By Susan Wood

As a new year and decade begin, I reflect on a time when South Lake Tahoe had reason to celebrate.

If only for a moment, no unfinished projects, crumbling sidewalks, lost tourism promotion opportunities or staggering unemployment figures cloud my mind. One year ago today, the South Shore was placed on the world map and forever in my heart when we hosted the 2002 Winter Olympics torch relay on its way to Park City.

Susan Wood on the torch route in 2002. Photo/Trish McGraw

I was honored to be selected as a U.S. media representative by sponsors Coca-Cola and Chevrolet to run a stretch of the torch relay. And I was humbled for being in such good company of South Shore residents who were nominated to take part in it by their fellow citizens.

David Kurtzman served in the Peace Corps before becoming active in the South Lake Tahoe community. Mary Ebright lost her lower right leg to bone cancer but has a million-dollar smile that can light up a room. Pat Welze made a career out of her community involvement and gave new meaning to the term ‘family values’ having cared for her injured daughter.

I learned how Ron Nageotte never quits, how Lauren Thomaselli will always be young at heart and how her father Larry Foster beamed when he talked about the honor of passing the torch to his daughter. Polite and mature beyond his teenage years, Adam Matzinger taught me the true meaning of being an Eagle Scout.

There’s a reason why Matt Williams was so respected when he worked at South Tahoe High School and why Jan Ashcraft chose Tahoe as her home to teach before retiring — the great outdoors. I was so proud to have known Bart Owens on the police force because he embraced the pull-yourself-up-by-your-bootstraps attitude.

And it’s only fitting that Dominique Westlake’s love of running placed the torch in his hands.

My hat is off to Mike Shreve, who as a skiing coach could have been an Olympic hopeful, but shared the mere pleasure of his loved ones cheering him on during his torch run. Irene Kaelin’s talk of loving Tahoe was commendable. I have the utmost respect for Karen Wilson, a cancer survivor who has dedicated her time for the cause in our community.

And speaking of dedication — it was only appropriate the community threw a big birthday party for longtime dance instructor Marcia Sarosik on her special day, the day the torch came through. Danny Masellones has proved to be another inspirational personality in this town; every year helping a new class of college students negotiate their path to a better future.

And Sam Borges gave me an extraordinary glimpse of how interesting Tahoe’s past is. The man embraced it like few people I know.

There was nothing like meeting Martin Hollay, a veteran skier who escaped war-torn Hungary to ski the slopes of Heavenly practically every day. I caught up with him weeks ago. At age 89 he shows no signs of slowing down. He’s celebrating 50 years of working at the 1960 Winter Games at Squaw Valley.

When the night of Jan. 20, 2002, rolled around, my family came down from Oregon to cheer me on — but I had a huge dilemma. I wanted to see Hollay carry the torch before I did, so we drove up the traffic-clogged streets to Heavenly to see him ski the flame across the slopes. The crowd was so huge and noisy it was difficult to hear Hungary’s national anthem playing for the native.

With not much time to spare, we inched into town so I could catch my torchbearer bus. I could barely contain my emotion as I saw hundreds of people wrapped in blankets lining the streets on a cold Tahoe night with their children, dogs and flashlights. They roared with glee as we drove by to get into position, and I remember bus driver Diego calling us “rock stars.” Another Olympic official on our bus asked how many people on board are cancer survivors. Kaelin threw her arm up fast and proud. I thought about my father’s fight against the disease and became grateful he would witness this event with me.

From tears to cheers

This was certainly a celebration of the human spirit like no other I have experienced. I looked at officer

Susan Wood signs autographs along the 2002 torch route in South Tahoe. Photo/Trish McGraw

Owens and saw tears streaming down his face. Then, it hit me. Given the tragedy of Sept. 11 that occurred only months before, I soon learned the ties that bring people together extend well beyond our immediate families.

This was quite a departure from the Munich Games 30 years before.

As we approached my designated stretch on Sierra Boulevard, I saw the flame dance in the night on a horse-drawn carriage and felt the comfort of knowing Borges was behind me. When I got off the bus in my uniform, the crowd on the street erupted and a no-nonsense black leather-clad motorcycle rider with an entourage next to him handed me the torch. As the entourage guided me down the street, I remember thinking how I wanted to make the two-tenths of a mile down Sierra Boulevard last a long time. However, one of the officials told me the torch was a little behind schedule. It wasn’t the time to sprint, though. I was careful not to slip on the icy streets and dropping this world symbol of goodwill.

