2014

Many in South Lake Tahoe know native son Ryan Wallace, whether it's from his starting to wrestle at age 5, being a high school and middle school coach, or from when the community pulled together in 2014 to raise funds for his new prosthetic leg.

Reigning Olympic gold medalist halfpipe skier Maddie Bowman celebrated both her birthday Wednesday and a ticket to the finals of the Toyota U.S. Grand Prix at Snowmass this weekend.

The 24-year-old South Lake Tahoe native competed against the top eight women half pipe skiers, qualifying easily behind Cassie Sharpe, the 2016 X Games Oslo champion.

Reigning Olympic gold medalist Jamie Anderson has always had success at Dew Tour events, and her Saturday second-place finish in the women’s slopestyle snowboarding final in Breckenridge, Colorado, got her something much more than another medal.

As the top American woman on the podium, Anderson qualified for her second Olympic Winter Games and earned the chance to defend her title in PyeongChang in February. She will also be able to add a medal in another event as all slopestyle riders will also compete in big air as it makes its Olympic debut.

Dr. Devendra I. Patel, aka Devendrakumar I. Patel, 58, of Elko, Nev., was arrested Tuesday on 39 charges of unlawful distribution of prescriptions opioids and Medicaid fraud.

Patel is charged with 36-counts of distribution of controlled substances such as oxycodone and hydrocodone, and three-counts of health care fraud. He is a cardiologist at his medical practice, Northeastern Nevada Cardiology. The statutory maximum penalty for distribution of a controlled substance is 10 years in prison and the maximum penalty for health care fraud is 10 years in prison.

Two Kingsbury Grade area residences sustained major damage recently due to the incorrect disposal of hot ashes in the back yard of one of homes.

A 2014 fire in the northern end of Washoe Valley Drive Fire destroyed 29 homes, charred 3,177 acres and caused the death of an elderly woman after a man improperly discarded hot fireplace ashes.

Those arrested for DUI in El Dorado County, especially repeat offenders and those involved in fatal or injury crashes, can expect to face highly trained, specialized prosecutors, funded by a $195,677.00 grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety (OTS). The grant to the El Dorado County District Attorney’s Office will fund a Vertical Prosecution team that will work cases from arrest through conviction and sentencing.

It's just 100 days until the 2018 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games and United Airlines has announced their lineup of Team USA athletes who will represent them in PyeongChang, South Korea.

"New Spirit of United" is their campaign as the US Olympic Committee's official airline.

Jamie Anderson of Meyers/South Lake Tahoe is one of the six athletes chosen who " embody United's core values of flying together and working as one unified team towards success".

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - The long awaited 11 foot tall bronze sculpture "Spirit of Competition" perched on top of a 4.5 ton boulder was unveiled during a ceremony at Champions Plaza Friday.

Sculptor Gareth Curtiss transported his creation from his studio in Fortine, Montana just two days ago in the back of his van, early Thursday morning the bronze sculpture was picked up with a crane and placed on top of the boulder, bolted in and wrapped up for the ceremony.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - Mother Nature delayed the completion of the Spirit of Competition bronze sculpture, but now it is ready and will be unveiled to the public in a ceremony on Friday, October 27 at 12:00 p.m. at Champion's Plaza.

Artist Gareth Curtiss has a studio in Montana, and wildfires in the area set back his completion date and canceled the previously scheduled ceremony.

A new dock, breakwater, restaurant and beach pavilion will all be in place for the 2018 summer season at the Round Hill Pines Resort.

With demolition of the old structure nearly complete, work started last week on a new 3,000-square-foot facility overlooking the beach.

The new building will house a full commercial kitchen, retail space, restrooms, offices for the resort’s management and sales staff, and storage. The seating for the summer bar and grill will be in an open-air pavilion with retractable awnings.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. – The Barton Foundation is delighted to announce the appointment of Troy Matthews as its new Executive Director.

Matthews’ commitment to serving his community is exhibited through his involvement and leadership in multiple organizations including Tahoe Regional Young Professionals, the South Tahoe Drug Free Coalition, Progress for Tahoe, El Dorado County Housing Task Force, LTCC Theater Arts Task Force, Leadership Lake Tahoe, and serving on the Lake Tahoe Unified School District School Board.

In March of 2014, the South Lake Tahoe community rallied behind its native son, Ryan Wallace, and raised $25,000 to get him a new prosthetic leg.

By 2016, Ryan's active lifestyle got the attention of Amputee Blade Runners and he was fitted with an blade runner leg, allowing him to compete in the Endeavor Games in powerlifting, discus, shot put and sitting volleyball.

The National Weather Service (NSW) in Reno today issued their very first tornado warning for the Lake Tahoe basin.

At 3:45 p.m. a severe thunderstorm warning was issued first for the middle of Lake Tahoe near Glenbrook. At that time one of their team members saw a funnel cloud over Incline Village and sent in a photo, so the tornado warning was issued immediately.

