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The 25-year-old iconic "Welcome to Nevada" signs from highways around the state are going to be raffled off to some lucky residents.
The Nevada Department of Transportation is replacing the old, obsolete signs, depicting a lone miner that once greeted travelers to the state. They held a recent contest for Nevada high school students for the design of a new series of signs.

The annual SnowGlobe Music Festival is here to stay, at least for now.

During Tuesday's South Lake Tahoe City Council meeting, promoter Chad Donnelly went before the elected officials, asking them for a three year extension of the annual festival until 2019 (though they would ultimately like a deal until 2027), and more money from the City to help with the costs of garbage pick-up and transportation for the three-day event which runs from December 29-31 each year.

What the City gave him was not quite what he was asking for as he got more cash, but less time.

At the end of business on Monday, papers were served on the City of South Lake Tahoe, the City Council and four members of the group Let Tahoe Decide to keep the subject of the Loop Road/US Highway 50 South Shore Community Revitalization Project off the ballot in November.

A proposed redevelopment plan for Squaw Valley would include affordable employee housing, new infrastructure including roads and fire safety, as well as environmental improvements according to Squaw Valley Ski Holdings, LLC. They have kicked off and effort to communicate with the public and gain support through "Squaw Tomorrow" for what is being called the Village at Squaw Valley redevelopment project.

Most people won't even notice as ambulance services change on the South Shore July 1. The final touches to the new Cal Tahoe JPA service agreements were made Wednesday in preparation for a change from the City of South Lake Tahoe operating the ambulances that serve the city, to the function being part of the JPA at 12:01 a.m. Friday.

A lawsuit against the City of South Lake Tahoe over the fees charged to those who rent out their homes as vacation rentals was won by the City in court this week. The June 23 verdict was received by all parties on June 28.

Judge Steven Bailey of the El Dorado County Superior Court issued an 11-page decision supporting the City's rights to charge fees to recover their costs in administering the VHR ordinance, including staff time for accounting, planning, building department, administration, code enforcement and other costs.

Lake Tahoe homes are often found in the limelight. This month an Lake Tahoe East Shore home is in exclusive company as it finds itself on HGTV’s Ultimate House Hunt.

The Glenbrook estate, listed by Chase International’s Mike Dunn, is one of only eight properties in the world to be selected for the waterfront category. The contest takes place online through July 8.

In November, two seats on South Tahoe Public Utility Board of Directors will be filled by voters, the ones currently held by Randy Vogelgesang and Kelly Sheehan.

It is unknown if either of them will seek reelection, but they have until August 12 to file.

To be eligible to run, candidates must reside withust in the boundaries of the District.

Under half of the registered voters in El Dorado County turned out in the polls Tuesday for the Presidential primary race that also chose a county judge and a few measures adjusting the county charter and growth in the county.

50,477, or 46.11 percent of the voters, voted in the June 7, 2016 election.

Measures needed to pass by a majority:

Measure A passed by a 2,600 vote margin with 53.02 percent of the vote. The preamble of the County Charter will be changed to new wording.

Charles “Butch” Jensen died peacefully in Sacramento on May 14, 2016 of cancer. He was 73 years old.

The City of South Lake Tahoe has released a "Flash Vote," looking for community input on ideas for both locals and tourists in the community. But, people only have two days to vote as "the flash" is over on May 13 at 1:15 p.m.

What small projects would you like the City of South Lake Tahoe add that would cost $10,000 or less? Would it be new lines on the soccer fields, or shelter around bus stops? Or, would you like to spend $10,000 on something new along the bike trails or city parks? The ballot also asks for other opinions and ideas and takes just a few minutes to complete.

In a representative democracy, the system the United States supposedly has, the policy making is controlled by the representatives elected by the people. The idea behind representative democracy is that people will elect representatives that will serve their best interest. However, in the United States the funding for election campaigns is provided by large corporations, banks, and a handful of wealthy individuals that results in the election of representatives who serve the best interests of the large corporations, banks, and wealthy individuals.

At the April 5 Council Meeting, Mayor Wendy David declared that comments by the citizens during the non-agenda portion of the Council Meeting will no longer be televised. It has been suggested that this was done to “prevent staff and others from begin slandered.” Except for Councilmember Conner’s request that this matter be placed on the agenda, the rest of the Council was silent. No motion, no vote, no agenda item, just a bare statement by the Mayor that the policy was changed.

