Tipsy Putt Tahoe celebrates five years

by n Staff Report Follown editor@tahoedailytribune.comn | Jun 12, 2026 | Uncategorized

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. — Tipsy Putt Tahoe is celebrating five incredible years in Lake Tahoe with a community anniversary party on Saturday, June 20, inviting locals and visitors alike to join the festivities and help mark the milestone.

The celebration will feature live entertainment throughout the evening, beginning with Mescalito performing live on the patio at 5 p.m., followed by DJ Manziii taking over at 8 p.m. Guests can enjoy Tipsy Putt’s signature indoor mini golf experience, local craft beverages, incredible food, games, and plenty of reasons to raise a glass to five years in Tahoe.

Since opening in 2021 during one of the most challenging periods in hospitality history, Tipsy Putt Tahoe has become a gathering place for locals, tourists, families, and golf enthusiasts looking for a uniquely Tahoe experience.

“We couldn’t be more grateful to the Tahoe community for welcoming us with open arms,” said Brandon Robinson, CEO and Co-Founder of Tipsy Putt. “Opening a hospitality business in the aftermath of the pandemic came with plenty of uncertainty, but the support we’ve received from local residents, neighboring businesses, and visitors has been incredible. Tahoe is a special place, and we’ve always felt fortunate to be part of this community. This anniversary is really a celebration of everyone who has supported us over the last five years.”

Over the past five years, Tipsy Putt Tahoe has hosted thousands of guests, community fundraisers, league nights, private events, and celebrations while continuing its mission of creating fun, social experiences centered around local craft beer, mini golf, and community connection.

The anniversary party is open to the public, and no reservations are required. Guests are encouraged to stop by, enjoy the entertainment, and help celebrate five years of memories with the Tipsy Putt team.

For more information, visit TipsyPutt.com or follow @TipsyPutt on social media.

Rethinking Disordered Eating in an Era of Chronic Disease

by Patrick Traynor | Jun 12, 2026 | Uncategorized

The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics defines disordered eating as a spectrum of irregular eating behaviors that may or may not meet the criteria for a formal eating disorder diagnosis (Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, 2021). Unlike eating disorders such as anorexia nervosa, disordered eating is not a recognized psychiatric diagnosis in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5-TR). It describes a broad range of eating-related behaviors that may adversely affect physical, psychological, or social functioning.

This distinction matters because not every deliberate effort to consume a highly nutritious diet represents pathology. In public discourse and on social media, highly structured approaches to eating are sometimes characterized as disordered or labeled as orthorexia nervosa, a term not recognized as a diagnosis in the DSM-5-TR (American Psychiatric Association, 2022). A person who carefully selects foods based on health goals, disease prevention, athletic performance, or medical necessity may simply be making intentional dietary choices rather than exhibiting a mental health disorder.

When Healthy Eating Becomes Unhealthy

The critical question is not whether someone eats predominantly healthy foods, but whether those behaviors produce significant distress, anxiety, social impairment, nutritional inadequacy, or a reduced quality of life. In clinical settings, eating behaviors are generally evaluated based on their consequences rather than solely on the nutritional composition of the diet.

Unfortunately, public discussions sometimes blur the line between disciplined and pathological eating, causing dietary restraint itself to be mistaken for evidence of disordered eating.

The Modern Diet and Chronic Disease

At the same time, the normalization of highly processed, hedonic foods deserves consideration. Humans evolved consuming diets composed of minimally processed foods, whereas many modern ultra-processed foods are relatively recent additions to the food supply. Although occasional consumption of these foods may not be harmful for many individuals, the term “occasional” is often left undefined.

Current public health statistics illustrate the magnitude of diet-related disease. As of 2021–2023, 72.4% of U.S. adults had overweight status or obesity with 40.3% meeting obesity criteria. By comparison, adult obesity prevalence was approximately 13.4% in 1980, a 325% increase in the obesity rate!

The CDC also estimates that 40.1 million Americans, or approximately 12.0% of the population, had diabetes in 2023 with 11.3% of U.S. adults having high total cholesterol during 2021–2023.

Hedonic Foods and Addiction-Like Responses

Highly processed foods can produce addiction-like behaviors in susceptible individuals. A scientific consensus statement published in the British Medical Journal, The BMJ, concluded that ultra-processed foods may trigger behavioral and neurobiological responses that resemble those observed in substance-use disorders.

Repeated exposure to highly rewarding foods may strengthen neural pathways associated with craving, reward seeking, and habitual intake, potentially making dietary change more difficult.

Summary and Conclusion

Dietary restraint alone does not establish an eating disorder. While obsessive, distressing, and impairing behaviors surrounding food deserve clinical attention, deliberate efforts to consume a highly nutritious diet are not necessarily disordered or pathological.

Given that nearly three-quarters of American adults are overweight or obese and that diet-related chronic diseases remain widespread, caution is warranted before dismissing highly health-oriented eating patterns. Ultimately, the goal should be to develop a relationship with food that is nutritionally sound, psychologically sustainable, and supportive of long-term health. A registered dietitian can help individuals achieve that balance while respecting personal values, health goals, and quality of life.

About the Author

Patrick Traynor, PhD, MPH, RD, CSOWM, CPT, is a registered dietitian and founder of MNT Scientific, LLC (MNTScientific.com), an insurance-based nutrition practice serving South Lake Tahoe, CA; Minden, NV; and Ashland, OR. He holds the Interdisciplinary Specialist Certification in Obesity and Weight Management (CSOWM) from the Commission on Dietetic Registration. Virtual appointments are available via telehealth. For inquiries or appointments, visit MNTScientific.com, dial (530)429-7363, or email patricktraynordietitian@nym.hush.com.

Market pulse: On ETFs

by David Vomund | Jun 12, 2026 | Uncategorized

When I wrote ETF Trading Strategies Revealed in 2006 exchange-traded funds (ETFs) were gaining popularity but still weren’t well known. I wrote that in time ETFs would be as commonly known to people as mutual funds. That is no longer a hot take. Back then, there were about 200 ETFs with assets of around $300 billion. Now there are over 4000 ETFs with assets of $15 trillion!

The growth in ETFs is impressive but there are too many choices. Previously, ETFs allowed investors to gain exposure to particular areas of the market while keeping expenses to a minimum. There were large-cap and small-cap funds as well as individual sectors like Pharmaceuticals and Aerospace & Defense.

But new ETFs keep appearing that cover small segments of the market to the point of absurdity. Consider the Nicholas Bitcoin and Treasuries AfterDark ETF, which gives you exposure to bitcoin’s price action, but only when the stock market is closed. There’s the VistaShares Target 15 TEPRTantrum Contrarian Distribution ETF, which holds and writes options on the top-20 holdings in David Tepper’s hedge fund.

Other trends include ETFs that hold a single stock. Actually, they use derivatives to gain leveraged or inverse returns on that stock. It allows investors to buy a stock using leverage without doing any borrowing or bet against a stock without actually going short. Leverage on individual stocks? What could go wrong?

There is a daily reset on leverage so they perform as advertised for day traders, but if you want to leverage a trend over weeks or months then anything can happen. For example, Tesla was unchanged from January 9 through May 13. Over the same period, the Direxion Daily TSLA Bull 2X ETF, which has daily moves of double that of Tesla’s stock, lost 9 percent.

Originally, almost all ETFs were passively managed so their management fees were very low. The Vanguard S&P 500 expense ratio is a ridiculously low 0.03% of assets. Today, new ETFs have an average fee of 0.69% and a fifth charge at least 1% annually. Call me old fashioned but I’ll stick to the low-cost passive ETFs.

— David Vomund is an Incline Village-based fee-only money manager. Information is found at www.VomundInvestments.com or by calling 775-832-8555. Clients hold the positions mentioned in this article. Past performance does not guarantee future results. Consult your financial advisor before purchasing any security.

Pump prices fall across California for third straight week

by n Staff Report Follown editor@tahoedailytribune.comn | Jun 12, 2026 | Uncategorized

 WALNUT CREEK, Calif. – Californians are feeling relief at the pump as the average for a gallon of regular gasoline dropped 17 cents in the last week to $5.80. This follows a national trend where the average for a gallon of regular has been falling for three straight weeks, offering a timely respite for drivers during the busy summer travel season. 

“Since May 21, the national average has dropped from $4.56 to $4.12 thanks to crude oil prices remaining below $100 per barrel,” said Doug Johnson, spokesperson for AAA Mountain West Group. “Gas prices typically peak around this time of year, but uncertainty surrounding the Strait of Hormuz makes this year more unpredictable. Pump prices remain at four-year highs, but the national average is currently far from the record set on June 11, 2022, of $5 per gallon.”   

Fuel Prices Around the State:  

San Francisco: $5.94
Oakland: $5.87
San Jose: $5.82
Sacramento: $5.82
Fresno: $5.77
Stockton: $5.68. 

According to new data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA), gasoline demand increased last week from 8.59 million b/d to 8.73 million. Total domestic gasoline supply increased from 215 million barrels to 215.1 million. Gasoline production increased last week, averaging 9.7 million barrels per day. 

Oil Market Dynamics

At the close of Wednesday’s formal trading session, WTI rose $1.83 to settle at $90.03 a barrel. The EIA reports crude oil inventories decreased by 7.2 million barrels from the previous week. At 426.5 million barrels, U.S. crude oil inventories are about 5% below the five-year average for this time of year. 

EV Charging

The national average per kilowatt hour of electricity at a public EV charging station went up one cent this past week to 42 cents. In California, the average per kilowatt hour of electricity is 47 cents. 

State Stats

Gas

The nation’s top 10 most expensive gasoline markets are California ($5.80), Hawaii ($5.58), Washington ($5.56), Alaska ($5.15), Oregon ($5.04), Nevada ($4.96), Arizona ($4.48), Idaho ($4.46), Illinois ($4.44), and New York ($4.40). 

The nation’s top 10 least expensive gasoline markets are Indiana ($3.39), Texas ($3.58), Oklahoma ($3.61), Tennessee ($3.68), Louisiana ($3.69), Kentucky ($3.69), Mississippi ($3.71), South Carolina ($3.73), Alabama ($3.73), and Arkansas ($3.74).  

Electric

The nation’s top 10 most expensive states for public charging per kilowatt hour are West Virginia (52 cents), Hawaii (51 cents), California (47 cents), New Hampshire (47 cents), Louisiana (46 cents), New Jersey (45 cents), Illinois (45 cents), Arkansas (44 cents), Alaska (44 cents), and South Carolina (43 cents).  The nation’s top 10 least expensive states for public charging per kilowatt hour are Kansas (30 cents), Missouri (32 cents), Maryland (33 cents), Iowa (34 cents), Utah (34 cents), South Dakota (34 cents), Nebraska (35 cents), Vermont (36 cents), New Mexico (37 cents), and Colorado (37 cents). 

Drivers can find current gas and electric charging prices along their route using the AAA Mobile App, now available on CarPlay. Find current fuel prices at GasPrices.AAA.com. Find local news releases at mwg.aaa.com/news/press-release.

Tahoe Forest Health System celebrates $1 Million gift to advance surgical care and patient experience

by n Staff Report Follown editor@tahoedailytribune.comn | Jun 12, 2026 | Uncategorized

INCLINE VILLAGE, Nev. – The Incline Village Community Hospital Foundation is proud to announce a transformational $1 million gift from the Offerdahl Family Foundation in support of the Surgery Enhancement Project at Incline Village Community Hospital (IVCH). This extraordinary contribution, made possible through the generosity and leadership of Richard and Linda Offerdahl, helped the Foundation successfully reach its $10 million fundraising goal.

The Surgery Enhancement Project will improve operational efficiency at IVCH, modernize critical infrastructure, enhance clinical and support spaces, and ensure the hospital is well-positioned to meet current and future community needs. The project will also include the addition of a new patient registration window designed to improve patient flow, increase comfort, and help alleviate pressures created by growing patient volumes.

