high school

The Whittell Warriors girls soccer team won Friday's first round game against Incline, getting them just one step away from repeating as State Champs for Division III.

The girls beat Incline, the host of the tournament, by a score of 3-2.

North Tahoe beat their first round opponent, White Pine, 3-0, setting up the state tournament game between the Tahoe Basin's North and South. The game will be played Saturday, November 7 at 11 a.m. at Incline High School.

The football team as well as girls' soccer and boys' cross country teams from Whittell High School all continue their seasons as State Tournaments approach.

Cross Country

Cole Snyder, a Whittell High School junior, is heading to State after coming in fourth at Saturday's NIAA Northern Region Division III/IV Championships at Rancho San Rafael in Reno. His time of 18:35 put him into the top 5 which earns him a spot at the November

Freshman runners Sam Rusk and Jacob Otterstrom placed 43rd and 47th respectively. Rusk had a time of 26:00 and Otterstrom had 28:13.

Some have jobs. Some have families. Some are recent high school graduates. Some are retired military. Some are college graduates. They are all future firefighters.

One month into the new school year, 33 men and women are part of the tenth class of firefighters being trained at the Lake Tahoe Community College's program, the Lake Tahoe Basin Fire Academy. This year's class started with 36 students, but some find out early on how physically demanding the program is and they find it isn't for them.

The lack of fields for soccer, baseball, football, softball and other sports has long been a point of contention in South Lake Tahoe.

Recognizing the value of recreation in South Lake Tahoe, along with the need for trails, fields and parks, Measure S passed by voters in 2000. It brought in $6,500,000 to be used to maintain new bike trails, acquire, construct, and equip athletic fields, upgrade of Paradise Park facilities and construction of an ice rink. The measure promised three new fields in South Lake Tahoe, they got one.

Two male Ponderosa High students were arrested and booked into the El Dorado County Juvenile Hall on charges of possession and distribution of child pornography, sexual exploitation of a child and conspiracy to commit a felony crime.

Andrew Herrera, a junior at South Tahoe High School (STHS), continues to rack up awards in the wrestling world.

After playing football for the STHS varsity team on Friday night, Herrera headed to the Wild West Folkstyle wrestling tournament in Sacramento where he competed in their "pre-season showdown" on October 5.

"Family" is a word that can sum up what happened during Friday's STHS homecoming parade and football game.

Though not related, about 70 graduates, most of them from the Class of 1984, came together over the weekend to honor another one of their classmates stricken with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS).

Kevin Sullivan, 50, is the second graduate of South Tahoe High's class of '84 to afflicted with ALS. Todd Fields died in 1999 at the age of 33.

Students at South Tahoe High have been celebrating Homecoming Week festivities all week long, from themed dress-up days to late nights spent building their class floats. The wrap up will be Friday's parade through South Lake Tahoe and Friday night's football games.

The final night of float building was Thursday, when the Lake Tahoe Unified School District's bus garage taken over by students putting on the final touches before judging at 10 p.m. Each class created a float with the assistance of their class advisors.

The South Tahoe High Vikings Football team hosted the Lowery Buckaroos on Friday night in a game that earn the hometown boys their first win of the season.

After close losses to El Dorado (35-32) and Spring Creek (33-27), the Vikings were ready for a win.

Quarterback Tommy Cefalu threw one touchdown pass to Darren Jackson, followed by one on the ground for Jackson and two more rushing touchdowns by Noah Jackson.

The final: 27-0.

Next up for the Vikings: Next week's homecoming game against Wooster at STHS Friday night. Varsity starts at 7 p.m., JV at 4:30 p.m.

A South Tahoe High School senior was injured on Tuesday afternoon when the bike she was riding collided with a big rig truck.

The student, who's name is not being released due to her age, was riding her bike eastbound on D Street, when, for unknown reasons, she failed to stop at the stop sign at the road's intersection with Highway 50.

She ran into the truck just in front of the trailer's front tire. The student ended up in the dirt after her bike was smashed by the truck.

The inaugural South Tahoe Community Carnival will be held at the South Tahoe High School on Saturday, September 26 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. There will be games, prizes, a velcro wall, Sumo wrestling, performances, food, fun and school tours.

The carnival ill be set up at the school's softball field.

Last year, all students at South Tahoe High School were able to receive a free yearbook and they'd like to continue that tradition. All funds raised at the carnival go to support the STHS yearbook.

South Tahoe High School alumni are having an "All Class Reunion" that will be held over the weekend of September 18-20, 2015 to coincide with the City's 50th Anniversary parade.

The reunion home base is the Knight's Inn (formerly Super 8 and the Sands Motel).

