Slot game design has undergone notable evolution, influencing new standards in digital entertainment. Players now experience updated visual effects, engaging mechanics, and interactive features beyond classic reels. These shifts reflect broader industry changes, reshaping expectations for how technology and creativity intersect in modern gaming.
Slot game design changes influence not only how you play but also broader patterns across digital entertainment platforms. Developers use technology and storytelling to create engaging experiences that parallel those found in mainstream gaming. Some titles, including Top Kalamba Games Slots, use advanced graphics and responsive soundscapes to appeal to a wide audience. As these games evolve, distinctions between traditional slot play and interactive entertainment can become less clear.
From mechanical reels to interactive digital features
Slot games were once defined by simple spinning reels and straightforward mechanics. Today, digital versions can include multiple layers of gameplay, offering variety through bonus rounds, special symbols, and real-time feedback systems.
Developers use technology to provide features that respond quickly to player decisions, making each round feel more personalized. Faster feedback loops, such as mini-wins or access to bonus modes, may contribute to a more engaging experience and can influence patterns of play.
The transition from physical to digital platforms has enabled slot games to incorporate cascading reels, expanding wilds, and cluster pays mechanics that would be impossible with mechanical components. These innovations allow symbols to interact in complex ways, creating chain reactions and multiple winning opportunities within a single spin. The digital format also supports instant recalculation of outcomes and seamless animation transitions, fundamentally changing the pace and rhythm of gameplay compared to their mechanical predecessors.
Visual and audio design enhancements fueling engagement
Modern slot game design places a strong emphasis on high-definition animation, detailed graphics, and dynamic effects. These visual elements can reinforce in-game events, indicate feature triggers, and maintain attention through motion and spectacle.
Sound design can include custom music, environmental effects, and adaptive cues that match on-screen action. This focus on audiovisual fidelity reflects how some digital entertainment products draw on conventions from cinema and video games to create more engaging experiences.
Reimagining gameplay mechanics and player agency
Beyond the classic spin and wait structure, some slot games integrate bonus rounds, mini-games, and multi-stage features. These mechanics can introduce additional ways to interact, combining random outcomes with optional gameplay elements.
Player choice is included in some designs, such as selecting between different bonus paths or in-game options. These elements may contribute to engagement and can alter the rhythm of traditional slot play, adding a sense of progression within the game’s structure.
Mobile-first designs and accessibility in user experiences
As mobile devices have become a major platform for digital gaming, designers often prioritize interfaces that support seamless, one-handed play. Shorter session formats and simplified controls can suit users looking for quick, accessible entertainment across different device types.
Performance optimization is important for players on limited bandwidth connections or older hardware. Some slot games include accessibility options, such as adjustable text sizes and simplified navigation, which can make the experience more inclusive. Many Kalamba games are available on mobile platforms, reflecting this broader shift toward mobile-first design.
Licensed themes, storytelling, and digital entertainment trends
Slot game design sometimes draws on popular culture, using licensed themes or original narratives to create familiarity and interest. Story-driven elements can give context to in-game features, encouraging continued engagement as new scenes or features appear.
This approach reflects a wider digital entertainment trend where gameplay and narrative are combined to create richer experiences. Competition for attention can contribute to games that blend recognizable references with original creative content, shaping how sessions are presented.
Transparency, player clarity, and consumer awareness
The complexity of modern slot mechanics makes clear disclosure especially important. Developers often provide explanations of odds, features, and rules to help players understand how outcomes and features work.
Across digital entertainment, transparency can support informed choices about how to play. Clearer information may also encourage responsible play and influence expectations for how entertainment products present key details in an accessible, straightforward way.
SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. – It’s time to put on the ritz! Join the 39th Annual Great Gatsby Festival Saturday and Sunday, August 8-9, 2026, at the Tallac Historic Site on the Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit, 10 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. both days. The Gatsby Speakeasy will run from 6-9 p.m. on Saturday, August 8.
This year’s Great Gatsby Festival welcomes:
vintage and craft market vendors,
live jazz and ukulele performances,
classic lawn games and automobiles,
living history tours,
a silent auction and raffle,
Gatsby Speakeasy, and
the iconic Gatsby Tea & Fashion Show.
The Gatsby Tea & Fashion Show takes place on Sunday 2-4 p.m. at the Pope House. Tickets for this popular event are sold out.
The Great Gatsby Festival began in the mid-1980s as a celebration of all things Roaring Twenties, from Art Deco design to classic cars. Over the years, the festival has brought thousands of revelers together in the shared appreciation of the bygone era.
The Great Gatsby Festival is hosted by the Tallac Historic Site and the Taylor Creek Visitor Center’s interpretive association, The Great Basin Institute, in partnership with the U.S. Forest Service.
SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. — The Tahoe Coalition for the Homeless (TCH) is pleased to announce the appointment of Emily “Emil” Elyse (they/them) as its new Executive Director.
Emil brings more than a decade of experience in nonprofit leadership, public policy, and homeless services to the role. Since joining Tahoe Coalition for the Homeless as Program Manager, Emil has demonstrated a strong commitment to expanding services, strengthening community partnerships, and helping individuals experiencing homelessness find stability and hope.
“I am honored to serve as Executive Director of Tahoe Coalition for the Homeless,” said Emil. “Our community has shown that when organizations, volunteers, businesses, and residents work together, we can create meaningful solutions. I look forward to building on that momentum as we continue to expand housing opportunities and strengthen the support systems that help our neighbors thrive.”
Emil earned a Master’s degree in Public Administration with an emphasis in Public Policy from San Francisco State University in 2021. Their career has focused on developing innovative, community-based solutions to homelessness.
In 2020, Emil joined a Permanent Supportive Housing provider serving San Francisco’s Tenderloin neighborhood before relocating to Reno, Nevada. There, they oversaw the region’s Coordinated Entry System, helping connect individuals and families experiencing homelessness with housing and services, while also leading the area’s annual Homelessness Point-in-Time Count for two consecutive years.
Before joining TCH, Emil managed the public funding portfolio for a Harlem-based workforce development agency that supported individuals reentering communities after incarceration across the nation.
Known for combining strategic leadership with a collaborative approach, Emil is passionate about using data, public policy, and community partnerships to create lasting solutions. Outside of their professional work, they remain active in grassroots community initiatives and the performing arts.
