FREE
Lake updates, page 10 and page 33.
Serving Lake Tahoe’s South Shore Since 1994
Photo Kathryn Reed
Hitting the slopes is a key recreational pastime in Tahoe.
TRPA is updating its recreation threshold for the first time in decades. We take a look at what that means for the opportunities and experiences people have in enjoying the great outdoors in Tahoe.
a look inside
Cooking with K This is vegan?!
Peggy
Personal and political
Mike
A look at literacy
November Specials M
Y FROZEN A D GROUND BEEF ON
$ 5.99/LB
CRAB CAKES
2 X $5.00
MEATLOAF
$9.99 /LB
PORK CHOPS
$ 5.99/LB
MARROW BONES
$ 5.99/LB
TUE
T
Winter is coming. Disconnect and drain outdoor hoses.
Y SDA
BEEF STEW MEAT
$6.99 / LB
ALL HOMEMADE SAUSAGE
$8.99 / LB
A Y PORK SHOULDER SPARE RIBS
$4.99 / LB $7.99 / LB
FRESH GROUND BEEF
$7.99 / LB
SD HUR
F
ALL SEAFOOD FRESH TODAY
AY RID
SAT
T BONE STEAKS
$19.99 / LB
BACON
$8.99 / LB
TRI TIP
$14.99/ LB
NEW YORK STEAKS
$19.99 / LB
AY URD
OPEN MON - TUE & THU - SAT FROM 10:00 AM TO 6:00 PM CLOSED WEDNESDAYS AND SUNDAYS HOLIDAY HOURS MAY VARY 2227 LAKE TAHOE BLVD - (530) 544- 3204 @Overlandmeatcompany
stpud.us 2 Mountain News
@Overland_Meat_company
Mountain News 3
Democrats racked up spectacular victories all across the country in the November election, including here in South Lake Tahoe. Although the city council race was officially non-partisan, the three newcomers who were leading as of press time — Erika Gonzalez, John Friedrich and former Mountain News columnist Gantt Miller — were the trio endorsed by the South Lake Tahoe Democratic Club. Appointed incumbent Heather Horgan closely followed in fourth place and incumbent Scott Robbins, who came in first four years ago, fell far down the tally and out of contention this time around. In Douglas County, voters stuck with their more conservative leanings, electing Republican Scott Morgan as the Tahoe-area commissioner over Diane Imbach. In the Department of Justice’s move to remove suspected non-citizens from the rolls in California, El Dorado County received a letter from the agency in late October challenging the citizenship of 17 people on its voter rolls. In a county with 137,930 registered voters, that amounts to .0012325092 percent of total voters. In a letter to the DOJ, the county declined to set aside or throw out ballots from any of the 17 because it said the
Annie grew up in Gardner Mountain on the South Shore and is now raising her own young daughter there. “It’s so beaufiful year-round. I love the snow in winter and the beach and the Lake in summer. Just being outside.” She is passioate about helping clients, both buyers and sellers, understand the local market. Her knowledge of Tahoe and the community give her the tools to do just that.
Annie McCully CA License #02448529
“My goal is to guide my clients so they can make their very best real estate choices.” Let Annie work for you. Give her a call today.
YOU SERVED. NOW LET US SUPPORT YOU.
The Tahoe Mountain News is a community newspaper serving Lake Tahoe’s South Shore. Distributed FREE everywhere in the community. One copy per person. No article may be reprinted without the permission of the publisher. Send all submissions to: P.O. Box 8974, South Lake Tahoe, CA 96158. (530) 208-7671 • mountainnews2@gmail.com www.tahoemountainnews.net Copyright © 2025 Tahoe Mountain News CONTRIBUTORS PUBLISHER/PAPERGIRL Heather Gould Gary Bell
REPORTER
Kathryn Reed
COPY EDITOR Mike Filce
This Veterans Day, we’re proud to give back to those who have given so much. Veterans are invited to enjoy a FREE Pilates class at our new studio.
PRODUCTION
Joann Eisenbrandt
Come move, strengthen & connect with us.
TEXT US ON 530.541.7133 TO BOOK!
CHRISTINA FROHLICH PT, DPT, OCS US Army, 2003-2011
VISIT US ONLINE TO LEARN MORE!
Mind Body Physical Therapy & Pilates Round Hill Village Shopping Center | Zephyr Cove, NV
Call/Text: 530.541.7133
www.mindbodyphysicaltherapy.net
4 Mountain News
DOJ had not provided adequate verification the voters named were in fact ineligible and noted that the DOJ had also asked the county to disclose legally confidential voter information such as Social Security numbers, driver’s license information and other supporting identity documents. The US Supreme Court later rendered the issue moot by refusing to take up a legal petition from the DOJ to allow it to intervene in the state’s election. Despite concerns about various types of polling places and election disruptions, the election in both counties went smoothly. Just before the election, both El Dorado County and Douglas County told us policies and procedures remained the same and people should have confidence in voting as always, though they both had contingency plans in place should there be any kind of upsetting incidents at the polls, which it turned out there weren’t. Voter turnout was high — though final numbers are not in, yet — and there was even a bit of a line at the LTCC vote center. At the CCC in Meyers, where I voted, first-time voters were announced and received a round of applause.
Peggy Bourland Jay Colond David Hamilton Lesa Schultz Trish Tomer
This community has spoken regarding government leadership and this month’s Mountain News is filled with community voices as well. We have all our regular columnists, each with their own unique take, a guest column, a Q&A regarding this winter’s monster El Niño and what it means for Tahoe and a letter to the editor that goes against the grain and praises Liberty Utilities. Late last month, my daughter and I took a jaunt down to Apple Hill one day. We picked our own apples, took a hike that passed through a riot of flowers, picked up a pumpkin for Halloween, petted some farm animals and had a dinner at a local joint. We agreed to leave our phones in the car as we were off cavorting through the orchards. In fact, I turned off my phone entirely. At first I was anxious being so untethered. By the time we were headed home, I was enjoying the real world and being unplugged. It reminded me of my life before cell phones and how rich it was and how the online world just can’t compete. - Heather
FROM HEATHER.............................................................. 5 POLITICS WITH PEGGY.................................................... 6 SINCE YOU ASKED.......................................................... 7 MOUNTAIN NEWS UPDATES ................................... 8, 19 TPP Pileup
MOUNTAIN NEWS REPORTS.................................. 10,13 GUEST COLUMN ...........................................................11 MOUNTAIN NEWS STORIES .........................................12 HEARD AROUND TOWN................................................14 MIKE'S MUTTERINGS....................................................16 MOUNTAIN NEWS HEALTH ..........................................18 COVER STORY ...............................................................20 COOKING WITH K .........................................................23 NEWS BRIEFS ........................................................ 25,33 MOUNTAIN NEWS Q&A.................................................26 TRISH ............................................................................28 SPOKE JUNKIE..............................................................30 A season for everything
DAVE AT THE MOVIES...................................................32 PARTING SHOT..............................................................35
Mountain News 5
Elections Matter! Local elections can be unpredictable, and the outcome is often more about popularity and deep roots in Tahoe. With that in mind, SLT voters have elected Erika Gonzalez, John Friedrich, and Gantt Miller to fill the three vacant seats on city council. Collectively they represent a more community-first perspective that puts residential neighborhoods and available housing in front of the more, more, more tourism model that undermines our survival as a place for people to live, work and play. At the national level, control of the House and Senate have gone from the Republicans to the Democrats. A stunning rebuke of the current state of the economy and the mood of the country. People have had enough of $6 a gallon gas, insane grocery prices, and getting physically ill when opening their Liberty electric bill. A first-class postage stamp now costs 82 cents. THE BARTON HOLE The former site of the Lakeside Inn has sat vacant for so long that people are starting to wonder if Barton is ever going to build its new hospital. Some will tell you it’s never going to happen. When Barton management made the (ill advised) decision to abandon our existing
hospital and move to more tax-favorable Nevada, it was met with strong opposition on both sides of the state line. It doesn’t make sense on so many levels, not to mention that when locals raised the money to build Barton Hospital in the 1960s, it was a point of community pride and necessity for a town that was often cut off by geography from medical care. The community sees Barton’s decision as a betrayal. The size and location of the project immediately set off heated debate that led citizens to demand a higher level of environmental review than Barton may have anticipated. Barton’s plan to build an 85foot tower with a helicopter pad right next to the adjacent Oliver Park neighborhood was an immediate concern. NEWS FLASH: The following information appears on the TRPA’s website: “The Tahoe Regional Planning Agency (TRPA) environmental review process for the proposed project continues to be on hold at the request of the applicant. Barton project managers have informed the agency that they
are still considering potential changes to the project design. Once TRPA receives additional information from the applicant, the environmental review will restart, and the Draft Environmental Impact Statement could take 6 to 12 months to bring forward for public review and comment.” What Barton lacks in strategic planning and public relations skills, they make up for with a caring and talented team of health care professionals like Dr. Pat Martin (primary care), Dr. Kimberly Evans (surgeon and Barton’s 2025 physician of the year), and nurse practitioner Danielle Field, who are on my list of Barton’s best. CANCER IS NOT FOR SISSIES I have lived a healthy mountain life in Tahoe since 1972, been to the top of most of the basin's peaks, circumnavigated the lake on foot (Tahoe Rim Trail’s 165 miles), bike and kayak. I rarely drink, never smoked and yet I have been diagnosed with cancer. Go figure.
I quickly discovered that I have joined a not so exclusive club of locals who have had cancer or are currently in treatment. I will be receiving treatment for the next several months in Truckee at the Gene Upshaw Cancer Center. My oncologist is Dr. Sonia Reichert (a rock star in the cancer world) who will be part of a team that has been trained to treat cancer patients like royalty. I’ve been inspired by local cancer survivors and their unwavering support and helpful advice. Thank you, Renee, Penny, Andrea and Tere. I’ve had a few pity parties along the way, but for now I’m moving forward with a bounty of friends and neighbors who have volunteered to be drivers, are delivering home-cooked meals and have convinced me that Tahoe is a community that takes care of its own. Thank you to my husband Steve Madison for holding me up. I’ve been writing the “Keeping it Real” political column for ten years next month. 119 unvarnished columns about the good, the bad and everything in between about our little piece of the planet on South Shore. Right now, my plan is to keep writing this column through treatment and beyond. Stay tuned….