In recognition of their extraordinary generosity and longstanding commitment to the community, the Incline Village Community Hospital Foundation is honored to name the Patient Registration area after the Offerdahl Family.

“Richard and Linda’s belief in the importance of strong community healthcare is truly inspiring,” said Karli Bunnell, Executive Director of the Foundation. “Their generosity ensures that patients and families will continue to receive exceptional care close to home for generations to come.”

The Offerdahl Family Foundation joins the Dave & Cheryl Duffield Foundation and many generous community donors in making this milestone possible. Richard and Linda Offerdahl’s commitment to local healthcare spans decades and has left a lasting impact on Incline Village. From helping save the hospital following its closure in the 1980s to supporting the expansion of the Emergency Department, their leadership and philanthropy have played a vital role in sustaining and advancing healthcare in the community. Their dedication extends beyond healthcare through their longstanding support of local businesses and organizations, including the Incline Village Crystal Bay Association.

“As full-time residents of Incline Village, we are incredibly grateful to have access to such high-quality healthcare close to home,” shared the Offerdahl Family Foundation. “Our hospital is an essential part of this community, and supporting the Surgery Enhancement Project is an investment in the long-term health and well-being of our friends, neighbors, and future generations. It is so important to us that exceptional care continues to remain available right here in our community.”

Truckee-Tahoe – Pet of the Week: Danny

by Special to the Tribune | Jun 12, 2026 | Uncategorized

Looking for a loyal companion with a big heart and an even bigger personality? Meet Danny, a sweet and affectionate boy who is ready to find a family of his very own.

Danny is a smart dog who loves learning new things, especially when treats are involved. His eagerness to please makes him easy to train, and he enjoys working on new skills and building confidence with positive reinforcement.

While Danny can be a little nervous when meeting new people, he simply needs a bit of patience and a gentle introduction. Once he realizes he’s safe, his goofy and lovable personality quickly shines through. In fact, Danny is quite the conversationalist and isn’t shy about sharing his thoughts once he feels comfortable!

This handsome pup enjoys going for walks, playing with his toys, and spending time with other dogs. He would thrive in a home that can offer consistency, understanding, and continued training to help him continue blossoming into the confident dog he’s meant to be.

If you’re looking for a devoted best friend who will make you smile every day, Danny just might be your perfect match. Come meet Danny and discover why everyone who gets to know him falls in love with this special boy.

If you are interested in meeting Danny or learning more about him, please get in touch with one of HSTT’s Adoption Specialists, 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.

New stars join 2026 American Century Championship lineup

by n Staff Report Follown editor@tahoedailytribune.comn | Jun 12, 2026 | Uncategorized

STATELINE, Nev. – The lineup of stars just got brighter for the American Century Championship with an influx of first-time NFL participants featuring All Pros Drake Maye, New England Patriots quarterback, and Kyle Hamilton, Baltimore Ravens safety, plus a trio of head coaches: Mike Macdonald of the Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks, Robert Saleh, new head coach of the Tennessee Titans, and Kevin O’Connell of the Minnesota Vikings.  

NBA star Payton Pritchard of the Boston Celtics and former coach Doc Rivers will also be making their initial appearances, as will four-time NHL All Star Brady Tkachuk of the Ottawa Senators. Brett Young, country music singer and songwriter adds to the entertainment side of the celebrity ledger, while sportscaster Sean McDonough enhances the media component.

The 37^th annual American Century Championship, celebrity golf’s most popular tournament with more than 80 sports and entertainment superstars, is July 8-12 at Edgewood Tahoe Golf Course and aired on NBC Sports. The three-day, 54-hole event includes a $750,000 purse, with $150,000 going to the winner, plus a charity component for local and national non-profits.

The tournament’s “rookies” will join favorites Stephen Curry, Charles Barkley, Jason Kelce, Nate Bargatze, Colin Jost, Tony Romo, Miles Teller, Ray Romano, Rob Mac, Larry the Cable Guy, Anthony Anderson and Jack Wagner, who along with Jim McMahon, are the only two players who’ve competed in every tournament.

Current NFL stars include Baker Mayfield, Davante Adams, Trevor Lawrence, and Kyle Juszczyk. Hall of Famers feature soon-to-be-enshrined Larry Fitzgerald, Steve Young, Jerry Rice, Charles Woodson, Brian Urlacher, DeMarcus Ware, Jerome Bettis, Tim Brown, Marcus Allen and Dwight Freeney. Drew Brees is also making a tournament comeback since his last appearance in 2007. 

Defending champion Joe Pavelski returns along with top players Annika Sorenstam, MLB Hall of Famer John Smoltz, former Red Sox pitcher Derek Lowe and NBA Hall of Famer Ray Allen.

For fans looking to take in the action, daily general admission tickets and week-long Grounds Badges are available online at: www.eventbrite.com (Tickets are only available online through the official American Century Championship channel.)

Tickets for Wednesday’s and Thursday’s Celebrity-Amateur play are $50 each day with Tournament rounds Friday, Saturday and Sunday at $60 daily. A Grounds Badge for all five days – Wednesday through Sunday – is just $175, a savings of $105. The number of daily tickets is limited with Friday/Saturday sellouts typical, so fans are encouraged to act now to secure their spot among the stars. All ticket purchases will be online in advance – same day tickets will not be available at the gate.

For active duty and retired veterans, a limited supply of complimentary tickets for one person plus a guest for either Wednesday or Thursday rounds is available beginning April 1, two tickets maximum. Visit https://acc.spinzo.com for instructions.

The 2026 American Century Championship will utilize the Modified Stableford format whereby points are awarded by score per hole. Edgewood Tahoe Golf Course, a George Fazio design, has been rated by Golf Digest Magazine as one of “America’s Top 100 Golf Courses.”

American Century Investments, the title sponsor of the championship since 1999, continues its role in partnership with NBC Sports, theLake Tahoe Visitors Authority, Edgewood Tahoe Golf Course and the South Tahoe community. The tournament’s host hotels are Caesars Republic (formerly Harveys) and Harrah’s along with community partners including Bally’s, Golden Nugget and Margaritaville. American Century Investments offers $1 million for an ace on No. 17 during the three competitive rounds split with the Stowers Institute for Medical Research; Mastercraft Boats will be offering a $325,000 X24 speedboat for an ace on No. 12, Friday through Sunday (Jimmy Rollins sailed home last year with an ace and Tim Brown, the former Raiders wide receiver, also won a boat in 2024), and Travis Mathew provides giveaways, interactive games and items for purchase. For a list of all 2026 tournament sponsors: americancenturychampionship.com.

Since its inception in 1990, the American Century Championship has donated more than $8 million to local and national non-profits.

For the latest details, photos, celebrity tweets use #ACCgolf and follow @ACChampionship on Twitter and Instagram, and Facebook. For tournament information and updates: AmericanCenturyChampionship.

For destination information, accommodations, and events explore: VisitLakeTahoe, Facebook, Instagram use #VisitLakeTahoe #AweandthenSome to share posts.

Stay Informed. Stay Protected. 

by Sponsored | Jun 12, 2026 | Uncategorized

Southwest Gas employees and authorized contractors may need to access your property as part of the essential work required to safely deliver natural gas. Whether entering a yard or knocking on your door, this access is often necessary, even without a scheduled appointment, to inspect, maintain, or upgrade utility-owned infrastructure that supports safe and reliable service for your home and community. 
 


To further support safe and reliable service, Southwest Gas owns and is responsible for maintaining all natural gas infrastructure up to the meter on a customer’s property, while anything beyond the meter is the customer’s responsibility. Understanding this distinction can help clarify why employees or authorized contractors may need to access your property. 
 


Because this work can sometimes bring individuals to your home unexpectedly, it’s important to stay aware and informed. The Federal Trade Commission reported that impersonation scams consistently rank among the most reported fraud categories. So, it’s important to stay vigilant and in the know of who is on your property and why.  
 

Why Would a Southwest Gas Employee Be on My Property? 

Southwest Gas employees are present throughout our communities, working to provide customers with safe, reliable natural gas service. This work requires them to regularly: 

• Read, maintain, or replace natural gas meters 
• Conduct leak surveys to ensure system safety 
• Locate and mark underground utility lines before digging projects 
• Perform system upgrades or routine maintenance 

To help ensure your safety and peace of mind, it’s important to know how to identify legitimate Southwest Gas employees and authorized contractors. The following tips can help you confirm that the person on your property is properly credentialed and there for official work. 

How to Verify a Southwest Gas Employee or Authorized Contractor 

Here are some key ways to verify an employee or authorized contractor: 

• Ask to See Identification. Every Southwest Gas employee and most authorized contractors carry an official ID badge. This badge will feature: 
  • The Southwest Gas logo or an authorized contractor logo 
  • The employee’s name and photo 
• Look for the Uniform or Vehicle. Southwest Gas employees typically wear a tan-colored uniform with the Southwest Gas logo. Some employees or authorized contractors may not be in full uniform, but many will wear clothing featuring the official Southwest Gas logo. Official vehicles will display either a Southwest Gas logo or an authorized contractor logo. 
• Call to Confirm. Call Southwest Gas at 877-860-6020 to verify the person’s identity. The team can confirm whether someone from Southwest Gas or one of its authorized contractors is scheduled to work in your area. 

For additional details on identifying legitimate employees, visit swgas.com/verifyemployee. 

Stay Safe: What Southwest Gas Won’t Do 

Whether in person, over the phone, or online, scammers often try to create panic and urgency by threatening to disconnect gas service or demanding immediate payment. Know the signs-here’s what Southwest Gas will never do: 

• Send someone to your home demanding immediate payment in cash or through means not accessed via Southwest Gas’ website 
• Demand payment via Zelle, Venmo, Cash App, PayPal, or Bitcoin (or other cryptocurrency) 
• Ask for personal or financial information in an unsolicited email 

Always remember, if your account is past due, Southwest Gas will notify you in writing. 

Customers should make payments only through the official Southwest Gas toll-free number 877-860-6020 or Southwest Gas’ secure online portal at swgas.com. They should also always verify their account status by logging into their Southwest Gas account through swgas.com or the Southwest Gas mobile app. 

What to Do If You Suspect a Scam 

Scammers use sophisticated tactics to steal personal information or money, including making threats or pretending to know you. If you encounter a suspicious email, phone call, or in-person individual, follow these steps: 

• Hang up or shut the door immediately 
• Do not share any personal or financial information, log in details and passwords 
• Call 877-860-6020 to verify any contact claiming to be from Southwest Gas 

Stay Alert, Stay Safe 

At Southwest Gas, safety is a top priority. By staying vigilant and knowing what to expect from official employees and contractors, you can protect yourself and your community from scams. 

For more tips on scam prevention, visit consumer.ftc.gov or explore safety resources at swgas.com.  

Writers in the Wild: Dancing my way into belonging

by n Petra Molina Follown pmolina@sierrasun.comn | Jun 12, 2026 | Uncategorized

Beneath the glow of disco lights at Truckee’s Queer Prom, I danced through a crowd of familiar faces. I sang along to Britney Spears as a drag queen strutted through our local brewery, drawing cheers from every corner of the room. I sat among climbers watching films about queer athletes, some of whom I’m proud to call friends, pushing the limits of what seemed possible. My favorite time of the year arrived last weekend, and somewhere between the dancing, the laughter, and the stories on the screen, I realized I hadn’t stopped smiling once.

That feeling isn’t something I take for granted.

For the past five years, I’ve made it a point to celebrate Pride Month every June. I like to think of it as my own little holiday. No matter where I am, I make time to find queer community and connect.

I’ve celebrated Pride in many different places. After coming out to my family, I attended my first Pride in Lima, Peru, where LGBTQ+ people still cannot legally marry and where Pride remains as much a protest as a celebration, with thousands taking to the streets each year to demand equal rights.

I celebrated in Madrid, home to one of the largest Pride festivals in Europe, where I witnessed a scale of community I had never seen before. I spent a Pride in Milan, where, for all the stereotypes it fulfills, it seemed as though the soundtrack from Mamma Mia! was playing on every street corner. And now, for the second year in a row, I’ve celebrated Pride in Truckee.

