insurance

Through the pandemic, legislative sessions in Sacramento were canceled just as they were across the country, not giving the time needed to add new legislation. As a result, in 2020 Governor Gavin Newsom signed the lowest number of laws since 1967, just 372. In comparison, in 2019 there were 870 new laws, 1016 in 2018 and 859 in 2017.

Many of the new laws are centered around COVID-19, addressing systemic racism, employee rights and policing. For a full list, select 2020 here.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - Lake Tahoe Community College (LTCC) will continue to serve as an appointment-only COVID-19 testing center through March 31, 2021. The college’s standalone Physical Education building is the only large-scale COVID-19 active virus testing site operating in El Dorado County.

Each year flu causes millions of illnesses, hundreds of thousands of hospitalizations, and tens of thousands of deaths in the United States. While it is unclear what will happen this fall and winter, if there is COVID-19 and
flu at the same time, this could place a tremendous burden on our health care systems and cause many additional illnesses, hospitalizations, and deaths. Now more than ever, it’s important that everyone do their part to help prevent the spread of respiratory illnesses, like flu and COVID-19, according to Alpine County Health Officer Dr. Richard Johnson.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - There will be two new members of the South Lake Tahoe City Council after the November 3 election. In the coming weeks the pubic will have chances to hear from the candidates both via zoom, in print and possibly in person. Below are eight of the ten candidates responses to questions asked by the local #IRunWithMaud group.

Now that the Bread & Broth 4 Kids (BB4K) summer program came to an end on August 26, the backpack school program resumes and will once again provide weekend food bags to Lake Tahoe Unified School District children. Bags will be available to qualified families at four school sites (Sierra House, Bijou, Tahoe Valley and South Tahoe Middle School) and school bus stop locations every Friday beginning September 4. As the bus drivers deliver breakfast and lunch to the students, the bags will be handed out.

EL DORADO COUNTY, Calif. - Results from COVID-19 testing at the two state-sponsored, free sites in South Lake Tahoe and Placerville are currently expected to come back in 2-5 days. These tests are available for any El Dorado County, Alpine County, or State of Nevada resident wanting to be tested for the virus.

EL DORADO COUNTY, Calif. - When kids will be physically going back to school this fall is unknown, when they do immunizations will need to be up-to-date.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - COVID-19 testing will continue in the Lake Tahoe Community College (LTCC) Physical Education building through the end of July, at a minimum.

The LTCC virus testing site is the only large scale site in El Dorado County after the site at Ponderosa High School in Shingle Springs closed. There has since opened a testing site in El Dorado Hills.

The decision to continue using the facility as a testing site will be made on a month-to-month basis going forward.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - The South Lake Tahoe Coronavirus testing site at Lake Tahoe Community College is now open for residents from El Dorado and Alpine counties as well as the state of Nevada.

Testing is also now available to all ages and people can get tested more than once with no charge. No medical insurance is required.

With businesses and the casinos opening up, the chance of exposure has increased. While wearing a mask, washing hands frequently, and socially distancing dramatically increases the chances of not contracting the virus, people can still become exposed.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - El Dorado County officials announced Sunday they will open two appointment-only community sites for COVID-19 testing for any resident wanting to be tested for the virus, one in South Lake Tahoe and the other in Shingle Springs.

These sites follow Governor Newsom's announcement last week to add more than 80 community COVID-19 testing sites across the state, focusing on underserved communities. His goal is to test 60,000 to 80,000 people per day for the virus as the state prepares to reopen.

EL DORADO COUNTY, Calif. - One person in El Dorado County has tested positive for COVID-19 since Monday. The new case is a male from South County aged 50-64, bringing the total testing positive in the county to 44. He was the first South County resident to test positive.

The County tested 60 more people Tuesday, bringing the total of residents being tested to 2000.

One more person has recovered and there are five active cases.

Fifteen in the Lake Tahoe region of the county have tested positive. This region includes South Lake Tahoe, Meyers, Kyburz, and Tahoma.

With the global spread of Covid-19, we have discovered how quickly our world can change and have responded with sacrifices. It’s clear that we deeply value the health and well-being of our community.

With our response, we have improved the health of our planet, too. It’s remarkable! On the 50th anniversary of Earth Day, our skies are the cleanest they have been for over a century.

