protection

More than a hundred trained volunteers will continue a 15 year tradition with a one-day hands-on effort to capture a snapshot of the health of Lake Tahoe’s watershed on May 16 at Lake Tahoe Community College.

“Snapshot Day creates the opportunity for people of all ages and experience levels to take part in protecting our watershed,” said Jesse Patterson, deputy director for the League to Save Lake Tahoe.

Volunteer monitoring teams will collect data that is used for restoration projects and overall watershed protection. Snapshot Day covers as much geographic area as possible in order to capture a “snapshot” in time of water quality for the entire Truckee River watershed. Samples are taken from the Lake Tahoe Basin and follow the Truckee River watershed all the way to Pyramid Lake.

All ages and experiences welcome! Lunch will be provided for all volunteers on south shore after the event.

Please leave your furry friends at home!

Location

Living in the midst of the fourth consecutive year of drought in the Sierra Nevada brings with it a responsibility to become fire adapted. While the Tahoe Fire and Fuels Team (TFFT) consistently thins forests, conducts prescribed burns and defensible space programs to reduce wildfire risk, they need the public's help to create Fire Adapted Communities at Lake Tahoe

Join the Sugar Pine Foundation as they start their seasonal group plantings.

Community Planting Schedule

Saturday, April 11th, 10 a.m. - noon, 1286 Golden Bear Trail, SLT, CA. - Join Vail employees and South Lake Tahoe Resource Center families to plant sugar pines behind the Lake Valley Fire Protection Station.

Sunday, April 12th, 10 a.m.- 1 p.m., Waddle Ranch, Truckee, CA -

Tahoe Douglas Fire Protection District and the U.S. Forest Service may continue prescribed fire operations next week, beginning Monday, April 6, 2015, weather permitting. Operations are scheduled to take place in Blackwood Canyon between Tahoe City and Tahoma, on the south side of Meeks Bay, on Gardner Mountain near South Tahoe High School and off Gardner Street, in the Tahoe Keys, on Luther Pass near Grass Lake, at Ski Run Boulevard near Heavenly, on upper Kingsbury Grade and on the East Shore near Logan Creek Drive.

An overflowing audience of South Lake Tahoe residents, home owners, vacation home owners, real estate agents, property managers, vacation rental companies, locals and city officials were on hand Tuesday night at the Vacation Home Rental (VHR) community workshop held in City Council chambers at the airport.

City Manager Nancy Kerry ran the meeting, giving everyone a chance to speak their opinion after a short presentation.

There were more than 1,000 fires in California in 2014 and, because of the current dry conditions, 2015 is expected to be more of the same.

The League to Save Lake Tahoe and Lake Tahoe Community College are offering a course, “Water Quality Monitoring of Streams and Lakes (GEG 107),” to provide students skills applicable for entry level field, environment and science technician job duties with Tahoe resource agencies.

A Lake Tahoe woman is suing a longtime bear protection group after she says she got death threats for reporting an aggressive black bear to Nevada authorities, who then killed the animal.

Adrienne Evans, a professional mountain bike racer and high school science teacher, accuses the BEAR League of igniting an ugly social media campaign that turned into a vengeful attempt to run her and her husband out of town. She said she loves bears and wasn't trying to get the animal killed.

Aided by rainfall, firefighters were taking control of a forest fire that destroyed about 40 homes in the Eastern Sierra near Mammoth Mountain.

Crews had the blaze about 65% contained by Sunday, nearly two days after a blaze whipped by winds tore into the towns of Swall Meadows and Paradise, with about 250 inhabitants. The towns are about 25 miles southeast of the Mammoth Mountain ski resort, near U.S. Highway 395.

The main problem now is more than four dozen downed power lines and damaged trees, making conditions too hazardous to lift mandatory evacuation orders in the area.

Last summer's flash floods in Douglas County caused $927,205 in damage, far below the federal minimum of $3,753,710 needed in order to receive federal assistance.

While Douglas County Emergency Management had requested that due to the close timing of these events (July 20, July 30, Aug. 6 and Aug. 11) the state consider combining all damage under one event, FEMA regulations do not allow for combining damage costs of multiple events.

The City of South Lake Tahoe is accepting applications from community members who are interested in serving as a the City's layperson on the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency's advisory planning commission.

