agriculture

UPDATE 8:15PM: The Mountain View Fire is currently burning around the community of Walker. Due to the fast moving nature of the fire, an Evacuation Order has been issued for the Walker, Coleville and Topaz areas, and US 395 is still closed from Bridgeport to the Nevada state line. There is 0 percent containment and 5,000 acres burned according to Inci-web. Liberty Utilities has de-energized the communities of Walker and Coleville up to Topaz at the state line for safety precautions. Liberty is working with all emergency agencies and will safely restore power when possible.

Douglas County has released the results of a community survey on the Master Plan Text Amendment conducted in September of 2020. More than 1,500 people took the survey, which asked about Agriculture and Conservation, Economic Development, Growth Management, Land Use, Public Facilities, Services, Recreation, and Public Safety. The Master Plan text provides additional guidance on the long- term development of the County (over the next 10-20 years). The text defines current issues and needs in the community.

EL DORADO COUNTY, Calif. - Agricultural businesses including those at the popular Apple Hill received instructions this week from El Dorado County on safety precautions and procedures. These were created to ensure operations are safe in light of the COVID-19 pandemic when they open for the 2020 harvest season.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - If they were flowers on the ground or money in trees, most would welcome them. But they aren't. And love them or hate them, they’re back!

Miller moths, or the army cutworm, have become a nuisance in many parts of Lake Tahoe over the last few weeks, but not all areas have been affected. Those who have them around their homes are seeing dozens each night, swarming around their lights both inside and outside.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - This week's Drought Monitor shows much of the West in some level of drought. Lake Tahoe, the Sierra, and Western Nevada are all in a "moderate drought" stage with no end in the immediate future.

The 90-day outlook shows higher than average temperatures and lower than average precipitation, neither of which is good to break out of a drought.

Following below-average precipitation most of the winter, May storms delivered 181 percent of average in the Northern Sierra for this time of year, but the results aren't showing enough to remove the area from drought.

(Since publishing, LTBMU has corrected the date their order expires.)

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - All national forest recreation areas and sites in the South Shore Recreation Corridors are now closed. In an announcement Wednesday, the USDA Forest Service Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit (LTBMU) said the closures are to keep in alignment with current federal, state and local guidance for social distancing and to ensure health and safety of its employees, visitors and volunteers.

It is time for Tahoe to have a new representative in Congress. Tom McClintock has represented our region in congress since 2009. During that time he has not promoted our interests.

1. He never moved into our district. He continues to live in a gated community in Elk Grove. Is our district not nice enough for him to live in? After all, we are paying his salary.

2. He has not had a town hall in the Lake Tahoe District during the past 4 years.

3. His votes are not supportive of our local needs. His votes that do not represent our community are represented by the following votes:

DOUGLAS COUNTY, Nev. - The Douglas County commissioners will be holding a special meeting on a Development Agreement between Park Ranch Holdings LLC and Master Plan amendments on Tuesday, December 3 at 9:00 a.m.

EL DORADO COUNTY, Calif. - The PG&E power shutdown has prompted County officials to close several departments. The following County departments will be closed Monday, October 28, 2019 due to power outages:

Agriculture
Airports in Georgetown and Placerville
Building A
HHSA - Briw Road Campus
HHSA - Spring Street Campus
HHSA - Veterans Hall
Placerville Jail
Libraries (Cameron Park, Georgetown, Placerville, Pollock Pines)
Parks
Union Mine Facility
Probation
Child Support Services
Public Defender
District Attorney

The City of South Lake Tahoe is on its way to becoming the Sister City with the City of Ameca, State of Jalisco, Mexico. This will be the first Sister City for South Lake Tahoe since its former relationship with Baikalsk, Russia ended.

On August 20, long-time local resident and educator Tere Tibbets brought the subject to the City Council and the process to become a Sister City began. Los Mexicanos Restaurant owner Victor Mora had the idea and worked with Tibbetts to bring it to fruition.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - In an attempt to address traffic concerns on side roads in the Meyers area, the California Highway Patrol (CHP) and El Dorado County (EDC) conducted a test and put up two road closures on Sunday, July 7, 2019.

