SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. – Get ready for a golf tournament like no other. On Sunday, September 27, The Smaine Fund will host Round Three of its Scramble Golf Tournament at the beautiful Lake Tahoe Golf Course (2500 Emerald Bay Rd, South Lake Tahoe, CA 96150) in partnership with PT Revolution. This is not your standard day on the links – it’s a high-energy, community-driven event designed to combine fun, competition, and philanthropy in support of the next generation of outdoor athletes.
The two-person scramble format keeps the day lighthearted and inclusive, while mini-games, prizes, and awards keep the excitement going from start to finish. The reigning champions will return to defend their title, giving participants the chance to test their skills and steal the crown.
Provided / Brian Walker
Tournament Schedule:
Check-in: 8 a.m.
Mini-games Begin: 9 a.m.
Shotgun Start: 10 a.m.
Earlybird entry is $350 per twosome, which includes lunch, golf cart, range balls, and a tournament gift.
More than just a tournament, the Scramble supports a meaningful cause. All proceeds benefit
The Smaine Fund, a nonprofit organization committed to helping youth and emerging athletes in outdoor sports, including skiing, snowboarding, water sports, cycling, trail running, skateboarding, and more. By providing resources, mentorship, and financial assistance, The Smaine Fund empowers young athletes to pursue their passions and follow their dreams.
“This isn’t your typical day on the course. When was the last time you putted with a ski or pool cue?” said Brian Walker, organizer of the Smaine Fund Scramble. “It’s a celebration of community, competition, and Kyle Smaine’s legacy — and it directly supports athletes striving to reach their full potential.”
The Tahoe TAP podcast returns with another conversation focused on the people, places, and issues shaping life around Lake Tahoe. Hosts Mike Peron and Rob Galloway are back behind the mic, exploring the latest stories and community conversations from across the basin.
This episode features Cindy Gustafson, Placer County Supervisor for District 5 — the county’s largest district geographically, stretching from Newcastle through North Lake Tahoe and into the High Sierra. The conversation also explores the unique political and geographic boundaries of the region, including how the Truckee and Donner communities are divided between Placer and Nevada counties.
Gustafson brings more than four decades of experience in public service, environmental stewardship, and regional leadership. Before joining the Placer County Board of Supervisors in 2019, she spent 26 years with the Tahoe City Public Utility District, including eight years as general manager. During her tenure, the district secured more than $30 million in grant funding for projects involving parks, bike trails, water infrastructure, and environmental restoration.
After retiring from TCPUD, Gustafson served as CEO of the North Lake Tahoe Resort Association and North Tahoe Chamber before entering public office. Her career has also included service on the California Fish and Game Commission and the Tahoe Truckee Unified School District Board, as well as helping establish the Tahoe Fund.
Today, she continues to play a significant role in regional decision-making through organizations including the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency, California Tahoe Conservancy, and Tahoe Transportation District.
On this episode of Tahoe TAP, Gustafson discusses the issues that continue to shape the Tahoe region — from housing and transportation to wildfire resilience, tourism, regional governance, and the ongoing effort to protect the lake and communities that make the area home.
TRUCKEE/TAHOE BASIN, Calif./Nev. — The National Weather Service has issued a Flash Flood Warning for portions of the Tahoe Basin and surrounding region from noon Tuesday through 11 p.m., warning that heavy rainfall could lead to dangerous flooding and hazardous travel conditions.
Forecasters expect a round of showers and thunderstorms Tuesday, with precipitation chances ranging from 20% to 80%, highest across Mono and Mineral counties. Still, the warning extends across the Tahoe Basin, Reno, Carson City and Minden.
“With the flash flooding threat, conditions can become extremely dangerous quickly,” the National Weather Service said in its forecast discussion. “If you encounter a flooded roadway, remember: ‘Turn around, don’t drown!'”
Weather models show rainfall may become more widespread, increasing the potential for heavy downpours across the Greater Reno area, the Quad Counties, portions of the Tahoe Basin, Mono County and Nevada’s Basin and Range.
By Wednesday, forecasters expect high pressure to shift toward Texas and Oklahoma, pushing some of the monsoonal moisture farther east. As a result, thunderstorm chances are expected to decrease to 20% to 40%, with the greatest likelihood remaining over Mono County and Nevada’s Basin and Range.
However, forecasters noted there is still uncertainty, as some weather models suggest high pressure could shift and allow monsoonal moisture to return, increasing the chance of additional showers and thunderstorms through the week.
The National Weather Service said it will continue monitoring forecast trends over the coming days as models become more consistent.
Residents and visitors are urged to avoid burn scar areas, steep terrain and flood-prone urban locations, where heavy rainfall could quickly trigger flooding. The agency also warned of rising creeks and streams, ponding on roadways and the potential for rockslides.
Daytime temperatures in Sierra communities are expected to remain in the upper 70s to low 80s.
Flash flood warning issues for Tahoe areas. Provided / National Weather Service
SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. – The South Tahoe Public Utility District (District) will begin rehabilitating approximately 8,000 linear feet of sewer mains in the Tahoe Keys neighborhood at the end of July as part of its ongoing commitment to maintaining a safe, reliable sewer system that protects public health and the environment.
The $1.1 million project will extend the life of sewer mains that were originally installed in the 1960s by using a trenchless method known as Ultraviolet Cured-in-Place Pipe. Instead of digging up streets, crews will install a new liner inside the existing sewer pipe through existing manholes. The new pipe is designed to last 50 years or more.
“Our goal is to keep our sewer system in a state of good repair while minimizing impacts to the community,” said Project Manager Brendan Cusick. “Using trenchless technology allows us to repair aging pipes with less disruption, lower costs, and a much shorter construction timeline.”
The project follows condition assessments completed in 2024 and 2025. The District inspected sewer mains in the eastern Tahoe Keys neighborhood using video cameras. The inspections found corrosion to be the most common issue, with sewer mains along eight streets identified as the highest priority for repairing.
“The Tahoe Keys has high groundwater, making trenchless rehabilitation the most environmentally responsible and cost-effective solution,” Cusick said. “This project helps ensure these sewer mains can serve the community reliably for decades to come.”
Construction is expected to begin at the end of July and continue through November. Work will generally take place Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Residents can expect occasional lane closures and construction activity as crews access sewer mains through existing manholes.
A 19-year-old woman was arrested after driving under the influenceProvided / CHP South Lake Tahoe
SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. – A 19-year-old woman was arrested and booked at the El Dorado County jail after she crashed her Subaru Outback on Saturday, July 18 before fleeing the scene.
According to California Highway Patrol (CHP), the South Lake Tahoe Police Department (SLTPD) reported a hit-and-run which occurred near the football field of South Tahoe High School.
“We responded to the scene and found the 19-year-old female driver,” CHP Officer Ruth Loehr, Public Information and Media Relations told the Tribune. CHP also confirmed that the driver is a resident of South Lake Tahoe.
After apprehending the female driver, CHP officers conducted a DUI evaluation and determined that she was under the influence of alcohol before her arrest. Several alcoholic beverages, including BuzzBalls ready-to-drink cocktails, were found in the driver’s possession.
WASHOE COUNTY, Nev. – RECCO, a global search and rescue technology, recently announced that the Washoe County Sheriff’s Office in Nevada has equipped its RAVEN (Regional Aviation Enforcement) helicopter program with a RECCO SAR Helicopter Detector, making it the 11th organization in the United States and the 54th worldwide to deploy the aerial system.
The RECCO system operates on a passive radar principle. The helicopter-carried detector emits a radar signal that bounces off a RECCO reflector, which is a small, lightweight, battery-free device integrated into outdoor clothing, helmets, backpacks and boots, and echoes back to the detector, guiding the aircrew directly to the person’s location.
The RAVEN helicopter program’s new airborne radar system will provide rapid search-and-rescue coverage across the Sierra Nevada region of Northern Nevada and Northern California.Provided / RECCO
First developed in the 1980s for avalanche rescue, RECCO technology has grown from a localized winter tool into a year-round global standard for search and rescue. The helicopter-mounted detector allows aircrews to scan larger areas of forest, mountain, and snow-covered terrain, often reducing searches that would take hours or days on foot.
“The addition of the RECCO helicopter system is a significant step forward for search and rescue across our region,” said Sheriff Darin Balaam. “As just the 11th organization in the United States and the 54th worldwide to deploy this life-saving aerial technology, we’re investing in capabilities that significantly narrow the window of time it takes to find someone who is lost or injured, ultimately saving lives. This technology strengthens our commitment to providing the highest level of service to our community and regional partners.”
The RAVEN program will provide RECCO-enabled search-and-rescue coverage primarily across Northern Nevada and Northern California, including the rugged terrain of the Sierra Nevada. The aerial capability will supplement the region’s many search-and-rescue teams already trained on RECCO handheld detectors, adding a coordinated air-and-ground search capability throughout the area.
