IN BRIEF

VETERANS STAND DOWN

LV event to assist homeless scheduled

The sixth annual Veterans Stand Down for homeless vets begins at 7 a.m. Wednesday at Redeemer Lutheran Church, 1731 N. Pecos Road, north of Owens Avenue.

The two-day event, sponsored by U.S. Vets, offers free food, clothing, housing referrals, haircuts, dental screenings and other services to homeless veterans. Local nonprofit organizations, veterans groups and social services providers participate in the event, which runs until 3 p.m. each day.

Organizers expect about 450 people to attend.

LAKE TAHOE HISTORY

$5 million donated for lodge preservation

The Donald W. Reynolds Foundation is donating $5 million to help preserve Lake Tahoe's historic Thunderbird Lodge.

Leaders of the Thunderbird Lodge Preservation Society said the gift announced Monday is half of their goal of raising $10 million.

Society Director Bill Watson said the money will be put in a preservation account. The earnings from the fund will be used to preserve the house, outbuildings and grounds on the Thunderbird property and keep them open for public tours.

The lakeside estate was built by multimillionaire George Whittell in 1936. Historians say it is one of the last and best examples of residential architecture on Lake Tahoe dating to the time residents of the San Francisco Bay Area built summer homes at the lake.

The foundation was named after the man who founded it, Donald W. Reynolds, who once owned the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

NORTHWEST ARIZONA

Teenager killed in accident identified

The teenager killed Friday in a one-vehicle crash in northwest Arizona was identified as Brandon Leland, 19, of Queen Creek, according to the Arizona Department of Public Safety.

Leland was thrown from his Toyota Celica when it rolled off U.S. Highway 93 about 30 miles south of Hoover Dam, authorities said.

Leland was not wearing a seat belt.

SPECIAL OLYMPICS FUNDRAISER

300 brave frigid Lake Tahoe for good cause

About 300 people braved wind and cold before taking the ultimate plunge in the frigid waters of Lake Tahoe, all for a good cause.

Saturday's sixth annual Polar Plunge to benefit the Special Olympics drew participants from the Lake Tahoe area, Carson City, Fallon, Reno, and San Francisco. They sprinted, jumped, crawled and swam in the lake's famed waters to raise money for summer and winter sports programs for those with disabilities.

Nearly 30 teams collected $40,000 from sponsors to participate in the swim. The only thing required was that team members had to put more than their toes into the 39-degree lake.

Rob Hembree, a South Lake Tahoe Fire Department captain, said the sudden shock of the water is breath stopping.

"It's the initial blast that gets you," said, Hembree who joined fellow Capt. Karl Koeppen, Chief Lorenzo Gigliotti and firefighter Mike Mileski for a one-minute bath.