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South Lake Tahoe Police Officer Andy Eissinger is enjoying his new job as the Resource Officer at South Tahoe High, having moved into the position when Aaron Crawford retired at the end of the 2014-15 school year.

Eissinger said the first five months on the job have gone well and have been a nice break from being on patrol for the City the last eight years. He spends all eight hours of the day on the campus, interacting with students and dealing with issues that come up on a daily basis.

Though not as strong as many predicted at lake level, the storms that came through Lake Tahoe this week left behind plenty of powder on the slopes.

The National Weather Service in Reno said little additional snow is expected through Friday but another series of weak to moderate storm systems is likely to bring more snow to the Sierra from Saturday through the middle of next week.

Here is their forecast:

Multimedia artist Cynthia Hooper, whose videos and paintings capture various landscapes found in California and Mexico, is bringing her artistic talents to Lake Tahoe Community College’s Haldan Gallery this winter. Research & Desire: Recent Videos and Paintings by Cynthia Hooper opens Thursday, Jan. 14, with an Artist’s Reception from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. in the Haldan Gallery. Hooper will give a short talk about her work at 5:30 p.m. Light refreshments will be served, and all are welcome to attend this free event. The exhibit remains open until March 18.

The following is a recap of activity the South Lake Tahoe Police Department. They responded to 658 calls between December 15, 2015 and January 4, 2016.

Calls Resulting in Arrests:

12/15
Trespassing in the 1100 block of Glenwood Ave
DUI in the 3600 block of Lake Tahoe Blvd

12/16
Vandalism in the 3300 block of Lake Tahoe Blvd
Drunk in Public in the 4100 block of Lake Tahoe Blvd
Spousal Abuse in the 400 block of Cedar Ave

12/17
Trespassing in the 100 block of Lake Parkway

The El Dorado County Board of Education has promoted one of its own to the top job, one that has been vacant since the November, 2015 resignation of Jeremy Meyers.

Dr. Ed Manansala became the new superintendent Tuesday, moving up from his position as Deputy Superintendent of Educational Services, one he'd held since June of 2013.

What would you like to see future buildings to look like in South Lake Tahoe? Made of stone and wood? Ski lodge look or a more modern city look?

Now is the time to share with city officials what you'd like the visual character to look like in town, and how it can be improved.

A Design Guidelines Public Workshop will be hosted by the South Lake Tahoe Planning Commission on Thursday, January 21 in the City Council Chambers at the airport from 3:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.

It has been 18 years since Sonny Bono, a California congressman and entertainer who had performed at Lake Tahoe, died in a skiing accident at Heavenly Mountain Resort.

Bono was 62 when he set out skiing on that Monday morning, January 5, 1998. He was first reported missing at 4:30 p.m. In hopes that he left the mountain without telling anyone, Bono was paged in each of the Stateline casinos.

Round two of Councilwoman JoAnn Conner versus the City of South Lake Tahoe and City Manager Nancy Kerry was originally on the court docket for Monday, but it didn't happen and the next court date has yet to be set.

3:00 p.m. update 1/5/16: Well, the storm had another surge and chain controls are back up over Echo from three miles east of Kyburz to Meyers and on 80 from one mile east of Baxter to the Donner Lake interchange.

220 p.m. update 1/5/16: Chain controls over Echo Summit (Hwy 50) and Donner Pass (I80) have been lifted.

* * *

Chain controls have been up through the Sierra Nevada for most of the day as snows passes over the region.

Two good news stories out of Squaw Valley Alpine Meadows today.

First, they are now offering a season pass to all active duty military in exchange for a $25 donation to the “Military to the Mountains” program, a partnership between Squaw Valley Alpine Meadows, High Fives Foundation, Achieve Tahoe (formerly Disabled Sports USA Far West) and Adaptive Training Foundation.

A Douglas County man is in jail this morning after allegedly battering his wife and strangling her, shooting off a gun inside their home and resisting arrest on Monday, January 5, 2016.

At 11:10 p.m., deputies from the Douglas County Sheriff's Office responded to a 911 call from a home in the 1300 block of Banner Drive in the Gardnerville Ranchos neighborhood. A woman had called, saying she had been battered and strangled by her husband.

The Caltrans Avalanche Team was at Echo Summit Monday for a routine test on their Gazex system which is in place on the mountain.

A message went out on twitter for those that follow @TahoeRoads, advising people of a loud bang that would happen. "if you hear a loud bang in a few minutes, it's not NYE again," the tweet said. "Caltrans testing avalanche control cannon off Hwy 50."

There is a video attached to this story that shows a demonstration on how this sytem works for avalanche control. The chambers of the Gazex remotely shoot compressed air into the snow.