My first time here was a year ago, when I packed my car and drove eight hours from Southern Nevada to a tiny town I had never even heard of before. Arc’teryx, in partnership with Truckee Pride, was hosting its annual Pride climbing weekend, and I had found a reasonably affordable ticket to a trad clinic. I spent my days climbing in Donner Pass and my nights sleeping in my car.

“I think I might stick around here,” I remember saying to some of the people I’d met that weekend. I had fallen head over heels for Truckee.

Within three weeks of that clinic, I ended up applying for a reporting job, getting hired, and moving my life to Truckee-Tahoe. Now, I sit at a desk beneath a Sierra Sun sign, writing stories about a town I’ve learned to love deeply.

So, as I danced the night away this year in the same place where I celebrated Pride last summer, I felt incredibly lucky. What started as a weekend pride climbing trip had somehow turned into a new home, a new job, and a community that continues to surprise me with how deeply people care for one another.

Every year, Pride reminds me of the importance of community. This year, it also reminded me how grateful I am that I found mine here.

One day, I’ll have to choose between returning home to Peru and the ability to get married and build a family protected by law. I don’t look forward to that day. But for now, I’m endlessly grateful for this town, and for everyone who continues to show up, take space, and remind the world that love is beautiful.

TAMBA to host 14th annual Tahoe Mountain Bike Festival

by n Staff Report Follown editor@tahoedailytribune.comn | Jun 12, 2026 | Uncategorized

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. – The Tahoe Area Mountain Biking Association (TAMBA), in conjunction with The Divided Sky and South Lake Brewing Company, is hosting the 14th annual Tahoe Mountain Bike Festival from Friday, June 19, to Sunday, June 21, 2026.

The weekend-long event will kick off with a festival fundraiser at Cascade Kitchens, where community members can fuel up for the big weekend ahead while giving back to Tahoe trails. From 5 p.m.- 9 p.m. that evening, Cascade Kitchens will donate a portion of food and beverage sales to TAMBA in support of the Tahoe Mountain Bike Festival.

The festivities will continue on Saturday, June 20 at the Demo & Skills Day at the Corral trail network. Registered riders will have the chance to try a range of demo bikes from participating brands and local bike shops, including Marin Bikes, Specialized, Turner Bikes, Apogee Bike Dirte.bike, Cannondale, Pivot, Santa Cruz, Canyon, Ibis, Trek, and Mondraker, and enjoy exclusive shuttles along Fountain Place Road. Dirte.bike will be launching their brand new Maxon-powered bike and offering exclusive festival discounts for attendees. The skills portion of the day will include intermediate skills clinics hosted by A Singletrack Mind, advanced skills clinics hosted by local coach Tasha Thomas, and free Trail Design 101 sessions hosted by TAMBA, new to this year’s event.

Community members are also invited to join TAMBA and South Lake Tahoe local bike brand Apogee Bikes at South Lake Brewing Company from 6 pm-8 pm, on Saturday, June 20 for a free Meet the Builders event, offering an exclusive look at the engineering behind the Apogee One bike. The event will also feature a short film debut by First Tracks Productions, followed by a Q&A with Apogee’s founders.

The final day of the festival will see the return of the signature rides on the morning of Sunday, June 21. The Tahoe Triple Crown will return as this year’s advanced ride, while intermediate riders will be able to enjoy the TAMBA Paradise Loop route. Registered riders will enjoy access to TAMBA rest stops, an exclusive t-shirt designed by RISE Designs, and a beverage and meal voucher to be redeemed at the Tahoe Trail Jam. These special rides are made possible thanks to the support of the US Forest Service and California State Parks.

The weekend will conclude with the free, family-friendly Tahoe Trail Jam at the stunning Tahoe Paradise Park on Sunday, June 21 from 12 pm- 6 pm. Local Tahoe band the Dead Winter Carpenters will headline the live music stage alongside food trucks, a beer garden, a vendor village, shenanigans competitions, a kids’ zone, and a free bike valet hosted by the Lake Tahoe Bicycle Coalition.

Riders interested in participating in bike demos, skills clinics, or rides are strongly encouraged to pre-register for these events at www.zeffy.com/en-US/ticketing/2026-tahoe-mountain-bike-festival as spots are limited. Entry to the Tahoe Trail Jam on Sunday, June 21 is free of charge. All proceeds from the event go directly towards building and maintaining multi-use trails in the Lake Tahoe area. TAMBA would like to thank Visit Lake Tahoe for their significant support for this year’s festival, as well as the following 2026 Tahoe Mountain Bike Festival partners and sponsors: The Divided Sky, South Lake Brewing Company, US Forest Service, CA State Parks, A Singletrack Mind, Zero Declination, The BackCountry, Marin Bikes, Cascade Kitchens, Tahoe Luxury Bathrooms, Apogee Bikes, Shoreline Tahoe, BlueZone Sports, Tahoe Sports LTD, Dirte.bike, Ride Tahoe, evo, Specialized, Turner Bikes, Tahoe Gear Exchange, Barton Center for Orthopedics & Wellness, Desolation Athletic Fitness, Flylow Gear, RISE Designs, Emerald Bay Bikes, Lake Tahoe Bicycle Coalition, Tahoe Trail Bar, Dead Winter Carpenters, and Lake Tahoe KOA.

Obituary: Maria T. Zeid

by Tahoe Daily Tribune | Jun 11, 2026 | Uncategorized

November 16, 1935 – March 9, 2026

Beloved mother, grandmother, great grandmother and friend. Survived by her two sons, Victor Khaled Zeid, (Pamela) and Richard Rashed Zeid, grandchildren, Alisha Harding (Ade), Melonie Ruvalcaba (Chuy) and great grandson Zion; Michael Spinola, her devoted and loving longtime partner of 35 years.

Maria, was the youngest of seven children. Born November 16, 1935, in the Bavarian village of Passau Germany where hard work was her hallmark.
A single mom with two boys and $65 in her pocket, she landed in America, took a job at Harveys Resort Casino, providing a living for her two sons.

Maria Zeid, full of grace, she was the epitome of resilience, strength, wisdom and generosity.

Maria retired at age 62 and loved all things Tahoe. She was an avid hiker of the Sierra Tahoe back trails, mountains and loved boating Tahoe’s clear blue waters.

Long live the memory of Maria Zeid, a legacy of love, generosity, compassion and dedication to her family. She will never be forgotten.

Maria was a member of Sierra Community Church and loved her Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Her wishes are that no memorial services be held. The Zeid family appreciates all your thoughts and prayers.

Obituary: Mike Heil

by Tahoe Daily Tribune | Jun 11, 2026 | Uncategorized

April 18, 1958 – May 5, 2026

Mike Heil, 68, of Minden, Nevada, passed peacefully at his home on May 5, 2026. He was born on April 18, 1958, in Glendale, California.
An accomplished athlete, Mike starred as a football quarterback and flame-throwing left-handed pitcher at Foothill High School in Tustin, California. He played baseball for two years at Saddleback Junior College in Mission Viejo before earning a baseball scholarship to the University of Oregon in 1978. After graduating, he moved to South Lake Tahoe, where he lived for most of his adult life. He worked as a pit boss at Harrah’s for 18 years and later sold timeshares at The Ridge Tahoe and Walley’s Resort.
Mike was an avid skier, golfer, and fitness enthusiast who loved going to the gym. With his infectious smile, he was known as the happiest and most positive person in any room — always on time and never arriving empty-handed. His simple life philosophy was one he often shared: “Be good, be kind, be careful.” Above all, Mike loved his Oregon Ducks and took immense pride in being a Ducks alumnus.
Mike is survived by his father, Coach Bill Heil; his sister, Sue Rice, and her husband Jack; his brothers, John Heil and his wife Michelle, and Tommy Heil and his wife Stephanie; along with many loving nieces and nephews. He was predeceased by his mother, Joan (Murray) Heil.
He will be deeply missed by his many good friends and all who knew him.
A celebration of life will be held in Minden, Nevada, at a date to be determined.
For more information please contact brianchene@yahoo.com

Obituary: Virginia Thelin

by Tahoe Daily Tribune | Jun 11, 2026 | Uncategorized

January 23, 1936 – March 1, 2026

After struggling with declining health for two years, Virginia Herman Thelin passed away at her home in South Lake Tahoe, California on March 1, 2026. She was 90 years old. In her youth, she earned a bachelor’s degree in Chemistry from MIT and spent time in Türkiye, Poland, Finland and Greece. Virginia met and married her husband Mark Thelin, and spent many years living in Taiwan with him where they raised two sons, Carl and Eric who have survived her. In the 1980s she began working for the Fulbright Foundation, which she continued to do until her retirement in 1999. She and her husband left Taiwan, and earned master’s degrees in Archeology from Durham University in England. While there, Mark’s health declined, and the couple moved to Grinnell Iowa, where Mark passed away in 2014. Since then, Virgina became a resident of South Lake Tahoe, where she frequently spent several hours a day hiking with her dog.
She was co-author of The Good Life(1975), author of Taichung Harbor Area Land Use Survey(1978) and a master’s dissertation entitled “Were Burnt Mounds Derived from Prehistoric Copper Production Activities?”(2008). She was preceded in death by her brothers Fred Hermann Jr, and Robert Hermann. Donations may be made in her name to the Physician’s Committee for Responsible Medicine or the Southern Poverty Law Center.
A memorial service will be held at Hope Lutheran Church of the Sierra on Saturday June 20th, at 10am. (930 Julie Ln, South Lake Tahoe, CA 96150)

Obituary: David Condon

by Tahoe Daily Tribune | Jun 11, 2026 | Uncategorized

January 31, 1958 – April 3, 2026

Obituary: Mae Rose Kuentz

by Tahoe Daily Tribune | Jun 11, 2026 | Uncategorized

May 11, 1929 – May 31, 2026

Mae Rose died on May 31, 2026, in South Lake Tahoe, CA.
Mae Rose was born to Joseph and Mae (Lawrence) Morrison on May 11, 1929, near Bethlehem PA. She graduated from Bethlehem High School in 1947, and attended Moravian College until 1950 when she married Craig Kuentz, soon after he graduated from Lehigh. They lived in Pittsburgh PA and Montclair NJ before polio interrupted Craig’s professional career in 1953. They subsequently lived in North Plainfield, NJ for 42 years before moving to Manahawkin, NJ in 1995.

Mae Rose and Craig raised 4 children: David, Virginia, Howard, and Karen, who, except for Virginia who died in 2022 due to multiple sclerosis, survive her. They were married for 60 years until Craig died in 2010. They enjoyed traveling together all around the country and Canada, visiting friends and relatives and many national and state parks. After Craig died, Mae Rose and Karen traveled to Switzerland, Austria, Hawaii, Alaska, the Canadian Maritimes, and many locations in the southeastern and western US.

Mae Rose maintained an active life outside raising the kids and caring for Craig. She kept up gardens in both North Plainfield and Manahawkin, enjoyed cooking (interesting meals for the family, large-scale feasts for family gatherings, amazing variety of Christmas cookies and candy) sewing, knitting, and needlepoint. She volunteered at local hospitals, taught nursery school, played tennis and volleyball, enjoyed social outings with their many friends, and crashed toboggans on the hills of nearby golf courses. Mae Rose was a fan of dogs but not cats, and her favorite magazine was The New Yorker, which she continued to read even into 2026.

Mae Rose moved to South Lake Tahoe in 2021 to live with Karen, and although she always considered herself an East Coast girl, she greatly enjoyed Tahoe’s beaches, mountains, snow and low humidity.

Sunnyside to Change Hands

by Melissa Siig | Jun 11, 2026 | Uncategorized

The sun is setting on Sunnyside Restaurant & Lodge as the community has known it for almost four decades. The longtime operator of the restaurant, T S Restaurants, is stepping aside in the fall to make way for a new operator — chef and restaurateur Mark Estee of Local Food Group.

