News

Liberty Utilities is warning the public that individuals claiming to represent Liberty and demanding payment over the phone have been reported by its customers. Liberty Utilities representatives would not be placing calls to customers for payment. Liberty encourages customers who receive such a call to contact us at 1-800-782-2506.

Time-lapse photography shows various perspectives of the 2013 Rim Fire, as viewed from Yosemite National Park.

The first part of this video is from the Crane Flat Helibase. The fire is currently burning in wilderness and is not immediately threatening visitors or employees.

The second half of the video is from Glacier Point, showing Yosemite Valley, and how little the smoke from the fire has impacted the Valley. - Yosemite National Park

The love and support of Lake Tahoe was on full display at the Tahoe Fund annual Founders Circle dinner on Sunday August 18. They raised more than $300,000 for the organization and four Signature Projects around the Lake. Tahoe Fund donors were joined by Senators Dianne Feinstein and Harry Reid and Governors Jerry Brown and Brian Sandoval, as well as special surprise guest Vice President Al Gore, as the public and private communities joined together to celebrate the work of the Tahoe Fund to restore and improve the Lake Tahoe environment.

The inaugural Kiwanis Community Fair will treat attendees to a full-sized carnival including games, a 40-foot Ferris Wheel, the Tornado Ride, Bumper Cars and lots of family fun this weekend at the California Base Lodge parking lot of Heavenly Mountain Resort.

There will be good old fashioned fair excitement with a pine cone race and competitions for preserves, flowers, art and cooking. and competitions for preserves, flowers, art and chefs! Enjoy funnel cakes and lots of vendors. All benefits go to local non-profits who serve the children and families of South Lake Tahoe.

The numbers are in: Lake Tahoe Community College’s scholarship program had its most successful year ever in 2012/13, helping more students to reach their academic goals than ever before. In June 2013, the college handed out $81,000 in scholarship dollars: the most in the college’s history.

All of those dollars will help 66 LTCC students to continue their education, providing much-needed funds to cover the costs of tuition, textbooks, and other resources necessary to academic success.

During fire season, the air we breathe can become impacted by wildfire smoke. Fine particles in smoke can cause health problems, especially for children, older people and those with respiratory conditions.

Residents who see or smell smoke should consider taking these precautionary measures:

1. Healthy people should delay strenuous exercise.
2. Children and elderly people should consider avoiding outdoor activities, particularly prolonged outdoor exertion.
3. People with health-related illnesses, particularly respiratory problems, should remain indoors.

The City of South Lake Tahoe is now accepting applications for the Fall 2013 Citizens Academy. The Citizens Academy will be held on Wednesday evenings from 5:30pm-8pm from September 25th – October 30th. The application deadline is Friday, September 6th at 5pm.

The Citizens Academy is open to all community members and provides an exciting opportunity for residents to increase their knowledge about the workings of local government and have a desire to become more involved in the shaping and development of their community.

Participants will:

CAL FIRE PIO Berlant, @CALFIRE_PIO - California Statewide Fire Summary: Nearly 8,000 firefighters remain on the frontlines as nearly a dozen major wildfires continue to burn. Yesterday, CAL FIRE crews contained the Swedes Fire that burned in Butte County, just as a new fire ignited on the Fort Hunter Liggett Military Installation.

The South Lake Tahoe Police Department is requesting assistance from the public to help identify the suspect who robbed the El Dorado Savings and Loan at 3443 Lake Tahoe Boulevard this morning around 9:30am.

Based on surveillance footage, the suspect appears to be a white male adult in his fifties, approximately 6’-2” tall, weight proportionate to height, wearing a beige baseball cap, a short-sleeved plaid button down shirt, khaki cargo shorts and flip flop sandals.

The suspect walked into the bank and presented the teller with a demand note. The suspect claimed to be armed but did not display a weapon.

The main mass of a rare meteorite that exploded over California’s Sierra foothills in April 2012 will be preserved for current and future scientific discoveries, thanks to the collaborative efforts of five U.S. academic institutions.

South Lake Tahoe police arrested a man on Monday for allegedly skinning a raccoon after a foot chase ended on the South Tahoe Middle School ball field.

Kevin Burroughs, 37, faces several charges including unlawful taking of wildlife. He is also a parolee and a registered sex offender out of California and had a felony warrant for being a parolee-at-large. The raccoon’s remains were recovered and destroyed by Lake Tahoe Wildlife Care.

