meetings

May 1 is here, and than means road construction on Kingsbury Grade (State Route 207) which is closing off through traffic to the Carson Valley is also here.

Children not 5 years old by the time school starts in the fall are unable to attend kindergarten due to a new state law, but the Lake Tahoe Unified School District will have Transitional Kindergarten (TK).

The Kindergarten Readiness Act, signed into law by Gov. Schwarzenegger in 2010, changed the kindergarten entry date from Dec. 2 to Sept. 1 so that children enter kindergarten at age 5. The law phases in the new age requirement by moving the cutoff date one month a year for three years, beginning this fall for children born between Nov. 2 and Dec. 2.

It's not every day that a St.Bernard puppy not even six months old is named a city's mascot, but that is what happened this week in South Lake Tahoe.

Thor belongs to SLTPD dispatch supervisor Susan Keast. She recently took Thor to one of the monthly all city employee meetings where he was almost unanimously voted on as the mascot according to Police Chief Brian Uhler. “There was one vote against Thor,” said Chief Uhler. “I don’t see how anyone could vote against that fuzz ball puppy.”

3/4/14 10 am update: Passes will not be available until 3/5/14.

In an effort to keep up their end of the "parking bargain," the City of South Lake Tahoe has started selling annual parking permits to local residents in the 89448-89449 and 96150-96158 zip codes. In last month's City Council meetings with the public and a group opposed to paid parking, city leaders had promised to work out a parking plan that would address the issues proposed, and a paid permit for locals is the first step.

It takes collaboration and action to meet a community’s health needs. In March 2012, Barton Health engaged with the community to complete a comprehensive Community Health Needs Assessment (CHNA) of South Lake Tahoe’s health needs. Part of the Affordable Care Act, all nonprofit hospitals must identify health needs for vulnerable, often under-served, populations within their community and create an action plan to address these needs.

The South Lake Tahoe City Council is holding their normal 9 a.m. meeting on Tuesday, as well as a second session at 6 p.m. in the council chambers at the airport.

The morning meeting will contain several agenda items, including the Harrison Project bid approval.

Melody Easton is here to make a difference. Recently tapped as the coordinator for the South Tahoe Drug Free Coalition, the action oriented Easton has hit the ground running.

Tahoe Youth & Family Services was awarded a Federal Drug Free Communities grant, bringing in $125,000 for each of the next five years to help combat drug and alcohol abuse among the youth of South Lake Tahoe. Once the grant was awarded a coordinator needed to be hired. Easton was hired and the Concordia College graduate and her husband packed up and moved from Portland, Oregon.

Rates for South Tahoe Public Utility customers need to be raised "in order to be prepared for fire, prevent sewer or recycled water spills into the lake and meet law requirements on new meter installation," according to South Tahoe Public Utility District G.M. Richard Solbrig. He provided explanation of the three challenges to the district in a presentation to Tahoe Douglas Rotarians on Friday, January 31.

The Lahontan Regional Water Quality Control Board, along with the Tahoe
Regional Planning Agency, the Nevada Division of Environmental Protection and the United States Environmental Protection Agency, invite members of the public to participate in upcoming meetings focused on assessing the condition of Lake Tahoe’s nearshore environment.

Heavenly Mountain Resort's proposal to expand to year round, non-skiing activities is now under review by the U.S. Forest Service, Tahoe Regional Planning Agency and the Lahontan Regional Water Quality Control Board. Heavenly's plan is to create a summer experience for guests with the addition of zipline and skycycle canopy tours, a mountain bike park, a ropes course, water activities, hiking trails,mountain excursion tours and nature interpretation.

There has finally been a lot of construction action at the site of The Chateau Project in South Lake Tahoe over the last couple of months. Many locals have called this area "The Hole" since construction stalled in 2008 but they are now seeing life being put into one of the cornerstones of the South Lake Tahoe Tourist Core.