T S Restaurants, which currently operates 13 destination restaurants in Hawaii and California, has run both the Sunnyside restaurant and hotel since 1987. T S CEO Jackie Reed said the decision was a mutual one made with the property owner, Tahoe Sunnyside Partners.

“It was a very difficult decision, but it felt time to return Sunnyside to a more local operator,” she said, “to do what was best for Sunnyside for the future.”

Estee has opened numerous restaurants in Tahoe and Reno, including Burger Me! and Moody’s Bistro Bar & Beats (though he is no longer involved with either). Before that, he served as the executive chef at Hyatt Regency Lake Tahoe’s Lone Eagle Grille. His group currently owns four restaurants in Reno — seven if you count Great Basin Brewery’s four locations.

Although Reed noted it’s been a difficult few years for the restaurant industry, she said the decision to part ways with Sunnyside was not a financial one. Mike Dumke, managing partner of Tahoe Sunnyside Partners, said the same thing.

“It’s been a great relationship with T S for 39 years, almost more like a partnership than a landlord relationship,” he said. “We both mutually came to the conclusion that it may be better to have them transition out and have a more local operator get involved in the property.”

Dumke said Estee plans on putting a fresh spin on the menu but will retain the theme of American fare as well as seafood and great burgers and adding some smoked items.

The new partnership also marks the beginning of significant investments across the property. Sunnyside will shut down Oct. 5 for renovations with plans to re-open April 1, 2027. The Local Food Group will remodel the restaurant, which includes an expansion of the kitchen and private dining spaces, while the ownership group plans on refreshing the 23 hotel rooms with new paint, carpet, and furniture, but no new construction. Tahoe Sunnyside Partners, which also owns Sunnyside Watersports & Marina, will manage the lodge going forward.

T S’s presence in Tahoe City began in 1978 with Jake’s on the Lake, then Sunnyside nine years later. Jake’s sold to a T S founder’s brother, Chris Thibaut, in 2005. Despite T S leaving Tahoe in the fall, Sunnyside will retain its storied name.

“It’s an emotional and bittersweet time for us,” said Reed, who noted T S is focusing on the Summer Send-Off celebration, with plans still in the works. “Not a lot of restaurants can say they operated for 39 years.”

Glyphosate Has its Foot in the Door. What’s Next?

by Addison Wingate | Jun 11, 2026 | Uncategorized

The latest environmental controversy in Tahoe isn’t a development project, a wildfire, or a fight over lake clarity.

It’s a weed killer.

A proposal to use glyphosate in portions of the Caldor Fire burn scar has triggered mounting concern among residents and environmental advocates, opening a broader conversation about the herbicide’s health risks, ecological impacts, and growing presence throughout the region.

It all started with nonprofit news outlet Mother Jones’ yearlong investigation into the expanding use of herbicides in California forests. Released in May, the article dove deep into the worlds of wildfire management and recovery, industrial pesticide production, and complex federal bureaucracy. Among other projects, the article highlighted Forest Service plans to use herbicide as a vegetation management tool in the burn scar of the 2021 Caldor wildfire.

The final environmental assessment and decision notice for the Caldor Fire Restoration Project — to be spearheaded by the Forest Service’s Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit (LTBMU) — was released in March of this year. The project will thin tree stands in and around the burn area, remove damaged trees, and reforest burned areas, all within an approximately 11,700-acre project footprint.

Part of that preparation and reforestation is slated to include potential herbicide treatment. In the environmental assessment, LTBMU notes that “herbicides may be used to aid site preparation before tree planting and to manage competing vegetation after planting when manual treatments are ineffective or expected to be insufficient.”

At the top of the list of intended herbicides? Glyphosate.

Public reaction to the Caldor Restoration Project

The Mother Jones investigation analyzed more than 5 million California pesticide-use records, finding that approximately 266,000 pounds of glyphosate were applied in California forests in 2023 — nearly five times the amount used two decades earlier. The article characterized forest applications as the fastest-growing use of glyphosate in the state.

Public opposition to the use of the chemical in and around the Lake Tahoe Basin has quickly mounted, and pressure is on for local agencies.

In response to public outcry around the use of glyphosate in the Caldor Fire Restoration Project, a change.org petition began to circulate. It quickly garnered well over 22,000 signatures by the time this article was written, with public comments and support pouring in from across the country. Conspicuously absent from the body of this petition, however, are any concrete demands to address the titular demand, “Stop glyphosate spraying in the Tahoe Basin.”

This missing piece may be a reflection of the confusing decision-making associated with this project — in this particular instance, it seems few people know exactly how to effect change within our local bureaucracy.

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Frustrated, concerned, and confused, the public has swarmed to social media and rallied at Tahoe Regional Planning Agency (TRPA) governance meetings to demand regulatory change. But that’s just not how it works, Jeff Cowen, public information officer at TRPA explained to me. At least, not anymore.

To understand the decision-making process behind environmental projects like this one, one must go back to the start. In 1969, TRPA was formed to help manage the two states, five counties, and three national forests that all wanted decision-making power over Lake Tahoe. Soon after, LTBMU was formed to consolidate national forest management in the region.

“It’s … been a partnership from the start,” Cowen said of the relationship between TRPA and LTBMU. But with 79% of land in the Basin owned and managed by the Forest Service, there are limitations on TRPA’s influence.

Those limitations have shifted over time, perhaps the most notable of which came as a result of the 2007 Angora wildfire. Inefficiencies, silos, and redundant regulatory procedures, Cowen explained, were identified as sticking points in the fire’s cause and magnitude. To address these hindrances, about 20 agencies came together to streamline environmental decision-making in the Basin.

Among the outcomes of this streamlining was an expanded memorandum of understanding between TRPA and LTBMU. For major projects like the Caldor Fire Restoration Project, TRPA is no longer a permitting authority, but instead an advisor to the decision-making process.

Cowen emphasized the efficacy of this decision, sharing that he feels that a “regulatory framework is really ineffective and not needed,” between the two agencies. “Because the Forest Service has very similar goals … they basically get to the point where they’re just adopting [our] goals and implementing them through their own plans.”

Together, the agencies have treated 80,000 acres across the Basin for wildfire prevention in the past two decades. But he also acknowledged there are “big, federal, overarching principles and direction that they also have to follow.”

As of late, these overarching principles seem somewhat murky.

How we got here: A noxious government love affair

In February of this year, the Trump administration made a sweeping move with the issuance of an Executive Order unambiguously named “Promoting the National Defense by Ensuring an Adequate Supply of Elemental Phosphorous and Glyphosate-Based Herbicides.”

This explicit prioritization of glyphosate production and use by the executive branch is a conveniently-timed declaration of support for the lawsuit-ridden Bayer company — and it’s no mystery as to why, Nathan Donley from the Center for Biological Diversity explained.

Our government has and continues to validate the use of glyphosate and other pesticides — despite the widely documented risks — because of the immense lobbying power of agricultural and agrochemical industries, Donley said. And it is far from isolated to the Trump administration.

“It’s been an absolute full court press from Bayer on all levels of government,” he explained. “Not just the executive and legislative branches. I mean, Clarence Thomas was a former Monsanto employee.”

And he’s not the only agrichemical-employee-turned-political-appointee. As of President Trump’s first year in office, all four of the top positions in the EPA’s Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention — the Principal Deputy Assistant Administrator, Assistant Administrator, Deputy Assistant Administrator for New Chemicals, and Deputy Assistant Administrator for Pesticides — have been filled by former executives or lobbyists of chemical and agricultural companies. The EPA and most other pesticide regulatory agencies continue to assert that glyphosate does not pose a health risk when used according to its label.

As Donley said, “the tendrils run deep … in the levels of influence that this company, Bayer, has in our government.”

Just how deep they run on initiatives like the Caldor Fire Restoration Project remains somewhat opaque. In the project’s environmental assessment, the herbicide use is identified as a way to expedite reforestation and “achieve silvicultural objectives.” These objectives? Conifer stands.

The assessment names three target species that, if not for herbicide use, could otherwise outcompete reforested conifers: western whitethorn, greenleaf manzanita, and ceanothus, or California lilac.

These native, fire-adapted species are known as pioneer species, meaning they are often the first to appear after wildfire events. Their fast-growing roots help to stabilize fire-impacted soil and prevent excess erosion, while also providing species-specific benefits like returning nutrients to damaged soils and quickly regenerating important habitat for pollinators and other species.

But while targeted elimination of native species may raise eyebrows, the Forest Service has an explanation. They are “not taking a wholesale targeting approach to these shrub species,” but instead targeting them only in the immediate vicinity of conifer seedlings. This will help ensure the area includes enough established trees to prevent full conversion to a montane chaparral environment, which could otherwise ignite easier and burn faster in future fire seasons.

Still, there is time before glyphosate use is slated to begin in the Basin.

“No herbicide application is planned for 2026 or 2027,” the Forest Service’s Region 5 media team stated. “Reforestation is an activity that will occur after initial entry (such as mechanical or hand treatments to remove overhead hazards and perhaps prescribed burning or mastication as site preparation) and occurs later in the project implementation timeline.”

Of the 11,700 acres of Forest Service land included within the project area, herbicide treatment is only proposed on a portion of the 2,400 to 3,600 acres where reforestation efforts will take place.

It’s a common pesticide. What’s the big deal?

Well, ain’t that the $11 billion question.

Health and environmental concerns associated with glyphosate use and exposure have been bubbling up for over a decade.

And despite being the most widely used herbicide globally, glyphosate wasn’t originally poised to become a pesticide at all. The chemical was first developed as a boiler and pipe cleaner agent. It wasn’t until 1974 that Monsanto, an American agrochemical and biotechnology company, discovered its efficacy as a herbicide. Monsanto quickly patented the discovery and sold glyphosate as the active ingredient in its crown-jewel herbicide product — Roundup.

For over 25 years, Roundup products filled shelves at hardware and home garden stores, farming co-ops, and major industrial retailers as the sole glyphosate-based product. Touting its unique success as a versatile weed-killer, products were marketed and sold in a variety of forms, from ready-to-use herbicides for home gardens to commercial-grade concentrates designed for agricultural, industrial, and heavy-duty landscaping use. The substance was applied with everything from handheld bottles to backpack devices to large-scale aerial sprayers.

In 2000, Monsanto’s patent for exclusive use of the chemical expired in the United States. Other manufacturers began to flood the market, introducing their own glyphosate-based herbicides. Public use skyrocketed and, for the better part of two decades, glyphosate products flew off shelves.

Then in 2015, the International Agency for Research on Cancer, an agency of the World Health Organization (WHO), published a scientific evaluation of the carcinogenicity of several market herbicides, glyphosate among them. As a result, glyphosate was designated as “probably carcinogenic to humans.”

Months later, the first lawsuit to allege Monsanto’s Roundup products were causing cancer proceeded to trial in the Superior Court of California, County of San Francisco. Dewayne “Lee” Johnson, a groundskeeper for Benicia Unified School District argued Roundup had caused his non-Hodgkin lymphoma. The case, Johnson v. Monsanto, became the first of approximately 125,000 similar claims filed by 2020, with the California court ultimately ruling in Mr. Johnson’s favor. The jury awarded the plaintiff $289 million in compensatory and punitive damages, an amount that was later reduced by the judge to $78 million and then $21 million.

At the same time, proponents of glyphosate products began to vehemently defend both its safety and usage.

One such advocate named Patrick Moore, a former environmentalist turned TED-talking-climate-change-skeptic, even went so far as to claim Roundup was safe to drink. Moore was featured on air in a CBC News segment on the 2015 WHO findings, where he stated that “you can drink a whole quart of [Roundup], it won’t hurt you.” However, when offered a glass of the chemical by his interviewer, Moore declined to substantiate his claim in real-time, repeatedly saying “No, I’m not stupid.”

