News

The 5th Memorial Celebration in Honor of Sgt. Timothy M. Smith will be on Sunday, April 7, at Sierra-at-Tahoe.

Douglas County Sheriff's Office authorities have arrested a 29-year-old Minden man for making a bomb threat during a traffic stop late Saturday at Highway 50 and Kahle Drive.

At 10:58 p.m. a Douglas County Sheriff’s Deputy conducted a traffic enforcement stop on a black Dodge SRT8 at Hwy 50 and Kahle Drive, said Sgt. Pat Brooks.

The driver, Adam Smith, 29, of Minden was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence. At the time, deputies noticed a wire from the front seat to the trunk. They asked Smith about the wire and, he told them, “It’s a bomb.”

Hans Uthe is good about talking on just about any subject except if the topic is himself. It took his wife, Beth, to convince him to speak to the media about his retirement. And then in an interview with Lake Tahoe News he spent more time talking about his colleagues, his dad and crime in general than he did his career, the cases he’s tried or his future.

Tahoe Regional Planning Agency Executive Director, Joanne S. Marchetta, was named Public Servant of the Year earlier this week at the 59th annual Community Awards dinner hosted by the North Lake Tahoe Resort Association and Chamber of Commerce.

“I just carry the baton, I carry it for all of you,” she told the audience upon receiving the award to a standing ovation Wednesday night at the Ritz-Carlton, Northstar, California.

Eighteen-year-old Seth Rogers, wanted by Douglas County Sheriff's Office after running away from the Rite of Passage in February, turned himself into the authorities late Thursday and was booked on a warrant, according to a sheriff's office news release.

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The Douglas County Sheriff’s Office is asking for the public’s help in locating a escapee teenager from Minden's Rite of Passage, who has been missing since February.

The El Dorado County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday awarded a $2.6 million contract to Yarmouth, Maine-based Tyler Technologies to replace its current financial, payroll and human resources systems.

Eleven companies proposed bids and the county spent 18 months researching those bids, according to a news release. The money for the contract will come from the county's reserve for capital projects. Supervisors also OK'd $3 million to hire additional staff to assist with implementation and conversion of the project.

Below is the news release issued by El Dorado County.

UPDATE: The following is a prepared statement from the Brotherhood Motorcycle Club in response to the arrest of an alleged member of the club. It is in response to a news release made Tuesday by the South Lake Tahoe Police Department. Here is the statement:

A combination of rain and snow for Lake Tahoe and the Sierra is possible by the weekend, according to the National Weather Service in Reno.

Low pressure in the eastern Pacific is expected to move slowly toward the California coast around Friday into the weekend. This will bring an increased supply of subtropical moisture with the possibility of rain over a larger portion of lower-elevation western Nevada, and a mix of rain and snow at the higher elevations of the Sierra and Lake Tahoe.

In a world of aerial drones, stun guns and surveillance cameras, an electric eraser doesn’t seem like much of a crime-fighting tool.

For Leona Allen, a spokeswoman for Lake Valley Fire Protection District and certified composite sketch artist, the handheld device is a cherished part of a crime-fighting kit that includes pencils, a blending stump and a sketch pad.

Go here to read the full story.

South Lake Tahoe police arrested a man following a burglary Sunday of South Shore Bikes on Emerald Bay Road.
Lee Sparks, 34, was arrested early Monday at Barton Memorial Hospital and admitted to the burglary and taking a bike, South Lake Tahoe police report.

Sparks was at the hospital being treated for cuts to his arms. Blood was found at the business where officers noted Sparks allegedly had forced entry into the shop through a roof event and exited through a window.

Below is a news release issued by Lieutenant David Stevenson of the South Lake Tahoe Police Department.

Law enforcement officers have one person in custody following a high-speed chase of a black Chevrolet Malibu that led police from California to Nevada and reached speeds between 90 and 100 mph.

The chase started about 9:55 a.m. near the agricultural station in Meyers.
Go here to read the full story.

