RENO, Nev. — In response to a recent increase in crashes involving commercial motor vehicles (CMVs) in the area of US 50 and US 395, the Nevada State Police Highway Patrol Division’s Commercial Enforcement Section has increased inspection and enforcement efforts in the affected area.
Over the past two weeks, enforcement units operating in this focused area have:
Conducted 102 roadside inspections
Documented 286 violations
Placed 45 drivers out of service
Placed 33 commercial motor vehicles Out-of-Service
Note: Out-of-Service violations must be corrected before a driver or vehicle can resume operations.
Troopers identified violations involving driver documentation, vehicle equipment and mechanical condition, motor carrier operating authority, and drivers’ daily logbooks.
During this period, inspectors did not observe any commercial vehicles with obvious or severe brake defects.
To further support commercial motor vehicle safety on steep grades, inspectors deployed a portable message board east of the US 50/US 28 junction displaying: “Steep grade ahead. CMV check brakes.”
Inspectors also implemented pop-up safety alerts through drivers’ electronic logging devices (ELDs). As commercial drivers approach the US 50/US 28 junction, they receive the message: “Runaway Truck Ramp 1 mile ahead,” before each ramp.
Through a combination of enforcement and education, the Nevada State Police Highway Patrol Division is working to reduce crashes, improve the safety of commercial motor vehicle drivers, and enhance the safety of all motorists traveling Nevada’s highways.
SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. – On Monday, August 3, Edgewood Tahoe Resort brought its spirit of hospitality and generosity to Bread & Broth’s Monday Meal as the evening’s Adopt A Day of Nourishment sponsor and host.
“On behalf of all of us at Edgewood Tahoe Resort, I would like to extend our heartfelt thanks for once again providing us with the opportunity to participate in Bread & Broth’s Adopt A Day of Nourishment program,” shared Cristine Holtziner, Edgewood Tahoe Resort’s Executive Administrative Assistant.
Cristine coordinated Edgewood’s Adopt A Day (AAD) sponsorship meal and was joined by a compassionate team of Edgewood volunteers: Siobhan Fajayan, Edgewood General Manager; Corinna Osboren, Edgewood Chief Operating Officer; Abraham Rubio, Food and Beverage Manager; and his wife, Gabriela Rubio.
Known as one of South Lake Tahoe’s most beautiful lakeside resorts, Edgewood Tahoe Resort is dedicated to creating exceptional experiences for its guests. On Monday evening, that same gracious hospitality was shared with Bread & Broth’s dinner guests. With warm smiles and kind words, the Edgewood crew welcomed community members and served 130 hearty meals featuring country fried chicken, parmesan fries, coleslaw, and sautéed bell peppers.
Left to right: Gabriela Rubio, Abraham Rubio, Cristine Holtzinger, Corinna Osborne, Siobhan Fajayan.Provided / Bread & Broth
After the meal, Cristine reflected on what the evening meant to the Edgewood Tahoe Resort team. “It is always a privilege to partner with your incredible organization, and we are truly grateful for the opportunity to both financially support and serve alongside your dedicated volunteers. Giving back to our local community is something that means a great deal to our team, and each of our volunteers leaves the evening with a renewed appreciation for the important work Bread & Broth does to provide nourishment, compassion, and hope to so many members of our community. We are honored to play even a small role in helping further your mission.”
Gail Clair, the evening’s Bread & Broth Adopt A Day Coordinator, expressed her gratitude for the caring support shown by the Edgewood crew. “Everyone was so kind and eager to help in every way, especially staying until the very end to help dry dishes and clean up the dining and kitchen areas. It was our pleasure having Edgewood Tahoe Resort sponsor another Monday Meal.”
To learn more about Bread & Broth, donate, sponsor an Adopt A Day of Nourishment, or volunteer, visit www.breadandbroth.org or follow Bread & Broth on Instagram or Facebook.
As a financial advisor, I am sometimes asked to give my opinion on dividend-paying stocks. Many retired investors hope that a dividend stock portfolio will provide a steady stream of income while growing the portfolio. My goal for most of my retired clients is the same—income with portfolio growth—and I use a strategy that follows over 100 years of research and evidence to pursue that goal.
First, some facts. Dividends are payments that companies make to their shareholders, typically from the company’s earnings. Many companies pay dividends. For companies that do, their dividend payments are normally calculated on a per-share basis, so a shareholder with 100 shares of the stock would receive a dividend 100 times as large as a shareholder with 1 share of the same stock.
Dividends are often seen as a marker of how a company is doing; companies that consistently increase their dividends over many years are typically thought to be financially healthy, while companies that decrease their dividends are often assumed to be under financial stress. Historically, companies with consistent and growing dividends have tended to produce strong long-term returns.
Some companies don’t pay a dividend, instead either reinvesting their profits into the business or using them to buy back company shares. To give you an idea of how many companies pay a dividend, S&P Global Market Intelligence reported that in early 2026, 411 companies (over 80%) in the S&P 500 pay dividends. The Russell 2000 small-cap index, on the other hand, has just over 40% of the companies paying a dividend during the same timeframe.
Now, to my own thoughts on dividend-paying stocks. If you are investing broadly and diversifying in the stock market, you will have quite a lot of exposure to dividend stocks without trying. If you want to focus on owning a bunch of dividend-paying stocks in addition to that broadly invested portfolio, you are concentrating your portfolio around that one particular characteristic. Investors who choose to invest solely in dividend-paying stocks will find their portfolios to be even more concentrated around that same characteristic.
There is evidence that certain types of dividend stocks have outperformed the S&P 500 in recent years. The “S&P 500 Dividend Aristocrats Index”, which consists of companies in the S&P 500 that have raised their dividends for at least 25 consecutive years, has outperformed the S&P 500 since 1990, with a total annualized return of 11.6% vs 10.2%. And, it has done this with lower volatility than the S&P 500 over that same time period. The important thing to remember is that dividends are one component of an investor’s total return, not an additional return on top of it.
Nevertheless, we should be careful about getting too clever for our own good. Over the past 100 years, value stocks and small-cap stocks have also strong historical premiums. Rather than trying to pick the right individual stocks and concentrating your portfolio, I suggest you take the
opportunity to diversify into different company sizes, styles, and countries. You will end up with quite a few dividend stocks by doing this.
There’s one other part of this discussion worth noting: the tax implications. Particularly in a taxable investment account, dividends will be paid when the company chooses, and in the amount that the company chooses. You will then owe taxes in the year the dividends are received, whether you needed the money or not! Those dividends are generally either taxed at ordinary income tax rates or at long-term capital gains tax rates, depending on their structure.
Instead, you can design a strong, diversified portfolio and set up withdrawals as needed. Unlike the dividend stock owner, you will choose how much income to take and when to take it. That puts you more in control of the amount of taxable income you create from your portfolio.
Whether you pursue a dividend strategy or choose not to, invest smartly and invest well!
Larry Sidney is a Zephyr Cove-based Investment Advisor Representative. Information is found at https://palisadeinvestments.com/ or by calling 775-299-4600 x702. This is not a solicitation to buy or sell securities. Clients may hold positions mentioned in this article. Past Performance does not guarantee future results. Consult your financial advisor before purchasing any security.
INCLINE VILLAGE, Nev. – The Tahoe Environmental Research Center’s new vessel is currently getting retrofitted for a future of research on Lake Tahoe.
“We are excited to launch our new research vessel soon,” said TERC director Stephanie Hampton. “This boat opens up new research opportunities, capabilities for operating on multi-day trips, operating nearshore, reaching locations across the lake faster and safer, and [is] better equipped to enable cutting-edge research and education.”
TERC announced last week that after meeting its fundraising goal, the new research boat is fully funded thanks to its Give Day campaign, generous supporters, and other fundraising efforts throughout the year.
The new vessel’s transformation will make it a state-of-the-art research platform, allowing TERC scientists to pursue exciting new research while furthering more than 60 years of continuous monitoring. This long monitoring history makes it one of the world’s longest and most valuable records of a freshwater ecosystem.