“What’s up with all the cameras on traffic light posts in Tahoe?” Cameras have been on roadways for decades, starting with state transportation agencies. “The department has used traffic management cameras since the mid1990s, and costs range between $3,000$10,000 per unit,” John O’Connell with Caltrans said. Caltrans has nine cameras in the basin — on highways 50, 89 and 28. About 2,500 exist throughout California. “These cameras are used strictly to monitor congestion, improve future infrastructure design and function, assist first responders, enhance roadway incident verification, vehicle queue management and lane closure status,” O’Connell said. “Caltrans does not operate, manage, or have access to any Flock cameras.” Meg Ragonese with the Nevada Department of Transportation had much the same to say: “The cameras that NDOT operates on highway roadsides are not Flock cameras. They are traffic cameras meant to provide updated traffic operations information.” South Lake Tahoe Police Department, El Dorado County Sheriff’s Department and Douglas County Sheriff’s Department all have cameras mounted throughout the South Shore for investigative reasons. First, Flock is a brand name. Vigilant, made by Motorola, is also popular with local law enforcement. These devices, mostly attached to traffic light poles, are automated license plate readers, better known as ALPR or LPR. SLTPD has one Vigilant camera that was installed in 2019; today it has intermittent reliability. It’s on Highway 50 at D Street. “Imagine if we would have had Flock when Jaycee Lee Dugard was abducted,” Police Chief Jeff Roberson said. “We would have probably had a pretty fast return … much sooner than 18 years later.” The 11-year-old Dugard was abducted from a school bus stop in Meyers in 1991. She escaped captivity in 2009 as a 29-year-old woman with daughters ages 11 and 15. Roberson said there are no plans to acquire more cameras. With the city being linear, it’s not so hard to track suspects headed out of town, especially with the use of camera systems installed by other entities. SLTPD officers also have much of the same technology at their fingertips. “We have LPR on patrol cars. Wherever a cop car goes, it captures the license plates,” Roberson said. It’s running the plate through various Department of
Justice lists. Roberson says it’s the first tip something could be amiss, but the data has to be verified. El Dorado County has 80 cameras; two are Flock and the rest Vigilant. The Board of Supervisors on Oct. 27 heard an update from sheriff’s personnel about its LPR system. While some electeds raised questions about the efficacy of their use, no one suggested changing the status quo. The lone camera in the basin is the one that started the department’s LPR program in 2014. Even though Sgt. Jesse Dacanay was told by the Mountain News the location is something he must divulge, he refused to do so. Each camera costs about $6,500. At the meeting, Undersheriff Eric Palmberg said the LPR program is paid for by a special state revenue fund — $250,000 annually for licensing and maintenance. Board Chair Brooke Laine pointed out how that type of funding has a “risk of terminating,” which could leave the county in a bind. El Dorado reports LPR helped solve 191 cases between 2022 and Sept. 7 — including locating a suspect in a double homicide — and data assisted in 356 drug seizures, noting the recovery of 20 pounds of methamphetamine. Douglas has 15 Vigilant LPR in the Tahoe area and six Flock stations with cameras in the Carson Valley. Cameras are along Highway 50 in Stateline, up Kingsbury Grade and at the intersection of highways 50 and Photo Kathryn Reed 28. The little black cameras on the post at Highway 50 and Lake Parkway belong to Douglas “LPR technology is an County Sheriff’s Department, while everything else is the Nevada Department of investigative and public safety tool. Transportation’s. It can assist authorized personnel in identifying vehicles associated with a photo of the vehicle and provides a that would further tighten the use of LPR criminal investigations, locating vehicles direction of travel at a specific date and technology. or persons connected to active cases, and time. Any further search of the vehicle In Nevada, Assemblymember Selena responding to public safety matters such or person would require adherence to La Rue Hatch, D-Reno, has said she as missing person investigations and other all Fourth Amendment rights under the plans to introduce legislation in 2027 to qualifying alerts,” Douglas Sheriff Dan Constitution.” ban Flock and other ALPR surveillance Coverley said. “The technology is intended California in 2017 passed Senate Bill networks in Nevada. to supplement traditional investigative 54, which prohibits law enforcement from methods and does not replace an sharing LPR data with federal officials like independent investigation or verification immigration agents. However, that law has by law enforcement personnel.” been flagrantly violated. San Francisco Recently people have started to Police Department in the summer make noise about cameras on roadways acknowledged “Northern California Email: mountainnews2@gmail.com — especially when it comes to privacy Regional Intelligence Center had queried Mail: P.O. Box 8974, issues. SFPD’s Flock network on behalf of federal “There is no expectation of privacy and out-of-state agencies.” South Lake Tahoe, CA 95618. driving on a public road,” Coverley said. For five consecutive years, state “The LPR reads the license plate, takes lawmakers have tried to pass legislation
2081 Lake Tahoe Blvd. • South Lake Tahoe
Wherever you are in your Spiritual Journey, in this Church, YOU are accepted, respected and LOVED!
6 Mountain News
GOT A QUESTION?
Mountain News 7
Skibum v. Mayor: Round 2 Kenny “Skibum” Curtzwiler has escalated his legal battle with South Lake Tahoe Mayor Cody Bass, filing an additional lawsuit in early October accusing Bass of defamation, assault, battery, intentional infliction of emotional distress, negligence, negligent infliction of emotional distress, violation of civil rights, false imprisonment, and violation of privacy-false light. The city of South Lake Tahoe, itself, is also named as a defendant, accused of negligence, negligent infliction of emotional distress, violation of civil rights and negligent retention/supervision. Earlier this year, Curtzwiler filed legal papers accusing Bass of harassment and defamation and sought a restraining order against the city leader. That matter is ongoing in the courts. The next hearing is December 9 in that initial matter. Bass recently served 10 days in the Douglas County Jail for harassment after being found guilty by a judge for an altercation with the bouncer at Stateline’s Ale-
Kenny Curtzwiler worx in September 2025, which is what kicked the current contretemps off. Curtzwiler posted online a copy of the police report regarding that incident, which led to a war of words, mostly online and in social media, between the two men. When the pair ran into each other at McP’s
Make This
Winter Season One to Remember Clubhouse / Bar / Restaurant / Multi-Sport Simulators! November 2026-April 2027
Simulators & Bites
Winter Party Package
A flexible party experience!
A complete clubhouse celebration!
Simulator rental: $60 per hour, per simulator space (Minimums Apply)
Host your gathering with up to 3 hours of clubhouse rental and both simulators. Your choice of buffet. (Minimums Apply)
Appetizer Package Prices
(1)
(3)
Appetizer
Appetizers
$12/Person
$28/Person
(4)
$49.99 Per Person
(5)
Appetizers
Appetizers
$36/Person
$42/Person
Appetizer Selection (Choose from) Spanikopita - Spinach, Feta Cheese, and Filo with Honey Drizzle Spring Rolls with Sweet & Sour Sauce Coconut Shrimp with Thai Curry Sauce Hot Spinach & Artichoke Dip with Pita Chips Gourmet Cheese and Fruit Display with Gourmet Crackers Fresh Vegetable Crudité with Hummus & Tzatziki Sauce Crispy Chicken Wings with choice of BBQ, Buffalo, Mango Habanero, or Sweet & Spicy Asian Sauces Fried Mac N' Cheese Bites Fried Chicken Fingers Flatbread Pizza with choice of Cheese, Pepperoni, or Sausage
The Clubhouse will remain open for walk-in customers.
Cody Bass last December, Curtzwiler accused Bass of challenging him to a fight, threatening him, following him outside and preventing him from leaving and lording his position as “the mayor” over Curtzwiler. The South Lake Tahoe Police Department told the Mountain News that it received no calls for service regarding this or any other alleged incident between the two men. In this most recent filing, Curtzwiler accuses Bass of causing “serious and permanent injuries to his person,” for which he had to seek medical treatment. The suit does not detail specific injuries. The suit also states that Curtzwiler has sought treatment for the emotional distress caused by what he says is the vendetta waged against him by Bass. In addition to unspecified economic damages due to Bass’s alleged false statements casting him in disrepute and affecting his business, Curtzwiler alleges non-economic damages of physical and mental suffering, loss of enjoyment of life, physical impairment, inconvenience and anxiety. Cutzwiler has also roped the city into his lawsuit, alleging the municipality is liable as well since Bass is the mayor. The suit also alleges unnamed city employees and perhaps other councilmembers themselves
did not adequately reign in Bass and his behavior or do enough to protect Curtzwiler’s rights. Bass and Curtzwiler are each accusing the other of violating his First Amendment rights. Responding in a legal motion to Curtzwiler’s earlier legal action, Alexis Holmes, Bass’s attorney, asserted that while perhaps hostile to Curtzwiler, Bass did not engage in any threatening behavior or speech or defame Curtzwiler, that Curtzwiler had disparaged Bass’s conduct as mayor, and that Bass has a free speech right to defend himself as an elected official. In the most recent suit, Curtzwiler’s attorney, Sean Patrick, wrote that the conduct of Bass and other unnamed cohorts was designed to keep Curtzwiler from criticizing Bass, who, along with perhaps other unnamed members of the city council, “issued verbal and physical threats of violence to intimidate, coerce and retaliate against (Curtzwiler) with the intent to discourage (Curtzwiler’s) exercise of his rights which include, but are not limited to, his First Amendment Right to comment on the conduct of public officials.” Patrick did not elaborate. Curtzwiler is seeking unspecified total damages and is demanding a jury trial, according to the filing. The city attorney and other city officials did not respond to a Mountain News request for comment. Holmes said Bass is focused on getting the first suit thrown out and the attendant restraining order lifted. Though this second lawsuit was filed in El Dorado County Superior Court on October 6, Bass had not yet been formally served as of press time, said Holmes. Nevertheless, she said, “we reject everything in it as false; Mr. Bass denies all allegations against him and will be defending himself to the fullest extent of the law.”
Thank you for voting Thank you for the trust you’ve placed in me. I’m honored to continue serving District V as my second term begins January 2027. My door is always open, so please keep sharing your ideas and feedback. I will continue to listen and follow through. Wishing you a joyful holiday season.
Buffet Choices (Choose one)
Country BBQ:
Taste of Italy:
Southwestern:
Garden Salad
Classic Caesar Salad
House Salad
BBQ Chicken & Trì Tip with Chimichurri Sauce
Garlic Bread Sticks
Ranch Style Beans
(a) Baked Ziti with Sausage, Onions and Peppers in Marinara Sauce
Chips & Salsa Spanish Rice & Beans Cheese Enchiladas
Garlic Bread Chef's Choice Dessert
Choose Two:
(b) Chicken Piccata (c) Meat Lasagna (d) Pasta Primavera Chef's Choice Dessert
*Additional time at $300/hr.
Chicken OR Beef Fajitas Warm Corn & Flour Tortillas
Sour Cream & Guacamole Cheese & Salsa Chef’s Choice Dessert
Brooke.Laine@edcgov.us (530) 663-3090
Let the Winter Fun Begin Lake Tahoe Golf Course
Lake Tahoe
To book your event, call (530) 577-0788 ext. 3
Golf Course
23% service charge and 7.25% state sales tax apply on all food & beverage items.
8 Mountain News
Greeting paid for by Brooke Laine
Mountain News 9
Climate change and warming lakes What lies beneath the surface of a lake can reveal more about climate change than what meets the eye above the water. While lakes are unique and individual in nature, scientists are noting similar trends, with increasing water temperature and less mixing being two of the biggies. “There are millions of lakes in the world. By some estimates 300 million. We don't even really know how many lakes are in the world,” Catherine O’Reilly said. “So, this is why it's very challenging to be a lake scientist because there's so many water bodies and they're all so different from each other.” O’Reilly is a freshwater ecologist, director of the Large Lakes Observatory and faculty member in the Earth & Environmental Sciences Department at the University of Minnesota, Duluth. She recently gave a talk put on by the Tahoe Environmental Research Center. She talked about a group of scientists sharing data to better understand what is
10 Mountain News
Indoor air quality goes a long way toward preventing illness Catherine O’Reilly near a research vessel to study freshwater lakes.
going on at a global level. With information from 235 lakes, the group could figure out how fast warming was taking place in a 25-year period. Lakes are warming on average 0.34 degrees Celsius per decade, according to O’Reilly. This is a higher temp rate than what oceans are experiencing (at around 0.12 to 0.13 degrees Celsius per decade). Lake Tahoe is warming 0.2 degrees Celsius per decade, so in the middle, she said. O’Reilly said key factors were whether the winters got cold enough for ice to form on the lake as well as the depth of a lake. While Lake Tahoe doesn’t freeze, Spooner, Caples and other lakes in the region do. O’Reilly said ice fishing is a $200 million economy in the United States. So, a lake that doesn’t freeze matters beyond environmental consequences. “Maybe more importantly for us is that how these lakes are going to be changing is going to directly impact us as humans through how we support our livelihoods and our cultures and of course our souls,” O’Reilly said. Her research has largely been on Lake Tanganyika, which is primarily in Tanzania and the Democratic Republic of Congo, but also borders Burundi and Zambia. It is second to Siberia’s Lake Baikal when it comes to volume of fresh water and depth. Scientists studying freshwater lakes are often looking at the same issues—the depth (is it shallow or deep), land use
Photo Povided
around it (forested or urbanized), periodic events (wildfire, El Nino). Those factors and more help scientists understand how a lake is responding to stressors. “One of the reasons temperature is so important is because the surface waters tend to be very warm, right? They're getting all the sunlight. They're warming up. And that warm water is a lot less dense,” O’Reilly said. Deeper, cooler water is more dense. She pointed out how this disparity of denseness is an issue at Tahoe because it means the lake is not mixing as often as it once did. This is in large part why the water near the shore is murky. Algae thrive in warm water. “We want some algae. We want the kind that the fish will eat, but we don't want the kinds that, you know, will choke up our waters and reduce their water quality,” O’Reilly said. She equated the difference between surface and deep water densities to trying to mix oil and water—it’s a challenge. “In order to mix that water, you either have to add energy or you have to make the surface water temperatures cool down enough that then they're all the same density and then it mixes very easily,” she said. Energy comes in the form of wind blowing across the lake for it to mix. “We want mixing because in the deeper waters, that's where all the nutrients are. In order to maintain a productive food web, we have to get some of this these nutrients mixed back up into the surface,” O’Reilly said.
