By DeAnna Briton, Hofstra Chronicle

Before every game, Monica Knight, the senior captain of the volleyball team, closes her eyes and visualizes the game for five minutes. Then, she leads her team onto the court and works her hardest to make sure those visions come true.

There was no question as to whether Knight would play volleyball in college or not, “it was a childhood dream,” she said. And one that came true.

Knight has been playing volleyball since 6th grade. She is from South Lake Tahoe, California and attended Douglas High School in Nevada. During her junior and senior year, she led Douglas to back-to-back Sierra League championships. Knight is a three-time first team All-Sierra selection in volleyball and was named to the All-Northern Nevada volleyball first team when she was a senior. She also played basketball for all four years of high school. She chose to remain faithful to volleyball because “I just enjoy playing volleyball a lot more. I thought I was better at it,” Knight said.

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Matt Tillson

By Kathryn Reed

Matt Tillson doesn’t understand why he won’t be coaching the South Tahoe High School baseball team in the spring.

After five years as the varsity coach and another five with the junior varsity team, he was let go at the end of last May.

He went before the Lake Tahoe Unified School District board Tuesday night asking for answers, but unable to receive any because the board is not allowed to comment on items not on the agenda.

“I feel I was unjustly relieved of my job. I feel I was fired,” Tillson told the board. “I want to talk about the condition of the sports programs at the high school.”

Tillson asked the board to have an agenda item at a future meeting relating to his specific situation as well as sports in general.

Board President Wendy David suggested Tillson speak with Human Resources Director Jim Watson.

That evening the board hired Don Amaral to be the Viking baseball coach.

After the meeting, Watson said when a coach receives an evaluation that is not proficient or better, the job is opened up. Tillson applied, but was not rehired. Watson would not say how many people applied for the position or how many were interviewed.

Several parents and some players filled the board room Tuesday night in support of Tillson, though none spoke.

Some parents have voiced concerns about Athletic Director Donny Borges, and question his job performance.

Watson would not comment on Borges.

Lake Tahoe Bicycle and Pedestrian Plan Drop-in Open-House, South Lake Tahoe Senior Center, 3050 Lake Tahoe Blvd., South Lake Tahoe, on Oct. 19 from 2:30- 8:30pm.

North Shore Open House is at the TCPUD Administrative Board Room, 221 Fairway Drive, Tahoe City, on Oct. 22 from 2:30-8:30pm.

For more information, go to www.TahoeMPO.org.

Fall colors in the Sierra Nevada. Photo/Kathryn Reed

Leaves are changing a bit late this year in the Lake Tahoe Basin. Snow the first weekend of October has caused some of the aspens to go brown before turning their bright yellow, orange and red.

Trees that are apt to turn color are doing so now at lake level. The spectrum of color is just beginning to show up in Hope Valley, with Sorensen’s Resort boasting the most color.

North of Stateline is the Bourne Meadow — which is just now beginning to show its fall colors.

Farther up Highway 50, shades of orange and red are sprouting near Spooner Summit.

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Cassandra Chandler

Cassandra Chandler placed first in the 45+ division and second in Class A at the San Francisco Bodybuilding & Figure Championships.

The Incline Village resident who is a trainer at Push Fitness in South Lake Tahoe competed this weekend in the figure and bikini component of the competition.

Chris Minnes of South Tahoe placed second in the Novice Light Heavyweight division.

It seemed touch and go whether he would weigh-in at the appropriate weight. The scales said 196. In his rather radical diet the last week he lost 20 pounds in 72 hours.

Alexander Huxtable, also of South Tahoe, places 12th in the Novice Middleweight category.

Lake Tahoe from the ridge above Granite Lake. Photo/Kathryn Reed

By Kathryn Reed

Water – it is everywhere.

Lake Tahoe, Emerald Bay, Cascade Lake, Fallen Leaf Lake, Granite Lake, Eagle Lake. They are part of the scenery in a short, though somewhat steep hike from the Bay View trailhead.

The senses come alive. Deep breaths reveal fall is in the air – that distinct smell of wet, decaying leaves.

Bright colors dot some of the leaves, while others are brown from the freeze a week earlier. Ferns are matted down. What looks like dead dill has a faint hint of the herb – thought maybe it’s an illusion.

Another bluebird day in Lake Tahoe. Not a cloud to be seen. The sun twinkles across Granite Lake – a small, clear alpine spot that on a hot summer day may make for a good swimming hole.

This Desolation Wilderness lake is aptly named – Granite.

