grants

The Lake Tahoe Humane Society and SPCA organization has elected a new board of directors and all members of the previous board will stepping down.

Michael Dalton will be the new president and is joined by VP of Governance and Compliance Sandra DeLeon, VP of Operations Chantale Hansen, Mariel Berei, secretary and Elizabeth Naylor, treasurer.

Lorna Lefler, Sue Pritchett, and Kim Stephenson, the board who tried to hold things together after the firing of their former executive director, will be stepping down effective immediately.

One thing is certain, something has to change or there will not be enough money to operate buses around the South Shore of Lake Tahoe. What isn't certain is how those changes will look, where extra funding can come from, or if services will have to be cut.

During Friday's Tahoe Transportation District (TTD) board meeting, options to keep a sustainable transit system in place for Lake Tahoe were discussed. Buses continue to operate at a loss and that cannot continue, according to the TTD staff.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - The Sierra Boulevard Complete Streets project was slated to begin as soon as the 2018 building season began, but some bureaucratic red tape has delayed it. The .6 mile stretch of road will receive Class 1 and Class 2 bike lanes, parallel parking spots, reduced lane size, lighted sidewalks, underground utilities, landscaping, crosswalks and water quality improvements.

Staff from the Gardnerville Walmart recently stopped by to see Douglas County Sheriff's Office (DCSO) staff for two things, one to thank them for their help, and the other to fill them in on their foundation and how they can help the community.

This isn't your mother's school play. Tahoe Valley Elementary Performing Arts is presenting The Jungle Book to local schools, parents and the community this week, and the production shouldn't be missed.

Under the direction of Jack Suglian, a Tahoe Valley Elementary and South Tahoe High graduate and stage veteran, the 55 students have been in rehearsal since January, not only working on lines but also on 15 musical numbers.

The play is inside the schools "Thunderbird Theater."

The board of directors for the Tahoe Paradise Recreation and Park District will hold their monthly meeting on Thursday, March 29 in the park's clubhouse starting at 6:00 p.m.

Here is the meeting agenda:

1. CALL TO ORDER AND CONFIRMATION OF QUORUM
2. ADOPTION OF AGENDA
3. APPROVAL OF MINUTES

This letter was sent to South Tahoe Now. We will be running all three "Letters to the Editor" received on the subject at the same time.

To Our Community,

It is with great disappointment that Soroptimist International of South Lake Tahoe has been informed its partnership with Edgewood Tahoe, during the annual American Century Celebrity Golf Tournament, has come to an end.

The next phase of the South Tahoe Greenway Shared Use Trail will now be completed by El Dorado County, a move that is estimated to save $1,000,000.

During this week's meeting of the California Tahoe Conservancy Board, approval was given to the transfer of a $3.182 million grant to El Dorado County to build the next phase of the South Tahoe Greenway Shared Use Trail. Conservancy staff recommended transferring the project from the State to the County who they said is in an advantageous position to deliver the project, and has indicated that it can complete the Project in a timely manner.

Last week's snowstorm postponed the meeting of the board of directors of Tahoe Paradise Recreation and Park District. It has been rescheduled to Thursday, March 8 from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. at Tahoe Paradise Park, 1011 E. San Bernardino.

The agenda for that meeting includes rules and regulation updates lower park parking lot winter preparation, the July 7 triathlon, signage, projects, forest thinning, amphitheater and dock projects, Lake Trail project, Music in the Park, grants, way finding and more.

The Sierra Boulevard Complete Streets Project is slated to start construction as soon as the building season in South Lake Tahoe gets underway in 2018. As part of the process, an The Initial Sturdy/Mitigated Negative Declaration (MND) is now up for review and public comment. Comments can be made until March 26, 2018.

4:15 p.m. 2/12/18 update: Family members say the man who died in Sunday's house fire is Dean Eastin. His former sister-in-law Mimi Bertrand told South Tahoe Now that it was Dean who died. His two adult children, Lori and Gregory, moved from South Lake Tahoe and now live in Grants Pass, Oregon.

* * *
8:00 p.m. update: The cause of the deadly fire in South Lake Tahoe today was the result of smoking materials on a couch. The deceased is a 58-year-old male. There is an ongoing investigation by the South Lake Tahoe Fire Rescue and Police departments. No name has been released.