As Executive Director, Emil will lead Tahoe Coalition for the Homeless in advancing its mission to provide safe, supportive housing and essential services for individuals experiencing homelessness throughout the Lake Tahoe region.
For more information about Tahoe Coalition for the Homeless and its programs, visit www.tahoehomeless.org
LAKE TAHOE, Nev. / Calif. – Turquoise coves, bubbling creeks, breathtaking vistas and restoring forests, Tahoe is a paradise embraced by many. Yet, this paradise destination isn’t void of the darker parts of humanity.
Here are a few harrowing incidents from Tahoe’s true crime history.
Zodiac connections?
Donna Lass gained worldwide attention due to the perception that her disappearance was linked to the Zodiac Killer after authorities received a postcard of a Sierra scene. The notorious killer was known for sending taunting letters and making phone calls to newspapers and police following a murder. Lass’ sister also received a mysterious Christmas card.
“Many theories exist and have been reviewed by our agency,” the South Lake Tahoe Police Department says, but a definitive link to the notorious killer actually has not been identified.
Lass, a nurse who provided first aid patient care at a casino near South Lake Tahoe, went missing from the area at the age of 25 in September of 1970.
An article clipping following Lass’ disappearance. Provided / PCSO
In 2023, her case went from a missing person case to a homicide after advancements in DNA technology positively identified an unknown skull, found in 1986 in Placer County, as hers.
Despite the discovery, her case remains unsolved and is listed as a cold case with the South Lake Tahoe Police Department.
A stolen life
On June 10, 1991, 11-year-old Jaycee Lee Dugard was walking to her bus stop on Washoan Boulevard in Meyers, Calif., when she was pulled—reportedly kicking and screaming—into a steel-gray sedan.
That was the last time anyone in the region, including her family, would see her for close to two decades.
This is an undated file family photo released Aug. 27, 2009 by Carl Probyn of his stepdaughter, Jaycee Lee Dugard who went missing in 1991. (AP Photo/Carl Probyn, File)AP | Carl Probyn
Around 18 years later, Dugard was found alive in Antioch, Calif. She had been held captive in a hidden backyard compound of a sex offender named Phillip Garrido. Garrido and his wife had kidnapped her, and Garrido repeatedly raped her.
She was living in the compound with her two daughters, fathered by him. By the time she was found at 29, her daughters were 15 and 11.
Dugard’s identity became known after a run-in with a parole officer of her captor, Phillip Garrido, who was on parole for another kidnapping and rape he committed in the seventies.
The case caused California parole officials to come under scrutiny over how a sex offender parolee under supervision managed to conceal a victim with children for so long.
Dugard recounts her 18-year captivity in a memoir called A Stolen Life.
South Lake Tahoe Strangler
It was a question that went unanswered for close to 40 years: who killed 27-year-old Brynn Rainey and left her body nude and partially buried near Sunset Stateline Stables in the summer of 1977? Authorities asked a similar question for Carol Andersen, 17, whose body was found on the side of a road in South Lake Tahoe in the summer of 1979.
The almost 40-year secret is something one South Lake Tahoe resident took to his grave when he died in 2014.
Due to evidence pointing to strangulation on both bodies, the unknown killer became known as the South Lake Tahoe Strangler.
In 2018, four years after he died, DNA advancements and evidence finally revealed that South Lake Tahoe resident Joseph Holt was responsible for both murders.
Holt had been a South Lake Tahoe resident since 1974, when he moved to the region to pursue a real estate career.
Following the DNA reveal, a search warrant for a garage where his personal property had been stored following his death turned up evidence that he may have been involved in other crimes. It’s something investigators are still looking into.
A composite drawing of a suspect in an attempted burglary in Los Gatos in the ’70s strongly resembles Joseph Holt, pictured on the left.Provided / El Dorado County District Attorney’s Office
According to investigators, Holt’s family, including his son, who helped supply DNA evidence, was unaware of his alleged criminal activity.
Trailer terror
What started as an opportunity for two young models to appear in a commercial turned into three days of terror.
On May 16, 1987, a 12- and 14-year-old girl, chaperoned by Maybelle Martin, a 69-year-old owner of a Reno modeling agency, and her friend, Dorothy Walsh, 73, met South Lake Tahoe resident Herbert James Coddington at a casino.
Coddington told the young models that they would be in an anti-drug commercial he had planned.
He brought the models and their chaperones back to his rented trailer at Tahoe Verde Mobile Home Park, telling the group that it was a photography studio. That’s where he proceeded to murder Martin and Walsh and sexually assaulted the girls for three days.
Coddington had built a soundproof plywood case in one of the trailer’s bedrooms and confined the girls there.
Upon a tip from another teenage model, who notified police when the group did not return from the modeling job, which she had originally planned to go to, the FBI raided the trailer.
Herbert Coddington, E-08100.Provided / California Department of Corrections
Coddington was also linked to the 1981 murder of a 12-year-old girl in Las Vegas.
The suspected serial killer received the death penalty for his crimes. The Supreme Court upheld his death penalty in 2001 after an appeal. In 2019, California Governor Gavin Newsom instituted a moratorium on the death penalty. Coddington remains on the condemned inmate list with the state, along with 567 other inmates.
A missing pair
In January of 1982, two Harrah’s Lake Tahoe blackjack dealers, roommates and friends, Julie Schossow, 25, and Marilyn Putt, 27, went missing from their South Lake Tahoe home sometime between the late night and early morning of Jan. 12 and 13.
Marilyn Putt, left, and Julie Schossow, right. Provided / El Dorado County District Attorney
Around six months later, on June 6, 1982, a recreational rafter found Putt’s body in the south fork of the American River near a popular rafting area approximately 60 miles from South Lake Tahoe.
Her body was weighted with a chain and bound. The cause of death appeared to be ligature strangulation.
Just over a month later, Schossow’s body was found approximately 150 yards from Putt’s with a cord tightly wrapped around her neck twice. The cause of death also appeared to be strangulation. It’s possible the two were bound together.
Investigation revealed their estimated time of death to be 6-8 weeks prior to the discovery of their bodies.
This leads Investigators to believe the two friends were kidnapped, held captive for around three months at an unknown location, likely between South Lake Tahoe and Placerville, before they were killed.
The double homicide continues to be a cold case in El Dorado County.
