By Thomas C. Frohlich, Robert Serenbetz, Alexander Kent and Alexander E.M. Hess, 24/7 Wall St.

The proportion of Americans with a college degree has increased steadily each year for more than a decade. According to the latest U.S. Census data, 29.6 percent of Americans at least 25 years old had at least a bachelor’s degree last year, up from 27.9 percent in 2009.

Based on recently released educational attainment data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey, West Virginia had the lowest level of educational attainment, with 18.9 percent of adults 25 and older having attained at least a bachelor’s degree in 2013. Conversely, more than 40 percent of Massachusetts residents had at least a bachelor’s degree, the highest percentage nationwide.

Earnings vary dramatically according to a person’s level of education. According to Holly Yettick, director of the Education Week Research Center, it is very clear that “people with higher levels of educational attainment make more money.” While a typical American adult with less than a high school diploma earned slightly more than $20,000 in 2013, a person with a bachelor’s degree earned more than $50,000.

Varying levels of income and poverty may also help explain the considerable variations in educational attainment between states. According to Sterling Lloyd, senior research associate at the Education Week Research Center, “varying poverty levels, or differences in socioeconomic status among residents in states” are among the major contributors to disparities in educational attainment.

In fact, the median household income in nine of the 10 states with the lowest educational attainment rates was far lower than the national median of $52,250 in 2013. On the other end of the spectrum, the most educated states all had among the highest median household income in the nation.

A number of other factors contribute to a state’s college attainment rate. While it is extremely difficult to measure the impact of policy on a region’s level of education, Lloyd explained that policy makers expect that “efforts to increase financial assistance for students will ultimately result in higher rates of educational attainment.” State policymakers are also attempting to improve college readiness by implementing new curriculum standards and benchmarks for college readiness, Lloyd told 24/7 Wall St.

College attainment levels may also be influenced by a migration effect. Yettick pointed out that areas in Colorado, for example, have excellent college attainment rates but relatively poor high school graduation rates. This may indicate that while a state’s education system may be weak, its job market may be strong, attracting people with college degrees to move to the state.

However, a state may also attract people without college degrees. Yettick mentioned Nevada in particular, which had among the lowest college attainment. According to Yettick, “there are a lot of service jobs, so a lot of people moving into [Nevada] do not have college degrees.”

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• Lake Tahoe Unified School District is working on its career technical education (CTE) programs and is asking people to take this survey.

• Heavenly Mountain Resort took over the lease of what was Cecil’s Market to expand Heavenly Sports. “To provide a smoother experience for guests, Heavenly Sports is relocating the retail portion of its store to that space. The rental portion of Heavenly Sports will remain in its current location and will also aim to provide a more seamless transition from Heavenly’s Ski and Ride School through the rental process,” Sally Gunter, Heavenly spokeswoman, told Lake Tahoe News.

• Nearly 300 Lake Tahoe Unified School District students earned a free pass this season to Sierra-at-Tahoe for having had perfect grades last school year.

• Soup Tahoe is opening Nov. 4 on Emerald Bay Road in South Lake Tahoe. It will be seasonal; operating where SUP Tahoe is. There will be and “O” added to the sign for winter.

• William Hill, the world’s leading sports betting company, will operate the sportsbook at Hard Rock Hotel Lake Tahoe.

Bundle up because the temps are going to drop and white stuff is going to fall.

Expect a dusting of snow at lake level on Saturday. Above 8,000 feet there could be 4 to 6 inches.

The National Weather Service in Reno told Lake Tahoe News the storm that is passing through could impact travel on Sierra passes. For road conditions, click on the state icons on the home page of Lake Tahoe News.

By Sunday the storm is expected to have moved through the region. The highs for this weekend are forecast for the mid to low 50s, with the temp climbing to 69 degrees by Tuesday.

— Lake Tahoe News staff report

Stateline’s gaming numbers for August were the bright spot for the state, with the win being 32.64 percent higher than a year ago at $28.4 million.

The Nevada Gaming Control Board on Sept. 26 released the numbers that show statewide the take was down 3.66 percent to $920.2 million.

This was the first statewide drop since February. Officials say high-end baccarat contributed to the decline.

— Lake Tahoe News staff report

By Peter Hutchison, AFP

INCHEON, South Korea — Olympic boss Thomas Bach said future Games hosts would have to prove their “sustainability” and that there would be a shake-up of the bidding criteria.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) president made the comments last weekend to Olympic Council of Asia delegates in Incheon, which has gone into debt to host the ongoing Asian Games.

The German official said the IOC has to “act now” to preserve its “relevance”, suggesting cities who pitch for international sports events need to think about the long-term impact.

“There is broad agreement that we need changes in the bidding and candidature procedure for the Olympic Games,” Bach told the OCA general assembly.

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Squaw Valley will host an Audi FIS Skicross World Cup and FIS Snowboard World Cup in the spring.