The discoveries made aboard this new vessel will help guide the protection and stewardship of Lake Tahoe for decades to come, TERC says, and ensure that researchers have the tools they need to understand a changing lake, inform restoration efforts, and provide the knowledge needed to protect Lake Tahoe for future generations.
Once the boat is ready, it will replace TERC’s flagship vessel, the R/V John LeConte, marking a bittersweet moment. Over the past 60 years of UC Davis’s lake monitoring, the R/V John LeConte has been at the heart of that work, now in its 50th year of service on Lake Tahoe.
Scanned copies of newspaper articles celebrating the christening of the R/V LeConte that took place over the Fourth of July weekend in 1976.Provided / TERC
With the vessel’s approaching retirement, TERC looked back at its 50 years in the State of the Lake annual report. The R/V John LeConte was instrumental in countless milestones, including gathering scientific data that informed the landmark total maximum daily load regulations to reduce sediment and nutrient pollution, and deploying Tahoe’s first weather stations.
It has also been a dependable ride in keeping tabs on Lake Tahoe’s famed clarity.
The R/V John LeConte’s last research trip has not yet been scheduled. TERC says it will keep the community posted when it embarks on its final research endeavor and when the new vessel arrives.
As the summer begins to come to a close, nature is hard at work preparing for next year’s survival. From now through September, it’s the Foxtails’ peak-risk period for animals – and even humans – due to the shedding of their stiff bristles or tiny-hair-like structures (called awns) on each foxtail seed. It is estimated that each foxtail can produce thousands of seeds!
What are Foxtails?
Several tall, spiked grass varieties sport these distinctive barbed seed heads, or awns. At a distance, or to the untrained eye, the awns may look soft and harmless, resembling a fox’s bushy tail (hence the name “Foxtail”), but for man’s best friend, they are anything but!
Unfortunately, the Western United States, particularly California, experiences the highest number of related animal injuries from Foxtails, including pets and livestock. This is due to their high concentration found in meadows, abandoned lots, ditches, neglected fields, and at the edges of walking trails and pastures. Even in drought-like conditions, the Foxtail continues to thrive!
Foxtail Awns
Initially, in the late winter/early spring, the green grasses and seed heads are soft and harmless. However, once the plant dries out, the hardened seeds can easily drop to the ground, attach to passing fur and skin, or even be inhaled! The true danger lies in the needle-like bristles, which contain microscopic, backward-pointing barbs (awns) that relentlessly penetrate deeper into the soil (for germination), fur, or skin, preventing them from being dislodged or expelled naturally. In other words, the attached awn can only move in one direction.
If not removed immediately, the awns continue to burrow into soft tissues and even vital organs, causing infection (and worse) and requiring surgical removal because the body (whether human, dog, or other animal) cannot break down these destructive barbs or awns.
How to Protect Dogs from Invasive Foxtails
Keep your dog out of overgrown, grassy areas, meadows, flatlands and other places Foxtails are known to inhabit.
After a walk, thoroughly check your dog’s body for any foxtail awns/seeds, including:
Legs, paws, pads and between the toes.
Tail, genitals and skin.
Ears and eyes.
Nose from inhalation.
Mouth, gums and tongue.
(Thoroughly check your body as well!)
If possible, pull all awns out with tweezers. If you cannot remove the awns, take your pet to the veterinarian immediately for assistance.
Look for and remove any foxtail plants in your yard or around your home.
Keep your dog’s coat shorter during the summer and fall, especially on the legs and paws, to easily detect attached seeds.
Symptoms of Foxtail Invasion
Even with the best inspection, awns can be missed, especially if they have already become embedded. If you notice any of the following symptoms in your dog, see your veterinarian for proper diagnosis and treatment.
1. Signs of distress, such as limping or difficulty breathing.
2. Swelling or redness.
3. Constant licking, scratching, or biting.
4. Shaking their head or tilting the head to one side.
5. Discharge around the eyes or nose.
6. Wounds or abscesses.
Learn More: Foxtails: What They Are and Why They’re Harmful to Dogs Foxtails and Dogs Foxtails & Dogs: Why They’re Dangerous Are Foxtails Dangerous to Humans?
SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. — OMNI Tahoe Yoga Festival celebrated three days of movement, music, and authentic connection at historic Valhalla Tahoe this week, concluding its fourth annual gathering with an outpouring of gratitude from attendees, presenters, volunteers, and community partners.
Hundreds of guests gathered on the shores of Lake Tahoe to experience more than 40 classes, workshops, performances, wellness experiences, and community discussions led by world-renowned teachers, musicians, and facilitators. While the festival continues to grow each year, for founder Jess Broyles, its greatest success isn’t measured by attendance, but rather by the connections created along the way. It’s the people who show up that make the experience what it is.
“To every presenter who shared their heart these last three days: thank you,” said Broyles. “The passion you bring, the way you teach, the way you live… it was felt. To every single person who showed up: thank you for allowing yourselves to be honest, vulnerable, playful, present, and free. Thank you for showing up exactly as you were and giving yourselves permission to feel exactly what you needed to feel.”
That same feeling echoed throughout the festival community as social media filled with heartfelt reflections from attendees, volunteers, presenters, and partners. Many described the festival as transformative, citing not only the caliber of programming and organization, but the sense of belonging they experienced throughout the three days.
One first-time attendee shared that they traveled to Lake Tahoe specifically for the festival, calling it “an amazing adventure.” Another reflected on leaving with “a full heart” after meeting inspiring people and forming meaningful new friendships.
Returning presenters echoed those sentiments. Brooke Haley described the festival as “an honor to be a part of this ineffable and profound experience,” adding that “each year just gets better and better.”
Janet Stone thanked the OMNI team for “an epic feat of tenacity and grace,” while Yogi Bryan expressed gratitude for, “such an amazing venue and festival. Grateful to be a part of it!”
Local partners and venue hosts shared similar appreciation, recognizing the festival’s positive impact on the South Lake Tahoe community and celebrating another successful year at historic Valhalla Tahoe. Now in its fourth year, OMNI Tahoe Yoga Festival continues to establish itself as more than a few days of yoga. It is a gathering rooted in community—a place where movement becomes a catalyst for connection, where strangers become friends, and where people leave feeling more connected to themselves, one another, and the natural beauty of Lake Tahoe.
2026 Omni Tahoe Yoga Festival.Provided
As planning begins for next year, organizers remain committed to creating an experience that prioritizes authenticity, inclusivity, and meaningful human connection while continuing to celebrate the vibrant wellness community that calls Tahoe home.
Stay connected for festival announcements by subscribing to the TYF Newsletter and following along on socials @Tahoe_Yoga_Festial.
SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. – The Food Bank of El Dorado County and the Marcella Foundation, with additional volunteer support from Bread & Broth and the Family Resource Center, are hosting the third Free Summer Farmer’s Market.
The Free Farmer’s Market will be held on Thursday, August 13th from 10-11 a.m. at the St. Theresa Catholic Church parking lot, 1041 Lyons Avenue, South Lake Tahoe. The remaining scheduled dates for the Free Farmer’s Market include September 10 and October 8, all at the St. Theresa parking lot.
This drive-through event will feature fresh produce and non-perishable food items. An average of 100 families received fresh vegetables, fruit, and essential grocery items from the Free Farmer’s Market over the past two months.
SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. – As summer comes to a close, Lake Tahoe Unified School District (LTUSD) is excited to welcome students, families, and staff back for the first day of school on Monday, August 24, 2026.
“This is one of my favorite times of the year,” said Superintendent Dr. Todd Cutler. “There is nothing quite like the excitement of welcoming our students back into our schools. Every summer, hundreds of LTUSD employees work behind the scenes to prepare our classrooms, campuses, and programs, and we can’t wait to see our students return.”
This school year brings several exciting opportunities for students across the district.
Elementary students and teachers will begin using a new TK–5 mathematics curriculum designed to build deeper understanding, critical thinking, and problem-solving skills. The curriculum provides teachers with embedded instructional resources, professional learning, and intervention supports while also offering more rigorous challenges that help prepare every student for future success. The adoption of the new curriculum reflects the LTUSD Board of Education’s priorities of ensuring high levels of student achievement and preparing every student for college, career, and life.
