Top stories, photos of '08

INCLINE VILLAGE, Nev. — The following are the North Lake Tahoe Bonanza's choices for the Top 10 stories of 2008 that affected the Incline Village and Crystal Bay communities.

Within this story you also will find a photo slideshow of Bonanza Photographer Jen Schmidt's choices for the top photos of 2008.

Agree with our choices? Let us know why or why not by sending a letter to editor@tahoebonanza.com or kmacmillan@tahoebonanza.com.

#1 Town of Incline Village

For 30 years locals tried to increase the municipal governance of Incline Village and Crystal Bay. For the first time since nearly creating the Incline Village/Crystal Bay School District in 1997, Independent Incline, a grassroots organization, made a major push in 2008 to create an unincorporated town.

That push let voters in Incline and Crystal Bay vote on an advisory ballot question. The outcome of the vote was meant to advise Independent Incline and its legislative lobbyist whether or not to go ahead with the idea and change Nevada Revised Statute 269, town law.

Numerous public meetings and forums about the idea were held in the summer and fall. However, it wasn’t long after the ballot question was established that skepticism arose from the community. Numerous reasons led to increased skepticism. Those identified by Independent Incline include an Aug. 6 guest column in the Bonanza from local lawyer Geno Menchetti, questioning several areas of concern with the idea; the North Lake Tahoe Fire Protection District Board of Directors’ Oct. 15 decision that it could not endorse the idea because of town law requirements; and a Oct. 17 guest column in the Bonanza from Village League to Save Incline Assets President Maryanne Ingemanson, also raising concerns on the idea.

In the end, the community spoke loudly on Election Day, with 63 percent (3,209 votes) voting “no,” while 37 percent (1,935 votes) approved the idea.

As 2008 wound to a close, another attempt was made by a few local figureheads to propose NRS 269 amendments in the Nevada legislature in February. But a lack of local support, including from the Incline Village General Improvement District Board of Trustees, sent the idea into interim hibernation.

#2 2008 Election

The 2008 election brought the most voters to the polls nationally since 1960. Locally, Incline Village showed an equally high turnout, and it also voted for the country’s first black president, Barack Obama, by a more than 400-vote margin. Like Nevada, Incline Village turned blue in the 2008 election, despite Republicans holding a lead of almost 1,200 registered voters over Democrats.

The months leading up to the election were politically charged. Republican Presidential Candidate John McCain visited Incline for a private fundraiser in July. The Obama campaign opened a local office in Incline Village before the January caucuses.

Incline Village and Crystal Bay residents contributed more than $719,000 to political campaigns since 2007. Local residents became active in the election — be it by driving down to Reno to hear candidates speak, or by organizing their own local watch-parties and meetings.

The 2008 election changed politics in Incline Village, and made people of all ages and political affiliations pay attention.

#3 Shorezone

Even after being analyzed and debated for 21 years, the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency’s recently passed shorezone ordinances are under fire from environmental agencies and lakefront homeowners.

In October the TRPA Governing Board adopted the shorezone ordinances which govern the use of Lake Tahoe’s lakefront areas by public and private home owners. The ordinances allow for the construction of 138 new piers and 1,862 new buoys.

In November, the League to Save Lake Tahoe and the Sierra Club sued the TRPA, the lawsuit alleges that the TRPA adopted the new regulations without thorough consideration of environmental and public access impacts. A second lawsuit was filed on Dec. 19 by the Tahoe Lake Front Owner’s Association.

The association alleges that the new regulations do not respect the right of lakeshore land owners to enjoy the rights provided to them under the TRPA’s compact.

Despite the upcoming court battle, the TRPA is moving “full steam ahead” with implementation of a “blue boating” and buoy permitting program to mitigate the effects of new shorezone development, said TRPA spokesman Dennis Oliver.

# 4 Boulder Bay

A corner of land in Crystal Bay on State Route 28 became the center of controversy between developers and neighbors in 2008. The proposed resort Boulder Bay would replace the Tahoe Biltmore and former Tahoe Mariner properties with new accommodations, dining, gaming and recreation.

However, some neighbors, including long-time residents and Realtors have expressed concern that the development’s plans could overwhelm the area’s infrastructure. Boulder Bay’s developers believe their project can revitalize Crystal Bay and the North Shore.

Since its application to the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency’s Community Enhancement Program in March, the project has faced scrutiny by its opposition and from local governments. A road design for the project has been appealed twice to the Washoe County Board of Commissioners.

Boulder Bay still has to complete an Environmental Impact Study before it can begin the long process of TRPA Governing Board approval.

#5 Beach Access

Beach access is and has been a big controversy in this community for years, and 2008 was no different. However in 2008 the controversy was brought to a new level.

On March 4, Crystal Bay resident Steven Kroll filed a lawsuit in Nevada’s 1st District Court, naming Incline Village General Improvement District, as well as individual IVGID Board of Trustees members Bea Epstein, Gene Brockman, Chuck Weinberger, Bob Wolf and John Bohn, as six of the 26 defendants in the lawsuit.

Less than a week later, Crystal Bay resident Frank Wright, who later ran for IVGID Trustee in the 2008 election, filed a suit on March 10 with U.S. District Court, challenging IVGID’s recreation pass and punch card ordinance (Ordinance No. 7) and the restrictive covenant listed in the original 1968 beach deed.

