With temperatures now more like mid-summer, El Dorado County health officials are offering tips on how to stay cool, hydrated and healthy.

Heat waves can be dangerous and cause serious medical problems, particularly for older people, the very young and those with chronic medical conditions.

The following are tips to stay cool and healthy during hot weather:

• Drink plenty of fluids, such as water and low-calorie sports drinks, even if you are not thirsty.
• Stay indoors in an air conditioned building. If you do not have air conditioning, visit a friend, relative or other location in the community, such as a library, community center, grocery store or shopping center where the air conditioning is working.
• Pace yourself and avoid heavy exertion in the heat.
• Never leave a child, elderly person or animal in a parked vehicle, even for a few minutes. Temperatures can rise to dangerous levels in a matter of minutes.
• Check on neighbors, relatives and friends, particularly those who may be isolated.

The annual Tahoe Legends Run in June 20.

The 5K and 10K races raise money for the track and field at South Tahoe Middle School.

The runs wind through rolling hills, forests and meadows on a single track and a bike path.  Competitors start at the Lake Tahoe Community College parking lot and finish at STMS, former home of the 1968 Olympic Trials track.

Registration is from  7:15-7:45am at LTCC, with the race starting at 8am. To register in advance, go online.

With several other water ways experiencing historic low levels, Donner Lake is expected to be a popular destination for boaters.

However, officials are warning boaters that Donner Lake is very low as well.

“With the lower water levels there will likely be submerged hazards that were not near the surface last season. Pay particular attention while boating around the edges of the lake and familiarize yourself with any potential hazards before operating at speed,” the Truckee Police Department’s marine patrol officers said in a statement.

Here are some safety reminders:

• Best practice is for everyone to wear a personal flotation device that fits correctly.
• Do not consume alcohol when operating any vessel or recreating on the lake. The few seconds of delayed response and impaired judgment could have significant consequences.
• Boats on plane towing water skiers or traveling greater than 5 mph must travel in a counter clockwise direction.
• Obey all speed limits and be constantly scanning for other traffic and hazards.
• Have your boat serviced and inspected regularly to prevent any unnecessary emissions into the environment and to know your boat is safe to operate.
• Know the weather and the limitations of your vessel and the limitations of the operator.
• Review all boating laws and safe operating procedures. If you have not taken a Boaters Safety Course, consider one online. Boating laws and information about training is online.
• Starting in 2014, all motorized watercraft launching into Donner Lake are required to have an aquatic invasive species inspection and inspection sticker. Hand launched watercraft like canoes, kayaks, and paddle boards are subject to inspection, but are currently exempt from the mandatory inspections and fees. However, these watercraft can also carry the invasive species and should be self-inspected before launching.

Access to Donner Lake is limited and several ramps are closed or have limited access based on trailer and vessel size. With fewer access points to launch, there will likely be lines and limited parking at the locations that are open.

Lake Tahoe Visitors Authority and local agencies are partnering to coordinate the Adopt-a-Beach Program clean-up dates following the Fourth of July and Labor Day firework displays.

The clean-up program is in place to ensure any debris that may be left behind is picked up.

A key element for the LTVA and partner agencies is preserving lake clarity after an estimated 100,000 people gather along the South Shore to watch the pyrotechnic display.

Information online provides people details on how to recognize and report potential fireworks debris and generate immediate response if found. The LTVA has established a hotline (775.410.0417) and an email address (teamfireworks@ltva.org) to communicate information on debris.

In addition, LTVA is coordinating with South Tahoe Refuse to implement a program where bags will be provided to spectators upon entry to the beach in order to help contain trash.

For those interested in helping with the Team Fireworks Beach Cleanup program July 5-9, email info@LTVA.org.

Heavenly Mountain Resort is no longer just about skiing. Photo Copyright 2015 Carolyn E. Wright

Heavenly Mountain Resort this summer is embarking on $17 million worth of improvements, with some of the amenities slated to be ready to experience in a matter of months.

The Epic Discovery program is Vail Resorts’ – parent company of Heavenly – answer to transitioning into a year-round resort. The project received approval from the regulatory agencies this spring.

Construction on the alpine coaster will begin this month and should be ready to ride this coming ski season. It is a raised track through the forest, with riders on individual sleds. It will be built north and west of the existing tubing hill. It uses gravity for the descent while giving riders full control of their speed.

