north shore

Conserving and restoring Lake Tahoe’s natural environment and revitalizing its communities requires a delicate balancing act. Historically, building consensus around how to strike that balance has been one of the region’s greatest difficulties.

Lake Tahoe reached its strongest-ever consensus on that balance with the 2012 Regional Plan and its focus on sustainable redevelopment to restore natural areas, bring legacy development up to modern environmental standards, and create walkable, bikeable, and vibrant town centers.

During their meeting Thursday, the California Tahoe Conservancy Board elected South Lake Tahoe City Councilwoman Brooke Laine as their chair. She is the City’s appointee to the Board and will be replacing longtime Chair Larry Sevison.

The Board also elected Lynn Suter as Vice Chair, filling a post vacated by former Conservancy Board Member John Hooper earlier this year.

Sierra-at-Tahoe is the latest Lake Tahoe area ski resort to open for the 2017/18 winter season. The slopes open on December 2, 2017 with limited terrain.

Grandview Express and Easy Rider Express will give skiers and riders access to 11 trails and two terrain parks. Early season conditions are present throughout the mountain and guests are asked to obey all signs and closures.

Kirkwood Mountain Resort kicked off their 2017-2018 ski season Friday. They have opened four of their 15 lifts (1,5,6,11), giving access to 250 acres of skiing on 15 percent of their terrain.

Operating hours at this time are 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

Heavenly is open in South Lake Tahoe, with Squaw Valley Alpine Meadows and Mt. Rose open on the North Shore. Northstar was originally planning on opening Friday but instead will announce their opening day on November 27.

New at "The Wood" this year:

Red Cliffs Family Lodge

The Brockway substation in Kings Beach was switched back into service Tuesday evening at 8:00 p.m. The 50+ year old substation had been temporarily shut down for necessary repairs due to damage sustained during this year’s winter storms.

A new transformer was installed to replace equipment that had caught on fire during extreme weather experienced in the Lake Tahoe region in January and February "Snowmegeddon."

Nevada Gaming Control Board (NGCB) released their September figures and they show revenue for casinos on the South Shore of Lake Tahoe was down almost three percent when compared to the same month in 2016.

They showed a gaming "win" of $21,084,873, 2.96 percent drop from the previous year. The state as a whole was up 3.25 percent, bringing in $979,859,876. The biggest gain in the "win" was experienced by the North Shore casinos with their gain of 16.53 percent, or $414,250 more in 2017.

The "win" represents the computed income of casinos before business expenses and taxes.

Almost 4,000 acres of forest on the North Shore are being treated to reduce the risk of wildfire in Lake Tahoe. Named the Incline Hazardous Fuels Reduction and Healthy Forest Restoration Project, U.S. Forest Service crews resumed work on the project last week now that summer is over. Mechanical cut-to-length (CTL) tree removal is taking place in an area off of State Highway 431, the Mt. Rose Highway, until winter weather sets in.

They thin out the trees to remove excess vegetation that can feed wildfires and improve forest health and provide defensible space to neighboring communities.

Lake Tahoe, Douglas County and Carson City casinos saw an overall gain in their incomes in August, 2017 according to the monthly report released today by the Nevada Gaming Commission.

The reported gaming wins for August and difference when compared to August 2016:

South Shore casinos - $25,576,000 - up 7.02%
Carson City, Carson Valley casinos - $9,390,210 - up 8.98%
North Shore Lake Tahoe casinos - 3,149,398 - up 10.39%
State of Nevada - 989,510,649 - up 14.91%

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - The California Tahoe Conservancy Board yesterday awarded up to $3,359,081 in Proposition 1 funds for eight projects to improve the Lake Tahoe Basin’s forests, lake clarity, and water quality.

California Senator Diane Feinstein is hosting the 21st annual Lake Tahoe Summit on Tuesday, August 22 at Vahalla in the Tallac Historic Site from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. The theme for the day is "2017- A Pivotal Point for the Future of Lake Tahoe.”

The event will examine successful restoration projects and ways to address new challenges facing the lake. A key focus will be combating the effects of climate change in the Lake Tahoe basin.

A new Lake Tahoe bike map has been released by the Lake Tahoe Bicycle Coalition that details the latest trails and points of interest all around the lake with separated bike trails, on-road bike lanes and designated bicycle routes.

The paper map will be available for free at Lake Tahoe area visitor centers and bike shops or can be viewed and downloaded on line www.tahoebike.org/where-to-ride/bike-map/.

Casinos on the South Shore are once again on the positive end of the monthly income report from the Nevada Gaming Board (NGB) released Wednesday.

With three quarters of the fiscal year completed, the combination of Harrah's, Harvey's, MontBleu, Hard Rock and Lakeside Inn have had positive gains in income with a 5.39 percent increase over the same nine-month period in 2016. For the month of April, their income of $13,286,841 is up 4.55 percent, or $578,646, from April, 2016.

