·       If you missed “60 Minutes” on Nov. 29, check out this link to see what JT Holmes of Squaw Valley is up to now.

·       The two shows to be performed in summer 2016 as part of the Lake Tahoe Shakespeare Festival at Sand Harbor are “The Comedy of Errors” and “Forever Plaid”.

·      Tahoe Cross Country is celebrating the start of the season with a party at Jake’s on the Lake in Tahoe City on Dec. 6 from 5:30-7:30pm. Cost is $25 for adults, $10 for kids.

·       The free Tuba Christmas Concert is Dec. 5 at 3pm at the Wilbur D. May Museum, Rancho San Rafael Regional Park, 1595 N. Sierra St., Reno.

·       To see where plows are throughout Truckee, click here.

·       League to Save Lake Tahoe is having an open house (2608 Lake Tahoe Blvd.) on Dec. 10 from 5:30-8:30pm. Bring an old T-shirt and turn it into a Keep Tahoe Blue gift.

·       The 12th annual Nevada Chamber Music Festival is Dec. 26-31 at Nightingale Concert Hall and South Reno United Methodist Church. For tickets and more info, go online.

·       The Humane Society of Truckee-Tahoe had its best month ever in October, finding homes for 52 pets.

·      Kimberly and Patrick Wilkes recently published “Eastern Sierra And Death Valley Camping With Privacy: Your Guide To The Most Private Campsites Near Mammoth Lakes, Tuolumne Meadows, Death Valley, And Beyond”. Between now and Dec. 12 they are donating $2 from the sale of each paperback and 40 percent of the royalties from each Kindle book to support the work of Eastern Sierra Land Trust.

Santa will be at Pet Station in South Lake Tahoe ready to have pictures taken with people and their dogs.

This is a fundraiser of Animal Coalition of Tahoe. All proceeds will support ACT’s spay-neuter program and the animal shelter in Meyers.

For a donation of one’s choice, the best photos will be emailed to people for them to use as they choose.

The photo session will be upstairs at Pet Station, 2205 Lake Tahoe Blvd., on Dec. 12 from 11am-2pm.

Zawadisha’s annual Holiday Bazaar is back, but at new location.

It will be Dec. 5 from 10am-3pm at the Blue Angel Cafe on Ski Run Boulevard, South Lake Tahoe. It is free to attend.

The local artisans, craftspeople, and entrepreneurs include: Abazart, BellaDrops, Cat Makes Things, Coalition Snow, Dharma Love, Intrepid Jewelry, Knits & Knots Tahoe, LoveStock Skincare, Lovin’ Lake Tahoe, Mountain Mudd, Rear View Miracles, Range of Light Designs, Refuge Coffee, Revive Tahoe, Spunky Punker, Tahoe Mountain Soap Co., Wellness Arts by Erin, Wildwood DIY Boutique, and Zawadisha.

A portion of proceeds from this event benefit Zawadisha. Zawadisha is a nonprofit social enterprise whose eco-loans to rural Kenyan women help finance their livelihoods.

My little box of 35mm slides is dated November 1965, the same month when the city of South Lake Tahoe was incorporated.

Here is sampling of how things have changed in 50 years:

Highway 50 and Park Avenue in 1965. Photos/Bill Kingman

Highway 50 and Park Avenue in 2015.

Caltrans no longer positions stoplight islands in the center of the pavement in snow country.

Raley’s at Stateline in 1965.

The center was remodeled more than a decade ago.

Raley’s Drug Center & Supermarket and neighboring Lawrence’s Department Store in the Crescent V Center were the anchors in 1965. Today, Raley’s and neighboring Sports LTD in the Village Center are two of the main stores.

The foreground building until recently was Teaz & Pleaz. Previously it has been a drive-up dairy, The Finishing Touch lighting store, The Dead Head, and others. Meeks Lumber is still there.

Sonora Avenue used to connect to Highway 50 about where I stood to snap this photo; that intersection is now covered by Postmarc. Across the highway, redevelopment replaced the pictured businesses with the Linear Park, which also fronts Tahoe Meadows.

The intersection of Highway 50 at Lodi Avenue had three gas stations: The 76 site is now parking for Magic Carpet Golf; the Standard station (behind in photo) across Lodi was replaced by the two-story office building; the third gas station diagonally across the highway still exists.

Meanwhile, some other locations are still easily recognized from 1965:

The American Legion Hall where Jim Burgett’s band played. The large auditorium (left in photo) collapsed under snow load just hours before a scheduled teen-age dance and was not re-built.

The Bijou Center where mostly names and color schemes have changed.

The landmark Outdoorsman building, later housing Long’s, and now Grocery Outlet. The foreground empty lot is today’s Motel 6 site.

— Bill Kingman

·       Tahoe Donner cross country ski area is open.

·       The Canyon Springs project applicants have asked for the hearing before the Truckee Planning Commission to be continued from Dec. 1 to an unspecified date so they can submit more information.

·       Gov. Jerry Brown has appointed Don Jardine of Markleeville to another four-year term on the Lahontan Regional Water Quality Control Board. He has been on the board since 2008.

·       Toogee Sielsch of South Lake Tahoe talks in this interview about how to control beavers.

·       Here is the Sierra roadwork schedule from Caltrans for this week.

El Dorado County needs people to assist clients in the county’s In-Home Supportive Services program.

Care providers help clients stay safely in their homes by completing tasks such as cooking meals, doing laundry, shopping for groceries, running errands and/or helping with personal care services.

Applicants should have experience providing care, and have a driver’s license and reliable transportation; they must also be fingerprinted and pass a criminal background check, reference checks and other screening requirements. Applicants pay for the cost of their fingerprinting.

Hours vary and are mutually determined by the care provider and IHSS recipient.

Interested applicants may call 530.621.6287.

Sierra House Elementary School fourth-grader Dominic Herron with LTBMU Supervisor Jeff Marsolais. Photo/USFS

· Participating Forest Service offices will offer one free Christmas tree permit to fourth-grade students who present a valid paper voucher or durable Every Kid in a Park pass.

·       Engel & Völkers, a European-based premium real estate brand, has opened an office in Zephyr Cove.

·      The Douglas County Public Library continues its First Saturday of the Month Family Movies on Dec. 5 with “A Dennis the Menace Christmas” from 2-3:30pm at the Minden Library, 1625 Library Lane.

·      Tahoe Donner was named most senior-friendly ski resort in California by SeniorsSkiing.com, an online magazine catering to older snowsports enthusiasts.

Douglas County residents may use an online tool to provide input to help the county manage its checkbook.

Access to this tool will be available through Dec. 21.

Money may be allocated toward the following categories, which are what the commissioners have deemed the most important in the Strategic Plan: safe community, economic vitality, financial stability, infrastructure, natural environment, cultural heritage and quality of life, and organizational sustainability.

The county and public will not be able to see the names of individual participants unless the participant chooses to display their name.

More than 500 students in grades K-12 throughout South Lake Tahoe received a new, warm winter coat through the efforts of the Kiwanis Community Organization Inc.

The project ensures every child here who needs one receives a coat at no charge.

This project is made possible with the support of donations from service organizations, individuals, and businesses, as well as grants from American Century Championship/LTVA, El Dorado Community Foundation and the Antique & Classic Boat Society NC/LT Chapter.