A new Board of Directors was elected at the TahoeChamber ’s October 15 board meeting. The board reflects the local business community in that it is comprised of small businesses, professionals, healthcare, gaming and resort representatives. Their diverse business expertise partnered with their enthusiasm ensures that our membership is well served.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) introduced Ambassador of the Russian Federation to the U.S. Sergey Kislyak and noted that this was the first time, ever, a Russian Ambassador has visited Lake Tahoe. Senator Reid described Russia's Lake Baikal as the most voluminous freshwater lake in the world, containing roughly 20% of the world's unfrozen surface fresh water, conservation efforts, and compared both Lake Baikal and Lake Tahoe as "two of the fairest places in all of the earth".

Very few community members turned out for the US 50/South Shore Community Revitalization Project meeting held at Lake Tahoe Resort Hotel on Thursday night. Invitations were mailed and/or hand delivered to all residents in the proposed project area so they’d be able to better understand the process of relocation and financial reimbursement should the Revitalization Project be approved. Since many of those invited speak Spanish and Tagalog, interpreters were on hand to assist with translations, but no one in attendance needed their services.

The Douglas County Board of Commissioners will consider approval of a new area plan for Lake Tahoe’s South Shore on Thursday, June 2. The Douglas County Area Plan is the first to be proposed since the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency adopted the Regional Plan Update in December 2012.

Applications are being taken for the 2013-2014 El Dorado County Grand Jury. Nineteen jurors will be picked to serve for a year beginning July 1.

The El Dorado Civil Grand Jury is an investigatory body created for the protection of society and the enforcement of the law. It is an arm of the Court and a representative of the public. Although it is an arm of the Court, it operates independently of direct Court supervision. It is a check against governmental authority. It is not a branch of the County, nor is it answerable to the District Attorney.

Local MusingsUnbelievable but believable. Of course the old guard Sierra Club would sue the regional plan. Given the number of years and hundreds and hundreds of meetings to bring together a fragil...

South Tahoe and Whittell basketball players had a season of hard work campaigning for them when the All-League vote rolled around this year. "Typically, I attend these meetings with stats in han...

Destination Tahoe Meetings & Events is the newest Affiliate DMC of the DMC Network.Destination Tahoe Meetings & Events is the only locally owned and operated destination management industry in the ...

With seven feet of new snow in the past four days, Kirkwood Mountain Resort is living up to its reputation for the deepest and driest snow around Lake Tahoe and is well on its way to exceeding its average annual snowfall total of 600 inches.

So far the 2012-13 season snowfall total for Kirkwood is 210 inches, and more is on the way with storms heading into the New Year in time for the mountain's 40th anniversary.

The South Lake Tahoe Branch of the El Dorado County Library will hold a Game Day for children and their families from 2 to 4 p.m. Friday, Jan. 4. Just bring yourselves, we supply the games. The Library is located at 1000 Rufus Allen Blvd, South Lake Tahoe, Calif.
The Library will also begin its World Explorer's Club called Pen Pals From Around the World with the first meeting on Jan. 15 at 3:30 p.m. Participants ages 10 to 14 can:
— Learn about young people from around the world.
— Sample International Food.
— Help fight poverty.
— Create art projects to share with your Pen Pal.

As I end my role as Mayor, I am jazzed. While the tendency is to focus on what's wrong with the City, the truth is the City has had a very successful year. In April, Council set five strategic goals:

Kirkwood Mountain Resort opened its 40th anniversary season when the lifts began turning at 9 a.m. Friday, five days earlier than its originally-scheduled opening day. Kirkwood opened with one chairlift and five trails, accessing 40 total acres.
“The last two storms that have rolled through the Sierra have dropped a combined four feet of snow at Kirkwood, allowing us to open early for all our passionate skiers and riders,” said Casey Blann, general manager of Kirkwood. “This will be a great start to the 40th anniversary season at Kirkwood, and the first with Vail Resorts.”

Powerful early-season storms combined with the area’s largest snowmaking operations have allowed Vail Resorts’ Lake Tahoe mountains – Heavenly Mountain Resort, Northstar California Resort and Kirkwood Mountain Resort – to open early with 111 acres. Heavenly and Northstar will open on Wednesday, Nov. 14 with a combined seven lifts and eight trails, totaling 51 acres.