Christmas

The grand hall at MontBleu Casino Resort has been turned into a holiday paradise, a winter wonderland with the main attraction being the specialty Christmas trees.

On Thursday, local celebrities and media strolled by each of the designer trees, selecting those that won top honors of Most Elegant, Best Theme, Most Creative and Best of Show.

The excellent work on each made it almost impossible to come up with a winner, but four were chosen after much deliberation. Each tree will be paired with a special prize package during a live auction at Saturday's Gala.

It took less than two weeks for the U.S. Forest Service to sell out of Christmas tree cutting permits. Since November 13, the first day of sales, 2,250 permits were sold from the USFS offices in South Lake Tahoe, Incline Village and Tahoe City. No additional permits will be authorize for this season.

Permits may still be available in locations outside of the Tahoe Basin. Call ahead to see if they still have the $10 permits on hand:

Bureau of Land Management
Carson City Office
5665 Morgan Mill Road,
Carson City, NV 89701
775-885-6000

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - Join in the holiday fun at the Lake Tahoe History museum complex on Saturday, December 9, 2017.

It all starts at 11:00 a.m., with the decorated museum and cabin both open for tours with hot cider and treats all day. Then, at 5:00 p.m. its all about celebrating with Santa coming by sleigh and rides on the sleigh for all, ukulele Christmas music, the South Lake Tahoe Children's Coral Society, free kids activities including gift making and refreshments.

This is a free event for all ages.

The search is on for a gang of grinches who robbed and ransacked a family-run Christmas tree farm in El Dorado County.

The heartless holiday crime will end a 40-year tradition.

“They clearly busted in the door, they broke off the steal bar, and huge padlock that was on here,” says Gary Schoennauer of the Cedar Ravine Tree Farm in PLacerville, Calif.

The Tahoe Choir & Lake Tahoe Community College Chorus will present their holiday concert, "A Christmas of Hope, Peace, & Joy" in South Lake Tahoe December 1 and 3, 2017 at St. Theresa Church.

On Friday, December 1, the concert starts at 7:30 p.m. and on Sunday, December 3, at at 3:00 p.m.

Tickets may be obtained from choir members, at the LTCC Bookstore, or one hour before each performance at the church. $2 of each ticket to be donated to the Puerto Rico Hurricane Relief Fund. Ticket prices are: $12 for adults, $10 for students and seniors, free for children under 5.

Happy holidays from Lake Valley Fire Protection District. Here is the neighborhood schedule for their Holiday engines. The truck runs December 11-23, 2017.

December 11 – Echo View Estates, Tahoe Mountain Road, Mule Deer Circle
December 12 – Lake Tahoe Blvd from Boulder Mountain Drive to Grizzly Mountain Drive
December 13 – West side of North Upper Truckee from Zuni Street Highway 50, Chiapa Drive
December 14 – East side of North Upper Truckee from Grizzly Mountain to West San Bernardino Ave.
December 15 – Christmas Valley from Highway 50 to Grass Lake Road

Enjoy an afternoon of Christmas crafting at the Douglas County Library in Zephyr Cove and Minden. All crafting supplies will be provided by the library, and adult-level coloring pages will also be available as an extra art project.

The drop-in Christmas Ornament Decorating program is free and open to all ages; however, those ages 12 and under must be accompanied by an adult.

Minden Library: Tuesday, December 5 from 4:00 to 6:00 p.m. 1625 Library Lane, Minden, NV 89423

Zephyr Cove Library: Wednesday, December 6 from 4:00 to 6:00 p.m. 233 Warrior Way
Zephyr Cove, NV 89448

It was a true community project last weekend as Meyers residents prepared their famous tree for the holidays.Ed Cook Tree Service provided the crane and one of the climbers up the tree was rock climber Paul Crawford.

The Meyers Community Foundation's 7th annual Tree Lighting Celebration will be held on Friday, December 1 from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. (weather permitting). Catch Santa arriving by a Calstar helicopter, enjoy hot chocolate and popcorn and see the Lake Valley Fire Christmas Truck.

Catch all the activity in the Divided Sky/Downtown Cafe parking lot.

American Century Championship continues to impact the South Shore of Lake Tahoe, even months after the annual tournament is over. Since its inception in 1990, the tournament has donated more than $4.5 million to local and national non-profits.

On Thursday, the Lake Tahoe Visitors Authority and American Century Investments gave 30 local organizations checks in the amount of $500 to $5,000 to help them serve the community.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. – California State Parks, Lake Valley, North Lake Tahoe and Tahoe Douglas fire protection districts and the U.S. Forest Service are scheduled to conduct prescribed fire operations beginning tomorrow, November 4, 2017.

Weather permitting, operations are scheduled to take place:

D.L. Bliss State Park - 25 acres
West side of Incline Village - 17 acres
West of the First Creek drainage - 25 acres
Upper Kingsbury Grade - 3 acres
Lower Kingsbury Grade - 6 acres
Off Pioneer Trail near Marshall Trail and Powerline Road - 20 acres

The community is invited to celebrate another great year of mountain biking and trail building with the Tahoe Area Mountain Biking Association (TAMBA) at their Fall Party on Saturday, November 4 at the Heavenly California Main Lodge.

As we transition to winter they will have the premier showing of MSP Film's Drop Everything during the evening which also features a pasta dinner, drinks, raffle prizes and swag. They will also be holding a membership drive.

The party starts at 6:00 p.m. with the film showing around 7:00 p.m.

Location

There is a planned power outage in the Christmas Valley area along Grass Lake Road and Grass Lake Way for Tuesday, October 24 from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Crews from Liberty Utilities need to replace a damaged pole.

