Social distancing?

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - With nice weather, a relaxing of some travel restrictions, and some snow on the ground, the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend is expected to be a busy one in the Sierra.

The USDA Forest Service Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit (LTBMU) and California State Parks have joined together in an outreach campaign to provide simple actions to increase the enjoyment of the outdoors experience. Staying local, planning ahead, social distancing guidelines, not leaving trash and following the posted rules are just some of the ways to enjoy Lake Tahoe and the Sierra.

With the holidays already upon us, one thing is certain this year – the COVID-19 pandemic has had an impact on millions of Californians, causing us to rethink so much of our daily lives, including reprioritizing family time and our mental health. The holiday season may add more challenges to parents who are balancing career, teacher and caregiver duties, as well as dealing with unanticipated illness, burnout and unemployment. Each of these challenges, for some of us, can make the season feel like the added pressures are insurmountable.

It was the first year the Lucky Beaver Bar and Burger at Stateline held a toy drive for the South Shore, and it was a big success with organizer Dreu Murin saying over $10,000 worth of toys donated to children in the community.

Christmas Cheer, the South Lake Tahoe nonprofit that helps feed locals in need all year was also in need of toys to help bring joy during such trying times. Tom Davis of Christmas Cheer joined up with Murin and other community members to organize the event which brought toys from far and wide to Lake Tahoe on December 6.

As of noon Saturday, Alpine County has been assigned by the California Department of Public Health to the Red Tier in the state’s Blueprint for a Safer Economy. This move is based on statistical data which includes:
- Test Positivity (7-day average with a 4-day lag) – 5.8 percent
- Total new cases (7-day total with a 4-day lag) – 6

Being the smallest county in the state with about 1,200 residents, their increasing case load has concerned Public Health Officer, Dr. Richard Johnson.

Governor Steve Sisolak announced a "at least a three-week statewide pause" to protect Nevadans from the pandemic due to a surge in positive cases and deaths. Starting Tuesday, November 24 at 12:01 a.m. there will be tighter business restrictions and a stricter mask mandate in the state of Nevada.

Many thought he would be calling for a shutdown in the state, but instead he chose the "pause" at this time. Sisolak said ten percent of all COVID-19 cases in Nevada since beginning of pandemic have been recorded in the last seven days.

EL DORADO COUNTY, Calif. - The State of California today announced new COVID-19 tier assignments, moving El Dorado County into Tier 1 Purple starting at noon on Tuesday, November 17. This date has been changed from the county's previously announced noon on Thursday.

Under the Purple Tier, the following sectors are permitted for OUTDOOR ONLY operations These sectors must still maintain mitigation measures (social distancing, face covering, and sanitization):

-Cardrooms, satellite wagering

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - One of Valhalla’s most loved community events is the annual Holiday Faire, and they were set to celebrate a milestone 25th year this November. After a successful partnership with The Heritage Foundation to create a Winter Wanderland at the Tallac Historic Site last year, both organizations were excited about expanding the event this year. Unfortunately, due to the size of the Grand Hall and limits on capacity, Valhalla Tahoe’s Board of Directors have been forced to cancel the event.

EL DORADO COUNTY, Calif. - Of the 133,251 registered voters in El Dorado County, 30,886, or 23 percent, have already turned in their ballots. The elections department does not have data from the 2016 election at the same point in time. That election had 97,024 or 83.31 percent of the 116,459 registered that year, turn in ballots by election day.

As of October 15:

Ballots returned by mail - 14,966
​Ballots returned in a drop box - 15,920

Of those ballots, 28,996 have had signatures verified against reference signature and the balance of 1,890 are awaiting verification.

Celebrate Halloween this year with family-friendly and spooky railbike rides on the V&T Railway in Carson City.

From Friday, Oct. 23 through Sunday, Oct. 25 and Wednesday, Oct. 28 through Sunday, Oct. 31, V&T Railway will offer child-focused haunted rides at at 6:00 p.m. and adult-focused haunted rides at 8:00 p.m. Each ride will follow COVID-19 guidelines and offer an alternative this year for Halloween fun. Ticket prices are $40 per rider for the 6:00 p.m. family ride and $75 per rider for the 8:00 p.m. adult ride.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - EarthWise Pet Lake Tahoe will be holding its inaugural Howl-O-Ween Party on Saturday, October 31 from 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.

It's a party for the pets with a photo booth, pet costume party (at 2:30 p.m.), raffle baskets, along with free samples of products and sales at the store.

The event will take place on the lawn outside EarthWise at The Crossing at Tahoe Valley, 2060 Lake Tahoe Blvd., South Lake Tahoe. Masks are required on humans and social distancing is recommended.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - The Lake Tahoe Unified School District (LTUSD) will be adopting their previously released Pandemic Educational Plan with some modifications as they move into Phase 2 starting October 12, 2020.

During their special meeting Monday, several parents, teachers and trustees voiced their opinions and concerns representing all sides, from keeping students in Phase 1, moving to Phase 2, as well as skipping to Phase 3.