* * *

The Tahoe Women’s Community Fund will be granting $68,000 to the South Shore Community this spring! With a record 202 members and the very generous donation from Ms. Lisa Maloff matching the granting funds, this $68,000 total is over double the amount granted last year!

The South Lake Tahoe Cancer League has a lot to be grateful for this past year. For nearly four decades, the volunteers of this organization have driven patients from South Lake Tahoe to their medical treatment, at no charge to the patients or their families. The drivers take patients to Reno, Carson City, Minden, Truckee, and as far away as UC Davis. The Cancer League also gives limited monetary assistance in the form of small grants to the patients to help with their monthly expenses.

Kirkwood Mountain Resort has been fined $754,732 after their snow removal practices resulted in asphalt pavement grindings to get into drainages that flow into Kirkwood Creek and Kirkwood Meadows during the winter of 2015-16.

The financial settlement was with the Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board over the alleged violations of the federal Clean Water Act, the Board announced on December 28.

There will be two homes for the Warm Room this winter, and the first one opens on Christmas Eve at 7:00 p.m.

From December 24 - December 31, 7:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m., the Tahoe Coalition for the Homeless (TCH) will open the Warm Room at the Lake Tahoe Community Presbyterian Church located at 2733 Lake Tahoe Boulevard. Access to the room will be through the lower parking lot in the back of the church, not through the front door.

"We appreciate the support of the local faith community for rallying behind our common missions of service," said the Coalition.

EpicPromise grants and donations were given away on Wednesday to dozens of non-profits who serve the communities around both Heavenly Mountain Resort and Kirkwood.

Grants and donations are given by Vail Resorts in all of the communities where they have operations and go to programs who serve youth or environmental initiatives.

This year's recipients:

Alpine County Unified School District
Alpine Watershed Group
American Youth Soccer Association #282
Austin's House
Barton Memorial Hospital Foundation (3)
Boys and Girls Club of Lake Tahoe
Bread & Broth
CASA El Dorado

This opinion piece has been updated.

The South Lake Tahoe Cancer League got their candy in early and while the store isn't open until November 27, it is now available at local locations before Thanksgiving, just in time for a holiday treat.

Boxes can now be picked up at the Moose Lodge, Emerald Bay Salon, Scotty's Hardware at the Y, and Sessions Salon.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. – Philanthropy and South Lake Tahoe non-profits were recently celebrated by the Barton Foundation as they honored their 2017 grant recipients in a luncheon at Riva Grill.

The updated Sierra Boulevard Complete Streets Project was presented to the community Thursday night, with changes incorporated after input from the public at their first meeting August 17, 2017.

Funded by grants, the .6 mile stretch of Sierra Boulevard starting at Highway 50 will have Class 1 and Class 2 bike lanes, parallel parking spots, reduced lane size, lighted sidewalks, underground utilities, landscaping, crosswalks and water quality improvements.

When Gage Olson's boss at Zephyr Cove Resorts found out her mother was fighting breast cancer he decided he couldn't just stand by and do nothing. He organized a benefit cruise on the Tahoe Bleu Wave to raise funds for Gage's mom, Tisha Young.

Young, 49, who has lived in South Lake Tahoe on and off for over a dozen years, now calls Grants Pass, Oregon her home. She moved there to be with her father as he was on dialysis, and now that he is gone (he died on April 13), she is fighting her own battle, Stage 4A of a rare form of Breast Cancer.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - Three local employees were cited by a recent decoy operation to catch people selling alcohol to minors.

On September 28, 2017, the South Lake Tahoe Police Department, through a grant form the California Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC), conducted the minor decoy operation where minors under their supervision attempted to purchase alcohol from 19 different establishments.

Its time for the Lake Tahoe Educational Foundation's Food Fest on Saturday, October 7 from 6:00 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. at the Hard Rock Tahoe Hotel and casino. This fundraiser raises funds for grants to support enrichment programs for the Lake Tahoe Unified School District.

Also a fun time, this year's Food Fest has a new twist, Silent Disco! Event goers can check out a headset tuned to the one of three varieties of music allowing everyone to dance to their own preferred tunes while letting conversations flow among the rest of the crowd.

Homelessness isn’t just a South Lake Tahoe issue. It isn’t just an El Dorado county issue. It isn't just a California problem, though the state ranks 49th in housing units per capita.

And it isn't a problem that is going away any time soon and will take a change in the way the problem is currently being addressed to be solved. For every 100 people who are added to the population of California there are only 32 housing units built to house them.