Barriers were placed at the intersections of Highway 50 and both Sawmill and North Upper Truckee roads in an attempt to keep westbound holiday traffic out of the neighborhoods and on the highway. In addition, they were also evaluating the traffic backup on both roads and the routing of traffic by directional apps like Waze and Google.

Carson City was abuzz Thursday evening at the Nevada State Legislature, in which over 100 Nevadan residents gathered to support honeybees, and their ability to be kept by residents.

Senate Bill 389 relates to the ability to keep bees in residential zones in Nevada and has been hotly debated since it was announced on March 20. It was read during a Natural Resources Committee meeting Wednesday.

Residents attended to an extent that legislative staff needed to open an overflow room to provide for those gathered, in which the meeting was televised from down the hall.

The following is a letter created by the four agencies currently working together to try and find a solution to the traffic problem in Meyers as visitors exit Lake Tahoe after a weekend. A public meeting was held on Friday night and that story will be carried on Saturday.

El Dorado County Supervisor Sue Novasel will be holding a public meeting on Wednesday, April 18 to continue the discussion on traffic issues in the Meyers area. The meeting will be held at the Lake Tahoe Environmental Science Magnet School from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.

This is a follow up to her February 28 meeting on the subject that plagues Meyers neighborhoods on busy Sundays and holidays as visitors leave South Lake Tahoe and head west over Echo Summit.

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.

In the works since 2014, the last hurdle for the new El Dorado County Public Safety Project was approved on Tuesday at the Board of Supervisor's meeting when they unanimously approved a $49 million contract to design and build a new public safety facility. Clark/Sullivan Construction and Broward Builders were awarded the contract to design and build the facility.

Lake Tahoe Community College (LTCC) is holding their State of the College address on Thursday, September 13 inside the Duke Theater starting at 8:00 a.m. with a breakfast reception.

LTCC President Jeff DeFranco will discuss where the college is today and where they are headed. A LTCC Alumni Panel will follow DeFranco, sharing their experiences on the South Lake Tahoe campus. Wrapping up the event will be Dr. Victor Rios, who will talk about how to change students' lives through meaningful contact.

The alumni panel will include:

UPDATE 3:30PM - Residents with proper identification will be allowed to pass through closed highway areas in Topaz Estates and north of the fire. School buses will be running as normal for Thursday afternoon.

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The Nevada Highway Patrol and California Hwy Patrol are working traffic control for the Slinkard Fire in Topaz near the Nevada and California state line.

North of the fire, Hwy 395 is closed in both directions at Leviathan Mine Road, which is south of Gardnerville, Nevada.

South of the fire, Hwy 395 is closed in both directions at Hwy 182 in Bridgeport, Calif.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - Two people from the Sacramento area were arrested by the South Lake Tahoe Police Department Saturday afternoon on suspicion of stealing phones from both the Verizon and T-Mobile stores in South Lake Tahoe.

Not only humans enjoy hanging out in Lake Tahoe, the Canadian Goose does as well, and according to many, perhaps too well. The annual goose roundup is now complete with 118 of the geese from Lake Tahoe now living at the Wild Horse Reservoir in Elko County.

In their ongoing battle with aquatic invasive plants in the Tahoe Keys, the area's property owners association has applied for a permit to test herbicides in the lagoon in 2018.

The four finalists for the position of Lake Tahoe Community College's Superintendent/President have been announced, and the public will have the opportunity to meet them in a forum on November 17 in the school's Aspen Board room at 9:00 a.m.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. – As part of ongoing efforts to evaluate and use numerous tools to fight aquatic invasive plants in the Tahoe Keys, the Tahoe Keys Property Owners Association recently announced its plans to apply for a permit for a small-scale demonstration of aquatic herbicides in 2018.

Food Network star, Reno native and culinary storyteller Chef Clint Jolly will be the featured guest chef at Sample the Sierra’s Pop-Up Dinner on Friday, Sept. 16 from 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. This year's featured dinner will be held at Park Prime inside Hard Rock Lake Tahoe.

Jolly, the winner of the popular television competition, “Chopped: Restaurant Impossible” also founded Great Thyme Catering based in Reno but specializing in creating memorable events throughout the West.