bear

Work along Pioneer Trail will continue through mid-October to move power lines underground from Black Bart Court to just south of Golden Bear Trail.

A contractor for Liberty Utilities has already started on the project which could result in traffic delays.

Approximately 5,800 feet of overhead power lines (as well as communication lines owned by AT&T and Charter Communications) are being relocated underground. The work is expected to continue through mid-October this year, and will be completed next year during the allowed construction time period of May-October.

It is dark. It is 2:00 a.m. on Friday, July 15 at the El Dorado County Sheriff's Office (EDSO) in Placerville. It is early, but not too early to prevent a group of people to come see Camino resident Hervé Leconte leave on his 65-mile run to the EDSO building in South Lake Tahoe.

"This is fantastic," said South Lake Tahoe Mayor Wendy David. "We get to show our visitors what a great sense of community we have."

Two homeowners associations rose to the challenge when Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval challenged Nevadans to think like a bear as he proclaimed July as Bear Logic Month.

“That is what Bear Logic is all about, thinking like a bear,” said Nevada Department of Wildlife (NDOW) black bear biologist Carl Lackey.

On the South Shore, Tahoe Village Homeowners Association on Upper Kingsbury, and in Reno, the Caughlin Ranch Homeowners Association, have both been recognized by NDOW for their bear logic awareness efforts.

Nevada Department of Wildlife officials killed a two-year-old bear after it made repeated forays into the Sand Harbor area of Lake Tahoe Nevada State Park.

According to department spokesman Chris Healy the bear displayed troubling behavior that prompted officials to capture and euthanize it.

“It is a tough situation,” Healy said. “Outwardly it looked healthy but the behavior was troubling.”

According to NDOW, the bear entered the parking area at Sand Harbor late Thursday morning. It raided a cooler that was in the back of an open-top Jeep.

Several local agencies have teamed together to inform the public on the importance of proper food storage and trash disposal at their Lake Tahoe homes and vacation rentals.

This week's Lake Tahoe Humane Society Pet of the Week is Troy. He is about three-years-old. Troy prefers to be an only cat, and has been living as an indoor-outdoor cat (though cats in Lake Tahoe being kept indoors is much safer for them). He ended up at Animal Services because he got out, and his owners never looked for him.

Go visit Troy out at The El Dorado County Animal Services, 530-573-7925. For Spay-Neuter services and other support, call the Lake Tahoe Humane Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals at 530-542-2857.

Dear Henry,

I’m a local and have noticed the bears are back! I’ve already seen cubs and a lot more sightings in my neighborhood when compared to last year. Could you cover some bear safety tips in your article for those who are new to area or visiting in one of the many vacation homes?

Thanks,
Ron

Thanks Ron,

El Dorado County Sheriff's Office responds to calls throughout the county.

The following are calls that only pertain to the South Shore. There may be some missing calls due to sheriff's logs not being completed at press time and the story will be updated when provided.

3/13
2:34 p.m. - Possession of a controlled substance - A 29-YEAR-OLD MALE WAS ARRESTED

3/14
1:00 p.m. - False Imprisonment and Human Trafficking

1:05 p.m. - Found Property - High Meadows Trail - A BANK DEBIT CARD WAS REPORTED AS FOUND PROPERTY.

3/15

Two different incidents on the South Shore Sunday night left 3,510 customers without power for about 45 minutes.

At 9:35 p.m., the California Highway Patrol responded to a collision near the intersection of Pioneer Trail and Golden Bear Trail. A 39-year-old South Lake Tahoe resident lost control of his pick-up truck on snow and ice as he headed around a curved in the southbound lane on Pioneer. He veered into a utility pole causing damage to the truck and breaking the pole, but there were no injuries to the driver or his passenger.

The Polar Bear Plunge on Saturday, March 19 just got safer with the addition of a team made up of Douglas County Sheriff's Deputies and Explorer Scouts. Dubbed Frosty 5-0, the group will be swimming in the annual event for Northern Nevada Special Olympics at Zephyr Cove at Lake Tahoe starting at 9:00 a.m.

It was a very short South Lake Tahoe City Council agenda Tuesday, but one that brought out passionate comments on the dais, and what one witness called "bickering."

