South Lake Tahoe community

An overflowing crowd of family, friends and community members filled the City Council chambers Monday as South Lake Tahoe Fire Rescue held their 5th annual awards ceremony.

The staff was honored for their service doing a job that protects the lives, homes and environment of the South Lake Tahoe community and its visitors.

"Your recognition is well deserved, and well earned," said Mayor Wendy David.

SLTFR Fire Chief Jeff Meston led the ceremony which honored the following:

Firefighter/Medic of the Year: Dustin Winter
Dispatcher of the Year: Jillian Gard

The question I get asked the most when sharing that I’m a member of PATH (Partners Against the Trafficking of Humans) is: Is human trafficking happening here in South Lake Tahoe? The answer is yes, although solid numbers are hard to come by. Recently, it was reported in local media that 14 people were arrested and one 17 year old girl rescued from a trafficking ring in El Dorado County that included South Lake Tahoe, Placerville, and El Dorado Hills.

As the tents are taken down, the stage removed and all other components of SnowGlobe disappear for another year, an evaluation of the Community Play Field and other aspects of the seventh annual event in South Lake Tahoe are being made. There may be negatives to the popular event that draws in 20,000 people a day, there are also many positives to be celebrated.

There is more to the three-day festival, SnowGlobe, than music and crowds, a side of the event many aren't aware of.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, CALIF. – Over a dozen local, regional and pro skiers and snowboarders will take part in SnowGlobe Big Air, a jump at the scene of the three-day musical festival in South Lake Tahoe.

On Course Events has partnered with SnowGlobe to build the jump which is Lake Tahoe's largest man-made feature. Athletes will drop out of the darkness on a scaffolding tower, coming down and hitting a jump launching over 30 feet above the

A South Lake Tahoe hair salon is gaining attention from around the country because of their specialized wedding hair services, and its all because of Rah Hair Salon's owner Angelia Zajic and her team of eight stylists.

Zajic, a South Lake Tahoe native and a graduate of Whittell High School, opened Rah in 2009 after working at New Wave and in the Aveda Salon at MontBleu. It was her experience with Aveda that led Angela to creating a spa-like atmosphere at the studio which is located at 2572 Lake Tahoe Blvd #4.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - Temple Bat Yam is having their inaugural Vodka and Latkes fundraiser on Wednesday, December 14 from 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. at the Lakeland Village Clubhouse.

Holiday tradition is being brought to the South Lake Tahoe community as the Temple pairs both traditional and creative latkes with Tahoe Blue Vodka cocktails. There will also be other appetizers and, of course, traditional jelly donuts. A raffle and games will also be featured to make this a "must-do" on your holiday list of activities.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - To show nature is the best medicine, Barton Health and the Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit (LTBMU) have partnered together to give the community Wellness Outings.

Patients will have access to the forest through a guided outing with a USFS ranger and physician or nurse.

In addition to Wellness Outings, the partnership will provide wellness and injury prevention training for USFS rangers and firefighters, as well as accessibility of public lands to promote outdoor recreation.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. – Philanthropy and South Lake Tahoe non-profits were recently celebrated by the Barton Foundation as they honored their 2017 grant recipients in a luncheon at Riva Grill.

Bread & Broth and Live Violence Free both have opportunities for the South Lake Tahoe community to help those less fortunate this Thanksgiving.

Bread & Broth is providing a free Thanksgiving Dinner to the community on Monday, November 20 from 4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. at St. Theresa Church. This is the non-profit's 28th year of serving meals to those in need.

The Mueller family really enjoys making people happy! As owners of Adventure Mountain Lake Tahoe, the sledding, tubing and snow play resort located at the top of Echo Summit, they provide winter activities that can be enjoyed by people of all ages.

The Tahoe Arts Project (TAP) is celebrating their 31st year of bringing arts to the South Lake Tahoe community with their annual membership drive. They have a generous donor who will match all donations up to $23,000, and they need your help!

Through fundraising efforts, TAP is working diligently to bring quality performing arts programs into the schools. They are a nonprofit organization and members play a vital role in bringing these performers into the

The El Dorado County Health and Human Services Agency, Public Health Nursing, will begin conducting low-cost community flu shot clinics on September 27, 2017, with additional clinics offered through November.