Then, on April 30, the IVGID Board of Trustees, with nearly no discussion, approved Policy and Procedure 136, which allows non-beach access residents the right to enter Incline, Ski and Burnt Cedar beaches and practice their First Amendment rights in designated free speech zones. The policy includes all IVGID facilities, but the issue surrounded the beaches. The district later implemented a wrist band policy at the beaches, meaning all IVGID residents with beach access, and their guests, must wear wrist bands at the beaches.

The board’s adoption drew more litigation from Kroll, who filed an emergency motion for an injunction on May 6 in U.S. District Court, which later was amended, against IVGID and Policy 136. All three pieces of litigation remain open headed into 2009.

#6 Invasive Species

Beginning in May, state, federal and local agencies around Lake Tahoe began working together to prevent invasive mussels like quagga or zebra mussels from entering Tahoe’s water. The effort cost millions of dollars and included mandating boat inspection at public piers.

Quagga and zebra mussels have destroyed the infrastructure and ecosystem of water bodies across the country, including lakes in Michigan and Lake Mead in southern Nevada. If they entered Lake Tahoe, the damage would be irreversible. In September a 32-foot cabin cruiser almost entered Lake Tahoe with quagga mussels attached to it, but was caught by an inspector at the Tahoe Keys Marina.

New TRPA regulations enacted in September now require public Tahoe boat ramps to close when there is not an inspector present.

“They (quagga mussels) will jam up drinking-water intakes, they will shed their shells and the beaches would not be usable, they (can) put drag on boats so boats have to constantly be cleaned. It could kill the economy and ruin recreational tourism based on the lake,” said John Singlaub, executive director of the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency. “This should be of concern to everyone.”

# 7 Winter Weather

Large snow storms brought in 2008 and also gave the year its final farewell. In the beginning of January and mid-February inches of white gold dumped on Tahoe mountains.

While the snow pack grew in February to 122 percent of normal in the northern Sierra, a drier March shrunk the snow pack to about 105 percent of normal in the Northern Sierra. By the time November rolled around with rainstorms, but no real snow storm, local ski resorts and water experts were hoping for a large storm to come Tahoe’s way.

Their wishes were granted mid-December when the first snow storm of the season left one to two feet of snow in the northern Sierra. It was quickly followed by a more intense Christmas Day snow storm that left about 14 to 16 inches of snow at lake level and 22 inches at higher elevations.

The snow revived ski slopes and brought thousands of visitors to Diamond Peak. But as 2008 came to a close, Lake Tahoe was still nearing its natural rim.

# 8 Notable Deaths

Some of Incline Village’s most well-known figures died in 2008, leaving memories and history.

Robert L. McDonald, who played a hand in the founding of Incline Village, died Nov. 15 at the age of 88. As an attorney McDonald founded several of Northern Nevada’s most successful gaming companies and was a principal in the development of Incline Village, one of America’s most prosperous communities. McDonald served as a founding member of the Incline Village General Improvement District board of directors in 1961.

Long time Incline Village resident Ted Harris died at his home Oct. 22 after a battle with gastric cancer. He was 72. Ted was a fixture in the community and was well-known for voicing his opinion on a variety of Incline Village issues, most notably the tax revolt situation and Independent Incline. He was credited as one of the originators of the tax revolt in 2002, which the Village League to Save Incline Assets oversees.

William Alfred Anderson, founder, president and owner of the Ponderosa Ranch for more than 30 years, died at his ranch home in Dayton, Nev. on June 4, 2008. He was 84 years old. In the early 1960s, he moved his operation to North Lake Tahoe, Nevada, to supply heavy equipment for the development of Incline Village. Anderson also opened Incline Stables in North Lake Tahoe in the early 1960s, and then in 1968 opened The Ponderosa Ranch to the public.

# 9 High School Sports Triumphs

Incline High School, despite its small size, made a large statement in 2008 throughout the state of Nevada. It started on February 8, when then-sophomore Jordan Cronin of the IHS varsity wrestling team captured his second straight 3A individual state wrestling title in the heavyweight division.

A month later, the IHS varsity boys ski team earned its second straight 4A giant slalom state title at the March 2 state ski meet at Mt. Rose. Also that day, then-senior Sean Higgins, captured the giant slalom individual title.

Then it was the IHS girls track team’s turn to shine. Then-senior Holly O’Connor won the state title in the 300-meter hurdles. O’Connor also was a member of the girls 4x100 meter relay team, along with sister Charlene, Katie Wright and Shawnee Wood, which took home a state title.

And it was Wright who capped the 2008 sports season for Incline in style, earning her third-straight individual girls golf title on Oct., 14 at Genoa Lakes Golf Course. Wright won the 2A crown by 30 strokes.

#10 Plane Crashes

Not one, but two planes crashed near Incline Village in 2008.

In August a Palo Alto man died in a plane crash northwest of Incline Village. John Borchers III, 41, was the only person in a four-seat Cessna 172 which crashed into the side of Mount Baldy, about two miles northwest of Incline Village. According to published reports, Borchers was a neurosurgeon at Stanford University and rented the plane.

In September a 1946 Republic Seabee seaplane flipped over and sank into Lake Tahoe near Burnt Cedar Beach. The two men aboard, Frank Hublou and John Schottenheimer, were out on a morning excursion and landed on Lake Tahoe. Hublou noticed that the right pontoon was sitting lower in the water. Once it kinked and started taking on water, the pair thought they would drive it to shore for repairs. However, the plane rolled over, and the pair was able to use their seat cushions as flotation devices to escape the plane. Eight hours later the plane was pulled out of the water by a Hummer and onto Ski Beach.