Northwoods Tahoe Summer 2023

Moonset, Sunrise Aaron Jones

Photography on Canvas

Row of Evergreens Frank Rossbach Custom Blown Glass

Genoa Chapel Bell Robert Bucknell Oil on Canvas

publisher: harryJONES

editors: allisonJONES

MelanieCano

layout design: aaronJONES

Contributing Writer: MarkMclaughlin

Northwoods Tahoe is distributed FREE in locations in Truckee and Tahoe, also on www.northwoods.news and www.Issuu.com. When you visit our advertisers, please mention that you saw their ad in Northwoods Tahoe. Thank you for your support.

Disclaimer: Articles, if printed, become the exclusive property of Community Media LLC. We reserve the right to edit, or choose not to print submissions. The views and opinnions expressed in the content of Northwoods Tahoe are not necessarily shared by the Publisher, Editor, Community Media LLC or anyone else.

2292 Main Street, Suite 101, Genoa, NV 89411

Mailing: PO Box 1434 Genoa, NV 89411

For advertising: (530) 582-9012

email: harry@communitymediallc.net

(775) 301-8076

WWW.NORTHWOODS.NEWS

WWW.TAHOEWEATHERCAM.COM

© 2000-2022 Community Media LLC.

Divorce Nevada Style

By Mark McLaughlin, Historian

The Silver State is famous for the glitter of casinos, spectacular Lake Tahoe, and more recently for America’s largest countercultural event, the Burning Man Festival, held annually in the Black Rock Desert. But for some people, the mention of Nevada conjures up shady images of speedy divorce, high stakes gambling, worldclass prizefighting and legalized prostitution. That’s not exactly a wholesome experience for the average American family.

These culturally suspect activities are legal in Nevada because of their power to generate significant money for a regional economy historically underpopulated and lacking a strong tax base.

Nevada’s Territorial Legislature passed its first divorce law in 1861. The legislation approved a liberal policy granting divorce to any person residing in the territory for six months or more. Yet, despite the relative ease of divorce in Nevada, nearly 40 years passed before a divorce case made newspaper headlines.

On April 14, 1900, a district judge in Minden granted a divorce to Earl John Russell, a 35-year-old member of England’s House of Lords. His new lover, Irish commoner Mollie Cooke, described as “just over 18,” had accompanied the Earl so she too could obtain a divorce. The two had spent their statutory six months “residence” wintering together at Lake Tahoe in an isolated cottage at Glenbrook on the eastern shore.

Once granted their Nevada divorces from their partners back in Europe, the two lovebirds traveled to Reno and were promptly married to each other by Judge Ben Curler in the Riverside Hotel. Newspaper headlines blared: “Sensational Reno Marriage: A Real, Live, English Earl Weds an Irish Maid. And Mollie Cooke becomes Countess Russell No. 2.”

Continued on Page 6

Washoe County Court House, 1930.

Photo Courtesy of Special Collections, University of Nevada, Reno Libraries

Meteor Performances 2023

Readers, who grew up in wide expanses where natural lights of the night sky outshone the manufactured light from nearby towns and cities, probably have great memories of watching shooting stars in the summer or autumn sky. Some of you must have watched from a dock or pier on the water. Others probably searched the night sky above endless meadows or grain fields. As the stars flew across, some of their tails were bright and long, some even showed evidence of their impact with the atmosphere and the resulting flare was a rare and remembered occurrence.

On a night when there may have been as many as 75 in an hour, most of you came to know that these were meteors, not shooting stars. Overall, meteors are large dust/ dirt particles left over from comets that have come too close to the sun. A comet’s ice melts and sets the particles adrift in space. When one sees the long tail of a comet traveling slowly through the western

hemisphere sky, they are seeing the released dust particles reflected in the sun’s light. (Remember the HaleBopp Comet in 1997?) In a few cases, meteor showers have originated from asteroid belts instead of comets and in the remainder of cases; we have not successfully discovered the origin of a particular annual meteor “performance”.

Meteors don’t become visible to us until they enter our atmosphere. They “shower” the earth when the earth’s orbit takes it annually through a comet’s tail. A few of the meteors are large enough to be seen by the naked eye when entering the atmosphere, but most of them are as small as grains of sand and make no spectacle at all. Those meteors or the portions of them that pass through the atmosphere intact and land on the earth are called meteorites. Meteors are actually the smallest particles orbiting the sun.