My heart swelled and my eyes grew wide as Sierra Boulevard emptied out on Highway 50 to a crowd as big as a rock concert’s. After I passed the torch on, I was swarmed by youngsters wanting my autograph.

The night was only beginning. South Shore threw the best party I’ve seen here in what was Caesars Tahoe parking lot. I give a lot of credit to then-Mayor Brooke Laine for organizing such an event that she recently told me was the high point of her term. The low point was the Gondola Fire six months prior.

Between the hugs and displays of national pride, we came together that night.

That was a time when we could truly say we lived in a world-class destination. Few aspects of Tahoe impress me today beyond the stunning beauty of the lake, vast array of recreational options and Sierra-at-Tahoe’s level of customer service. Maybe one day we’ll return to that time when we came together as a community and our differences were set aside for something that was much larger than any one person.

Publisher’s note: Find out on Jan. 24 what longtime Tahoe journalist Nancy Oliver Hayden thinks of the book “Snowball’s Chance”.

By Kathryn Reed

Every year the South Lake Tahoe Parks and Recreation Department writes checks for about $140,000 to cover its utility bills. That’s about to be cut by 40 percent.

With the approval this month by the City Council to spend $797,461 to retrofit the city’s swim complex that was built in 1975, the city expects to see a savings in the first year.

Lighting at the 55,000-square-foot building will be replaced with high efficiency low wattage electronic ballasts. T8 extended performance fluorescent lamps are also part of the changes.

Installation will take place outside of normal business hours so the work doesn’t disrupt the operation of the swim center.

Another major change is to the boilers and how the system will generate electricity to enable the nearby ice rink to operate off the grid.

A trench will be built this spring to link the pool and ice rink. A driveway separates the two buildings.

The turbine being installed to heat the pool will create electricity. That electricity will then be used to operate the ice rink.

Aircon Energy out of Sacramento was selected to do the work. Seventeen companies were considered. The process started two years ago, with the council selecting Aircon in April 2008.

“The Aircon Energy design includes improved lighting and energy efficiency, building heating systems and air handlers, swimming pool water heating, movements and filtration, also the pools air structure [bubble] blower and air heating exchanger,” Gary Moore, Parks and Rec director, wrote in his Jan. 12 staff report. “The greatest component of the project is the install of a Micro-turbine which will produce the electrical power to run the Ice Arena while capturing 100 percent of the heat for usage. All systems equipment is premium high efficiency in relation to energy savings.”

The city is paying for this through $100,000 from the Rec Department’s capital improvement fund, with the remainder being a 3 percent 15-year loan from the California Energy Commission.

Projections show the energy savings will more than pay for the loan. Moore expects to have a net savings of $1.4 million during the 25-year life of the equipment. Energy savings will be more than $2.26 million in that time or more than $90,000 a year.

“It is a huge savings, but think about the 200 tons of carbon — the pollution — we are eliminating on those two facilities,” Moore told Lake Tahoe News after the council OK’d the expenditure.

The city looked into solar and wind power, but neither would work well at the recreation complex off Rufus Allen Boulevard.

With the pool and ice rink in high demand seven days a week, Moore knows it will take a coordinated effort to make sure patrons are not too inconvenienced as the work commences this summer.

By Kathryn Reed

Some police officers get the worst assignments – having to crawl under houses, being the first one in a building where a potential bad guy is hiding – and then having to always ride in the back seat.

And then when you’re the one who schools always request as the special guest, it can get tiring.

Officer Tony Broadfoot and Duke. Photo/SLTPD

Such are the hazards when you have four legs.

The burden is about to be shared. South Lake Tahoe Police Department expects to have another police dog on the streets in less than six months. This will double the agency’s K-9 unit. Several years ago the department had three dogs working the streets.

The City Council approved the expenditure at its meeting last week. The $12,500 cost – which includes the animal and training for its human officer – is coming from fundraising by the local K-9 association and from asset forfeitures. No general fund money is being spent.

“In regards to criminal activity, (K-9s) are the best sources we have. If you roll up and think a burglar or someone is in a building where it’s supposed to be vacant, it’s very easy to have an animal do the search with an officer because its smell is so acute,” explained Capt. Martin Hewlett, who is also acting police chief. “They are really indispensable in finding people. People are always hiding and running from us and don’t want to be caught.”