Since the beginning of December, 2014 there have been 19 thefts, six burglaries and two robberies reported in the South Lake Tahoe city limits. While many of these are petty thefts, others have resulted in the theft of valuable jewelry, electronics and other belongings from residences while the owners weren't home.

Have you protected your home to the best of your ability? Many of us may think that "it can't happen to me," but when a home was burglarized around the corner from me, I changed that mode of thinking and started looking into ways to better protect mine.

Casino company Caesars Entertainment (CZR), the owner of Harrah's and Harvey's in Lake Tahoe, announced early Thursday that it had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in federal court in Chicago for its main operating unit in an attempt to beat back an effort by some creditors who filed their own bankruptcy plan in Delaware on Monday. They claim the company has cheated them.

Runny and stuffy nose, fever and chills, body and headaches, cough and sore throat, tiredness. Have these symptoms? You might have the flu.

You don't have to go far in South Lake Tahoe before you come across someone who is sick, and the flu season is just beginning. Evidence points to high or widespread flu activity in 43 states including Nevada, and it's just now entering California.

Freezing temperatures and snow are common for Lake Tahoe, but for those people not used to the elements they can cause problems including frostbite or even death.

Not wanting anyone to suffer and booth at Snow Globe is giving out gloves and scarves to anyone that needs protection from the weather. Nick and Kadi Alfield had what they thought to be plenty of outer gear to give away at their booth, Lighthouse, inside SnowGlobe. But that turned out to be not the case as their whole supply was given away on the opening night of the three day concert.

Mark A. Novak, the current assistant chief for the Tahoe Douglas Fire Protection District in Lake Tahoe, Nevada, has been named to head the Vail Fire Department.

Novak, 48, will begin full-time employment with the town on Feb. 2. He was selected from a field of 105 candidates during a national search process which included six finalists.

Flu season is underway. Misconceptions about the flu prevent people from taking the proper precautions. For example, being out the in cold does not cause the flu. Here are a few more flu myths I hear and facts to help you stay healthy this winter.

FLU MYTHS

MYTH:If you think you have the flu, go to the doctor to get antibiotics.

High winds kept emergency personnel busy throughout the day on Thursday. Downed power lines and trees wrecked havoc on the South Shore where many residents were without power for much of the day and evening.

A 200 ft tall tree fell at St. Theresa's Catholic Church just before noon. A photo of the tree barely missing the statue of St. Theresa in front of the church made it to the national news via Associated Press according to Tahoe Douglas Fire Protection District Marshall Eric Guevin. Most of the damage was to the tree.

The Lake Valley Fire Protection District, California State Parks, Nevada Division of Forestry and the U.S. Forest Service will continue prescribed fire operations near Sugar Pine Point State Park, Pioneer Trail and Washoan Boulevard, Ski Run Boulevard near Heavenly, Luther Pass, Spooner Summit, and Lake Tahoe Nevada State Park in Slaughterhouse Canyon. Operations will last through the next several weeks as conditions allow.

The following is a list of burn areas and how many acres are being burned.

Project Sunset at Washoan and Pioneer Trail - 12 acres

With the onset of cooler temperatures, Lake Tahoe homeowners are encouraged to take advantage of rebates the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency and partner jurisdictions are offering to help people replace older, heavily polluting wood burning stoves and fireplaces.

Tahoe In Depth, the environmental newspaper that the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency created two years ago to help improve awareness and understanding of lake issues, was recognized with a Silver Spike award at the Sierra Nevada Chapter of the Public Relations Society of America annual awards ceremony on Thursday.
Silver Spike awards recognize the northern Sierra region’s best public relations and communications campaigns, according to Anne McMillin, President of the Sierra Nevada Chapter of the Public Relations Society of America.

As the keynote speaker at last month’s National Workshop on Large Landscape Conservation in Washington, D.C., U.S. Department of the Interior Secretary Sally Jewell emphasized the central role collaboration must play for America to protect its natural resources, balance economic needs, and address emerging environmental challenges such as climate change.

“We are moving into an era of epic collaboration,” Jewell said, explaining that regional partnerships across jurisdictional boundaries are more important than ever for the federal department that manages 20 percent of our nation’s land.

The 7th Annual Blue Ribbon Awards ceremony was the biggest yet, with 300 people at Thursday's banquet and 175 nominations of local businesses, employees and experiences.

Here is the list of winners:

Experience Award – Sponsored by Marriott Grand Residence & Vacation Club