In this weekly round-up, we scour our website for the week’s best articles. In this edition, we focus on new summer offerings at Heavenly, the development of paid parking in the South Shore and Viking domination at the State Championships in Las Vegas.

SPORTS

VIKINGS SNAG 4 STATE MEDALS

The Vikings’ senior boys had worked hard for this moment.

For Brandon Cramer, it was pushing through an annoying midseason injury. For Jason Rogers, it was competing at the state level in two events he had just learned. For Connor Henderson, it was four years of long-distance dedication, countless muscles cramps along the way and a state title to defend.

For all three of them, the Division I-A state championships in Las Vegas this past weekend would be their last high school competition, and the boys went out big. The three seniors closed out their high school career with four individual state medals for South Tahoe and three personal records as a high school souvenir.

Henderson came away with two silver medals, with one being a questionable first, in the one-mile and two-mile competitions. He obliterated his own personal records in the process.

NORBERG MAKES KENT STATE COMMITMENT OFFICIAL

Drew Norberg looked right at home decked out in the Kent State blue and gold this week.

Sure the colors are the same, but the feeling runs deeper than that. The South Tahoe state champion has found a new volleyball family at Kent State.

“Their athletic department is just really good. All their sports are used to winning, and I want to be around that mentality,” Norberg said back when she verbally committed. “The other girls were awesome, and I just felt comfortable. I already felt like I had been on the team just after two days.”

Norberg signed her official letter of intent and will likely start for the Division I volleyball team this fall. She is the first South Tahoe student to receive a full-ride Division I athletic scholarship in more than a decade. For anyone who saw her on the volleyball court, the Division I offer should come as no surprise.

NEWS

AMID PROTESTS, REGAN BEACH PARKING REMAINS FREE

Parking at and around Regan Beach will remain free, but additional paid parking is expected near El Dorado Beach following a Tuesday decision by the South Lake Tahoe City Council.

Amid continued concerns about the expansion of paid parking in the city, the council gave initial approval modifications to its parking program by a 4-1 vote Tuesday.

The changes remove a proposed parking meter zone from around Regan Beach while adding parking kiosks to streets and parking lots in the Al Tahoe neighborhood.

The new areas designated for paid parking include San Jose Avenue between Harrison and Riverside avenues, Riverside Avenue between Merced and Alameda avenues and Harrison Avenue between Lakeview and San Jose avenues. The EI Dorado Beach parking areas bordered by Lake Tahoe Boulevard, Lakeview Avenue and Harrison Avenue were also designated as parking meter zones by Tuesday’s decision.

SOUTH TAHOE POLICE OFFICER PLEADS GUILTY TO FEDERAL CHARGES

South Lake Tahoe police officer Johnny Poland pleaded guilty to federal counts of witness tampering and obstructing official proceedings Wednesday, according to a statement from federal prosecutors.

“According to court documents, on June 29, 2011, Poland interfered with a federal investigation of a South Lake Tahoe gang member,” according to the statement. “Poland persuaded the gang member’s girlfriend to conceal and destroy evidence.”

“In October and November 2011, Poland tampered with this witness in an investigation into his own conduct as well as the conduct of the gang member,” the statement continues. “Poland instructed another witness to conceal and destroy evidence rather than provide it to federal authorities. Poland admitted that he corruptly attempted to alter, destroy, mutilate, and conceal evidence material to an official proceeding.”

Poland is scheduled to be sentenced Aug. 7. He faces up to 20 years in prison for each guilty plea, according to the statement.

COMMUNITY

HEAVENLY TO BREAK GROUND ON SUMMER ADDITIONS

Summer recreation opportunities at the top of the Heavenly Gondola could become more diverse by fall.

Heavenly Mountain Resort plans to start construction on two ropes courses, a canopy tour and a zip line by mid-June. The offerings should be open to the public by the end of August or in time for the 2013-14 winter season, according to a press release.

“We’re throwing our muscle into summer right now because we feel its our biggest opportunity,” Heavenly General Manager Pete Sonntag said.

The resort hopes to keep the activities open year-round, weather permitting, according to the release. New hiking trails have also been proposed, but won’t be built this summer, Sonntag said.

STUDENTS GET A SAMPLE OF MARINE BIOLOGY IN TAHOE

An hour into the Marine Research and Education, Inc. program, Oscar Genera delicately sampled the red plankton floating in the palm of his hand.

“I ate all mine, but I’m not filled up,” the Lake Tahoe Environmental Science Magnet School second-grader said. “They tasted yummy.”

In addition to observing — and, in Genera’s case, sampling — Tahoe’s living organisms, the students on the Wednesday cruise learned how to test water clarity with a Secchi disk, determine pH and measure dissolved oxygen content.

— Compiled by Axie Navas