In 2017, a multi-district litigation in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California consolidated the surge of federal lawsuits against Monsanto for its Roundup products. The litigation revealed a body of evidence that the leading study cited to defend Roundup’s safety for human exposure — Safety Evaluation and Risk Assessment of the Herbicide Roundup and Its Active Ingredient, Glyphosate, for Humans, published in 2000 by Regulatory Toxicology and Pharmacology — was in large part shaped and steered by Monsanto employees. The suit exposed email exchanges between Monsanto employees offering congratulations to one another for their “hard work” on the study and hopes that it would become “the reference on Roundup and glyphosate safety.”

Ultimately, the journal retracted the study, citing significant ethical concerns. But the damage was done, and the study still ranks among the top references justifying glyphosate use and claims to its safety.

In 2018, Monsanto was acquired by Bayer, a German pharmaceutical and agricultural chemical company. Bayer continued to sell Roundup but quickly discontinued the use of the Monsanto brand name, which was becoming increasingly tied to unfavorable litigation.

The United States District Court for the Northern District of California found Monsanto liable for another case of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma in Hardeman v. Monsanto Co. in 2019, initially awarding Mr. Hardeman $80 million in damages — a total subsequently reduced to $20 million. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit upheld the decision in 2021, finding that the EPA’s approval of a pesticide label does not immunize a manufacturer from being held liable. This case ultimately became the first (and at this point, only) federal decision on the issue.

Despite Bayer phasing out glyphosate as an active ingredient in its residential Roundup products in 2023, it remains present in commercial and agricultural formulas. Lawsuits have continued to arise, with substantial damages and fees awarded to plaintiffs whose exposure to Roundup resulted in non-Hodgkin, follicular, T-cell, or other forms of lymphoma.

As of the time this article is being written, Bayer has paid over $11 billion in settlements for Roundup-related lawsuits and proposed a nation-wide class action settlement that would cap current and future claim payouts at $7.25 billion, to be used for declining payments for up to 21 years. The class action is heavily opposed by plaintiffs and environmental and public health organizations who have described it as a liability “shield.” A decision from the federal Supreme Court on its constitutionality is expected later in June. If approved, it will become one of the largest legal fee awards to date.

Public health and environmental impact

Cancer is far from the only public health risk posed by glyphosate use and exposure.

Studies have found potential ties between glyphosate exposure and various medical conditions such as liver disease and reproductive disorders including PCOS, endometriosis, and disruptions to fertility. What’s more, a growing body of research is finding that glyphosate exposure may be a trigger for various gastrointestinal diseases and conditions, including celiac disease, inflammatory bowel disease, and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS).

But despite these alarming associations, it remains unclear how much exposure is required to pose a real health risk to humans. In the vast majority of legal cases, affected plaintiffs are groundkeepers, farmers, or dedicated recreational gardeners — folks routinely subjected to highly concentrated forms of glyphosate.

In all likelihood, the exposure any individual may experience as a direct result of a relatively remote use such as the Caldor Fire Restoration Project would not cause substantial human harm. According to the National Pesticide Information Center, the half-life (time needed for a chemical to reduce to half of its initial amount) of glyphosate is particularly variable, landing somewhere between 2 and 197 days in soil, and between “a few days” and 91 days in water.

The chance of human exposure narrows further upon consideration of where the Caldor Fire Reforestation Project’s proposed herbicide treatment areas lie. In an email, the Forest Service’s Region 5 media team noted that “for the Caldor Fire Restoration Project, herbicide use is proposed only on a subset of the area proposed for reforestation, where other reforestation site preparation methods will not work. For example, manual removal equipment is not permitted in project areas with steep slopes, locations far from existing roads, [or] sensitive soils.”

But the questionable human health impacts of this project are not the sole consideration in this instance. An even greater risk is the ecological devastation that glyphosate wreaks on habitats, plants, and wildlife.

Donley at the Center for Biological Diversity noted that so long as glyphosate is present, it poses an environmental risk. This is particularly true after any precipitation, where stormwater runoff “goes into the nearby river, lake, or stream of that watershed and contaminates it with high pulses of pesticide.”

Donley emphasized that most animals do rely on these waters, whether they are woodland animals seeking drinking water, wetland species like migratory birds, or aquatic animals that then have no choice but to suffer through 24/7 exposure to contaminated water. While this can be lethal, he added, there are other effects as well. “It can lead to chronic harms like reduced reproductive capability or developmental defects, so it can affect subsequent generations and ultimately lead to population decline or even collapse for certain species,” he explained.

The Environmental Protection Agency found that glyphosate use was likely causing harm to 1,676 of the approximately 1,700 plants and animals protected under the Endangered Species Act.

Where the Caldor Fire Restoration Project is concerned, LTBMU will be taking some precautions to prevent this catastrophic runoff. “Herbicide applications will not take place within six hours of predicted rainfall that has a high probability of producing measurable runoff, or as requested by the Forest Service aquatics biologist,” the Forest Service shared via email. Additionally, the project will use backpack sprayers or other low-volume methods, as opposed to aquatic or aerial application, which produces greater concern for pollinator species.

But slip-ups or insufficient margins of time between application and precipitation could be catastrophic for some species that call the Tahoe area home.

In 2021, the federal Environmental Protection Agency found that glyphosate use was likely causing harm to 1,676 of the approximately 1,700 plants and animals protected under the Endangered Species Act. Impacted species include the Sierra Nevada red fox, California spotted owl, and Sierra Nevada yellow-legged frog, all of which are listed in the federal Endangered Species Act and live in our area.

Hitting close to home

While proposed glyphosate use in the Caldor burn scar has created quite a stir for the public, it appears as though our community remains blissfully unaware that glyphosate made its debut in the Truckee/Tahoe area long ago.

According to its most recent annual data, California’s Department of Pesticide Regulation (DPR) ranked glyphosate the sixth most used pesticide in the state in 2023. Of herbicides (plant-specific pesticides) used statewide, glyphosate ranked number one both by pounds applied and total acres treated – 10.7 million and 4.8 million, respectively. About 270,000 pounds alone were used to spray California’s forest land, a figure that has been steadily increasing each year.

Agriculture remains a top use, with glyphosate the pesticide of choice for a variety of crops, from cotton to nuts to citrus and even — put down your glass of pinot here — wine grapes. Neighborhood gardens also pose a risk; DPR data excludes residential use, but despite Bayer’s 2023 phaseout of glyphosate from its residential products, the compound remains the active ingredient in competitor products. Nationwide, the EPA estimates residential and non-crop glyphosate use at several million pounds per year.

While glyphosate is most closely associated with agriculture, it is also widely used in non-agricultural settings, including rights-of-way corridors, landscape maintenance, parks, athletic facilities, golf courses, utility infrastructure, and other managed public spaces.

Individual county reporting provides insight into current uses regionally. El Dorado County, which encompasses the Eastern side of Folsom to the California-Nevada state line in South Lake Tahoe, applied over 9,500 pounds of glyphosate in 2023 for forest and timberland applications, and just over 6,000 along rights of way areas like roads, highway corridors, sidewalks, and curb areas. Placer County, on the other hand, reported over 9,000 pounds used for rights of way areas, just over 4,600 pounds for forest and timberland areas, and just under 4,000 pounds for landscape maintenance. Nevada County clocked in with significantly lower rates, at  just over 2,000 pounds used for rights of way areas and a similar amount for landscape maintenance topping the list in 2023.

These numbers encompass more than public agency use. Private landowners are also obligated to report use to DPR, and glyphosate has become industry-standard for a number of vegetative fixtures. For example, on its website, NV Energy notes herbicide use as a mechanism for vegetation management under its power lines.

A recent follow-up article from Mother Jones opened with investigative journalist Nate Halverson standing in the middle of a run at Sierra-at-Tahoe that “clearly had been doused in glyphosate,” pointing to the area being “devoid of spring flowers; the bushes leafless, brittle, and dead by all appearances.” Sure enough, Halverson had found that the “Forest Service posted maps online showing it had sprayed glyphosate around and within Sierra-at-Tahoe in spring 2025.” This spraying was a part of a separate Caldor Fire Restoration Project, managed by El Dorado Resource Conservation District and taking place outside of the Basin, with a much larger footprint approved for herbicide use.

Patrick Lacey, public relations manager at Palisades Tahoe, said the resort does not use any chemicals, herbicides, or pesticides for vegetation management. Instead, he explained, its vegetation management crews use the mechanical removal of smaller trees and bushes to focus on “reducing ladder fuels on the forest floor and skier safety; the combination works synergistically.”

Marc McMullen, the golf course superintendent at Northstar California Resort, told me he does use glyphosate as well as fungicide to manage vegetation on the Northstar course. While total use during the season is relatively low, McMullen emphasized that the compound used is a harsh enough product that it is not available off the shelf and requires a pesticide applicator license through both the state and county.

University extension publications and turf-management literature routinely identify golf courses as a significant use category for the herbicide for vegetation management, cart-path edging, weed control, and renovation projects.

Moonshine Ink reached out to other land managers of community spaces, but many did not respond to the inquiries.

While debate continues over where and when glyphosate should be used, its presence in the modern landscape is difficult to avoid entirely. That reality raises a practical question for residents: What steps, if any, can individuals and communities take to reduce exposure?

Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot

Options range from personal choices to participating in public discussions.

First and foremost, eating food grown using organic practices whenever possible is one of the leading ways to reduce glyphosate exposure and mitigate its harms to human health, researchers say.

A 2020 study published in Environmental Research found that diet is a main source of glyphosate exposure for humans. What’s more, researchers found glyphosate levels in children prior to making the switch to organic foods were approximately five times higher than adult levels. The good news? Transitioning to organic food had a near-immediate impact on the amount of glyphosate in subjects’ systems, reducing levels by over
70 percent.

Water, too, can be a potential source of glyphosate exposure. In the Basin, where most household drinking water comes from surface waters, regional water purveyors regularly test for pesticides. Sarah Vidra, the Executive Director at Tahoe Water Suppliers Association, confirmed that “pesticides are … monitored as part of the Synthetic Organic Chemicals (SOC) program.” Currently, she added, “the Association is not aware of any pesticide detections exceeding drinking water standards in Lake Tahoe source water supplies.” Vidra confirmed the SOC testing TWSA uses detects glyphosate.

Truckee tap water is substantially more removed from potential contamination, as the Truckee Donner Public Utility District (TDPUD) sources all water from deep underground aquifers. “The average age of our drinking water predates many modern chemicals,” Alex Spychalsky, TDPUD Communications Program Manager, explained via email. “For example, the rain we saw fall in our region last week won’t reach our aquifer for decades.”

But Donley said there’s more to be done than relying on water purveyors. “Regardless of how clean you think your water is, everyone should have a good water filter in their house,” he advised. “Because I don’t care how clean you think your water is, it’s not.”

While limiting glyphosate exposure in private spaces like kitchens, yards, and gardens can help mitigate risk, navigating more public areas that are outside of one’s control can be more complex. A simple rule of thumb, Donley suggested, is don’t play — and don’t let your loved ones play — where dandelions don’t grow. Weeds and other landscaping imperfections are natural. Allow them to be a sign of safe, glyphosate-free spaces.

Locally, questions about herbicide use may be addressed through existing regulatory and planning processes. As for the standards by which TRPA advises projects, those can be changed, though Cowen noted that “the path to what action [TRPA] can take is a relatively long one.” While it typically responds to emerging issues through scientific review, Cowen suggested the level of public interest surrounding glyphosate may warrant further examination. In the case of herbicide use in the Tahoe Basin, he said, “public concern is probably enough for us to start looking at it.”

Whether glyphosate is ultimately used as part of the LTBMU Caldor Fire Restoration Project remains to be seen. What is already clear is that the proposal has sparked a broader conversation about forest management, wildfire recovery, herbicide use, public health, and environmental stewardship — one that is likely to continue well beyond the boundaries of the burn scar itself.

Truckee Fire Sues Placer County Over Decades of Unpaid Property Tax

by Alex Hoeft | Jun 11, 2026 | Uncategorized

For decades, Truckee Fire Protection District has provided fire and emergency medical services to some of the region’s most affluent neighborhoods. According to the district, however, it has never received the full share of property tax revenue that should be tied to those responsibilities.