“Washoe County’s terrain, from dense forest to high alpine backcountry, is exactly the kind of environment where a helicopter detector can make the biggest difference in search time,” said Fredrik Steinwall, CEO of RECCO. “We’re proud to welcome the Washoe County Sheriff’s Office to our network and to keep expanding this technology to regional partners who are on the front lines of search and rescue.”
To get the most out of the new capability, the Washoe County Sheriff’s Office encourages residents and visitors, whether skiing, hiking, mountain biking, or backcountry camping, to carry or wear gear equipped with a RECCO reflector, ensuring they are searchable to both air and ground crews. Many outdoor brands integrate reflectors directly into their gear, and stand-alone reflectors can be attached to backpacks or helmets.
The RAVEN helicopter program’s new airborne radar system will provide rapid search-and-rescue coverage across the Sierra Nevada region of Northern Nevada and Northern California.Provided / RECCO
SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. – At South Tahoe High School, it’s not unusual for more than half of students to graduate and stay in the community. In a town shaped by tourism, small businesses are the backbone of the local economy – and where many young people will build their futures. But in a region where costs are high and work is seasonal, many new businesses struggle to last beyond their first year.
For Isaiah Tannaci, Career Technical Education (CTE) Department Chair, that reality raises an important question.
Tasked by the school board to integrate entrepreneurship across its CTE pathways and supported by a Strong Workforce Program grant, he began to think beyond traditional classroom learning.
Provided
“For those staying in our community, how do we give them the opportunity for higher wages and sustainable living?” he said. “How do we help them envision a future where they don’t just take a job, but create something that lasts?”
While his initial idea was to open a retail space where students could design and sell products to test what might work, it eventually became clear they needed something else: a makerspace where they could develop, experiment, and refine their ideas before stepping out into the real world.
Around the same time, just a few miles away, the Marcella Foundation was asking similar questions.
Founded by Sean Fannan, a South Tahoe High graduate who went on to become a successful tech entrepreneur in San Francisco, the Marcella Foundation focuses on improving food access, literacy, and youth mentorship in the community.
As Melissa Uppendahl, Executive Director, recalled: “As our youth progress in their education, we asked ourselves, ‘How do we support them in what comes next in their lives?’ We imagined them moving from being learners to creators and innovators – in a space where they can tinker, prototype, fail, and iterate. The makerspace is really where that idea comes to life.”
So when Tannaci reached out to discuss funding for South Tahoe High’s vision of a makerspace, the timing felt unmistakable.
It was, as both described it, a moment of serendipity – two ideas taking shape independently, then coming together at exactly the right time. So they decided to build the makerspace together.
That partnership is now coming together through the Atrium, a 10,000-square-foot building that once housed a thrift store and will soon serve as the new home for the Marcella Foundation and its programs.
When it opens in late 2026, the Atrium will house a commercial kitchen, food storage and distribution hub, community space, and a fully equipped makerspace with tools and technologies many students would not otherwise have access to – from laser cutters, 3D printers, and sewing machines to a woodshop, metal shop, photography studio, electronics lab, and bike and snow gear repair stations.
All students in grades 9–12 in South Lake Tahoe will have access to the makerspace at no cost.
On the Road Before the Doors Open
To make the makerspace a reality, the team conducted a national search and found Joseph Minnich, a self-described “serial makerspace builder” who has done this before at universities across the country.
“Makerspaces are the ultimate place where you can go to build or fix anything,” Minnich said. “But more importantly, they’re places where you learn how to take an idea and turn it into something real.”
While the Atrium is still under renovation, Minnich has already taken the concept on the road. Using a truck and trailer outfitted with tools, his mobile makerspace brings hands-on projects directly into classrooms, working with teachers to make abstract concepts easier to understand.
For example, students learning geometry didn’t just memorize formulas – they cut and assembled cardboard pieces into hands-on tools to test angles and proportions and see how the math worked. “If you can build something to prove a scientific principle, it’s a pure form of learning and mastery,” he said.
When the Atrium opens, students will have access to more possibilities than ever before. For Uppendahl, it comes back to what the makerspace represents.
“We want students to walk into a space that inspires them,” she said. “A place where they feel capable and can try something new and realize they can actually make it happen.”
For Tannaci, it comes back to fostering an entrepreneurial mindset.
“My dream is that this becomes the incubator for local businesses here in Tahoe,” he said. “Where students can start, find something that works, and then take it out into the community.”
For a place where many students choose to stay, it’s a chance to build something of their own – close to home, starting with an idea and the tools to bring it to life.
The Fourth of July was marked by fireworks, celebrations, and remembrance for the 250th anniversary of the founding of the United States of America. This year, the 4th also brought the launch of a new federally-created savings account for kids called the “Trump Account”.
First, the basics. A Trump Account is a custodial retirement investment account for newborns and children up to the age of 18. Parents can open an account for their child, and up to $5,000 per year can be deposited into the account. Funds in the Trump Account must be invested in one of a handful of government-selected low-cost index funds. There is currently only one investment option, but the U.S. Department of the Treasury has announced 4 more funds to be added in the upcoming months.
In general, withdrawals aren’t permitted until the beneficiary reaches age 18. Once the child turns 18, the custodial Trump Account becomes very similar to a Traditional IRA account in terms of tax rules, except for some qualified exceptions like higher education expenses or a first-time home purchase.
As an incentive, eligible U.S. citizens born between 2025-2028 receive a one-time, $1,000 contribution from the government. In addition, the Michael and Susan Dell Foundation will contribute $250 to any Trump Account opened for a child age 10 or younger, provided that they live in a ZIP code where the median family income is less than $150,000. That includes most zip codes in and around Lake Tahoe.
Should everyone rush to open a Trump account for their child? Not necessarily. The advantages of the Trump Accounts are greater for some situations than they are for others. While the accounts likely make sense for some children, others might be better served by a 529 plan or a Roth IRA.
If your child is eligible for free contributions from either the federal government, the Dell Foundation or both, opening the account is a no-brainer. Even if you never add money to it, your child is getting free money invested for their future. Run, don’t walk, and open their account right away! Once you have the free money invested for your child, you can figure out whether additional contributions are your best option.
If there is no free money coming, the decision becomes more nuanced. Trump Accounts don’t avoid taxation the way Roth or 529 accounts can. Because of this, other types of accounts may have greater tax benefit for your particular situation.
For families whose top priority is saving for post-secondary education, a 529 account may be more advantageous, since you aren’t taxed on withdrawals if they are used for qualified educational expenses. Plus, leftover funds in the account can potentially be rolled into a Roth IRA tax-free up to a total of $35,000, although some guidelines apply. In cases where your child is old enough to work and has some income, directly saving into a Roth IRA could be your best option.
There’s another useful way that you can use a Trump Account to build savings for your child’s future. Unlike Traditional and Roth IRAs, you are allowed to contribute to a Trump Account even if your child has no earned income. You can contribute up to $5,000 per year, let it grow, and then do a series of small Roth conversions once your child is at least 18 and is earning income. For most young adults aged 18-22, the conversion could be done in either the 10% or 12% tax bracket—a very low-tax way to have a sizeable Roth account at a relatively young age, assuming future tax rates remain similar.
In my opinion, the best part of the Trump Accounts is that they may convince more families to start saving money earlier. I support that 100%. But be aware that there is no special tax treatment that makes these accounts inherently better than some of the other saving alternatives out there. Your personal family circumstances will determine whether or not a Trump Account is better than those other options.
However you choose to build your child’s future wealth, invest smartly and invest well!
Larry Sidney is a Zephyr Cove-based Investment Advisor Representative. Information is found at https://palisadeinvestments.com/ or by calling 775-299-4600 x702. This is not a solicitation to buy or sell securities. Clients may hold positions mentioned in this article. Past Performance does not guarantee future results. Consult your financial advisor before purchasing any security.
INCLINE VILLAGE, Nev. — In 2025, the North Lake Tahoe Fire Protection District (NLTFPD), in partnership with the Incline Village General Improvement District (IVGID), launched the 176.5-acre Worm Project, a wildfire fuels reduction initiative named for the long, narrow shape of the treatment area.
The project is creating an intensively managed forest buffer around neighborhoods above Highway 431 in Incline Village, extending from private property boundaries onto IVGID and U.S. Forest Service (USFS) lands. By reducing hazardous vegetation, the project helps lower wildfire risk, improve firefighter access, and strengthen the protection of lives, homes, and critical infrastructure.
Work includes thinning understory vegetation and removing smaller, suppressed trees while retaining approximately 10–15% of native brush in a mosaic pattern. This approach supports wildlife habitat, protects soil stability and water quality, and preserves the area’s natural forest character.