Putt was closely associated with several leading members of the “Church of Scientology,” though not a member herself, leading investigators to seek information from anyone associated with the church in the South Lake Tahoe area in the late 1970s and early 1980s.
Investigators have also sought information from employees at the Harrah’s around that time, who frequented the Rendezvous Bar or lived near Putt and Schossow’s home at the intersection of Los Angeles and Bellevue in South Lake Tahoe.
The Tribune has also highlighted three cold cases from the South Lake Tahoe Police Department involving missing persons: Frances Hatadis, Bobette Ulrich, and Brian Ranken.
A California Tortoiseshell rests on a Mountain Pennyoyal Flower.Provided / Dr. Will Richardson
LAKE TAHOE, Nev./Calif. – Have you noticed the butterflies fluttering across Tahoe this summer?
You’re not alone. Locals and visitors alike have been captivated by this noticeable butterfly bloom. From hiking trails and roadsides to mountain peaks, these vibrant insects seem to be fluttering everywhere this time of year. While this summer’s display is not quite the massive explosion we experienced in 2019, there are certainly plenty of California Tortoiseshells filling the landscape and catching people’s attention.
These orange and brown California Tortoiseshells (Nymphalis californica) are often mistaken for Monarchs or Painted Ladies, but this year these “torties” are once again taking center stage. This fascinating, multigenerational, Ceanothus-eating insect species has an interesting life cycle, and researchers are still learning what drives these dramatic population surges.
Meet the Torties
The California Tortoiseshell is a native butterfly and a familiar sight in the Sierra Nevada and throughout much of the western United States. The upper side of its wings displays bright orange and brown patterns that are especially noticeable in flight. In contrast, the underside is mostly dark, decorated with blotchy browns that resemble a dead leaf when the butterfly folds its wings, providing excellent camouflage while resting.
Observers may find adult butterflies pollinating and drinking nectar from a diversity of flowers and shrubs, but can also be found gathering around mud or nutrient rich soils near a water’s edge. These gatherings, known as puddling, occur when butterflies unroll their straw-like mouthparts (proboscis) to extract salts and other minerals that are less abundant in their primary adult food source: flower nectar. This behavior is thought to help compensate for limited access to micronutrients in the adult diet, which are important for nervous system function, growth, and reproduction.
This species often migrates topographically, moving up and down in elevation throughout its life cycle. Local individuals begin their lives in valleys or foothills and travel upslope into Tahoe and other areas of the Sierra Nevada to lay their eggs. To complete this journey, adults seek out specific host plants within the genus Ceanothus, also known as California Lilacs to lay their eggs.
At lower elevations, California Tortoiseshell caterpillar (larvae) feed on the Ceanothus species found in those habitats. Here in Tahoe, however, they rely on our high-elevation Ceanothus plants, including Mountain Whitethorn (Ceanothus cordulatus), Mahala Mat (Ceanothus prostratus), and Tobacco Brush (Ceanothus velutinus). These native shrubs provide the essential food source for developing caterpillars and support the next generation of butterflies.
When the eggs hatch, the caterpillars feed on the host plants, rapidly growing until the larvae form a chrysalis (pupa). Once they have undergone a complete metamorphosis in their pupa stage, they emerge as adults. As late summer occurs, these winged insects then head up to mountain peaks, often above the treeline to estivate, or enter a state of inactivity where they live off their fat reserves. High-elevation estivation allows adults to avoid harsh, hot summer conditions while conserving energy before seasonal movements resume.
A Mountain Traveler With a Complex Life Cycle
The yearly cycle of Tahoe’s California Tortoiseshells is complex and is broken into three generations of butterflies, comprising two different flights, over the span of one calendar year.
The first generation of butterflies was hatched in the previous year at a high elevation, such as Tahoe, in mid to late summer. They migrated to a lower elevation in the foothills or valleys, hibernated as adults over the winter, awoke from their slumber, found mates, and laid eggs on larval host plants. Once that duty was accomplished, this generation of adults had completed its life cycle.
The next generation lives a much shorter life cycle than the first. These butterflies hatch at lower elevations, but many drift upslope and are the ones we first observed in Tahoe after snowmelt. Once they find suitable host plants, they lay their eggs and complete their life cycle, all within one summer season.
Now, the butterflies we are seeing in such numbers today are the third cohort of the year. These individuals have fed on Ceanothus here in Tahoe. They will not lay eggs for months, and many will eventually head back down in elevation to hibernate over the winter months until the cycle begins again once they emerge from hibernation in spring.
But Why So Many Tortoiseshells?
The population dynamics and explosions of torties are still being researched and one of the main theories is the butterfly’s response to healthy host plants.
We have seen true explosions in the past, most recently in 2019. This year is just a bit above average. If a large quantity of food is available, insects respond to the surplus with efficiency and large reproductive output. If you find yourself on trails throughout the Basin and Truckee, you’ll discover that Ceanothus plants are everywhere. Despite the last few years of irregular winter and spring precipitation, it appears we have healthy and prevalent Ceanothus plants, which in turn have created a lot of nutritious food for tortoiseshell caterpillars.
Additionally, Ceanothus, like Mountain Whitethorn, responds well after a fire and in disturbed areas, including landscapes affected by vegetation management and mastication, providing an important food source for these caterpillars. Mountain Whitethorn has taken over the entire hillside after the Angora Fire scar and other compromised areas in Tahoe, growing chest high in spots and leaving very little space for other plants to grow. The summer generation of butterflies that came to Tahoe found these areas as a copious food source and produced millions of offspring from those patches alone.
These butterflies can produce a lot of offspring which in turn, may defoliate leaves at alarming rates. This may prove beneficial, as caterpillar defoliation should allow space for young trees to take hold and reforest the burn areas mentioned earlier. Although dramatic, temporary defoliation events are a natural part of forest ecosystems and do not typically kill healthy established Ceanothus plants. Instead, they can contribute to nutrient cycling and influence plant competition.
Enjoy the Show While it Lasts
The majority of these butterflies will linger for a few weeks before either finding a summer estivation spot locally or heading back down to lower elevations to overwinter and hibernate as adults.
Come spring, the California Tortoiseshell cycle will start once again. In the meantime, these butterflies are an important food source for hungry migrating and local birds as well as small mammals.