Some agencies have dogs just work the streets or just sniff out drugs. In South Lake, the dogs do both, with the majority of the work on the streets.

“SLEDNET (South Lake El Dorado Narcotics Enforcement Team) uses our K-9 because he can search a building or a room for drugs and maybe areas where we wouldn’t think to look or can’t look like in walls,” Hewlett said.

Sgt. Josh Adler will be responsible for training the new dog to search for dope. He said it takes about two months to train the officer and dog to search for drugs.

Officer Tony Broadfoot and Duke, his Belgian malinois, are also called out to schools and youth organizations. K-9 demonstrations are more popular than a uniformed officer talking about the job.

The department hasn’t decided who the other K-9 handler will be. Volunteers within the department will be sought.

The commitment is huge – with the animal being part of the officer’s family.

The animals come trained to work the streets. It’s the officer who needs to be trained to work with the dog.

By Susan Wood and Kathryn Reed

TAHOE CITY — Medals won decades ago, patches that show little wear despite being 50 years old, ski bibs from the eighth Winter Olympiad — they were all in vogue Friday night at the Nordic Legends Dinner.

Some of these athletes, groomers, patrollers and other participants from the 1960 Squaw Valley Games seemed to have the bravado that would allow them to compete next month in Canada if they wanted to.

Nordic Legends Dinner at Granlibakken in Tahoe City on Jan. 15. Photos/Kathryn Reed

But on this particular night it was all about Squaw — what it meant to these men and women.

Granlibakken, which had a rich history before these nearly 250 people came together, was full of chatter as people recalled what it was like to bring the Games to the North Shore. The dinner was just one of many events during Olympic Heritage Week, which ends today, in honor of Squaw Valley’s 50th anniversary of hosting the Games.

The dinner featured various stations dishing out international food and a heavy-hitter lineup of skiers, competitive athletes, groomers, coaches and volunteers sharing stories about an event steeped in history, unity and goodwill.

Three large screens depicted still photos and film shot at the VIII Winter Olympics as well as crews making it all a reality.

Here are a just a few of the people from the dinner and their stories:

Chummy Broomhall

It’s hard to believe Chummy Broomhall was born in 1919. His enthusiasm for Nordic

Chummy Broomhall

events is practically contagious. He didn’t compete in the 1960 Games, instead, he is credited with designing the cross country trails for those Games and 20 years later in Lake Placid.

But he knows a thing or two about the sport. He competed in the 1948 and 1952 Games, and was in the 10th Mountain Division during World War II.

Squaw’s owner, the late Alex Cushing, brought Broomhall out to determine where best to put the cross country course. Broomhall had it all figured out — the valley between Squaw and what is now Alpine.

“I told the Olympic Committee they used up all my terrain,” Broomhall said after he came back to Squaw and saw the development in preparation for the Games. He came up with Plan B — near McKinney Creek in what is now Sugar Pine Point State Park.

Broomhall told Lake Tahoe News after the dinner he’s excited to see the Olympics return to the West.

“I’ve heard they have nice facilities, but bad weather can jinx the Games,” he warned.

He should know. Broomhall is known for his uncanny ability to battle the weather and move snow around with one of the earliest grooming machines.

Broomhall is a saint of sorts among the sports competitors. He was considered the “chief of the course” of the 1960 Olympic Games.

Mother Nature aside, Broomhall beamed when he spoke of how skiing and working at the Olympics changed his life forever. That’s why he admitted to feeling so connected to the people in the room — even if he didn’t know everyone. Dinner attendees swarmed him like they do a rock star.

He put the attendees in stitches with his colorful stories and his rendition of a cautionary ode to skiers.

Although cross country skiing doesn’t receive the attention in the United States as it does in Europe, Broomhall isn’t convinced it’s a dying sport. He’s comforted by the youth taking it up. A group tried out the course he originally groomed for the Squaw Games, the first to test the restored tracks near Tahoe City.

Hart Axley

Hart Axley, a member of the 1960 Winter Games ski patrol, launched the dinner with a toast, wearing his original ski patrol jacket and distinctive hat.

Hart Axley

Its 105 pins on one side are dedicated to Rocky Mountain destinations, with one noting he’s a member of the Colorado Ski Hall of Fame. The Coloradan rarely misses the tight-knit National Ski Patrol reunions in Winter Park, Colo. On the other side of the hat, a row of Olympic pins made it obvious why the evening was important to him. The rest mark ski resorts from everywhere beyond Colorado, including one of Heavenly Valley.

