A roadside memorial for Gardnerville resident Jackson Andrew Watts next to East Fork Station 15 on Jacks Valley Road.
The only traffic fatality to occur in Douglas County in 2024 was also the top local story of the year on The Record-Courier’s web site.
A roadside memorial remembers Gardnerville resident Jackson Andrew Watts, 19, near the Alpine View fire station.
Douglas County Sheriff’s deputies and East Fork medics responded to Jacks Valley Road and Bavarian Drive at 12:10 a.m. March 14 and found Watts’ Volkswagen where it had missed the large curve.
While Jacks Valley is a county road, the Nevada State Police were called to investigate the crash.
Douglas had two traffic fatalities in 2023.
2. Hydrologist: Western Nevada looking at a ‘La Nada’ winter
Several months after the prediction of a La Niña, it has yet to manifest, National Weather Service Development and Operations Hydrologist Pete Fickenscher said, something that he referred to in early December as “La Nada.” While he wasn’t referring to the amount of moisture, the first quarter of the water year has so far not been particularly damp.
3. BLM seeks unauthorized Hot Springs trail builder
In March, the Carson City District office of the Bureau of Land Management was looking for information regarding the unauthorized trail construction taking place on Hot Springs Mountain, east of Vicky Lane where the asphalt terminates to dirt road.
4. Teacher arrested in Ruhenstroth shooting
A former Douglas High School math teacher is still facing charges in connection with a May 24, 2024, shooting incident at his Ruhenstroth home. Chauncey Clayton Fagan is scheduled to appear in East Fork Justice Court on Jan. 22.
5. Fatality confirmed in airplane crash at Minden-Tahoe Airport
The Sept. 16, 2024, mid-air collision between a Civil Air Patrol plane and a private pilot at Minden-Tahoe Airport was caught on a passing vehicle’s dash cam. Swift pilot Donald Bartholomew was killed in the collision. The Civil Air Patrol pilot and passenger landed safely despite damage to their engine. The crash was the second one in less than a month after Randal Abraham, 68, from Redwood City, Calif. was killed on Aug. 20 during takeoff.
6. August cold front brings freezing temperatures to Valley
A rare summer cold snap sent temperatures plummeting below freezing on Aug. 25, 2024, and set new records for the coldest high temperatures in 118 years for two days in a row in Minden. One thermometer in the middle of the Valley recorded a 23-degree temperature.
7. Tahoe deaths under investigation after two people found in pickup
Carson City resident Laura Aceves-Ramirez, 53, and Zephyr Cove resident Saloman Hernandez, 57, were found dead 4:30 p.m. Sept. 15 along Highway 50 in Glenbrook after what appeared to be a murder suicide, according to investigators.
8. Man dead in Ranchos officer-involved shooting
A 19-year-old man was shot 1:52 a.m. Nov. 8, 2024, after authorities said he reached for a pellet gun that resembled a real pistol he’d previously used to threaten two people. John Brown was located by deputies inside a vehicle.
9. Lake Tahoe beaches drawing rowdy crowd
Rowdy beach goers prompted the closure of Zephyr Cove, Roundhill and Nevada beaches after deputies responded to several reports of fights and other incidents in the last days of May.
10. Felon who hid in plain sight sent to prison
A six-time felon who ingratiated herself with the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office went to prison for up to three years. Gardnerville resident Kami Elois Power, 54, admitted to one count of a possession of a firearm by a prohibited person.
