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SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - The former executive director of the Lake Tahoe Humane Society will be back in court on Monday, September 24 to face felony charges of embezzlement.

Nicola "Niki" Congero has been offered a plea agreement by the El Dorado County District Attorney's Office and has until the 8:30 a.m. hearing Monday to give them her answer. She is being represented by El Dorado County Public Defender James Warden who has been with Congero during her court hearings on August 28 and September 10.

Come and join us for The Hootchy Kootchy Girls Amateur Fantastic Fall Show on October 26-27 at the Reno Underground! This show has all of the glamour and vintage kitch that The Hootchy Kootchy Girls are known for, with a little Fall-tastic spice.

Channeling the old cabaret shows of the 1940's and 1950's, the Fantastic Fall show has dance, music and comedy. Guest artists include The Retro Radio Dolls, Chad Sweet and the dancers of the Hootchy Kootchy Girls Vintage Cabaret class.

A fun and unique night out!

FRIDAY OCT. 26TH AT 8:30PM (DOORS OPEN 1 HOUR BEFORE THE SHOW)

The Tahoe Women’s Community Fund (TWCF) will be celebrating two local women during their annual Membership Celebration Dinner on Tuesday, October 30, 2018, from 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. at Tahoe Beach Retreat. Tickets are on sale now for $35 each and can be purchased online at tahoewomenscommunityfund.org.

Everyone is welcome to attend, and it is the perfect opportunity to get to know the organization if you are not already a member.

On the morning of Saturday, September 15, Clean Tahoe and Keep Tahoe Blue volunteers scoured beaches, rivers, and meadows along the south and east shores of Lake Tahoe to pick up trash and debris as part of the 10th annual Great Sierra River Cleanup.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - September 21, 2018 is the date the City of South Lake Tahoe will start accepting development agreements for the six cannabis licenses up for grabs after City Council approved a cannabis ordinance on August 21, 2018.

That is, unless a group spearheaded by Cody Bass of Tahoe Wellness Cooperative and his attorney James Anthony gets enough signatures to stop the process.

In classic Tahoe style, when there is a problem we study it. In the past five years, the housing issue has been studied on several fronts. In that time, the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency, Placer County and the North Tahoe-Truckee area have all conducted Housing Studies and the City of South Lake Tahoe updated its Housing Element. What has been the result of all these studies? This column highlights the key recommendations from those studies and where we are now in terms of implementation.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - The Sierra Boulevard Complete Streets project that was slated to begin as soon as the 2018 building season began is now scheduled for a May 1, 2019 start (or sooner if weather allows).

El Dorado County Planning staff and Supervisor Sue Novasel will be at the Freel Perk Coffee Shop on Wednesday, September 19 to chat about the County's proposed Meyers Advisory Council.

Interested citizens can stop by at any between 10:00 a.m. and 12:00 p.m.

Novasel and staff will be available to discuss the Advisory Council and answer questions about the process to establish it. If you cannot attend, call 530.573.7905 for any questions and comments.

The resolution for establishing the Meyers Advisory Council:

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - A Cameron Park, California man has been identified as the swimmer who went missing in Lake Tahoe on Sunday, September 9, 2018.

Multiple agencies responded to the 5:36 p.m. call for help and a possible drowning on the lake near Nevada Beach including the Coast Guard, Tahoe Douglas Fire Department, South Lake Tahoe Police Department (SLTPD) and South Lake Tahoe Fire Department, El Dorado County Sheriff (EDSO) and Douglas County Sheriff's Offices (DCSO).

11:00 a.m. update 9/11/18 - Douglas County Sheriff's Office is reporting that two men went into the water and that one, a man in his 30s, has not been found at this time. The other man was transported to the hospital.

On Monday, underwater drones and K9s were used in the water along with law enforcement boats to aid in the search.

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LAKE TAHOE, Nev. - Multiple agencies spent Sunday night and most of Monday searching for a person who reportedly jumped off a boat near Nevada Beach.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, CALIF. - El Dorado County Sheriff's Office responds to calls throughout the county. The following are calls that only pertain to the South and West Shore, including Meyers, South Lake Tahoe, Meeks Bay, Tahoma and the Echo Summit area. There may be some missing calls due to sheriff's logs not being completed at time of story.

Some of those recently added to last week's log:

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1:00 p.m. update 9/8/18 - Firefighters now have a containment line around three percent of the boot fire which has now grown to 6,873 acres. US 395 nd SR 108 are now open. For a complete update: http://southtahoenow.com/story/09/08/2018/us-395-and-sr-108-open-near-boot-fire-forest-closed-public
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The Douglas County Sheriff's Office (DCSO) recently made connections with a senior citizen through their new Caring Neighbors Program. They found the senior had been scammed out of over $34,000 over the past 20 months.