In addition to working on the ski patrol of the Tahoe Olympics, Axley managed the flag detail.

He’s also a heck of singer — he led the audience in a rousing rendition of “God Bless America.”

Joe Pete Wilson

Joe Pete Wilson competed on the U.S. Nordic team in 1960 and says Squaw is still special to him.

“The Olympic Field House was awesome. It provided part of the mystique of Squaw Valley,” Wilson said. “Squaw Valley set the standard for all future Winter Olympic sites.”

He remembers Walt Disney choreographing entertainment every night. Disney also created the Opening Ceremonies.

He said the media was great, joking that, “Even the New York Times could locate California.”

Camaraderie was a huge part of his experience in 1960 and later as a coach.

After Wilson laid out a beautifully crafted story of the experience of the 1960 Winter Games at Squaw, he told Lake Tahoe News the event and subsequently this dinner were “the high point of my life.”

Laszio Fono

At age 81, competitive skier Laszlo Fono recalled escaping war-torn Hungary with

Laszio Fono

wife Paulette and two pairs of cross country skis in pursuit of a better life in the United States. He won the National Nordic Championships in 1959. He wore that medal Friday night.

“It’s my love. It’s in my blood,” he said of skiing, as images from 1960 flashed behind him.

Fono donated those 210cm wooden Nordic skis for the Olympic museum that will be built near the Ehrman Mansion on the West Shore.

“It’s the memory of this,” he said of why he came.

He remembers going to the gold medal hockey game and losing his voice as he cheered for the U.S.

The Fonos ended up in Atherton, south of San Francisco. They have maintained a 69-year friendship with fellow skier and Hungarian Martin Hollay of South Lake Tahoe.

A cast of hundreds

Hollay, who helped design the Nordic trail, was at the dinner, saying he enjoyed seeing his old friends.

U.S. Olympic hockey team right wing Weldon Olson agreed.

“We always like to see each other,” he said.

It was the 1960 hockey team that is the true Dream Team — having beat Russia at a time when it was only amateurs on the ice.

Olson came to the dinner wearing his Olympic team jacket.

Paul Johnson, another member of the gold medal hockey team, remembered the stadium was almost empty by the time the final game was over because it was played so late at night.

People affiliated with Sierra Nevada College got many of the jobs in 1960. One dinner attendee talked about being responsible for keeping the women from using the sauna that was on the men’s side and the funny stories associated with that.

Candace Cable, Chummy Broomhall, Martin Hollay

Candace Cable, a well decorated Paralympian, has a wealth of praise for Broomhall. She reminded the crowd that it was 1960 that the Paralympics started to be staged in the same city as the Olympics, though that didn’t happen until the 1970s for winter sports.

She made sure sit skis were on the Nordic trail the next day when many from this gathering re-enacted the biathlon race (with lasers, not guns) at Sugar Pine Point.

Peter Lahdenpera, who was on the Nordic relay and competed in biathlon, talked about having two left skis waxed just before he was to ski the anchor lap. A screwdriver was found at the last minute so bindings could be changed.

Mac Miller, a fellow teammate, said it was incredible to walk into the stadium, just being there to represent your country.

Bill Lindemann, interpretive specialist with the Sierra District of the California State Parks, emceed the event.

He said the tiller Broomhall used to groom the Nordic tracks should be restored by this summer. It was the state parks system that inherited much of what was built for the Olympics.

That evening it was mentioned that only 1 in 500,000 U.S. residents will become an Olympian. That makes Lake Tahoe all that more special with the contingent that is likely to descend upon Vancouver, British Columbia, next month.

Thirty flags hung in the dining hall to honor each country that had been at Squaw. Lindemann reminded the audience that the five rings making up the symbol of the Olympics represent the continents coming together in peace for peaceful competition.

Publisher’s note: On Jan. 20 read about the memories one South Lake Tahoe resident has from running the Olympic torch in 2002.

By Kathryn Reed

It was a universal look of disbelief and bewilderment upon the faces of the Lake Tahoe Unified School District board members as they learned $850,000 is likely going to be taken away by the state in the 2010-11 fiscal year.

Chief Financial Officer Deb Yates delivered the news about Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s proposals this week.