“Our Board of Education has made student preparation and performance a top priority,” said Dr. Cutler. “This new curriculum gives our teachers outstanding tools to support every learner while challenging students to think critically, persevere through complex problems, and develop the skills they will need for the future.”
LTUSD is welcoming two outstanding new school leaders. Becky Berry joins Tahoe Valley Elementary School as principal, and Tiffany Allison begins her first year as principal of Sierra House Elementary School. Both bring a passion for student success, strong instructional leadership, and a commitment to building welcoming school communities.
Families will also notice significant progress on Measure U construction projects. Modernization work continues at Tahoe Valley Elementary School and South Tahoe Middle School, where crews have been hard at work throughout the summer improving learning environments for students.
Aerial view of construction at South Tahoe Middle School.Provided / LTUSD
“We know our campuses have looked especially busy this summer,” said Dr. Cutler. “The construction represents an investment in our students’ future. Our contractors and district staff have been working tirelessly, and we are confident our schools will be ready to welcome students on August 24.”
LTUSD also begins the new school year by recognizing the dedication of its employees. This year, the district was able to provide every LTUSD employee with a 2.5% salary increase, reflecting the Board of Education’s commitment to attracting and retaining exceptional teachers, support staff, administrators, and classified employees who serve students every day.
“Our people are what make LTUSD special,” Dr. Cutler said. “We are grateful for every employee who chooses to serve our students and families. Investing in our staff is an investment in the success of our students.”
As the first day of school approaches, LTUSD encourages families to watch for school-specific welcome events and communications from their schools.
“We are looking forward to another incredible year of learning, growth, and opportunity,” said Dr. Cutler. “On behalf of our Board of Education and the entire LTUSD team, welcome back! We can’t wait to see our students on August 24.”
Soccer is a great way to stay active, build teamwork, and have fun at any age. From middle school and high school athletes to adults playing in recreational leagues, soccer helps improve fitness and confidence. Like any sport, however, it comes with a risk of injury, especially to the knees.
Because soccer involves running, cutting, jumping, and sudden changes in direction, knee injuries are common. An ACL tear happens when the ligament connecting the shinbone to the thighbone is torn, often during a quick pivot or sudden stop. A meniscus tear affects the cartilage that cushions the knee and can occur with a twisting motion. Knee sprains involve stretching or tearing the ligaments that support the joint.
While not every injury can be prevented, proper conditioning can make a difference. One widely used program, called FIFA 11+, is designed to improve strength, balance, and movement mechanics. It combines running drills, strength exercises, balance work, and practice with jumping and landing correctly. Studies show players who use this warm-up regularly lower their chances of getting hurt. Coaches, players, and recreational athletes can all benefit from making a structured warm-up part of their routine before practices and games.
Even with the best preparation, injuries can still happen. If they do, stopping right away matters. The RICE method offers a simple way to manage pain and swelling until a doctor can take a look: Rest means staying off the injured leg; Ice should be applied for about fifteen minutes, wrapped in a thin towel so it doesn’t touch the skin directly; Compression with a soft elastic bandage can help control swelling; Elevating the leg above heart level can ease both pain and swelling.
Many knee injuries improve with time, but persistent pain, significant swelling, instability, or difficulty walking should not be ignored. Early evaluation can help identify more serious injuries and prevent further damage. A sports medicine physician can provide an accurate diagnosis, create a personalized treatment plan, and help athletes of all ages safely return to the field doing what they love.
Dr. Jeffrey Orr is a board-certified orthopedic surgeon with Tahoe Orthopedics & Sports Medicine, treating patients in Lake Tahoe, Carson City, and Gardnerville. Learn more about orthopedics at Barton Health online at BartonHealth.org or call 530.543.5554 to schedule an appointment.
SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. – With three city council seats open, along with city treasurer and city clerk, the election season for South Lake Tahoe is shaping up to be a busy one. Ten city council candidates have put their hat in the ring, with more potentially to come as the city is extending its deadline for the council and treasurer filings.
City council
Currently, 10 candidates are listed as qualified on the city’s website: Gantt Miller, Erika Gonzalez, Kelly O’Haire, Dyna Boen, Doug Williams, Nick Piliae, John Friedrich, Dina Ramaha, Veronica Morales and Aimi Xistra.
Dyna Boen and Veronica Morales are among others who submitted applications when the previous seat (formerly filled by Tamara Wallace) opened last year. New applicants include Dina Ramaha, Gantt Miller, Kelly O’Haire and Nick Piliae.
Several candidates have been involved in city government before: Gonzalez has served on the Planning Commission and Police Advisory Commission and Aimi Xistra serves on the Arts and Culture Tourism Commission. Xistra notably placed third, just after current councilmembers Keith Roberts and David Jinkens during the last election cycle.
Former councilmember and mayor pro tem John Friedrich has also entered this election cycle. Previously, Friedrich submitted a letter of resignation in September 2024.
Notably absent from the current list is current councilmember Heather Horgan, who earlier this year indicated her interest in running for council this November after being appointed to fill the empty seat. However, with an extended deadline, that may still change.
City treasurer and city clerk
David Olivo, the current sole qualified candidate for city treasurer, has served as the city’s treasurer since 2009. He is also a CPA at Olivo, Zicko and Co.
Michelle Davis, the current sole qualified candidate for the city clerk, is the current assistant city clerk. Davis has held the position for three years, and also serves as the secretary for the Lake Tahoe Historical Society.
TRUCKEE, Calif. – All nine victims in the Castle Peak avalanche on Feb. 17 reportedly died of asphyxia.
The information is based on partially redacted reports the Nevada County Coroner’s Office shared with the San Francisco Chronicle on Thursday, Aug. 6. The Sun is awaiting copies of the reports from the coroner’s office and has not independently verified this information.
Asphyxiation occurs when the body does not receive enough oxygen. During avalanches, asphyxia can occur in three ways: when the airway is obstructed by snow, when the chest cannot expand due to snow weight and compaction, and, finally, due to hypoxia resulting from rebreathing the same air in a confined space.
Asphyxiation is the leading cause of avalanche fatalities. One study found they account for 75% of fatalities.
Studies have also found that burial depth plays a critical role in asphyxia-related fatalities. Victims buried deeper than two meters (around 6.5 feet) have a probability of survival of only 10%, while those buried less than half a meter (around 1.5 feet) have an 80% survival rate.
The victims buried in the Castle Peak avalanche were buried 5-8 feet below the surface.
SPOONER SUMMIT, Nev. – The Carson City Sheriff’s Office recovered unidentified human remains (UHR), specifically a partial human cranium, from the Spooner Summit area in May 1994. Using investigative genetic genealogy, the UHR have since been identified as Alan Don Bishop.
Alan Don Bishop circa 1966Provided / Carson City Sheriff
Alan Don Bishop was reported missing by his family in Salt Lake City, Utah in July 1984. Alan experienced mental health concerns and was known to travel by hitchhiking. His family last received contact from him via mail in July 1984 where he advised he was traveling to Oregon by way of California. Communication with Alan subsequently ceased, and his bank activity became inactive, which caused his family to report Alan missing.
In May 1994, a logging crew discovered UHR at a work site in the Spooner Summit area. Responding CCSO personnel completed searches of the area but discovered no additional human remains or other evidence. Anthropological analyses determined the UHR likely belonged to an adult male but were unable to positively identify the subject. The UHR showed no signs of trauma.
More recently, investigative genetic genealogy has shown great success in cold case investigations and UHR identifications. CCSO partnered with the Retired Investigators Guild (RIG) and the Ramapo College of New Jersey Investigative Genetic Genealogy Center in an attempt to identify the subject in this 1994 UHR case. Astrea Forensics, a forensic DNA testing laboratory based in Scotts Valley, California, completed the DNA analysis in this case.