The Perseids – August 12 and 13 –DON’T MISS!

The Perseid meteor shower is one of the most popular meteor showers of the year, and it will peak on the night of August 12, to before dawn on August 13. This year, the shower will be particularly good because the moon will only be 10% full. The best time to view the Perseids is after midnight,

when the radiant point (the area of the sky where the meteors appear to come from) is highest in the sky.

There were earlier recorded sightings, but this most popular and impressive meteor shower was discovered in 1835 to be an annual appearance occurring in August. That they seemed to emanate from the constellation of Perseus caused the meteors to be named Perseids. Annually on display, the Perseids are known for the large percentage of meteors with trains or tails that follow them across the sky.

In 1864, a man named Giovanni V. Schiaparelli discovered a strong resemblance of the Perseids to the Swift-Tuttle comet, which was seen in 1862 and due again in 120 years. The higher number of meteor sightings in August, for the years 1864 to 1866, caused the speculation that meteor showers could be created from comets. At their peak, the Perseids show a spectacular 80 to 100 meteors per hour.

The Leonids – November 17

The Leonids appear overhead in the fall and seem to emanate out of the constellation…you guessed it…Leo. Their parent comet is Temple-Tuttle, which shows itself every 33 years. The Leonid meteors are known for their continued on page 12

Continued

from Page

The story hit the London Times on April 18. When Earl Russell and his Irish bride arrived back in London two weeks later, the “original” Countess Russell was livid. Judge Curler was called to England where he testified that the Earl’s Nevada residency had not been certified, so the Earl was arrested for bigamy. He was then sentenced to three months in prison, where he was provided with a “private apartment and good food and wines.”

Every so often, a high profile divorce fueled Nevada’s image as a renegade state. The media went crazy in 1920 when America’s “sweetheart” movie star, Mary Pickford, arrived in Nevada to divorce her husband, actor Owen Moore, who was shooting a movie in Virginia City. She generated controversy when the divorce was granted in a mere 16 days, five-and-a-half months before the six-month residency required by state law. But Mary’s brilliant lawyer, former Nevada Supreme Court Justice and future senator Pat McCarran, exploited a legal loophole in the law and Ms. Pickford rushed back to California to marry the dashing screen star Douglas Fairbanks.

A few years after the Pickford-Moore scandal, the headlines re-focused on Nevada’s divorce trade when the wife of millionaire William Ellis Corey, president of U.S. Steel, arrived in Reno with her son. Four weeks earlier, her husband had sailed for Europe, publicly sharing a stateroom with the actress Mabel Gilman. Mrs. Corey told reporters that she had come to Nevada for health reasons, but then filed for divorce. District Judge Ben Curler put Mrs. Corey on the witness stand where she swore that she intended to reside permanently in Reno. Judge Curler sympathetically granted her divorce decree in just four hours. Mr. Corey then settled the case by paying $1 million to his exwife. Despite her oath in court, Mrs. Corey returned to Pittsburgh a few months later.

The popularity of Reno as a divorce destination kept lawyers, restaurants and hotels busy, but there was an undercurrent of discontent among many citizens. In 1913, public pressure forced the state legislature to extend the six-month waiting period to one year. Dripping with civic pride the Reno Gazette stated, “The State is too big, too prosperous, its future too golden for it to depend on the few dollars that are spent within its borders by gamblers and divorce seekers.” The decision, however, was ruinous for many Reno businesses, and in 1915 some wheeling and

dealing in the legislature resulted in the reinstatement of the old sixmonth limit.

By 1927, Nevada’s divorce trade had become so lucrative that the state legislature shortened the prerequisite legal residency from six months to three. When the Great Depression got a choke hold on the state’s economy a few years later, the legislature reduced the residency requirement to just six weeks, the most lenient in the country.

The concept of incompatibility was not recognized at the time, so “extreme cruelty” was used by nearly 70% of all divorce plaintiffs. One woman testified that she sought relief because her husband had forced her to stop playing in the middle of a card game. Another could not bear her marriage any longer because her husband refused to give her an allowance. One man filed because his wife criticized his driving.

The list of celebrities flocking to Nevada in the 1930s and ‘40s included some of the most famous cultural icons of the time—people like Jack Dempsey, Sinclair Lewis, Barbara Hutton, and Edgar Rice Burroughs. Mrs. Joe DiMaggio made the trip to Reno’s Divorce Mecca, as did Mrs. Clark Gable, and Mrs. Adlai Stevenson.

Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks pictured center, 1920. Photo Courtesy Library of Congress

Newspaper Clipping from New York Post April, 1900 Courtesy of Library of Congress

We carry high-quality hardwood flooring and carpet ideal for your mountain home. Visit us and explore our amazing selection at the Pioneer Commerce Center in Truckee.

10800 Pioneer Trail, Unit 3, Truckee Since 1979 | 530 582.7428 office@bassettflooring.com CA LIC #345494

The constant traffic of famous celebrities was a journalist’s dream. Living that dream to the fullest was William B. Berry, Reno’s most talented paparazzo reporter. Bill Berry worked as Reno correspondent of the New York Daily News for 25 years, and also sold divorce profiles and photos to the Associated Press. He met Frank Sinatra several times, but his biggest story came in 1941 when Berry told the world that Gloria Vanderbilt was in Reno on “business.” The millionairess was divorcing her husband to marry Leopold Stokowski, the famed conductor of the Philadelphia Symphony Orchestra.

Berry learned that Ms. Vanderbilt intended to meet her future husband in Truckee in order to avoid reporters. Two days later, Gloria Vanderbilt left her rented car prominently parked in front of Reno’s Riverside Hotel to fool the reporters, and then drove off in the middle of the night with a woman companion in another car. But when she arrived at the Truckee station to secretly meet the 4 a.m. train, Bill Berry was waiting for her. The train arrived and a few passengers disembarked. When Leopold Stokowski stepped off, Berry was there to greet him. Stokowski thought he was a railroad employee and tried to hand him the luggage,

but Bill Berry shook Stokowski’s hand and announced: “I represent the New York Daily News. Welcome to Truckee, the back door to Nevada!”

Women divorce-seekers outnumbered men by a margin of about 6 to 4, but it seems that the female clients generated the most colorful stories. One of the more interesting cases involved Ann Cooper Hewitt Gay, heiress to the fortune of her inventor-father Peter Cooper Hewitt. Mrs. Gay arrived in Reno in 1939 seeking divorce from Ronald Gay, an Oakland, California, automobile mechanic. Mrs. Gay had figured in a sensational lawsuit against her mother in 1936, charging that the latter had had her sterilized. Three days after the millionairess gained her divorce decree against mechanic Gay, Ann Cooper married Gene Bradstreet, a San Francisco bartender.

The divorce trade in Nevada was so popular that the Washoe County Courthouse became known as “The Women’s Exchange” because hundreds of women divorced and immediately re-married behind its closed doors. Once freed from the bonds of holy matrimony it was a common ritual for women to kiss the courthouse pillar on their way to the Virginia Street Bridge to throw

their wedding ring into the Truckee River. Legend had it that a wedding ring thrown into the “River of Broken Dreams” would guarantee that the former wearer would never be divorced again.

During the drought of the early 1990s, three men from Reno dredged the Truckee River below the Virginia Street Bridge and retrieved more than 350 wedding rings of all descriptions from the river bottom, including a beautiful gold ring with the inscription “Love is as strong as death – 1890.”

During the Great Depression Reno’s economy continued to boom. The divorce trade pumped millions of dollars into northern Nevada during the 1930s. Seven hours a day, five days a week, two judges each granted a divorce every ten minutes. Hotels were booked solid, restaurants were always busy and the casinos were raking it in. One 1931 editorial described Reno as “A modern amalgamation of Sodom and Gomorra and hell.” That was exactly what Reno mayor E.E. Roberts wanted. He said, “I’ve been trying to make Reno a place where everybody can do what they please, just as long as they don’t interfere with other people’s rights.”

Virginia Street Bridge, 1968.

Photo Courtesy Library of Congress

Continued from Page 6

Insurance to Ensure Proper Coverage

Home and auto insurance are among the things many people buy but hope to never use. Proper coverage provides peace of mind that an accident, weather event, natural disaster or unexpected injury or illness won’t cause financial ruin. However, many Americans are uninsured, underinsured or paying too much for coverage.

Data from the Insurance Research Council cited by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners shows 12.6% of U.S. motorists are uninsured – approximately 1 in 8 cars on the road. For uninsured drivers, plus those involved in accidents with them, fender benders or worse can result in out-ofpocket costs.