Now, after years of unsuccessful negotiations, Truckee Fire has taken Placer County to court, arguing that a decades-old property tax allocation error has deprived the district of roughly $40 million since the mid-1970s. The lawsuit could reshape how millions of dollars in property taxes are distributed among local agencies, drawing 10 other districts into the dispute.

Property tax collection for select special districts across Truckee/North Tahoe play a significant role in revenue streams. Some, like Truckee Sanitary District and Tahoe Truckee Unified School District, rely on property taxes for more than 60% of their operating revenue.

This is common in California: Revenue from the 1% property tax is the foundation for most jurisdictions, from counties and cities down to schools and special districts.

Which means if there’s a piece of the highly precious property pie tax missing, it doesn’t go unnoticed.

Nearly 75% of the Truckee Fire Protection District’s 2025/26 revenue comes from taxes, or $14.1 million of its total $19.8 million budget. That number, alleges the district, should be $4 million more.

The district officially brought a case before the Sacramento Superior Court in February 2025 to right a “historic wrong,” according to court documentation.

Placer County, through outside counsel, has so far called into question the legal validity of the entire case, disputing each of the four causes of action submitted by Truckee Fire that make up its argument. Judge Jennifer K. Rockwell ruled against the county’s claims as recently as May 14.

As of press deadline, the ball is in Placer’s court: it has until July 6 to file a formal response to Truckee Fire’s demand for court action and a legal ruling.

Because of the active litigation, both entities provided brief statements to Moonshine Ink:

“Truckee Fire looks forward to having our day in court and to an expeditious, fair, and complete resolution to this matter,” Chief Kevin McKechnie said.

“The county disputes the claims brought by the district and will defend its position in the litigation,” shared Steven Wilson-Maggard, public information officer.

How did we get here?

The red tape that’s causing so much back and forth stems from California’s Proposition 13, passed back in 1978.

This ruling put a 1% tax rate cap of a property’s assessed value and limited yearly assessment increases to 2%. (Prior to ’78, the state’s average property tax rate was 2.67%.) Further, property reassessments bringing up a property to current market value can only take place when there’s a change in ownership or new construction.

Assembly Bill 8 (AB 8), enacted in 1979, determined how that 1% tax was divided up among local governments. County auditors were required to base this distribution on the average property tax revenue received by local governments in the few years preceding Prop 13.

The crux for Truckee Fire is that a few years prior to Prop 13, the district began providing fire protection and medical services to a piece of land known then as the Woolverton Property and known now as Zone 7, annexed into the district in 1974.

Zone 7 currently comprises Martis Camp, Schaffer’s Mill, part of Lahontan off Snowshoe Thompson Circle; a portion of Sierra Meadows off Pine Cone and Ponderosa drives, and Golden Pine Road; as well as a section of Ponderosa Palisades on Silver Fir Drive west of Thelin Drive.

The Woolverton agreement limited taxation to the value of improvements (or development), not the underlying land, and allowed property owner Bertha Joerger Woolverton “to continue to live on her property unburdened by taxes but to support the District’s services as she sold her land for development,” as stated in Truckee Fire’s complaint.

In board meetings, Placer County supervisors have called this deal of taxing Zone 7 at a reduced rate as a mistake made by Truckee Fire, leading to the district receiving only partial property tax from that area during three critical years before Prop 13. That taxation level was locked into place in 1978 — and has stayed that way through today.

During the 2024/25 tax year, across the TRAs in Zone 7, Truckee Fire received between 0.60% and 0.75% in AB 8 property tax allocation. A nearby TRA shows Truckee Fire receiving 11.58% of the distribution.

There have been some negotiations in the intervening years. Truckee Fire formally requested its share of AB 8 funding in 1997, 2011, 2018, and 2023. In 1997, Placer’s Auditor Controller Jayne Goulding sent a letter to Truckee Fire stating the revenues had been corrected, but that change never took place.

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In 2019, the county allocated the district funding from an adjacent bucket: Placer County executed a voluntary tax share agreement allowing Truckee Fire to receive a portion of fire control fee collected from Zone 7 property taxes, amounting to about $300,000 annually. Truckee Fire considers this agreement irrelevant to the larger situation, according to court documentation.

In June 2024, the Placer County Board of Supervisors heard a presentation about the fire control fund and whether to continue with a subsequent funding method or not.

Placer County Supervisor Jim Holmes pointed out in June 2024 that Truckee Fire could have corrected the issue in part during the county’s 2003 general plan update but did not do so: “This sets a precedent … This takes money out of our general fund to supplement a district that failed to take action when the opportunity was there for them.”

The item was not up for action, and ended with unclear steps for the future. Eight months later, Truckee Fire filed its case.

What specifically is being asked for?

Truckee Fire’s legal reasons for suing Placer fall into two camps: three focus on the failure of property tax allocation (as described previously), while the fourth focuses on the county’s failure to comply with the Placer County General Plan and Martis Valley Community Plan.

This second camp claims the county approved real estate developments such as Martis Valley, Schaffer’s Mill, and part of Lahontan neighborhoods in Zone 7 without funding fire service in conjunction.

In early 2024, Truckee Fire alleges in the complaint, the district stated on an early building permit for a townhome development in Schaffer’s Mill that as the serving fire protection district, it would “withhold approval of a Certificate of Occupancy until it received adequate funding to provide fire services to the development.” The district also requested that the county restrict further development in Martis Valley until the funding issues at hand could be rectified.

On March 26 of that year, Placer amended its county code to allow fire-protection district approval to come from either Truckee Fire, Placer County Fire, or Cal Fire.

Over a year later, the Placer County Planning Commission modified the Schaffer’s Mill Conditional Use Permit language to allow either Truckee Fire or Placer County Fire’s signature for plan approvals.

Placer demurred to the district’s complaint on all causes of action. A demurrer essentially means that even if, in this case, Truckee Fire’s claims are true, they do not warrant a lawsuit. Judge Rockwell overruled two of the three demurrers, while sustaining the third demurrer on the fourth cause of action, but allowed the district time to amend its legal stance.

Truckee Fire did so, submitting an amended complaint — to which Placer demurred once again on the fourth cause of action. The judge overruled this demurrer in mid-May, leading to the current wait for Placer County’s response, due by July 6.

From there, the case will likely enter a discovery phase, during which both sides will exchange information, evidence, and witness interviews.

Among its requests for ruling, Truckee Fire hopes for legal mandates to the county to allocate and pay the district its AB 8 share of Zone 7 property tax revenue; a permanent injunction from denying Truckee Fire its AB 8 share; and a declaration that Placer’s decision to approve development in the Martis Valley area without general plan compliance violates the law.

What other districts are involved (and whose side are they on)?

If Truckee Fire is allotted any amount of AB 8, which is a limited pot of money, other entities receiving property tax from Zone 7 will take a hit.

When it first filed its complaint, Truckee Fire did not include other taxing entities involved in Zone 7 who could be impacted. Placer called this out in a demurrer, requiring an amended complaint to include the following as real parties in interest:

Truckee Tahoe Airport District, Placer County Resource Conservation District, Tahoe Truckee Unified School District, Sierra Community College District, Placer County Office of Education, Placer County Water Agency, Tahoe Forest Hospital District, Tahoe Truckee Sanitation Agency, Tahoe City Public Utility District, and Truckee Sanitary District. All 10 are listed as parties on the side of Placer County.

Of the parties, the airport district, Tahoe City PUD, Tahoe Truckee Unified School District, Placer County Office of Education, and Truckee Sanitary District have filed joinders at some point, formally aligning themselves with Placer’s arguments. For the latest set of demurrers, the school district and office of education did not file joinders while the remaining three did.

Why other parties of interest didn’t file a joinder can be for many reasons, including being able to benefit from a decision without the cost or exposure; different interests than defendant’s strategies; and taking a wait-and-see approach.

“While the core of this dispute is between the fire district and the county, the legal remedy sought, a reapportionment of ad valorem property taxes, carries an outsized potential impact on a broad coalition of local public agencies that provide essential services to our community,” TTAD General Manager Robb Etnyre wrote in an email. “Because property tax revenue is a ‘zero-sum’ system under California law, any significant shift in these percentages means the funding must be drawn from the existing shares of other local entities.”

In its 2026 budget, TTAD anticipates receiving about $10 million in property tax revenue — about 55% of its revenue for the year.

Etnyre added that the airport district’s participation in the case, as well as the other parties with interest, “is intended to ensure that the pursuit of fire protection funding does not inadvertently destabilize the budgets of our schools, our hospital, or our regional infrastructure.”

Truckee Fire has said in public statements about the case, “Placer County would prefer we ask taxpayers districtwide to approve a new property tax so that the district can have sufficient funds to fund services in Lahontan, Martis Camp and Schaffer’s Mill … Placer County has already collected substantial tax revenue, they just need to allocate it.”

In the current court case, the district is requesting its AB 8 share from the date of the final court order forward. Meanwhile, it is also asking for historical records of what it received from 1975 to 1978, which would play a role in determining the full amount Truckee Fire might have collected since the mid-1970s.

Sherry McConkey: Giving Back, One Challenge at a Time

by Ella Clifford | Jun 11, 2026 | Uncategorized

Sherry McConkey is widely known in Tahoe/Truckee as the wife of the late, famed skier and ski-BASE athlete Shane McConkey, as founder of the Shane McConkey Foundation, and a popular yoga teacher. But the story of how Sherry became such an active part of the Tahoe community started on the other side of the world.

Born to a South African mother and Persian father, Sherry entered the world under complicated circumstances. Her mother, who was a model, gave birth in an adoption home in Ireland because in the 1960s, it would have been complicated to have a mixed-race child in South Africa. When Sherry was born with blonde hair and blue eyes, her mother was able to bring her back to South Africa and raise her there.

After spending her first years in Iran, Sherry grew up near the coastal city of Durban in South Africa. By age 21, she was ready to see more of the world.

“When I was 21, I decided to travel the world and find my birth father,” Sherry said.

With South African currency stretching only so far abroad, she found herself working, traveling, and working again as she made her way across Europe.

“I had some insanely amazing adventures, great and bad, beautiful and crazy,” Sherry said. “Three years of a very innocent, naive young South African traveling the world.”

Along the way, she saw snow for the first time while visiting Switzerland and immediately fell in love with the mountains. Eventually, her search for her father led her to North America.

But shortly before she planned to meet him, everything changed.

“As I was about to come to the States to meet my dad, he left without telling me,” Sherry said. “Basically, I was like, ‘Screw you. I’m done looking. I’m done trying.’”

Without a destination in mind, Sherry followed recommendations from friends and found herself driving to Tahoe.

“I found it miraculous,” she said. “As I drove up the West Shore and the harvest moon was coming out of the lake, I was like, ‘Oh my god, this place is amazing.’”

What was supposed to be a single winter stay has now turned into 36 years.

Tahoe became even more meaningful after she met professional skier Shane McConkey. Together they built a life and raised their daughter, Ayla. When Shane died in a ski-BASE accident in Italy in 2009, Sherry considered leaving the region.

“When Shane died, the community just wrapped their arms around Ayla and me,” she said. “It was like a family around me. I was like, ‘How am I ever going to leave this?’”

The years that followed were marked by loss throughout the community. Many longtime locals remember the early 2000s as a period of repeated tragedies.

“I got to a point where I was like, ‘How much more can I take?’” Sherry said. “But when I looked at other places to go, I would realize I couldn’t leave my Tahoe family.”

Instead, she stayed and poured her energy into giving back.

In the years following Shane’s death, Sherry helped establish the Shane McConkey Foundation. What began as a way to support environmental causes the couple cared about grew into programs that are now nationwide. Since its founding in 2011, the nonprofit has donated one million dollars to environmental causes, kids health and wellness, and projects that impact the Tahoe/Truckee region.

“When I first started the foundation, I think I was still in shock,” Sherry said. “We didn’t quite know what to do.”