California is facing a $20 billion deficit. Schools are just one of many entities feeling the belt be squeezed even tighter.

As in past years, what comes out of the Capitol in January may not resemble what the Legislature negotiates and the governor ultimately signs off on. But often times the numbers just get worse and not better.

For the current fiscal year the state reduced what it pays districts for average daily attendance. It was promised to be a one time take-away. Now the governor wants to make it permanent.

It wasn’t so bad this year because federal stimulus dollars backfilled what the state took away. The same scenario will not exist in the next fiscal year.

This is $201 per student for LTUSD.

The governor in his address this month said he would fully fund the statutory cost of living allowance. But he failed to disclose that amount was a negative number – minus 0.38 percent. This is another $24 per student take-away.

The total loss of $225 per student for LTUSD equals $850,000. That is the amount the district will need to trim from its nearly $30 million budget.

With education, though, most of the money that comes in is designated toward specific areas. The discretionary allocations are minuscule.

Schwarzenegger also this month said districts need to cut “central administration costs” and not from classrooms.

“There would be no one left standing in this building,” Yates said Tuesday night of that idea.

Central admin for Lake Tahoe Unified is the superintendent’s office, finance and human resources.

The school board plans to schedule a retreat soon to discuss the budget. They all looked shell shocked Jan. 12 as Yates gave her presentation.

It’s possible the district could reduce its 3 percent reserve. What hasn’t been trimmed from flexible accounts, likely will be.

The governor proposes changing state law so districts could layoff teachers without regard to seniority, not give laid off teacher preference in regards to substitute positions, and changing the March 15 notification to a 60-day period. He also threw out the idea of doing away with classified positions and having districts contract out that work.

“The governor said he was going to protect education and he didn’t,” Superintendent Jim Tarwater told Lake Tahoe News before Tuesday’s meeting. He said the district will be watching what Sacramento does so the district can plan accordingly.

Publisher’s note: The following was written for Lake Tahoe News in 1960. LTN was a weekly print publication at the time owned by Flip Brandi. Del Wright, the writer, is better known to those on the South Shore as Del Laine.

By Del Wright

It’s going to take me years to sort out all my memories of the Olympics.

I’ll never forget the Opening Ceremony and the way the sun burst out at the cannon salute, after snowing hard all day … or the lump in my throat as the athletes paraded past … or the hush of expectancy as Andy Lawrence skied down Papoose Peak with the Olympic Torch … or the way the Olympic Flame roared into life.

I’ll never forget Jean Vuarnet’s brilliant Downhill victory, proving that nice guys do win … or the sheer delight on the face of Yvonne Ruegg when she realized she’d won a gold medal with her Giant Slalom run … or the sobs of Elwira Seroczynska when she tripped and fell on her way to a speed skating record … or the Finnish relay team, anchored by the great Veikko Hakulinen, beating the Norwegian entry by a mere two yards … or Chick Igaya twisting his way down the slalom … or the sportsmanship of the competitors, always ready to congratulate a top performance or a good try … or the complete mastery of figure skaters Carol Heiss, Dave Jenkins, Barbara Wagner and Bob Paul … or being at the finish line the day seven national and international records were broken in the ladies 1000 meter speed skating … or watching Georg Thoma of Germany become the first middle-European to win the Nordic combined … or yelling myself hoarse at the hockey games … or watching those wonderful, crazy fools soar off the jumps … or sitting with Lidija Skoblikova, Russia’s double gold medalist, at a hockey game and teaching her to yell “go-go-go” while she taught me to yell “shaibu”, the Russian word for “one goal!”

I’ll never forget the staff I had the good fortune to work with on this assignment, either. Walt Little, who masterminded the whole coverage, kept his sanity and sense of humor beyond all reasonable expectation. Sarah Link took a back seat to no other working photographer when it came to pulling out pictures of the winners and dramatic sights of these games. And I’ll never forget the day that my cohort in coverage, Jeanne Ireland, hurriedly typed up a story and THEN discovered she’s grabbed a Swedish typewriter.

I’ll not soon forget the sight of the Russian journalists chortling over Dear Abby … or the mortification, of the Japanese journalists over the showing of their hockey team … or the excitement I felt when my Canadian and French press friends gave me tips that turned into good stories.

In fact, there’s so many things I won’t ever forget, I can’t recall half of them!

