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12:45 p.m. update 9/6/18: The Sierra Front Wildfire Cooperators have updated the acreage burned in the Boot Fire to 6,706 acres and there is a three-percent containment line.

US 395 from Walker to Bridgeport remains closed as does CA SR 108. There is a detour available through Holbrook Junction.

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Firefighters have a three-percent containment line around the Boot Fire which has now burned 4,620 acres in an area along US 395 nine miles SW of Walker and 15 miles NW of Bridgeport.

There are still several fires burning in California but firefighters have gained the upper hand on many of them.

Ferguson Fire: The Ferguson Fire is now at 96,901 acres with 100 percent containment and 881 personnel currently engaged on the fire. During the most critical time in the fire, over 3,000 people were assigned to the incident from all over the world. There have been 2 fatalities and 19 injuries. 10 structures have been destroyed.

“Building Bridges” is the theme for the 3rd annual TEDx SouthLakeTahoe on Saturday, September 8, 2018 at MontBleu Resort and the speaker lineup is a robust one, including a South Tahoe High student.

Organizers aim to bring unity and positivity during a time that division is too strong a motivation. While each topic discussed will be different, they will intertwine with the theme in the presentations.

Speakers for the evening are:

Last month this column focused on the faces of Tahoe’s housing crisis. This month we look at a few promising solutions from other tourist communities.

One example is the Town of Vail’s “Vail InDEED” program. Like Tahoe, the Town of Vail is constrained by a lack of available land and high construction costs. Development of new housing is slow and costly. The Vail InDEED program was created to deed restrict existing properties to create a market for locals only.

South Tahoe Now will be publishing a series over the next few weeks, The Keepers of Tahoe History. We will be highlighting groups, locations and events around Lake Tahoe that are preserving the historic past of the area.

Smoke from fires west of Lake Tahoe is expected to come into the basin again today, but Sunday morning is clear. Here is an update on most fires in Northern California and Western Nevada.

As most people have experienced, cell phone coverage around Lake Tahoe can be trying at times, especially during heavy tourist days when thousands of extra users are in the area. Combine that with over half of homes ditching their land-lines and relying only on cell phones, demand has greatly increased.

Lake Tahoe cell phone coverage may soon be improved as Verizon is working with Liberty Utilities and NV Energy and local governments to place small, seven-foot, grounded cell towers on top of current power poles on all sides of the lake.

A South Lake Tahoe man was arrested Friday, July 27 after leading police officers on a foot pursuit in the Bijou neighborhood.

An officer from the South Lake Tahoe Police Department (SLTPD) attempted to make contact with a 36-year-old local man who matched the description of a person seen casing homes in the area.

As soon as the officer approached, the man took off on foot. Other officers joined in the pursuit and the suspect was found in a backyard on Champlain Drive in South Lake Tahoe.

Every day we are surrounded by toxins. Chemicals that mess with our bodies and make us sick.

You might think that pollutants are outside, but the ones we come into contact with the most, are in our homes. Everything from dishsoap to shampoo, make-up to toothpaste is chock full of nasty chemicals. Think about that kitchen cleaner - is that something you want to sniff, or eat?? And yet we use it to clean our counters and chopping boards. We are ingesting toxic chemicals every single day.

Every day we are surrounded by toxins. Chemicals that mess with our bodies and make us sick.

You might think that pollutants are outside, but the ones we come into contact with the most, are in our homes. Everything from dishsoap to shampoo, make-up to toothpaste is chock full of nasty chemicals. Think about that kitchen cleaner - is that something you want to sniff, or eat?? And yet we use it to clean our counters and chopping boards. We are ingesting toxic chemicals every single day.

A house fire in Meyers brought out crews from multiple agencies on Friday, July 13.

Lake Valley Fire Protection District (LVFPD) responded to a structure fire call at approximately 11:04 a,m. Crews arrived to the scene on Kiowa Drive to find smoke and flames coming from the lower lever of the home. Firefighters initiated a fire attack and with the help of CalFire, South Lake Tahoe Fire Rescue and North Tahoe Fire, crews were able to knock down the flames and extinguish the fire.

9:14 p.m. update: The James Loop Fire was reported at 12:45 p.m. at the James Canyon Development near Carson City, Nevada. Tonight, the fire was mapped at 260 acres and is currently 30 percent contained. The fire was caused by heavy equipment working on a new home under construction The fire burned 163 acres of private and 107 acres of Bureau of Indian Affairs lands, but threatened lands
managed by the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest. The East Fork Fire Protection District was in unified command with the U.S. Forest Service.

Efforts to bring a second vacation home rental initiative to November's ballot have hit a roadblock after the El Dorado County Elections office said they did not have enough valid signatures to take it to the voters.

