The R-C Morning Report

Max Baer is facing an uphill climb tonight when his Beverly Hills Mansion & Casino goes before Douglas County commissioners. While the concept of a casino across from Wal-Mart in the northern county doesn't seem to present a problem, the idea of a 200-foot oil derrick and large illuminated sign does. County staff is recommending that commissioners agree with the planning commission on denial of the variances. According to the report, staff members have asked Baer to mitigate his request for the variance. "Based on the planning commission's failure to make these findings and the appellant's not offering any mitigation measure or alterations to their original proposal, staff recommends that the board affirm the decision of the planning commission and deny the appeal."

A woman was taken to the hospital after she reportedly drove a golf cart into the East Fork of the Carson River in Gardnerville Wednesday evening. The call came in at about 6:50 p.m. Rescuers responded to a report from the Carson Valley Golf Course that the woman had driven the golf cart into the river from off the bridge. Rescuers also responded to two boating related calls within minutes of one another Wednesday. At 6:25 p.m. Douglas County dispatchers related a call of a boat in distress about a mile off Cave Rock in Lake Tahoe. A few minutes later, there was a report of a kayak in trouble in Topaz Lake. The kayakers righted themselves and rescuers put a boat in the water to check on them. There was no follow-up report on the Cave Rock incident.

There were also a couple of small fires on Wednesday including a 400 square foot fire at Blue Lakes that was knocked down by the U.S. Forest Service at about 3:08 p.m. and a brush fire along Highway 395 at Topaz Lane at 1:43 p.m. Both fires were quickly extinguished.

We had a little bit of a sprinkle in the north county on Wednesday night and there may be another today. There's a 20 percent chance of isolated thunderstorms today as the high temperature hits 93 degrees. The winds will pick up on Friday blowing in a little cold front that will take the highs below 90, according to the National Weather Service.