Born and raised in South Lake Tahoe, Lesa Schultz is a small business owner, Long COVID patient advocate, and founder of Clean Air Lake Tahoe, established to make clean indoor air, reliable public health information, and prevention resources more accessible. What happens when an illness that seems minor leaves lasting damage? For millions of Americans, that's the reality of Long COVID. A repeat infection can leave people struggling with debilitating fatigue, difficulty thinking clearly, heart problems, and many other symptoms that persist long after the initial infection. COVID hasn't disappeared, even if public health messaging has made it easier to look away. Roughly 15 million Americans, or 1 in 19 adults, may have Long COVID, according to JAMA Network Open. A 2025 article in JAMA Pediatrics estimated nearly six million U.S. children may also be affected, making it the most common chronic health condition affecting children, exceeding asthma. Yes, children can face lasting consequences too. COVID may feel like a common cold, but it's a systemic infection that can affect virtually every organ, damaging blood vessels and contributing to inflammation and abnormal clotting. Research has also linked COVID to the reactivation of dormant viruses and cancer cells. Even mild infections can lead to Long COVID, and repeated infections increase the risk of long-term complications. Each infection is essentially a game of Russian roulette with your health, but we don't have to keep playing. As researchers emphasized in the New York Times last month, repeated infections take a toll, and none is entirely without risk.
For me, those consequences are a daily reality. I developed COVID in March 2020 and never recovered. More than six years later, I'm living with disabling Long COVID and three new chronic conditions, none of which have a cure or effective treatment. We don't have to accept repeated COVID infections and long-term illness as inevitable. We have tools that can reduce transmission and protect our communities. Making those tools and information more accessible is where we can start. Start with the air we share. We don't think twice about expecting clean kitchens in restaurants or safe drinking water. These are basic public health standards we've come to rely on. Clean indoor air should be no different. In poorly ventilated spaces, we're breathing air that others have already exhaled. This "used air" can contain infectious particles that linger for hours. Portable HEPA air purifiers and better ventilation can reduce exposure. Imagine these protections in schools, medical offices, workplaces, and other public spaces, helping protect people without disrupting their daily routines. Cleaner air also helps protect against other airborne illnesses, indoor pollutants, and wildfire smoke. Portable CO₂ monitors can help reveal how much "used air" has accumulated indoors. Higher readings generally indicate poor ventilation. At indoorco2map.com,
people can view and share readings from public spaces. Well-fitting N95 or KN95 masks offer another layer of protection, especially in crowded indoor spaces and healthcare settings. Testing, staying home when sick when possible, and timely treatment matter too. Prevention shouldn't be an afterthought when the consequences can last a lifetime. Did you know we can track COVID transmission through wastewater? Testing sewage for traces of the virus helps public health agencies identify when COVID is increasing. Public dashboards share these results, helping residents make informed health decisions. But what happens when that information disappears? El Dorado County's data from Cal-SuWers, California's statewide wastewater surveillance program, has been missing for over eight weeks, with no updates since September 8, despite South Tahoe Public Utility District continuing to submit samples twice weekly. As of October 30, the Pandemic Mitigation Collaborative COVID-19 Dashboard estimated 1 in 30 El Dorado County residents were actively infectious, indicating HIGH COVID activity. If we're asking people to make their own health decisions, shouldn't we provide accurate, timely information? And when someone does catch COVID, knowing their treatment options matters just as much. Antivirals such as
Paxlovid can substantially reduce hospitalization and death in eligible higher-risk patients, but treatment must begin within five days of symptom onset. Research also suggests Paxlovid may reduce the risk of developing Long COVID. That's why knowing whether you qualify and seeking treatment as soon as symptoms begin is so important. While no treatments are yet approved specifically for Long COVID, specialized care may require traveling to the Bay Area or further. Preventing infections remains one of the most important ways we can protect our community. That's why I founded Clean Air Lake Tahoe, a volunteer-run, donation-supported initiative making COVID prevention resources and wastewater information accessible to everyone. We share local wastewater updates, offer free high-quality masks and rapid tests as supplies allow, and are developing a Clean Air Lending Library. Our community deserves reliable information and practical tools to protect ourselves and each other. Clean air is community care. For wastewater updates and information about free masks, tests, and Clean Air Lake Tahoe, visit Clean Air Lake Tahoe on Facebook and @clean.air.lake.tahoe on Instagram. For questions or to get involved, email cleanairlaketahoe@proton.me.
Mountain News 11
It’s not JFK’s America anymore Publisher’s note: This is one in a series of stories written about immigrants living on the South Shore.
My mom turns 81 this winter and she has the paperwork to prove it. In family lore, though, she actually turns 80. She was born in 1946 in Quezon City, directly adjacent to the capital of the Philippines, Manila. Twelve years and one world war prior to her birthday, America kept its promise to former Philippine President Manuel Quezon by passing the Tydings-McDuffie Act, a political and racially complex piece of U.S. law which “created” the Republic of the Philippines in 1934. Quezon and other veterans of the 1896 revolution against Spain worked through their lives for Philippine sovereignty and for ending formal American colonialism. However, in granting Philippine independence, TydingsMcDuffie closed American migration for Filipinos. A generation of laborers sought relief from colonial poverty and sought opportunity in Hawaii and across the U.S. West Coast. An ugly, isolationist, and xenophobic climate in the 1930s lent political support to Philippine independence at the same time as it killed Filipino Americans. Having already closed migration for other people from Asia and South and Central America, the TydingsMcDuffie Act closed one of the last loopholes by which Asian people could freely migrate to the United States. Perhaps the promise of an American Dream flourished differently in U.S. territories like the Philippines, acquired after the Spanish American War at the dawn of the 20th century. Mom came of age with other Filipina baby boomers looking to JFK’s America with hope and optimism. For her generation of women and men, decades of colonial school systems had created a specific image of progress
12 Mountain News
that was distinctly American. The American colonial regime portrayed education as a mission of enlightenment. However, Filipinos like my Lola (grandmother) and my mom were not backward primitives, but were parents and dreamers with their own ambitions, their own ways to describe surviving war and occupation, and their own plans for making the most out of whatever came next. For my mom, a brighter future meant school in America and pretending to be a little older to qualify for a prestigious Fulbright Fellowship. She didn’t win the fellowship, but her plans did lead to meeting my Singaporean dad, marriage, and a year later, me. Just last summer we moved my mom to California from Minnesota, where she was long settled. After crossing half the globe with a toddler, you’d think crossing half a country would be easy. But it’s a lot to ask an 81 (80)-year-old to uproot herself and settle in a new place, sorting every precious item into musthave, nice-to-have, and ditch it. The giant carved fork and spoon are as important at 80 as they were at 30. Of course, so is the jewelry—the real savings plan. Surprisingly, the random furniture gifts from family and friends also made the cut. Maybe an old couch is a reminder of reciprocity and belonging in a strange new home. At 81 (80), mom has a more nuanced understanding of the value of migration. America
provided her with the opportunity to earn her doctorate. More importantly to our immigration narrative and the reason we’re in California, it invested in my PhD. But I think the goals of moving for education, or moving for your children’s opportunity, have shifted. The value of education and the reality of freedom of opportunity seem to
Movement. America’s struggles for liberation ring around the world; Philippine national hero Jose Rizal, whose execution by the Spanish sparked revolution, was inspired by Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin. Although mom was born in Quezon City, my grandparents met in the Province of Bulacan, north of the city, on a rice farm. In an odd echo, I grew up in rural Minnesota, in a county whose soil was too sandy to farm anything but Christmas trees. My family was one of maybe five visible minority families in our town of about 3,000 people. To highlight the contrast, Quezon City is the largest city in the Philippines; together with greater Manila, 26 million people live there today. Mom grew up a city girl. When jobs brought mom and dad to rural Minnesota from Chicago, many, many tears were shed. I don’t think fear of xenophobia was the problem; mom was missing urban culture.
What’s done more damage to our immigrant social mobility story, what’s made me hesitant to tell it, is an increasing turn to banal news coverage of anti-immigrant enforcement. The underlying misanthropy, driven by poverty or fear, doesn’t wait for the light of journalism to bloom. mean something different now. The new rise of antiimmigrant rhetoric around the 2016, 2020, and 2024 elections has surely given my mom, as with many of us, doubts about our belonging. It doesn’t sound like JFK’s America anymore. Maybe it hasn’t for a while, and maybe that idealism wasn’t a complete story of America anyway. Sociologist Aldon Morris and other scholars argue the rhetoric of JFK’s era, the civil rights era, was enabled by the unrecognized work done many decades earlier by the NAACP and the Niagara
It took mom about 30 years to hear “go back to your own country.” When it happened, it was in 2006, not 2016, and it wasn’t rural Minnesota, but in the urban suburbs of Minneapolis. The divide between urban and rural America has long been political. Philippine labor, cut off by Tydings-McDuffie and independence, was replaced by the U.S. Bracero program paying for Mexican nationals to work in agriculture. The program lasted for a short postwar period, ending in 1964, just before the law changed again and Filipinos along with other individuals
from Asia and South and Central America were allowed into the United States. Filipinos know very well how much a period of intense agrarian labor migration shapes racial attitudes toward “what you’re good for.” By the ‘60s and ‘70s, the optimism of mom’s generation was closely tied to the migration of professional (desirable) individuals, shipped to America to help win the Cold War. What’s done more damage to our immigrant social mobility story, what’s made me hesitant to tell it, is an increasing turn to banal news coverage of antiimmigrant enforcement. The underlying misanthropy, driven by poverty or fear, doesn’t wait for the light of journalism to bloom. Maybe in one era it gives you independence, in another it gets you deported. My mom has never been as critical of institutions as I am, but I see in her a growing cynicism toward the American Dream; maybe even an emerging fear of U.S. institutions that had always been marketed as fair and uplifting. Painfully, I hear her question whether moving to America was such a good idea. The final piece of mom’s big California move was the two of us driving her car out West. The last leg of our trip took us through Utah and Nevada on Highway 50, the loneliest road in America. We stopped for dinner in Salina, Utah (population 2,600), at a hamburger stand. The polite curiosity and being the only brown person in a crowd took me back about 40 years. I think about half the town was buying ice cream; the sounds of kids’ laughter, families and small-town friends surrounded us. Despite the familiar hypervisibility, the intense feeling of being different and observed, I wasn’t uncomfortable. Impatiently waiting for my onion rings, I didn’t notice mom pick up a vibe that urged us back on the road. For most of her professional career, mom worked for state
IMMIGRANTS Continued on page 24
State mandated sod removal saves water South Lake Tahoe expects to literally save millions of gallons of water each year by no longer having grass to irrigate. The city, along with other public, commercial, industrial and institutional entities throughout California, is ripping out non-functional turf because the passage of Assembly Bill 1572 in 2024 mandated such action take place. It’s all about saving water. It’s the decorative grass—not parks or ballfields—that is being uprooted. What’s being taken out is mostly along roads where it has no purpose other than to look pretty. “We are replacing the turf with a variety of drought-tolerant flowering plants, shrubs and other landscape materials,” Dennis Churchill, the city’s parks maintenance manager, said. “One of our main goals is to bring more color and seasonal interest to these areas. Rather than having large expanses of green turf, we want attractive landscapes with flowering plants that provide color throughout the growing season. We are also selecting vegetation that can tolerate South Lake Tahoe’s climate and winter conditions.” South Lake Tahoe has removed approximately 120,000 square feet of turf, or about 2.75 acres. Another 160,000 square feet is likely to be eliminated. “However, our current focus is on completing and improving the areas where turf has already been removed before moving forward with additional locations,”
Safeway in South Lake Tahoe does not have a date on when the sod removal project will be finished.
