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The announcement this week of a buyer for the undeveloped portion of the Chateau at the Village has been met with excitement over new investments in South Lake Tahoe.

Owens Financial announced Kawana Meadows Development, LLC entered into a purchase agreement for $42.5 million for eight acres of the project, leaving the 3.5 acres currently home to the Zalanta and completed retail Chateau portion in the hands of Owens.

The top agents for Lake Tahoe's Chase International were recently announced during a gathering at the historic Thunderbird Lodge.

For the second quarter, April 1 through June 30, Mike Dunn earned the accolade of top agent in Lake Tahoe. Dunn also led all other agents in sales volume sold (a total of $10.6 million). Trinkie Watson was named top agent in listing volume, while Brent Johnson and Alison Elder tied for agents listing the most units on the lake. Clif Chase was the listing agent with the most volume sold and Johnson was the top sales and listing agent in units sold.

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.

To televise or not televise, that was the question in front of the South Lake Tahoe City Council on Tuesday, April 19. While live streaming of the Council meetings is not required by law, it is something the City has done on both the internet and television since May, 2007.

The agenda item was added after discussion arose during the April 5 meeting when Mayor Wendy David asked that they stop televising the public comment portion of the meetings. Her comment caught many by surprise, even by some of her Council members.

Three former South Lake Tahoe City council members and a local environmental activist have formed "Let Tahoe Decide," a committee to force the Loop Road/Hwy 50 Revitalization Project to go to the voters.

A "notice of intent to circulate petition" was submitted to the SLT City Clerk Susan Alessi on February 23, 2016.

When the recession hit and many cities were faced with bankruptcy and skyrocketing healthcare costs for their employees, retirees had benefits cut or renegotiated. The City of South Lake Tahoe survived those turbulent times by taking a look at the costs they could reduce or restructure, and benefits for retirees was one that took a hit.

Now, many of those employees have filed a lawsuit against the City.

South Tahoe High senior Kaitlynn Watson signed a letter of intent Friday to play volleyball of Loyola of New Orleans.

Watson takes with her a long list of accolades including All Team Academics, 1st Team All League and is currently ranked #2 in the state with digs at 360.

"The moment I stepped on the campus, I knew that is where I wanted to be," Kaitlynn said of Loyola. "They made me feel so at home, they're like a family and not a team." Watson will major in Biology with an emphasis in nutrition.

The U.S. Forest Service Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit (LTBMU) lifted fire restrictions on National Forest System lands on Friday, October 30, 2015.

“While conditions have allowed the Forest Service to lift fire restrictions, wildfires can still occur,” said Fire Management Officer, Kit Bailey. “Visitors to our National Forests need to educate themselves about how to safely build and extinguish a campfire, and should continue to be careful and remember that campfires are only allowed in certain areas.”

"Family" is a word that can sum up what happened during Friday's STHS homecoming parade and football game.

Though not related, about 70 graduates, most of them from the Class of 1984, came together over the weekend to honor another one of their classmates stricken with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS).

Kevin Sullivan, 50, is the second graduate of South Tahoe High's class of '84 to afflicted with ALS. Todd Fields died in 1999 at the age of 33.

As part of the City of South Lake Tahoe's 50th anniversary celebration they held a recent history hunt, and all participants finding getting all 15 answers correct were honored with a prize during Tuesday's City Council meeting. The questions led people on a tour of South Lake Tahoe, looking for clues in city owned locations.

The participants turning in perfect scores:

The Beadoin Family
Cynthia, Helen and Tom Burkart
Dana and Gauge Patterson
Jim, Justin and Tracy Ruger
Joe and Aurora Spear
Margaret Vestal
Sean Watson
Tina Brown

They win a special commemorative T-Shirt.

It's not every day a teenager from South Lake Tahoe goes to Croatia to play volleyball for the summer, but that is exactly what Kaitlynn Watson did. Watson, a senior at South Tahoe High, participated in the 11th Annual European Global Challenge Volleyball Tournament as the starting libero for the U.S. Westside, California U17 team .

Once again, an audience full of mainly Realtors and property managers filled the South Lake Tahoe City Council Chambers as the topic of Vacation Home Rentals (VHR) was on the agenda for discussion.