With the assistance of the U.S. Forest Service Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit and a determined committee, an unnamed peak on the North Shore of the Lake Tahoe Basin has been renamed “Gold Star Peak” in honor of soldiers from the area that paid the ultimate price in Operation Iraqi Freedom, Operation Enduring Freedom, and the War on Terrorism. A ceremony to dedicate Gold Star Peak will be held at 11 a.m. on Friday, September 6, 2013, at Lakeview Commons in South Lake Tahoe.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) introduced Ambassador of the Russian Federation to the U.S. Sergey Kislyak and noted that this was the first time, ever, a Russian Ambassador has visited Lake Tahoe. Senator Reid described Russia's Lake Baikal as the most voluminous freshwater lake in the world, containing roughly 20% of the world's unfrozen surface fresh water, conservation efforts, and compared both Lake Baikal and Lake Tahoe as "two of the fairest places in all of the earth".

2013 Lake Tahoe Summit in progress Sand Harbor State Park, NV:

Vice President Al Gore challenged Lake Tahoe, Carson City, dignitaries, guests and residents, that there should not only be a continued annual Tahoe Summit but a global summit formed. And, that every resident should take on a demonstrative example to the world in having Lake Tahoe as an example regarding the greater issues of global warming.

A teenage boy died of an apparent drowning in Emerald Bay on Friday while he was attempting to swim to Fannette Island, the El Dorado County Sheriff's Office reports.

Javon Lamar Green, 17, was with his family in a rental boat when he went under water. The family estimated the distance to Fannette Island to be about 25 yards away from their boat, said El Dorado County Sheriff's Sgt. Matt Underhill.

His body was recovered Saturday morning, around 9:45 a.m. by the EDSO Dive Team in approximately 72 feet of water.

One home and several outbuildings were destroyed in an El Dorado County wildfire Friday afternoon, the state fire agency said. Just before 6 p.m., Cal Fire said the blaze was fully contained at 116 acres, after burning for several hours.

Aug 20, 2013 - UPDATE - 8:45am:

Latest American Fire News Release: http://www.inciweb.org/incident/article/3624/20488/

Current Size: 14,990 acres Containment: 54 percent Structures
Estimated Containment Date moved to September 1, 2013

Aug 19, 2013 - UPDATE - 9:25am:

Forest thinning on public land along the west side of Fallen Leaf Lake will begin Friday, Aug. 16, the U.S. Forest Service Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit announced Thursday. Thinning will take place south of the dam and will move closer to the dam in a couple of weeks.

A 39-year-old South Lake Tahoe man faces a felony DUI charge after a head-on vehicle crash Tuesday that injured a mother and two children in town visiting, according to South Lake Tahoe police.

Dara Siev was arrested for felony DUI and booked into the custody of the El Dorado County Jail in South Lake Tahoe. The crash was reported at 4:45 p.m. in the 2700 block of Lake Tahoe Boulevard near Blue Lake Avenue. The injuries sustained to the mother and children ages 4 and 8 were reported to be not life-threatening, South Lake Tahoe Police Lt. Brian Williams said.

South Lake Tahoe police have arrested a man they believe stabbed a 57-year-old family member to death early Wednesday morning on Wildwood Avenue.

Sean-Paul Andrew MacIntire, 32, of South Lake Tahoe faces first degree murder charges in the stabbing death of Shirley Gordon, said South Lake Tahoe Police Lt. Brian Williams.

A 31-year-old man remains in critical condition Monday after being struck by a vehicle that sped away in the Stateline area of Lake Tahoe on Highway 50 early Saturday morning, the Nevada Highway Patrol reports.

More than 400 classic cars showed up for Hot August Nights 2013 at the Montbleu Resort Casino and Spa at South Shore Lake Tahoe recently. Among the cars were rare and seldom seen models like a 30 Cadillac Rosewood, a 1928 Ford model A reproduction, and a lot of customs and reproductions. Jack Durst of Fabulous Lake Tahoe talks to the owners about their passion for collecting and restoring vintage automobiles.

The City of South Lake Tahoe and the South Lake Tahoe Police Canine Association are working in partnership to prepare and install the agility equipment at the Bijou Park.

After careful consideration and discussions with all of the City Departments involved in this project it has been decided that the dog agility park will be located across from the dog park instead of inside the current dog park. We believe this is a better option and will be easier to maintain.

The victim who was shot Tuesday night at the USA Gas Station in South Lake Tahoe has been identified as Manpreet Ghuman Singh, 27, of South Lake Tahoe, authorities said.