• The 27th annual Booster Club Golf Tournament is May 3-4 at Edgewood Tahoe Golf Course. All proceeds benefit the students of South Tahoe and Whittell high schools. The price is $125 per player and includes lunch. For more information, contact Kevin Kjer at 775.588.6354 or kjkjer@aol.com.

• Tickets for the Sept. 6-7 Trails and Vistas art hikes go on sale online April 22.

• On April 4, Dutch Bros. Coffee is giving away free drinks from 5am-11pm at its 1231 S. Carson St. location in Carson City to celebrate the grand reopening.

• Nevada County, including Truckee, is asking people to take a survey about coordinated transit.

• Truckee Police Department is having a recognition event of officers on April 8 at 4:30pm in council chambers.

Between now and April 20, Nevada Highway Patrol troopers will be cracking down on distracted drivers throughout the state.

Any use of a handheld electronic device — cell phone, mp3 player, GPS device, etc. — while driving is illegal and offenders will be pulled over and cited.

Nevada’s ban on handheld devices while driving went into effect Jan. 1, 2012, and two years into the law, law enforcement continues to spot and cite offenders every day.

Officers say the likelihood of crashes dramatically rise when your actions require a combination of visual, manual and cognitive attention.

• Homewood and Tahoe Donner ski resorts had super short seasons. They are closed.

• Tahoe Donner golf management anticipates opening the golf course by mid-May, with perhaps the earliest opening to date. It’s also likely the driving range may open before May.

• Truckee’s capital improvement program budget will be the subject of a meeting April 3 at 3pm at the town hall.

• The League to Save Lake Tahoe is putting on a Pipe Keepers forum April 17 from 6-8pm at Blue Angel Café in South Lake Tahoe.

• Reno and other community partners are organizing a David Wise Parade of Champions on April 26 at 5pm in downtown Reno. The parade will end roughly 30 minutes later at Aces Ballpark.

• A Free Medication Take-Back day is set for April 26 from 10am-1pm at the Old Tahoe City Fire Station (above Commons Beach), 300 North Lake Blvd., Tahoe City.

• Movie in the morning at the South Lake Tahoe library is April 12 at 10am. It will be Disney’s latest hit. And it’s free. The library is at 1000 Rufus Allen Blvd.

• Got questions about your iPad, e-reader, or laptop? Sign-up for 30 minutes of tech help at the South Lake Tahoe library on April 19. Email maria.delallo@edcgov.us.

• Daniel Robertson has been selected as doctor of the year by Barton Health.

• UNR plans to implement a tobacco-free university policy effective Aug. 1, 2015.

Are you a homeowner or do you know a homeowner who needs a little help with the exterior of he home? Are you unable to do it yourself or pay someone else to do it for you? Do you need exterior paint, minor exterior repairs, or basic landscaping or yard clean up? If so, A Brush with Kindness may be the solution for you.

A Brush with Kindness is a program of El Dorado County Habitat for Humanity that helps low-income homeowners by offering exterior home improvements. Volunteer teams work to improve the condition of homes by painting, landscaping, and performing minor exterior repairs at minimal cost to homeowners who are unable to complete these repairs. Able-bodied homeowners are encouraged to work alongside the volunteers in a cooperative effort.

Applications need to be completed as soon possible in order to be considered for this year. Applications may be obtained by contacting Carolyn at 530.541.4654 or Bonnie at 530.577-7762 or email SLTahoehabitat@gmail.com.

To volunteer to help on a project, contact Pam at 530.545.3388 or zippygirl1@att.net.

A meeting for volunteers will be May 20 at 7pm at the Hope Lutheran Church, 930 Julie Lane in South Lake Tahoe to learn more about the program.

Mark S. Morris, collector and historian, has a vast bottle collection and will speak about collecting.

Hewill have copies of his book, “Mark’s Bottles: 50 Years of Collecting” on April 12 at Lake Tahoe Museum in South Lake Tahoe.

Reservations are required as space is limited — 530.541.5458. Leave your name and phone number. The 2-4pm event is free for members, $3 for non-members.

If you have a bottle and would like to know its past, bring it. One per guest.

• McDonald’s restaurants – including South Lake Tahoe, Tahoe City and Truckee – are offering a free small coffee during breakfast hours from March 31-April 13.

• Carson Tahoe Regional Medical Center has recently earned Joint Commission’s Gold Seal of Approval. The Joint Commission is the leading accreditor of health care organizations in the United States.

• The Virginia City Wine Tour is the first Saturday of each month from 11am to 4pm April 5-Aug. 2. Tickets purchased in advance are $15 or $20 week of the event. Admission includes access to 18 merchants, a commemorative stemless wine glass and a map.

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

• The South Lake Tahoe library has a monthly gathering of knitters and crocheters. Crafters of all ages and experience are welcome on the first Saturday of the month at 1pm. The free event is at 1000 Rufus Allen Blvd., South Lake Tahoe.

Comstock Muckfest in Virginia City is a celebration of Nevada’s mining history.

On June 7 people may take the trolley around town to see demonstrations of how the miners of the 1800s worked and learn about modern mining; tour local museums and learn about the history of Virginia City and the important role mining had on Nevada becoming a state.

For more info, call 775.847.7500.

As part of April’s Distracted Driving Awareness Month campaign, South Lake Tahoe police officers will be joining more than 200 other local law enforcement agencies in a monthlong zero tolerance enforcement campaign to curb texting or operating hand-held cell phones while driving.

Special high visibility enforcement operations to cite cell phone violators will take place on April 3, 8, 17 and 22.

The increased enforcement aims to persuade drivers to recognize the dangers of distracted driving and reduce the number of people impacted by this perilous behavior.

The minimum ticket is $161, with subsequent tickets costing at least $281.

Boarded up Barton Ranch building in South Lake Tahoe. Photo/Bill Kingman

Today, the historic Barton Ranch front building still stands unobtrusively on highways 50 and 89 near the Y in South Lake Tahoe across from Pier 1 Imports.

The Y today. Photo/Bill Kingman

The original Barton Ranch extensive land holdings, which were on both sides of the highway, included where today’s Barton Memorial Hospital stands.

Tahoe Sierra Market
Photo/Lake Tahoe Historical Society

Next to the Barton Ranch home building and across the driveway is the end wing of today’s South Y Center.

Until the late 1960s, left-to-right on this same site were Tahoe Sierra Market, Miller’s Cabins, and Tahoe Valley Lodge , and more, up to the 50-89 junction.

According to long-time (since 1947) local

Miller’s Cabins
Photo/Lake Tahoe Historical Society

resident Dave Wakeman, Tahoe Sierra Market was

Tahoe Valley Lodge
Photo/Lake Tahoe Historical Society

owned and operated by local meat purveyors Fenn Barkley and his brother-in-law Harvey Gross, who also founded Harvey’s Gambling Hall and Saloon at Stateline in 1946.

— Bill Kingman