Phase 1, encompassing 62.6 acres, was completed in July 2025. Phase 2, covering the remaining 113.9 acres, is scheduled to begin July 20, 2026, and is expected to be completed by September 2026. The work will be performed using hand crews and low-impact, remotely operated mastication equipment operated by a qualified contractor to minimize disturbance while efficiently reducing hazardous fuels.
Phase 1 was fully funded by IVGID. Funding for Phase 2 is supported through multiple partnerships, including:
A State of Nevada A.B. 578 Better Together Nevada Shared Stewardship Grant, administered by the Nevada Division of Forestry (NDF), funding 94.9 acres with a 10% funding match from IVGID.
A U.S. Forest Service Hazardous Fuels–Community Protection Grant, administered by NDF, funding 10.9 acres with a 50% funding match from IVGID.
A Stewardship Agreement between NLTFPD and the USDA Forest Service Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit supporting treatment of the remaining 8.1 acres.
“The Worm Project is an important investment in the long-term safety and resilience of the Incline Village community. While no single project can eliminate the risk of wildfire, strategic fuels reduction significantly improves our ability to slow fire spread, provide firefighters with safer and more effective access, and better protect lives, homes, and critical infrastructure,” said Fire Chief Ryan Sommers. “As wildfire seasons continue to become longer and more complex, proactive forest management remains one of the most effective tools available to reduce wildfire risk. Projects like the Worm Project complement defensible space efforts on private property, creating a more resilient landscape where neighborhoods and surrounding forests work together to withstand wildfire. We appreciate the community’s patience and support as this important work takes place.”
For project updates, wildfire preparedness information, and other community announcements, visit www.nltfpd.org and follow the North Lake Tahoe Fire Protection District on Facebook, Instagram, and X.
SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. – Serving the community since 1989, Bread & Broth is an all-volunteer charitable organization and ministry of St. Theresa Church. With a mission to ease hunger, Bread & Broth (B&B) provides two hot, nutritious meals each week and helps feed food-insecure children, ages 18 months through 18 years, throughout the year.
In 2011, the Adopt A Day of Nourishment (AAD) program was launched to help financially support the weekly Monday Meal and to encourage local individuals, families, organizations, and businesses to participate and experience the impact of their AAD donation on those who attend the free weekly meal. In addition to enjoying a healthy, full-course dinner, dinner guests receive two to three bags of nutritious food to take home for meals later in the week.
Left to right: Jorge Villasenor, Erik Furr, Edina Groza, Stefan Sleapca. Provided / Bread and Broth
On July 13, Forest Suites Resort was the AAD sponsor for the Monday Meal. Forest Suites has hosted a Monday Meal annually since 2019. Located in Heavenly Village, Forest Suites is a welcoming resort destination convenient to both winter and summer activities. The resort offers guest rooms, suites, and condo rentals that are family and pet friendly and many vacation amenities. Creating an enjoyable and memorable experience is the goal of the resort’s team members.
Forest Suites Resort team members Erik Furr, Edina Groza, Stefan Sleapca, and Jorge Villasenor brought their customer-service spirit to their Monday Meal tasks and greatly enhanced the dining experience for the guests. The B&B volunteer staff and Adopt A Day crew members create a friendly, inviting, and comfortable environment. For many Bread & Broth dinner guests, the Monday Meal is a weekly opportunity to enjoy a filling and tasty meal prepared for them, much like dining at a restaurant.
Bread & Broth truly appreciates the generous financial support of Forest Suites Resort and its willingness to provide hardworking and thoughtful members of its team the opportunity to serve their fellow community members. Not only does the meal have an impact on those being served, but it is also a rewarding and eye-opening experience for those who volunteer their time and effort. Taking a break from the serving line, Erik shared, “Makes you feel very thankful for what you have!”
To learn more about Bread & Broth, donate, sponsor an Adopt A Day of Nourishment or volunteer, visit www.breadandbroth.org, or follow Bread & Broth on Instagram or Facebook.
STATELINE, Nev. – While the celebrities were in the spotlight, six noses and 24 paws worked diligently behind the scenes at the American Century Championship to keep everyone safe during the golf tournament that took place July 8-12 at Edgewood Tahoe Golf Course.
Whether it was checking golf bags or supply boxes, six explosive detection dogs conducted thorough sweeps of the event grounds each day in the early hours ahead of player and spectator arrival.
“No explosives were found during the event,” said Michelle Turner, Public Information Officer with Tahoe Douglas Fire Protection District. “However, all of the K9s loved being outdoors with all the animal smells.”
Due to the high-profile event and the amount of crowds the tournament draws (this year, a record 86,038 spectators), these K9s were recruited from numerous agencies across the region.
This year’s team included:
Honey from the Nevada State Police
Tracker from the Tahoe Douglas Fire Protection District
Maggie from the Washoe County Sheriff’s Office
Bak from the Reno Police Department
Saza from the University of Nevada, Reno Police Services
Dug from the Reno-Tahoe Airport Authority
Tracker is an explosive detection dog with the Tahoe Douglas Fire Protection District.Provided / TDFPD
Tracker is the local Tahoe explosive detection dog and has been a part of the Tahoe Douglas Bomb Squad for five years. Tracker is also part of the larger Northern Nevada Explosive Detection K9 group that helps with event sweeps throughout the Reno-Tahoe area.
On Tracker’s resume are hundreds of pre-event sweeps, including political events, dignity sweeps, presidential sweeps and call-outs.
Tracker and other Nevada POST-certified K9s are certified annually on a minimum of 12 explosive odors.
WASHOE COUNTY, Nev. – The Washoe County Sheriff’s Office Search and Rescue team and a regional helicopter unit rescued an injured hiker off Mt. Rose Saturday.
Teams responded to Mt. Rose summit in the early morning hours of July 18.
From the helicopter, a search and rescue hoist team was inserted into the backcountry.
The team then safely secured the hiker and hoisted her to an awaiting ground crew from Truckee Meadows Fire Protection District and REMSA, who transported her to the hospital.
Mike Kohl swam 5000 yards to raise money for Lake Tahoe Wildlife CareProvided/Mike Kohl
SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. – Lake Tahoe local, Mike Kohl, turned 50 this year, and instead of asking for gifts, he chose to challenge himself by swimming 5000 yards in exchange for donations to Lake Tahoe Wildlife Care (LTWC).
Kohl started swimming regularly as a way to stay in shape.
“My daughter just turned 21-months-old, so I’m an older parent,” said Kohl. “I started looking at time differently.”
He set out to enhance his health and vitality for the long-term benefit of raising his daughter, and realized as his 50th birthday was approaching, he didn’t want gifts this year – he wanted to make a difference.
When choosing a nonprofit to channel his efforts into, Kohl knew he was passionate about not just his health, but the health of the planet.
“The planet has half the wildlife it had when I was born,” he said. “Which is astounding. 50 years in the history of a planet is not a long time.”
In a comprehensive study conducted every two years by the World Wildlife Fund, their most recent Living Planet Report showed an astonishing 73% drop in the average size of wildlife populations of more than 5000 vertebrae species from 1970 to 2020.
“We really need to focus on this,” Kohl said. “And where we live, there’s an abundance of wildlife.”
From eagles, bears and coyotes to American river otters, Tahoe is teeming with a variety of species, and among the organizations committed to the rescue, rehabilitation and release of Tahoe’s wildlife is LTWC.
His familiarity with the organization started over 30 years ago, when Kohl’s aunt was an early volunteer for LTWC before they had their facility, rehabilitating animals ranging from bluebirds to minks in her own backyard.
After Kohl, himself, attempted to volunteer several times in recent years, he realized the organization already had an influx of volunteer support.
“It says a lot about our community,” he said. “I thought, ‘Okay, well if I’m not needed there, what if I could raise some money for them?'”
So he hit the water, training every day in the Tahoe Keys pool by testing his limits to see how far he could go, roughly averaging 2000 yards a day. Although he hit some challenges, including a brief pause to his training due to shoulder pain caused by an improper swimming technique, Kohl kept pushing.
“I thought, ‘Is the shoulder going to be the thing that stops me?” said Kohl.
As it turned out, changing his stroke made him faster, and by the time July rolled around, Kohl was ready.
His birthday swim took place on July 8, and he swam 5000 yards in two hours while raising his goal of $500 for LTWC.
“Hopefully it will inspire people to care for themselves and for wildlife more,” said Kohl, who encourages anyone interested in donating to visit https://ltwc.org/.
TAHOE CITY, Calif. – July 9 marked 50 years since Tahoe Environmental Research Center founder Charles R. Goldman launched the John Le Conte on Lake Tahoe, a vessel still used today, setting an important milestone in the voyage of research and monitoring of Lake Tahoe.
“I think sometimes we focus on the problems that we see in front of us,” TERC Director Dr. Stephanie Hampton said at the start of this year’s State of the Lake report on Thursday, July 16. “I also want to remember that we need to celebrate some of the successes of the past.”