Churchill said. “The project focuses on Caltrans right-of-way landscape areas that have been turned over to the city for maintenance. These include landscaped
Tahoe Keys no longer has grass as its vegetation in medians.
Photo Kathryn Reed
Photo Kathryn Reed
areas along Highway 50 and other vegetation. The city will also be spending less designated roadside locations, including the on fuel for equipment, fertilizer, aeration, Ski Run area.” Current projects are expected to be sprinkler head replacements and other irrigation repairs. completed next summer. “To date, the city has spent “Based on projections for one of our landscape areas, we estimate that annual approximately $25,000 to $30,000 on water consumption could decrease from materials, including plants, irrigation approximately two million gallons to 20,000 components and other landscape supplies,” gallons, representing a potential savings Churchill said. “Much of the work has of 1.98 million gallons, or 99 precent,” been completed by our own city parks Churchill said. “We are also installing staff using existing equipment rather than irrigation flow sensors throughout our outside contractors. These figures represent landscape irrigation systems. These sensors material expenses only and do not include will allow us to monitor water consumption staff labor, equipment operation or other more accurately and automatically shut associated costs.” Other turf projects going on around down irrigation when unusually high or low town are being done by the entities that flow is detected, alerting staff to potential own that property. Safeway is converting its leaks or system problems.” grass at the edge of the parking lot bordering Churchill said the city doesn’t yet Highway 50 to native plants supported by have a projection for how much money it drip irrigation. will save annually with the conversion. The local grocery store deferred Beyond having a smaller water bill comment to corporate, which did not return and using less water, the city will no longer calls. need a three-person mowing crew working Tahoe Keys, which did not respond to five days a week. What grass that is left multiple inquiries, has removed large swaths should take one person about two days a of grass and replaced it with state-approved week to cut. Those who were mowing are now SOD weeding, planting and maintaining the new Continued on page 15
Mountain News 13
M OUNTAIN N EWS B USINESS
SOD Continued from page 13
Local students enact photosynthesis during the Wonders of Water field trip.
landscaping. The old sprinkler system in the Keys was notorious for watering the pavement as well as the grass—so much so that water would run down the gutters to storm drains. Drip irrigation, which is being used at all project sites, provides water directly to the plants, which eliminates overspray. The Keys neighborhood, incidentally, has its own water system. South Tahoe Public Utility District, which supplies water to the vast majority of the California side of the South Shore, is partnering with those needing to remove sod. The city is the only public entity to complete its project and receive turf buyback funding—$15,000 for the removal of 31,000 square feet of non-functional turf on Ski Run Boulevard. This money comes from the California Department of Water Resources' Integrated Regional Water Management grant. The district estimates the city will save 500,000 gallons of water a year at the
Photo Provided
Ski Run location. South Tahoe PUD employees have visited Lake Tahoe Unified School District and Lake Valley Fire Protection District to talk non-functional turf removal. STPUD is also doing outreach to commercial, industrial and other institutional customers, as well as to local landscapers. “Overall, converting non-functional turf supports the district’s long-standing water-efficiency and Tahoe-friendly landscaping efforts,” Shelly Thomsen, spokesperson for STPUD, said. “Benefits can include reduced outdoor water use, lower irrigation-related maintenance, fewer leaks and less water waste in hightraffic landscaped areas, and landscapes better suited to local conditions. Our role is to help customers comply with the state mandate through free consultations, turf buyback incentives, irrigation-controller rebates, gardening workshops and technical guidance.”
South Lake Tahoe is in the process of removing non-functional turf.
The South Tahoe Public Utility District completed $28 million in projects over the summer including two new wells, a new water main along Pioneer Trail, recoating of its largest storage tank, installation of remaining water meters and backup power for its two largest wells. The El Dorado Community Foundation is hosting a program on planned giving December 1 at Wakamatsu Farms from 5pm to 6:30pm. The focus will be on environmental conservation and will include experts in charitable giving. One of the featured non-profits is the Tahoe Rim Trail Association. Free. Register at https:// bit.ly/giving4conservation. Meet Tahoe Mountain News reporter Kae Reed as she signs copies of her four books on Nov. 27 from 2pm to 5pm at The Ridge Tahoe, Room Tahoe A, Upper Kingsbury Grade/Stateline. Bring cash or Venmo. The west side of the Spooner Lake backcountry is open now that construction on Marlette Lake Dam is finished. Register online (https://find.griefshare.org/events/299089) for Lake Tahoe Community Presbyterian Church’s grief share event to learn how to prepare for the holidays after the loss of a loved one. The free event is Nov. 19, 4pm at the SLT church’s downstairs family room. Details are online (https://shorturl.at/ vH3Zb) about South Lake Tahoe Restaurant Week that runs through Nov. 16. Out of 5,200 boat inspections this past season, invasive species were found in 84 vessels: 23 with quagga, zebra or golden mussels. Nearly 70 percent of visiting boats arrived clean, drained and dry, up from 60 percent in previous years. LIND Art & Technology must pay TRPA $10,000 and remove online content
14 Mountain News
showing its electric-powered surfboard being used illegally in Taylor Creek Marsh and Upper Truckee River and a homeowner on Grand Avenue near Homewood who built an illegal deck owes TRPA $15,000, must plant two replacement trees and submit a permit application for the construction. If the application cannot be approved, the deck must be removed. Lake Link earlier this year shifted from an origin-to-destination service to connect passengers to TTD fixed routes so it no longer competes with TTD services. State Controller Malia M. Cohen recently singled out El Dorado County Auditor Joe Harn for his department’s excellence in financial transactions reporting. Proceeds from Sierra State Parks Foundation’s online holiday auction (https://www.sierrastateparks.org/events) support free educational programs throughout the Lake Tahoe and Donner Lake region. Bidding ends Nov. 30. Bike Tahoe’s South Shore winners in the inaugural Best of Bike Awards include: Advocacy organization—TAMBA; bike events—Tahoe Mountain Bike Festival & Triple Crown Ride; bike path rides—Camp Richardson Forest Trail; bike rentals—Tahoe Bike Company; bike retail/ repair: Sierra Ski & Cycle Works; single track trails/black—Mr. Toad’s; single track trails/blue—Kingsbury Stinger; and single track trails/green—Railroad Grade. Lake Tahoe Visitors Authority distributed $82,000 from American Century Investments to 41 nonprofits, bringing donations from the 2026 celebrity golf tournament to $114,000. Expect construction to start next summer on the Johnson Meadow and Upper Truckee River Restoration Project. Comments about the environmental
study of a proposed 6.5-mile extension to the West Shore Tahoe Trail from Meeks Bay to D.L. Bliss State Park will be taken until Nov. 20. More info is online: https:// shorturl.at/GYmG2. The Sierra Nevada Olympic Winter Sports Museum and Community Cultural Center on the North Shore is moving forward with Placer County supes’ October approval of the EIR, Olympic Valley General Plan amendment and establishment of cultural amenities land use designation. The project will celebrate the legacy of the 1960 Winter Olympics and the history of winter sports in the Sierra Nevada. The Strategic Economic Enhancement Development Committee, an advisory group to the El Dorado County Board of Supervisors, needs three members. For more info and an application, call (530) 621-5390. The holiday tree lighting at Heavenly Village is Nov. 27 at 6:30pm. The charcoal ban for the city of South Lake Tahoe was lifted on November 1. Barton Health has expanded its cancer care and will now offer chemotherapy locally along with a dedicated oncologist, medical and financial coordination and a specialized team of providers. This is part of the organization’s partnership with the Cleveland Clinic. Tahoe Douglas Rotary will be hosting a special Veteran’s luncheon on November 13 at the Tahoe Ridge Resort. Featured speaker, Colonel Katherine Miller. Veterans, free, all others $26. To register, email kbaumruck@holidayinnclub.com. The Lake Tahoe Educational Foundation Future Teachers Scholarship Program awarded $21,500 to seven recipients last year, four of whom were subsequently hired by the Lake Tahoe Unified School
Photo Kathryn Reed
District. To make a contribution, visit ltedf. org/donate. The musical comedy, The Drowsy Chaperone, will be performed at the South Tahoe High School TADA Theater November 12 and November 14 (7pm) and November 15 (2pm). Tickets at www. sths.ltusd.org (click on students and parents-sths store). Enjoy cabaret seating and mocktails for two for a $100 donation. The annual winter festival is at South Tahoe High School December 4 and December 5, 5pm to 8pm. Holiday music, food, arts and crafts, pictures with Santa and more. The South Tahoe Environmental Education Coalition hosted 1,000 elementary school students for its Wonders of Water field trip at Tahoe Paradise Park in early October. “This is way more fun than being in school,” according to one participant. For more information or to volunteer, visit www.steec.us. TAMBA’s fall party is November 13 at Heavenly’s Cal Lodge, 5:30pm to 8:30pm. Cost, $20, members free. Register at www.tamba.org As Sierra-at-Tahoe begins its 80th season, it is implementing a parking reservation system on weekends and holiday periods between Dec. 19-April 4 until noon each day. Reservations are free for passholders and vehicles with four or more people. On October 28, bears broke in the Lake Tahoe Unified School District offices on Al Tahoe Blvd, helping themselves to food being collected for a holiday food drive and lots of Mountain Dew. District staff had quite a bit of clean up the next day and the BEAR League helped secure the facility and deter future break-ins.
Mountain News 15
YOUR FUTURE STARTS HERE Connecting students with the world of work.
CTE Pathway Highlight: DENTAL ASSISTING at STHS Most teens dread the dentist, but a crew of STHS students can’t wait to get there. Led by Elizabeth Ferguson, RDA, the Career and Technical Education (CTE) Dental pathway teaches dental terminology, oral anatomy, infection control, sterilization, and chairside assisting. By Dental 3, students are taking X-rays on real patients and completing a 50-hour externship in a local dental office, all while earning 21 college credits through Lake Tahoe Community College. They finish with a Dental Assisting Certificate and a California Radiation Safety Certificate in hand, and can start working immediately. The next generation of Tahoe healthcare is already scrubbed in.
A crisis of literacy? It’s hard to know if it’s truly a crisis. According to the National Literacy Institute, 54 percent of adults have a literacy below a grade 6 level, which costs the US up to $2.2 trillion per year. And 28 percent of adults scored at or below level 1, which means they would struggle to fill out a job app, understand a workplace safety manual, voting information, complex medical labels, their children’s school materials and reports; they would
struggle to read full books to children, to manage complexities of household or utility bills, to evaluate news articles or editorials, to navigate multi-page digital sites, and so on. So, yes, a crisis from that angle. But despite these literacy rates falling to their lowest level since 1992, high school graduation rates reached a record high in 2021-2022 of 87 percent and have remained right about there since.