Be sure to get outside and enjoy the spectacle of butterflies over the next few weeks!
Sarah Hockensmith is the outreach director with Tahoe Institute for Natural Science. TINS seeks to advance the natural history, conservation, and ecosystem knowledge of the Tahoe region through science, education, and outreach. If you would like to learn more about Tahoe’s natural history, join TINS on one of its many free nature tours. To learn more, visit “http://www.tinsweb.org.
INCLINE VILLAGE, Nev. – On July 27, 2026, at approximately 8:00 p.m., Washoe County Sheriff’s Office deputies responded to the North Sand Harbor boat ramp following a report of a possible water rescue.
Upon arrival, deputies observed an unresponsive adult male being brought to shore by bystanders. Deputies immediately began life-saving measures until medical personnel arrived on scene and continued resuscitation efforts.
Despite those efforts, the victim was pronounced deceased at the scene.
The incident is being investigated by the Washoe County Sheriff’s Office as an accidental drowning.
The victim was a 32-year-old male from out of state. His identity is being withheld pending notification of next of kin.
SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. – Praxis Profit, a boutique strategic chief financial officer advisory firm, announced today its full-suite of financial decision-making consultancy service including cash flow visibility, margin protection and executive level financial decision-making support.
“Many business owners are generating revenue and even showing profit on paper, but still feel cash pressure because they do not have clear visibility into receivables, margins, cash timing, and upcoming obligations,” said Bengaly Kante, founder and principal advisor of Praxis Profit. “Praxis Profit was built to help owners see where cash is delayed, where margins are pressured, and where better financial discipline can support stronger business financial decisions.”
It’s common for Tahoe business owners and executives to focus on maximizing sales to create more revenue for the company. At many businesses, this is not the issue leading to cash flow challenges. Most of the time it is receivables timing, cash flow management, line of credit accessibility and unclear margin visibility.
Kante brings to his boutique chief financial officer advisory firm more than 15 years of one-on-one experience working with business owners and executives across the country to strategically maximize their cash flow, margins and profitability.
He spent years on the banking and credit side of enterprise finance, where he reviewed financial statements, analyzed cash flow reports, consulted on capital needs, and even reviewed line of credit requests for companies with established seven-figure businesses.
That experience gave him a front-row view into how businesses can appear to have strong cash flow on paper, while still facing pressure from timing gaps, delayed receivables, weak margin visibility, and unclear operating financial controls. That’s the basis of the expertise and depth of knowledge that he shares with his clients today.
According to Kante, a common misunderstanding is that a Lake Tahoe business can be genuinely profitable and still be cash-tight. He even supports the potential for smart use of credit to help power a business. However, it must not be used as a replacement for cash flow leaking from a business without first diagnosing the problem instead of treating the symptoms.
For more information about Praxis Profit, or to schedule a confidential Clarity Call, please visit praxisprofit.com. Tahoe business owners can also complete the complimentary Praxis Profit CFO Visibility Score at score.praxisprofit.com.
INCLINE VILLAGE, Nev. – The association of Incline Village REALTORS® (IVR) received a $3,000 Fair Housing Grant to support national speaker Nate Johnson Overcoming Barriers to Fair Housing, at the Chateau in Incline Village Lake Tahoe, reinforcing its commitment to fair housing education, professional responsibility and housing access.
The grant award is made possible by the National Association of REALTORS® as part of its Community Development Advocacy program empowering REALTOR® associations to strengthen their communities through effective advocacy, partnerships, and on-the-ground initiatives.
“Nate engaged with all of us in a space of openness, safety & genuine inquisitiveness. The training was informative and interesting… I really appreciated the way Nate encouraged discussion and made everyone feel comfortable participating,” said Heather Bacon, Compass Real Estate Advisor.
Through this initiative, IVR supports training for equal professional services to every customer or client in our region, to help REALTORS® strengthen their understanding of the Fair Housing Act and better serve all prospective homeowners and renters. In addition to funding, local REALTORS® support the initiative for fair housing in the Tahoe Basin and Reno for all that want to purchase homes in our community. Sierra Nevada Realtors®(SNR) is a partner with IVR to support this initiative and provides advertising support and the state and national licensing for the course.
“Local trainings like these provide REALTORS® nationally certified professional tools that shape Fair Housing leaders for our community,” said Laura Vitencz, IVR CEO.
REALTORS® know that Fair Housing is foundational to our Tahoe Basin/Reno real estate market and strong communities. Education and training play a critical role in upholding housing laws, addressing bias, and ensuring that all qualified buyers and renters are treated with dignity and fairness.
By leveraging this grant, Incline Village REALTORS® is investing in the knowledge, tools, and partnership needed to advance fair housing principles in the community.
Initiatives like Overcoming Barriers to Fair Housing classes reflect REALTORS®’ role beyond the transaction—investing in education, accountability and advocacy efforts that help ensure housing access and strengthen confidence in the real estate profession.
For more information about Fair Housing, visit inclinerealtors.com.
STATELINE, NV – The Tahoe Knight Monsters, proud ECHL Affiliate of the NHL’s Vegas Golden Knights and the AHL’s Henderson Silver Knights, announced today their new colors ahead of the 2026-27 season.
The Knight Monsters will feature Sky Blue and Powder Blue on their logos and jerseys starting this upcoming season. The new blue colors will accompany Tahoe’s signature 1645 Deep Black and Vegas Gold.
The new shades of blue represent the bright skies and crystal clear water that have become synonymous with the Lake Tahoe area.
“This new color change embraces the picturesque views of the Lake Tahoe area,” Knight Monsters owner David Hodges said. “We’re excited to see the community rally around this change, and we look forward to seeing everyone out at the rink for what will be an exciting season!”
Tahoe will debut the new jersey colors on Saturday, October 17, as they start their third season in the ECHL on the road against the Wichita Thunder.
The Knight Monsters open the 2026-27 season at home on Friday, October 23, as they take on the New Mexico Goatheads at Tahoe Blue Event Center. Season tickets and ticket packages for the 2026-27 season are now available. For more information on becoming a 1645 Club Season Ticket Member, visit knightmonstershockey.com.
April, 2003 Baghdad, Iraq 1st Force Recon 5th Platoon. This platoon would earn the name “Baghdad SWAT” for their operations.Provided / Jamie Guajardo
SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. – Semper Flies Foundation, a new veteran-owned and operated nonprofit, is aiming to provide support for veterans while shedding light on the effects of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), traumatic brain injury (TBI) and depression.