The South Lake Tahoe Fire Code has changed, much to the appreciation of both homeowners and contractors who had to deal with different codes, depending on the location of the home, City or in the County.

The council voted to remove restrictions on the fire sprinkler code (Chapter 5.20) to be more in line with Lake Valley Fire District. The City's stricter code confused contractors who build houses in the city, and in the county, and it was also found to be cost prohibitive for homeowners wishing to remodel.

The South Shore of Lake Tahoe is divided by lines. These state, county, and city lines work well on a map, but they do not define the day-to-day reality of the people who live and work in this community. In the last decade we have seen definitive projects reshape South Shore – Heavenly Village, Lakeview Commons, Harrison Avenue Streetscape. We have seen new bike trails and the opening of a bi-state park.

In an effort to target young smokers and keep them away from the harm of nicotine, the California Assembly voted to raise the smoking age from 18 to 21 on Thursday. If it passes the Senate, California would be among the first states to raise the smoking age. Hawaii has already done so, and it appears New Jersey isn't far behind.

Last year, the state Senate approved the bill but it stalled for months in the Assembly, so many legislature observers in Sacramento think the move to raise the smoking age won't face much opposition.

On October 27, 2015, Sue Novasel, the County Supervisor representing South Lake Tahoe, Meyers, Tahoma and Pollock Pines was served a “notice of intent to circulate a recall petition” by a group of citizens who said they are “tired of the corruption and cronyism that has plagued our county for years.” It wasn’t only Novasel, but all five of the County Supervisors, Shiva Frentzen, Ron Mikulaco, Michael Ranalli and Brian Veerkamp.

The agenda for the South Lake Tahoe City Council was a light one this week.

The plastic bag ban ordinance was amended to only affect grocery stores and not retail outlets. Former Mayor Hal Cole asked for the issue to be brought back before the council in October. "I thought we were only voting to bring the ordinance back for review, not to pass it," Cole said about his vote on October 15, 2013.

Plastic Bag Ban Timeline

September, 2012 - City's Sustainability Committee eyes plastic bag ban

In a move that will save the city money as well as increase staffing, South Lake Tahoe Fire Rescue added 12 new Emergency Medical Services (EMS) specialists to their staff on December 14.

South Lake Tahoe Fire Rescue is now the only fire department in the Tahoe basin to have three firefighters on each engine at all times and two EMS specialists in the ambulance.

Galt City Council members on Dec. 15 were expected to name an experienced administrator in smaller jurisdictions as Galt’s next city manager.

Eugene Palazzo, who started his career in 1989 as a planning technician in Nevada County, has served as Crescent City’s city manager since 2011.

The council vote was not known at press time.

Galt city staff wrote in the council report that Palazzo has more than 27 years of experience in local government.

A 3-2 vote cast last Monday repealed a portion of the 2013 Ban on Single-Use Plastic Carryout Bags. I don’t intend this to be a discussion on whether plastic bags should be banned or not (although I openly support policies that bring about greater environmental stewardship in our community), but I am questioning whether there was due diligence in acquiring the data needed to accurately represent the desires of the community when making this decision.

Location

The South Lake Tahoe City Council voted to rescind the ban on single use plastic bags in retail outlets during Monday's meeting. Mayor Wendy David and Mayor Pro Tem Austin Sass were the only ones who wanted to continue the ban but were outvoted in the 3-2 vote.

The Loop Road project in South Lake Tahoe has undergone changes, from being a federally funded project to realign Highway 50 to evolving into a community development project that promises to beautify, provide new gateways and gathering places. Without this plan being a federal project allows local control and development.

The revamped US Highway 50/South Shore Community Revitalization Project will be presented to the community during an open house on Tuesday, December 1 at the Lake Tahoe Resort Hotel from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.

Affordable housing advocates say it would open up more housing and help reduce the city's skyrocketing housing prices.

Airbnb has spent more than $8 million and hired a top political operative to defeat a San Francisco initiative on the ballot Tuesday that could threaten the growth of one of the most valuable global technology companies.

Proposition F, which would limit short-term rentals, was brought by affordable housing advocates fed up with the city's housing stock being used as rentals for tourists while residents face skyrocketing rents and evictions.