Homeowners need to be properly insured, as well. According to the National Centers for Environmental Information, the U.S. has experienced more than 350 weather events or natural disasters since 1980 that have caused more than $1 billion in damage. Even small thunderstorms can send tree branches into homes, causing thousands of dollars in damage. For home and auto insurance, consumers should be sure their policies cover replacement and repair costs at today’s market rates in addition to liability coverage for personal injury and other damages.

Insurance helps bridge these gaps, but it’s common for people to renew policies without checking them. Because insurance policies are often seen as complex and confusing, that may prevent people from purchasing proper coverage.

A 2022 survey from realtor.com found only 56% of homeowners knew what to look for in their homeowners insurance policy when they bought their homes, and 15% didn’t have any idea what to check. In addition, Forbes Advisor reported 40% of drivers believe they had coverage that doesn’t even exist.

policy, it can be difficult to compare rates and coverage.

Improved technology is helping solve some of these issues and deliver an improved experience. A decade ago, the only way to compare insurance rates was to make phone calls, meet with agents and read brochures. Even with the internet, you still need to visit multiple websites and take notes, often entering the same personal information time and time again.

Consider these challenges consumers face when shopping for and comparing insurance policies and providers:

1. Industry Jargon and Lingo –When you visit a website or talk to an insurance agent, you may feel like you’re speaking a different language with terms like “deductible,” “premium,” “co-pay,” “additional insured,” “aggregate limit” and “co-insurance.”

2. Bait and Switch – Insurance carriers sometimes advertise low rates, but your rate may be higher than expected when you apply, often with no explanation.

3. Fine Print – “Sorry, that’s not covered.” These can be chilling words to hear when you’re hoping your insurance policy comes through for you in a time of need. An explanation may be deep within the policy, but you may need a magnifying glass to find it.

4. Transparency – Many decisions that affect rates and coverage may seem to be done behind a curtain, such as rates in comparison to neighbors, remodeling impacts on rates, rate changes based on age and more.

5. Apples to Oranges – With many moving parts within the average

Today, insurance marketplaces, like the flagship platform from Guaranteed Rate Insurance, make it easy to compare multiple carriers, all at once, with a single application. Customers enter basic information to receive quotes for home and auto insurance coverage from more than 50 top-rated carriers, allowing for a quick, side-by-side comparison of coverage options.

“The primary benefit insurance delivers is peace of mind,” said Jeff Wingate, executive vice president and head of insurance for Guaranteed Rate. “If the relationship between an insurance provider and customer begins with stress, confusion and frustration, the provider isn’t delivering the desired service. That’s why we made it easy for consumers to make informed decisions about rates and coverage from trusted and reliable providers.”

Life insurance, umbrella, jewelry, flood, pet, landlord and earthquake policies are among the other coverage options available for comparison. Coverage benefits are easy to read with clearly explained terminology and experienced agents standing by to answer questions or assist with purchasing a policy.

To find more information and explore the insurance marketplace, visit rate.com/ insurance. Photo courtesy Getty Images.

continued from page

speed and in the western hemisphere, can only be seen in the early morning hours of November 17 and 18.

There was not much interest in this shower until November 13, 1833. People in North America observed an early morning, spectacular and horrifying meteor shower and they were at a loss to explain what it was. There was such pandemonium that some written accounts say that the writer was aroused from sleep by screams of neighbors who thought the world was ending. While laypersons were horrified, scientists were inspired and quickly made their notes. The events of that morning caused one important finding. When fantastic meteor displays are observed, they always emanate from the same area of the sky. This caused the discovery that meteors move around the sun in an elliptical orbit and so tied them to comets, which have the same shape of orbit.

The Geminids – December 13 and 14 This meteor shower was discovered in 1862 but was brighter and written about in 1833; it was named after the Gemini constellation. The number of meteors observed per hour through peak time has increased from an average of 20 in 1896 to an average of 60 in 1985.

This meteor stream seemed to have a different orbital shape and no comet could be found that resembled it. From 1947 to 1983, many theories about the parent formation were researched. In October 1983, Simon Green and John K. Davies were gathering data of large asteroid, 1983 TB. The similar shape and orbit of the asteroid led scientists to finally accept that the parent of the Geminid meteor stream was in fact an asteroid, not a comet; the asteroid became known as

3200 Phaethon. This was an important discovery and led to more research on the connection between meteor showers and asteroids.