Even though Wednesday's warning was the first for Lake Tahoe, there have been five issued for northwest Nevada since 2000 according to Scott McGuire of the NWS Forecast Office in Reno.

No community is immune to loosing one of their own to suicide. A small community faces many of the same risks as do urban centers, and, according to a recent study by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, suicides in rural areas are on the rise.

In just over three years there have been 23 suicides in the Lake Tahoe portions of El Dorado County:

May 1, 2014 - May 1, 2015 - 8 suicides
May 1, 2015 - May 31, 2016 - 4 suicides

The unveiling of the anticipated Spirit of Competition bronze sculpture at Champions Plaza in South Lake Tahoe will take place on Friday, September 29 at 2:00 p.m.

The 2017 inductees include; Elena Hight, Glen Plake, Hannah Teter, Jamie Anderson, Jonna Mendes, Kyle Smaine, Maddie Bowman, Shaun Palmer, Travis Cabral and Travis Ramos. They have all been invited to the event.

Work to rebuild State Highway 89 along the West Shore of Lake Tahoe from Tahoma just north of Granlibakken Road in Tahoe City is now complete, Caltrans announced today. It also came in $8,000,000 under budget.

Construction on the project started in 2012 when a contractor for Southwest Gas began relocating gas lines that were in conflict with the new drainage systems to be built. That work was completed in 2014. Caltrans’ contractor, Road and Highway Builders, began drainage work in 2013 and started roadwork in 2014.

The Aurelia Chamber Players will perform at the Dangberg Home Ranch Historic Park at 6:30 pm on Thursday, July 20.

Location

South Lake Tahoe, Calif. - Four members of the faculty at Lake Tahoe Community College (LTCC) are being honored for their outstanding work in the classroom and their dedication to students.

LTCC business instructor Treva Thomas was chosen by her fellow faculty members as the Distinguished Faculty Award winner for 2017, math and physics instructor Bruce Armbrust was tapped by LTCC’s students as their choice for Teacher of the Year, and adjunct instructor/Work Experience and Internship Coordinator Jenna Palacio was selected by faculty members as Adjunct Instructor of the Year.

Ryan Galles, the principal of Sierra House Elementary in South Lake Tahoe, has announced that he is leaving Lake Tahoe Unified School District.

Galles has accepted the position of Director of Elementary Education for the Vacaville Union School District (VUSD), a district with 12,000 students and 10 elementary schools.

A letter sent by Galles to the Sierra House parents on Friday, June 16:

On US50 approximately five miles east of Dayton, a Nevada Highway Patrol (NHP) Trooper was involved in a fatal crash at 2:40 p.m. on Monday, June 5. One person was confirmed deceased on scene. The Nevada Highway Patrol Trooper was transported via CareFlight to Renown with serious, but not life-threatening injuries.

The deceased victim of the crash is an adult male, according to a witness on-scene who performed CPR on him before paramedics arrived. His name has not been released. Family is being notified.

Ben, a retired Washoe County Sheriff’s Office K9, passed away from medical complications this weekend. In service from 2006-2014, K9 Ben was paired with Deputy Cole Bunyard who was at the German Shepherd's side when he died.

The retired Bunyard and Ben were involved a number of assignments over their 8 year together on the force, including Patrol and Highway Interdiction. K9 Ben was also a valued tracker for lost people. K9 Ben and Deputy Bunyard were assigned as the resident deputy in Gerlach between 2010 and 2014.

The sale of "The Chateau at the Village" in South Lake Tahoe is complete and the eight acres of land and entitlements are now owned by Tahoe Chateau Land Holding, LLC, a Chinese-American investment group.

The holding company, owned by Kawana Holdings, will own "air rights" above the existing retail area, related parking and the garage structure, the former convention center pad. The seller, Owens Realty Mortgage Inc., keeps the existing retail buildings and improvements that are home to McP's, Dough and various shops.

During a special meeting of the Lake Tahoe Community College Board of Trustees on Thursday, Russi Egan was hired as the college's new Vice President of Administrative Services.

Egan is currently the Vice President of Administrative Services and Chief Financial Officer at Palo Verde College in Blythe, Calif. She will begin her new job at LTCC on July 1.

The position has been vacant since Jeff DeFranco became the school's new Superintendent/President in January, 2017.

Linkin Park announced their One More Light World Tour today, and they'll be making a stop at the lake on Friday, September 1 at the Lake Tahoe Outdoor Arena at Harveys.

They will hit the stage with special guest Machine Gun Kelly.

In an effort to put tickets into the hands of real fans, first access to tickets for the One More Light World Tour will be reserved exclusively for fans – not scalpers or bots, just as Eric Church has done with his tour (he follows Linkin Park on September 2 and 3).