And so, she began this year’s presentation, held at Granlibakken in Tahoe City, looking back at the rich legacy set by Dr. Goldman. In addition to founding a research dynasty, the pioneer worked with the founders of Keep Tahoe Blue, fought for stricter environmental protections, like diverting sewage out of the basin, and helped thwart a four-lane highway proposed over the mouth of Emerald Bay.
These actions have been instrumental in preserving the environmental destination Lake Tahoe is today, drawing many from far and wide.
Hampton noted that Tahoe now relies on a $10 billion-a-year tourism industry. Despite being half the size of Yosemite National Park, it receives three times the visitation, presenting the region with a new wave of challenges in managing these influx pressures.
“One of the things that I really love about working and living up here is that nobody needs to be convinced that the environment needs to be protected,” she said. “Most people live or visit here because of the environment. So, the questions are mostly about how to protect it.”
To answer those questions, TERC and partners look to science.
Tahoe’s clarity
Although not used alone, Tahoe’s famed clarity is a good indicator scientists use to monitor its health.
After declining through the nineties, annual average clarity continues to plateau at about 70 feet.
“So that’s good news, that these declines seem to have stopped,” Hampton explained, “but many people in this room aren’t aware that the management target for Tahoe is to reach historical levels. The Tahoe community wants more. They really want to protect and restore this lake.”
That means the aim for clarity is a depth of 97.4 feet by 2076 and an interim goal of 78 feet by 2031. Hamption explained that there are variations in clarity, with winter values holding steady while summer values worsen. The highest clarity values occur during deep-mixing events, when the lake mixes vertically from the surface to the bottom.
Much of the focus on restoring Tahoe clarity has been on inorganic particles, such as sediment, after a 2006 study found that 58% of inorganic particles contribute to clarity impacts, while organic particles account for 25%.
However, Hampton pointed out, “When we don’t see that [clarity] curve bending in spite of all of our efforts to try to improve clarity, we have to ask whether this information is still true.”
A warming world
Since the time that study concluded, Hampton explained, air and water temperatures have been warming. Those changes have brought increasingly more precipitation as rain and less snow, as well as more ash and smoke as fires grow more frequent and intense.
As these environmental factors change, ecosystem drivers may also be changing and impacting clarity.
Rain can often wash more sediment into the lake compared to snow. Ash and smoke can also contribute to sediment and affect clarity. Additionally, ash introduces nutrients to a class of organic particles, called phytoplankton, which are microscopic organisms that can impact clarity.
The concept has TERC researchers taking a closer look at phytoplankton. These small creatures, unlike inorganic sediment (which sinks), remain suspended in the water column, exerting a persistent impact on clarity.
One decline in clarity in June and July of 2025 correlated with a large bloom of one phytoplankton called Cyclotella.
Phytoplankton also thrive in warm temperatures.
“So, it stands to reason,” Hampton said, “that phytoplankton may be a bigger driver of clarity as water warms.”
Understanding phytoplankton
Hampton outlined numerous methods to monitor these microscopic beings.
One method includes using the same laser technology used to detect blood cancers at the UC Davis Comprehensive Cancer Center. Researchers have found a way to use the technology to detect one of the smallest phytoplankton, called picoplankton, which is too small to be measured by standard methods.
Although picoplankton are incredibly small, a study found that they account for around 50% of primary productivity in Tahoe, highlighting their significant role.
Studies are also being conducted on “lake snow,” seemingly snow-like large particles that fall to the bottom. These are made up of aggregations of phytoplankton and sediments that stick together.
Why are they important to clarity?
These aggregates sink faster than individual particles, thereby going out of the light zone and no longer impacting clarity. Understanding “lake snow” could be an important piece of the puzzle.
“We’re trying to understand how the environment shapes how particles actually get cleared from the upper waters and how fast it can occur,” Hampton explained. “So we think understanding these processes will be key to understanding why summer clarity is not improving.”
Nearshore
Hampton also provided an overview of an ecosystem where humans interact most with the lake and where the greatest pressure from aquatic invasive species occurs—the nearshore environment.
One of the greatest concerns the public and researchers have in this area of the lake is algae and whether it is increasing.
“So far, we cannot detect a change in the total amount of near shore algae, but here’s the big caveat,” Hampton said. “It is really difficult to monitor near shore algae because it is literally a moving target.”
It can jump from one zone to another, so if it moves out of the monitoring area, that data no longer gets captured.
To combat this, TERC researchers are developing new monitoring methods using drones and helicopters to capture data on the entire shoreline.
A grad student is also studying whether satellite remote sensing can effectively monitor shoreline algae. Although TERC is cautiously optimistic, Hamptson said, “if it works, that would be very cost-effective and potentially semi-automated.”
Other shoreline studies are using genetic approaches to investigate how algal patches are associated with invasive species and testing the use of DNA in the environment to detect invasive species.
Hamption concluded the State of the Lake by addressing broader implications.
“This get-together in Tahoe tonight is focused on Lake Tahoe, but the lessons learned here go well beyond this place,” Hampton said. “Looking forward we’re going to anticipate that the challenges will intensify as areas of North America become less hospitable through heat, storms, sea level rise and wildfire.”
Populations are expected to shift northward and to higher elevations, something already seen at Tahoe, which receives an increase of visitors by the thousands when Central Valley temperatures go above 100 degrees.
“As the world changes,” Hampton said at the end of the report, “it’s likely that this is just the beginning, so we need to build resilience in our communities and our infrastructure, our ecosystems now.”
ZEPHYR COVE, Nev. — The Boys & Girls Club of Lake Tahoe (BGCLT) announces the opening of a new after-school and vacation program at Zephyr Cove Elementary School, extending its high-quality youth programming to the Nevada side of the South Shore. The new site will initially serve students in Pre-K through 5th grade.
The program will run from the end of the school day until 6 p.m. on regular school days, and all day during school vacations, giving working families a safe, consistent place for their children throughout the year.
Zephyr Cove youth members will enjoy the same enriching programming offered at the Club’s California sites, with a focus on homework support, STEM, art, recreation, and character and leadership development. The Club holds itself to high standards for safety and is excited to provide a safe, fun, and educational place for children to be while their parents are at work.
Thanks to the generosity of a donor, membership will be free for families earning under $100,000 per year, with a sliding fee scale available for all other families. The program operates on a membership model, with families enrolling for the full school year at one flat rate. Additional fees will apply for summer and school breaks.
Enrollment opens on Monday, August 3 and will continue until the program is full. Families who enroll before the start of the school year will receive a free t-shirt to celebrate the new site. Accepted youth members can start attending on the first day of school, Monday, August 17th. An open house and tour for families will be shared at a later date.
“We are delighted that with this expansion, all children on the South Shore will be served by high-quality after-school programming,” said Jude Wood, the CEO of the Boys & Girls Club of Lake Tahoe. “This new site supports working families and helps make our excellent local schools even stronger.”
Families must enroll their members to attend the Club. Zephyr Cove Elementary families can enroll starting Monday, August 3 (note: families who attend elementary and middle school in Lake Tahoe Unified School District must submit their enrollment application by Monday, July 27). Learn more and enroll at bgclt.org.
The team has won the Nevada State title for three consecutive years Provided / Chris Campion
SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. – After their third consecutive win to take home the Nevada State Championship, the South Tahoe 13-16 All-Star team is headed to the Pacific Southwest Regional tournament.
Four years of playing as a team have proved advantageous as the All-Stars’ defeated Fallon, 16-1 and Sparks, 18-3. After coming back from a 7-1 deficit to win their third game, the team secured their title.
“We feel like we’re still improving and our play is getting better every time we go out there to play and practice,” said Chris Campion, Assistant Coach for the South Tahoe Babe Ruth 13-16 All-Star team.
The Pacific Southwest Regional tournament in Fallon, Nevada will feature multi-day, double-elimination brackets while the team competes against the best teams from Arizona, Northern, Central and Southern California, Utah and Hawaii starting on July 19.
Because the South Tahoe All-Stars’ have competed in the tournament in years prior, they have an idea what to expect, and sights are set on landing spots in the winners bracket throughout the week.
“The goal for this year is to win more games and get deeper into the tournament,” Campion said. “Ultimately, we want to play on Friday for the championship.”
In addition to several fundraising efforts that have taken place including a golf fundraiser at the Lake Tahoe Golf Course, a GoFundMe has been created to cover travel expenses so every player can afford the opportunity to compete.
“We’re very honored and humbled to represent South Tahoe,” said Campion “We emphasize that with the players at almost every practice – that they’re representing not only themselves, their families and their schools, but also our whole community.”
The South Tahoe Babe Ruth All-Star team heads to regionals on July 19Provided / Chris Campion
SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. – The City of South Lake Tahoe Arts, Culture, and Tourism (ACT) Commission is inviting community members to share their feedback through the Arts, Culture, and Public Art Survey.