STATELINE, Nev. - Lakeside Inn and Casino on the South Shore of Lake Tahoe will not be reopening its doors after the coronavirus concerns are over. They were the first Lake Tahoe gaming property to close, even before Nevada Governor Steve Sisolak ordered all casinos to close in order to prevent the spread of coronavirus.

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 and West Shore, including Meyers, South Lake Tahoe, Meeks Bay, Tahoma, and the Echo Summit area. There may be some missing calls due to sheriff's logs not being completed at the time of the story.

Calls Added to Last Week's Report:

2/29

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - The 2nd annual Pink Heavenly will be held on Saturday, March 21 at Heavenly Mountain Resort. The Barton Foundation is inviting community members and visitors to register now and start fundraising for the fun event.

All proceeds from the slopeside fundraising event benefit Cancer Support Services at Barton Health, dedicated to improving the lives of community members fighting cancer.

The Lake Valley Fire Protection District (LVFPD) firefighters are our friends; they are our neighbors, they are kids we went to school with, they are our softball teammate, and most importantly, they are our saviors in times of need. During the Angora Fire in 2007 some of them sacrificed their own homes to save ours, and more recently they provided vital help and support at the Camp Fire and prevented the oil tanker fire from spreading further than Hwy 50. Our community is safer because of LVFPD firefighters, but these firefighters are not safe in their jobs.

The health insurance industry in America has undergone an unprecedented amount of change since its origins in the 1900s, and according to Health Affairs, it was just 40 years ago when workers began sharing in the cost of their health care coverage. Rising medical costs, plus an increased demand for medical care, have contributed to growth within the health insurance industry, and it’s become increasingly complex with the introduction of new plan designs and government reforms.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - Four local families were treated to presents for their children at Fire & Ice in South Lake Tahoe on Monday. Mom even got to take home a special gift too!

Identified through SOS Outreach, the kids met with the jolly Santa Claus and were given bags of gifts to take home.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - The Vail Resorts Chief Executive Officer Rob Katz and his wife Elana Amsterdam, New York Times bestselling author and founder of Elana’s Pantry, today announced they were donating more than $2.8M to further strengthen emotional wellness programs in more than ten mountain communities where Vail Resorts operates. This is the second consecutive year their Katz Amsterdam Charitable Trust has distributed behavioral health grants.

There are many issues facing the West Shore of Lake Tahoe in the coming weeks and months and District V Supervisor Sue Novasel will hold a series of town hall meetings to discuss them. Topping the list are the fire stations operated by the Meeks Bay Fire Protection District, vacation home rentals, the lack of an El Dorado County Sheriff's deputy living in the area, County road work, snow removal, and fire insurance.

The first meeting will be on Wednesday, September 11 from 5:00 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. at the Marie Sluchak Community Park in Tahoma.

El Dorado County, Calif. - Currently, homeowners in fire-prone areas of California and El Dorado County are starting to see skyrocketing insurance premiums, canceled policies canceled and notices of non-renewal within weeks of a policy's expiration.

Due to the alarming rates at which this is happening, the El Dorado County Board of Supervisors reached out to the California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara to explain the dire situation in the county.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - A special meeting of the Lake Tahoe Unified School District (LTUSD) Board of Trustees will be held on Friday at 2:00 p.m.to discuss approval of funds needed to get Sierra House Elementary opened by the beginning of the school year.

Since a Labor Day 2018 fire, the school which housed grades K-5 has been closed with students split between South Tahoe Middle School and Al Tahoe Elementary.

There have been concerns in the community the school wouldn't be ready to open in August.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - If you've been near the shore of South Lake Tahoe at Regan Beach at any time since fall you've most likely seen a partially sunken sailboat sitting just offshore. The boat's mast and wet sails have been sticking up through the water, an eyesore to many trying to take photos of the scenic view, a topic of conversation to others trying to figure out what happened.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - Lake Tahoe Community College (LTCC) is taking a first, big step toward helping address the lack of affordable student housing in the community by leasing a five-unit apartment building near Ski Run Blvd.

The college's trustees gave authority to school administration to sign a five-year lease with the owner of that apartment building during their meeting Tuesday evenings. The lease starts on July 2, 2019.