Jamie Guajardo is a combat veteran who fought in Iraq and served in the U.S. Marine Corps for 13 years. He was in the Marine Force Reconnaissance, where his platoon specialized in Close Quarters Battle (CQB).
Guajardo’s job was to stand next to explosives as they were detonating and redirect the concussion blasts away from those standing behind him. The repeated blast exposure would go on to wreak havoc on his brain.
“I’ve been battling PTSD and traumatic brain injury for over 20 years,” Guajardo said.
He shared his experiences of being a two-time suicide survivor, saying that after catastrophic attempts to take his life, he was shocked after he came to and found he was still alive.
After a severe mental episode in 2018, Guajardo was admitted into a PTSD hospital where he was taught how to tie fishing flies as a form of grounding, dexterity, and benefits to the brain.
“I fell in love with the process of making the flies,” Guajardo said. “I told all the veterans that were sitting there, I said ‘When I get out, I’m going to create something called Semper Flies,’ because Semper Fi is the Marine Corps motto.”
Guajardo decided to turn his pain and trauma into a means to drive change. He began by seeking help in understanding and treating his TBI. In the last two years, Guajardo has had five different brain procedures along with brain surgery.
He then created rules to live by, eventually turning them into bylaws for his foundation. Some of these bylaws include: “It’s okay that I am not okay”, “Get stronger”, “Healing”, “Choose your hard”, and more.
“About three quarters of the way through 2024, I thought ‘Man, this is working for me. I am actively saving my own life here,” he said. “In this country right now, 22 veterans take their lives every single day. Around 2025, I was like, ‘If I could share this with others, maybe I can make a dent in that 22.'”
First starting out as a Facebook page, the Semper Flies Foundation has evolved into a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization with 100% of proceeds going into the foundation to grow the program and send veterans on fishing trips.
Guajardo’s mission is to not only lower the number of veterans who commit suicide every day, but to educate and support through seminars and outreach, encouraging veterans to seek treatment. You can find the Semper Flies booth at a number of events, including Live at Lakeview, Tahoe Games and the Fall Festival.
Recently, the foundation hosted its inaugural PTSD Awareness Day on June 27, where veterans shared their testimonials of choosing to save their lives after battling PTSD and TBI. The event, supported by local community members and businesses in South Lake Tahoe, was deemed a success as a few hundred people came throughout the day to attend.
Guajardo and his wife, Mara, can be seen at events around South Lake Tahoe representing the Semper Flies Foundation Provided / Jamie Guajardo
“That’s where our bread and butter is. That’s what we’re really about – education and seminar.” Guajardo said. “I love using flyfishing as a platform to deliver this message. Veterans love flyfishing. It’s good for their brains, it’s good for their souls, and it’s good for their conditions.”
Guajardo has his sights set on expanding Semper Flies in the future. This year, the foundation will be launching free fly tying classes for veterans with plans already in place to take 12 veterans on a trip to fly fish locally.
His ultimate goal?—To purchase a hotel in town and turn it into a home base where veterans can spend two weeks fishing, acquiring PTSD education, and receiving much needed support.
“I want to convey to veterans that you can get stronger, you can learn to live with your conditions,” said Guajardo. “There is a life out there worth fighting for.”
SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. – A 36-year-old man was arrested on Sunday, July 26, after he attempted to set fire to the South Lake Tahoe Police Department’s (SLTPD) American flag.
According to a Facebook post from SLTPD, the man, a South Lake Tahoe resident, was just released following an arrest on Saturday, July 25, for possession of drug paraphernalia and public intoxication after he was reported shooting arrows at the Y.
An El Dorado County sheriff’s sergeant notified SLTPD on Sunday that a male subject was attempting to light their station flag on fire after lowering it to the ground. The man was detained by SLTPD officers and booked at the El Dorado County jail for felony attempted arson.
“The male has been arrested by SLTPD six times since April 2026 for Possession of Narcotics, Possession of Drug Paraphernalia, being Under the Influence of a Controlled Substance, and Resisting Arrest,” SLTPD said in their post.
CARSON CITY, Nev. – U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development Nevada State Director Alida Ceballos today announced that Tahoe Forest Products, LLC. will receive $50 million to expand timber processing capabilities at its business in Carson City. This significant investment comes through a partnership between the USDA and MapleMark Bank and will enable the business to access guaranteed loan funds to support domestic timber production.
Ceballos said, “Thanks to the leadership of Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins and President Trump, USDA is partnering with lending institutions to make this substantial investment in new and upgraded timber processing equipment for Tahoe Forest Products, LLC. This investment supports sustainable timber harvesting that improves forest health, reduces wildfire risk, and strengthens rural prosperity by creating jobs for hardworking Americans. Nevada is proud to further the Trump-Vance investments into our great state.”
The investment, funded through USDA’s Timber Production Expansion Guaranteed Loan Program (TPEP), and Business & Industry Guaranteed Loan Program, will assist the business to expand processing capabilities, including kilns, utilizing timber from Nevada and California, a planer mill, and a new saw line. This expansion will allow Tahoe Forest Products, LLC to shift from raw material production to finished lumber suitable for sale to retail distributors and large-scale construction markets. In addition, the business will increase its capacity for lumber production from purely rough lumber to premium lumber by 60,000 MBF, or thousand board feet. This investment directly aligns with President Trump’s Executive Order on the Immediate Expansion of American Timber Production.
TPEP is made possible by a partnership between the USDA Rural Development and the U.S. Forest Service and ensures sawmills and other wood processing facilities have the necessary funding to establish, reopen, expand, or improve their operations. The program also helps address the wildfire crisis by investing in local sawmills that clear out dangerous fuel in forestlands, helping to remove the most immediate threats to communities, critical infrastructure, and natural resources. Since its inception, USDA has invested $165.2 million through TPEP in the states of California, Idaho, Kansas, Louisiana, Maine, Nevada, Oklahoma, Oregon, Virginia, and Wisconsin.
For more information on USDA Rural Development investments in rural America, visit the Rural Data Gateway. The Rural Data Gateway is an online tool that strengthens USDA Rural Development partnerships with rural people, entrepreneurs, government officials and Congress by making agency investment data accessible to the public.
SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. — The LTCC Foundation will host its annual Taste of Gold fundraiser on Saturday, Aug. 8, 2026, on the mountain campus of Lake Tahoe Community College (LTCC),bringing together vintners pouring award-winning California wines, local restaurants with tasty bites and breweries pouring an assortment of beers.
VIP sponsors will have exclusive access to the event from 4:30 to 6 p.m., including a private hour of wine and beer tastings and appetizers before the event opens to general ticket holders from 6 to 8 p.m. The lineup of 2026 food and wine vendors and live entertainment will be set up in front of the LTCC soccer field in the shaded area under the trees and flow onto the community play fields.
2026 participating vendors include Caesar’s Republic, Edgewood Tahoe, MacDuff’s and Sidellis Lake Tahoe Brewery, Poor Red’s Bar-B-Q and Balletto Vineyards. Solid Gold sponsors for the event are the McKenna Family, Ed and Sara Roos and the Wright Family Trust.
Proceeds from Taste of Gold directly support LTCC students through three Foundation programs: the Lake Tahoe College Promise, Student Success Grants, and the emergency book fund, which together remove financial barriers that keep students from completing their degrees.
The Lake Tahoe College Promise covers full tuition and provides stipends for textbooks and academic support for first-time, full-time students from the Tahoe Basin who are not otherwise eligible for California or Nevada College Promise tuition waivers. At LTCC’s commencement ceremony this spring — the college’s largest graduating class in history, with 422 degrees and more than 200 certificates conferred — the Lake Tahoe College Promise graduated its largest cohort to date, 95 students, while serving 346 active students, the highest enrollment in the program’s history.
“As a first-generation student, LTCC was a chance for me to take that first step towards earning a college degree for myself as well as for my parents,” said Mars Orizaba, an LTCC Promise Program student and 2026 graduate. Mars will continue at Chico State University in the fall to pursue a bachelor’s degree in nursing.
Tickets and sponsorship packages for Taste of Gold are available now at ltccfoundation.org. Sponsorship opportunities include VIP access and recognition at the event; a printable sponsorship form and vendor list are also available on the Foundation’s website. This event is for attendees 21 and older only.
Event Details
What: Taste of Gold Annual Fundraiser, LTCC Foundation
SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. – Youth mentorship nonprofit, SOS Outreach, has been named a finalist for the 2026 Defender Service Awards presented by Chase in the Outdoor Accessibility and Education category. This recognition honors nonprofit organizations that create meaningful opportunities for people to experience the outdoors.
The winners will be selected via public voting beginning on July 29 and running through August 14. If selected as the winner, SOS will receive $30,000 and a Land Rover Defender 130 – critical to supporting its programs.
SOS engages 325 youth in South Lake and over 3,900 youth nationwide on an annual basis, connecting them to life-changing outdoor access through skiing and snowboarding while also pairing them with positive adult mentors. Since 1993, the organization has created access and opportunity for 80,000 young people, helping them build key life skills and instilling a lifetime love of the outdoors. Of the thousands of youth SOS engages, 69% identify as youth of color and 43% come from a household income of under $40,000.
“We’re incredibly honored to be recognized as a finalist alongside so many inspiring organizations making a difference in their communities,” says Seth Ehrlich, CEO of SOS Outreach. “The outdoors is a powerful place to grow, build relationships, and lead a healthy lifestyle, and yet it’s often inaccessible to so many of today’s youth. At SOS we are dedicated to breaking down those barriers to access and support from the Land Rover Defender Awards will be absolutely vital to helping us achieve that.”
Since launching in 2021, the Land Rover Defender Awards have given more than $1.5 million in funding to organizations advancing their mission. This year it will fund 6 nonprofits across 6 different categories of causes ranging from environment to search and rescue and more.
If awarded the funding, SOS plans to use it to guarantee outdoor access for youth, “it would be significant to win this award and would ensure that no child is turned away from the outdoors due to cost, cultural barriers, or any other obstacles,” says Ehrlich.
SOS is encouraging members of the community to vote for them as the winner once voting opens on Wednesday, July 29. Members of the public can vote once per day every day until August 14. To make it simple, text SOS to 970-535-2009 for a daily reminder to vote.
SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. – Maria’s Mexican Restaurant and Tahoe Bros Charbroiled Burgers are both participating in the Pay It Forward program, a program that Jose Perez of South Lake Tahoe Mutual Aid helped start. The program lets customers pay for a meal ticket that’s equal to the cost of the meal, so anyone who needs one can pick one up and get it for free.
Perez said that he originally wanted to come up with a program that would help those in need and encourage people to support local businesses. Through the South Lake Tahoe Mutual Aid group, they came up with guidelines and a system for Pay It Forward, modeled after other similar programs in other towns.
South Lake Tahoe Mutual Aid defines mutual aid as a form of solidarity-based support where community members come together to meet each other’s needs. “It’s about neighbors helping neighbors, creating networks of care and support that strengthen our community. Mutual aid is built on principles of cooperation, reciprocity, and collective care. It recognizes that we all have something to contribute and that we all may need support at different times in our lives, and it’s a reciprocal system where everyone can both give and receive support.”
Around the holiday season last year, Perez went to Maria’s and Tahoe Bros, who both enthusiastically accepted the program. Oscar Villagrana, manager at Maria’s, said, “We originally accepted it because the holidays is a time where people want to give and there are definitely people in need… then we decided to keep it around.”
At no cost to the business, the program works on the honor system, and tickets can be redeemed by anyone. When someone is buying their own meal, they can opt in to Pay It Forward and provide a ticket for the program. And if someone needs a meal, tickets are up near the front, for easy redemption. “Whoever’s in need of a meal can easily get one,” said Villagrana.
Andres Delgadillo, owner of Tahoe Bros, said, “I’m sure some people take advantage of it, but there are a lot of people who really appreciate it, and it’s overall a good program.”
Both Delgadillo and Villagrana say there was little impact to the day-to-day operations for the restaurant, and that the program was overwhelmingly positive. “We’ve done about 150 meals since the program started,” said Delgadillo. “I think everyone should participate in a program like this because it doesn’t impact our income, and when the time comes where you might need a meal, you can get it.”
