president

As many watched the Indianapolis 500 on television Sunday, they were tuned into the excitement of the race, maybe not really reflecting on the history of the racetrack, dubbed "The Brickyard." The Brickyard and parts of South Lake Tahoe have a lot in common.

The Brickyard

South Lake Tahoe can create a sustainable economy if we focus on "active tourism." This was the message relayed by the panel of speakers at Wednesday's Tahoe Talk series at Lake Tahoe Community College.

If the 15 page spread about Lake Tahoe in the May edition of Bike magazine is any indication, people know about the activity/recreation based tourism awaiting them in Tahoe, and they're about to come.

Are we ready?,

Just about.

The Splash Day Club at Hard Rock Hotel Lake Tahoe was set to open over the Memorial Day weekend, but wet weather and a chance of thundershowers has caused management to postpone the grand opening.

“We’ve been ramping up for the opening of Splash Day Club, but we want to do it right with the best conditions possible,” said Chris Fiumara, vice president and general manager of the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Lake Tahoe. “Plus, it’s no secret this area needs some serious precipitation, so we’ll take it.”

Since 2003 there has been Leadership Lake Tahoe and a few hundred people can now say they've graduated from this worthwhile program. What started as an annual joint venture between the two Chambers of Commerce that served the South Shore is now a biennial leadership experience.

I was a member of Leadership Lake Tahoe in 2006 and I can say that it changed my life.

Heavenly Mountain Resort has received the final approval needed for its major expansion of on-mountain summer activities. After Vail Resorts gained approval from the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency (TRPA) on March 27, they needed the blessing of the Lahontan Regional Water Quality Board, which they received today.

With the leaders separated by only seconds after two days of racing, the first 3-day, 3-stage Amgen Tour of California Women’s Race empowered with SRAM came to a thrilling conclusion with Velocio-SRAM’s Trixi Worrack (GER) posting a powerful ride to claim the title of the UCI-sanctioned event as the first-ever Amgen Tour of California women’s road race champion.

Dr. Frederick “Fritz” Wenck, a longtime local dentist and Board of Trustees member for Lake Tahoe Community College for 41 years, was recently honored for his service by the Community College League of California. During their Annual Trustees Conference last weekend the League honored community college trustees with 20, 30 and 40 years of service from around the state.

Dr. Wenck was the only trustee to be recognized for four decades of commitment.

Experience Southern Italy and the Amalfi Coast on an eight-day journey with the Lake Tahoe South Shore Chamber of Commerce (Tahoe Chamber)! All members of the community are invited to join the local chamber of commerce on this once-in-a-lifetime experience. Individuals have the opportunity to save on travel fares when travel is booked by May 22.

The National Little League pledge, written by Peter J. McGovern in 1954, reads as follows:

I trust in God
I love my country
And will respect its laws
I will play fair
And strive to win
But win or lose
I will always do my best

It has long been a tradition in South Lake Tahoe where players recite the pledge prior to every Major Division Little League game.

That tradition ended this year as the local Board of Directors decided to remove the words "God" and "country" from the pledge so it would read like this:

I will play fair
And strive to win
But win or lose

Summer will get off with a splash at the Hard Rock Lake Tahoe this summer, and locals will get to enjoy it! The Splash Day Club will be a rockin’ outdoor poolside day club with world-class DJs and poolside amenities and services including private cabanas and "day" beds, signature drink specials, bottle-service and a seasonal summer menu. Think high-energy nightclub outdoors in the sun.

Tahoe Douglas Rotarians spent Saturday cleaning out the historic Osgood Toll House, the oldest standing building in South Lake Tahoe. They took out hundreds of items including windows, doors, window frames, shutters and boards. After removing them they cataloged each item, cleaned and dried them and then stacked them back in the toll house.

The consolidation of ski operations in Lake Tahoe continues with news Monday that plans are underway to install a gondola to connect Squaw Valley and Alpine Meadows ski resorts.

The resorts, both owned by Squaw Valley Ski Holdings, reached an agreement with Troy Caldwell, the owner of the property between the base of the resorts, to build a gondola that will run about two miles.

It’s been nearly four years since I moved to South Lake Tahoe and became president of Lake Tahoe Community College. When I first arrived, I heard an earful from community members who were upset about the loss of the Good Neighbor Policy (GNP). This policy was established by the Nevada System of Higher Education in 1988. It made it possible for Basin students living on the Nevada side to attend LTCC at California resident rates.