In the program, a deputy and a volunteer visit seniors to obtain needed information such as consent, next of kin and medication information. The information is beneficial in case of a future emergency involving the senior citizen.

Early on the morning of September 3, 2018, over 70 Keep Tahoe Blue volunteers arrived at Commons Beach in Tahoe City to comb the sands along six miles of shoreline in search of items left behind by those enjoying the previous night’s fireworks festivities.

They collected 224 pounds of litter including 2,064 cigarette butts and 1,520 pieces of plastic. League to Save Lake Tahoe staff ship the cigarette butts to a company on the east coast that upcycles them into new plastic products. Plastic cannot be upcycled and end up in landfills.

The National Day of Suicide Awareness will be observed in South Lake Tahoe at the Suicide Prevention Network's 2nd annual Emily's Walk for Hope on Saturday, September 8 at 10:00 a.m. at Lakeview Commons.

Emily’s Walk for Hope was founded last year by longtime local, Susan Alessi who lost her daughter Emily Ann Alessi to suicide in 2014. The purpose of this walk is to honor her life, to remember those around us lost to suicide and to help end the stigma surrounding suicide.

The South Lake Tahoe Moose Lodge is hosting the 16th annual Kid’s Fishing
Derby on Sunday, September 16, 2018 at Tahoe Paradise Park’s Lake Baron.

The Derby is free to all children under the age of 16. Registration begins at 8:00 am at Lake Baron, near the main entrance. Hot Dogs, chips, sodas, and water are provided free to all registered children. The event wraps up at 2:00 p.m.

There is no greater responsibility in all of government than public safety and the public’s lifeline is the 9-1-1 system.

Every single day, people rely on 9-1-1 to connect with police, fire and EMS responders. For shooting events, wildfires, and even last year’s Oroville Dam incident, 9-1-1 call centers are regularly overwhelmed with calls from the public
requiring assistance. Unfortunately, an increasing reliance on cell phones and reduced “landline” usage is threatening the future of 9-1-1 services.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - A Nissan pickup truck ended up in a South Lake Tahoe home on Saturday afternoon after being struck from behind by a Dodge Ram truck.

At 1:30 p.m. on August 25, the driver of the pickup truck was driving on Pioneer Trail when he stopped to turn onto Herbert Avenue. He was struck from behind by the Dodge and passed out. His pickup then freewheeled down Herbert and crashed into a home at the corner of Warr Road and Herbert Avenue.

The driver was transported to Barton Hospital with undisclosed injuries. There were no other injuries.

The California Highway Patrol’s (CHP) Valley Division and Golden Gate Divisions, having jurisdiction over the Sacramento regions and San Francisco Bay Area, are partnering with the Nevada Highway Patrol (NHP) to participate in an “I-80 Challenge.”

This effort aims to reduce distracted and reckless driving along the 615 miles of Interstate 80 from San Francisco, Calif. to the Nevada/Utah Stateline from Monday, August 27 – Labor Day, September 3, 2018, by enhancing traffic safety, enforcement, and education along this section of the National Highway System.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - Many know Kelly Smith Cassidy as an artist who creates copper and bronze welded sculptures, but now many more will know her as the artist who created a burnbot for Burning Man.

Kelly, who is a seasoned "burner," heard from another that Burning Man had put out a request for proposals for panels and burnbots for the Man Pavilion, all which will be burned in a symbolic ritual on the final day of the popular event on Nevada's Black Rock Desert.

The final bottom barriers have been installed at Lakeside Marina, completing a project to cut light to invasive weeds that thrive in warmer parts of Lake Tahoe.

It's back to school from youth at the south end of Lake Tahoe on Monday, August 27. Both Lake Tahoe Unified School Distrist and Douglas County School District open their doors and welcome back students for the 2018/19 school year.

All school offices are open and available to help with registration and scheduling needs and to pick up schedules.

A 52-year-old South Lake Tahoe man was arrested in the area of North Curry and West Spear streets for felony suspicion of third DUI, driving on a revoked license, and following too close, a Carson City sheriff's deputy said.

Ragan Allen Stacey was arrested after deputies responded to a two vehicle crash Saturday evening. Dispatch advised the driver of one of the vehicles was walking away from the crash, and deputies were able to locate him on North Curry Street.

Nicola "Niki" Congero, the former Lake Tahoe Humane Society (LTHS) executive director accused of embezzlement, is now sitting in the El Dorado County Jail in Placerville.

On Sunday, August 19, 2018, the El Dorado County Sheriff's extradition team returned from Knoxville, Tennessee with Congero. She is accused of using the LTHS debit card on personal things such gambling, rental furniture for her home, dentist bills, family cell phones, repairs to family members vehicles, and numerous point of sale purchases with cash back at casinos, just to name a few.