neighborhood

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - A vacant one-half acre lot on Emerald Bay Road at the "Y" in South Lake Tahoe will soon become an “affordable by design” housing project and could be the site of tiny houses. At Thursday's California Tahoe Conservancy meeting they announced their intent to sell one of its developable properties to Dinsmore Sierra who will finance and build the project which is across the street from Alpina Cafe.

This story has been updated:

Registration for kindergarten students in Lake Tahoe Unified School District for the 2019/20 school year will be held April 29-May 10, 2019 for Tahoe Valley and Sierra House elementary schools. For those enrolling in the Two-Way Immersion program at Bijou and wanting to enter the lottery for enrollment at Lake Tahoe Environmental Science Magnet School, the deadline is March 22.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - Traffic is nothing new in South Lake Tahoe and Meyers, but Sunday traffic leaving Lake Tahoe has become worse once tech-savvy drivers learned how to navigate side roads. Residents cannot leave their homes for fear they won't be able to get back for hours, and drivers trying to make it back to Sacramento and the Bay Area get frustrated with standstill hours-long lines.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - Happy President's Day! What will go down as a weekend remembered for years to come, residents will continue to shovel out and get on the road to ski, shop, and work, while visitors will hit the slopes or begin a journey home that most likely took them four-five times longer than normal.

With chain controls down over Echo Summit, the journey shouldn't be hampered by snow but it will be hampered by traffic. I80 has removed some restrictions and other roads might see more of the same as the day goes on and the sun shines.

9:15PM Update: Power has been restored in South Lake Tahoe

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SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - There is a power outage in the Oakland Avenue area of the Al Tahoe neighborhood. Liberty Utilities reports 574 customers lost power after 6:00 p.m. and as of 9:00 p.m. their power is still out.

Crews are on site and working on the situation. Restoral time is unknown.

8:00 p.m. UPDATE- The updated estimated restoration time for the Bijou outage is now 2:00 a.m. Crews are still working diligently to make repairs and will restore power sooner if possible.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - A power pole fell down between Spruce Avenue and Bruce Avenue in South Lake Tahoe Wednesday afternoon. 205 customers of Liberty Utilities are without power until the crew can replace the pole.

Estimated restoral of power is 10:05 p.m. February 13.

The following is a letter created by the four agencies currently working together to try and find a solution to the traffic problem in Meyers as visitors exit Lake Tahoe after a weekend. A public meeting was held on Friday night and that story will be carried on Saturday.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - It's almost a perfect storm for traffic in Lake Tahoe: extra visitors in town for the holiday weekend and epic ski conditions with snow and chain requirements over US50 and Echo Summit.

On Monday, locals and visitors alike were part of that storm, leaving motorists stranded along US 50, Lake Tahoe Blvd., and all surface streets in Meyers that have a link to the highway over Echo Summit.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - One man has been arrested in connection with Friday's house fire on Kyburz Avenue in South Lake Tahoe.

Joe Johnson, 37, was arrested on a felony charge of manufacturing a controlled substance and a misdemeanor charge of obstruction of a police officer.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - Law enforcement and medical issues associated with the 2018 SnowGlobe Music Festival were down again on the event's second night, leading City of South Lake Tahoe staff to call the evening "another success."

After much concern from the community, staff has been working to alleviate concerns from them concerning noise and trouble for law enforcement.

Highlights of the second day include:

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - When Laura Alvarez De Ruiz, her husband and three children found themselves homeless just a week before Christmas their future was uncertain.

De Ruiz and her family filled one of six apartments at 3546 Spruce Avenue until December 17. That was when they had to vacate their home after the landlord failed to provide safe housing for residents and the City of South Lake Tahoe shut it down.

MEYERS, Calif. - The Tahoe Paradise Recreation and Park District is asking the community for input on future plans for the park in Meyers, and two upcoming meetings will be held for the public to give their input.

The park is applying for Prop. 68 grant funds and should they be received an infrastructure project list is being compiled.

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 time of story.

Some of those recently added to last week's log:

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Nancy Kerry has been gone from her position as the city manager of South Lake Tahoe since March, but she finally got the credit due for her many accomplishments and contributions during a standing room only celebration Tuesday evening.