Astrea Forensics extracted a viable DNA sample from the UHR from which they developed a single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) profile. The SNP profile was provided to the Ramapo College of New Jersey Investigative Genetic Genealogy Center who identified Alan Don Bishop as the likely candidate. The RIG identified and obtained a DNA sample from a living full-sibling to Alan. Astrea Forensics confirmed the familial relationship between Alan and the living sibling by a match in mitochondrial DNA, and thus positively identified the UHR as Alan Don Bishop.
The Washoe Country Regional Medical Examiner’s Office affirmed the UHR identification of Alan Don Bishop by investigative genetic genealogy and mitochondrial DNA analyses. The Bishop family has since been notified of the positive identification.
Anyone with information is encouraged to contact Detective B. Torres with the Carson City Sheriff’s Office, Criminal Investigations Bureau (775) 283-7858, Carson City Dispatch non-emergency (775) 887-2008, or Secret Witness at (775) 322-4900
Lakeview Plaza is taking steps to abate pestsVictoria Mastrocola / Tahoe Daily Tribune
SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. – Two restaurants in Lakeview Plaza, along with Plaza owners, have been taking steps to abate pests after the El Dorado County Community Development Agency (CDA) Environmental Management Department found cockroach activity on the week of July 27.
Ha Noi Pho and Freshies Ohana both closed their doors. Ha Noi Pho has not yet been able to reopen, while Freshies was able to quickly reopen.
“Ha Noi Pho was not able to reopen after three reinspections over the weekend, and one reinspection on Monday, August 3, due to the presence of live cockroaches still present in [the] food prep area of the facility,” said Carla B. Hass, Chief Communications and Emergency Liaison Officer with El Dorado County.
Despite several attempts to reach out to Ha Noi Pho, including a visit to their restaurant, they did not provide us with a statement.
Freshies was given the clear to open their doors no more than 48 hours after addressing the pests and eliminating activity by sealing all gaps, cracks, crevices and holes in the ceilings, walls, and entry points.
Ivette Cortez, owner of Freshies Ohana, said that before her family became owners in 2021, her husband was part of Freshies since 2003, and throughout the years, the restaurant has maintained a strong reputation for cleanliness, food safety, and caring for their customers.
“Freshies is one of several businesses affected by a building-wide pest issue. This issue is not isolated to our restaurant, and we have been impacted along with the other businesses in the building,” said Cortez. “The health and safety of our customers and employees has always been, and will continue to be, our highest priority.”
The Tribune reached out to experts in pest control, Aimee and Dan Dhondt, owners of Lakeside Termite and Pest Control who, after serving the Lake Tahoe region for over 20 years, say that building-wide attempts to abate must ensue in order to eliminate activity in a commercial, multi-unit complex like Lakeview Plaza.
“It only makes sense to treat the interiors, preventatively, of other adjacent units, otherwise it’s going to spread. It’ll be too easy for one [cockroach] to simply migrate through, looking for something, and then decide to set up house,” said Dan Dhondt.
Cockroaches seek shelters that provide ample food and water sources, making restaurants extremely attractive. Kitchen appliances like stoves and microwaves are warm, easily accessible and offer tight hiding spaces.
Aimee Dhondt noted that infestations could also occur from food suppliers who typically store food in giant warehouses where fumigation is not an option. All it takes is one contaminated crate delivery to spread an infestation.
While tracing where the infestation started or came from is highly difficult and complex, the only recommendation now would be to address the entire building.
After contacting the current owners of Lakeview Plaza, Arman Estates LLC, they told the Tribune, “We are taking care of the issue.”
Hendrix is ready to hop right into your heart! At just one year old, Hendrix is proof that big personalities can come in small, fluffy packages. This handsome bunny has an even bigger heart to match his personality, and he’s always ready to be part of whatever is happening around him.
Friendly, outgoing, and endlessly curious, Hendrix loves to explore his surroundings and investigate anything that catches his attention. He’s also quick to hop over and say hello, especially when treats, or one of his favorite people, might be nearby!
Hendrix is this week’s pet of the week.Provided
Whether he’s checking out his space, searching for a tasty snack, playing with his toys, or simply enjoying some quality time with his people, Hendrix brings a playful energy and plenty of charm wherever he goes. He’s the kind of bunny who makes you smile just by being himself.
For anyone looking to add a fun, social companion to their family, Hendrix could be the perfect match. He’s confident, curious, and ready to make his new family’s days a little brighter.
Could Hendrix be your perfect match? Stop by the Humane Society of Truckee-Tahoe to meet this wonderful bunny and see if he’s ready to hop into your life! Feel free to stop by to meet him or call/email one of HSTT’s Adoption Specialists for more information, 530-587-5948 or adoptions@hstt.org.
He is neutered, vaccinated, and up to date on his vaccines. To view more adoptable pets or to learn more about the Humane Society of Truckee-Tahoe, visit, www.hstt.org.
Almost every Friday after work, I drive to Kings Beach. I squeeze my car into one of the handful of secret parking spots I’ve collected over the past year, or, if I’m lucky, borrow a friend’s driveway. Then I meet up with whoever’s around, and we skate or stroll over to Kings Beach State Recreation Area for Music on the Beach.
The concerts themselves are wonderful, but I’ve realized the music isn’t what keeps pulling me back. It’s everything that happens around it.
Last Friday was no exception. My friends and I had already danced our way through a few bluegrass songs, laughing at our complete lack of coordination, when something caught my eye out on the water.
It looked like a pirate paddling a canoe toward shore. I pointed him out half-joking before stopping mid-sentence. “Oh… I know that guy.”
As the canoe drifted closer, I wandered over to say hello. Before I knew it, I was squeezed into the tiny, questionably lakeworthy canoe alongside three friends. We floated just offshore, listening to the bluegrass echo across the water while the beach buzzed behind us. We watched hundreds of people dancing from the best seat in the house while I periodically glanced down to make sure our canoe was still afloat.
Eventually, I wandered back onto the beach to find another group of friends. We tried catching each other up on life, but every conversation was interrupted by another song or another familiar face stopping by to say hello. After several failed attempts at finishing a story, we gave up.
“We’ll catch up Wednesday,” I told my friend.
Because, of course, we would. Wednesday means Music in the Park in Truckee.
The rhythm of summer in Tahoe isn’t measured in weeks or calendars. It’s measured in community gatherings. Tuesday Blues Days at Palisades Tahoe. Music in the Park on Wednesdays. Truckee Thursdays. Music on the Beach every Friday.
Every few days there’s another excuse to gather outside, spread out a blanket, run into someone you haven’t seen in a while, and promise someone you’ll see them again in just a few days.
For a few months each year, Lake Tahoe becomes one giant neighborhood block party. We cross paths so often that keeping up with each other’s lives happens almost by accident. Plans don’t have to be elaborate. They sound like, “See you Wednesday.”
Maybe that is why summer feels so fleeting. Soon the concerts will end, the evenings will cool, and the beaches will empty. Right now, however, I know exactly where I’ll be at least once a week; probably dancing, laughing and running into someone I know.
LAKE TAHOE, Calif./Nev. – Protecting Lake Tahoe’s iconic water quality, a joint California-Nevada effort, prevented a record quantity of fine-grained sediment and other pollutants from reaching the lake’s dazzling blue waters in 2025, according to an annual performance report released today.
By restoring wetlands and streams, limiting dust from roads and construction sites, and improving stormwater systems and other anti-pollution actions, partners in the Lake Tahoe Total Maximum Daily Load Program (TMDL program) kept an estimated 736,600 pounds of sediment known to harm clarity and water quality out of the lake.
The performance report by the Lahontan Regional Water Quality Control Board, which is part of the California Environmental Protection Agency, and the Nevada Division of Environmental Protection found that an estimated 5,875 pounds of nitrogen and nearly 2,120 pounds of phosphorus were prevented from reaching the lake in 2025, all annual record highs since the program began tracking these statistics in 2016.
“Lake Tahoe is an ecological treasure we are committed to protecting now and for future generations,” said Yana Garcia, California Secretary for Environmental Protection. “As we continue to enjoy this special place, we applaud our statewide and interstate partnerships. Without countless regional partners, and our colleagues in Nevada, the lake’s extraordinary water quality this summer and in recent years would not be possible.”