The 26th annual Lake Tahoe Marathon scheduled for October 9-11 has been canceled for 2020.

Due to the volume of participants and required bus transportation to starting points, the popular three-day event was canceled since gathering and social distancing protocols couldn't be met. The date for the event will be October 8-10, 2021.

Organizer Les Wright of South Lake Tahoe sent out the following letter to participants this week:

The odds of being able to have the 25th Lake Tahoe Marathon this year on Oct 9-11th have dropped to about 1%.

The long-running tradition of the Freaker's Ball is taking a year. The 42nd annual event will be waiting one more year but organizers promise it will be better than ever. Originally scheduled to take place Saturday, October 31, MontBleu found itself, like so many venues, unable to host the annual event due to Covid-19 and social distancing guidelines in effect statewide.

ZEPHYR COVE, Nev. - The Zephyr Cove Elementary Parents Club and Whittell Boosters are reaching out to the community for support in the safe reopening of the two Douglas County Lake Schools on August 31.

Both of the schools will begin the 2020/2021 school year on Aug 31 with in person, daily instruction utilizing social distancing and other safety protocols.

Now, as much as ever, our local community is coming together for the health and wellbeing of our residents and businesses. We are all being affected in different ways by COVID-19 and our local businesses are working to navigate this pandemic safely and successfully.

The South Shore of Lake Tahoe is in uncertain times, but we want to let you know that you can count on:

Businesses taking extra precautions to keep their staff and customers safe.
Residents are coming together to support local businesses.

Local businesses rely on the support of local residents.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - After much discussion and deliberation, the USDA Forest Service Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit (LTBMU) has made the difficult decision to cancel planned interpretive programs and visitor services at the Taylor Creek Visitor Center through the end of October, including second- and third-grade conservation education field trips. In addition, they have made the decision to cancel the Fall Fish Festival this year, an event that typically draws up to 12,000 visitors over the weekend.

INCLINE VILLAGE, Nev. - When the three parking lots with 90 spaces were created last year in Incline Village for the popular East Shore Trail, they were free but all were told paid parking was coming in the near future.

That time has now come.

Tahoe Transportation District (TTD) has unveiled the Park Tahoe pilot program at the trailhead north of Ponderosa Rand Road. The lots were created to expand off-highway parking options along the high traffic area of SR28 between Incline Village and Sand Harbor State Park.

EL DORADO COUNTY, Calif. - The Board of Supervisors held a meeting on Thursday to discuss the current situation of positive cases of COVID-19 in the county, especially in South Lake Tahoe where numbers are starting to grow.

After almost four hours of discussion, both amongst themselves and during public comment, the Board made the following action items but didn't vote on any county-wide orders:

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - The first cannabis dispensary to operate under the new City of South Lake Tahoe rules and regulations is now open.

Embarc Tahoe has opened its doors and held an official ribbon-cutting ceremony Friday with Mayor Jason Collin, Mayor Pro Tem Tamara Wallace, members of the Embarc Tahoe team and the South Tahoe Chamber of Commerce.

Owner Christy Wilson moved into what was once Tahoe Teriyaki and has since been several different businesses.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - With months of people being under "Stay at Home" orders, and if the past few days are any indication, this holiday weekend will be busy at Lake Tahoe as people get out in the fresh air, hike, bike, go to the beach and get on the water.

The July Fourth holiday at Lake Tahoe will look a bit different this year with firework shows canceled, social distancing, the requirement of face coverings in public places and growing concerns about responsible recreation.

Austin Angell’s 46th annual Ponderosa Ridge Run will be held Saturday, July 4, 2020, at 10:00 a.m.

The popular event will start at the Spooner Summit Maintenance Station located near the intersection of US50/SR28 on the east side of the summit. The 9.5-mile hilly course is on a non-paved fire road featuring a 2,000-foot elevation gain in the first four miles with scenic views along the Tahoe Rim Trail, and a downhill finish near the end of North Benjamin off Kingsbury Grade (SR207).

Transportation is not provided back to the start area.

The Resilience Fund-Tahoe has funded its first local loan to Freshies Tahoe. The funds helped save their outdoor patio deck, which was in desperate need of repair and will be critical to ensuring their future success serving customers outdoors.

“After many months of unsuccessfully trying multiple federal avenues for support of Freshies during the business disruption caused by the pandemic, we are thrilled to have qualified for this very generous Resilience Fund loan! We are ready to get our deck open! Thank you so much,” said owners Erik and Melodie Ulman.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - Lime will be bringing scooters back to South Lake Tahoe after a unanimous vote by the City Council to temporarily reduce fees associated with the popular mobile devices during their meeting Tuesday. With a reduced season the new charge of $75 per device was not making sense according to the company.

As temperatures at Lake Tahoe are heating up, so are discussions about wearing a face mask in public. While science continues to reveal new information about the coronavirus, one thing is clear: wearing a face mask slows the spread of COVID-19, if enough people wear them.