One of its most successful projects grew from a student environmental initiative led by a teacher at Donner Trail Elementary partaking in the Shane McConkey Eco Challenge. Today, the foundation’s Don’t Drop the Top program operates lid collection sites throughout the region that have diverted 8,200 pounds of plastic from local landfills.

“The kids partaking in the Eco Challenges are mind-blowing and so amazing,” Sherry said. “It gives me hope for the future.”

For Sherry, the foundation reflects the same philosophy that defined Shane’s life: maximizing enjoyment in life.

“The foundation, in a nutshell, is a combination of fun and not taking life so seriously, but then intense and taking life really seriously,” she said. “A good balance.”

After decades in Tahoe, that balance continues to guide her. The woman who once crossed continents searching for connection ultimately found it in a mountain town that became family.

“My hope for Tahoe is to become the most environmentally conscious town in the world,” Sherry said. “It’s breathtakingly beautiful, and you only have one life. Live it.”

Soccer, Songs, International Relations: The Story of the Home Team String Band

by Jon Grant | Jun 11, 2026 | Uncategorized

It’s midnight in the middle of nowhere on the Trans-Siberian Railway but sleep is far from mind. Russian train-riders are gathered in the bar car, laughing and dancing around the ragtag string band that’s swigging vodka and making up funny songs on the spot.

The bandmembers are a bunch of Americans, in-country for the 2018 World Cup, and rather than geopolitical hostilities there’s a warmth of human connection forged around global sport and the universal language of music.

“We ended up being the house band on the Trans-Siberian for a week,” guitarist Ryan Salm remembered. “It was before the war [in Ukraine]. We ended up befriending generals and regular people, just singing songs and staying up all night.”

Salm is a founding member of the Home Team String Band, the Tahoe/Truckee-based group that’s traveled to the last four World Cups — bringing an open-armed vibe of music, good times, and cross-cultural connection as they celebrate the unifying power of soccer’s biggest stage.

This year’s World Cup will be played in North and Central America from June 11 to July 19, with the bulk of the matches taking place in the United States.  

“We’ve been welcomed wherever we’ve gone,” said Dan Hurley, the group’s unofficial musical coordinator who, along with Salm, also plays in the Tahoe-based band The Inappropriators. “I’m most looking forward to hosting, and to giving back to the world what they’ve given for us. We are going to show a welcoming spirit.”

To do so, the band bought an old Bluebird school bus and undertook a group-effort, custom build-out, readying their “Schoolie” to be a traveling home, fan-zone (with two TVs and a projector screen), music venue, and cultural welcome center. They’ll make and hand out grilled cheese sandwiches and throw parties, aiming to be a gathering place where people from all over the world can hang out before, during, or after the games and have a good time.

“We’ll play a bunch of songs and hope to get people to join our band along the way,” Salm added.

Folks may join the band forever, for a day, an hour, or even just one song. After all, impromptu additions to the group are what created the Home Team in the first place. The band is now 12-plus humans strong, but it all started back in 2010 with three Tahoe locals who just wanted to go the World Cup in South Africa. 

Salm arrived on the continent before the event began and traveled overland from Ethiopia (guitar and harmonica in tow) to South Africa. He knew Paul Raymore and Hurley independently, and they all made plans to meet up before the matches began.

Prior to linking up with them, Salm was checking out of a bungalow in Malawi just as another guy with a guitar was checking in. He was from L.A., and Salm told him he lived in Tahoe. The guy’s first question was, “Have you been to High Sierra Music Festival?”

Salm smiled. “I go every year,” he said. The connection was instant and the two made sure they’d reconnect in South Africa — and boom, Jeremiah Kent was added to the roster. 

Similar serendipity ensued at the USA vs. England game in Rustenberg when an American approached the group and it was discovered they had a mutual friend in Tahoe. He introduced himself as Pete Blanchard and they all hung out that night. “We had an empty spot in our car,” Salm said, “and the next day Pete was part of the crew.”

They met Tahoe-ite Trevor Husted at the USA vs. Algeria knockout match and the group of travel-seeking, soccer-loving musicians started writing funny songs about their World Cup experiences. The bond was tight, and the Home Team String Band was born.

Everyone has a nickname. Someone who joined eight years ago will always be New Guy (Dane Halter). Added in 2014 were Hulké (Martin Cavada), Hylando (Rylan Cordova), and Maximus (Kurt Beckering). Then there’s Godfather (Paul Raymore), Captain Jebbers (Kent), and Handsome (Hurley), among others.  

The nicknames are written on the back of the bandmate’s personal Sweatsedo — a sweet, custom-made velour track suit — in the local language of whatever country they are in. Sometimes the names get lost in translation. In Russia, for example, Trevor Husted’s “T-Bone” read as “T-Steak.” 

Eight years later, Husted is still T-Steak.

Blanchard earned his original nickname, Granada (Spanish for grenade), due to his proclivity for explosive late-night antics, but on the Trans-Siberian he turned sweet. On a short stop, he ran out and bought flowers for the Russian bartendress. She received them well and started calling him Pupsik — a term of endearment either romantic or maternal meaning something akin to “cutie.” The boys couldn’t resist that one either, and his nickname forever changed to Pupsik.

There’s an origin story, of course, for the nicknames. In 2010, the original crew was driving on a dirt road in Lesotho, the small, mountainous nation landlocked by South Africa, when a couple of locals boys threw a small rock at the vehicle. “Stop the car!” boomed Salm’s voice. In a flash he was running into the African plains after the half-laughing, half-screaming perpetrators. 

The team was beyond impressed by Salm’s speed. Right then and there he became “Cheetah” — and the naming began. 

The young-adult sons of Raymore and Halter, Ethan and Nathan respectively, will hop on the bus for their first Home Team action this World Cup. “They’re good kids but they haven’t done much yet,” Hurley said. “They’ll be known collectively as JV until they prove themselves worthy of joining the varsity and earning a nickname.”

Not your typical band

The group’s gigs aren’t pre-booked shows in concert halls, rather impromptu busking-type sessions played in crowded subways, outside stadiums, and on bustling city streets. 

“My favorite thing about it is that most of our material is written in the moment,” Hurley said, noting that the chord progressions are made up on the spot and the lyrics freestyled. “You write a song about a new person you’re hanging out with or the score of the game, a funny time at the bar or the street scene in Brazil we’re looking at.”

Many of their stream of consciousness songs, in a nod to true art, only ever exist once. Some, however, are played again and refined over time to become part of the band’s growing catalogue. 

“We want people coming into it to feel welcome. It’s about the fun, the merriment, the global soccer-sports-music brotherhood that we’ve all come to know and love so much.”

~ Dan Hurley, unofficial musical director of The Home Team String Band, on the 2026 World Cup

And while they’ll mix in some covers — “California Dreaming,” “Hotel California,” and “Born in the U.S.A” are oft-requested when overseas — there’s never anything like a planned-out set list, which appeals to Hurley’s artistic sensibilities. “It’s total musical freedom,” he said.

In addition to the soccer and the music, adventure is a big part of the Home Team’s overall gameplan. On their World Cup-focused trips, they’ve hiked in national parks in Africa, explored the Amazon in Brazil, and embarked on multi-day, self-guided paddleboard trips around Russia’s Lake Baikal (the largest freshwater lake in the world and Tahoe’s sister lake), and the Arabian Sea, including in the Strait of Hormuz. 

When Beckering joined the band for the 2014 Cup in Brazil, he brought along his banjo. The circular part of the instrument was white. One day he drew black markings on it to make it look like a soccer ball, and The Soccer Ball Banjo came to be.   

“If there was a symbol of our band, that would be it,” Raymore declared.   

The band was hitting their stride, but four years later the unthinkable happened: The U.S. failed to qualify for the 2018 World Cup. “It was shocking,” Salm said. “We didn’t know what to do.”

After some debate, the performers decided the show must go on — a decision that led to perhaps the band’s greatest moment, those days and nights of song and merriment as the house band on the clickety tracks of the Trans-Siberian Railway.

The 2022 World Cup, held in Qatar in Nov. and Dec. ’21 to avoid the region’s stifling summer heat, featured another changeup: The vodka-swigging, beer-crushing Home Teamers found themselves in a dry country. So, they traded booze for bikes and began cycling to the games, oftentimes two matches a day, and from place to place with their instruments and antics. “A lot of people over there hadn’t seen anything like us,” Salm said.  

So, what do these 2026 home games mean for the Home Team String Band?   

“We want people coming into it to feel welcome,” said Hurley, who recently wrote a song called “Host the World,” which can be found on YouTube. “It’s about the fun, the merriment, the global soccer-sports-music brotherhood that we’ve all come to know and love so much.”

The Tahoe kickoff party takes place on June 12 at Alibi Ale Works in Truckee to watch Team USA’s opening game against Paraguay. The match starts at 6 p.m., with the pre-party starting at 4 p.m. The bus will be on site for tours and photos, and the boys will play tunes. All ages are welcome and bringing instruments is encouraged. “We’d love to see the biggest street band we can make in downtown Truckee,” Raymore said. 

After that game, the Home Team will put the bus in gear and start attending matches in person. First, it’s down to San Francisco where Levi’s Stadium hosts Qatar vs. Switzerland on the 13th and Austria vs. Jordan on the 16th. Then it’s up to Seattle for Team USA’s highly anticipated June 19th match against Australia. 

But the true destination is the journey — being on the bus and spreading the vibe like some version of the Merry Pranksters with a Pelé predilection and well-tuned instruments. 

“We’ll stop anywhere from a town square to a dive bar or a trailer park,” Salm said. “It doesn’t need to be a million people. We’re not an arena band, it’s about intimate.”

From Seattle, the Home Team dips north of the border to catch New Zealand vs. Egypt on the summer solstice in Vancouver. Then the bus will turn around and meander south to get to L.A. in time for Team USA’s final group match June 25 at Sofi Stadium against Türkiye. 

After group play the teams with the best records will advance to the knockout stages, the details of those matches being unknown until the completion of the first round. “We don’t have any idea yet where we’ll go,” Salm said, the band perhaps leaning into its ability to play things by ear. “We’ll try to follow the USA if we can.”

The Beautiful Game 

Estimates are that 5.8 billion people, roughly 75% of the world population, will view the 2026 World Cup in some form — making it the most watched sporting event in human history. 

Soccer, like music, is truly a global language. While there have been historical instances of violence breaking out between different fanbases, the majority of the sport’s power lies in unification. 

“We may be enemies on the pitch, but before and after let’s put the differences behind us and hang out,” Salm said. 

Not every minute of the band’s travels, however, has been filled with kumbaya. In Qatar, the boys were on a bus before the USA vs. Iran game. The bus was pretty much all Iranians. Some back-and-forth jarring started up that quickly turned heated, the fans at each other’s throats. “For a minute, you thought there was going to be a brawl,” Salm relayed. “But then we came together, like ‘hey, we’re all just human beings here.’”

The two countries are now at war. 

There was a similar time on the Trans-Siberian Railway. “We met this guy who looked like a giant ogre, and we were all kind of intimidated,” Hurley recalled. But that mean-looking Russian played the guitar. And the guys bought him some beers. “By the end of the night he was kissing us on the forehead,” Hurley continued.

The Home Team is about getting past stereotypes, about breaking down barriers of preconceived notions of this country or that culture. 

“Our adventures are a good chance to be face-to-face with people you don’t think you’ll get along with,” Hurley said. “Then you watch some soccer together and play some tunes and see what happens next.”

Mark Twain wrote that “travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness.” It seems like the Home Team String Band has picked up on what the author was putting down. Over the past 16 years, the group has set out across the globe to take in four World Cups, creating innumerable moments of beautiful connection between humans of different cultures.  

They have always been visitors in a foreign land, yet wherever they have gone the Americans have been welcomed. This summer, they play host — ambassadors of our nation, doing what they can for international relations and having a good time doing it — one goal, one song, one new member of the Home Team at a time.  

