·       Snow removal operations and periods of heavy snow can make it difficult for firefighters to find and use the nearest fire hydrant. Officials encourage residents to voluntarily clear snow from neighborhood hydrants.

·       California Tahoe Conservancy and Lake Tahoe Community College will host an open house Jan. 7 from 6-8pm in the LTCC board room to offer the public an opportunity to discuss the next phase of the South Lake Tahoe Greenway Shared Use Trail between Glenwood Way and Sierra Boulevard.

·       South Lake Tahoe Fire Department is collecting new or like-new condition used toys for Christmas Cheer barrels. Barrels are at each station.

·      An 800-pound boulder fell onto Interstate 80 near the California-Nevada border on Dec. 13, requiring traffic to be stopped as Caltrans pushed it to the side of the road. No one was hurt.

Here are South Lake Tahoe Fire Department Christmas tree fire safety tips:

• Select a fresh tree with good color and firm, flexible needles that do not easily pull from the branches.
• Place the tree in plain water immediately after re-cutting the trunk at least one-half inch above the old cut.  The container you use for your tree should hold 2 to 4 quarts of water. The longer you wait to place your tree in water, the greater the chances are that it will lose the required moisture content to keep it fresh through the holiday season. Never place your tree on a wooden stand.
• Locate the tree away from sources of heat. Avoid placing the tree near heaters, wood stoves, fireplaces, large appliances, such as TVs, and direct sunlight. Be careful not to block a door or other exitway with the tree or rearranged furniture.
• Use mini-lights on your tree and never place candles on or near your tree. Remove your Christmas tree as soon as possible after the holiday. Never burn your Christmas tree or wrapping paper in the fireplace. The rapid burning and excessive heat can damage the firebox and chimney creating a serious fire hazard.

The SLTFD wants to wish everyone a fun and safe holiday season.

— Sallie Ross-Filgo, SLTFD

Rotary Club of South Lake Tahoe has approved three community grants.

They are:

• Drug Store Project – Tahoe Youth and Family Services was awarded a $1,000 grant to continue its annual youth drug awareness and avoidance program in 2016. This is program is designed to reduce future drug experimentation/use/abuse and increase student knowledge about the dangers of drug and alcohol use.
• Sierra House Elementary Fifth Grade Nature Bridge Request – An award of up to $1,500 was made for three classrooms of 5th-graders to attend educational programs at the Nature Bridge at the Marin Highlands in 2016 to learn science in a completely new natural environment.
• H.E.R.O. Scholarship Fund Inc. – The board awarded $2,000 to the successful H.E.R.O. Scholarship Fund that was set up 18 years ago as an anonymous donation for those students who have overcome seriously difficult obstacles to graduate high school or community college and continue their education.

·       Tahoe Regional Planning Agency offices will be closed Dec. 24-Jan.1, reopening Jan. 4.

·       Incline Village-based tour operator Myths and Mountains won the 2015 Tourism Cares Legacy in Travel Philanthropy award, alongside co-winner, Lindblad Expeditions.

·       Carson High School has been named to the 2016 Elite 50, an annual selection of the top 50 secondary school hospitality programs in the nation.

·      Mountainside Partners sold Tahoe Mountain Realty, a luxury real estate firm in Northstar and the Tahoe-Truckee area, to Jeff Brown, vice president of sales and marketing.

·       The 2016 World Gold Panning Championships will be at the El Dorado County Fair Grounds Sept. 11-18.

·       At the Dec. 17 South Lake Tahoe Public Utility District board meeting the electeds are expected to approve a three-year contract for General Manager Richard Solbrig that will include a 2 percent raise effective July 1, 2016.

·       The Placer County Board of Supervisors proclaimed a local emergency for the high number of dead and dying trees across the county.

·       Sierra Avalanche Center is offering snowmobile specific avalanche education course on Jan. 22-23. For more info and to register, go online.

·       The Community Play Consortium is having a meeting Dec. 15 at 3pm in the board room at Lake Tahoe Community College.

·       Here are the El Dorado-Lake Tahoe and Sierra roadwork schedule for the week.

Occasionally I find additional interesting photos about sites previously visited on Then and Now. Here is more pictorial history of the Bijou Center and Conolley’s in South Lake Tahoe:

Young’ Bijou in the 1920s. Photo/Lake Tahoe Historical Society

Bijou in the early 1900s included the Young Brothers’ Bijou Resort. Neighboring Conolley’s Resort was just to the west, also on the beach.

Four-wheel drive was not an option in the 1950s. Photo/Del Laine Collection, Lake Tahoe Historical Society

By 1951, Young’s included a market, fountain, and the Bijou Post Office. Adjacent was the historic Bal Bijou dance hall built in the 1930s.

The Conolley enclave was leveled more than 40 years ago. Photo/Del Laine Collection, Lake Tahoe Historical Society

The last of Conolley’s buildings later housed Nel’s Tahoe Supply before being razed in the early 1970s. Today that site is the Beach Retreat and Lodge (formerly Timber Cove).

The Bijou Center as it looks in 2015. Photo/Bill Kingman

What was the Young Brothers Resort is today’s Bijou Center. CVS now occupies most of what was Bal Bijou.

— Bill Kingman

·       Joan deRyk Jones is now mayor of Truckee and Morgan Goodwin is vice mayor.

·       Registration is open for the 2016 Death Ride.

·       Starting in June, Southwest Airlines is adding three daily flights between Reno and Oakland.

·       Here is the Caltrans El Dorado-Lake Tahoe roadwork schedule for the next week.

·       Tahoe Cross Country and Tahoe Cross Country Ski Education Association are looking for board members. Here is the application.

The El Dorado County Public Defender’s Office is putting on a Clean Slate Clinic on Jan. 18.

Anyone who was convicted of a misdemeanor or felony in El Dorado County more than one year ago that resulted in jail time, alternative sentencing, or probation may be eligible to file a petition for an expungement.

The clinic will be from 9am-4pm in Placerville.

For more information on eligibility, go online.

·       UNR journalism students created the Nevada Department of Transportation’s new logo.

·       Lake Tahoe Golf Course in Meyers has been recertified as an Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary golf course.

·       Bill Jensen, one time president of Northstar and Sierra ski resorts, is now CEO of Telluride in Colorado.

·       South Tahoe High grad Todd Moss has been promoted from captain to battalion chief at Tahoe Douglas Fire Protection District.

·       Yosemite National Park has closed Tioga Road for the season.

The Holiday in History open house is Dec. 19 from 11am-7:30pm.

From 11am-5pm children will be able to call the North Pole.

There will be tours of the 1930s-era log cabin.

Music begins at 5pm, along with the lighting of the Christmas tree and menorah.

The museum is at 3058 Lake Tahoe Blvd., South Lake Tahoe.