This will be the first time the International Ski Federation has brought a World Cup event to Squaw Valley since the FIS Alpine World Cup in 1969. The event will feature the top global stars in the sport, including local Olympian and seven-time X Games champion Nate Holland. Also expected to compete are Olympic SBX champion Seth Wescott, Olympic SBX medalists Alex Deibold and Lindsey Jacobellis, and World Cup skicross winner John Teller..

Cross racing pits athletes against each other to race head-to-had down a course of jumps, bumps and berms. Snowboardcross made its Olympic debut in 2006, with skicross in 2010.

The Tahoe event is March 4-8.

The event will be broadcast on NBC and NBCSN.

By Eric Asimov, New York Times

People who love wine generally consume more of it at home than anywhere else. And regardless of the quality of their glasses or the extent of their cellars, those who most enjoy wine at home share one attribute: a commitment to drinking it.

Many people who profess to value wine break out bottles only on special occasions, or on weekends. But people who really love wine think of it as an ordinary part of their meals, like salt or bread. Regular consumption is the single most important characteristic of the confident wine lover.

The benefits of commitment far outweigh a primer on proper glassware or schematics for pairing food and wine. Drinking wine regularly develops your critical ability and your sense of your own taste. And it helps answer the crucial question: Do you like wine enough to want to learn more about it? If you do like it, the repetition of pouring a glass with a meal becomes a pleasurable learning experience, which in turn leads to a greater sense of confidence. That, more than anything, improves the experience of drinking wine anywhere.

Regular wine consumption does not mean you need to drink a lot. It could be just a glass with dinner. Or a couple could share a bottle, which, like the 90-foot baseline in baseball, is just the right proportion: Two people can generally finish a bottle happily rather than woozily. Either way, or anywhere in between, regular drinking renders wine ordinary in the best sense rather than extraordinary.

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By Kitty Felde, KPCC

Attention skiers: climate change means fewer trips to Tahoe this century. That’s the word from a first-time study by the Department of the Interior. Less snow also means additional challenges for storing water during drier months.

According to the DOI’s Sacramento and San Joaquin Basins Climate Impact Assessment, the average temperature in California’s Central Valley is predicted to rise by about 3 degrees Fahrenheit by mid-century and possibly more than 5 degrees by the end of the century. It may not sound like much, but it means more rain and less snow in the Sierra.

That snow provides more than recreation for skiers. It’s like a bank account for future water withdrawals. Deputy Interior Secretary Michael Connor says we’ve historically relied on the natural snowpack to melt slowly, providing steady runoff that would provide water for cities and farms into mid-to-late summer. Less snow means less water during California’s hotter, drier months.

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To the community,

The Truckee Chapter of the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) held a Young Eagles Rally at the Lake Tahoe Airport on Sept. 21 and gave free airplane rides to 46 area youngsters.

The EAA started the Young Eagles program in 1993 with the goal of introducing a million youths, 8 through 17 years old, to aviation with a free airplane ride by the Wright brothers’ flight centennial, Dec. 17, 2003. We exceeded the national goal and continued the program, having flown over 1.8 million Young Eagles worldwide since 2003.

Our EAA Chapter 1073 did not do a rally at South Lake Tahoe last year due to smoke canceling the Lake in the Sky Air Show, and we were happy to return this year. We’ll be back again next year and do more rides for more Young Eagles.

Pilots are not compensated monetarily for their time or their aircraft costs, but they receive an even greater reward, that of seeing the smiles of Young Eagles when they deplane after their flights.

The pilots and ground volunteers enjoyed the small town air show atmosphere, and also noticed how appreciative kids and parents were for our doing the flights. Your communities’ members’ attitudes were additional rewards for all of us.

Thank you to the airport staff for helping with airport arrangements, and to the members of the air show committee who helped with lots of small details.

We’ll see you and your soon-to-be Young Eagles next year at the Lake Tahoe Airport.

Tom Meadows, EAA 1073 Young Eagles Coordinator

By Tom Harvey, Salt Lake Tribune

A federal judge on Tuesday dismissed snowboarders’ claims that Alta Ski Resort banned them because of stereotypes that they are “undesirable people with obnoxious habits and characteristics.”

Instead, U.S. District Judge Dee Benson said there are rational reasons for Alta to ban snowboarding, one of only three resorts to do so in the United States.

Benson wrote in a 30-page opinion that federal court was not the right arena for the snowboarders to argue they should be allowed on the Utah resort’s famed runs such as Baldy Chutes.

“There are many forums plaintiffs can resort to in an attempt to accomplish their goal of snowboarding down the Baldy Chutes at Alta,” Benson wrote in his decision. “Seeking an injunction from this court is not one of them.”

The boarders had sued Alta and the U.S. Forest Service in January, arguing they were being irrationally discriminated against and deserved protection under the 14th Amendment to the Constitution, which historically has been used on cases involving discrimination based on race, gender and sexual orientation.

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