The survey is designed to help the City better understand how residents, visitors, artists, businesses, and community partners engage with arts and culture in South Lake Tahoe. Feedback gathered will help inform future efforts related to arts programming, cultural experiences, public art, and opportunities to strengthen creative expression throughout the community.
“Arts and culture should reflect the diverse voices, experiences, and creativity of our community,” said Stacey Ballard, Chair, ACT Commission. “This survey will help us identify opportunities, understand barriers, and support arts and cultural experiences that are meaningful and accessible to more people in South Lake Tahoe.”
The survey asks participants to share what types of arts, culture, and public art they value most, how they currently participate, and what opportunities could help more people connect with local arts and culture.
Community members are encouraged to complete the survey and share it with others who live, work, visit, create, or do business in South Lake Tahoe.
Input received through the survey will assist the Arts, Culture, and Tourism Commission as it considers future recommendations, priorities, and opportunities to support arts, culture, and public art in South Lake Tahoe.
Looking for a best friend who’s always up for an adventure, and a cuddle afterward? Meet Rainier, our Pet of the Week!
At 4 years old and nearly 70 pounds, Rainier is a big-hearted, playful pup with an even bigger personality. This social sweetheart loves spending time with people and gets along well with other dogs, making him a wonderful companion for an active family or anyone looking for a loyal sidekick.
Rainier’s favorite pastime? Making a splash! Whether it’s cooling off in a kiddie pool or enjoying water play on a warm day, this fun-loving guy is happiest when he can dive into the action. (Bonus points if his future home has a baby pool waiting for him!)
Rainier is this week’s Pet of the Week. Provided / HSTT
When the adventures are over, Rainier is just as happy to trade playtime for snuggle time. He’s the perfect mix of energetic and affectionate, always ready to curl up beside his favorite people after a day of fun. Rainier will thrive in a home that offers plenty of exercise, continued positive reinforcement, and a consistent routine as he settles into his new life. With a little guidance and lots of love, he’s sure to become an incredible lifelong companion.
If you’re searching for a dog who’s equal parts adventure buddy and cuddle companion, Rainier is ready to make a splash in your life. Come meet this lovable boy, you just might find your perfect match! Rainier is neutered, microchipped, and up to date on vaccines. If you are interested in meeting him or learning more about him, please get in touch with HSTT’s Adoption Specialists at, 530-587-5948 or adoptions@hstt.org. To view more adoptable pets or to learn more about the Humane Society of Truckee-Tahoe, visit, www.hstt.org.
This past weekend marked my favorite workweek of the year, the American Century Championship. I look forward to it the same way a kid looks forward to Christmas. I have a complicated history with golf. I don’t know who half of the celebrities are, but my goodness, do I love every moment of covering that epic event.
There are many reasons why I like working at the celebrity golf tournament. There are the celebrities, of course. From professional athletes of all sports, to comedians, musicians and actors, there is someone for everyone. For me, there are the few that I have minor crushes on (looking at you, Miles Teller) or people I’ve grown up watching, like Ray Romano. I’m not immune to the celebrity charm. For the media, we get to go under the ropes and get much closer. Even though we’re not supposed to interact with them while they’re playing, it’s still fun to get to know them a little through the camera lens.
I also love watching the celebrities bring joy to the spectators. I saw Rob Riggle joking with fans, Anthony Anderson causing a holdup because he was taking too many pictures with people, and, of course, Charles Barkley is one of the kindest people on the course. There are so many happy kids (and kids at heart) getting signatures from their sports heroes.
But it’s not just the celebrities that make the event fun; it’s the work itself that is fun. Working in a small town newspaper, we don’t get a lot of opportunities to work in a real media room. The lights and the cameras, the rows and rows of tables filled with other members of the media on deadline and the camaraderie. There’s stress, but there’s also laughing and bonding. Much like the celebrities, there are the same members of the media who come back year-after-year so the media room is like a reunion. While I have no interest in working for a big network, I do enjoy the opportunity to soak up the action each year.
My favorite day to work is Sunday. Yes, Friday and Saturday tend to be more crowded and more rowdy; I live for the drama of Sunday. To follow the leaders and feel the tension. Each good shot is that much more exciting, and each miss is that much more painful. And to be on the 18th green when the winner is crowned, to see the winner’s emotion up close and personal, there is nothing much like it.
Yes, this weekend is hard work. There are early mornings and long days. I’m usually a little sunburnt and dehydrated, and my brain usually doesn’t work the following Monday. But I love the American Century Championship, and I’m also sad when it’s over.
Bryn Ungeheuer, voted Best Mechanic in Best of Tahoe 2026, servicing a Bentley Provided/Justin Bland
SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. – Inside the bustling bay of Eloise Automotive and Alignment, you’ll find Bryn Ungeheuer hard at work, likely tinkering under the hood of a Bentley or BMW. Her unwavering dedication to her craft has landed her Best Mechanic in Best of Tahoe 2026.
Before Ungeheuer became one of the only female mechanics in the area to specialize in European vehicles, her love for automotive technology started in high school while taking an auto shop elective class.
“I figured I shouldn’t be that one person stuck on the side of the road who didn’t even know how to change her own tire,” said Ungeheuer.
From freshman to senior year, her interest in automotive mechanics grew as she apprenticed at Ward’s Automotive in Diamond Springs where she learned to work on Fords and Dodges before heading off to study at Universal Technical Institute in Sacramento.
Following trade school, Ungeheuer met Greg Zink, owner of Tahoe Import Auto, an independent European specialist garage and Ungeheuer’s home base for the next 13 years. From 2011 to 2025, Zink mentored Ungeheuer, providing her with an influx of knowledge and experience.
“Greg gave me my shot. He’s the one that actually taught me all about the European and German import stuff that I do now,” said Ungeheuer. “I owe a lot to Greg when it comes to my life here. If I went straight into a dealership fresh out of college instead, it probably would have been a different story.”
After Tahoe Import Auto permanently closed its doors, Zink focused his attention on his sister shop, Carson Valley Import Auto, and Ungeheuer began working at Eloise Automotive and Alignment.
She now falls under two niches – one being the 2.14% of female mechanics in a male-dominated field, and the second being a mechanic specializing in European vehicles in a domestic-dominated automotive industry.
While she runs into occasional challenges handling heavy car parts and the rare pessimism from a new customer, Ungeheuer notes that her reputation far outweighs any negativity she’s experienced as a female mechanic.
“For physical strength, there are certain limits, and the guys have to help me out, but to be honest with you, most people are super into it,” she said.
Ungeheuer encourages women looking to dive into the field to take the plunge and get after it.
“Ignore what everybody else thinks or what their opinions are, especially if it’s negative,” she expressed. “Focus on you, do your thing. If you like it, nobody else really matters.”
Ungeheuer remains true to herself and to her passion; That authenticity could have very well been what led to her being voted Best Mechanic in Best of Tahoe 2026, although it still came as a surprise to her.
“My best assumption is that people remember me,” Ungeheuer said. “I hope it motivates more women to just go for it.”
Ungeheuer has been an the automotive industry for more than 13 yearsProvided/Justin Bland
“Hard to put into words how freeing it is,” Jimi Brenner said while taking a break from an afternoon at the downhill mountain bike trails. Brenner lives and works on an orchard around Auburn, he likes biking, he is into metal fabrication, and when he was 29, his car slid off the road into a big oak tree. He became paralyzed from chest down.
JIMI BRENNER on his adaptive bike. Trails for these bikes should be at least 58 inches wide, according to High Fives. Photo courtesy Jimi Brenner
Brenner found the hospital-provided wheelchairs not to his liking, so a year after his injury, he built his own. “I’ve always been the outdoorsy person,” he said. “I can’t get stuck inside much.”
Three years after his accident, Brenner rode a bike again. The bike was adaptive to his injury, lent to him at the High Fives Community Bike Day, a fundraiser open to everyone.
High Fives was launched in 2009 after its founder, Roy Tuscany, overshot a ski jump and became paralyzed from the waist down. Tuscany received help from his community and started High Fives to “prevent life-changing injuries and provide resources and hope if they happen.” Since then, High Fives has served over 1,000 athletes in a multitude of sports and funded more than 1,900 grants.
After receiving a grant from High Fives and the Kelly Brush Foundation, whose mission is “to inspire and empower people with spinal cord injuries to lead active and engaged lifestyles,” Brenner was able to buy one of the bikes, which start at $15,000. But he didn’t know where to ride it. “Auburn has a lot of real tight single track,” he said. “It’s hard to ride independently.”
In 2021, High Fives collaborated with Sky Tavern Bike Park, located off Mt. Rose Highway, to build a trail suitable for adaptive riders. “We wanted to include several [adaptive specific] design features,” said Becca Lefanowicz, director of brand and creative for High Fives. For instance, “that it would be wide enough for adaptive bikes that have a wider and longer frame.”