The weekend of celebration starts off with a meet-n-greet on Friday afternoon at 4 p.m. with no-host cocktails and dinner following. During the day on Saturday the classes will participate in the City of South Lake Tahoe's parade which runs along Highway 50 from Al Tahoe Blvd to the Y, starting at 10 a.m.

High schools in the Placerville area wore the colors of Union Mine High today as a sign of solidarity after two of the school's Junior Varsity football players suffered brain injuries during a football game on Friday.

Union Mine High School sophomores Nick Brown and Justin Schwartz had just finished leading their junior varsity football team to a 27-8 win over Foothill High School on Friday night when people noticed something wasn’t quite right.

Then Brown passed out, said El Dorado Union High School District Superintendent Stephen Wehr.

The two were rushed to the emergency care, Brown to Sutter Roseville Medical Center and Schwartz to Kaiser Permanente Roseville Medical Center, according to Wehr.

Popular South Tahoe High English teacher Bridey Heidel is trying to attract the attention of musicians Duran Duran and television host Ellen DeGeneres.

Why you ask?

To understand we need to take a step back in time to the year 1983 when a young Bridey was in 7th grade. She had found the band Duran Duran at a very difficult time in her young life and they helped her cope with a life full of trauma as well as moving from town to town. By the time she graduated high school she had been in 26 schools.

A Carson City teenager died Saturday after authorities were called to Sand Harbor at Lake Tahoe for an accident on the water. Carson City Sheriff Ken Furlong confirmed the victim is a 15-year-old Carson High School student.

The teen’s name has not been released. A chaplain from Carson City has notified the parents, said Furlong. The teen died after he was taken to a Reno hospital after emergency crews were called to Sand Harbor at around noon Saturday. Washoe County authorities would not confirm if it was a possible drowning.

What would you do if you had a family miniature golf business you wanted to pass onto your four children? Build three more, of course!

In 1972, Bill and Mary Koplin built Magic Carpet Golf on land they purchased from Marjorie Springmeyer adjacent to what was once the South Lake Tahoe amusement park. Marjorie had overheard Bill and his real estate agent talking in a local restaurant about Bill's plans for building the course. "I have a piece of property I can sell you," Marjorie told them.

The first thing Justin Zunino will have to do is exchange all of his purple clothing for a wardrobe in blue and gold as he starts his new job as Vice Principal at South Tahoe High.

Well, maybe that will be the second thing, first will be buying a home.

Zunino and his wife Nicole are moving to South Lake Tahoe from Oroville, CA where he worked for 17 years, 13 of which were spent teaching and coaching baseball at Oroville High School and the rest as the Vice Principal. Nicole was the school's counselor.

Lake Tahoe Community College leadership and the LTCC Foundation’s Board of Directors have hired a new Executive Director of the LTCC Foundation and College Advancement. After completing the interview process, the Foundation directors and LTCC Superintendent/President Dr. Kindred Murillo selected Nancy Harrison for the position.

Each year the Tahoe Douglas Rotary Club holds their signature fundraiser, the St. Patrick's Day Celebration, and because of this they are able to give away tens of thousands of dollars in scholarships, grants and gifts to members of the community.

On Friday, local non-profits were handed the fruits of the Rotarian's labor at their annual community donation day.

This year, the following groups received a donation either at the meeting or during the school year:
Zephyr Cove Elementary School
Boy Scouts Troop 468
Boy Scouts Troop 594
WHittell High Boosters

Students at South Tahoe High and South Tahoe Middle schools now have an option to the normal suspension process thanks to the Brief Intervention Program (BIP) developed by the South Tahoe Drug Free Coalition.

In the past, students would be sent home for three days when suspended for having, or being under the influence, drugs or alcohol while at school. In many instances this method was looked at as a few days vacation with little, or no, opportunity to learn from their errors.

Hanifan, Mariana Osuna, 82, of St. Louis, MO passed away July 17, 2015 in the presence of her daughter and husband after a wonderful evening attending a long awaited Osuna family gathering held in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Lake Tahoe Dance Connection (LTDC) brings in professional dancers and choreographers for a weekend of dance, top instruction and fun at Lake Tahoe Community College.

The second annual Lake Tahoe Dance Connection will consist of a camp, August 12 – 14, and a Dance Intensive Weekend, August 15-16.

For the full summer dance experience, it is recommended that you enroll in both the Dance Camp and Intensive Weekend; however, registration is available for just one class, one day or either event. LTDC is open to a variety of age groups and levels, although dance experience is necessary.

Whittell High School senior Daria Sharon was announced as the recipient for the seventh annual Gene Upshaw Scholarship Award at this year’s American Century Championship.

Her academic achievements and dedication to sports and community service made her the premier candidate to earn this scholarship, valued at $5,000.