecycle. By comparison Californians tossed more than eight pounds per person each day in 1989 — the year the state’s Integrated Waste Management Act went into effect.

The waste average represents the total trash disposed statewide – 29.3 million tons last year – divided by the state’s population of 37.7 million for 2012.

The figure represents industrial and commercial waste as well as household garbage. So the per person average includes not only what individuals throw away, but also the garbage tossed by factories, construction sites and retail establishments.

The state average has fluctuated since the waste management act went into effect, hovering at 6 pounds or more per day for the decade between 1997 and 2006. With the collapse of the housing bubble trash production fell as well, dropping to 5.7 in 2007 and declining each year after that.

“As the economy slowed, you had less consumption, less construction, or less waste produced,” Mark Oldfield, spokesman for the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery, said. “One of the challenges moving forward will be, as the economy continues to improve, how do we continue the strides we’ve taken while reducing greater amounts of waste?”

Curbside recycling has helped divert trash, while an increasing variety of plastic and other materials can be recycled. Organic waste, including food scraps and lawn trimmings, make up the biggest component of the waste stream, Oldfield said, so large-scale composting will be a high priority.

“As we move forward, organics and food waste will be low-hanging fruit,” he said.

From the 1930s to 1980s the “souvenir shop” at Camp Richardson stocked everything from film, postcards and trinkets to moccasins to toys to clothing.

The totem poles in front were from the movie set of “Rose Marie”, a classic 1936 musical starring Jeanette MacDonald and Nelson Eddy which was filmed at South Shore and Cascade Lake.

Today, the historic building houses the summertime ice cream parlor.

The historic photo, likely 1940s, was furnished by Bob and Tammy Hassett. The current photo I took.

— Bill Kingman

By Kathryn Reed

U.S. Forest Service officials are defending their approach to the July 4 melee at Ski Beach.

A fight broke out between two guys that ended with five law enforcement agencies being called to the South Shore beach, three people receiving citations for fighting, and one person going to the hospital.

“A subject attempted to assault a Forest Service officer and the K9 was used to apprehend him. The dog is fully trained and certified in patrol, narcotics detection and handler protection. Other Forest Service law enforcement officers helped restrain the subject. At this point, the officers were surrounded and the crowd was taunting them and yelling profanities,” Forest Service spokeswoman Cheva Heck told Lake Tahoe News.

U.S. Forest Service officers on July 4 hold down a man who was in a fight. Photo/Julie Gardner

But that is not what eyewitnesses said happened.

Julie Gardner of South Lake Tahoe was about a foot away on the sand from where a fight broke out between two guys. What started as an argument escalated into one guy shoving another guy who was wearing a full knee brace. The latter fell on his back onto a bike.

Gardner told Lake Tahoe News that two guys were assaulting the man with a brace when a friend of the solo guy jumped in to break up the fight.

“The U.S. Forest Service came over and released the dog. The dog immediately ran up and attacked him,” Gardner said of the friend of the man with the brace.

She did not hear the Forest Service give any warning that the dog was going to be deployed.

Many people who commented on LTN‘s first story about this fight were critical of the USFS, saying many of the same things that Gardner said.

The guy went down, officers cuffed him, but the dog didn’t let go. According to Gardner, the dog kept the hold for at least a minute as officers tried to get him to release. And then the dog allegedly bit the handler.

He was taken to Barton Memorial Hospital that night with several non-life threatening puncture wounds, according to Gardner.

Heck did not answer these questions:

• What is the policy regarding deploying a K9?

• How does the dog know whom to go after?

• When the crowd told officers they had the wrong guys, why didn’t they go after the two who ran?

• Allegedly the officers could not get the dog off the guy. What happened there?

• USFS officers are accused of shoving people to the ground. Any comment?

“This is a pending law enforcement matter, and no further details are available,” Heck said.

Gardner described the scene as chaotic, with people yelling at each other and law enforcement.

Forest Service officials say nearly 70 people were involved and estimate more than 1,000 people were on this beach that is just to the north of Baldwin Beach. Assisting the Forest Service were officers from South Lake Tahoe Police Department, El Dorado County Sheriff’s Office, California Highway Patrol, California State Park police and CalFire.

Gardner said she has never seen such ineptitude from law enforcement.

“It was a completely malicious, unwarranted attack by the dog and officers,” Gardner said.

Tahoe Art League’s annual Artist Studio Tour is July 26-28 and August 2-4 from 10am-5pm each day.

Attendees may visit 20 to 30 local artists in South Lake Tahoe locations to talk with them and view their sculpture, oils, watercolors, dye on silks, drawings, photography, jewelry and related works. Art works will be for sale. Some artists will do demonstrations.

The tour is self-guided; a map will be provided. Pick up maps online or at TAL Art Center, 3062 Highway 50, South Lake Tahoe.

Local renowned artists included are watercolorist Lady Jill Mueller, oil and watercolorist Dave Russo, marble sculptor David Foster, oil painter Kit Knight, and dye-on-silk painter and watercolorist Nina Major.