The Sustainable Community Alliance (SCA) turned in 1,843 signatures, thinking that would be enough to guarantee the needed 1,005.

Elections staff did a random count of 500 of those signatures to verify the person signing was a registered voter in the City limits. They found 243 valid signatures in that sample.

There will be a series of five public meetings in Douglas County to discuss proposed code amendment changes to their Vacation Home Rental Ordinance. In the old code, vacation home rentals (VHRs) were only allowed in the Tahoe Township (lake portion of the county), but the proposed changes will include VHRs in all areas.

Other proposed changes in the ordinance include:

All VHRs must have a contact person in Douglas County and the property manager must be licensed by the State of Nevada Division of Real Estate.
Unpermitted homes will be fined $500 per day up to $10,000.

LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - With an increase in the number of dead and dying trees in the Lake Tahoe region, Liberty Utilities has tripled the number of inspectors they use to identify trees that pose a risk to the utility’s infrastructure. The inspection program and subsequent removal of hazardous trees are designed to reduce the risk of power outages, potential wildfires, and to comply with State regulations.

STATELINE, Nev. – The Tahoe Regional Planning Agency (TRPA) is offering a tree service workshop from 9:00 a.m. to noon on Tuesday, June 12 at the agency’s office in Stateline, 128 Market Street. Topics for the workshop will include:

A presentation on how to use TRPA’s online tree removal application tool by Linda Allen, IT systems analyst for TRPA;

An overview of TRPA’s tree removal rules and regulations by Bruce Barr, forester for TRPA;

UPDATE 5/22 6:35 a.m. :. On May 21, 2018 at approximately 6:38 p.m. East Fork Fire Protection District and Douglas County Emergency Management was dispatched to several reports of massive debris flows across US 395 in several locations in and around the Topaz Lodge and on Topaz Park Road.

The Topaz Lodge was occupied with about 200 people who sheltered in place during the event. West 395 and Topaz Park Road were completely impassable. Approximately 20 occupied motor vehicles were impacted on the roadways, with no reported injuries.

Both California and Nevada suffered destructive wildfires last year. Nevada saw 768 fires burn more than 1.3 million acres. California experienced the deadliest, largest, and most destructive wildfires in its history. Just a few hours-drive from Tahoe, more than 40 people died and thousands of homes were destroyed in the wine country and North Bay last October. In Southern California, the Thomas Fire ravaged communities and forest lands last December with damaging flooding and landslides piled on after the fire subsided.

The Barton Foundation will be awarding $50,000 in grant funding to improve community health. As part of Barton Health’s commitment to community health and collaboration, this annual grant cycle provides funding for programs and services that positively impact the health of the local community. Applications are being accepted through May 31, 2018.

Grant criteria and the application can be found online at bartonhealth.org/grants, and for more information contact Marty Chartraw at 530.543.5784.

The El Dorado County Vacation Home Rental Ordinance was first created in 1997 and updated in 2004. At this time there are 900 permitted vacation home rentals (VHRs) in the County, 800 of which are in the Lake Tahoe Basin.

What started out with a “Good Neighbor Policy” has morphed into neighbors versus neighbors in El Dorado County and an ongoing VHR discussion as Supervisors work to create a new ordinance.

The "South Lake Tahoe Vacation Home Rentals Restrictions Initiative" may be added to the ballot in November should proponents get enough signatures to put it there.

Created by the Sustainable Community Alliance (SCA), a group in South Lake Tahoe, the initiative is giving voters another chance to voice their opinion about vacation home rentals (VHRs) and should be on the ballot along with another initiative that wants to ban VHRs.

In the South Lake Tahoe public safety communication system installed in 1965, there are three major problems:

1) There are three systems working totally separately: the police, fire and public works departments;

2) Trees have grown since the system was installed 53 years ago, now blocking signals through the town;

3) Having functioning radio frequencies near water is challenging.

Weather has not be the best friend of those wanting to get a revised vacation home rental (VHR) ordinance for El Dorado County. Snow and unsafe travel conditions for staff driving to South Lake Tahoe from Placerville for the meetings lead to the cancellation of the March 3 and March 24 meetings, and the original February 1 meeting had to be stopped due to overcrowding. The next Board of Supervisors meeting on VHRs will be in South Lake Tahoe on May 2 at 6:00 p.m. in the South Tahoe Middle School multi-purpose room.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - Last October, California experienced a series of devastating wildfires that destroyed property and took lives. In a four month period the State endured fires and floods from San Diego to Mendocino that destroyed over 11,000 homes and commercial structures and killed 64 Californians. Local Government fire and rescue personnel and equipment comprised up to 80 percent available resources for mutual aid throughout the State. The City of South Lake Tahoe Fire Department along with other fire agencies around the basin engaged in these critical fire fights.