SOUTH LAKE TAHOE ” South Shore law enforcement and the people it serves may have dodged a bullet over another New Year’s weekend with fewer arrests and a smaller crowd than normal.

With most agencies reporting a quiet holiday for the turning of 2007, the Douglas County Sheriff’s Department reported 18 people were arrested. The assortment of bookings, which included disorderly conduct, battery and a driving under the influence charge, was far fewer than the usual revelry outcome. Deputies only logged four arrests in the Carson Valley.

Crowd estimates fell short of the 60,000 to 80,000 most New Year’s celebrations bring out at the Stateline casino corridor where authorities close Highway 50 at 9 p.m. to allow for the public street display. The highway reopened at 1 a.m., and although revelers took their time to clear the streets and left Clean Tahoe with 30 bags of trash to contend with, they did so without much incident.

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Mezzetta added that beyond the young, alcohol-consuming crowd he noticed adults pushing baby carriages.

“Maybe this year was more mature. I’m just happy it worked out,” he said.

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An emergency room staffer at Barton Memorial Hospital described the scene there as relatively benign in comparison to previous years.

Lake Valley Fire had sent its ambulance to cover the city only a few times during the evening into New Year’s Day, an unusual scenario for the El Dorado County area unit.

California Highway Patrol managed to get through the evening over a three-day weekend with two non-injury crashes and a few cases of driving under the influence.

“It wasn’t quiet but not busy,” Sgt. Terry Lowther reported.