I DID IT! Estocado is triumphant after a downhill mountain bike run.
A High Fives adaptive trail must be at least 58 inches wide, a standard that unaffiliated organizations like Lee Canyon resort in Las Vegas have begun to copy. Because adaptive mountain bikes have a lower clearance than standard ones, the trail is also maintained to avoid what Lefanowicz calls “pinch points” — areas that would be too rocky for the low clearance of an adaptive bike. Brenner described the Sky Tavern trail as “super fun, super flowy.” It’s also one of two locations for the High Fives Community Bike Day in June, July, and August this year.
Since the Sky Tavern installation, High Fives has put in another adaptive-friendly trail at Sierra Vista in Reno.
“Most trails are not too far off,” Brenner said, “there’s maybe just a little something on them [that makes them not suitable for an adaptive bike].” But on Brenner’s new-model Bowhead Reach with a tilting mechanism, he said that “98, 99% of the trails — I can ride on them.”
ALL SMILES: High Fives collaborated with Sky Tavern Bike Park, located off Mt. Rose Highway, to build a trail suitable for adaptive riders, which Estocado happily bombs down. Photos courtesy High Fives
Brenner said it’s big news in his community when a new trail like this is put in. “It’s more open space you can get out and explore.” This, he said, is the point. And Lefanowicz added that the word she most commonly hears from people who use the adaptive trails is “independence.”
There was a moment at the second-ever Gambler’s Run in 2024 when The Main Squeeze was covering Pink Floyd’s “Have a Cigar” and it all kind of came together for Crystal Bay Casino’s production/marketing manager Sam Shear.
“It was right at dusk,” he said. “The golden hour light. The energy of the band, the energy of the crowd. It was epic. All the work we’d done, a lot of things had to line up to make that moment happen.”
MUSICAL CONNECTION: A festivalgoer and a musician are in sync during a daytime set.
Things did line up and that moment did happen. More moments happened last year and more moments will happen in 2026, the festival gaining momentum like some incendiary fiddle solo played against a devil down in Georgia. This year, the String Cheese Incident leads its biggest lineup yet, headlining three days of deep-pooled musicality with their Thursday night set.
Formed in Colorado a good 30 years ago, the band has shredded strings and lit up audiences around the world with its bluegrass meets funky-country-rocky-jazzy-reggae-infused sound that offers a pinch of psychedelia and throws in a warm breeze
for good measure.
IT’S ALL GRATITUDE AND GOOD TIMES in the front row at dusk at Gambler’s Run.
The band’s name stems from a cheese-heavy food fight the members had in a bar back in the ’90s. They’ll be coming off a two-night run at Red Rocks Amphitheater before rolling the dice in Crystal Bay as part of their five-month Just Keep Spinning tour.
Red Rocks has a 9,500-person capacity, a typical venue size for the band. Gambler’s Run, on the other hand, is capped at 1,000. A faraway lawn seat won’t exist at the festival, and access to the front rows won’t cost $500-plus — so fans will see and hear and feel the cheese-grating up close.
“String Cheese is about the biggest act we can get,” Shear said. “We’ve had them in the Crown Room, but this is a new time for a new setting.”
That setting is outdoors. That setting is intimate. That setting is Tahoe air and golden hour light and the mysteries of the night. And visuals.
“A lot of focus is also on the art, the eye candy of the festival,” said Shear, who was coy with details to not give away too much and spoil first-impression surprise and intrigue. “It’s an all-encompassing experience. We’ll transform the festival grounds as much as possible.”
Those adorned grounds will be played from 4 to 10 p.m. Thursday through Saturday, with the gates opening at 3 p.m. for food and craft vendors, and high-energy afterparties in the Crown Room raging until midnight or so.
Big Head Todd and the Monsters headlines Friday’s lineup with its own sweet Colorado-born style that has continued to evolve and delight music lovers since its 1993 platinum rock album Sister Sweetly, featuring the decade’s iconic and seemingly immortal (for good reason) “Bittersweet.” The soulful sounds and rhythmic beat of The California Honeydrops will get Saturday night’s airs swirling and the dancefloor moving.
But Gambler’s Run isn’t just three consecutive big-name concerts; it’s a music festival that features eight hours of music per day and over 10 bands that run the gamut. Also performing are the Humboldt funk machine Diggin Dirt, the electronic-instrumental synthesis of the groovy Octave Cat (featuring Jessie Miller of Lotus), and the Nashville-based Grateful Dead-influenced punk rockers Sicard Hollow, among others.
Sicard Hollow’s guitarist Alex King shared his thoughts: “We love music festivals, casinos, and lakes. Gambler’s Run is a perfect place … because it crosses off all three of those boxes. Let’s party.”
Three-Pronged Event
In addition to the intrepid tunes and dynamic art, Gambler’s Run also features a core contingent of activities and activism at its nonprofit village.
The nonprofit tine is a who’s who of local ecological stalwarts: Keep Tahoe Blue, Sierra Nevada Alliance, Tahoe Environmental Research Center (TERC), UC Davis, Restoring My Lake; and, from Colorado, Conscious Alliance. Each entity helms an interactive booth and leads an engaging activity that ties back to its message. Festival-goers are provided a punch card; punches are earned by doing the activities; completing all the activities gains entry into drawings for signed posters and other rad prizes.
A main component of the activism for the festival itself focuses on sustainability. “When we started Gambler’s Run four years ago now, we were like, ‘We are in Lake Tahoe, we should be as conscious of our environment as possible.’”
THE OUTDOOR GROUNDS at Gambler’s Run hosts bands from 4 to 10 pm. before the event moves into the Crown Room for the afterparties.
A main cog in that activism/sustainability wheel was to phase out plastic cups by phasing in aluminum ones. The CBC began doing so at the first Gambler’s Run in 2023 and it’s now become standard practice at every show it hosts. No single-use plastic cups, not one; stats showing the switch having already saved close to 100,000 plastic cups and thousands of plastic water bottles from ending up in landfills.
That’s the type of action that helps the world keep spinning and the music keep playing. And summer music festivals right here in the Tahoe Basin, without having to undertake some distant drive in some super-hot direction, are a good thing too.
“If you’re a local,” Shear concluded, “you know the Crystal Bay Casino; what we do is live music. This is our masterpiece — three days of music, art, activism. Come on over and hang out.”
Wade Snider, master photographer, believes that every photo taken should be planned for months. In accordance with his tight hierarchy of strict guidelines, he camped out for ages, waiting for this exact photograph. On day 90, lightning struck. The beagles lined up. The bear was there. All he had to do was hit the shutter. The world softened for a bit. The birds, awestruck, quieted their ritualistic song. When the day returned to focus and time resumed ticking, all that was left was a photograph. Seen here.
With summer in full swing, the Cancer new moon on July 14 offers a welcome invitation to slow down, to rest, and to reconnect.
On July 18, Uranus in Gemini trines Pluto retrograde in Aquarius, an amicable transit that highlights both the tension and harmony between abstract ideas and collective technological transformations underway. Two days later, Jupiter in Leo forms a trine to Neptune retrograde in Aries, while also opposing Pluto — encouraging examination of values and relationships to the world’s changes.
The sun enters Leo on July 22, followed by Mercury coming out of its retrograde transit on July 24. Expect a certain momentum to return to a plan of yours that’s been stalled.
A major collective shift occurs on July 26 as the north node enters Aquarius and the south node enters Leo. This new nodal cycle will be playing out for 18 months and encourages us to participate more consciously in worldly happenings.
Leo-season energies amplify on July 29 when Jupiter conjoins the sun during a full moon in Aquarius. With Pluto in conjunction to the full moon, this lunation brings expansive emotional and subconscious transformation. Pay attention to what needs to be released as well as what’s coming up that needs to be celebrated.
Venus enters Libra on August 6. This will bring balance, a focus on beauty, and an inclination to socialize. August 7 and 8 may feel more reactive, with the Gemini moon transiting first Uranus and then Mars. To give yourself time to take in the full picture, endeavor to pause before responding to things.
On August 12, we have a powerful solar eclipse. The Leo new moon also joins the south node, with Jupiter and Mercury also in Leo. This day will illuminate old stories of identities and patterns that may surface for review.
NATURAL MAGIC
There are many transits happening in this time that relate to collective change and how that is personally significant, highlighted by the nodal shift into the signs of Aquarius and Leo exactly on July 26; consider setting aside twenty minutes a day between July 19 and August 2 to honor both the transition and your own evolutionary growth. Begin with ten minutes of heart-centered meditation. Place one hand on your heart and one hand on your belly, breathing slowly as you imagine your awareness dropping from your head to your heart.
