employees

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - Mike Goar has been named the new Heavenly Mountain Resort chief operating officer, with additional oversight of the company’s Kirkwood Mountain and Northstar California resorts.

Goar is coming from Vail Resort's Keystone resort in Colorado where his is the current vice president and chief operating officer.

As the first responders and Meyers community are honored for their resiliency and efforts during the June 24, 2007 Angora Fire, another side of the story was behind the newspaper pages and camera lenses.

Ten years ago was a different time for news, and local online news sources such as South Tahoe Now did not exist, nor was there social media forum one could rely on for local news and updates.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - The Lake Tahoe Unified School District is losing a lot of experience as 20 of their employees are retiring after a combined 551 years of collective service in education. The four retiring food service employees alone had 107 years of working with LTUSD.

During a ceremony on Tuesday, the following retirees were honored:

Certificated Staff:

Roy Benavidez – Biology Teacher, STHS, 29 years of service
Therese Colwell – P.E. Teacher, STMS, 27 years of service
Mitch Delacour – ILA, Independent studies Teacher, 39 years of service

Children from the South Shore of Lake Tahoe no longer need to go hungry during the summer months. Thanks to a generous donation of $125,000 by Rob Katz, Vail Resorts CEO, and his wife Elana Amsterdam, “Summer B&B 4 Kids” will launch on Wednesday, June 21, with a focus on helping the over 50 percent of local children who are receiving free or subsidized school meals during the school year.

I took a couple of field trips this month related to learning more about cannabis and how it may affect our city if retail, commercial grows, testing, and edible production are implemented. I learned a lot and will share some of the highlights with you.

The first trip was to Breckenridge, a visit I piggybacked on top of a wedding I attended in Vail. I met with their Mayor, City Manager (formerly the police chief) and the assistant city manager. We met for two hours and our talk was primarily centered on their experiences with the legalization of cannabis in Breckenridge.

Demolition began Wednesday on the 40-year-old McDonald's building at the Y, making way for a new building that will not only be home to a smaller and more efficient fast food restaurant, but one that is also full of environmental improvements as well as an new alpine-look consistent with the new City design standards.

Proceeds at California Burger today go back to the employees. Yes, you read that right!

Just as he did last year, owner Ted Kennedy is having a 'pay-it-forward' day again at the popular hamburger spot at the Heavenly Village in South Lake Tahoe.

"All profits for the day will be given back to the employees," said Kennedy. "It's their money and they can do with it as they wish, but the hope is that they will use it to help someone less fortunate in their community."

During the spring and summer of 2016, the City of South Lake Tahoe received many complaints for homeless people causing safety and health problems in parks and public places, mainly Lakeview Commons, Campground by the Lake, Heavenly Village and the transit centers at both ends of town.

This spring the number of calls have increased, and officers from the South Lake Tahoe Police have responded. The main five locations the problems occurred at in 2016 remain the same so far in 2017.

Employees from the original Park Tahoe (1978-1979) and early years of Caesars Tahoe (1979-1985) are gathering again this summer for the second reunion of former co-workers and their families.

They gathered in 2012 and the event was such a big success, organizers decided to do it again based on the feedback they received over the last five years.

This year's event will be held at MontBleu Casino Resort on July 9 from 6:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. The cost is $89 per person and covers everything including a DVD with memories of the old days and a souvenir tee shirt. Bar is not included.

South Lake Tahoe resident, and Tahoe Prosperity Center DEO Heidi Hill Drum was awarded Citizen of the Year by the North Lake Tahoe Resort Association, Chamber, Convention and Visitors Bureau.

Hill was given the honor during the 63rd annual Community Awards Banquet on April 6.

“I was very surprised and I am grateful to be recognized, but I am just the messenger," Heidi noted at the ceremony accepting the award. "Our dedicated Board of Directors and staff are just as deserving of the honor recognizing the importance of our work in the region.”

Looking for a job in South Lake Tahoe? Here is information about upcoming job fairs and other current opportunities.

El Dorado County Connections - One Stop is hosting a free Hiring Event on Thursday, April 13, 2017, from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. at the Lake Tahoe Community College (Commons Area), located at One College Drive in South Lake Tahoe. During the event, representatives from Harrah’s and Harvey’s Lake Tahoe will share information about their organization, job opportunities and how to apply for current job openings.

An inmate who walked away from work detail at the Stewart Conservation Camp in Carson City on Tuesday has been arrested after crashing a City water truck that he allegedly stole.