“Protecting Lake Tahoe requires long-term commitment, strong partnerships, and continued adaptation as new challenges emerge,” said Jennifer Carr, administrator of the Nevada Division of Environmental Protection. “The progress highlighted in this report reflects years of collaboration among agencies and local partners on both sides of the state line. As our understanding of the factors affecting Lake Tahoe’s clarity continues to grow, Nevada will continue advancing the science behind the TMDL program to ensure our strategies evolve alongside the challenges facing the lake.”
Launched in 2011, the TMDL program is a bi-state effort between California and Nevada to restore and enhance the lake’s water clarity to historic levels by requiring local governments and highway departments on both sides of the lake to implement measures that help prevent clarity-harming pollutants from reaching the lake. The TMDL program incentivizes urban implementation partners to use customized strategies for holistic pollution reduction rather than having to take a one-size-fits-all approach, and it awards credits to urban implementers once pollutant control effectiveness is verified.
Last year, highway departments and local governments on both sides of the lake exceeded their targeted pollutant load reductions.
In time, the TMDL program’s main goal is for people to once again be able to see to depths of 100 feet in Lake Tahoe. The lake’s annual average clarity in 2025 was 69.2 feet deep, seven feet clearer than 2024’s average. However, long-term data show that the lake’s clarity has effectively plateaued despite the continued implementation of the program.
Multiple efforts are underway to better understand the watershed’s evolving dynamics and improve the TMDL program. Researchers are studying how wildfires, plankton and invasive species – drivers of clarity that were not fully foreseen when the program was created – are contributing to the lake’s ongoing clarity trend.
“Lake Tahoe’s clarity is stabilizing, but with new pressures like wildfires and a rapidly changing climate, we must keep refining our approach,” said Ben Letton, Lahontan Water Board executive officer. “We are advancing the science behind the TMDL program to better understand these pressures and will adjust it where needed to protect the lake’s long-term health.”
In the peak of summer, boats create wakes across the invisible line dividing Lake Tahoe between California and Nevada. No buoy marks the transition, and, while on the water, lakegoers may be unaware of the state line cutting the lake in two, or its complicated history.
On shore, the invisible line determines where casinos are located, how people are taxed, and a host of other regulations.
It’s also based on a series of errors and approximations spanning decades.
DRAWING BORDERS
The story begins in 1849 in Monterey, the former Mexican capital of what was called Upper California, which was acquired by the United States as a result of the Mexican-American War. With the discovery of gold on the American River, the Gold Rush was underway, and a group of delegates came together to discuss state boundaries for the large swath of land, which included present day Nevada, Utah and Arizona.
“They had a lot of concerns about the size of the state,” explains David Antonucci, a civil engineer and author of five Tahoe-based books, including “Yours, Mine, Ours,” a historical look at the people and environment of Lake Tahoe. “It would’ve been too big to administer. You had geographical barriers like the Sierra and the desert, and people wouldn’t be able to travel back and forth for government affairs.”
There were political considerations, like slavery and the Mormons who’d settled by the Great Salt Lake, but in the end, the decision was largely shaped by what they were pulling out of the ground.
“They wanted to make sure they captured all the gold fields,” Antonucci says, “and the most populated areas.”
Ultimately, the delegates decided to draw the line in the Sierra Nevada Mountains with the eastern edge following south along the 120th meridian to the 39th parallel. From there, a diagonal line ran southeast until it met the 35th parallel and followed the Colorado River.
It felt like a straightforward, practical solution. In reality, it was anything but.
Lake Tahoe falls within Nevada and California because of a mistake. Adobe
CHAIN OF ERRORS
In 1844, explorer and topographer John C. Frémont set out from present-day Genoa, Nevada, with his party, including famed guide Kit Carson, to map the region. In the snowy February conditions, the men ascended what is now known as Red Lake Peak (10,068 feet) and caught their first sight of Lake Tahoe. Though the Washow Tribe had long called the area surrounding the alpine lake home, Frémont’s group was among the first documented, non-Indigenous explorers to view the cobalt waters.
But when it came to mapping the area, Frémont and his cartographer Charles Preuss ran into a problem.
“He had a chronometer with him to determine longitude,” Antonucci explains. “And it stopped due to the winter conditions.”
Without a working chronometer, Frémont had to estimate local time using celestial observations — a far less precise method. The result was a significant error: his map placed Lake Tahoe more than 30 miles west of its actual location. And it was this map that influenced the geography of the region and, ultimately, California’s eastern border, which delegates believed fully encompassed Lake Tahoe.
This mistake set off a chain of border issues for decades to come.
Over the next fifty years after statehood, surveyors were dispatched to different areas of importance to physically mark California’s eastern border, piece by piece, but consensus was hard to come by. In 1855, a surveyor set out to determine the angle point in the boundary and made a startling discovery: the border cut through the middle of Lake Tahoe rather than lying east of the giant lake. This early survey in Tahoe and another, which moved the line once again, were never cemented.
SILVER STATE
The border debacle came to a head when Nevada became a territory in 1861. According to Nevada Territory officials, who used a longitude system based on Washington, D.C., rather than Greenwich, their land included an area east of the Sierra Nevada crest that California laid claim to.
The overlapping claims resulted in a serious conflict.
In Honey Lake Valley, for example, judges from the Nevada and California counties both staking claim — and taxes — on the area were each arrested by the other county’s sheriff. When the conflict, dubbed the Sagebrush War, became briefly violent, the counties reached a truce and decided to petition their respective governors for clarity on the state line.
In 1863, California and Nevada made their first real joint attempt to mark the boundary on the ground through the Houghton – Ives Survey, an ambitious effort across rugged terrain that sought to turn the line on paper into physical markers. At Lake Tahoe, they had to project the line across open water from points on shore since they couldn’t measure out on the lake. Equipment limitations and difficulty measuring the diagonal line resulted in a usable, albeit not entirely accurate, boundary.
“They had actually pretty weak telescopes even then,” notes Antonucci. “It was pretty amazing what they did, given what they had to work with.”
In Aurora, a mining town along the southern diagonal border, residents voted in both state elections until it was resolved that they were indeed in Nevada. Deeds for properties and mining claims with the incorrect state listed had to be resolved in court.
Multiple additional surveys of the border up through 1899 resulted in different locations of the 120th meridian and the diagonal boundary by miles.
SET IN STONE
By the 1970s, California and Nevada still did not fully agree on where their shared border was, especially along the 120th meridian near Lake Tahoe.
The situation finally reached the courts in the California v. Nevada boundary case. The key question was whether to move the border to accurately match the original coordinates or keep it where surveyors had historically marked it.
Ultimately, the U.S. Supreme Court chose practicality over precision, ruling in 1980 to uphold the longstanding, albeit imperfect, boundary and putting to rest a century of border uncertainty.
Editor’s note: This article originally appeared in the Summer 2026 edition of Tahoe Magazine.
Uriah Kole Pyrle Stahl passed from this life on July 12, 2026, at his home in Harrisburg, South Dakota at the age of 25. Though his life was far too short, it was filled with adventure, laughter, music, and a kindness that touched everyone who knew him. Left to hold onto Uriah’s memory are his parents Percy and Christi Stahl of Lennox, SD; siblings, Zebariah Stahl of Aberdeen, SD, Zachary (Dawn) Stahl of Roseville, CA, Jordyn Apps, Taylor Apps, and Lilly Padgett all of Billings, MT; grandparents, Steve and Lacey Williams; and numerous aunts, uncles, nephews, cousins and extended family members and friends.
(The Center Square) – Landlords across the state of California face new limits in how much they can increase the rent of their tenants.
Under Assembly Bill 1482, the California Tenant Protection Act of 2019, landlords are prohibited from increasing their rental rate more than 5% plus the rate of inflation, or 10%, whichever is lower, over a 12 month period.
The new statewide cap came into effect on August 1, and will last until July 31, 2027.
“Rent control in general is an extremely bad idea,” Steven Greenhut, director of the Pacific Research Institute’s Free Cities Center, told The Center Square in an interview. “It’s a form of price control, and price controls always suppress supply.”