The Quadrantids—January 2 and 3 In 1862, a woman in Connecticut reported that she had noticed a large number of shooting stars on the morning of January 2. This information was relayed to the scientific world and in January 1863, a gentleman from Maine, Stillman Masterman, tried to record (as an amateur) the number of meteors and find a radiant point. Even though he could not stay out

is unknown and others say that it has been identified as a comet named 96P/Macholz.

The Lyrids—April 21 and 22

This less active, more mysterious meteor shower, which emanates from the constellation Lyra, had a brief and stunning showing in l803 and wasn’t noticed again until 1835. On April 19 and 20, 1803, there were numerous written accounts by people in the eastern United States who observed at least 700 meteors an hour, in the evenings. Because meteors had not truly become a research interest yet, not much investigation took place. In 1835, after the Leonids were discovered, the Lyrids were re-discovered in an attempt to identify annual meteor appearances and place them on the calendar.

in the cold temperatures for more than 10-minute periods, he almost accurately pinpointed the radiant determination, very close to where it is marked today. Mr. Masterman died in July of that year, however, his interest stirred up more viewing for the 1864 shower and an exact radiant determination of a faint constellation called Quadrantis Muralis was found. The official adoption of the emanation point of Bootes, a close, but different constellation, did not affect the original name of the shower.

This meteor shower hits its brief but intense peak on January 2 and 3, showing between 25 and 120 meteors an hour. It is best seen in the northern United States, usually around 5:00 a.m. There is some difference of opinion regarding the parent form of the Quadrantids: some sources say that it

Between 1839 and 1864 the legwork and confirmation was completed. It is interesting to note that this meteor stream came into public interest three times before it was completely researched and proven. In 1867, Johann G. Galle mathematically confirmed the parent comet to be Thatcher, 18611. This meteor stream has the record for oldest recorded sightings (687 BC), and provides a sharp peak of maximum activity, from about 10 to 100 meteors per hour. The 1803 activity has been proven to be from the Lyrids, but that large amount of meteors per hour has never been duplicated.

Savvy Tips for a Smooth Back-to-School Transition

Balancing schedules, supplies shopping, meal planning and more can make the back-to-school season one of the most hectic times of the year. Keeping stress at bay may be a little easier when you put a plan in place the entire family can follow.

Remember, making the transition as smooth as possible requires a team effort. Help make a new academic year easier on your little ones (and yourself) with these hacks.

Start Your Routines

Getting your kids into their school day routines may be a massive undertaking, but it’s often helpful to start weeks before the first bell rings. Set those alarms and encourage kiddos to treat each morning as if they’re going to class. In the evenings, practice prepping backpacks and outfits just as you would during the school year, and ensure children are going to sleep at the times they should on school nights.

Simplify School Lunches

Prepping lunchboxes to send to school doesn’t need to be a time-consuming affair. In fact, it can be one of the easiest parts of your routine with prepackaged options that help make packing lunches a breeze. Seek out solutions that help simplify the process like Kemps Smooth Cottage Cheese, a first-of-its-kind snack for kids made with 4% whole milk and blended with real fruit to create a smooth and creamy texture without the curds. It’s a healthy, convenient and versatile

solution with probiotics and no highfructose corn syrup. Plus, it’s high in protein to keep kids feeling full and focused throughout the school day.

Prep the Night Before

Stressful mornings can lead to less productive days. Instead, simplify mornings as much as possible by packing backpacks, prepping lunches and planning outfits in the evenings to save yourself time once that alarm goes off. Plus, you may be less likely to forget essentials like homework assignments or permission slips when you’re not in a rush.

Serve Nutritional After-School Snacks

Skip the temptation to stock the pantry with sugary grab-and-go treats. Instead, encourage good nutritional choices for your children after a day of learning by offering them healthier snacking solutions. For example, pairing cottage cheese with crackers

or fresh fruit provides a protein punch without the added sugar of less healthy snack choices to keep little tummies full until it’s time for a family meal.

Create a Family Calendar

The school year certainly isn’t the only time that calendars feel like they’re bursting at the seams, but the addition of after-school activities, field trips, parent-teacher conferences and more can be overwhelming if you’re not prepared. Find a scheduling solution that works for your family, whether it’s a dry-erase board in a mudroom or magnetic calendar on the fridge. Stay on top of upcoming events and activities by sitting down together once a week (or more) to write down everyone’s commitments and track important dates.

To learn more and find fun recipes, visit Kemps.com.