Renting a vacation home is being increasingly popular in South Lake Tahoe just as in other communities. Many tourists prefer to rent a VHR instead of a traditional motel or hotel room. There are many reasons from enjoying time with family to reunions and wedding parties.

The number to remember: 6229.1

This has been determined to be the high water mark of Lake Tahoe, and the owner of the Beach Retreat at Tahoe must allow 100-feet of beach from this mark for public use.

There was standing room only at Tuesday's City Council meeting as changes to the current Vacation Home Rental (VHR) ordinance were on the agenda.

Most of the audience was from the real estate and home rental management companies, both of whom felt there would be a lot of loss should a stricter policy be enforced.

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.

Janet McDougall used the public comment portion of a recent South Lake Tahoe City Council meeting to speak of her concern that people would lose access to Connelly Beach. Council members took interest and the subject is on Tuesday's Council agenda.

McDougall, a resident of South Lake Tahoe since 1963 and a graduate of South Tahoe High in 1975, spent 17 years working in the city attorney's office in town. She said that during that time she saw a growing amount of beaches becoming unavailable to the public.

Guidelines for the operation of Bingo games in South Lake Tahoe are to be voted on during the City Council meeting on September 2. In an effort to clean up the city's code, City Attorney Tom Watson has been evaluating and updating all rules in the books, and the Bingo rules are part of this change.

The South Lake Tahoe City Council agreed to a settlement agreement on Tuesday with former City employee Stan Sherer who had sued for wrongful termination in 2013. He claimed that his termination was based on age discrimination.

According to documents received by South Tahoe Now, the City was cleared of any wrongdoing and is not required to pay anything to Sherer, including attorney's fee. In turn, the City has agreed to not sue Sherer who served as the Community Services Director for 18 months beginning in January 2011.

Fire restrictions have gone into effect in the Lake Tahoe Basin. Campfires and charcoal barbecues will be restricted to designated recreation sites, and other fire-related activities will be prohibited until the end of fire season. “With record drought conditions in the West, agencies in both California and Nevada are anticipating increased fire activity,” said Fire Management Officer, Kit Bailey. “Fire restrictions help reduce the possibility of accidental human caused fires.”

On National Forest System land fire restrictions mean:

The U.S. Forest Service Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit began a mastication project last week on the North Shore of Lake Tahoe off of Fairway Drive near Tahoe City.

The project will eliminate material left behind after thinning for fuels reduction and involves using a masticator, which is a large lawn-mower type of heavy equipment that runs over debris and chops it up into smaller pieces.

Learning about how to run a business in South Lake Tahoe isn't always the easiest task, but the City took one step closer to stream lining the process at a community meeting Wednesday night.

City Attorney Tom Watson led a discussion group in the City Council chambers, trying to find out what issues businesses have with the City and the City Code.

"Its not often you can come to City Council and look back to see how we got where we are today with such incredibly great news in such a short time," said South Lake Tahoe City Manager Nancy Kerry during Tuesday's City Council meeting.

Kerry highlighted the path the city has been on over the last 12 years, from the years leading to the recession, what happened during the recession, and where the city is headed now that there is a net positive cash flow of over $1,000,000.

"We will never, never forget" were the words spoken by U.S. Rep. Tom McClintock, 4th District of California, as Gold Star Peak was dedicated in South Lake Tahoe today. A bronze memorial plaque commemorating the peak was unveiled during the ceremony held at Lakeview Commons. Mayor Tom Davis told the group gathered, "We're proud to be able to have a memorial we can view every day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year." The plaque is placed near beach level with a clear view of Gold Star Peak.

UPDATE: Beginning Monday, July 1, fire restrictions will go into effect in the Lake Tahoe Basin. Campfires and charcoal barbecues will be restricted to designated recreation sites, and other fire-related activities will be prohibited until the end of fire season.

“Weather patterns this winter and spring are similar to conditions in 2007, the year of the Angora Fire,” said Fire Prevention Officer, Beth Brady. “Even with the rain we have received, at this point, it won’t alleviate this summer’s high risk of wildfires.”