Tahoe Talk - 1/26/21

Regional News: - X Games returns to Buttermilk in Aspen, Colorado for the 20th consecutive year January 29-31! Nearly 100 of the worlds top winter athletes will take center stage and will compete in biggest snow sport event of the year. X Games Aspen will have live coverage of the event on ESPN, ESPN2, and ABC - NFL announced that 22,000 fans will attend Super Bowl LV in Tampa Bay, including 7,500 vaccinated healthcare workers (who will receive free tickets) - The 2021 MLB Hall of Fame class will be announced on Tuesday night. Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, and Sammy Sosa are 3 of the 11 stars on the chopping block. - Netflix says, ‘I’m feeling lucky.’ Do you spend more time debating which shows to watch than actually watching shows? If so, you’ll be happy to know Netflix confirmed the release of a “Shuffle Play” button in the first half of 2021. (Plus, did you notice the $1 increase they slid into your email over the weekend??) - More branded shortcut buttons than ever. Chinese smart TV maker Hisense introduced a remote with 6 branded buttons including Netflix, Prime Video, YouTube, Tubi, Disney+, and Peacock. Vizio “hold my beer’d” them with 7 buttons. Streaming services dish out ~$1 per remote for the real estate, making the buttons a valuable revenue stream for TV manufacturers looking to offset a ~60% decline in TV prices between 2014 and 2019. On the other end -- with the smart TV market expected to grow 10.5% annually through 2025 -- streaming services see the buttons as a means toward subscriber growth and increased viewership - Elon Musk tweeted he's giving $100 million toward a prize for the "best carbon capture technology." One of the key goals, aside from climate change, is to lower the price of direct-air carbon capture so it can feasibly be used to make synthetic rocket fuel, replacing the fossil fuels used now - A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifted off Sunday morning launching 143 small satellites into orbit, and if that sounds like a lot, it is. 143 payloads is a new record for a single rocket. Again, the booster nailed it’s landing back home… for the 8th time since May 2020! (Another record) Local News: - Lakeside Inn and Casino to auction assets to community - California reveals data used to lift stay-at-home order - Taking flight: Annual Tahoe eagle count monitors species, numbers higher in 2021 - Couple fundraising for Nevada Beach dog fountain and water bottle refill station - Placer County seeks to further address trash issues in North Lake Tahoe - Sledding madness: Authorities issue hundreds of citations, ask sledders to be safe, legal