To me, the real memory of the Olympics is not bound up entirely in the champions, or the records made and broken, or the close races, or the sportsmanship of the contestants, or the colour of the ceremonies or the excitement of the crowd.

When I think of these Olympic Games I’ll always remember Kyung Soon (Yim) of Korea.

Kyung is a skier.

Out of all the skiers in the world he was the last of sixty-four men to run the slalom.

The slalom is run twice. Ernst Hinterseer of Austria boomed through the 69 gates in the less than a minute on his second run.

Kyung was last man again. He started off by smashing into a gate. He got his feet back under him and hiked back up to the gate and started down again.

He spilled again. And he hiked back up to get the gate.

Two more falls, many wide sweeping turns, and 2 minutes 35 and 2 tenths seconds later, Kyung made it across the finish.

With the biggest grin I’ve every seen.

And the crowd gave him the biggest hand of the day.

Publisher’s note: On Jan. 17 read about the recent gathering of those involved with the 1960 Games at Squaw.

Updated Jan. 16 5:40pm: The meeting with the city staff and STPUD board has been moved to Feb. 18.

By Kathryn Reed

To some it might like look like a shell game. Or maybe it’s robbing Peter to pay Paul. Or maybe it’s all on the up and up.

The problem with projected redevelopment areas is that nothing is guaranteed.

South Lake Tahoe believes it will generate $178 million in tax increment in the 45 years that the latest project area is slated to be on the books.

South Tahoe Public Utility District believes $54 million in property tax dollars are at risk if the plan is approved by the City Council.

The area in blue is the proposed redevelopment area in South Lake Tahoe.

El Dorado County, although it won’t put a dollar figure on potential lost revenue, knows it will be hit the hardest if the plan goes through.

Lake Tahoe Unified School District and Lake Tahoe Community College receive property tax money, too, but with how laws are written the state would have to backfill any dollars that are lost. Where the state comes up with that money when it is facing a $20 billion deficit is difficult to pinpoint.

Other agencies to be impacted are the local cemetery district, county Office of Education, county Water Agency, and county Abatement District.

If the redevelopment area is approved, then the property tax these entities receive is frozen instead of going up 2 percent each year. The city’s Redevelopment Agency gets that money.

But the city contends in the long run everyone will be better off. This is because if the value of properties goes up in the redevelopment area, property taxes are higher and therefore every entity shares in the growth.

The city is projecting 7 percent growth in the 3,100-acre redevelopment area that covers much of Emerald Bay Road and then goes down Highway 50 to Glenwood Way.

“Because you have more growth you have more property tax paid. Those agencies will get more over time,” said Gene Palazzo, city redevelopment director.

He compared it to putting money in a retirement account, that at first it doesn’t amount to much, but over time the pot grows.

South Tahoe PUD wants to see more concrete numbers. Palazzo and City Manager Dave Jinkens are scheduled to speak to the STPUD board on Jan. 20.

“We don’t want to be seen as obstructionists if the community feels this is good,” STPUD spokesman Dennis Cocking said of the redevelopment plan. “That ($54 million) is all essentially capital improvement dollars. By law it cannot be used for wages. If we lose property tax dollars, it has to be made-up elsewhere.”

The district has limited revenue sources — ratepayers, property taxes, borrowing money or issuing bonds, and state and federal grants.

The district could raise its connection fees, but with so little construction going on, that might not amount to much.

The 127-page draft EIR and all the documents related to the proposed redevelopment area are at www.ctcip.org.

The City Council is expected to take action on all the documents in early March. Meetings will be scheduled before then to gather public input, according to Palazzo. He has spoken to the Lake Tahoe Visitors Authority board and will be at the South Lake Tahoe Lodging Association meeting Thursday at 9:30am at Tahoe Bowl.

Meetings are also scheduled for Feb. 11 at 2 and 6pm at Lake Tahoe Airport.

One of the benefits to redevelopment would be to use some of the tax increment money on improving the dilapidated Lukins Brothers Water Company. Palazzo, though, said this is not designed to be the sole source to fix the ancient infrastructure of the company whose 953 customers are mostly off Highway 89.

Lukins also services businesses at the Y and doesn’t have adequate fire flow.

“We can’t get new commercial in there if don’t get (Lukins) upgraded,” Palazzo said.

Lukins has a franchise agreement with the city that the city hasn’t managed well considering it didn’t insist the company reinvest money in capital improvements.