The mid-station zipline canopy tour, an interpretive zipline canopy tour in the area between the Gondola midstation and the top station to the east of the gondola alignment, will break ground in early July, and take three months to build. It will open to the public in summer 2016.

On June 12, Heavenly will begin summer operations with the debut of the resort’s four line Hot Shot Zipline.

The summer tubing hill will have a second lane added by June 26.

A permanent 35-foot rock climbing wall is under construction south of Tamarack Lodge. It will feature 18 defined climbing routes with automatic belay systems and a quick-jump 35-foot rapid descent that emulates free-falling. It will open in August.

In September, the Mountain Excursion Tours via 4 x 4 vehicles will provide guided tours.

For smaller children, Heavenly will open a kids-specific zipline and ropes course this summer

The interpretive learning program is being developed with the Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit, League to Save Lake Tahoe and Nature Conservancy for a summer 2016 launch date.

Expansion of activities outside of the top of Gondola area to the East Peak, Dipper/Comet areas will begin in summer 2016 – this includes mountain biking.

— Lake Tahoe News staff report

By Richard Rosenblatt, AP

NEW YORK — Souvenirs, everyone?

A $2 ticket on American Pharoah to win the Belmont Stakes may be worth a lot more money later than now. Or, people are hanging on to their own little piece of horse racing history.

Or selling them online.

Two days after American Pharoah became the first Triple Crown winner in 37 years, more than 95 percent of those who spent two bucks on win tickets have yet to cash them in.

Of the 94,128 $2 win wagers placed from Friday until Saturday’s Belmont, 90,237 remain live — uncashed — according to figures released Monday by AmTote International.

AmTote handles the wagering system for the New York Racing Association, which operates Belmont Park, Aqueduct and Saratoga. The totals are from bets made at Aqueduct and Belmont.

For the 3,891 who cashed their $2 win tickets as of Monday, the payout was $3.50.

And for those still considering what to do, your deadline is March 31, 2016, or the money is returned to the state.

On eBay, $2 win tickets were being offered at $20 and up each; a Belmont Stakes program and $2 win ticket in the $65 range; and a $2 win ticket from each Triple Crown race — the Kentucky Derby, Preakness and Belmont — in the $300 range.

There was one listing offering 500 $2 Belmont Stakes win tickets on American Pharoah for $14,999.

By Kathryn Reed

“There aren’t many places I can go where I don’t feel like I’m being watched. But the golf course is one of them. It’s my refuge. It’s where I get a chance to be alone in the world.”

Justin Timberlake clearly had not played the American Century Championship when he said those words to Golf magazine in 2012.

The music powerhouse and sometimes actor will be hitting the links at this year’s celebrity golf tournament at Edgewood Tahoe in Stateline. It’s a first for this nine-time Grammy Award winner and four-time Emmy Awards recipient to play in the 26-year-old tournament.

He might find the reception he receives more like being live on stage instead of a more staid atmosphere. The tournament, while serious in nature for some of the players, is a party for others. And it is definitely a party for those watching on the 17th from their boats and the beach. And the practice rounds are all about fans getting autographs from the celebrities and taking photos with their favorites. The popular players have a gallery following them.

Justin Timberlake will make his ACC debut this July. Photo/Michael Albov

Golf, though, is a serious endeavor for Timberlake. The 34-year-old has been playing since he was 12. He has a 6 handicap. Timberlake was host of the PGA’s 2008 Las Vegas tour stop. The tournament was renamed the Justin Timberlake Shriners Hospitals for Children Open from 2008-12.

“I think he has a chance to finish in the top 20, maybe top 15, but he has to play well,” Phil Weidinger, spokesman for the ACC tournament, told Lake Tahoe News.

Weidinger believes Timberlake could be in the hunt early if he plays up to his handicap.

Winners of this tournament, though, tend to have a zero handicap.

Timberlake is bound to put some points on the board because a modified Stableford scoring system is used. The tournament has a $600,000 purse.

While NBC and American Century always try to have 15 to 20 percent of the field be newbies, it can be hard to get athletes and entertainers who are in their prime to play because of conflicts with their jobs. Timberlake has been invited multiple times, but until now has not been able to fit the ACC into his schedule.

The tournament is July 14-19.