“It would be awesome to have others participate so there are more food options,” said Villagrana. “Money right now is a big issue for a lot of people. And honestly, this kind of program isn’t fro the business, it’s for the community.”
Perez feels the same. “A program like this shows how we can help one another, giving back to our community and being able to also get something if it’s needed. I would really like to see a program like this expand, to get more businesses involved in Pay It Forward.”
Inquiries about Pay It Forward can be sent to South Lake Tahoe Mutual Aid’s email at slt-mutualaid@proton.me
Owner, Beth Lee (right) and her daughter Katie (left) at one of their project sitesProvided / Katie Lee
SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. – Affordable Construction Services Tahoe, owned by Beth Lee, has proudly served the Lake Tahoe community for over 25 years, and while she has no plans of leaving any time soon, two of her children have been learning the ins and outs of the business to keep her legacy going.
Prior to the construction business, Lee was a teacher working in Broderick, California. After a student pulled a knife on her, she decided it was time for a change.
“I walked out of the classroom and never went back,” said Lee, who soon after the incident, took a job in the homeowner’s department of AAA. “I liked what I did. I saw how we could improve people’s lives.”
She and her husband decided to open their first construction business in 1985 which ran for 16 years in the Bay Area. They relocated to the basin in 2000 and opened Affordable Construction Services Tahoe. Over the last two and a half decades, Lee has built a reputation of reliability and professionalism in the community.
Her instinct to look after others is what her daughter, Katie, describes as one of the best things about her, saying it’s part of the reason why their business has been going strong for so long.
“She has that motherly touch. She throws company parties, she gives out bonuses all the time,” said Katie. “We have employees who have been here for decades. It extends beyond the business, and I don’t think you would have that same touch if a man was running it.”
Lee noted that despite her success, being a woman in the construction industry, especially in the late 80’s and 90’s, brought its share of challenges.
“It was extremely difficult. Men didn’t think a woman should be doing this job,” Lee recalled, and although men would often talk down to her, she never let it get in the way of her goals. Now, she sometimes gets jobs specifically because she’s a woman, saying men believe she’ll pay closer attention to detail.
Katie took an interest in many things, earning several degrees and licenses in both cosmetology and personal training. Yet growing up in a construction household, she found herself reflecting on the foundation built for her by her parents shortly after her father’s passing.
“I realized that it’s the roots I want to go back to. I was searching and searching, and it was right in front of me the whole time,” Katie said. “It brings me so much joy to work with my mom, to see her every day. With anything, it takes a village – whether it’s with a family or a business, and together, we’re thriving.”
Her brother, Matthew, takes after his father, often seen out in the field. Over the years, the siblings have gained first-hand experience to operate the business as co-owners when Lee is ready to pass it on.
Beth Lee with Matthew, Katie, and her work family at Affordable Construction Services Tahoe Provided / Katie Lee
With 24 employees in the field and five people in the office, Affordable Construction Services Tahoe does it all, including new home construction, remodels, water damage restoration, electrical, plumbing and frozen pipe reconstruction, bear break-ins, mold remediation, and fire damage overhauls.
In support of other local businesses in the Tahoe community, Lee gives back by heading straight to Meeks Lumber and Hardware first before going anywhere else, with Katie joking that Lee is their No.1 customer.
“Being a contractor is about so much more than building homes – it’s about building communities,” Lee said. “Every project is an opportunity to improve not only a property, but the lives of the people who call it home.”
Electric bikes are powering an urban transportation revolution. They flatten hills, haul cargo and people, and offer an alternative to driving that doesn’t involve breaking much of a sweat or waiting for a bus.
I’ve experienced these wonders firsthand. For the last three years, I have used an e-bike — an electric-motor assisted bicycle — to do everything from commuting 23 miles across Los Angeles for work to meeting up with friends at places where finding a parking spot takes longer than the drive over. In a city choked by traffic and pollution, calling these machines liberating isn’t an overstatement.
But there’s also been a flurry of media coverage about skyrocketing injuries, prompting local and state authorities to start cracking down on e-bike usage. And earlier this year, California legislators looked ready to squeeze the brakes hard on this revolution. Happily, they’ve since retreated from e-bike panic and are focused, at least for now, on smarter safety measures.
Lawmakers in Sacramento have introduced at least eight bills this year targeting e-bike safety. One would have added licensing and registration requirements for most e-bikes; another would have rewritten the state’s classification system, making most e-bikes already rolling on California streets illegal.
Thankfully, those bills died, and with them a level of regulation that could throttle an efficient, clean and fun transportation option in California, and hamper a technology that is already driving the majority of revenue growth in the bicycle industry.
In contrast, Senate Bill 1167, introduced by Sen. Catherine Blakespear, is a carefully considered response to the most crucial motorized-bike safety concern. It seeks to halt the sale of powerful electric motorcycles disguised as e-bikes, and it cleared the state Senate in May and is moving through the Assembly.
Under California law, electric bicycles cannot exceed 28 mph assisted by the motor (models that people younger than 16 can legally ride are even slower). But more powerful devices that go faster than 28 mph — sometimes much faster — are often marketed as e-bikes, even though they are more properly understood as electric motorcycles. I’ve seen such powerful electric motorcycles comically passed off as e-bikes simply because, look, there are pedals.
This commentary was originally published by CalMatters.
It is a big year for initial public offerings (IPOs). SpaceX became a public company on June 12 raising $86 billion. This fall the two most successful AI companies, OpenAI and Anthropic, are expected to go public with each valued at just under $1 trillion. We’ve never seen IPOs so large. The excitement level will be sky-high — except in my office. While much anticipated I see flaws in their business model. Here’s my case:
The AI buildout requires a tremendous amount of capital. The largest technology companies were flush with cash until they started pouring money into the AI buildout. Meta, Amazon, and Microsoft all raised money through stock and bond offerings in order to fund their massive AI infrastructure and data center buildout.
A seminal moment came when Alphabet raised $85 billion on June 2 from an equity offering. Warning flags were raised and investors wondered if spending was too high. Not coincidentally, the AI stock rally stalled.
For the largest AI developers, the good news is that there is a high barrier to entry. Few companies have the cash needed to become an AI hyperscaler. While there are few AI developers (OpenAI, Anthropic, Alphabet, SpaceXAI, Meta Platforms, Microsoft) competition is fierce. Anthropic is the most successful as they target the B2B enterprise sector, but companies are beginning to question the increased spending on AI. How much is too much?
Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg hears the frustration and recently said Meta will compete with others on price. Cheaper still is the competition from Chinese open-source models, which can use AI to write code for the end user. Price competition for AI developers is arriving.
AI models are constantly improving and it is becoming a commodity business. Over time, Anthropic’s Claude will look similar to OpenAI’s ChatGPT, which will look similar to SpaceXAI’s Grok. Add Alphabet’s Gemini and others to the list.
Another problem for AI developers is the low cost of switching to a different service. There is no moat protecting them from competition. It’s similar to the streaming service industry where viewers constantly rotate from one platform to another.
The question is who captures the value created by AI: the companies deploying it or the developers of the actual AI? By most accounts those companies that use AI are benefitting from greater efficiency. They should. But what about those that develop it? I’m in the minority but I see pricing competition in a commodity business.
— 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.
Summer in Lake Tahoe means backyard barbecues, family gatherings, and vacation rentals running at full capacity. The last thing you want is a sluggish or completely blocked kitchen sink turning your perfect mountain getaway into a plumbing nightmare. As the owner of CBO Plumbing Tahoe and your local Water Whisperer, I’ve seen too many “l just poured the bacon grease down the drain” emergencies — especially during peak tourist season when kitchens work overtime.
Here’s the science in plain English: Grease, oil, and fat start as liquids when hot but solidify as they cool. In our cooler high-altitude Tahoe pipes, that solidification happens fast. The grease coats the inside of your pipes like sticky wax, trapping food particles, hair, and soap scum. Over time, this builds into a rock-hard clog that can back up your entire system. In vacation rentals, one bad guest decision can lead to overflows, water damage, and costly emergency calls.
What NOT to Do
•Don’t pour cooking grease, bacon fat, vegetable oil, or leftover sauces directly down the drain — even if you run hot water with it. The hot water only delays the problem; the grease will cool and stick further down the line.
•Don’t rely on chemical drain cleaners as a regular fix. They can damage pipes, especially older ones common in Tahoe cabins, and they rarely dissolve grease completely.
•Don’t ignore slow drains. A sluggish sink is your plumbing’s early warning system.
Waiting until it’s fully blocked often leads to bigger issues like sewer main backups.
•Don’t flush “flushable” wipes or paper towels — they combine with grease to create super-clogs that laugh at regular plungers.
Smart Plumbing Habits
•Do let grease cool and solidify first, then scrape it into the trash or a sealed container for disposal. Better yet, keep an old coffee can or jar under the sink for used cooking fats.
•Do use a sink strainer to catch food scraps before they head down the drain.
•Do maintain your garbage disposal if you have one: Run cold water while operating it, and grind citrus peels or ice cubes monthly to help cut grease buildup.
•Do know your shutoff valves. In a real backup emergency, turn off the water under the sink or at the main house valve to limit damage.
For Tahoe homes and rentals, these habits are especially important. Cooler nighttime temperatures and variable water pressure at elevation make grease clogs more likely. Vacation guests often don’t know local rules, so consider posting a friendly “Kitchen Tips” note near the sink: “No grease down the drain — thanks for keeping Tahoe flowing!”
Following these simple do’s and don’ts will save you headaches, protect your property, and keep your plumbing system running smoothly through the busy summer season and beyond. Small preventive steps now mean fewer emergency calls when the snow starts flying later this year.
Have a plumbing question or a horror story about a grease clog? Drop it in the comments or reach out to CBO Plumbing Tahoe. We’re here 24/7 for the tough jobs, but we’d much rather help you prevent them.
Until next month, keep your pipes happy in the high country.
Joe Ortiz CBO Plumbing Tahoe — Family-owned experts in mountain plumbing challenges. 530.539.1661 | cbotahoe.com
CBO Plumbing Tahoe is a family-owned residential plumbing company serving the Lake Tahoe Basin. Led by Joe Ortiz, we specialize in high-altitude, winter, and vacation rental challenges with reliable 24/7 service, expert craftsmanship, and a deep commitment to our local community.
When most people think about weight management, they think about diet and exercise. While nutrition and physical activity are important, emerging research suggests that stress, sleep quality, nervous system regulation, and emotional well-being also play a significant role in metabolic health and body weight.
Yoga Therapy is an evidence-based, personalized approach that uses movement, breathwork, meditation, and lifestyle practices to support overall health and well-being. Unlike a traditional yoga class, Yoga Therapy is tailored to an individual’s unique needs and health goals.
Research has shown that Yoga Therapy practices may support healthy weight management by helping regulate the nervous system, reduce chronic stress, improve sleep quality, increase physical activity, and promote mindful awareness around eating behaviors. Chronic stress can elevate cortisol, a hormone associated with increased abdominal fat storage, insulin resistance, cravings, and disrupted sleep. By activating the body’s relaxation response, yoga practices may help mitigate some of these physiological effects.
Studies have also demonstrated that yoga-based interventions can improve markers of metabolic health, including blood pressure, blood sugar regulation, cholesterol levels, waist circumference, and overall quality of life. Many participants report increased body awareness, improved self-care habits, and a more sustainable relationship with food and movement.
One simple practice you can begin today is called Coherent Breathing, a gentle breathwork technique shown to support nervous system regulation and stress reduction.
Try It at Home:
1. Sit comfortably with your spine tall.
2. Inhale gently through your nose for a count of 5.
3. Exhale gently through your nose for a count of 5.
4. Continue for 2–5 minutes, allowing the breath to remain smooth and effortless.
This practice encourages balance within the autonomic nervous system, helping the body shift from “fight-or-flight” into a more restorative state where healing, digestion, recovery, and healthy metabolic function can occur.
While there is no single solution for weight management, Yoga Therapy offers a holistic, sustainable approach that addresses the whole person—not just the number on the scale. By supporting stress resilience, sleep, movement, mindfulness, and nervous system health, Yoga Therapy can be a valuable complement to medical care and healthy lifestyle changes.
If you would like to learn more about Yoga Therapy for weight management, metabolic health, stress reduction, or overall well-being, or to schedule an individual Yoga Therapy session with Brooke Haley, MA, Yoga Therapist and Reiki Master, please contact the Tahoe Forest Wellness Center at (530) 587-3769.
“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.
