Originally Published in the Tahoe Daily Tribune on 12/15/22. View the original article here.

Written by Robert Galloway. Photo by Robert Galloway.

In our Drink of the Week segment, we’ll showcase one unique type of beer, wine, cocktail — you name it — to try at one of the countless breweries, bars and restaurants from around the basin.

I realize winter has really just begun around the basin, but I know there are those people that are already sick of the snow and can’t wait for the days of summer and warm sunshine to return. If that is you, then this week’s feature is right up your alley.

For all its Tiki culture lore, the Mai Tai cocktail is said to have been invented in Oakland in 1944. While this version doesn’t stray too far from home, I’d throw it into the ring with any other variation and have them battle it out for taste because it has a chance to come out on top every time.

The familiar faces of rum, lime juice, dry curacao, and orgeat (almond) syrup are shaken and strained over pebble ice stacked high inside of a Tiki-themed glass. It’s finished with a float of pineapple rum and garnished with fresh pineapple, cherry and mint.

Each of the ingredients provides its own layer of flavor, which when combined; work very well together but in complex fashion. They each provide a boost to one another but still manage to speak to each sip on their own terms. It has a creamy, almost smoothie-like, drinkability but it’s not a smoothie by any shape or form.

The citrus flavors (lime, curacao, and pineapple) dancing with the earthy (rum and almond) make for a luscious and fun tango on the taste buds. And while, yes, this is a cocktail that speaks to more of a summer-y vibe, there’s no reason why you can’t squeeze that into the winter wonderland of Tahoe right now. Just throw a grass skirt on over your ski pants, head downhill, and you’ll be there in no time.

Bowl Incline is located at 920 Southwood Blvd. in Incline Village. For food and drink menus, hours of operation, or general information visit them online at bowlincline.com or reach them by phone at 775-831-1900.

Did you miss out on the 12/16 IVCB Community Forum? Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered! You can watch the recap here.

To be alerted about future forums, subscribe to the mailing list by sending an email to ivcbcommunityforum@gmail.com.

The Incline Village/Crystal Bay Community Forum will be held the 1^st and 3rd Fridays of the month at 9am in person and online using the meeting app Zoom. The Zoom meeting ID number is 815 3612 1755 and the password is 1864.

On Friday morning at 8:55am John Crockett or Amanda McPhaill from the library will start the meeting. Please join before 9am so we start on time.

If you are unable to join the Zoom meeting by computer or cell phone, you may still submit issues to be discussed to Denise Davis (ivcbcommunityforum@gmail.com).

Originally Published in the Tahoe Daily Tribune on 12/16/22. View the original article here.

Written by Miranda Jacobson.

INCLINE VILLAGE, Nev. — The Incline Village General Improvement District Board of Trustees met Wednesday, Dec. 14, for the last time in 2022 before newly-elected David Noble and Ray Tulloch take their places as board members.

While there was progress made throughout the meeting, there was some tense discussions towards the end in regards to geothermal energy use in Incline Village.

At the Nov. 8 board meeting, trustees asked Aidlin Operating Company, LLC Manager William Chastain to bring a formal presentation to the board about the geothermal concept. Tensions rose as Chastain explained the need for geothermal energy use due to the many outages that happen with NV Energy.

Chairman Tim Callicrate explained that if approved to move forward at a future date, there would be a lucrative royalty deal paid up front to IVGID, and work would be done with NV Energy to ensure renewable energy is being used. 

“Nevada Energy is looking to really amp up its use of renewables, specifically geothermal,” said Callicrate. 

Although the board members agreed that there was opportunity in directing staff to move forward with looking over the potential contract, there were many questions that were met with hostility by Chastain.

Ultimately, Chastain announced that if the board did not move forward with geothermal energy, he would be pulling the offer from the table completely.

“If we don’t build a more resilient, local power supply, these incidents … will happen and are accelerating and will continue to accelerate. It’s a reality. Deal with it … As a 20-year resident, I’ve had enough … I will withdraw this proposal if you don’t move forward tonight. Period.”

The board members tried to work with Chastain through the tension but ultimately decided there was no way to move forward with directing staff to analyze supporting documents for the proposal.

“I just think this proposal is dead on arrival when we get an ultimatum like that,” said Trustee Matthew Dent. “I don’t need to hear anymore.”

The consent calendar passed completely, which saw the acceptance of a grant in the amount of $250,000 from Washoe County for the purpose of improving the skate park located on the corner of Southwood and Tahoe Blvd., along with another $100,000 from the county for youth and senior programming.

District General Manager Indra Winquest was also authorized to extend the lease agreement between the Hyatt Corporation and IVGID, with amendments approved the contract.

