2017

Two more properties in the Bijou Park Creek flood zone will be acquired by the City of South Lake Tahoe thanks to a $793,991 grant awarded by the California Tahoe Conservancy (CTC) this week.

This makes three properties that the City will purchase from willing property owners with grant funds provided through Proposition 1 and Proposition 50 funds authorized by the CTC. The two this week, oft-flooded and located at 3593 Shirley Avenue and 3590 Bill Avenue in South Lake Tahoe will join the parcel at 3747 Woodbine Road which was authorized to be purchased in September 2017.

RENO, Nev. – A Reno man pleaded guilty in federal court today to using stolen identities to create more than 8,000 fraudulent online accounts to commit a $3.5 million fraud scheme.

A pursuit of a stolen 2017 Chevy Pickup began on Highway 50 near Riverton and ended near Sly Park Wednesday, leading to the arrest of two men, one for attempted murder of an officer.

The Placerville California Highway Patrol (CHP) attempted to pull over the truck driven by Cesar Ramos, 26, of Hollister, Calif. at Riverton. Instead of stopping, Ramos sped away in the westbound direction at speeds of 90-110 mph.

The intersection of State Route 88 at Centerville Lane will receive a compact traffic roundabout, and construction on it begins Monday, April 23.

From April 23 to 27, daytime lane closures from 7:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. will take place with a pilot car leading traffic in alternating directions through the intersection. An approximately 10-day full closure of the SR 88 and Centerville Lane intersection will then begin Monday, April 30 at 10:00 a.m., with nearby detour available via Mottsville Lane and Foothill Road.

Lisa Maloff, whose name is synonymous with gracious donations to the South Lake Tahoe community, has once again thrown her financial support behind a local need.

Maloff has given the Boys and Girls Club of Lake Tahoe $500,000 to get started on a new building, but she won't be stopping there.

Tuesday, April 17 will be the next South Lake Tahoe City Council meeting, starting at 9:00 a.m. in the council chambers at the airport.

A cannabis ordinance will once again be discussed during the meeting. Micro-businesses, on-site consumption, permit costs, taxes, and number of licensees will be a few of the points they will discuss as an ordinance is developed.

The Council will also be voting on steps to replace the City Attorney and City Manager.

A 31-year-old man from Michoacán, Mexico was sentenced Monday to two years and two months in prison and ordered to pay $32,712 in restitution to the U.S. Bureau of Land Management for the damage to public land and natural resources.

The rain in the Sierra Thursday and Friday melted snow, sending the water down into rivers and the lake faster than normal. While the Upper Truckee River in South Lake Tahoe is over the banks and flooding the meadow, Lake Tahoe got closer to full.

The Upper Truckee is moving at 1960 cubic feet per minute, much faster than the 112 feet per minute just a week ago. It is also just over 11 feet in height, a few inches above the flood stage per NOAA-NWS.

Lake Tahoe measured at 6228.7 ft above sea level on Saturday at 4:30 p.m. The legal limit is 6229.1, the natural rim is 6223 ft.

The second People's Climate March will take place on Saturday, April 28 at 10:00 a.m., prior to the South Lake Tahoe Earth Day Celebration.

The Tahoe Climate Change Action Network organized the inaugural march in 2017 to coincide marches across the country and the huge national march in Washington, D.C. marking President Trump's 100th day in office. Marches protested the President's environmental policies, changes to the Environmental Protection Agency and the rolling back of Obama-era regulations on fossil fuels.

A Cameron Park man is looking at seven years in prison after he plead guilty on March 29, 2018 to illegally manufacturing concentrated cannabis, commonly referred to as Butane Honey Oil, and illegally transporting/shipping marijuana across the United States.

Michael Ryan Wills, 31, was the subject of investigations by El Dorado County Sheriff narcotics detectives with the assistance from the United States Postal Inspector’s Service over two years.

In the 18 years that Lake Tahoe Wildlife Care have been caring for bear cubs, 96 have passed through their doors. Most of those 96 have wintered at the facility on Cherry Hills Circle, and today, Layton, left his temporary home in South Lake Tahoe and went back Laytonville, Calif., the area he was found in.

Late in the evening on June 23, 2017, Layton arrived at Lake Tahoe Wildlife Care after being found alone, full of mites, foxtails, ticks and underweight. He weighed in at 15 pounds and was about four or five months old.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - The cause of death of the Sacramento resident whose body was found in the Upper Truckee River in South Lake Tahoe on April 9, 2017 has been as accidental drowning by the El Dorado County Coroner.

Pamela Suswinsky, 62, was in town with her ex-husband and friend, Henry Suwinsky, and they were staying at the Motel 6 on Lake Tahoe Blvd. Henry said they came to town because she wanted her dog, Wilson, a 150-plus pound Newfoundland to experience snow for the first time.