The route that starts near Emerald Bay along Highway 89 is steep to begin with. Clearly, cardio is something I need to work on at the gym. Then the trail levels out a bit more.

It takes longer than it should to reach the lake and then the ridge farther up. The camera is out. And back out again. But no picture can truly capture the majestic wonder of Mother Nature.

One spot along the trail has turned to ice. Snow patches are spotty. Mostly it’s loose dirt.

Reaching the ridge, where the wind blows enough to put the long-sleeve shirt back on, the vastness of Desolation Wilderness unfolds. The granite seemingly goes on forever.

Had we gone farther, a right turn would have dropped us down to Eagle Lake with an exit point that would have required a short trek along the highway. Going straight would have taken us to Fontanillis Lake.

We did a U-turn – needing to get on with our Sunday afternoon activities.

Kokanee fill Taylor Creek. Photo/Kathryn Reed

Each fall the kokanee salmon travel up Taylor Creek near South Lake Tahoe to spawn. The annual ritual means the fish change color, spawn and eventually die. The US Forest Service visitor center at Taylor Creek explains the whole process in detail. The fish are only around for a short time.

By Ali Mansour, Petersen’s 4-wheel & Offroad

As the feature editor for the worlds largest off road magazine, people often assume that I’ve seen it all and been to every trail on the planet. As much as I wish that was the case, it’s far from the truth.

Since moving to the West Coast nearly three years ago from my hometown of Wilmington, N.C., I have tried my best to find new trails and learn more about the off road areas around my new digs in SoCal. Ever since I moved here there has been one trail that I have tried and tried to make time for, but never seemed to be able to pull it off.

That was until last weekend when I finally loaded up and headed north to Lake Tahoe to finally wheel the Rubicon Trail.

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Critters are leaving holes in Tahoe yards.

By Susan Wood

Could the rodents of Tahoe be telling us something about an abnormal winter coming up?

That’s the question some Lake Tahoe residents have posed in dealing with digging, chomping and rampaging squirrels, chipmunks and mice foraging pine cones and digging into homes and yards. The answer may depend on who you talk to.

“It’s just the time of year when they do this,” said Nevada Division of Wildlife staff biologist Larry Neel, who coincidentally had answered a call earlier that day about an ambitious wood rat. “They’re just feeling the time of year like we are.”

He listed the barometric pressure, temperature variances and length of sunlight in the day as symbols of changes in the season the animals pay attention to.

“They’re reacting to age-old signals that they need to be caching food,” Neel said. “We would expect them to react this way.”

But tell that to at least one Round Hill gardener who has resorted to wearing a bicycle helmet for her hobby because the squirrels are dropping so many heavy pine cones it could be downright dangerous without the head protection.

Scott Conner, a nuisance wildlife trapping specialist working for Cat’s Eye pest control, knows the rodent behavior this time of year is routine. However, he’s noticed a certain aggressiveness and tenacity from the animals that appear to be out of the ordinary.

“What we’re finding out around Tahoe is the squirrels are really determined,” he said. “If we kick them out, they dig up the entry point we’ve sealed if there’s substandard construction. They’ll even rip off screens put up to keep them out.”

Conner, who has taken a rash of mice infiltration calls lately, shared that normal behavior prompts the animals to move to another location when shown they’re unwanted. Not this year.

“It’s as if they’re saying: ‘This is my house’,” he said.

Bats have sounded alarm bells among wildlife specialists because they should have long migrated. Conner is still seeing the mammals stick around in homes, despite the absence of food like mosquitoes that disappeared months ago.

And raccoons have kept their reputations for creating mischief. Conner recalled a friend’s encounter with a destructive one-eyed raccoon that was trapped and released miles away. The bandit ended up returning to the same house with his pirate eye.

Humans may not understand what animal activity, but the weather forecasters say the temps will be in the 60s and windy this weekend, with a 40 percent chance of showers on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Susan Wood is a freelance writer based in South Lake Tahoe. She may be reached at copysue1@yahoo.com.

By Maggie O’Neill, Reno Gazette-Journal

Boreal Mountain Resort plans to send the first skiers down the slopes this season, opening Friday with a base of 12 to 18 inches and one chair in operation.

“It’s the amazing snow-making,” marketing director Jon Slaughter said. “It really has to do with the snow-making system we installed this year.”

This season, 25 new snow-making guns are in operation, an upgrade that cost the resort $1.2 million. That’s compared to eight of the new guns that were in operation this time last year. Boreal will operate only on weekends initially.

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