Winquest announced during the review of the long range calendar that at the Feb. 8 meeting, there will be an agenda item to decide the policy on administration of pubic records in order to make the process easier for both those requesting and staff working on requests.

Progress was made on the Effluent Pipeline Project as the board moved to approve the purchase approximately $1.4 million worth of pipeline material. The board was able to hear a detailed presentation on the progress of the project and the benefits of buying the pipeline product earlier in order to save money in the long term.

It was confirmed by Director of Public Works Brad Underwood that the pipeline being ordered is the exact pipeline needed for the project, which was a concern brought up by a community member during public comment.

During the presentations given to the board, the construction manager at risk gave a rough timeline of what the process would look like while working with NDOT, road closures, and general project execution. Trustee Sara Schmitz brought up the point that although most of the work is scheduled for shoulder seasons, there is also risk with fire seasons that have become just as prevalent in Lake Tahoe.

“What we would be doing is bringing back a discussion about phasing the project,” said Winquest. “Obviously staff has their recommendation as far as how they’re recommending doing Phase One. In the event that the board would like to transition that, we just want to make sure that we have robust discussions so that we can continue to move this process forward as quickly as we can.”

Overall, the next steps are to finish the design of the project and nail down cost and schedule certainty of the project in order to deliver the best value.

Discussion and approval of the budget amendment for the Recreation Center Expansion Project was taken off the agenda after a few more invoices came in for work that need to be accounted for.

To watch the entire meeting visit https://livestream.com/accounts/3411104.

This is the hardiest lot the world has ever seen.  They are the whole-hearted few that see winter through up on the Comstock Lode.  They are the squirrels that wear dusters. They make their money in the summer, then squirrel it away to see them through the long Comstock cold.  Consequently, when Christmas Day rolls around, these robust souls are in possession of fertile imaginations when it comes to extending Yule Tidings.

Which brings us to Hart Nathan Cook of Virginia City, also known as “Cappy,” a handyman who can size up any job, give you a reasonable estimate, then retreat to the library to find out how on earth to tackle such a task.  

Cappy wears a tin cup on his belt, a tradition for handymen on the Lode, and so he is not the first to earn the title, “Tin Cup.”  The tin cup is for coffee in the morning, and once the noon siren sends its sonorous wailings sailing across the tailings, well, something stronger than coffee goes into that tin cup, though only Cappy and his maker know whereof the contents.

For life’s loners Christmas can be a disheartening time, a dispiriting time up on the Lode, where the Washoe Zephyr whistles through chinks in the timber, causing cabins to creak and cry.  But Cappy is one of those hearty spirits who thrives on adversity and laughs at poverty in all weathers.  He loves Christmas for the sheer challenge of it.  You see, Cappy singles out one individual whose lot he figures is hard as a three-pound drilling hammer, then he goes about ciphering a way to brighten that person’s Christmas Day.

This year Cappy picked Isaiah William Snuggle, known to a few as, “I. Will  Snuggle,” whose job it is to replace the candles deep down in the Chollar Mine. Cappy does not know Isaiah, though occasionally, while Cappy is working late on locomotive engine #18 of the V&T, he catches sight of Isaiah entering the Chollar mine with an armful of candles. 

On Christmas Eve, Cappy takes a pull from his tin cup and pulls a book down off the shelf.  He looks at it long and hard, turning it over in his hands…Roughing It, a first edition, the only first edition he has ever owned, signed by the author, Mark Twain.

Cappy wraps the book in a page of the Comstock Chronicle, tucks it under his arm, and walks over to the Chollar Mine, where he lights a candle and makes his way down into the bowels of the earth.  At the end of the drift he lays the book beneath a candle anchored in the granite wall, lights that anchored candle with his own candle, and heads back home.

Monday following Christmas, Isaiah William Snuggle walks into the Virginia City Library to show the librarian his new acquisition.  She suspects Isaiah’s book might be a first edition, and consults her “Guide to Identify Points of Issue” to confirm her suspicion.

Pushing her glasses up on her nose, she announces, “Isaiah, this is a first edition signed by Mark Twain, it’s worth more than your house.”

“Worth more than my shack?”  

“Much more than your shack.”

“Well, to me it’s worth more than anybody’s shack -so I’m keepin’ it.”

“Isaiah, how wonderful, was this a gift of Christmas?”

“Found it under a single lit candle down in the Chollar Mine.”

“From?”

“Who knows…Santa maybe.”

As the noon siren sends its sonorous wailings sailing across the tailings, Cappy Cook smiles, pours his coffee out onto the ground, and refills his cup with contents that remain a secret between himself and his maker. Merry Christmas to the squirrels that wear the dusters up on the Comstock Lode.

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