Douglas County Sheriff's Office (DCSO) was contacted on Wednesday, March 29 about the attempted theft of a vehicle in northern Douglas County. The reporting party was working on the roof of the Sprint Store on Hwy 395 when he saw the attempt. The suspect was chased away by witnesses, running north towards Fuji Park in Carson City.

For the past 26 years, Judi McCallum has been keeping the El Dorado County Supervisors from Lake Tahoe organized, on schedule, and connected to those they serve.

"I have had such a great run as a Supervisor's Assistant at the County of El Dorado Board of Supervisors doing exactly what I love most, helping people," McCallum told South Tahoe Now during her first hour of retirement.

Since 1991 she has worked for four District V Supervisors, with 18 elected Supervisors down the hallway, more than 10 Chief Administrators or Interims, and 1,600 "amazing" county employees.

Warming temperatures and the arrival of spring bring not only flowers and the appearance of grass to the Lake Tahoe Basin, but they also bring dangerous thin ice.

In an incident Friday, a local woman was out walking two dogs when they ran onto the ice which broke, and both dogs fell into the cold water at Cove East near the Tahoe Keys. With assistance by a nearby paddle boarder the dogs were rescued, but this brings to light how serious the thinning ice can be.

Heavenly Mountain Resort Skier Services crew members spend their time making sure that Heavenly guests and skiers enjoy a wonderful experience on the mountain. On Monday, February 27, Skier Services Adopt A Day sponsor crew members Ingrid Heinig, Kelsey Carapia, Jack Pippin, Megan Madrid and Amy Rice provided the same dedication to ensure that Bread & Broth’s Monday Meal guests had a wonderful dining experience.

“Heavenly and the Vail family cherish the opportunity to give back to the community,” said Amy. She and her fellow crew members were a real treat for the B&B volunteers.

The U.S. Forest Service has released two videos created to not only highlight the upcoming World Cup ski events at Squaw Valley, but to celebrate the Tahoe National Forest.

Olympic gold medalist Julia Mancuso is featured in each video showing the beauty and recreational values of the forest where she grew up.

Eligible retirees from the City of South Lake Tahoe will soon be able to opt out of the City's medical insurance plan and get the money to use as they wish.

The City Council voted Tuesday to give the one time offer to their 145 retirees. How much they'll get is based on their years of service and number of years to being eligible for Medicare. They will be notified what their compensation offer will be.

A big thank you to all of the volunteers who braved snow covered roads to help feed the vulnerable and hungry at Bread & Broth’s Monday Meal serving on January 23. Being the biggest snow fall in years, no one was really sure if the meal’s volunteers or any dinner guests would be able to travel the roads to St. Theresa’s Grace Hall. Amazingly, 65 dinner guests and most of the scheduled volunteers attended the dinner.

On behalf of the Tahoe Coalition for the Homeless, I would like to thank Barton Health employees and physicians for their incredible generosity.

The roads around Lake Tahoe have been hard to navigate this week after several feet of snow fell in the basin after the last series of storms over the weekend. Many streets in South Lake Tahoe remain narrow and thick with snow, making it hard to drive through neighborhoods.

Just as residents struggle with all that snow left on their roofs, driveways and walkways, City snowplows are also struggling with what seemed at times as nonstop snow.

The conversation has started on what to do at the former site of Al Tahoe Elementary School after the passage of Proposition 51 in the November election which will create $9 billion in funding for the state's schools. During a study session at the Lake Tahoe Unified School District's (LTUSD) Board of Trustee meeting Tuesday, staff and trustees starting looking the future function of the school that closed in 2004 due to declining enrollment.

Snow. You know, that frozen, fluffy white stuff that covers the mountains around Lake Tahoe? With less than stellar snowpacks over the last several winters, many might have forgotten what snowstorms really could look like in South Lake Tahoe. This week, however, memories are being refreshed with a blizzard impacting the Sierra Nevada that could bring up to seven feet of snow to the lake.

South Lake Tahoe, Calif. - I could not be more honored and excited to represent this community as your Mayor. Having served on City Council for two years, I have learned that there are deeply passionate and extremely knowledgeable citizens and fellow council members who care immensely about our community and the decisions made by our City.

5:00 p.m. update 12/28/16: Homewood Resort at Lake Tahoe will be opening their lifts on Thursday, just one day after a fire destroyed their South Lodge.

"We are expecting to have 'top-to-bottom' skiing and boarding available to our guests," says a message on the Homewood website. "Our team would like to thank the North Tahoe Fire Protection District, Placer County Sheriffs, our community partners and most importantly our amazing employees that are working to get our operations up and running for tomorrow."