Then spend ten minutes reflecting and journaling. Consider these prompts: When I shift perception from my head to my heart, what changes within me?What is my unique gift to the world? How can I use my creativity in service to something larger than myself?
Bees. These remarkable bugs are more than just fuzzy visitors to flowers or “scary” insects that sting. They are vital pollinators who play a crucial role in maintaining the health of our mountain ecosystems and the planet as a whole.
When most people think of bees, they picture the classic honey bee: living in its bustling hive, making honey, and serving the queen. However, honey bees are not native to North America and their highly social lifestyle represents only a small fraction of the world’s bee species.
In fact, the vast majority of bees around the world and in the Sierra Nevada are solitary, up to 85% living quiet, independent lives that often go unnoticed by humans. In these species there are no queens, no workers, and no hives.
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A SWEAT BEE (Halictidae) nuzzles into flax in South Lake Tahoe. Photo by Nina Miller/Moonshine Ink
Van Dyke’s Bumble Bee (Bombus vandykei) atop a sage in Truckee. Photo by Will Richardson
A MASON BEE (Osmia montana) visits a Senecio in Page Meadows above Tahoe City. Photo by Will Richardson
Rather, every female bee is essentially a one-bee construction crew, food gatherer, and parent all rolled into one. After snowmelt, they find or build suitable nests, collect nectar and pollen, and create a carefully stocked nursery for future offspring. After supplying the nest chamber with food, the female lays a single egg, seals the chamber, and begins the process of preparing the next chamber for another egg. Once her work is complete, her life cycle comes to an end and the next generation develops during the winter months to emerge in the spring.
Meanwhile, male bees have a simpler life. Their lifespan lasts only a few weeks and equates to: emerge, compete to find a mate, reproduce, and that’s about it.
Native Tahoe/Truckee bees come in an incredible variety of shapes, sizes, and colors. Some wear the familiar yellow-and-black striped patterns while others look like tiny flying jewels, shimmering in the sunlight with their metallic greens, blues, or bronze. When identifying whether an insect is a bee, a helpful clue is to look for yellow, dusty pollen clinging to its body. Female bees often carry pollen on specialized hairs attached to their legs called corbiculae (or “pollen pants”), and other species will tote it on the underside of their abdomens.
Tahoe/Truckee Bee Diversity
One of the most interesting solitary bees around Tahoe/Truckee are leafcutter bees (Megachile spp.). These tiny architects carefully cut out near-perfect circles from leaves or other plant material and carry them back to their nests. They then use the leaf pieces to form the structure of their nursery chamber cells, and, like wallpaper, the leaf material lines and protects the chamber to promote growth of beneficial microbes.
Gardeners sometimes notice the neat circular holes left behind by the leafcutters and wonder, “What happened?” Fortunately, it’s most often good news. The holes rarely harm the plant as a whole, and the “damage” is little more than a tiny rental fee, paid in exchange for excellent pollination services.
Mason bees (Osmia spp.) include another type of solitary bee found in our area. These small critters have dark bodies and an often iridescent sheen, and can easily be mistaken for a fly. However, they are all bee: widely considered some of nature’s most efficient pollinators. A single female has been known to pollinate up to 2,000 blossoms in one day.
Her pollinating power comes from how she carries pollen. Instead of packing it tightly on her legs, the mason bee female carries it loosely on the underside of her body, allowing her to transfer more pollen between flowers. Around Tahoe/Truckee you can find mason bees living in natural cavities such as hollow stems and holes in wood, but they will also readily occupy homemade bee boxes with paper or cardboard nesting tubes placed near flowering plants (a fun project for your yard).
For other bees, that patch of exposed dirt in your yard or a downed log out back can be prime real estate too, so leave them be!
Of course, no discussion of Sierra buzzers would be complete without mentioning bumble bees (Bombus spp.). The fuzzy giants of the bee world, bumble bees are larger, louder, and easier to spot than many of their smaller relatives.
Unlike most of the area’s native bees, bumble bees are social insects, forming small colonies led by a single queen and supported by a female workforce. Their colonies, however, function very differently from honey bee hives. As fall approaches, the workers die off, leaving only the newly mated queens alive, seeking shelter underground where they overwinter beneath the snowpack. When spring arrives, each queen emerges to build an entirely new colony from scratch.
Truckee/Tahoe is home to several bumblebee species, including the endangered Western Bumble Bee (Bombus occidentalis). Not long ago, at Sagehen Creek Research Station, Dr. Nina Sokolov of UC Berkeley found 23 Western Bumble Bees in just 45 minutes, a remarkable find given this species is endangered and difficult to find across the state of California. Perhaps Truckee is a hotspot for this species? More research and time will tell, but for now this is encouraging for Bombus occidentalis.
Supporting the Bees That Support Us
Bees play a critical role in maintaining our region’s biodiversity. Their services support the plants that provide food and shelter for countless other species, while encouraging outcrossing among the plants themselves, increasing genetic diversity and creating stronger, healthier, and more resilient communities of organisms.
Sadly, not all news is good, and our bees face many challenges. Habitat loss, disease, pesticide exposure, and climate change all threaten native bee populations. Habitat loss from human development destroys both nesting sites and the flowering plants bees depend on. Pesticides may directly harm the pollinators or indirectly kill the plants they rely on. Climate change creates timing mismatches between flowers and the bees’ emergence.
Fortunately, communities throughout our nation are recognizing the importance of protecting pollinators, and Truckee has an exciting opportunity to join that effort. The Tahoe Institute for Natural Science (TINS) is leading the charge to designate the Town of Truckee as an official “Bee City.” TINS and other partners through Bee City USA intend to protect native pollinators through education, habitat restoration, and conservation. While the designation is an important milestone, its true value lies in the community actions that follow.
POLLINATORS: One of Truckee/Tahoe’s most common and widespread bumble bee species, Yellow-faced Bumble Bee (Bombus vosnesenskii) visiting a yarrow and showing a packed pollen basket. Photo by Will Richardson
Residents can help in surprisingly simple ways; planting native flowers and leaving patches of bare soil, dead wood, and dried stems all work to create nesting opportunities. Even participating in community science projects using iNaturalist, a free app that helps identify plants and animals while collecting data for science and conservation, can help researchers better understand local bee populations. In this way, every yard, garden, school, neighborhood, and human can become part of the solution.
So, the next time you hear a faint buzz while hiking a trail, walking through a meadow, or tending your garden, take a closer look and try to appreciate the bee for who it is and what it does.
These remarkable insects may be small, but their impact is enormous. Quietly and tirelessly, our native bees sustain the wildflowers, forests, and vibrant landscapes that make the Sierra Nevada the wonderful and biologically diverse place that it is.
If you’re not looking for the Understory, it’s easy to walk right past it. Owner Annie Stefani calls it a hobbit hole — picture Alice falling into the rabbit burrow and coming out in Tahoe. Located in an underground cellar at the north end of downtown Tahoe City in front of urgent care, the Understory is North Lake Tahoe’s newest bookshop, which opened June 30.
“That aspect of getting lost in a story has been a big part of my entire life,” says Stefani, who grew up in Tahoe City and has worked in education for 20 years, teaching middle and high school English and social studies. “Reading is a way to learn about another place. Especially in a bubble like Tahoe, books are a window into another world.”
BOOK CLUB: Tahoe City has a new bookstore, thanks to North Tahoe High’s former librarian. Photo courtesy Daniel Stefani
Five years ago, Stefani obtained a master’s degree in library and information science and began working as the librarian at North Tahoe High School. When she took over that role, she completely redesigned the physical space of the school’s library. “When people asked me what I’d do if I wasn’t a teacher, I’d always say I’d be an interior designer,” she says. She discovered a designer who focused on home libraries, and she thought, “This is a thing? I can incorporate design and books and make them look beautiful and readable? Who knew?”
Last year, she left her job at Tahoe Truckee Unified School District and launched Wonderwood Books and Library Services, a book-centric design studio for homes, hotels, and more. She designed and curated bookshelves at the new Apex Club at Palisades Tahoe — complete with books by local authors and ones based on Sierra Nevada ski history — as well as home libraries for several local residences. “When you walk into someone’s home, you look at what they’re reading,” Stefani says. “You want those shelves to not only look nice but also represent who you are.”
LET’S READ: Small but mighty, The Understory bookstore opened last month.
With the launch of her library design business, she needed a space outside her home to store books, so she began looking at storage facilities and commercial spaces around the area. A meeting with Christine and Andrew Ryan, who own the Tahoe Backyard in Kings Beach and operate a micro-business incubator, gave her a new idea: Find a space that could house her library design studio and also be a community bookstore.
“It seemed like a crazy idea in the Amazon-era of online book ordering to open a brick-and-mortar bookstore,” Stefani says. “But Christine and Andy gave me the confidence and encouragement that a bookstore could actually work.”
