The famed, "Lake Tahoe Monster," stuck its head above water off Tahoe City early this week. A runner on the Commons Beach was heard to shout,"There's Tessie!!"

A small packet of runners and walkers gathered, staring out into the mist, fingers pointing. Most were unfamiliar with the monster. All were intrigued, however. Tessie seemed to enjoy the attention, as she stuck around and rotated her head to take in the whole scene. (See picture with arrow).

An enthusiastic skier since his childhood in Canada, Berry moved to Reno with his wife and family in 1928 to see the West. He found work as a linotype operator at the Nevada State Journal.

First Tow
"My second day out here in December I traveled to Truckee and the ski area at Hilltop," Berry recalled. "I rented a pair of skis made of pine that had a single strap you stuck your booted foot through.

In 1852 a miner named William Wier was killed by a winter avalanche near Pilot Peak in the Sierra Buttes near the town of Laporte, California (in Plumas County). Wier had no skis when he died, while he was working on the mountainside.

Wier's and other deaths proved to miners that skis,
originally known as "snowshoes," were needed to survive working in the mountains in winter. The avalanche of 1852 was the turning point.

Skis become popular

As of June 14, 2006 Lake Tahoe's elevation above sea level is 6,228.90 feet, a little over two tenths of a foot from "the top", 6229.1 feet, as defined by Federal court order. Many are wondering what will happen when it gets there. A week ago, the Federal Watermaster opened part of two more gates at the Truckee River dam, taking the flow from a mere 'trickle' at 60 cubic feet per second (cfs), to 300cfs, and triggering the start of rafting season on the Truckee River.

Sometime in late June or early July, more gates of the Truckee River dam are slowly opened without any announcement by anyone. With more gates open, the flow in the river quietly increases. What's going on?

Quite simple: Lake Tahoe is operated as a reservoir for irrigation storage and municipal water use in Nevada. Together with a handful of other public and privately owned reservoirs in the Truckee River system, Lake Tahoe provides about 75 percent of the water supply for the rapidly growing Reno-Sparks area.

The courtroom was silent as the jury filed in at 11:15 a.m. to deliver its verdict. Five uniformed deputies spread out around the courtroom in anticipation of any negative reaction to the announcement. After reading the decision aloud, Judge McElhany polled each of the eight men and four women on the panel to verbally affirm their guilty verdict for second-degree murder.

There were no outbursts by family members on either side, but several of Brooks' family, including wife Susanne, wept as they left the courtroom. One female juror was also weeping as she left the jury box.

What are reasons for hope?
--Rents may fall.
--The fledgling Tahoe City Downtown Association may become a productive force.
--Eyesore buildings may collapse, or be condemned and carted away.
--The Sierra Sun may become a plus when it displaces the World in the next month or so.
--The North Tahoe Business Association may make a dent at cleaning up blight on the north side of the highway, as it has begun to do on the south side.

The graph just below shows the dramatic change in lake level during the present week. The Gauge height on the left axis displays the distance above 6,220 feet in altitude. So if the Gauge height reads 6.05 feet, the actual altitude of Lake Tahoe surface is 6,226.05 feet.

Lake Up 4.8 inches

Chad Blanchard at the Watermaster's office in Reno says that the "California/Nevada River Forecast Center predicts 60,000 acre-feet will be added to the lake by the end of the week--most in the next few days." The accuracy of the forecasting models is not perfect, of course. An acre-foot is enough water to flood an acre of land to a depth of one foot. It's 325,851 gallons, or enough water to supply three to four families for a year.