The Sawmill Off Highway 50 Has Been Quiet. Here’s Why.

by Alex Hoeft | Jun 11, 2026 | Uncategorized

A Moonshine reader recently mailed us a letter, asking if we could figure out why Tahoe Forest Products (TFP), the relatively new sawmill facility in Carson City just off Highway 50, wasn’t producing. “They’re well stocked with Caldor Fire trees but no sawdust,” he wrote. “I’ve heard rumors, but what are the facts?

Indeed, the facility opened on Dec. 18, 2023, to quite a bit of fanfare — local publications, as well as Bloomberg, reported on just how critical Tahoe Forest Products would be in supporting healthy forests, fire recovery efforts, the local economy, and more.

But our reader is right. Two and a half years later, and TFP is sitting silent. I reached out to Kevin Leary, CEO of Hallador Investments, which is the primary investor in the facility, to understand the latest. ~ AH

There were rumors in late 2025 that the facility was closing and/or reporting bankruptcy. A Carson Now article reported that wasn’t the case, and that the facility was in the process of “retooling and upgrading” operations and machinery. Is that still the status, and how far along are those updates? Will the facility operate at full capacity soon?

Kevin Leary, CEO of Hallador: TFP did pause production in mid-2025 and it remains paused. The sawmill facility was originally designed using the lowest-possible cost machinery, meaning old and heavily used, which was a mistake. Too many breakdowns and too slow a production pace meant the initial facility was not financially sustainable. We also paused construction of the planer mill (which will sit to the north of the sawmill building, closer to Highway 50), to avoid making the same mistake twice. We expect to commence upgrades in June, and to be in production a year from now. More modern improvements will enable the facility to operate sustainably.

“Too many breakdowns and too slow a production pace meant the initial facility was not financially sustainable.”

~ Kevin Leary, Hallador Investments CEO

How is the facility funded, and are there concerns for ongoing financial support?

The company is funded by local private investors who care deeply about our region’s forest health, water quality, recreation, and cost of living (including home insurance costs), and who want to support the local economy. TFP will continue to have the support of the owners as long as the prospect of sustainable operations remains.

How is TFP working to address complaints by neighbors, including noise and bright lights?

Several of our neighbors have direct communication access to on-site management at TFP. In the past, we have worked with neighbors to address specific concerns, including repositioning lights and replacing diesel generators with fixed power. We engaged a local landscaping company to install several hundred thousand dollars [worth] of trees and plants along Bucks Way to the south and west.

We should add that occasionally complaints are directed at us that are not of TFP’s making. There are other tenants on the same parcel, and we have received complaints (e.g. dust) that are outside of our lease area or control. In other cases, loud nighttime noises or truck lights might be attributed to TFP but have nothing to do with the mill.

Is the facility feeling impacts from national changes to the U.S. Forest Service, which is undergoing massive restructuring?

TFP tries to maintain close relationships with the USFS at both the local and national levels. In our view, the goal of the changes underway is to move decision-making to the local level and empower local leadership, accountability, and action. There are layers of hierarchy and bureaucracy that probably should go away, like there are in any organization that has been around over a century. (If the readers want an analogy, they can listen to Jon Stewart interview Ezra Klein, co-author of Abundance, on the rollout of rural broadband, administered by a different federal agency. [Editor’s note: Listen to Why We Can’t Have Nice Things with Ezra Klein on The Weekly Show with Jon Stewart wherever you listen to podcasts.])

Locally, we have seen some disruptions, and certainly some over-extended and tired USFS friends picking up more responsibilities. But our hope and expectation are that the changes result in a localized, commonsense approach to forest management. To that end, the USFS recently awarded our partner, the Washoe Tribe, a 20-year Master Stewardship Agreement to empower the tribe and partners to take on a larger role in planning and implementing forest health treatments.

Are trees from the 2021 Caldor Fire still on site?

Yes, but very few. The logs received in the past two years are from fuels reduction treatments (i.e., green trees, not burned or salvaged) in the Tahoe Basin and surrounding national forests (Inyo, Humboldt Toiyabe, Eldorado, Tahoe) plus a smaller number from neighborhood and HOA fuels reduction projects.

Operating on Moonshine Time

by Alex Hoeft | Jun 11, 2026 | Uncategorized

One of the biggest shocks to my system when I — a type-A queen all about quick turnarounds and addressing issues exactly when they arise — joined Moonshine Ink back in May 2019, was adapting to what we at the office call “Moonshine Time.”

As our readers likely know, we are a free, independent monthly print publication with a (again, free) website that includes both print content as well as online exclusives. We put out a roundup of news briefs every Friday, touching on various happenings during the preceding week, from special district decisions to free events to key hirings or departures and so on.

But what we really sink our teeth into is the print edition. The news articles especially are where we dive deep, exploring topics critical to our Truckee/North Tahoe community in ways that haven’t been addressed by any other news organization.

As Mountain Gazette editor and owner Mike Rogge wrote in 2023, “[Moonshine Ink is] holding up a mirror to who we are as a community.”

But as a primarily monthly focused newspaper with a core staff of eight, we have the tricky challenge of considering each edition’s timeline. For example, this edition, June 2026, runs June 11 to July 8. That means we’re planning for July 4 content in early May, when we sit down to discuss the June edition.

When news stories capture the nation’s interest, like the Liberty Utilities and NV Energy debacle earlier this year, we end up in an odd limbo state of watching approximately 1 million other outlets cover the situation while we’re working in the background to pull as many pieces together as possible for a publication date a few weeks out. My story, A Shock to the System, came out a few weeks after said 1 million outlets reported on the situation.

There’s also the controversial herbicide glyphosate being used to treat forests and more in our region. Again, this has been reported on by broader outlets — but we offer an in-depth lens on Truckee/Tahoe impacts.

It can be frustrating, yes (especially for this type-A queen), but I actually don’t mean for it to come off that way. It’s more so an opportunity to educate our readers about how our brains at Moonshine operate. About 80% of the time, we are thinking about what will come out the second Thursday of each month (except January; collective relaxation time for staff), and how our articles will both be as up to date as possible and highly informative.

Does that mean we don’t produce breaking news content? Not at all. We turn out articles on timely information quite often. Most recently, there was the approval of the Village at Palisades development, and the tragic Castle Peak avalanche. In the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic, we were constantly updating our readers with daily online updates on the situation. But we only have so many staffers, and as much as I wish otherwise, there are only 24 hours in the day.

To keep up and even expand our ability to cover more and increase publication of those online-exclusive stories, I urge you to consider becoming a Moonshine Ink Member. Like I wrote in a November 2023 Membership update, we want to cover more stories in-depth, but we need help to get there.

Moonshine Ink Vintage 24 Nip 4

by Moonshine Ink Staff | Jun 11, 2026 | Uncategorized

To view the PDF of the print edition, click here

Sierra Watch: What’s Next?

by Tom Mooers | Jun 11, 2026 | Uncategorized

The gavel dropped and the conflict was over.

After 15 years of fighting, on May 12 the Placer County Board of Supervisors approved the downsized development project for Palisades Tahoe. And the movement to keep Tahoe Truckee True had succeeded: we cut more than 70% of the original development proposal and kept a massive indoor waterpark out of Olympic Valley.

“What’s next?” someone turned to me and asked. “What’s next for Sierra Watch?”

The answer is spelled out in our mission. It’s what we do day after day, year after year: “Sierra Watch secures conservation outcomes to protect the natural resources, mountain communities, and timeless values of the Tahoe Sierra.”

We can see the results in our shared landscape; places like Donner Summit, where we can hike the Sierra Watch Trail to the crest of the mountains and gaze upon Royal Gorge, which was once threatened with luxury development, but is now protected and open to the public.

It’s manifested in Martis Valley, on Waddle Ranch Preserve — once slated for golf courses, shopping malls, and subdivisions — now secured as wildlife habitat, scenic trails, and open space.

And now, in Olympic Valley, where there will never be a giant indoor waterpark.

We’ve achieved incredible results since local residents started Sierra Watch in 2001. But what about the next 25 years?

To answer that question, we’ve been debriefing our strategies and successes, interviewing partners and colleagues, and thinking through how we can best apply what we’ve learned to accomplish more in the decades to come. We’ve got three top priorities.

First is finishing the job — fulfilling our commitments to further the success of our long-term campaigns.

In Olympic Valley, we maintain our presence to make sure that development fits into the limits established in our settlement agreement and that no new proposals threaten the values we’ve worked to protect. In Martis Valley, where Sierra Watch got its start, that means working with our conservation allies to secure the capstone to more than 20 years of strategic and disciplined commitment: permanent protection of the 7,500-acre Tahoe Martis headwaters property on the rim of the Tahoe Basin.

And for White Wolf, between Olympic Valley and Alpine Meadows, we remain vigilant, ready to further engage in the public planning process for the proposed resort on the 275-acre property. 

Second, Sierra Watch is committed to assessing emerging threats in the Sierra and identifying strategic opportunities. In the months ahead, we’ll take a proactive approach to identifying landscapes at risk and determining where we can apply our proven formula for conservation advocacy.

Third, we will make sure we are telling our story. We get calls from folks all over the American West, from Taos to Tetonia, who want to know how local communities can stand up to developer excess and, in the immortal words of local hero Robb Gaffney, “honor mountain culture.” We — not just Sierra Watch but the entire Tahoe/Truckee community — have a great case study of grassroots success to share with the world. We offer hope and provide proof that we can indeed work together to protect the places we love.

It’s a commitment and a legacy we can all be proud of. And because what we strive to protect is timeless, these past 25 years are just the blink of an eye. It’s our moment in a multi-generational commitment to mountain values.

And we’re just getting started.

~ Tom Mooers has been a leader in defending great places in California for more than 30 years. Before joining Sierra Watch as founding executive director in 2001, he was trained at Green Corps and worked for the Greenbelt Alliance and the League to Save Lake Tahoe. He lives in Nevada City.

The Earth and Stars: 11 June 2026 – 8 July 2026

by Aurora Wellise | Jun 11, 2026 | Uncategorized

ASTROLOGY

We jump right into the proverbial pot on June 12 with Uranus — the revolutionary, technology oriented outer planet now in Gemini — squaring the lunar nodes in Virgo and Pisces. Notice collective conversations about technology, communication, and change.

On June 13, Venus moves from the cardinal water sign of Cancer into the fixed fire sign of Leo, bringing warmth, confidence, and heart-centered connection. The Gemini new moon on June 14 holds a light, inquisitive energy that is perfect for socializing, for adventure, and for general connection.

A major collective shift happens on June 19 when Chiron, the “wounded healer asteroid,” moves from fiery Aries into grounded Taurus. This transit asks each of us to deepen our relationship to self-worth, earthly resources, and to what holds true beauty and meaning in our lives.

June 21 marks the summer solstice and the sun’s entrance into the nurturing sign of Cancer. On June 29, Mercury goes retrograde in Cancer and will bring our attention to how we emotionally process and communicate our feelings. This same day, we have a Capricorn full moon; this is a great lunation to revisit long term goals.

Mars conjoins Uranus in Gemini on July 3, generating a potentially volatile and impulsive charge to the collective field. Stay grounded and consider a meditation that morning to help you respond rather than react.

NATURAL MAGIC

The somewhat tense square between Uranus and the lunar nodes invites us to examine our relationship with technology and its impact on our nervous system, our creativity, and our future. It’s an ideal time to commit to a two-week digital detox.

Start simply: create a phone-free hour each day and designate one tech-free space in your home. As you commit to your fast and grow your time away from devices, pay note to what arises. In the beginning, you may feel restless or disconnected, or even a craving for your screens. But stay curious, observing what shifts you notice by day five? By day ten? 

During your detox, keep a journal of your thoughts and emotions. It is also good to start or further draw into an art project, to stretch and move your body more spontaneously, and to catch sunsets (and even sunrises) simply for the sake of their beauty. Notice how the deepness of your sleep will tend to improve, as will the engagement of your conversations. This type of fast will not only offer real, observable change but also gift valuable perspective on your relationship to technology.