Over 75 community leaders came together to present Nancy with a proclamation signed by both Mayor Wendy David and Mayor Pro Tem Tom Davis, their last official act with the City.

The list of tributes spoken during the evening is a lengthy one.

The following is a letter from Duane Wallace, past president of the South Tahoe Chamber of Commerce to the Tahoe Transportation District Board. He outlines the concerns their Chamber has expressed about the US 50 South Shore Community
Revitalization Project (Loop Road) EIR process and content.

"It is on the fastest track I've ever seen," he said of the Loop Road project.

Dear Chair Teshara and Commission Members,

Election season can be an exciting time of year with anticipation of the possibilities, but this year in South Lake Tahoe election season is full of negativity that has pitted neighbor against neighbor. One year ago I wrote an editorial "Use the election to create a community of collaboration and teamwork," and today I urge continuance of community, collaboration and teamwork.

Progress for Tahoe, a grassroots group of concerned local citizens who gathered together to address the most pressing issues in Tahoe, have endorsed the following for South Lake Tahoe City Council, Measure T, El Dorado County Supervisors and U.S. Representative California District 4:

South Lake Tahoe City Council – Wendy David, Devin Middlebrook and Tamara Wallace

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - If all goes as planned, the South Lake Tahoe Fire Rescue Station 2 will once again be a fire station by the end of 2019.

Since December 2015, the station has housed the Cal Tahoe JPA ambulances and staff. This move decreased response times by the paramedics and EMTs, but increased response time by South Lake Tahoe Fire Rescue (SLTFR) whose other two stations are at the "Y" and Ski Run Blvd.

Join the Tahoe Network of Fire Adapted Communities to learn how to prepare your family and home for wildfire. In the Lake Tahoe Basin it's not a matter of if, it's a matter of when the next wildfire will occur, so now is the time to prepare.

They are holding a free workshop on September 13 from 5:30 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. at the North Tahoe Fire Protection District located at 222 Fairway Drive in Tahoe City. It is free and open to the public.

Local experts will be on hand to teach participants about:

In December of 2017, the South Lake Tahoe City Council approved the latest Vacation Home Rental (VHR) ordinance based on months of workshops, testimony and compromise.

They found out during their meeting on August 21, 2018 that one portion of that ordinance cannot be enforced due to the Vehicle Code which allows for parking on streets.

This was brought to light during public comment at the meeting when local resident Andrea Olsen said the Community Service Officer (CSO) told her they could no longer enforce renters parking on city streets.

A Good Neighbor Authority (GNA) agreement between the California Tahoe Conservancy and U.S. Forest Service is in the works that would allow the Conservancy to begin maintaining and restoring USFS urban lots in the Lake Tahoe Basin.

There are less than 2,200 urban lots that can fall into this agreement, most of which are less than one-acre and located near lots the Conservancy already owns and maintains.

A cub hit and killed by a car on Keller Road Monday night makes three bears who have died in the same manner in just 10 days on the South Shore. In the last three weeks, there have been a total of five hit by cars between Tahoma, South Lake Tahoe and Meyers according to Toogee Sielsch, South Lake Tahoe bear advocate.

In Monday's incident, a vehicle hit one of the three cubs born to Hazel, a neighborhood bear that residents have named and watched over. The speed limit in the area is 25 mph.

8:00 p.m. UPDATE: The evacuation of the Hung A Lei Ti neighborhood in Woodfords has been lifted and residents may return home. Power has been restored. According to the Sierra Front Interagency Dispatch Center, the fire size has been changed to 204.5 acres and containment lines are growing.

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The Washoe Tribe's Hung A Lel Ti community in Woodfords has been evacuated after the Dutch Fire started in Alpine County early Wednesday morning. At last count, 244 acres have burned and the fire is 5 percent contained.

There is a planned power outage affecting 113 customers in the Tahoe Keys neighborhood of South Lake Tahoe on Wednesday, August 1 from 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.

Liberty Utilities will be replacing two transformers and stringing new primary line along Venice Drive, Lucerne Way and Danube Drive. Residents on those streets will experience either total or partial outages during the day.

Signs have been placed in the neighborhood to alert them of the outage.