2017

The Commission on Judicial Performance has initiated disciplinary proceedings against recently retired El Dorado County Judge Steve Bailey. Bailey is now seeking the GOP nomination for state attorney general.

Steven Bailey faces 11 counts of ethical wrongdoing dating to his time on the bench, including placing defendants in a private-sector alcohol monitoring program without disclosing that the provider employs his son, according to the judicial watchdog agency.

With the March 6 South Lake Tahoe City Council meeting slated to have SnowGlobe on the agenda, the Parks and Recreation Commission has called a special meeting in order to prepare a coordinated statement/recommendation to give Council.

The commissioners normally meet the third Thursday of the month but with the annual winter concert on the Council agenda before their next official meeting they wanted to meet to provide their opinion.

They meet at the SLT Recreation Center located at 1180 Rufus Allen Blvd, South Lake Tahoe. Start time for the special meeting is 3:00 p.m.

Holiday traffic leaving South Lake Tahoe this weekend created another bottleneck in Meyers as well as on side roads throughout the area from those attempting to find a quicker getaway. The choices they made Monday created a three-hour drive from the Y in South Lake Tahoe to areas in Meyers.

Highway 50 over Echo Summit is designed to handle 1,200 cars per hour without any issues, but those numbers dropped Monday, February 19. Just how much they dropped is unknown as the traffic counters normally placed over the roadway are removed for snow removal.

The South Lake Tahoe City Council held a special closed session meeting on Monday to discuss matters surrounding City Manager Nancy Kerry.

The over two-hour meeting concluded with no reportable action, according to City Council.

"We will be providing no further comment," they said.

Five South Tahoe High seniors and graduates signed their letters of intent to play for the Lake Tahoe Community College Coyotes this fall.

Cesar Hernandez (class of 2017), Giovani "Gio" Yanez, Ignacio Vazquez, Andy Salazar and Oscar Villagrana (class of 2016) were all on hand with LTCC Soccer Coach Nick Arbelaez.

The five athletes were all born and raised in South Lake Tahoe and have a combined 55 years of soccer already under their belts.

"I'm very stoked," said Villagrana of his heading to LTCC to play at the college level.

The 2018 Amgen Tour of California has announced their race routes, giving cycling fans time to plot our their roadside viewing points.

The Women's Stage 2 and Men’s Stage 6 at South Lake Tahoe will both include iconic vistas, stunning lake views, highest summit in race history at Luther Pass, and the grueling Daggett Pass along Kingsbury Grade state Route 207 on May 18.

The South Lake Tahoe City Council announced today that City Manager Nancy Kerry is on indefinite leave. South Lake Tahoe Fire Rescue Chief Jeff Meston has been appointed as the acting City Manager.

Kerry has been with the City since 2008, working in various departments and moving into the City Manager position August 21, 2012

"City Council will not be making any additional comments to respect Ms. Kerry’s privacy," according to a press release issued Wednesday.

The City of South Lake Tahoe agreed Tuesday to accept funds from the California Tahoe Conservancy to purchase a home on Woodbine Road as part of the three-phased, 850-acre Bijou Park Creek Watershed Restoration Project.

Human Trafficking is the trade of humans for the purpose of forced labor, sexual slavery, or commercial sexual exploitation for the trafficker or others; a modern day form of slavery. It is a multi-billion dollar criminal industry that denies freedom to 20.9 million people around the world

And its happening outside our door.

Jaycee Lee Dugard was just 11 years old as she walked to the bus stop on the morning of June 10 in 1991 when she was abducted by two people. The Meyers and South Lake Tahoe community joined law enforcement in searching for the missing girls. As days turned into weeks, and then eventually years, parents searched for ways to teach their own children about safety and abduction.

A former motel maintenance worker at a South Lake Tahoe motel has been sentenced to 183 years to life for the brutal sexual assault of a 22-year-old Macedonian exchange student in 2015.