The maximum rent increase in the San Francisco area is 8.8%. In the Los Angeles area, the maximum rent increase is 8.7%. The maximum in the Riverside area is 8.1%, according to the attorney general’s office.
The maximum increase in the San Diego area is 8.2%. Down from 8.8% the year before, the San Diego area is the only area that is seeing a lower rate than the year prior.
Greenhut attributed the decrease in rent in San Diego to a “building boom.”
“The answer is to build more housing and to make it easier to build housing,” Greenhut said. “San Diego has seen a building boom, and that’s how you reduce rents, through competition and increasing the supply.”
All other counties are limited to an 8.6% increase.
Housing built within the last 15 years, duplexes where the owner occupies one of the units, and single-family homes and condos, if they are not owned by corporations and tenants are served with a written exemption notice, are exempt from the rent increase laws.
Some counties and cities have their own additional rent stabilization laws beyond the statewide caps, which further limit the increase landlords can charge renters.
In the City of Los Angeles, landlords can only increase rent by up to 100% of the change in the Consumer Price Index. The maximum increase is 8% and if the change is less than 3%, the rent may be increased up to 3%, which was the limit this past year.
In Santa Monica, the local ordinance which took effect in 1979, limits rent increases to 75% of the change in CPI, with a maximum increase of 3%. The new rate takes effect on September 1 every year, according to Rose Patel, Santa Monica rent control public information manager. This year the maximum increase was 2.6%.
“Rent control does provide a level of stability for tenants, especially those on fixed incomes, and they know from year to year what their rent increase might be because it is capped at 3%,” Patel told The Center Square in an interview.
Local Santa Monica rent control laws primarily apply to buildings built prior to 1979.
According to Greenhut, rent control laws, in places like Santa Monica where renters can keep apartments for prices below market value, incentivize renters to rent properties long-term.
“In Santa Monica, you’ve got lots of people who have been rent controlled for years, and they actually live elsewhere, but they keep these low price apartments near the beach, and so it transfers the property rights from the owner to the tenant,” Greenhut said.
Under the TPA, landlords are also prohibited from terminating a tenancy without just cause. Under Senate Bill 567, owners who decide to displace tenants to either occupy the residence themselves, or remodel, are required to waive the tenant’s last month of rent or pay the tenant one month’s rent as relocation assistance
The Center Square reached out to property manager associations and tenant advocacy groups, but did not hear back by the time of publication.
The Great Gatsby Festival returns for its 39th yearProvided / Erin Gavlock
SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. – A one-of-a-kind, going-back-in-time experience is waiting for you at the Tallac Historic Site this Saturday, August 8 and Sunday, August 9 as the Great Gatsby Festival returns for its 39th year.
“Since the Tallac Historic Site was established, it has been an interpretative center focused on preserving the roaring 20’s, which was the time period in which the estates were built,” said Erin Gavlock, Program Manager at Taylor Creek Visitor Center and Tallac Historic Site. “Since we have these really amazing cultural artifacts here, it’s the perfect location to be able to do such a living history event.”
From vintage and craft market vendors to a pop-up Great Gatsby Bar, classic automobiles, living history camper vans and live jazz music at the Pope Estate, the Great Gatsby Festival is stacked with endless entertainment to transport you out of the 2020’s and into the jazz age.
The festival is home to some of the most unique events Lake Tahoe has to offer, including the Living History Pope House Experience where four to six different characters play roles true to the 1920’s era inside the Pope House. In addition, the Tea & Fashion Show will showcase fashion like you’ve never seen before.
“The fashion show is just about as old as the festival itself,” Gavlock said. “It began in the mid 1980s with a woman named Cherie Oliver who still provides the fashion show for us to this day.”
Oliver and her late, dear friend Deborah Rush teamed up decades ago to bring vintage fashion to the public.
“We wanted people to see not only how beautiful those pieces of clothing were, but also the people who wore them. These were real people, they weren’t just a character in a book or a perfect drawing on a piece of paper,” Oliver told the Tribune.
The Tea & Fashion Show from a previous Great Gatsby FestivalProvided / Yesteryear Sierra
Oliver’s Yesteryear Sierra will display an array of vintage clothing on live models, ranging from all sizes and all ages, some of whom have been modeling with Oliver for over 20 years.
“I love seeing the enjoyment on people’s faces, I love seeing the people dress up and get into the spirit of things. Every show is different, and this year, [the theme] will be ‘Honeymoon at Tahoe: 1900s – 1950s’,” said Oliver.
The show is oriented to Lake Tahoe and will highlight a bride’s first day from her wedding, featuring several wedding dresses, to some old-school lingerie for her honeymoon night. Day clothes, cocktail wear and evening wear will also be showcased.
The fun doesn’t stop there as the Great Gatsby Festival has more than $11,000 value in silent auction and raffle prizes ranging from original artwork, local experiences, vacation stays and food and beverage certificates.
Favorites include a two-night stay at the Historic Camp Richardson Hotel, a Tahoe Tasting Cruise for two, Clearly Tahoe’s guided kayak tour for two, and a two-night stay and dinner for two at the Landing Resort and Spa.
The Great Gatsby Festival will take place starting at 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on both Saturday, August 8 and Sunday August 9. General entry is free for all ages, and several paid exceptions include the silent auction and the Tea & Fashion Show which takes place on Sunday at 2 p.m.
When it comes to parking, folks are encouraged to arrive early and carpool as much as possible as the parking lots fill up extremely quickly. Parking is available at the Taylor Creek Visitor Center with a short walk to the Tallac Historic Site. Bike transportation and Uber are also encouraged.
To book your tickets for the Tea & Fashion show or to view the festival’s full schedule, visit the 2026 Great Gatsby Festival webpage.
The Tallac Historic Site is located at 1 Heritage Way in South Lake Tahoe, Calif.
The east end of downtown Tahoe City has a problem. Two of the town’s biggest properties — the Lighthouse Center and Boatworks Mall — are in trouble. The former’s anchor tenant and property owner, Safeway, moved to the other end of Tahoe City last fall. The Lighthouse space has been empty ever since, partly due to Safeway’s refusal to sell to another supermarket. MJD Capital Partners, which owns Boatworks, defaulted on its loan in January. The property is now in foreclosure and goes to auction next month.
“I think the majority of commercial square footage in our town is tied up in those two properties, so I think it’s concerning to the entire community and to the whole region, really, when you lose key commercial properties to service our needs, especially in such great lakefront locations,” said Placer County Supervisor Cindy Gustafson, who represents North Tahoe.
Safeway
Safeway vacated the Lighthouse Center last October. The grocery store was the center’s only street-front business; all other businesses, like A Santé Lakeside Fitness and Tahoe National Brewing Co., are in the back of the building. (CVS and the Tahoe City Post Office are in a separately owned building.)
When Safeway left, hopes were high that another grocery store would purchase the building. Tahoe City had been left with only one grocery store since October 2023, when Save Mart lost its lease to make way for Safeway’s relocation. The remodel ultimately took two years.
Word of residents’ growing frustration with the gaping vacant space at Lighthouse and lack of the current Safeway’s ability to keep up with demand during peak visitor months reached Sup. Gustafson. On June 9, she wrote a letter to Safeway’s corporate headquarters in Pleasanton, California:
“The continued vacancy of this highly visible property has become a significant community concern. Residents frequently describe the site as an eyesore and a missed opportunity at one of Tahoe City’s most important commercial locations. In addition, I continue to hear frustration from community members regarding reports that Safeway has limited or discouraged opportunities for other grocery operators or potential buyers to utilize the property.”
SAFEWAY’S former location has been sitting empty since last October. The company is blocking other grocery stores from buying the building. Photos by Melissa Siig/Moonshine Ink
A local real estate agent confirmed that the former Safeway building is for sale with a non-compete clause.
“Apparently it keeps falling out of contract,” the realtor wrote to Moonshine Ink. “They have turned down offers of $10 million and started to list it at $12 million, but they wanted a deed restriction and clause in the purchase contract that it could not be leased to or used as a grocery store.”
Gustafson has heard the same thing directly from supermarkets that have tried to purchase the building.