Four, two-hour walks around Spooner Lake to look at some of the more than 100 species of wildflowers are planned for this month.

People will be taught plant names, their uses, and habitats.

Children younger than 16 and pets should not take this hike. Comfortable clothes, walking shoes or boots and a hat are recommended. Bring water, snacks, sunscreen and insect repellent. This event is limited to 12 participants sign up by phone at 775.749.5980 or at the Spooner Lake Park Entrance Station.

The dates are June 18, June 20, June 25 and June 27; start time is 10am. Entry to Spooner Lake State Park is $10 per vehicle, with a $2 discount for Nevada residents.

By Kimberly Pierceall, AP

Call it a mutual fund for sports bettors or maybe a legal framework for buddies to pool their money to bet on the big game.

Nevada is the first in the nation to allow business entities to wager on sports on behalf of investors, regardless of how big or small the enterprise.

Pushed by sports book manager CG Technology and signed by Nevada’s governor last week, Senate Bill 443 from state Sen. Greg Brower requires the businesses be based in Nevada, including its bank account. Staff and investors must fully disclose their identities to the sports book where they’re wagering, but investors don’t have to live in Nevada.

The activity was technically permitted before allowing common law partnerships to make wagers. Imagine a bunch of sports fans pooling their funds together and dispatching one of them to make the bet on their behalf, for example.

Brower, who pitched the idea unsuccessfully during the legislature’s 2013 session, said the aim is for the process to be more transparent and respond to a changing marketplace for sports betting that has diminished Nevada’s monopoly on the activity.

CG Technology and deputy general counsel Quinton Singleton pushed for the new “clear cut, black and white” framework. The company operates several sports books in Las Vegas including the Venetian and the Palazzo, the Cosmopolitan, the Palms, the Tropicana and the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino.

If disputes arise from investors feeling bilked, Singleton said the claim would take its normal legal course against the business entity, not the sports book or the state’s regulators.

“This is going to be, really, an alternative investment strategy,” he said.

Singleton described the new allowable scenario as something akin to a mutual fund, or sports investment betting.

As an example, he pointed to a firm in Australia, Priomha Capital, that’s a hedge fund that pools its client’s money and bets it via funds related to sporting events.

Rules will still bar individuals from accepting money to take bets on someone else’s behalf in Nevada sports books, the so-called messenger betting regulation, but the new law allows for the registered business and its employees to make bets, a distinction that satisfied regulators.

The key was making the sports books responsible for collecting the information about the businesses and identities of those involved, said Nevada Gaming Control Board chairman A.G. Burnett, adding that regulators would still be watching and would have the option of reviewing the business entity’s members and investors.

It’s up to the sports books if they want to accept the wagers. It’s also up to them to investigate the people behind the bets.

Johnny Avello, who runs the sports books for Wynn Resorts in Las Vegas, however says the new law doesn’t spell out specifics of how the bets and the businesses will work. He still has questions, he said.

“If you don’t know all the rules you’re bound to get yourself in hot water,” he said.

Jay Kornegay who runs the sports book at the Westgate Las Vegas, formerly the Las Vegas Hilton, has questions, too.

“We’re all trying to understand what it’s all about,” he said.

But Singleton, with CG Technology, said the law makes the process more clear and transparent, whether it’s three buddies who like to pool their money on bets or a hedge fund.

“You can run it like a real business,” he said.

The International Olympic Committee approved big air snowboarding and an alpine team event for the 2018 Olympic Winter Games in PyeongChang.

The U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association had been among nations lobbying for inclusion of big air.

The successful slopestyle events at the 2014 Olympic Winter Games in Sochi provided a platform to launch big air as an additional medal opportunity. Big air was introduced at the 2003 FIS Snowboarding World Championships and was included on the World Cup tour in 2015.

“The inclusion of big air is another positive step from the IOC to incorporate more events that are more appealing to a younger audience in the Olympic schedule,” USSA Snowboarding Program Director Jeremy Forster said in a statement. “The ability to host big air events on the hill or in stadiums make it exciting and engaging for a variety of audiences.”

The alpine team event, first introduced at the FIS Alpine World Ski Championships in 2005, was a fan favorite at the 2015 Worlds in Vail/Beaver Creek. The event features a mixed team of two men and two women competing for their national teams in a head-to-head slalom with a knockout format each round.