Kingsbury Grade reopens to through traffic May 23 at approximately noon.

The next phase of construction begins May 27 with night work beginning at approximately 9.

The closure of Kingsbury Grade this month has resulted in 5,000 cubic yards of excavation, installation of 2,600 tons of asphalt and 1,800 feet of new curb and gutter.

The $15 million project continues during the summer months through Aug. 29. Nighttime construction-related lane closures and delays are expected. The road will be open with one lane in each direction during daytime hours, weekends and all holidays with no restrictions.

Tahoe Douglas Fire Protection District is hosting a Compost Your Combustibles kickoff event May 24 from 9am to 2pm to raise awareness about becoming a fire adaptive community.

Fire district staff and the Zephyr Fire Crew will provide wildfire landscape information, breakfast and barbecue lunch that day.

Compost Your Combustibles will go through Aug. 3 from 9am-5pm at the Boulder Lodge parking off Upper Kingsbury Grade in Stateline.

For the first time in five years fatalities are up nationwide for people not wearing a seatbelt, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

In 2012, 10,335 unbelted vehicle occupants lost their lives. In Nevada, 41 unbelted vehicle occupants died last year.

The Nevada Highway Patrol is trying to reduce those numbers with the Click It or Ticket program that runs through June 1. This means troopers will be paying even more attention to unbelted drivers.

In 2012, 61 percent of passenger vehicle occupants killed between 6pm and 6am were not wearing their seat belts. The NHP also said men are less likely to wear a seatbelt than women, younger people are less likely than older people, and pickup drivers are worse about buckling up than drivers of passenger cars.

• South Lake Tahoe’s Engineering Division received $2.8 million in a Round 2 Proposition 84 grant for the Sierra Tract Erosion Control Project.

• Wilbur D. May Arboretum and Botanical Garden annual plant sale is June 7 from 8am-noon, Rancho San Rafael Regional Park, 1595 N. Sierra St., Reno.

• Gov. Brian Sandoval appointed Douglas County Sheriff Ron Pierini as chairman of the Nevada Commission of Police Officers’ Standards and Training. Pierini has been on the commission since 2002.

• The following is the Artist in Residence lineup at the Tallac Site on the South Shore for this summer. Artists will be working from 11am-4pm: June 19-25 Lainie Vreeland, June 26- July 2 Kelly Lynn Smith, July 5-7 John Holland, July 17-23 Millie Meng Beher, and Aug. 6-17 Kit Knight.

• South Lake Tahoe Fire Department Station No. 3 is having an open house May 24 from 1-5pm. The station is at 2101 Lake Tahoe Blvd. For more information, call 530.542.6160.

Unity at the Lake is hosting a night of Hand and Foot as a fundraiser.

Frank Riley will be in charge of running the card game.

The event is May 30 at 6pm, 1195 Rufus Allen Blvd., South Lake Tahoe.

Cost to play is $10.

RSVP to Paige Rice at paige@tahoebestfriends.com or 530.543.1903.

The North Shore is having a community clean up day on June 7 from 9am-1pm.

It will happen even if it rains.

Registration stations open at 9am at the Kings Beach State Recreation Area picnic tables, in Tahoe Vista at Cable Car Ice Cream, in Carnelian Bay at Gar Woods, and in Crystal Bay at the Biltmore.

For more info, email tily@northtahoebusiness.org.

• On June 17 from 6-7pm Kyle Swanson, a doctor with Tahoe Orthopedics and Sports Medicine, will talk about preventing shoulder injuries. This free talk is in the Lake Tahoe Community College board room in South Lake Tahoe.

• Carson Valley Inn Food Truck Festival is May 31 from noon to 8pm in and adjacent to TJ’s Corral, the outdoor events center.

• Placerville residents who oppose roundabouts have submitted signatures to qualify a measure for the November ballot that would require voters to approve all roundabouts.

• The May 24 Random Acts of Improv at Lake Tahoe Community College has been canceled.

People have until June 23 to comment on the draft Tahoe Basin Community Plan policy document created by Placer County.

The document provides direction on future land use decisions for Placer County in the Lake Tahoe Basin Area. As a policy document, it provides for the legal basis for all zoning, subdivision, and related land use actions within the Tahoe Basin portion of Placer County.

The document may be accessed online.

There will be a town hall meeting June 4 at the Kings Beach Community Center at 6pm.

Camp Richardson in the 1950s. Photo/CampRichardson.com

Into the 1950s, a large two-story frame building stood center on the Camp Richardson beach.

Upstairs featured a hardwood dance floor and bandstand stage. Downstairs was storage for rental kayaks, canoes, paddleboards, small boats, and bicycles. The single-story wing (at right) was a snack bar, fronting Camp Rich’s original pier and rental shack (just right of photo).

Camp Richardson today. Photo/Bill Kingman

Remnants of that building’s concrete foundation remain today. The pier is gone. The structure visible at far left was a wood frame summertime rental cabin named Austin. (Al Richardson named his rental cabins after historic cars). I stayed there in 1950. Here’s the same beachfront today.

The snack shack, far left, and what it looks like today.

After that old two-story beachfront structure was razed, a new brick snack bar and storage barn combination was built in the mid-1950s on the Austin cabin site. In summertime, its roomy storage area became the dance floor replacement for the old demolished building. It was especially popular with teens, complete with a jukebox. Do you remember “seven plays for 25 cents”?

Camp Rich, above left, before, and above is now.

South Tahoe High School class of 1959 had its graduation party there.

This 1950s snack bar and storage building evolved into today’s Beacon restaurant in the mid-1980s.

— Bill Kingman

• The 13th annual Wildflower Festival at Kirkwood is July 26 from noon-5pm. For tickets and more info, go online. The festival features wine and beer tasting, live music featuring Ciana, a trio performing tunes and songs from the Irish and Celtic tradition, art work on display for purchase, activities for kids and a barbecue on the plaza.

• A massive project in Folsom at Highway 50 is coming; which could make getting to and from the South Shore more cumbersome on busy weekends. Check out this story.

• Maria Elia, chef of Jimmy’s Restaurant at the Landing Resort & Spa in South Lake Tahoe, recently published the cookbook “Smashing Plates: Greek Flavors Redefined.”

• Here are the Caltrans roadwork schedules for the week for El Dorado-Tahoe and Sierra.

• Sierra Arts Foundation has grant money for artists. More info online.