“I’ve been told that by people who have tried to acquire the property,” she said. “Other grocery stores that are in the region have tried to acquire this site.”
Numerous phone calls and emails by Moonshine Ink to multiple Safeway corporate officers and media relations were not returned.
On June 22, Gustafson’s office received this response from Todd Paradis, Safeway real estate manager based in Hawaii:
“Thank you for your recent letter sharing concerns raised by some residents of Tahoe City regarding Safeway’s new store and our intentions for the site of our previous store. We are in the process of reviewing the concerns raised and will discuss them internally. We will be in touch.”
Six weeks later, her office still has not received a follow-up response.
On July 22, Gustafson sent a letter of support for California Assembly Bill 1857, also known as the Grocery Store Access Act, to the state senate. The act, which was introduced in February, would ban corporate grocery chains from using restrictive property covenants to block new supermarkets from opening in spaces they have vacated.
“For the residents of Tahoe City, this legislation represents more than good public policy,” Gustafson wrote in the letter. “It represents an opportunity to remove unnecessary barriers that have prevented our community from attracting new grocery investment and restoring a vital commercial property to productive use. Communities should not be forced to choose between an underperforming grocery store and no grocery store at all.”
Gustafson said she now understands how Safeway won the lease for its current location.
“I think it’s very clear Safeway could outbid because they knew they were going to capture the market by not selling to another grocery store,” she said.
THE BOATWORKS MALL is in foreclosure and will go to auction in August, making the future of its tenants uncertain.
Boatworks
With MJD’s default on its $14-million loan in January, its failure to pay property tax, and the Boatworks now set to go to auction in Roseville on Aug. 12, there are concerns that the mall could face the same fate as the neighboring Safeway building — becoming a large, vacuous, empty space.
“I think that if we are looking down the barrel of having [another] ‘Henrikson Building East,’ that is a detriment to our community,” said Jeff Hill, Jake’s on the Lake general partner, referencing a dilapidated, empty building that used to sit on the opposite end of town. “We all have this vision of what we want our community in town to be. And I think that this is just another tipping scale of adversity that is, all eloquence aside, just sad.”
Jake’s has had a contentious relationship with MJD since it bought Boatworks, where the restaurant is housed. That is one reason this summer is Jake’s final season in Tahoe. After 48 years, it’s closing its doors in October unless the new owners present a deal too good to refuse.
“Due to the dynamic with the landlord and other outside factors, a path hasn’t really been presented to be able to move forward,” Hill said. “Should a path illuminate, we would walk it, but I just don’t see what that would be.”
MJD has not been communicative with tenants about its financial situation and foreclosure. The owner of Mountain Lotus Yoga found out about the auction when Moonshine Ink reached out to him, and Tahoe Fit owner Katie Peterson said every time she asked the company about the auction, they denied it.
“I did approach them about the auction a couple of times. And they’re still, to this day, denying that that’s even happening. So that part is slightly puzzling,” she said. “They say it’s a real estate financial issue they are working with.”
Tenants also complained about MJD’s neglect of the building. The electricity was turned off twice due to unpaid bills, and so was the water. The company cut back on garbage collection and maintenance staff. The mall’s main bathrooms got so bad at times that some tenants refused to use them.
“I feel that they definitely tried to run it on a shoestring budget,” said Allison Yonto, owner of the Tahoe Wine Collective. “And you saw that happen about, I want to say two or three years ago, when we lost our full-time maintenance guy.”
Hill agrees.
“I would say that whatever financial duress has fallen upon MJD has been reflected on the Boatworks itself,” he said. “The time and care and consideration have not been cultivated to the degree that we wish within our community.”
Fears of Boatworks becoming vacant are not unfounded. The building is currently only half occupied. Many businesses — Geared for Games, Tahoe Core Pilates, Tahoe T-Shirtery — had already left in anticipation of the structure being torn down to make way for MJD’s massive redevelopment proposal; Acorn Home Furnishings & Design is leaving at the end of August. The tenants are also all on a month-to-month lease (except for Jake’s), which only adds to the uncertainty. The mall’s other restaurant and anchor tenant, Hacienda del Lago, closed in 2021.
ONE OF Boatworks’ staple businesses, Hacienda del Lago, shuttered its doors in 2021. The space remains empty.
According to Yonto, only eight businesses in the Boatworks are open on a daily basis. She thinks MJD did not do enough to attract customers to the mall.
“There was definitely a disconnect of thinking that just because it’s a building on the North Shore on the water, that it would just always be busy. Foot traffic is a big problem getting people to come through here,” she said. “I don’t think they [MJD] did us any favors by not doing marketing regularly, by allowing spaces to go vacant, especially a lakefront restaurant space. They were just unfamiliar with how it works up here.”
Though MJD founder and CEO Marie Murphy did not admit to the impending auction, she issued a statement to Moonshine:
“We deeply love Tahoe, and are integral, long-standing members of the business community here. Our site has always reflected this love and stewardship for Lake Tahoe and Tahoe City. We are working through addressing current financial headwinds.
Despite the challenges we have faced, our focus remains on finding solutions that allow us to move forward and create a destination serving residents, businesses, and visitors — one that will bring much needed vitality, employment, and tax revenue to Tahoe City, while preserving the character of this amazing place.”
Yonto has a word of warning for the Boatworks’ next owner.
“Whomever takes this building over, I feel like they need to realize that if they don’t help the tenants that are here, the tenants aren’t going to get any better [financially],” she said. “We’re not going to magically start making more money until this building has some reason for people to come here, and the vacant spaces are definitely not that [reason].”
“Hard to put into words how freeing it is,” Jimi Brenner said while taking a break from an afternoon at the downhill mountain bike trails. Brenner lives and works on an orchard around Auburn, he likes biking, he is into metal fabrication, and when he was 29, his car slid off the road into a big oak tree. He became paralyzed from chest down.
JIMI BRENNER on his adaptive bike. Trails for these bikes should be at least 58 inches wide, according to High Fives. Photo courtesy Jimi Brenner
Brenner found the hospital-provided wheelchairs not to his liking, so a year after his injury, he built his own. “I’ve always been the outdoorsy person,” he said. “I can’t get stuck inside much.”
Three years after his accident, Brenner rode a bike again. The bike was adaptive to his injury, lent to him at the High Fives Community Bike Day, a fundraiser open to everyone.
High Fives was launched in 2009 after its founder, Roy Tuscany, overshot a ski jump and became paralyzed from the waist down. Tuscany received help from his community and started High Fives to “prevent life-changing injuries and provide resources and hope if they happen.” Since then, High Fives has served over 1,000 athletes in a multitude of sports and funded more than 1,900 grants.
After receiving a grant from High Fives and the Kelly Brush Foundation, whose mission is “to inspire and empower people with spinal cord injuries to lead active and engaged lifestyles,” Brenner was able to buy one of the bikes, which start at $15,000. But he didn’t know where to ride it. “Auburn has a lot of real tight single track,” he said. “It’s hard to ride independently.”
In 2021, High Fives collaborated with Sky Tavern Bike Park, located off Mt. Rose Highway, to build a trail suitable for adaptive riders. “We wanted to include several [adaptive specific] design features,” said Becca Lefanowicz, director of brand and creative for High Fives. For instance, “that it would be wide enough for adaptive bikes that have a wider and longer frame.”
I DID IT! Estocado is triumphant after a downhill mountain bike run.
A High Fives adaptive trail must be at least 58 inches wide, a standard that unaffiliated organizations like Lee Canyon resort in Las Vegas have begun to copy. Because adaptive mountain bikes have a lower clearance than standard ones, the trail is also maintained to avoid what Lefanowicz calls “pinch points” — areas that would be too rocky for the low clearance of an adaptive bike. Brenner described the Sky Tavern trail as “super fun, super flowy.” It’s also one of two locations for the High Fives Community Bike Day in June, July, and August this year.
Since the Sky Tavern installation, High Fives has put in another adaptive-friendly trail at Sierra Vista in Reno.