So, is it possible that our young people are becoming more literate and it’s their elders who pull that literacy rate down? Maybe . . . . But even if that’s the case, it seems clear that we have a school-going population less willing to read than ever, and when they do, less able to process what they have read. Let’s look at the why. The new generation gap? Without belaboring the details, we are seeing a marked difference even from Gen Z to Gen Alpha. While Gen Z largely developed foundational reading and writing skills before the widespread adoption of tablets for tots and smartphone parenting, Gen Alpha was raised from infancy with hyper-stimulating, short-form video feeds like TikTok and YouTube Shorts — hence the dramatic impacts to attention spans, making sustained reading feel like agony for them. While Gen Z can read, studies show that they are simply choosing not to, opting for digital shortcuts instead. In contrast, Gen Alpha is actively struggling with the core cognitive building blocks required to learn how to read in the first place. Graduating or enabling? Back to those puzzling graduation rates I mentioned earlier, it does beg the question if we’re inflating grades, and if so, how exactly that’s occurring. So here goes. Yes, I believe schools (which ultimately means teachers) are inflating grades and therefore grad rates. But how does it occur in practice? Difficult question. The “why” is largely because administrators survive based on their numbers, so the pressures come from all directions to get kids across that finish line, even if they have to be wheelbarrowed over it. That pressure gets passed along down the line to teachers in various ways — some nuanced and some very direct. We teachers have all seen it in some form
16 Mountain News
or another. In recent years, our administrator took to sharing out a “D/F list” by teachers’ names — a public shaming —which no doubt has affected grading going forward. Keep in mind, teachers have very different job assignments from one another. Some teach primarily honors-type courses where almost nobody falls into that D/F range, so you would rarely even see their name on the spreadsheet; some teach only the kids at the other end of the motivation spectrum, so you naturally see a very different grade report. But the implication is that if your name is attached to a lot of D/Fs on there, you are somehow the problem. The message comes through that admin just wants to see passing grades — not so much a fidelity to standards. And after a while, that can’t help but compel teachers to start tweaking things so they don’t appear on the sheet as much. Sometimes it’s the relentless meetings with parents who feel their student deserves more than they’ve earned; teachers get worn down by the time and energy these meetings take, while often having no administrator defending them, and it starts to subtly influence grades . . . you know, in order to avoid these situations. And heck, sometimes it’s just because parents complain at the eleventh hour about having all the family coming from afar to see the student walk across the stage to receive their diploma and accuse the school of ruining their hopes and dreams, ignoring the student’s role in that outcome, of course. Over time, these types of pressures work beneath the surface to inflate grades and graduation rates. So yes, there are kids who graduate from high schools — not just here — who, generally through their own lack of effort, have no business getting anywhere near a cap and gown, much less wearing it. As always, gmail.com
From the Classroom to the Dental Office
HANDS ON LEARNING
CAREER PATHS
Dental Assisting 1:
Entry Level:
Intro to back-office dental assisting: dental terminology, tooth ID & oral anatomy, four-handed dentistry, infection control, sterilization & OSHA safety.
Dental Assisting 2:
Hands-on dental X-rays on manikins (full mouth & bitewing), radiation safety, plus processing, mounting & reading radiographs.
Dental Assisting 3: Advanced chairside assisting & live patient X-rays, CoronaL Polish, and CPR BLS for Provider Certifications: Dental Assisting Certificates, CA Radiation Safety Certificate, 8 Hour Infection Control, Coronal Polish, BLS CPR for Provider Card Work-Based Learning: 50 hr Dental Office Externship
Dental Assisting Hygiene Assistant Office Manager Sterilization Assitant Dental Receptionist
Technical Careers: Dental Lab Tech Coding Specialist Dental Supply Sales DANB Assistant Treatment Coordinator
Professional Careers: Dentist Orthodontist Dental Hygienist Dental Educator Pediatric Dentist Oral Surgeon Dental Lab Technician
mikesmutterings@
WWW.LTUSD-CTE.ORG
@TAHOECTE
TAHOE.CTE Mountain News 17
Getting kneed in the OR A wonky knee doesn't always mean it’s necessary to replace the whole thing. A partial knee replacement might be the answer to eliminating pain and increasing mobility. Kyle Swanson, who has been a doctor with Barton Health for nearly 18 years, recently gave a talk titled “Partial knee replacements for active lifestyles.” He is director of orthopedics at Barton Health and chief of surgery. While partial knee replacements are not an option for everyone, they are less invasive and have a shorter recovery time. One of three compartments in the knee is replaced — the outside, inside or under the kneecap. Good candidates need intact ligaments — in particular the ACL or anterior cruciate ligament, as well as having good range of motion. Partial knee replacement surgeries started in the 1940s. While those were not all that successful, technology in terms of the devices inserted into the body and the tools used in the operating room make it so
these replacements can last 20 years. “One thing that is an advantage is we preserve the ligaments that are surrounding the knee as well as the ligaments inside the knee,” Swanson said of partials. “The main ligament we preserve is the ACL. “Patients that have total knee replacement, we cut out the ACL. A lot of their complaints are that it doesn’t really feel like their knee. It feels foreign. And that’s because we have taken out those structures that provide that feedback to the brain.” Replacement of any kind is necessary when the cartilage between the bones breaks down. This can be blamed on genetics, autoimmune disorders, trauma and reasons unknown to surgeons. This breakdown or loss of cartilage is arthritis. “Arthritis doesn’t just affect the cartilage. It also affects the ligaments, the meniscus, and the other surrounding structures of that joint,” said Kyle, a 1989 South Tahoe High grad. “And once the process begins, it is irreversible. We don’t have anything right now in our capabilities to start or even regenerate cartilage.”
He said changes in the last five to 10 years in how the surgery is performed has made it so more people are candidates for it. Swanson singled out skiing phenom Lindsey Vonn who had partial knee replacement prior to the last Winter Olympics. It was her other knee that was injured in the crash that
Tahoe Paradise Park spiraling
amounts of bone resections and better preservation of the bone. The robot is also used in total knee replacements, hip replacements and will soon be used in shoulder replacements. The robot is also a reason Swanson is doing partial knee replacements on people
Four months after Judy Brozo-Clot, treasurer of Tahoe Paradise Recreation and Park District, rang an alarm about possible financial wrongdoing, the park’s business manager has given notice. Chelsy Munson, who was hired in September 2025 as park business manager, tendered her resignation Nov. 2, with her last day being Nov. 13. From the initial documents provided
County officials are questioning SCAR Inc.’s legitimacy and whether owner Jason Munson has falsified documents. He did not return a phone call. The Secretary of State’s Office lists SCAR Inc. as a company originating in Wyoming in 2011, with paperwork dated 2013 saying SCAR will do business in California as Pellet Stove Pro. No records of business licenses for
the authority to pay their bills because they don't have a budget,” El Dorado County Auditor Joe Harn said. Attorneys for the district and county are looking into the legalities. The county could recoup some of its costs in dealing with recent park issues by charging for payroll and other financial services. The district’s Oct. 21 meeting where the budget was on the agenda was abruptly canceled when a board member left by ambulance. Either the board approves payments before they are submitted to the county or the treasurer can sign off on financials. Brozo-Clot says she is willing to help, but not without receipts, which to date have not been provided to her. “Ideally, the budget should be approved before the start of the new fiscal year. Expenses are around $150,000 a year and income is around $170k to $220k a
year, which can fluctuate,” Scott Nicholas, park operations manager, said. “I raise the required revenue needed to fund the park through weddings, events, picnics, selling passes for parking and pickleball. Sometimes we are fortunate to obtain a grant.” The district’s 2024-25 payroll was $85,570, a 42 percent increase from 202324, according to documents on the park website. This includes two full-timers and seasonal staff. “Bills are processed through the district's claim form process. Park staff are paid through the county payroll system,” Nicholas said. “I have the authority to promote employees within the board-approved pay range, which I believe is currently $17 to $23.50 per hour. Management wages and salaries are set by the board. I receive a salary of approximately $29,000 per year.” Munson did not disclose her salary. For the 2024-25 budget, it lists her job title making $25-$30 an hour.
Photo Barton Health
Orthopedic surgeon Kyle Swanson uses a robot to assist him in the operating room.
ended her comeback. The partial knee replacement was intact. One reason people have issues with knees is that it is the largest joint in the body. It absorbs a ton of weight — well beyond what the scale says. Walking is the equivalent of three times your weight and running is six times. So, a 200-pound person is putting 600 pounds of weight on a knee with each step and a runner is putting more than a half a ton. Swanson uses Mako SmartRobotics to assist him in the OR. While he does the actual cutting, between the robot and CT scan more precise and smaller incisions are made. This assistance allows for minimal
18 Mountain News
in their 30s. People are in and out the same day, including up walking. Next is six to 12 weeks of outpatient physical therapy. By three months they are back skiing, snowboarding, mountain biking, golfing and living that Tahoe lifestyle. Swanson has a patient with partial replacements in both knees who runs ultramarathons. “I used to restrict what they could do after surgery, but the way that the materials are made now and how strong they are, there really are no restrictions,” Swanson said.
Photo Kathryn Reed
The tranquility of Lake Baron at Tahoe Paradise Park stands in stark contrast to the issues involving the board, employees and finances.
by Brozo-Clot the District Attorney’s Office has a multi-pronged investigation underway. “Ultimately, the ongoing stress, lack of organizational support, and repeated obstacles to accomplishing necessary work have taken a significant toll on my mental and emotional well-being. I have invested a great deal of myself into this position, but I must also recognize when continuing to do so is no longer healthy or sustainable,” Munson wrote in her letter. During Munson’s tenure, her husband’s business, SCAR Inc., and her children have received payment from the district — the kids as parking attendants, SCAR for providing various items like sound equipment.
either SCAR or Pellet Stove Pro could be found in El Dorado County databases. Brozo-Clot is on medical leave from the board, but is expected to return next month when the board turns over. Other board members are Zane Graham, John Dayberry and Marcia Mendlick. Mendlick is still around because she never notified the county of her intentions to resign. Mendlick, Graham and Dayberry’s terms expire next month. December brings two new members who ran unopposed. November marks the fifth month Tahoe Paradise Park has been operating without a budget. The fiscal year began July 1. This matters because bills are not getting paid. “I don’t believe at this point I have
Mountain News 19
M OUNTAIN N EWS C OVER S TORY
M OUNTAIN N EWS C OVER S TORY
TRPA takes a look at recreation Answers vary when people are asked why they live in or visit the Lake Tahoe Basin, but likely the outdoors is integral to their reasons. Recreation is a large part of outdoor experiences. What changes, though, is how someone defines recreation. It could be sitting on a beach, hiking the entire Tahoe Rim Trail, enjoying the city’s bike park or zipping down Mr. Toad’s. It can be a casual cross-country ski along Baldwin Beach or schussing down double-black diamonds at Heavenly Mountain Resort. All of this matters as the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency begins to update its Recreation Threshold for the first time since 1982. “We are working to incorporate new recreation data with the next threshold evaluation report in 2028 at the end of the next four-year period, 2024 through 2027,” TRPA spokesperson Jeff Cowen said. “Public input is a key piece of every threshold evaluation and Regional Plan amendment. Public surveys will inform the update, and private sector stakeholders will serve on the working group. We also give
Photo Kathryn Reed
Hikers take in the views of the jagged granite peaks on their way to Eagle Lake.
20 Mountain News
Continued from page 20 meadows and marshes. The distribution of trails can also have environmental
1. Fair share distribution of recreation capacity 2. Quality of recreation experience and access to recreational opportunities TRPA’s ten thresholds were not part of the contentious 2012 Regional Plan update. “The Regional Plan update was looking at how we achieve the thresholds. It would’ve been like aiming at a moving target. Through the Regional Plan update process, a number of things were identified that should be looked into to keep moving the basin forward,” Cowen said. “The Shoreline Plan—2018, local area plans—2013 and ongoing, the development rights initiative—2018, Tahoe Living affordable housing policy updates—2019 and ongoing, permitting improvements—2022 and ongoing, and the threshold update initiative—2022 and ongoing—are all among them.” Even though this threshold has not been updated in decades, TRPA started “threshold evaluations” on an every-fouryear basis, with the Recreation Threshold being “attained” every time since 2011.
However, in the last 44 years, recreation opportunities have changed as well as how people recreate. “In the last 20 years the Tahoe region has experienced a shift in recreation demand from gaming to outdoor recreation.
health.” LTBMU has not been part of the TRPA periodic evaluation process of this threshold. “Over the past 40-plus years, the
hard to acquire sensitive lands around the Lake Tahoe Basin for environmental protection and public access, including acres of shoreline which were previously privately owned.”
Paddleboarders ply the tranquil waters of Emerald Bay in September on their way to Fannette Island.
