Patrick Frost, 35, and Christopher Gerwig, 32, of San Francisco are still nowhere to be found since reported missing since reported missing last Saturday night at Alpine Meadows, just north of Lake Tahoe. Described as "expert skiers," Frost and Gerwig were last seen on Saturday morning at an Alpine Meadows bar "listening to advice about different outlying areas to ski." New snow layers blanketing the mountains this weekend, as well as high winds, have......

Update: It's raining. Get out your brellies, Wellies, and slickers - the rain is on its way. Meteorologists are expecting the rain to start falling this afternoon. Expect high winds and heavy rain. Flooding is a possibility and of course, everybody's favorite - power outages! Be safe on the roads (especially in the right lane on 280 South between Cesar Chavez and Alemany, where a gigantic puddle always seems to surprise drivers) and please be......

Just because we haven't seen him around these parts of the Internets lately, here's an ancient shot of Gov. (oy) Arnold Schwarzenegger taking some time to curl a dumbbell he found wildfire remains in South Lake Tahoe. A truly amazing shot, Jeff. Image credit: Jeff Chiu of AFP/Getty Images......

Photo of San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom behind the wheel of a Tesla Motors Roadster protoype in Fisherpersons Wharf...

-- Large Lake Tahoe fire under control. [Oakland Tribune, via AP] -- Small Presidio fire controlled, injures no one. [Examiner, via BCN] -- Two SF hit-and-runs kill two. [Chron] -- Carlos Cruz, 25, shot and killed in the Excelsior. [Chron] -- How green is their Valley? [SJ Merc] -- Steven T. Jones' good call on the Chronicle's Burning Man article. [SFBG]......

The wildfire raging up near Lake Tahoe reminded us of our dear old cousin Mark. Mark Twain, that is, and what we remembered was his own brush with accidental arson up Tahoe way. It's a little-known fact, if "fact" be something that can safely ascribed to Twain's baroquely embellished reminiscences of his years out West, that he was solely responsible for a horrendous forest fire on the shores of Lake Tahoe. It was 1861,......

A few photos of Lake Tahoe and Squaw Valley...

If there's ever more proof needed that the end of the world is coming, we give you news that it snowed up in Tahoe today. Isn't this what happens in all the movies right before the end, you know, the freakish storms hit just around the time people who dismissed the scientists nobody believed start to believe? Didn't Nostradamus write about this as happening just before the apocalypse comes when some short little midget type person with a weird puffy hairdo gets the bomb? ...

Total number of people in this week's Swells column: 61. Number of people pictured whose names we recognize: 4. (all at one party: Denise Hale, Trevor Traina, Vanessa Getty, and Stephan "Semi-Charmed Kind of Life" Jenkins.) Minority count: 0 (0%). Number of hats: 7. Getty v. Traina: 1-3. Number of feet Boaz Mazor's cell phone fell into Lake Tahoe: 17. Chef Franc Harris dove into the lake the next day to pick it up. Number......

Drag-racing on 101 -- such a bad idea, even if you don't kill members of the Tongan royal family. Grieving Tongans have left so many mementos at the site of last Wednesday's accident that CHP determined the area was a traffic hazard and removed everything that had been left. When the reporter was there, six vehicles pulled off by the side of the road to pay their respects, which CHP says isn't the safest thing......

The great thing about Lake Tahoe is that it's really two destinations in one -- summer or winter, there's lots of really great stuff to do. Last weekend we were up for the winter sports thanks to Costco offering four lift tickets to Diamond Peak for only $113. Along with our equpment rental, a day on the slopes only cost us $55, which is a pretty sweet deal for California. Of course act now......

Bay Area crime roundup...