For the 12th year the Tahoe Bike Challenge will see how many locals and visitors will park their cars and use a bike to get to work, school and play. This year's event is from June 1 to 14.

Returning is the popular and friendly competition which pits students from local schools, businesses and agencies against each other in friendly competition to see who can replace the most car trips by bicycle.

Above average temperatures combined with an above average, and still deep, snowpack in the Sierra has led to the flooding of the Upper Truckee River, Trout Creek and Cold Creek in South Lake Tahoe. The extra water in the river has also led to slight flooding on Colorado Avenue in the Tahoe Keys.

Boating season in Lake Tahoe is here, and with it comes the return of roadside stations that will inspect and decontaminate motorized boats and watercraft heading to the lake.

All motorized watercraft require inspection for aquatic invasive species (AIS) prior to launching into Lake Tahoe, Fallen Leaf Lake and Echo Lake. Invasive species, such as quagga mussels, New Zealand mudsnails, and hydrilla, are known to multiply quickly and colonize underwater surfaces, including docks and piers, water supply and filtration systems, buoys, moored boats, and even the beautiful rocky shoreline.

Stateline, Nevada – The Tahoe Regional Planning Agency Governing Board on Wednesday unanimously approved the 2017 Regional Transportation Plan, Linking Tahoe. The long-term transportation plan is reviewed and updated every four years as a blueprint to prioritize investments to improve Lake Tahoe’s transportation system over the next 20-plus years.

Casinos on the South Shore of Lake Tahoe had a gaming "win" of $16,742,788 in March, 2.3 percent less than they did in the same month last year according to a report released today by the Nevada Gaming Control Board.

The gaming "win" represents the computed income of casinos before business expenses and taxes.

Even with a loss in March, local casinos are still 5.45 percent up from 2016.

South Lake Tahoe resident, and Tahoe Prosperity Center DEO Heidi Hill Drum was awarded Citizen of the Year by the North Lake Tahoe Resort Association, Chamber, Convention and Visitors Bureau.

Hill was given the honor during the 63rd annual Community Awards Banquet on April 6.

“I was very surprised and I am grateful to be recognized, but I am just the messenger," Heidi noted at the ceremony accepting the award. "Our dedicated Board of Directors and staff are just as deserving of the honor recognizing the importance of our work in the region.”

Improvements at the community of Kings Beach on the North Shore of Lake Tahoe continue. Placer County will begin work on the Kings Beach Commercial Core Improvement Project this summer, and officials are also connecting with the community members to see what else they'd like to see.

Stateline, Nevada – The Tahoe Regional Planning Agency (TRPA) on Wednesday released its Draft 2017 Regional Transportation Plan. TRPA updates the long-term plan every four years as a blueprint to prioritize and guide investments that will improve Lake Tahoe’s transportation system over the next 20-plus years.

4:25 p.m. update - Caltrans now estimates it will be 6:00 p.m. Sunday before reopening. If this changes again we will update this story.

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Caltrans says Highway 50 at Ice House Road is expected to be closed until 6:00 a.m. Sunday, February 12. This is an estimate and will depend on time it will take to clear the massive slide of mud and boulders.

Once open the road will be one-way controlled traffic.

On the North Shore, I80 will open to traffic in both directions at 1:00 p.m. Saturday. Expect heavy traffic.

Plans for an upgrade to the recreational facilities at Kings Beach State Recreation Area were unveiled during a public meeting last week. The project includes upgrades to the playground, restrooms, picnic areas, boat ramp and parking area, a relocation of the pier and the addition of an event area and stage, all over the next 20 years.

The California Department of Parks and Recreation (DPR) and the California Tahoe Conservancy (Conservancy) held the meeting to get public feedback, and for those unable to attend the comment/feedback period is available online until February 15, 2017.

The west shore of Lake Tahoe now has access to advanced medical services with the announcement that the Meeks Bay Fire Protection District's Station 61 is now designated as an Advanced Life Support (ALS) Station.

As of January 16 2017, the station is now staffed with a minimum of one captain and one paramedic. Primary response from the station will continue to be E-61, with additional response from the closest medic unit. The ALS units at Meeks Bay Fire Protection District work as part of comprehensive plan to provide the advanced services to the west and north shore of Lake Tahoe.

Casinos on the South Shore are once again on the positive end of the monthly income report from the Nevada Gaming Board (NGB) released Tuesday.

For the first half of the fiscal year, a combination of Harrah's, Harvey's, MontBleu, Hard Rock and Lakeside Inn have had positive gains in income with a 7.65 percent increase over the same time period in 2015.

NGB reports that casinos in the area had a "win" of $18,724,329, a gain of 4.31 percent over December 2015. South Shore casinos have a net "win" of $122,510,544 to date this fiscal year.