Personal watercraft and ski boat rentals are big business at Tahoe.
periodic updates on the threshold initiative to the TRPA Governing Board where public participation is always welcome.” What will change or stay the same in the threshold language remains to be seen. The current threshold has two items:
RECREATION
The popularity of outdoor recreation reflects national trends as well,” Cowen said. “Advances in mobile phone and GPS technology and extensive growth of social media have also been drawing people to different places, further altering visitation patterns in the region. While overall traffic counts and population have remained stable, shifts in the volume of visitation to different areas have strained aging infrastructure and Tahoe’s transportation system.” Cowen said the update is expected to answer what specific and measurable goals are needed in today’s conditions to meet
Photo Kathryn Reed
regional goals for sustainable recreation. “People may be surprised to know that wildlife habitat and biodiversity are rising to the top of regional concerns around recreation. Recreation patterns affect habitat conditions and influence the abundance and distribution of native species,” Cowen said. “Recreation activities occur throughout the basin, but concentrated activities occur along the lakeshore where there tend to also be a variety of sensitive species, habitat types,
RECREATION
Continued on page 21
impacts, like erosion, introduction of invasive species, and increased humanwildlife conflicts. While the Recreation Threshold update is looking at a range of issues, we are also looking at protections for biodiversity as part of the update.” TRPA will work with the Science Advisory Council as well as stakeholders to revise the Recreation Threshold. The council is an independent group of scientists. Transportation is not part of the current Recreation Threshold; however, Tahoe Transportation District expects to be part of the process this go-round. When it comes to the Lake Tahoe Visitors Authority, its board has not discussed the Recreation Threshold. Heavenly Mountain Resort had nothing to share about the topic. Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit, which owns the bulk of land in the basin and is the primary place people recreate on land, is one of the players in the update process. Public Services Staff Officer Daniel Cressy is helping TRPA evaluate requests for proposal responses on contractor support for the update. “Current Tahoe Regional Planning Agency recreation threshold measures represent shared goals, but do not directly inform management decisions about operations or facility investment,” Cressy said. “The identification of key recreation site sustainability criteria that can be measured to establish baseline site data and tracked over time will help land managers better provide access and service while maintaining the region’s ecological
number of recreation visits has increased substantially. And some of the equipment used has changed, such as increased use of RVs and larger camping trailers. Gear has also changed, providing new ways for the public to enjoy their public lands— such as snowboards, mountain bikes, paddleboards, and ebikes,” Cressy said. “In addition, the Forest Service worked
Photo Kathryn Reed
The city of South Lake Tahoe will be part of the working group, with John Stark, head of the Recreation Department, being the city’s rep. City Manager Hilary Roverud said no internal talks about the threshold have taken place. The plan is to let “TRPA set the table.” The California Tahoe Conservancy in March awarded a $50,000 grant to TRPA.
Photo Kathryn Reed
Lake Tahoe's frigid temperature doesn't prevent water skiers from enjoying their sport.
“The work funded by this grant will inform revision of the Recreation Threshold and establish a foundation for future recreation management decisions and targeted investments at recreation sites and zones throughout the basin. In our role as a funder, and also as a member of the Destination Stewardship Council’s Recreation Infrastructure Action Team, Conservancy staff is providing input to TRPA in implementing the activities described in the staff recommendation,” Chris Carney with the CTC said. “Regarding the 1982 document, we share a common goal among basin partners of updating the threshold to address the current recreation landscape, and potentially including a way to quantitatively measure progress.” The League to Save Lake Tahoe also has a seat at the table. It is part a member of the Threshold Update Initiative Stakeholder Working Group and participates in the Recreation Infrastructure Working Group. The latter is helping shape the goals and objectives of the update. “We aren't approaching this process with a list of items that need to be deleted. Instead, we want TRPA to identify portions of the 1982 framework that are outdated, redundant, unmeasurable or are no longer supported by the best available science and update them with standards that are relevant and measurable today,” Chris Joseph with the League said. “If thresholds are going to serve as Tahoe's environmental management North Star, we need to be able to determine whether we're moving toward or away from them and use that information to guide management decisions. A threshold that can't meaningfully measure environmental conditions or inform management actions isn't doing the job the threshold system was designed to do.” The League doesn’t consider recreation and environmental protection as competing concepts. But it acknowledges what was true in 1982 isn’t necessarily relevant today or going forward. “We've seen major changes in visitation, recreation patterns and technology, alongside increasing environmental pressures and climate change. Our scientific understanding of Tahoe and our ability to measure impacts have also advanced considerably,” Joseph said. “The quality of the recreation experience depends on the quality of the environment. People come to Tahoe to experience clean water, healthy forests, beaches, trails, wildlife and our incredible scenery. A strong, modern and measurable Recreation Threshold update can help ensure those experiences endure for generations.”
Mountain News 21
Dessert for the holidays ‘Tis the season where calories don’t count. Or maybe it’s that you should stop counting for a couple months in order to indulge in the abundance of the season without guilt. This recipe is off the charts delish. It’s also off the charts rich, sugary, flavorful and screams the holidays. Something about the combo of chocolate and peppermint makes this a fav in the winter. With that said, the first time my friend, Brenda, served me a slice was “out of season,” which made it seem even more decadent. I made it for the first time this fall, with five of us around the table critiquing the flavor and presentation. It passed the chocolate cake connoisseur’s taste test. No one could put their finger on what was different about this cake, or zero-in
on what made it so moist. That’s when I told them it’s a vegan cake. I didn’t want them (or you) to be influenced by this fact. Oil and applesauce are traditional substitutes for eggs. This cake also comes with fresh brewed coffee. None of us believes those three ingredients come forward in a distinguishable sense, but instead add to the final product. In other words, if you don’t like coffee or applesauce, don't worry, you won’t taste either. It would be easy to make this non-vegan; with the frosting being simple—just use cow butter and milk. As for the cake, I’ll leave that up to you to
figure out how to use eggs and not applesauce and/or oil. For me, I love this cake just the way it is. If you are into making cake by scratch, this is no more complex than a non-vegan cake. Oh, and I love peppermint, so I added more than what’s listed below. If you
Frosting Ingredients
1 tsp pure vanilla extract ½ tsp peppermint extract ½ C crushed candy canes
Frosting Directions
Frost the cake—including between the cake layers. Also add candy cane crumbs to the middle. Sprinkle candy cane mix on top of cake; and if desired, add a dusting at the base on the rim of cake plate for presentation.
1 C vegan butter, room temp 3 C powdered sugar 2-3 T almond or soy milk
Cake Ingredients 1 C unsweetened almond or soy milk 1 T apple cider vinegar 2 C flour 1¾ C sugar ¾ C dark cocoa powder 2 tsp baking powder
Cake Directions Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease two 8-inch round cake pans, then line them with parchment. Combine milk and apple cider vinegar; set aside to curdle. Stir dry ingredients in mixer. Add oil, applesauce, vanilla, peppermint and milk-vinegar to
22 Mountain News
1½ tsp baking soda 1 tsp salt ½ C oil (canola, olive or avocado) 2/3 C unsweetened applesauce 2 tsp pure vanilla extract 1 tsp peppermint extract 1 C hot coffee
are making this off-season and can’t find candy canes, use the round red and white mints. The number of servings is clearly based on how you cut the cake. It’s so rich you don’t even need ice cream with it.
In mixing bowl, beat butter until creamy. Add powdered sugar with mixer on low—about ½ cup at a time. Then add milk, vanilla and peppermint. Mix until light and fluffy.
dry ingredients. Mix on medium until well combined. Gradually add coffee. Don’t be alarmed the mixture is super runny. Pour batter evenly into the pans. Bake for 35-45 minutes; until toothpick comes out clean. Let cake cool in pans. Don’t frost until cake is completely cool.
Mountain News 23
IMMIGRANTS Continued from page 12 government as a psychologist and administrator. Her master’s degree and competence put her in charge of white men in rural Minnesota. In the 1970s and ‘80s, in the middle of nowhere, there was only a hint of the strong association between Filipino immigrants and health care and nursing; here in California that stereotype was already well under way. Our town wasn’t easy, don’t get me wrong, it wasn’t even Carlos Bulosan’s Norman Rockwell painting. But we put down real roots, and I met my wife in that town. Mom was genuinely surprised to find many of her old co-workers voted against her rights as a woman and as an immigrant. I was young enough when we came to America that I see myself reflected in America’s racial structure—in the rules of who-does-what job, who is good at math versus who is good at sports, who owns versus rents, who is mentally ill versus a public danger. Although I am a naturalized citizen and an immigrant, I think of myself as a Filipino- and Asian-American first. When I think about assimilation or incorporation, I think about how hard my mom and my dad worked to fit in. What I first noticed about being a Midwestern Filipino in California is how much longer Filipinos have been here. One must ask, after a few generations, is it still assimilation? Part of what I study and teach is
the strong incentive for immigrants to prove their use, and scholars show that this creates racialized “roles” constraining and defining who we feel we can be in America. Colonial moralities tell immigrants they are never done proving how American they are, how productive they are, perhaps even biddable. When I reflect on that, resistance to me sounds more like Toni Morrison, the need to free our dreams, and the value of radical joy. Survival is never weak, but after getting by, our family didn’t end up in public service because we wanted America to like us. What I find is some lingering dream of America that doesn’t fit the facts on the ground, or why else be disillusioned? The U.S. colonial bureaucracy left a long and painful legacy we still criticize in Manila’s traffic, pollution, and corruption—things we don’t have to leave the U.S. to find. But the dreams of progress that mom and her friends held were real, and inhabited by whole human beings, despite their colonial script. Maybe this chapter of the story is revising how we contribute to progress. One of the things my mom contributes is her story, and through her, I’m here with mine. I just wish she wasn’t making all these edits at 81 (80). For me, what I’m grateful for is the chance to tell a lovingly critical story of mom’s dream, not cynical, but pragmatic; and for us to be valued for more than our utility to a dominant American narrative of progress.
DC salaries are up there Six people working for Douglas County had salaries of more than $200,000 in 2025, while five had compensation packages topping $300,000. These figures are from Transparent Nevada, a public records platform that
collects, organizes, and publishes official government salary and pension data. Unlike some sites, this one uses names with job titles. County Manager Jenifer Davidson had the top annual base pay of $251,441 and highest total compensation at $352,804.
Second in total payout was District Attorney Mark Jackson at $349,125. He had a base pay of $209,898, other pay of $27,450 and $111,777 in benefits. The others in the $300k club were Undersheriff Ron Elges—$320,939, with a base pay of $196,209, other pay $9,000 and benefits $115,730; Chief Deputy DA Doug Ritchie—$312,803, base pay $219,927 and benefits $92,875; and sheriff’s Capt. Daniel Britton—$312,569, base pay $186,353, other pay $9,575 and benefits $116,640. Also in the $200k group for base pay included Assistant County Manager Wendy Jo Lang, $204,767; COO Kathy Lewis, $204,187; and Deputy DA III Cynthea Gregory, $204,149. Sheriff Dan Coverley had a base pay of $175,463. As an elected official, his salary is set by the county commissioners. His benefits were $123,792, for a total compensation package of $299,256. Those working for the sheriff’s department made bank with overtime, with three deputy sergeant IIs earning more than $30,000 each in that category. This is equivalent to about one-third of their base pay.
