Get creative
Miyagi-Do is a go
New, free program invites teens to explore their artistic side.
Daniel-san returns to his roots in ‘Karate Kid’ reboot ‘Kobra Kai.’
News, etc., B1
Buttered and Salty, B3
C a l i f o r n i a ’ s O l d e s t N e w s pa p e r – E s t. 18 51
mtdemocrat.com
Friday, February 19, 2021
Volume 170 • Issue 21
| 75¢
Courtesy photo
The shores of Lake Tahoe will serve as the setting for a pair of National Hockey League games this weekend. While the NHL has hosted games at outdoor sports stadiums, a lakeside match will take players back to their roots.
Excitement builds for NHL games in South Lake Tahoe
Courtesy photo
Theresa Plyler, right, and her brother John Magsamen pose for a photo in pre-op prior to the kidney transplant at the University of California, San Francisco Jan. 29.
Bill Rozak Tahoe Daily Tribune
Selfless sister is the
STATELINE, Nev. — Las Vegas captain Mark Stone has never been to Lake Tahoe but he has watched the celebrity golf tournament many times on TV. He has seen the region through national television broadcasts and is excited to see it for himself during practice Friday. Stone was part of a conference Zoom call Monday to discuss playing outdoors at Lake Tahoe. His Golden Knights will play the Colorado Avalanche at noon Saturday in the first game of two during NHL Outdoors at Lake Tahoe. The second game will feature the Boston Bruins and Philadelphia Flyers at noon Sunday. Both games will be nationally broadcast on NBC, Sportsnet and TVA Sports. “Playing outdoors brings back good memories — breathing in the fresh air, having snow coming down and playing with your buddies,” Stone said. “Everything I’ve heard about Tahoe is that it’s a four-season location. It’s going to be a pretty cool scene with all the surrounding mountains. I’m just excited for the first practice to take it all in. It’s almost like we’re gonna be away from civilization for two days.” Stone’s teammate, forward Jonathan Marchessault, is also thrilled to be heading about eight hours north from Las Vegas to play in South Lake Tahoe. “We can’t wait to get there and get it started,” he n
‘parts car of the family’ “She saved my life.”
Dawn Hodson Staff writer
I
t takes a special kind of person to donate organs or body tissue not just once but twice. Meet Theresa Plyler, 47, a graphic designer and as she says, the “parts car of the family.” Theresa first got into the donation business in 1985 at the age of 11 when she donated bone marrow to her sister Anna, now 55 with the married name Sierra, after Anna developed aplastic anemia, a condition where the body stops producing blood cells. A fatal disease unless the person can find a bone marrow donor, Anna came down with the disease when she was 18-19
See Tahoe NHL, page A7
— John Magsamen, brother and kidney recipient years old after taking a certain pain medication that’s since been taken off the market. Theresa said their brother John was also a match for the donation but had diabetes so Theresa was a better candidate. The bone marrow transplant was done at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle as doctors there pioneered the procedure. “Bone marrow transplants were just experimental at the time,” Theresa said. Making the trek from Santa Rosa, the family stayed at an apartment near the
hospital while Anna was treated. Initially Anna had to go through heavy doses of chemotherapy to completely wipe out her old immune system. Theresa said they did that to reduce the risk her immune system might reject the new bone marrow. They even changed Anna’s blood type to match Theresa’s so there would be less chance of rejection. During surgery, holes were drilled into Theresa’s hip bones and a bag of bone marrow was aspirated and then implanted in Anna. Theresa said her sister completely recovered from the procedure and has remained n
See Selfless sister, page A8
Placerville City Council welcomes wine country signage Andrew Vonderschmitt Staff writer After a proposal almost two years ago to place an El Dorado Wine Association sign along Highway 50 failed to materialize, local wineries may finally get that visibility boost. At the Feb. 9 meeting of the Placerville City Council it was decided the city would provide a letter to the California Department of Food and Agriculture in support of seeking funding for an El Dorado Wine Association sign. It would be a native stone monumentstyle sign at the Ray Lawyer Drive interchange on Highway 50 just west of downtown Placerville. The 40-foot-by-15-foot installation would have live grapevines, a sign with mountain peaks and read, “Welcome to El Dorado Wine Country.” The Mountain Democrat reported in April 2019 that EDWA spokesperson Lexi Boeger proposed an addition to the
existing Placerville welcome sign at Highway 50 and Spring Street. The City Council, although in favor of the initial concept, directed staff to continue conversations with EDWA on an alternative plan for the signage. Designed by local architect Charlie Downs, the latest sign’s fate will ultimately be decided by Caltrans as the proposed site lies on Caltrans’ right of way. But first the association must secure funds. “We will not find out until September if we get this CDFA funding and then cannot begin work on it until November,” said Kara Sather, EDWA’s executive director. EDWA submitted a proposal for $380,000 to the CDFA for funding through the Specialty Crop Block Grant Program roughly a year ago that aims to enhance the competitiveness of California speciality crops. EDWA was recently n
See Signage, page A6
Courtesy graphic
The El Dorado Winery Association sign would be placed along eastbound Highway 50 at the Ray Lawyer Drive Exit in Placerville and read, “Welcome to El Dorado Wine Country.”
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