“Most trails are not too far off,” Brenner said, “there’s maybe just a little something on them [that makes them not suitable for an adaptive bike].” But on Brenner’s new-model Bowhead Reach with a tilting mechanism, he said that “98, 99% of the trails — I can ride on them.”
ALL SMILES: High Fives collaborated with Sky Tavern Bike Park, located off Mt. Rose Highway, to build a trail suitable for adaptive riders, which Estocado happily bombs down. Photos courtesy High Fives
Brenner said it’s big news in his community when a new trail like this is put in. “It’s more open space you can get out and explore.” This, he said, is the point. And Lefanowicz added that the word she most commonly hears from people who use the adaptive trails is “independence.”
There was a moment at the second-ever Gambler’s Run in 2024 when The Main Squeeze was covering Pink Floyd’s “Have a Cigar” and it all kind of came together for Crystal Bay Casino’s production/marketing manager Sam Shear.
“It was right at dusk,” he said. “The golden hour light. The energy of the band, the energy of the crowd. It was epic. All the work we’d done, a lot of things had to line up to make that moment happen.”
MUSICAL CONNECTION: A festivalgoer and a musician are in sync during a daytime set.
Things did line up and that moment did happen. More moments happened last year and more moments will happen in 2026, the festival gaining momentum like some incendiary fiddle solo played against a devil down in Georgia. This year, the String Cheese Incident leads its biggest lineup yet, headlining three days of deep-pooled musicality with their Thursday night set.
Formed in Colorado a good 30 years ago, the band has shredded strings and lit up audiences around the world with its bluegrass meets funky-country-rocky-jazzy-reggae-infused sound that offers a pinch of psychedelia and throws in a warm breeze
for good measure.
IT’S ALL GRATITUDE AND GOOD TIMES in the front row at dusk at Gambler’s Run.
The band’s name stems from a cheese-heavy food fight the members had in a bar back in the ’90s. They’ll be coming off a two-night run at Red Rocks Amphitheater before rolling the dice in Crystal Bay as part of their five-month Just Keep Spinning tour.
Red Rocks has a 9,500-person capacity, a typical venue size for the band. Gambler’s Run, on the other hand, is capped at 1,000. A faraway lawn seat won’t exist at the festival, and access to the front rows won’t cost $500-plus — so fans will see and hear and feel the cheese-grating up close.
“String Cheese is about the biggest act we can get,” Shear said. “We’ve had them in the Crown Room, but this is a new time for a new setting.”
That setting is outdoors. That setting is intimate. That setting is Tahoe air and golden hour light and the mysteries of the night. And visuals.
“A lot of focus is also on the art, the eye candy of the festival,” said Shear, who was coy with details to not give away too much and spoil first-impression surprise and intrigue. “It’s an all-encompassing experience. We’ll transform the festival grounds as much as possible.”
Those adorned grounds will be played from 4 to 10 p.m. Thursday through Saturday, with the gates opening at 3 p.m. for food and craft vendors, and high-energy afterparties in the Crown Room raging until midnight or so.
Big Head Todd and the Monsters headlines Friday’s lineup with its own sweet Colorado-born style that has continued to evolve and delight music lovers since its 1993 platinum rock album Sister Sweetly, featuring the decade’s iconic and seemingly immortal (for good reason) “Bittersweet.” The soulful sounds and rhythmic beat of The California Honeydrops will get Saturday night’s airs swirling and the dancefloor moving.
But Gambler’s Run isn’t just three consecutive big-name concerts; it’s a music festival that features eight hours of music per day and over 10 bands that run the gamut. Also performing are the Humboldt funk machine Diggin Dirt, the electronic-instrumental synthesis of the groovy Octave Cat (featuring Jessie Miller of Lotus), and the Nashville-based Grateful Dead-influenced punk rockers Sicard Hollow, among others.
Sicard Hollow’s guitarist Alex King shared his thoughts: “We love music festivals, casinos, and lakes. Gambler’s Run is a perfect place … because it crosses off all three of those boxes. Let’s party.”
Three-Pronged Event
In addition to the intrepid tunes and dynamic art, Gambler’s Run also features a core contingent of activities and activism at its nonprofit village.
The nonprofit tine is a who’s who of local ecological stalwarts: Keep Tahoe Blue, Sierra Nevada Alliance, Tahoe Environmental Research Center (TERC), UC Davis, Restoring My Lake; and, from Colorado, Conscious Alliance. Each entity helms an interactive booth and leads an engaging activity that ties back to its message. Festival-goers are provided a punch card; punches are earned by doing the activities; completing all the activities gains entry into drawings for signed posters and other rad prizes.
A main component of the activism for the festival itself focuses on sustainability. “When we started Gambler’s Run four years ago now, we were like, ‘We are in Lake Tahoe, we should be as conscious of our environment as possible.’”
THE OUTDOOR GROUNDS at Gambler’s Run hosts bands from 4 to 10 pm. before the event moves into the Crown Room for the afterparties.
A main cog in that activism/sustainability wheel was to phase out plastic cups by phasing in aluminum ones. The CBC began doing so at the first Gambler’s Run in 2023 and it’s now become standard practice at every show it hosts. No single-use plastic cups, not one; stats showing the switch having already saved close to 100,000 plastic cups and thousands of plastic water bottles from ending up in landfills.
That’s the type of action that helps the world keep spinning and the music keep playing. And summer music festivals right here in the Tahoe Basin, without having to undertake some distant drive in some super-hot direction, are a good thing too.
“If you’re a local,” Shear concluded, “you know the Crystal Bay Casino; what we do is live music. This is our masterpiece — three days of music, art, activism. Come on over and hang out.”
Wade Snider, master photographer, believes that every photo taken should be planned for months. In accordance with his tight hierarchy of strict guidelines, he camped out for ages, waiting for this exact photograph. On day 90, lightning struck. The beagles lined up. The bear was there. All he had to do was hit the shutter. The world softened for a bit. The birds, awestruck, quieted their ritualistic song. When the day returned to focus and time resumed ticking, all that was left was a photograph. Seen here.
With summer in full swing, the Cancer new moon on July 14 offers a welcome invitation to slow down, to rest, and to reconnect.
On July 18, Uranus in Gemini trines Pluto retrograde in Aquarius, an amicable transit that highlights both the tension and harmony between abstract ideas and collective technological transformations underway. Two days later, Jupiter in Leo forms a trine to Neptune retrograde in Aries, while also opposing Pluto — encouraging examination of values and relationships to the world’s changes.
The sun enters Leo on July 22, followed by Mercury coming out of its retrograde transit on July 24. Expect a certain momentum to return to a plan of yours that’s been stalled.
A major collective shift occurs on July 26 as the north node enters Aquarius and the south node enters Leo. This new nodal cycle will be playing out for 18 months and encourages us to participate more consciously in worldly happenings.
Leo-season energies amplify on July 29 when Jupiter conjoins the sun during a full moon in Aquarius. With Pluto in conjunction to the full moon, this lunation brings expansive emotional and subconscious transformation. Pay attention to what needs to be released as well as what’s coming up that needs to be celebrated.
Venus enters Libra on August 6. This will bring balance, a focus on beauty, and an inclination to socialize. August 7 and 8 may feel more reactive, with the Gemini moon transiting first Uranus and then Mars. To give yourself time to take in the full picture, endeavor to pause before responding to things.
On August 12, we have a powerful solar eclipse. The Leo new moon also joins the south node, with Jupiter and Mercury also in Leo. This day will illuminate old stories of identities and patterns that may surface for review.
NATURAL MAGIC
There are many transits happening in this time that relate to collective change and how that is personally significant, highlighted by the nodal shift into the signs of Aquarius and Leo exactly on July 26; consider setting aside twenty minutes a day between July 19 and August 2 to honor both the transition and your own evolutionary growth. Begin with ten minutes of heart-centered meditation. Place one hand on your heart and one hand on your belly, breathing slowly as you imagine your awareness dropping from your head to your heart.
Then spend ten minutes reflecting and journaling. Consider these prompts: When I shift perception from my head to my heart, what changes within me?What is my unique gift to the world? How can I use my creativity in service to something larger than myself?