As new South Tahoe High School Principal Carline Sinkler is preparing for her first year at the helm she sent out a letter to the community and it is shared here:

Dear South Lake Tahoe Community,

It is a privilege to serve as principal of South Tahoe High School and I look forward to a highly productive year of forming lasting relationships, building teams and meeting challenges together that enable us to prepare our students for college, career and life.

The community will soon be seeing green at the site of the South Lake Tahoe Community Playfields on Al Tahoe Blvd.

Thomas Haen Company of South Lake Tahoe, a long-time local General Engineering contractor and two local subcontractors, Ron Fuller Construction and Earth and Stone Landscape were awarded the contract by the City of South Lake Tahoe to create two fields adjacent to the Lake Tahoe Community College (LTCC) soccer field.

Shane and Diondra Colquhoun, Tahoe Tastings’ owners, brought their wine cruise adventure hosting skills to their Bread & Broth Adopt A Day dinner on Monday June 19. This dynamic couple normally is providing afternoon and sunset cruises and wine tasting on the “Golden Rose” but at their Monday Meal dinner, they and their energetic sponsor crew members served up a tasty dinner and provided TLC to the evening’s dinner guests.

Littering in Tahoe is a big problem. Everywhere you go, there is trash and no one picks it up. People don't throw their trash in the garbage; they leave their trash on the ground and it makes its way into the lake. Other people who pass by it don't pick it up either. The problem started with the tourists who come to the beaches and throw their trash anywhere and they think that it won’t do anything to our lake. Tourists don’t take care of nature and our lake as much as the locals here. Some locals leave their trash everywhere as well.

Adventure Mountain owners Jim and Linda Mueller are long time and enthusiastic supporters of Bread & Broth’s Monday Meal.

“Bread & Broth is a great organization serving delicious meals to the South Lake Tahoe community,” commented Jim. “Adventure Mountain and our family always enjoys helping out such a great organization and getting to spend time with our community members.”

It was a family/business affair with sons Max and Luke and long time friend and Adventure Mountain retail supervisor Cathy Vogelgesang completing the Adopt A Day sponsorship crew.

For 50 years the Lake Tahoe Humane Society has offered services to animals in the South Lake Tahoe community. They are now facing challenges after their Executive Director Niki Congero was fired when allegations of embezzlement arose when their bank called them about irregular activity on the agency's debit card.

South Lake Tahoe, Calif. – Mental Health Awareness Month kicks into gear on May 1. Community members and visitors are encouraged to participate in 31 days of challenges, activities, and events to honor their own mental well-being and reduce the misconceptions about mental health.

Local events include:

4th Annual Mental Health Forum
Tuesday, May 9 - 8:30-11:30 a.m.
Student Union at South Tahoe High School

Choices for Children hosted its 25th annual Child Care Professionals Appreciation Breakfast featuring Early Childhood Education professors Lisa Daly and Miriam Beloglovsky on Saturday, April 1 at Lake Tahoe Golf Course. Fifty four child care providers came together to enjoy breakfast, raffles generously donated by the South Lake Tahoe Community, and an inspiring presentation on Using Loose Parts (alluring objects that children can move, manipulate, control, and change within their play) to Support Language and Literacy Development.

The following is a letter from Kathy Wilbrecht Lawson, a friend of Pamela Suwinsky, the woman whose body was found in the Upper Truckee River in South Lake Tahoe on Sunday:

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - Local Realtors recently donned rabbit ears and grabbed empty Easter baskets to fill with donations for 80 children in the South Lake Tahoe community.

The South Tahoe Association of Realtors (STAR) and their Community Service Committee combined their funds with donated money to shop for items to fill Easter baskets.

The committee was able to donate 80 baskets to the Family Resource Center and Live Violence Free Center in South Lake Tahoe. These organizations give the baskets to kids who otherwise would not receive anything this season.

The 12th annual Brave the Shave event for children and young adults fighting cancer will be held at Heavenly Mountain Resort's California Lodge in South Lake Tahoe Friday, March 3 from 5:30 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.

Everyone is invited to join this St. Baldrick's event, and whether you decide to shave your head, volunteer, or donate, you can be a part of the excitement!

A flash mob in the middle of Heavenly Village isn't a normal occurrence, so at 2:00 p.m. February 4 when a few dozen women and children started dancing to music, people stopped and the phone cameras came out.

For the past several weeks, members of the South Lake Tahoe community have been rehearsing a dance to the music "Break the Chain" in support of "One Billion Rising", a one-day international event to bring exploitation of women, human trafficking and violence against women and girls to the forefront.