Approximately 20 customers will be affected and they have been notified.

With the clearing out of the construction staging area at the corner of Fox Street and Highway 28 in Kings Beach, the end of an era for the revitalization of Kings Beach comes to a close.

Officials at Placer County today thanks everyone who shared their input and helped make this project a big success, and for patience with the inconveniences that road construction projects bring.

Items completed this season include:

Caltrans will be working on Lake Tahoe area roads as long as weather allows. Here is their schedule for the week of October 1-7, 2017.

EMERGENCY PROJECTS

U.S. Highway 50 (El Dorado County) from Forest Road to the PG&E canal in Fresh Pond: The highway is reduced to one lane in each direction at Bridal Veil Falls roadway repair work. Completion is expected in late fall.

U.S. Highway 50 (El Dorado County): The highway is reduced to one lane in each direction at Bridal Veil Falls roadway repair work. Completion is expected in late fall.

For 26 years it was known as the "Tahoe Toy Drive" and motorcycles full of toys for local children would move through South Lake Tahoe in an effort to stock the toy shelves at Christmas Cheer.

The name has changed but the mission is the same.

Now known as the Community Toy Event, the local toy and food drive to benefit Christmas Cheer will take place on Saturday, October 7 at the American Legion Hall starting at noon.

The South Tahoe Association of Realtors is now sponsoring the event with the American Legion Post 795 and Ladies Auxiliary.

The following is the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) roadwork schedule for the Lake Tahoe area.

EMERGENCY PROJECTS

U.S. Highway 50 (El Dorado County) from Forest Road to the El Dorado Ditch in Fresh Pond: Westbound motorists can expect #2 lane closed for pavement repair. Completion is expected by the end of October.

U.S. Highway 50 (El Dorado County): The highway is reduced to one lane in each direction at Bridal Veil Falls for slope and roadway repair work. Completion is expected by the end of this year.

LONG-TERM PROJECTS

"It was so frustrating and only so much we could do," recalled Kit Bailey of the U.S. Forest Service during Saturday's Angora Fire First Responder Remembrance Ceremony. "Its miraculous nobody got hurt."

On the 10th anniversary of the devastating fire that destroyed 254 homes as it burned quickly through 3,100 acres in the Meyers area of the South Shore, fire responders gathered at the Lake Valley Fire Department to honor those who served that day, and to honor the resilient community that supported them.

During a series of recent awards ceremonies, South Tahoe High(STHS) students were recognized for academic success, attendance and bilingual immersion.

The annual Senior Awards Night saw 118 students recognized with $475,000 in scholarships. During the evening, 64 individual presentations honored one or more students for achievements.

The winner of Stage 2 of the 2017 Amgen Breakaway From Heart Disesase Women's Race Empowered with SRAM race in South Lake Tahoe was decided on the last uphill climb of the day on Ski Run Blvd, the last kilometer of a long and hilly, 67.1 mile long race.

Katie Hall of the United States crossed the finish line first, edging Dutch cyclist Anna van der Breggen by 21 seconds.

If conditions are favorable around Lake Tahoe next week, the North Lake Tahoe and Tahoe Douglas fire protection districts, California State Parks, California Tahoe Contservancy, and the U.S. Forest Service will be continuing their prescribed fire operations.

Operations are scheduled near Sugar Pine Point, Brockway Summit, Incline Village, Glenbrook, Lower Kingsbury Grade, Ski Run Boulevard, Lake Tahoe Airport, Fallen Leaf Lake and Meyers.

Points on the map:

A) 5 acres on Lower Kingbury
B) 32 acres on Upper Jennifer/Tyner area
C) 5 acres at Sugar Pine Point

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, CALIF. - El Dorado County Sheriff's Office responds to calls throughout the county. The following are calls that only pertain to the South Shore. There may be some missing calls due to sheriff's logs not being completed at time of story.

4/23
8:39 a.m. - Vacation Rental Violation - Shoshone St - RESPONSE TO A PERMITTED VHR FOR NUMEROUS VIOLATIONS SURROUNDING A VHR.

11:45 a.m. - Search & Rescue - Waterhouse Peak - SEARCH AND RESCUE INITIATED FOR AN INJURED 39-YEAR-OLD FEMALE SKIER OFF OF WATERHOUSE PEAK.

Good morning skiers and riders, and if you’re visiting, welcome to Lake Tahoe!

Today is Saturday, April 22.

Shaping up to be a Beautiful Day & Final Weekend for some Resorts. Get Out and Get Your Turns In… Surface Conditions are Machine Groomed & Spring Conditions. Final Weekend of operations for Diamond Peak, Northstar, Bear Valley, Soda Springs all Closing Sunday, April 23 & Sierra at Tahoe Closing on April 24. Have Fun & Be Safe!

Good morning skiers and riders, and if you’re visiting, welcome to Lake Tahoe!

Today is Thursday, April 20.

Mostly Cloudy but Clearing this afternoon, leading to a Beautiful Final Weekend for some Resorts. Get Out and Get Your Turns In… Surface Conditions are Machine Groomed & Spring Conditions. Final Week of operations for Diamond Peak, Northstar, Bear Valley, Soda Springs Closing Sunday, April 23 & Sierra at Tahoe Closing on April 24. Have Fun & Be Safe!

Investigators continue to unravel the bizarre circumstances surrounding a Carson City woman who was arrested Friday after she allegedly faked her 10-year-old son's death in order to generate money through community donations and a GoFundMe account, said Carson City Sheriff Ken Furlong.

On Friday, April 14, the Carson City Sheriff’s Office was contacted to investigate the possibility of a fraudulent claim of a child’s recent death and concerns that the child could be alive and endangered at a South Carson Street motel.