The water content in the Sierra snowpack was measured in Phillips April 2, 2018 and it is at 49 percent of the April 1 average.

The California Department of Water Resources snow survey team did their final physical measurement of the year at their normal location in Phillips at the intersection of Highway 50 and Sierra-at-Tahoe Road, west of Lake Tahoe.

Depth of the snow was measured at 32.1 inches and it contained 12.4 inches of water which is 49 percent of long term average for April 1 at the location.

The snowpack measured in at 52 percent of average.

The Tahoe Women's Community Fund (TWCF) has announced the non-profit organizations on the South Shore who have been selected to receive grants in the amount of $68,000.

During their 2018 grant cycle, over 25 organizations applied for grants and 13 of them are being supported by TWCF and will be honored during their Grants Gala
on Wednesday, May 16 from 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. at the Tahoe Beach Retreat in South Lake Tahoe.

Focus Grant Recipients in the category of Poverty & Housing:

The month of February, 2018 proved to be a good bet for the casinos on the South Shore of Lake Tahoe when the gaming records were tallied, according to a monthly report released by the Nevada Gaming Control Board today.

Harrah's, Harveys, MontBleu, Hard Rock and Lakeside Inn combined for a "gaming win" of $19,861,878, up 32 percent from the same month a year ago.

The "gaming win" represents the computed income of casinos before business expenses and taxes.

South Lake Tahoe voters went to the polls on November 8, 2016 and approved Measure P, a Tourist Accommodation Tax (TOT) increase of two percent to fund a new $25 million recreation complex in the city.

Now that new center is at jeopardy.

The identities of the two bodies found in Fallen Leaf Lake in the fall of 2017 have been released, confirming what law enforcement found at the time. They were identified as 71-year-old Cynthia Ellis and 74-year-old Michael Whalen after the California Department of Justice verified them through DNA samples.

El Dorado County Sheriff's Detectives said there is no evidence of foul play.

During this week's California Tahoe Conservancy board meeting, funds were not only approved for the Greenway shared use trail in South Lake Tahoe, but also for grants to be used on the lake, a forest health project and a 10 percent raise for Executive Director Patrick Wright.

Sound levels from SnowGlobe have been a concern of many residents in South Lake Tahoe, and after a presentation at Tuesday's City Council meeting, new sound monitoring protocols will start this year.

After Recreation Superintendent Lauren Thomaselli gave the SnowGlobe Special Event Agreement Annual review, staff decided to perform the sound measurement for the 2018 festival in both A-Weighting and C-Weighting.

The Performing Arts Booster Association (PABA) at South Tahoe High School has been hosting popular film nights in the school's screening room and the movies for March 15 and April 19 have been scheduled.

The film nights are an opportunity for parents and students to come together and share an academic conversation around a movie. Students coming without parents must have a signed permission slip to watch R rated films. The movies start at 6:30 p.m.

The movie schedule:

PHILLIPS STATION, CALIF. - In 2017, the water content on March 1 at Phillips Station was measured at 185 percent of normal. One year later it is a different story, but much better than just a week ago.

The water content of the snow measured at Phillips Station on March 5, 2018 is 39 percent of the historical average with the 41.1" snow at the measuring spot 14 miles west of Lake Tahoe containing a snow water equivalent (SWE) of 9.4".

The SWE is the amount of water that would come out of the snow if melted all at once.

Gaming revenue for the State of Nevada during the month of January showed a two percent gain over the same month in 2017. The had a "gaming win" of $1,015,027,320 according to figures released Wednesday by the Nevada Gaming Control Board.

On the South Shore, the $19,641,340 in gaming revenue earned by the casinos was up 14.83 percent from January, 2017. The Carson City and Carson Valley had a "win" of $8,101,427, up 7.21 percent.

The "gaming win" represents the computed income of casinos before business expenses and taxes.

The North Shore casino win was down 1.46 percent.

To the South Lake Tahoe Community:

Per the February 6, 2018 City council meeting, the settlement agreement of $250,000 from SnowGlobe was approved for the rehabilitation of the Community Play fields. With the opportunities provided by the cooperative weather and with the ultimate goal of having the field play ready in time for soccer season, city engineers have developed a timeline for the field restoration to start as early as 4/16/18.

Last year, more than 1,500 wildfires burned over 640,000 acres on National Forest System lands in California, including the Thomas Fire, the largest fire in California’s recorded history. The surrounding communities are still dealing with damage from debris flows caused by a charred and barren landscape that no longer has the protection of trees, grass and other vegetation. We see and empathize with those affected, and are working to reduce the potential for future loss by performing hazardous fuel reduction treatments which include thinning overstocked forests and prescribed burning.