Some city residents question having taxpayer dollars pay for upgrades to a private company. People are also questioning if the city is going to such lengths for a private business to cover itself legally so Lukins customers don’t sue the city for not protecting them through the franchise agreement.

It’s unknown if the city would be held responsible if a catastrophic fire occurred that Lukins water supply could not handle.

El Dorado County Board of Supervisors plans to hear from city staff at the Feb. 2 meeting.

“There’s a very strong view among counties in general that redevelopment is not helpful because of the way it works with redevelopment agencies reaching in and grabbing a percentage of property tax,” said Mike Applegarth, EDC senior administrative analyst. “I don’t think anybody has been able to assess the overall benefits or burdens of redevelopment.”

Applegarth said for the current fiscal year the county budgeted zero growth in property tax and said it is likely to go negative. This is because people are reappraising their property and it’s coming back lower than what they paid, and houses are selling for less than what the previous owner paid.

He isn’t sure if the board will take a position on the city’s proposal.

“Tax increment financing is an obscure way to make infrastructure improvements,” Applegarth said.

Deb Yates, chief financial officer with Lake Tahoe Unified School District, knows how the rules are now that the state will backfill any property tax dollars the district could lose in redevelopment. But those dollars come from the state’s education pool of money, which keeps dwindling.

“We don’t know in these times how the state is going to deal with the current budget. This would certainly add a little bit to the state issues as far as education goes,” Yates said.

Palazzo said the city’s goal is to create a financing tool.

But is it a hammer to clubber other entities in town?

The city will try to answer that question and others in the coming weeks.

By Kathryn Reed

Sam Borges, the man who built Borges Sleigh Rides, died Jan. 11, 2010. He was 85.

Mr. Borges died peacefully with his family beside him.

Born in Albany, N.Y., on Jan. 21, 1924, Mr. Borges was industrious from an early age. He moved with his mother and younger sister to California when he was 5. As a teenager he bought some cows in the San Joaquin Valley and started an early career as a dairyman and farmer.

Sam Borges

In 1955, Mr. Borges moved to San Jose, when it was still an agriculture community, and sold tractors.

It was in 1958 that he and his young family started to make annual pilgrimages to camp at Camp Richardson. He moved his family to South Lake Tahoe in 1965.

Mr. Borges got a job working for Dillingham Corporation helping to build what is now the Tahoe Keys. He was a backhoe operator and was responsible for putting many of the sewage lines in.

Something he remembered from a conversation he had with a casino executive before moving to Tahoe full time was that the South Shore needed a winter business for non-athletes.

It was 1967 that the sleigh business started. He worked at it part time for several years until it became his full-time job. From a postcard of a sleigh he was able to weld together his first sleigh.

“He found out horses eat all year-round so he decided let’s get the carriage rides going,” his son, David Borges, said.

A handful of years ago, another son, Dwight, took over the sleigh business.

Mr. Borges had a way with animals; he could practically talk to them and understand what was going on with them.

He was a wonderful storyteller. Anyone on a sleigh ride would be riveted by one of his stories.

He was even known to entertain the entertainers who were in town at one of the showrooms. Bob Hope joked that he wanted a private ride, but with it being Christmas Day, Mr. Borges did not oblige the comedian.

Ray Charles has a Christmas album with him holding the reins of the sleigh.

Several times the Borges horses were featured in the Rose Parade.

Last year his daughter-in-law, Dianna Maria de Borges, published a book titled “Sleigh Rides in Lake Tahoe: Memoirs of Sam Borges.”

Mr. Borges and his wife, Rosie, were both national water ski champions. He was on skis last summer gliding across Lake Tahoe. The two traveled much of the world together.

“He was fun to be around, he loved people,” David Borges said. “He could converse with anyone, at anytime.”

In 2002, Mr. Borges was chosen by the community to run the Olympic torch en route to the Salt Lake City Games.

Mr. Borges is survived by his wife of 60 years, Rosie, of South Lake Tahoe; sons Don, David and Dwight, all of South Lake Tahoe, and Dean of Carson City; seven grandchildren; and three great-grandchildren.

Services are pending.

By Kathryn Reed

When Martin Hewlett walks into the City Council chambers this morning he won’t be relegated to the back of the room. He will be at the big table at the front of the room.

Hewlett is acting police chief for South Lake Tahoe for the indefinite future. His first day on the job was to oversee the New Year’s Eve chaos.