Licensed Massage Therapist Relaxation • Sports • Deep Tissue 22-Strand DNA Activation
(775) 720-6922 South Lake Tahoe
To the Editor:
the pole closer to the street and off my I want to express my sincere appreciation property, removed the unsightly wires, refor the outstanding service recently pro- planted the lawn, and left my yard looking vided by Liberty Utilities and Wasatch better than ever. Electric. Kudos to Liberty Utilities and Wasatch An outdated utility pole in my front yard Electric, especially Mark and Rashad for needed replacement, along with three beautifully representing Liberty Utilities. large guy wires protruding 12 to 15 feet Sincerely, onto my property. Liberty Utilities clearly Philip Galdi explained their plan and executed it flawSouth Lake Tahoe lessly. The crews were timely, punctual, courteous, and professional. They moved
24 Mountain News
Mountain News 25
In your neighborhood
Continued from page 26
What historic El Nino means for upcoming winter While scientists predict this will be an El Niño to remember, no one has a crystal ball showing exactly what it will mean for the Lake Tahoe Basin. The last El Niño was in 2023-24 — considered a moderate El Niño, while the one we are in now is predicted to be very
Central California, in addition to Southern Nevada, while there is less predictability in Northern California and Northern Nevada.” The following Q&A between the Mountain News and Johnson has been edited for clarity. What will people in Tahoe notice about this El Niño compared to previous ones?
strong. Very strong is technical language, and the most severe of the four categories the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has for an El Niño. Dawn Johnson, warning coordination meteorologist for the National Weather Service in Reno, has been in the business for 22 years, 17 of them in Reno. “I find weather fascinating because it affects all of our daily lives and many decisions we make,” Johnson said. She is the primary liaison between the Weather Service and core partners in emergency services, tribal entities, media and the public for a roughly 36,000-square-mile area that encompasses northwest Nevada, northeast California and the Eastern Sierra. “NOAA Climate Prediction Center ENSO (El Niño–Southern Oscillation) strength probability outlooks show a greater than 90 percent chance for this being a very strong El Niño this fall and winter, with a 75 percent chance for this event to be of historic strength going back to 1950,” Johnson explained. “This tends to favor wetter conditions in Southern and
26 Mountain News
At Tahoe’s latitude, ENSO’s impacts— which include El Niño and La Niña—do not typically have a major influence on winter weather. We have had six very strong El Niños since records began in 1950, two of which were incredibly wet, one a bit above normal, one near normal, one a bit below normal and one quite dry. The official outlooks for winter into spring for the region from a variety of climate sub-seasonal ensemble members have a lean in the wet direction, which tilts the odds in the favor of a wetter winter, but does not guarantee the outcome.
50 percent chance for ENSO neutral conditions by late spring and early summer.
EL NIÑO
While signals are there for a potentially wet winter this year, it’s not a guarantee. What is the difference between a regular El Niño and a super El Niño? El Niño just refers to warmer than normal water temperatures in a specific location within the central equatorial Pacific known as the Niño 3.4 region—5°N
lates in the central and eastern Pacific where it’s normally colder. This will then weaken the easterly trade winds and influence global circulations.
When should the Lake Tahoe Basin begin to feel the impacts of this El Niño? What will those impacts be and how long will they last? El Niño is not a storm or a series of
•
2-plus degrees C: Very Strong El Niño This event has a greater than 90 percent chance to reach very strong designation. A stronger event tilts the odds for the associated atmospheric and oceanic impacts to occur across the globe.
to where the snow levels end up. Once again, part of the weather forecast, not the seasonal outlook. What is unknown about this El Niño? The unknowns are part of the weather forecast, not the seasonal outlook. Individual storms will define a season for a community. Unknowns include: • How many atmospheric rivers will impact California and Nevada; • The strength of these ARs; • How much spillover will there be east of the Sierra; • Will it rain or snow a certain amount in a specific location; • What the snow levels will be for each storm; • What specific flooding may or may not occur. What can people do to prepare for this El Niño?
What makes this El Niño so strong?
We always recommend that people prepare for winter every year in the Sierra. This includes: • Ensure your vehicle is ready with proper tires and chains, check the battery strength, and use wiper fluid rated for sub-zero temperatures. Have a winter supply car kit with you at all times, including a snow brush, ice scraper, and
shovel. It’s also never a bad idea to have sand or cat litter for traction, a heavy blanket to keep warm, a spare set of warm clothes in the event you get wet, a flashlight with extra batteries, in addition to non-perishable food and water. • For your home: Clear any gutters and/or drains, be aware of snow shed zones like snow sliding off a steep metal roof, ensure your heating systems are working properly, check your pipes for insulation, and keep your thermostat at least at 55 degrees if you leave your home. If you plan to use a snowblower, clear any large items away from your driveway before the first snowfall. Have supplies to last at least three to five days without power, or the ability to leave your home. This includes non-perishable food items, water, any necessary medication, alternative heating sources, back-up fuel, batteries, and a flashlight. Having a battery powered or hand-crank radio is also helpful to receive emergency alerts should cell towers and/or internet sources go down. Always be aware of avalanche danger in the backcountry around Tahoe by following our partner at the Sierra Avalanche Center.
Photo TMN file
An El Niño doesn’t necessarily mean winter weather in Lake Tahoe will be worse than other years.
El Niño is a “coupled” ocean-atmosphere phenomena that reinforce each other. When did this El Niño start and how long is it expected to last?
Graphic NOAA
Will precipitation A map showing the effects of El Niño during winter in the Northern Hemisphere. be more in the form of rain or snow? There is a large amount of heat that to 5°S, 170°W-120°W. That value is then This will be decided on a storm-to- compared to the global tropics, giving has been sequestered below the ocean surstorm basis in the weather forecast, not in a relative value for each month. Three face in the western tropical Pacific. The a seasonal outlook. Currently, the gener- months are then averaged out. It needs to oceanic-atmospheric teleconnections that al temperature outlooks lean toward a bit be at least 0.5 degrees Celsius above nor- go along with El Niño have worked toabove normal, but this doesn’t necessarily mal for at least five consecutive overlap- gether to bring this warmer water toward give snow level information and is relaping three-month periods to be considered the surface within the central equatorial tive to the 30-year climate normals. an El Niño. El Niño can be placed into Pacific region where El Niño is measured. How are precipitation totals for the following categories depending on the What triggers an El Niño? Tahoe expected to compare to previous temperature departure within the threeNormally, the trade winds blow east El Niños? month rolling averages. along the equator, pushing warmer water Individual storms will define a sea• 0.5-0.99 degrees C: Weak El into the western Pacific Ocean. El Niño son for the Tahoe region. This is predictNiño flips the script. Warmer water accumuable in the weather forecast, not a season• 1-1.49 degrees C: Moderate El al outlook. Niño EL NIÑO • 1.5-1.99 degrees C: Strong El How is an El Niño different from Continued on page 27 Niño an ordinary Tahoe winter?
The threshold that defines El Niño was first crossed in May 2026, with the official declaration and El Niño advisory issued in June 2026. It has a high likelihood to continue into the spring, though the official forecast probabilities indicate the strength weakening into spring, and a
storms. It only refers to the warmer than usual sea surface temperatures in the central equatorial Pacific region. Therefore, there is no timeline to feel the impacts of El Niño as the individual storms will be what is noticeable in the Tahoe basin. How will the different regions of the basin be impacted? This will depend on how the individual storms come into the region and how much spillover occurs, in addition
Mark Darling Painting Commercial • Residential Exterior • Interior Serving Lake Tahoe Since 1974 Free Estimates
(530) 577-4271 Bonded & Insured, Ca. Lic #462487
Mountain News 27
Life in overtime Generally speaking, I’m not a team player. Not that I have anything against teams per se, but rather an overall revulsion to anyone telling me what to do. Especially if they’re wearing a uniform. And even more if they look better in that uniform than I do. As my mentor Groucho Marx once said, “I don’t want to belong to any club that will accept me as a member.” I’ve always been deeply curious about what drives people to join teams or clubs or cults. Is it for the trophies? I once received a trophy of Mozart for playing in a piano recital. It was pure white, hard and gritty, and my mother proudly displayed it on the piano. It looked like sugar, so, during piano practice, I would pause to lick it. Okay. Some people may be doing something I like to do. But most certainly at a place that is inconvenient for me. At a time I’d rather be doing something else. Probably with somebody else. Like dating. It’s frustrating and totally unrealistic when someone calls to ask you out to dinner. You might say, “Sure. Let’s go.” And then they say, “I meant next Tuesday.” So naturally you say, “I’m hungry
now. And I don’t know if I’ll be in the mood to have dinner with you next Tuesday.” I couldn’t help but be suspicious of someone’s motives. Did they want to go to dinner because they didn’t own a car and they wanted me to drive them to a restaurant? Or did they want to eat at the restaurant where I worked, hoping to cash in on my employee discount? Or did they actually want someone to converse with and their top 20 list of potential dinner companions turned them down because they already knew he would spend the entire time talking about how many days he had skied on his Heavenly pass? Or his Kirkwood pass. Or both. Then spend the rest of the evening complaining about his job. Which he didn’t have because no one recognized his true potential. Whereas I immediately saw he had the potential to make me want
to stab him with my plastic dinner fork. And I mean, mid-meal, before the check arrived. Which I always paid for anyway, whether my date was dead or alive. Or what if someone calls you and drones on incessantly and incoherently? Yes, you may wake up refreshed after your spontaneous phone-nap. Or you might respond, “I’m sorry. Who are you?” I really had no idea. However, despite the rumor that old people never change their minds, I’ve changed my mind. Not about dating. That will always be the dumbed-down, guardup, tortuous ritual it was designed to be. But recently, I’m finding myself drawn to group activities where people arrive somewhere to participate in a common interest, even when they’re not sure how they got there. Recently I caught myself watching live sports, particularly when the team members don’t obey the coach’s orders and are confused by his elaborate hand signals. And where better to find this scenario than in Sun City? The destination created for old people who want to play like young people. A place for those who yearn to experience a second childhood, without a parental spanking or lecture (other than
the ones seared into our brains from our youthful indiscretions). Somewhere that nobody tells you you’re “too old” to follow your heart. Because everyone in Sun City is… well…old-ish. And we’ve come to the obvious conclusion that life is too short to focus on our obvious conclusion. Obviously. It’s the last game and we’re in overtime. I guarantee that we’re gonna do our best even if it’s the worst. And we’re going to break some rules, make friends with the opposing team, and insist on laughter at every inning. We’re gonna play like there’s no tomorrow . . . ’cause we know there may be no tomorrow. So I’ve finally joined a club. One that would have me as a member. Requirements: show up and play. Be old enough to know better. And embrace what’s really important in the end game. I’m in a western high desert community, sprouted within a half-circle of red mesa, like open arms. I’ve found my wild west, panoramic-sky playground. And team players with a common spirit, who choose not to remember the rules or the score.
Retirement Sale Larana,
956 Nicoleno Road
Forest Service 2-bedroom, 2-bath cabin. Large lot; minutes from Fallen Leaf Lake. Thoughtful interior updates. Large front deck and upstairs propane fireplace.
$599,000
1431 Black Bart Avenue Well-maintained 3 bedroom, 1 bath home on large lot. Two-car garage, newer roof, vinyl windows, flooring; updated kitchen. Close to river access and bike trails.
Call Brandie 775.901.2751
$544,000
Updated 4 bedroom, 2 bath home. Close to restaurants, Heavenly and the lake. Great room with gas fireplace. Fully fenced backyard and storage shed.
$695,000
$540,000
Call Mike 530.544.5395
Call Brandie 775.901.2751
1116 Lindberg Avenue
2567 Bertha Avenue
Inc.
803 Modesto Avenue
Three bedroom, 2 bath Al Tahoe home. Close to shopping, restaurants and recreation. Fully fenced back yard. Waiting for your personal touches.
Call Hailey 314.348.4023
Three bedroom, 2 bath home. Backs to Conservancy land. Mt. Tallac views. Fresh interior paint, new carpet, fully fenced. Perfect primary home or vacation rental.
1990 Audrain Way
$1,225,000
Classic 3 bedroom, 2 bath cabin west of Echo Summit. Along a year-round stream. Easy access to Sierra-at-Tahoe, skiing, snowboarding and hiking. One-car garage.
$499,000
Call Brandie 775.901.2751
Call Brandie 775.901.2751
UP TO 65% OFF Get into the holiday spirit with unbeatable discounts, making your Christmas shopping even more joyful!
2400 Lupine Trail
Holiday Gifts & Decor Art Jewelry Housewares
2277 Lake Tahoe Blvd, South Lake Tahoe
Start
ing N
$930,000
ovem
Currently rented commercial property in Tahoe Valley Area Plan. with appoximately 4,500 total sq. ft. on 20,909 sq. ft. parcel. Ample parking.
