Law enforcement and hospital kept busy with SnowGlobe issues

Fans of electronic music flock to South Lake Tahoe for the annual SnowGlobe outdoor music festival held December 29-31. The predominately under-30 crowd come from colleges and communities hundreds and even thousands of miles away to enjoy a specially gathered group of top artists in the electronic dance music (EDM) field. An estimated 15,000 tickets have been sold for the three-day event which is held on the South Lake Tahoe community's newly created ball fields.

Along with the fun though comes issues common at most music festivals: noise, trash, drinking and illegal drugs.

During the first two days of SnowGlobe there have been 17 drug overdose issues seen in the emergency room at Barton Hospital and over 124 arrests.

According to Dr. Lance Orr, Medical Director of Barton's emergency department, they saw seven patients from SnowGlobe on the first night of the festival, and ten on Friday night, most for "significant drug ingestion."

Many of the patients reported using Molly, Methylenedioxymethamphetamine which is commonly known as ecstasy. Medical staff also found additional stimulants in their system when the patients reported only using Molly. Orr said cocaine and methamphetamine were found in some patients, resulting in Tachycardia, an elevated heart rate which prevented them from using the normal beta-blockers to combat the affects of Molly. He said they can't tell if the drugs were taken separately or if the Molly was cut with the stimulants.

The South Lake Tahoe Police Department arrested 14 people for trespassing on Day One, three of those being juveniles who were booked at the Juvenile Treatment Center. Alcohol Beverage Control (ABC) agents were also being kept busy and arrested 47, 30 of those were juveniles in possession of alcohol, nine were in possession of alcohol in containers. Three were arrested for urinating in public, and a couple was found occupying an unused tent for sex. Two were arrested for being under the influence of a controlled substance.

During Day Two of SnowGlobe, SLTPD said "it was much better" as they had one trespassing arrest and a few drunk in public arrests. ABC though had 62 arrests, with 42 of those being minors in possession of alcohol, 10 with open containers, two for possession of marijuana, six for possession of methamphetamine, one for drinking in a car and another for open container in a vehicle.

Promoters and law enforcement have been meeting more than daily to keep the event as safe as possible for the public. Perimeter security has been stepped up in an attempt to keep those without tickets out of the event.

Sound throughout South Lake Tahoe on Friday was less of an issue, with many nearby saying they only heard the 10:00 p.m. fireworks show and not the music.

Noise complaints during the first day prompted the SnowGlobe producers to lower the sound, even though they were under the approved maximum decibel count Thursday. SLT City Manager Nancy Kerry said she received 25-30 complaints on the City's complaint phone line during the first day of SnowGlobe, with far fewer on Day Two.

"The producers agreed to turn it down even though they were not violating sound requirements." said Kerry. "When there's no snow the sound travels much further and appears to be much louder offsite as the snow is a natural sound barrier."

The festival changed to the newly created Community Ball Field on Al Tahoe Blvd instead of the adjacent college field, where several trees were cut down. The higher levels of noise could also be attributed to fewer trees to absorb the sound, along with the removal of a tent at one of the stages which gave two open air stages for music instead of just one.

Saturday night's final night of SnowGlobe will feature a midnight fireworks show, so those with dogs that react to pyrotechnics should be prepared. The venue is open from 2:00 p.m. to 1:00 a.m., with bus shuttles running until 2:00 a.m.