Manuel Ovidio Ramos-Munoz was found guilty in November, 2017 on seven felony counts, including kidnapping for the purpose of committing a sexual assault, as well as six additional counts and numerous special allegations relating to the subsequent sexual assault of the victim.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, CALIF. - Lake Tahoe Community College (LTCC) has just received the highest level of accreditation possible from the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges, Western Association of Schools and Colleges (ACCJC). The commission reaffirmed the college’s accreditation for seven years on the basis of a comprehensive evaluation. This reaffirmation puts the college in excellent standing until its next full accreditation review in Fall 2024.

The cumulative results of Liberty Utilities’ quarterly Customer Satisfaction Surveys in 2017 show improvements in corporate citizenship and communications. The survey also showed overall customer satisfaction increased by six points compared to first quarter results.

The online survey is independently conducted by JD Power, and Liberty Utilities’ results are compared with comparable electric utilities in the west. Some highlights of the 2017 survey results show:

Update 1/26: Due to a scheduling conflict the meeting has been moved from Tahoe Valley Elementary School to the South Lake Tahoe City Council Chambers.

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A 400 acre plume of contaminated groundwater will be the focus of a public meeting on February 7 in the SLT Council Chambers at the Lake Tahoe Airport from 6:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.

Earth’s global surface temperatures in 2017 ranked as the second warmest since 1880, according to an analysis released Thursday by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).

Earth's long term warming trend continued, with the average temperature last year was 1.62 degrees Fahrenheit warmer than the 1951 to 1980 mean. Second only to the prior year, 2016, according to scientists at NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) in New York.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, CALIF. - Starting January 24, 2018, South Lake Tahoe Mayor Wendy David will be holding an informal monthly chat with anyone from the community who wants to stop by, say "hi," find out information or discuss whatever City topic they want.

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.

Sierra-at-Tahoe is holding "Jammin 4 Tash" on Saturday, January 20 to honor the late Natasha "Tash" Sagucka who died from Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia on November 4, 2017 at the age of 24.

"From the time she was two years old till her last days on this earth she found peace, love and light on the mountains," was stated on Sagucka's obituary. "She thrived from the energy of slashing through the trees and sliding on the rails just perfectly."

Natural disasters can occur at any given time and in any given area. The size, duration and damages are usually unpredictable. The devastation, destruction and cost of California wildfires are increasing annually.

Scammers have been making money for years by convincing their victims to send money for a variety of reasons including promised prizes, loans, jobs, discounted products or other financial rewards in exchange for money upfront. At times the scammers even pretend to be family members in need of cash or law enforcement officers demanding payment. The scammers told people to send money through Western Union. No one received the cash, prizes or services they were promised, and before now there was no way to get their money back.

David "Stryder" Franklin, age 44, passed away in a tragic accident on January 1, 2018 in Costa Mesa, California. Funeral services will be held at Pacific View Memorial Park and Mortuary located at 3500 Pacific View Drive in Corona del Mar, California on Friday, January 12, 2018 at 2:00 p.m.

The following are the 155 incidents the South Lake Tahoe Fire Rescue and Cal-Tahoe JPA ambulances responded to from Dec. 20 - Dec. 31, 2017.

12/20

03:27 - 800 block of Placer Ave - EMS call, excluding vehicle accident with injury
04:53 - 3600 block of Rocky Point Rd - Public service
07:18 - 900 block of Ski Run Blvd - Alarm system sounded, no fire/unintentional
12:00 - 3300 block of Sandy Way - EMS call, excluding vehicle accident with injury
13:04 - 1000 block of Heavenly Village Way - Dispatched & cancelled en route

Have you had your flu shot yet? This might be the time to get it if not as the flu bug has made its way across the county. Health departments in Carson City, Douglas and Lyon counties are reporting many more cases of influenza this year than the same time last year, and Washoe County residents are being hit hard.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, CALIF. - Local female business owner, Karly Matzen of The Tides Project, sells her crafts online and trade shows throughout the Tahoe basin. You make have seen The Tides Project booth at the Made In Tahoe festival or Live at Lakeview this summer. In return, 10% of her sales goes back to funding art programs. Her vision is to bring supplies to the community in order to support a positive outlet for youth through the Arts.