Call Brandie 775.901.2751
$1,099,000
Architecturally significant 3 bedroom, 3 bath mountain retreat on 1/4 acre. Panoramic lake views. Near Heavenly’s Gunbarrel Chair. Newer roof, undated boiler.
Call Jarred 530.307.2950
$1, 950,000
Call Mike 530.544.5395
Mika Dailey
Molly Jordan
ber 17
th
(530) 600-3133 @welcomehomeshoppe Ann Truscott CA 02136075 NV S.0194874
28 Mountain News
1641 Sherman Way
807 Emerald Bay Road
Thoughtfully upgraded spacious 4 bedroom, 2.5 bath Montgomery Estates home. Minutes from Heavenly and shopping; offered fully furnished.
Annie McCully CA 02448529
Brandie Griffith Connie Lopez Diego Uribe Ortiz Hailey Fuller Jarred Uppendahl Jim Mathews CA 01961472 NV BS.0145628
CA 00964008
CA 02377629
CA 02162964 NV S.0198544
CA 01958463
CA 01225636 NV S.0053818
Joel Dameral CA 01851946 NV BS.0145648
Michael Phillips CA 01369810 NV B.0145615
CA 02246759 NV S.0205555
CA 02142804 NV S.0195715
Trish Hall
CA 00995140 NVBS.0025568
Mountain News 29
Photos Gary Bell
Same stuff, different season.
Waiting for winter Ooh yeah, it’s on! We are in the middle of the change of seasons. This is a special kind of change because it is so dramatic. Many other places also have a big change — you know, temps drop, the leaves fall off, some get snow, most do not. And then we all know those places where it is hard to tell the difference between one season to the next; yes, it cools off a bit, might even
30 Mountain News
rain a couple times, but mostly just the same old thing…boring! When we get our spring seasonal change, it is always a more gradual turn over, temperatures warming up, snow starting to melt, boooo! It’s an exciting time and I do love spring skiing, but it gives us time to adjust to the coming season. In the fall, though, the change can be dramatic, almost shocking. One day it is nice T-shirt weather, leaves are doing their color show, we are all out playing on the trails and beaches. We wake up the next morning and wow! Snow in the trees, snow covering the ground, so beautiful, so exciting. I always claim that the first lake level snowfall happens on Halloween night. You know, all those revelers out trick-or-treating and partying in their skimpy costumes when bam, winter begins with some beautiful blizzard conditions. Is that Mother Nature just having fun, or really being cruel? What happens next is truly disheartening (for me anyway). Is it really here? Yes, the end of daylight saving time. The dreaded dark way too early in the evening. You get off work and it is dark at five, and even earlier for a while — just wrong. Even stranger (again, to
me at least), is that this dark at five thing is really the normal and our summer is the adjusted time frame, getting dark later. For some reason, I always thought the summer schedule was the normal sun rise and set, only to learn recently that the last Sunday in November to the second Sunday in March is the “normal” time and that in 1918, daylight saving (no “s” on there, by the way) time was started to add an extra hour of sunlight during summer months. That just feels backwards to me; do we really need that extra time in the already long summer days? Add that hour during the dark winter months when we are groping around in the dark at 4:30 in the afternoon. It went back and forth for decades during the world wars, off and on until the Uniform Time Act of 1966 standardized the practice nationwide. The debate has continued over keeping it or not for reasons that don’t seem to have made any real difference anyway. So here we are, about to dive into some early, dark, winter evenings. I will personally be sitting at home, on the edge of my seat. Yes, you guessed it. Contemplating the super Godzilla, killer, hyper, biggest since we can remember, mega El Niño! The hype train has been roaring at full steam and a whole lot of us
are excited. They say we are going to see storms, a lot of storms. They don’t normally say that about our winters, so that is a step in the right direction. But they say crazy things about our upcoming winter all the time. The real question is temperatures. The storms may come but they need to have that cold northern component. I hate rain during the winter months. I know, there are those who don’t want to shovel their driveways or drive in difficult conditions. Hey, we are at 6,200 feet or more, and it should be all snow. That storm we had last year that dropped three feet of snow in our yards was so nice; then it all rained away in a couple of days! That was horrible, a cruel joke again by Mother Nature? If she does that shit again, we will have to fire her and put Ullr, the Norse God of winter (and archery), in there for that job. But really, I don’t feel we have seen any actual signs of this super El Niño, with the exception of the southern coastal areas falling into the ocean and flooding. Yeah, whatever! I want to see some big snowstorms. Oh, how uncompassionate and self-absorbed. Yeah, go get your sandbags, I just want to shovel and go skiing. Let’s play
Mountain News 31
Murky reasons for declining lake clarity
An unrecognizable Tom Cruise in the movie-within-a-movie, Digger.
Photo Warner Bros
Tom cruises along in latest film Tom Cruise has a new loveit-or-hate-it film out in theatres last month called Digger. This is a change from the usual Tom Cruise characters, and I thought I’d look back at some of the Tom Cruise films I reviewed to see what I was saying about him back then. A couple things I found: In 2003 in my review of The Last Samurai, I wrote, “I have to admit right off, I have two problems with The Last Samurai, Tom Cruise’s latest epic. The first is Tom Cruise. Now don’t get me wrong, it’s not that I don’t think he is a good actor, or that he doesn’t do well in this film, it’s just that I’m starting to feel the limits of his work. Part of this is in the roles he leans toward. It’s always a hero with a flaw, which he overcomes and against overwhelming odds, where he will win in the end. He has his stoic look, his enigmatic look, his angry look and unfortunately these are all becoming the same look. He has his disarming, boyish smile and his sensitive guy tears along with an occasional angry yell. There is always a certain honest intensity. The problem I have is that there hasn’t been
32 Mountain News
much else for some time.” Then in 2009 I wrote, “Another performance I wanted to point out is Tom Cruise. No, not Valkyrie, because that is Tom Cruise doing the usual Tom Cruise in a role that is not made for Tom Cruise (take away his intense stare and there is little left over). But in Tropic Thunder we get to see Tom Cruise doing what I think he really likes deep down — wildly crazy roles and comedy. His turn as Les Grossman, the out-of-control producer, is Tom letting it go and having fun with a wildly un-Tom Cruise character. So Valkyrie for Tom Cruise the star and Tropic Thunder for Tom Cruise the actor.” It's interesting that, since my 2009 review, other than Rock of Ages in 2012, and maybe American Made in 2017, most of Cruise’s 14 films have been some variation of the classic Tom Cruise character. So at the ripe old age of 64, Cruise has taken a leap in a different direction with Digger. Cruise has transformed from his usual action star to a 65-year-old oil magnate with a pot belly and receding hairline, playing Digger Rockwell, one of the richest men in the world
whose pumping of billions of barrels of oil out of Greenland and Alaska begins to have catastrophic effects on the planet. We follow Digger starting with his morning routine, where he is surrounded only by people who work for him, rather than any family or friends. He soon finds out that his drilling in Greenland has led to the breaking of the ice shelf with a giant iceberg, 400 feet high and the size of Washington DC, heading for the European coast where it will cause cataclysmic damage. But then the action is suddenly halted and we realize that Digger is actually Curtis Markson, an actor, and we are watching a technical rehearsal for a huge play called Fossil Fools and everything we have seen so far is part of an elaborate production. Digger is a fantasy satire that feels like a mix of the Coen Brothers and Wes Anderson. The satire is in the overblown characters, with high-ranking government officials who act similar to those in Dr. Strangelove, and the look of the film is an elaborate fantasy of fantastic set designs on a stage the size of a football field, with the detail and retro mix of
a Wes Anderson set. If nothing else, this film should be an Academy nominee for production design. The film was shot in classic horizontal widescreen with a lot of wide-angle shots and ground level shots looking up at characters, giving them a more exaggerated appearance (similar to shots in Dr. Strangelove). Cruise is in his element as the bombastic Digger and he shows he still can pull off a character that is not Tom Cruise. And he gets to do two characters, Digger and Curtis, Cutis being the real person who is sad and subdued, the opposite of Digger. Curtis rails against the absurdity of the play and doesn’t think the satire works. Cruise does get a great ten-minute, single take, Cruise-style monologue, with his high intensity, rapid fire, high emotional delivery as Digger lays out the status of the world. Even with the obvious satire, there is just enough reality to make it unsettling and the satire doesn’t have the humorous punch to make it land. The humor is there but the dark, bleak overtones layered over everything suck much of it out. The film’s message about how power and
Despite the record amount of pollution that didn’t reach Lake Tahoe last year, the annual average clarity in 2024 was only 62 feet deep. Clarity was 72 feet in 2023 and 68 feet in 2022. A report released in August by the Lahontan Regional Water Quality Control Board and the Nevada Division of Environmental Protection reveals an estimated 727,000 pounds of fine sediment, more than 5,800 pounds of nitrogen and nearly 2,100 pounds of phosphorus were prevented from entering the lake last year. These are all annual record highs since 2016. Those numbers are the equivalent of about 29 dump trucks. These pollutants fuel algae growth and are known to reduce Lake Tahoe's clarity and quality. The total maximum daily load, or TMDL, program began in 2011 as way for both states to restore and enhance the lake’s water clarity to historic levels of at least 78 feet by the end of 2031. The ability to see to a depth of 100 feet is the ultimate goal. The bi-state report found Caltrans, NDOT, El Dorado-Douglas-Placer-Washoe counties, and South Lake Tahoe exceeded
their pollutant reduction targets by restoring wetlands and streams, limiting dust from roads and construction sites, and improving stormwater systems. Compared to when baseline levels were taken in 2004, fine sediment reaching Tahoe has decreased by 29 percent, nitrogen by 23 percent, and phosphorus by 17 percent, according to Lahontan and NDEP. Since 1997, when the annual environmental summit at Lake Tahoe was launched by then-President Bill Clinton, more than $2 billion—mostly taxpayer dollars—has been spent in the name of lake clarity initiatives. The 2024 Lake Clarity Report released this summer by the UC Davis Tahoe Environmental Research Center shows all these efforts are not having the intended effect. In fact, last year was the lake’s third cloudiest year on record. Scientists admit they don’t know why the lake is getting murkier. “Given that water clarity has not shown an overall trend toward improvement in several decades, we suggest that understanding the nature of the particles is a priority area for research to identify
TMN file photo
A South Lake Tahoe street sweeper picks up fine sediment along roadways, keeping it from reaching Lake Tahoe. the current drivers of water clarity,” the conclusion of the 17-page report states. The report also said it’s time for more research to “understand the relative
contributions of different particles, such as inorganic sediments, terrestrial organic debris, and phytoplankton, to the overall clarity of the lake.”
money will destroy the planet is heavy-handed yet still has a ring of truth. Cruise is supported by a solid cast that includes John Goodman as the US president, purposely looking as cadaverous as possible, and Jesse Plemons as the play’s producer. Overall, Digger is both brilliant and overdone, with satire that gets somewhat swallowed, leaving an unsettling feeling about the future of the planet. But that might very well be the point. The film has a one-twist ending, which reinforces that feeling. The critic’s reactions were basically 50/50, split over loving and hating the film. Costing around $250 million and taking in only $49 million, it is officially a box office bomb, not at all usual for a Tom Cruise-centered film. For Tom Cruise, he may be at a point where he wants to keep taking on a different type of role. But then again, they just announced Top Gun 3 and Days of Thunder 2, so maybe not. I caught the film while waiting for my truck to get serviced, so unfortunately Teresa missed it, but I have a feeling she would not have enjoyed it.
Mountain News 33
Photo Kathryn Reed
This mountain creature popped out to say "hello" along a local hiking trail last month.
34 Mountain News
Mountain News 35
Here To Floor You. HARDWOOD CARPET LUXURY VINYL TILE & PLANK LAMINATE CERAMIC & MORE
2212 Lake Tahoe Boulevard, South Lake Tahoe, CA 530-314-7852 | www.alpinecarpetonesouthlaketahoe.com
Photo for illustrative purposes only. ©2024 Carpet One Floor & Home®. All Rights Reserved.
36 Mountain News