When the young athletes of Downieville United Soccer Club take to the pitch tomorrow, they will do so in triumph – wrapping up the 2023-24 season indomitable, invincible, and undefeated.

DOWNIEVILLE — Nine Downieville School kids hit the slopes at the legendary Palisades Tahoe ski resort Sunday.Ten-year-old Liam Daniel called it “The best field trip ever!”Chaperones Tom Mooers and Faith Edwards flank the Downieville School skiersThe fourth, fifth, and sixth graders were the guests of Ski-DUCK, a Reno-based non-profit dedicated to “sharing the joys of skiing and snowboarding” with youth who might not otherwise get an opportunity to enjoy a world-class destination like Palisades Tahoe.Indeed, most of the Sierra County kids who went Sunday had never clicked into skis or strapped on a snowboard before.The day started early. Herded into two vehicles in the pre-dawn hours by teacher Faith Edwards and her fellow chaperones, the kids headed over Yuba Pass, south through Truckee, and past the eternal flames that mark the entrance to Olympic Valley.They picked up their passes, got fitted for rental equipment, and met their instructors – all fr

School bus picks up students in Sierra CitySIERRA CITY — In the pre-dawn hours of Thursday, January 11, four eager kids stood atop Church Street in Sierra City. They craned their necks to see up Highway 49 and their first glimpse of salvation — the triumphant return of the Sierra City school bus.Hardest part? The waiting.And then, at precisely 7:19 a.m. — right on time — it arrived. Driver extraordinaire Chris Strine cranked the door open and welcomed all aboard.The bus had been a long time coming. Nine long months without a school bus was a real hardship for the town, not just for the parents who organized carpools and took time off work to make the twelve-mile journey back and forth to Downieville. Not just for the kids — who were compelled to spend more time with their parents and suffer endless nagging about homework and the relentless torture of dad jokes. It was also rough on the town as a whole — especially for employers forced to cover for wo