The Tahoe Regional Planning Agency on Thursday announced the 2012 Best in the Basin award winners and will recognize the recipients March 27 at the TRPA governing board meeting.

This is the 23rd year for the program that recognizes Lake Tahoe area projects for demonstrating exceptional planning, design, and compatibility with the Lake Tahoe environment. Local professionals in the fields of landscaping, planning, engineering, water quality, and resource management judged each category. A reception for all Best in Basin winners and judges will follow the awards ceremony.

Art and science collide in April at the Lake Tahoe Center for Environmental Sciences with a lecture and display of paintings that chronicle Anthropocene, the beginning of the fossil fuel era that sprouted in the late 1700s.

The SnowGlobe Music Festival could become a staple of South Shore’s New Year’s celebrations. On Tuesday the South Lake Tahoe City Council directed city staff to negotiate a multi-year contract with promoters of the three-day music festival, despite concerns over impacts to the playfield next to Lake Tahoe Community College.

Go here to read the full story.

Proposed regulations surrounding special events in South Lake Tahoe, including concerts at Lakeview Commons and the SnowGlobe Music Festival, will be back in front of the City Council next week.

The city has made several revisions to the proposals following a February meeting where event promoters expressed concerns about the regulations.

Go here for the full story.

A whole lot of brown gunk is coming out of storm pipes that flow into Lake Tahoe. While that isn’t news, greater awareness is being brought to the issue. The League to Save Lake Tahoe has identified 50 pipes in the basin carrying runoff water, but believes there are more.

South Lake Tahoe Firefighters participated and raised $6,000 in the second annual St. Baldrick’s Foundation event in South Lake Tahoe on Friday, March 8. The St. Baldrick’s foundation was formed in 2005 and surpassed $100 million in donations last year for childhood cancer research across the nation. The South Lake Tahoe Fire Department put together one of several teams from the community who all rallied together to raise money.

U.S. Forest Service fuels management crews continue prescribed fire operations near Spooner Summit beginning Monday. Crews expect to burn approximately 40 acres. In addition, operations begin Monday on Tahoe Mountain near Dundee Circle. Crews expect to burn approximately six acres. Operations in both locations may continue through the week, weather and conditions permitting.

South Lake Tahoe, Calif. – Someone’s stealing copper from Forest Service facilities on the South Shore, and the agency’s turning to the public for help in stopping the costly crimes. The thieves have targeted restrooms at Kiva Picnic Area, Fallen Leaf Campground, and Pope and Baldwin beaches, vandalizing the buildings in their attempts to access the copper pipes in the plumbing and sell them for scrap metal. Several of the restrooms had been newly constructed over the past few years.

A 77-year-old man escaped injury Tuesday after the small plane he was piloting landed on its belly at the Minden Tahoe Airport, the Douglas County Sheriff's Office reports.

East Fork Fire and Paramedics along with the Douglas County deputies responded at to the airport 12:28 pm after the Piper Camanche 400 came into land at the airport.

The owner and pilot Alfred Asti, the sole occupant, stated his approach was high and as the plane came into contact with the ground, the plane bounced.

After receiving several inquiries from Nevada residents about donation and fundraising solicitations from organizations, the Nevada Highway Patrol notes that it does not authorize any organizations to accept donations or conduct fundraising efforts on its behalf.

Trooper Barbara Stapleton reports that inquiries have been made about Nevada State Troopers Lodge and the American Association of State Troopers.

CARSON CITY, Nev. (AP) - The unique Nevada law that allows voters to cast a ballot for "none of the above" is coming under new scrutiny over whether it's constitutional.A U.S. appeals court will he...

MINDEN, Nev. -- A Fremont man has been sentenced to 32 months in prison for beating two women at a Lake Tahoe casino so severely that one victim suffered a miscarriage.Douglas County District Judge...

FRESNO, Calif. (AP) - Relatives of a 24-year-old intern killed by a lion at a California animal park said Friday they believe the facility followed safety protocols and the death was a tragic accid...