The Tahoe Douglas Fire Protection District is holding a blood drive on Monday, January 18 from noon to 5:30 p.m.

FACTS & FIGURES
* A single car accident victim can require as many as 100 pints of blood.
* More then 40,000 pints of blood are transfused daily in the United States.
* 1 in 7 people entering the hospital will need blood.
* Patients who use the most blood are people being treated for: cancer, undergoing orthopedic surgeries, undergoing organ and marrow transplants, being treated or inherited blood disorders and undergoing cardiovascular surgeries.

Location

The following is the ski, snowboard and weather report for Monay, January 4, 2016 for South Lake Tahoe brought to you by Lake Tahoe SkiBum.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE - A chair fell from Heavenly Mountain Resort's North Bowl chairlift today, resulting in 65 people being stranded for two hours before being evacuated from the lift.

Just before 11 a.m. on January 3, 2016, the unoccupied chair fell off the cable and the lift was immediately shut down.

Lara Miller of South Lake Tahoe was among those stranded on the chairlift. She said the resort's ski patrol checked on the stranded skiers during the two hour ordeal.

There’s nothing like having a hearty and tasty meat loaf dinner to make you feel like you’re eating at home. Thanks to the “Adopt A Day of Nourishment” sponsor MontBleu Resort Casino & Spa and our hardworking Bread & Broth volunteer cooks, that is exactly what B&B’s dinner guests enjoyed at the December 28 Monday evening dinner. The meat loaf was a big hit and despite big “first servings” portions, when “second serving” was announced, many diners returned for a second helping.

When the clock struck midnight on New Year’s Day, Rogelio Castañeda and a very pregnant Margarita García gave a New Year’s toast with a glass of champagne and a glass of apple cider, respectively. Three hours later, after a brief slumber, Margarita woke up in labor.

The couple headed to Barton Family Birthing Center and at 6:36 p.m. on January 1, Jeremy Nicolas Castañeda García was born. Jeremy weighed seven pounds, eleven ounces and was 20.5 inches long. He was named after Margarita’s mother Geremia, who passed away when Margarita was young.

The National Weather Service in Reno says that an active winter weather pattern will be returning to the Lake Tahoe region next week as several winter systems are poised to impact the Sierra and western Nevada every one to two days beginning Monday and possibly lasting into next weekend.

As usual, the South Lake Tahoe Police Department bolstered our patrol staffing to meet the emergency response needs of our crowded City during the New Year celebration period. There were squads of officers patrolling the state line area, the Snow Globe festival and extra officers were also assigned to work patrol throughout the City. South Lake Tahoe was quite full with holiday revelers, and the number of calls for emergency police responses was consistent with recent past years. We are pleased to report there was a decrease in arrests as compared to last year.

Are you prepared for an emergency? The City of South Lake Tahoe has developed a 12 month emergency preparedness tool to help you prepare.

As part of the City's continued initiative to increase communications, we will be offering a 12 part monthly series throughout the year highlighting emergency preparedness. Use these tools to prepare yourself for an emergency. More information is available in the City’s website at www.cityofslt.us/emergency

Emergency Preparedness—Month 1 - CREATE A FAMILY DISASTER PLAN

Thank you John Durst for your video coverage of the New Year's revelers along the casino corridor on the South Shore.

An estimated 5,000 to 10,000 people lined the route waiting for the road to close just before midnight.

Link to video HERE.

The following is the ski, snowboard and weather report for Friday, January 1, 2016 for South Lake Tahoe brought to you by Lake Tahoe SkiBum.

Weather - It's a cold one this morning with a temperature reading of -7 at 7 a.m. South Lake Tahoe will have a high of 23 and a low tonight of 8. Today: Mostly sunny, with a high near 23. East wind around 10 mph. Tonight: Partly cloudy, with a low around 8. East wind around 5 mph becoming southwest after midnight.

If you live in Nevada, chances are you felt an earthquake in 2015. The University of Nevada, Reno's Seismological Laboratory said there were 17,500 earthquakes in the state during the year, 231 of those recently in south Reno.

South Tahoe High graduate Graham Kent in the director of the Nevada Seismological Lab. "While the Reno shaking is fresh in our minds, what's really bumping the number up from the background rates is the energetic sequence in far northwestern Nevada, the Sheldon sequence," he said.

The fifth annual Lake Tahoe Home and Garden Show will be held Friday, April 22, 2016, from 4:00 pm to 7:30 pm, and Saturday, April 23, 2016, from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm.

The show will return to the Recreation Complex at 1080 Rufus Allen Blvd. in South Lake Tahoe. Admission is free, and all attendees will receive a free ticket for a door prize drawing. The popular show attracts over a thousand attendees during the two days, and offers free give-a-ways, food, activities for the family, and vendors