A lack of snow is causing Heavenly Mountain Resort to close down their California operations starting Monday, March 30, a week ahead of schedule.

The only access to the mountain for skiing and riding will be from Stagecoach Express until April 5, and from the Gondola until the end of the season.

The resort will operate 11 lifts, accessing 27 trails. Mountain Operations staff will continue to closely monitor and assess conditions daily. At this time the resort is still planning on closing on April 19.

Heavenly's Epic Discovery project passed their biggest hurdle Thursday as the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency's (TRPA) Governing Board unanimously approved the newest year-round recreational experience in South Lake Tahoe. With it, comes a wide variety of outdoor recreational opportunities for locals and visitors alike. Epic Discovery will include new zip lines, sky cycle tree canopy tours, a mountain bike park and trails, ropes courses, and interpretive and educational tours to teach visitors about the Lake Tahoe Region’s cultural and environmental resources.

The project to transform the look and feel of North Lake Tahoe’s California/Nevada state line by redeveloping the Tahoe Biltmore will move forward after the company overseeing it secured financing in a deal cemented with an undisclosed private equity firm on Thursday, March 12.

Boulder Bay LLC had been struggling to garner the necessary dollars to fund construction of the development ever since it received approval nearly four years ago after a 12-hour Tahoe Regional Planning Agency Governing Board meeting that witnessed more than 80 members of the community offer opinions on the project.

The Lake Tahoe South Shore Chamber of Commerce (Tahoe Chamber) Board of Directors named Roberta Mason and Sherm McKissock honorary lifetime members of Tahoe Chamber for their contributions to the South Shore community. Patrick Atherton was awarded an honorary annual membership. Mason, McKissock and Atherton were presented with honorary memberships at the Tahoe Chamber Board of Directors meeting on March 19, 2015.

Fed up with waiting, Nevada lawmakers are ramping up efforts to have private companies, fire districts and others paid for work conducted years ago to reduce fire danger in vulnerable areas around Lake Tahoe.

The Legislature earlier this month passed a joint resolution urging Congress to pay contractors who performed extensive fuels treatment work in the wake of Tahoe's disastrous Angora Fire of 2007.

Vail Resorts announced today that the 2015-16 Tahoe local's pass will open up access to nine resorts.

It was a trip down 60 years of memory lane as the Tahoe Chamber celebrated their birthday on Wednesday night.

Over 150 people attended the mixer at Tep's Villa Roma, many who have been in South Lake Tahoe almost as long as the chamber.

Long time locals Bill Kingman, Tom Davis, Paul Middlebrook and Deb Howard shared the Trivia game hosting duties, trying to stump the crowd with questions from the community's past 60 years (and beyond).

Lake Tahoe Community College recently received the highest level of accreditation possible from the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges (ACCJC). That puts the college in great standing until its next comprehensive accreditation review in October 2017.

A Little League team that captured the attention of the nation and the hearts of its hometown was stripped of its national title Wednesday after an investigation revealed that team officials had falsified boundaries so they could add ineligible players to the roster.

Only last summer, the all-black Jackie Robinson West team was the toast of Chicago and was honored with trips to San Francisco and to the White House.

Wind gusts that reached up to 150 mph last weekend knocked over power poles and toppled trees onto live electrical wires throught the Liberty Energy territory in Northern California.

“Basically, crews have been working non-stop since the first storm arrived on Friday,” according to Mike Smart, Liberty Utilities-CA President. “For the past four days, we’ve reset poles, restrung wire and even made repairs to another utility’s infrastructure because it affected our ability to serve our customers.”

Celtic harpist Anne Roos of South Lake Tahoe was part of the Grammy winning album,
Winds of Samsara. The album won the Grammy in the best New Age category last night in Los Angeles.

Roos played on the track, Eyes of Wonder which was recorded in Reno at Tanglewood Studios. The studio's President and Founder Michael Eardley engineered the track.

The album's creator is 33-year old Ricky Kej who is a North Carolina native of Indian decent. Winds of Samsara is a collaboration with South African flutist Wouter Kellerman.

Roos was in Los Angeles for the annual awards show.