• Synapse Wines opened a tasting room in Placerville off Highway 50 next to the Cary House Hotel at 304 Main St. Synapse Wines is locally and family owned, with its vineyard in Somerset.

• Nevada Division of Wildlife officials have killed eight bears this season. The norm is one or two. Snow in higher elevations is bring them down into populated areas of the Lake Tahoe Basin. A plethora of bear cubs were reportedly born over the winter.

• The 5.8-mile scenic loop at Mammoth is getting a $4.9 million overhaul from Qualcon Contractors Inc. The Carson Valley firm expects to use two dozen people from the region on the job this summer.

• ESPN The Magazine named Truckee’s Matt Gelso to the first-team Academic All-District at-large team. Gelso is graduating from the University of Colorado and is a standout cross country skier.

• Highway 132 in Mariposa County has been designated the John Muir Highway. It closely follows his path into Yosemite.

• Swimmers are advised by the National Weather Service to “think before you sink.” Rivers in California and Nevada are running extremely fast. The temperature of many bodies of water in the Sierra is in the 40s.