January is National Mentoring Month and Tahoe Youth & Family Services is looking for mentors.

TYFS needs mentors for ages 4-17.

A Big Brothers/Big Sisters study shows that youth who are mentored by a trusted adult are “more confident in their schoolwork performance, able to get along better with their families, 46 percent less likely to begin using illegal drugs, 27 percent less likely to begin using alcohol and 52 percent less likely to skip school.”

Just one hour a week could change their world. These kids are just waiting for someone to take an interest in their life, to show them opportunities that they never knew existed.

There is also an on-site mentoring project with Boys & Girls Club of Lake Tahoe.

In the South Lake Tahoe area, contact Eli Stevenson at (530) 541.2445, eli@tahoeyouth.org. In Alpine County and surrounding area, contact Betty Hathaway (530) 694.9459, betty@tahoeyouth.org.

• The Office of Public School Construction named South Tahoe High the school of the month for December.

• Unity at the Lake’s New Year’s Eve Meditation is from 7-8pm, 1195 Rufus Allen Blvd., South Lake Tahoe. For more info, call (530) 544. 2266.

• Four companies seeking permits to harvest crayfish from Lake Tahoe were given them this month.

• Artist Charles Muench has published “Markleeville Memories: Paintings of a Sierra Town.”

• The Jack London Commemorative Sierra Sled Dog Derby will be March 2-3 at Royal Gorge Cross Country Ski Resort.

South Lake Tahoe’s “live” snow removal route interactive map is online. This tells people where snow removal operators are clearing the roadways.

Updates to the snow removal route map are provided as streets are plowed every eight, 16, and 24 hours.

The street superintendent is reminding residents to park all vehicles out of the city rights-of-way when snow conditions exist. Place mailboxes and trash cans as far back off the roadway as possible.

Here’s one extra 1963 photo showing a naked Tahoe Keys and naked Heavenly parking lot.

I’m working on getting permission to use other oldies. Until then, Dec. 30 will the last Then and Now.

— Bill Kingman

The environmental nonprofit Tahoe Fund has launched the Lake Tahoe License Plate Plate Spotte’ program to reward owners of Lake Tahoe license plates with free lift tickets during the 2013 ski season.

Tahoe plates spotted by official “spotters” and the general public will be entered to win free lift tickets every week until March 20. The program is designed to raise awareness of Lake Tahoe license plates, and to reward and encourage renewals and new Tahoe license plate purchases.

More than 96 percent of the funds raised through the Lake Tahoe license plate sales go directly to the California Tahoe Conservancy and Nevada Division of State Lands to fund hiking and biking trails and watershed restoration projects.

Tahoe plates “spotted” by the Plate Spotting Team will be photographed and eligible for the weekly drawing of two lift tickets at a participating Lake Tahoe area resort.

The public is invited to spot plates and upload their own photos to the Tahoe Fund Facebook page as well.

The Lake Tahoe Federal Advisory Committee is scheduled to meet from 9am-noon Jan. 10 at the Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit, 35 College Drive, South Lake Tahoe.

LTFAC will address issues related to federal activities at Lake Tahoe.

Items on the agenda include updates on Tahoe Interagency Executive Steering Committee activities, the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency Regional Plan update, Forest Plan Revision status, and public comment.

LTFAC consists of 20 members representing a broad array of constituencies.

For more information on the Lake Tahoe Federal Advisory Committee, go online.

• Twenty-one writers respond to America’s war on women’s rights and reproductive health in “Get Out of My Crotch” – which will be released Jan. 22 on the 40th anniversary of Roe v. Wade. Order a copy online.

• Tahoe Regional Planning Agency will be closed Dec. 24-Jan. 1.

• The San Francisco Giants World Series trophy is not coming to Lake Tahoe like it did after the 2010 championship.  The route is online.

• New American Mortgage and Chase International South Tahoe made holiday donations to Tahoe Youth & Family Services, Live Violence Free and El Dorado County South Lake Tahoe library’s Giving Tree for Court Appointed Special Advocates.

• Lake Tahoe News is closing in on 1,000 likes on its Facebook page. If you are the 1,000th, LTN will send you a T-shirt.

Kid’s Club is having a Fun Trip on Jan. 3 for grades K-8 at the South Lake Tahoe Rec Center.

Activities include: Tahoe Tot Spot, bowling, swimming and more. Cost is $25.

Preregistration is necessary — (530) 542.6056.

With the winter storms lined up for this weekend, the El Dorado County Sheriff’s Office is reminding residents and visitors to be mindful of the local parking regulations.

In the county it is unlawful to park on the roadway during snow removal conditions or in any manner which obstructs traffic. This is defined as any vehicle obstructing the normal flow of traffic under normal driving conditions.

It is also illegal for any vacation rental to park vehicles in the roadway when snow conditions exist.

• Après Wine Co. in South Lake Tahoe and Petra Wine Bar at Northstar are recommended as places to visit in the January issue of Ski magazine.

• John Wagnon, marketing guru at Heavenly-Kirkwood, is now on the Nevada Commission on Tourism. He is filling the remainder of his boss Blaise Carrig’s term, which expires June 30, 2014.

• January is National Skating Month – as in ice skating.

• The January-February issue of Via magazine recommends JT Basque Bar and Dining Room in Gardnerville as a place for fine food with a side of history.

• Amador County’s Terre Rouge & Easton Wines is on Wine Spectator’s list of 100 outstanding values of 2012 for its Easton 2010 Zinfandel Amador County.