Another serendipitous meeting with local architects Robb and Molly Olson, who recently purchased the Trading Post buildings in downtown Tahoe City, led Stefani to the so-nick-named hobbit hole. “They said they had a commercial space I might be interested in and when they stopped in front of that door into the underground, I thought, ‘Oh no,’” Stefani recalls. “But then we walked in and my answer was immediately: ‘yes.’ It’s much brighter than it looks thanks to the skylights, and the space has such a good quality.”
The underground store, which previously housed a law office and the office of the former property owners, the Dyer brothers, has been vacant for years. The interior and exterior were recently remodeled and landscaped in preparation for the Understory’s late June opening.
At just 645 square feet, it’s not a huge space. The main room displays books for sale, and the two smaller back rooms offer a reading nook with a gas fireplace that can be rented out for book clubs or other gatherings and a conference room that can be used for private meetings.
“The space is small, but because of that it can be carefully curated,” Stefani says. “I want this to be a community-based bookshop, so there will a rotating community shelf with reading recommendations.”
She doesn’t plan on focusing on outdoor guidebooks — Tahoe City’s Alpenglow Sports has that well covered — or competing with the vast collection at Truckee’s much bigger Word After Word Books. Her goal is to have a small, handpicked collection of fiction and nonfiction books that are switched out regularly, so you can always find something new. “I want everyone — locals, visitors, kids, adults — to be able to walk into the store and discover a book that invokes that sense of curiosity, joy, and wonder that you can find from a good story.”
The last bookstore in Tahoe City, called the Bookshelf, closed in 2012. Can this one fare better? “Tahoe is a very literary place, more than people may realize,” Stefani says. “I’m excited to create this space for our community around a shared love of reading and storytelling.”
After 20 years teaching English and as a high school librarian, I’ve learned that while reading is a deeply personal act, it also has the innate ability to build community through the simple act of sharing the books we’ve loved or what’s next on our list. While Joyce Carol Oates once said, “Read widely, and without apology. Read what you want to read, not what someone tells you you should read,” I also believe that one should never turn down an opportunity to share what’s on their reading list. So, here are 10 books for your summer reading adventures, with stories rooted in travel and place.
1. Properties of Thirst by Marianne Wiggins. The Eastern Sierra is magical this time of year and Wiggins manages to capture the beauty of the Owens Valley and create historical fiction perfection with this story about the building of Manzanar, the city of Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, and a family stuck in the middle. This is one of my favorite books of all time.
2. Wild Dark Shore by Charlotte McConaghy. Eco-fiction, mystery, family drama all in one. A woman washes up shipwrecked on a remote sub-Antarctic island guarding a seed vault, and nothing about the family sheltering her is quite what it seems.
3. Playground by Richard Powers. While Powers’ The Overstory was part of the inspiration for The Understory, his novel Playground is a captivating shift to the ocean with this sweeping story about ocean exploration, tech oligarchs, and what it means to be family.
4. The Land and Its People by David Sedaris. I first discovered the sheer genius of David Sedaris while reading Me Talk Pretty One Day on a study abroad trip to France. To this day, I have never felt so seen in a collection of essays about navigating life in another country with such sharp, tender wit. In The Land and Its People, Sedaris revisits those themes of travel, brotherhood, and friendship.
5. Land by Maggie O’Farrell. This highly anticipated historical fiction piece will transport you to Ireland in the years surrounding The Great Hunger, from the author of Hamnet.
6. Barbarian Days by William Finnegan. Much like skiing, surfing quickly turns into an all-consuming adventure. In this Pulitzer-winning memoir I come back to every summer, Finnegan shares stories of chasing waves around the world. Part travelogue, part coming-of-age-story, and part meditation on obsession in sport.
7. Our Perfect Storm by Carley Fortune. In a past life when I worked for a surf camp in Mexico, my favorite colleagues were all from Tofino. This slow-burn romance set on the Canadian coastline is the perfect summer beach read.
8. Saltwater by Katy Hayes. In this twisty, glamorous murder mystery filled with family secrets, the island of Capri is a character itself. Local Tahoe author Katy Hayes brings the same eye for atmosphere and intrigue that made The Cloisters a hit, making Capri’s sun-bleached cliffs and shadowy villas feel as vivid as anywhere in fiction this summer.
9. Villa Coco by Andrew Sean Greer. Italy, but make it chaotic. The Pulitzer-winning author of Less sends a young archivist to catalog a crumbling Tuscan villa for a 92-year-old baroness with one last love to track down. The other side of The Understory are library services, including archival work, so my inner cataloguer loves this premise.
10. Calypso by Oliver K. Langmead. This is going to be my personal challenge book for the summer, and it feels like good timing between the release of Spielberg’s Disclosure Day and the new Odyssey movie coming out in late July. Recommended by a friend who’s a sci-fi expert, this Hugo-nominated sci-fi novel is told entirely in verse, following a colony ship engineer who wakes from cryosleep to find her vessel transformed into a forest, ruled by the descendants of the crew.
I likely would not have become a pilot if I didn’t live in Truckee. Like many things we do in our natural mountainous setting — as you discover when backcountry skiing, biking, hiking, or exploring — flying a small, old airplane has some challenges.
When you take off in an old plane, there’s always some uncertainty. If you fly solo, which means alone, you have to solve problems on your own. What-ifs are part of the experience we choose to have.
I earned my private pilot certificate at Truckee Tahoe Airport (KTRK) in 1990, at age 42. In 1997 my husband Tom and I bought our first airplane, a 1946 Cessna 140,
a silver, two-seater, single-engine, tailwheel plane.
NATIONAL SPOTLIGHT: Tom and Laurel Lippert soar over Mount Rushmore during a feature flight that landed the husband-and-wife aviation team on a 2001 cover and inside article of a national aviation magazine. Image courtesy Laurel Lippert
Because my flight training happened here in Truckee, I learned the limitations of flying in an old airplane, taking off at 5,901 feet elevation and climbing another thousand feet, or more, to clear the surrounding mountains around us, which wasn’t always easy.
In July 2002, Tom, who became a pilot at age 54, and I decided to fly to Stowe, Vermont, where we had friends. We had also skied there when Tom had a photo assignment for SKI magazine.
The flight required many airport stops along the way (17 in total) for fuel, food, and overnight stays. Pilots are required to keep logbooks of every takeoff and landing, so I have the proof. There was, and are now, over 5,000 public use airports in the U.S.
If you hike or climb in the Sierra, you know the magnificent views from up there, near or on the peaks. Flying over our beautiful area in a small plane is like that, giving us an even greater appreciation for where we live and why.
On our way to Vermont we encountered weather issues such as wind, clouds, rain, or approaching storms that meant we needed to land and wait them out. At small, remote airports, with no indoor option, there often wasn’t a way to get into town, so we just sat outside. Inevitably, someone driving by would spot us and take us into town, or, sometimes, even to their own home. I remember once being driven to a lovely house on a beautiful nearby lake.
With every landing at some remote airport, through people’s kindness, it didn’t matter who they were, or what they believed, Tom and I felt they were our friends. Most people assumed that Tom was the pilot and I was the passenger. I never corrected them.
Reflecting on that trip to Vermont, and others, since moving to Truckee in 1977, I continue to be grateful to live in a community where people naturally connect with locals and strangers and love adventure.
I decided to become a flight instructor in 1998, at age 50; not to make money, but to become a better pilot. Also, as a freelance writer, published in skiing and travel magazines, I believed I could get more aviation writing assignments as a certified flight instructor.
For those of us who choose to take on challenges, it’s not unusual to say, “How am I going to do that?”
But I found a way and I did it, and as a CFI, I met Henry Levy, a pilot from Lodi who had a house in Northstar and an airplane hangared at KTRK. He asked me to fly him to Sun Valley, Idaho, in his Cessna 182, as he no longer had a medical certificate. I did that, and we became friends.
Henry later got divorced and moved to Truckee full-time. Tom and I enjoyed his company and high spirits, and Henry became a close friend. One day, he gifted Tom and me his Cessna 182 that he had bought brand-new in 1981.
The people whom Tom and I met over the years through flying remain special. With assignments from national flying magazines, Tom and I flew around the country, seeing beautiful places and meeting interesting folks.
I also interviewed pilots who were famous, including Arnold Palmer, Harrison Ford, Sarah Ferguson (the Dutchess of York), and Clint Eastwood. Like most who understand the risks of flying, these celebrities were humble and never bragged about being pilots. Just like we skiers know we shouldn’t brag about being “hot” as it can jinx our next run, the same goes for pilots.
I tell you this because many of us in Truckee have had experiences and adventures that we will never forget, and that affect who we are. In one of my ipilot.com articles, I wrote about being stuck in Newcastle, WY, due to a scary airplane issue. I closed the story, saying, “We know there are angels in the air. Stay open.”
Stay open. Share your stories while you can, and keep smiling.