Martin Hewlett

“I told the commanders to not burn down the city on my first day,” Hewlett was able to joke days afterward since nothing newsworthy happened that night.

Hewlett took over for Terry Daniels who retired.

Hewlett, who prefers to be called captain and not interim chief, has been with the department since 1993. He worked his way from an officer to sergeant to lieutenant to captain, a position he has had for almost three years.

He has been in patrol, detectives and on the SWAT team.

Before coming to Tahoe, Hewlett was with Escondido Police Department for almost 10 years and with the Orange County Sheriff’s Office for a year.

“Overall, I don’t plan to make significant changes that will affect anyone,” Hewlett said. “I don’t think it would be fair to the next person.”

He isn’t sure if he’ll apply to be police chief. It isn’t something he was aspiring to be.

“I will know better in the next few months after experiencing (the job). I will keep my options open,” Hewlett said.

For now, Hewlett is captain and interim police chief, with some duties being spread to the lieutenants and sergeants.

City Manager Dave Jinkens is responsible for hiring the next police chief. The city manager hires all department heads accept for the city attorney.

Jinkens expects to have the selection process in place in the next 30 to 60 days. Historically, the city has not used an outside recruiting firm to hire department heads. Jinkens believes this will be the case for the next chief as well.

“I don’t think there will be a sense of urgency to do this since the council decided we needed an interim chief to realize the cost savings,” Mayor Kathay Lovell said. “We are not trying to fill it today.”

The position needs to be vacant for at least six months to be able to realize the benefits of the cost containment plan the council approved late last year.

It’s possible Jinkens won’t be the one to actually hire the next police chief, but to merely start the process. His contract expires in the summer. He has not indicated if he wants an extension. The council is divided over wanting to keep him employed.

At today’s council meeting several employees who took early buyouts will be honored. Some of them have served for more than 20 years.

The meeting begins at 9am at Lake Tahoe Airport.

By Kathryn Reed

“I was too naïve to understand it was special,” Del Laine says. “I was excited to be there. The internationality of it.”

Now, 50 years later, Laine appreciates the work she did as a journalist covering the Winter Olympics at Squaw Valley from Feb. 18-28, 1960.

She was 29 years old, with the byline Del Wright. Lake Tahoe News was an eight-column weekly newspaper that was transformed into a daily for two weeks during the Olympics at Squaw Valley. Flip Brandi owned the South Lake Tahoe paper at the time.

Squaw's Alex Cushing answers questions from South Lake Tahoe's Del Wright during the 1960 Olympics. Photo/Sarah Link

(The paper ceased to exist years ago – but the name was resurrected last year as this online news source.)

Following the lead of Sports Illustrated writers kept Laine in the know of what to cover.

“I’ll never forget the hockey team. They were the real miracle on ice,” Laine said. The United States won gold in 1960. The college athletes beat Canada, Russia and then Czechoslovakia. This was in the middle of the Cold War and the Eastern Bloc was expected to dominate the ice.

Laine remembers the “egg” position – something no one had seen a skier do before. We call it a tuck now. Jean Vuarnet of France is credited with creating the tuck position as he showed it off to the world on Siberia Bowl.

Laine talks about how the athletes all stayed in the village together, which was not something that had happened before or since. A camaraderie of sorts was evident.

She had access to Squaw Valley founder Alex Cushing, as well as the athletes – winners and losers.

On some days seven Olympic stories covered the entire front page of Lake Tahoe News. Features about the athletes, that beef was the primary food served to them, the use of metal skis for the first time, how the Europeans were skeptical of the timekeepers’ abilities, the records that were smashed – all of this was memorialized in the pages which are now tattered and a bit yellow.

Laine has other memorabilia from those days – her press pass, items from Sports Illustrated, information distributed by the U.S. Olympic Committee, a calendar from Harrah’s Club.

South Lake Tahoe had hoped to capitalize on the Olympics being on the North Shore, but that never transpired, Laine said.

It was a hectic time to be a reporter – no laptops, no cell phones, no four-wheel drive. She remembers Highway 89 around Emerald Bay being closed once in those two weeks.

Laine and fellow Lake Tahoe News writer Jeanne Ireland would type their stories at Squaw, edit them on the drive back to the South Shore and have them cleaned up for the pressmen to convert their words into hot type.

Publisher’s note: Read Del Wright’s reprinted synopsis of the 1960 Olympics on Jan. 15.