The lone new business item was for the creation of a City policy where local parades are concerned, an item requested to be placed on the agenda by Councilmember JoAnn Conner.

On January 16, staff and physicians from the Tahoe Center for Orthopedics implemented their medical skills and physical talent at the MedWAR Challenge in Mesa, Arizona.

A ski trip to South Lake Tahoe by a group of friends from the San Francisco Bay Area turned into a trip to the hospital after one of them fell while skiing on December 29, 2015.

Ski accidents do happens often, but the international attention the victim's accident got from a news source in Ireland gained attention from South Lake Tahoe locals following the photo and story on social media that the injury was from a bear attack.

Lake Tahoe Wildlife Care welcomed a new house guest for the winter, one-year-old China.

China is a 40 pound male bear cub who just arrived from China Peak, near Huntington Lake, outside of Fresno. LTWC names the cubs that come to their center after the region they come from.

The first year cub's mother had to be euthanized after receiving irreparable damage after being hit by a car. China will be living at LTWC for the remainder of the winter with two other cubs that came from Sequoia.

The fourth annual Holiday Parade will make its way through South Lake Tahoe on Saturday, December 12 starting at 3:00 p.m.

Golden Bear Events is the organizer of the event which will raise money and food for Christmas Cheer, South Lake Tahoe's year-round food pantry.

This year, ten parade entries will start at the top of Ski Run Blvd, head down towards the lake, turn west on Highway 50 and end in the TJMaxx parking lot where people can enjoy cookies and a visit with Santa Claus. The parade should end there at approximately 3:45 p.m.

Deputies from the El Dorado County Sheriff's Office were called out to the neighborhood of Minniconiou and Susquehana Drives on Wednesday morning to reports an aggressive 700-800 pound bear.

The bear had reportedly been disrupting the neighborhood for several weeks by breaking into multiple residences.

Deputies located the bear and attempted to get the bear to move away from the residential area, using loud noises and less lethal bean bag rounds. In most cases these types of tactics are very successful and result in the bear leaving the area.

The annual Barton Foundation Festival of Trees and Lights opened Wednesday at MontBleu with tree judging and the Senior Stroll.

The winners of the designer and school trees and wreath contests:

Designer Tree Category

Best Interpretation of Theme: No Place Like Home, by Cyndy Brown – Carlton

Most Elegant: Tantalizing Tango, by Belen Urrutia

Most “Out of the Box” (Creative): Steampunk Christmas, by Jeri Oishi & Enchanted Florist team

Best of Show: Tantalizing Tango, by Belen Urrutia

LTUSD Trees:

Lights, trees, action! Lake Tahoe community members and visitors are invited to celebrate the holiday season at the seventh annual Festival of Trees and Lights.

The family-friendly festival runs from December 2 through December 6 at MontBleu Resort Casino & Spa. This year, all proceeds will support prevention programs and trauma services for Barton Hospital’s Level III Trauma Center.

The Lake Valley Fire Protection District has released their schedule for their decorated Christmas Engine. The South Lake Tahoe Fire Department's schedule will be released at the end of next week.

December 11 – Echo View Estates, Tahoe Mountain Road, Mule Deer Circle
December 12 – Lake Tahoe Blvd from Boulder Mountain Drive to Grizzly Mountain Drive
December 13 – West side of North Upper Truckee from Zuni Street Highway 50, Chiapa Drive
December 14 – East side of North Upper Truckee from Grizzly Mountain to West San Bernardino Ave.

The fourth Annual Holiday Parade to benefit Christmas Cheer is seeking a sponsor to purchase a new banner. High winds last year destroyed the old banner which is on display at the South Lake Tahoe Visitors Center.

Parade organizer JoAnn Conner and her Golden Bear Events, is looking for donation(s) to help purchase a new one to leave more of the proceeds to Christmas Cheer, a local food closet.

This year's parade will be held on Saturday, December 12th, and begins at 3:00 p.m.

Smoke from prescribed burns moved into the Lake Tahoe basin on Monday, worrying many that there was a nearby out of control fire. Two huge plumes of smoke over the Sierras could be seen from Placerville during the afternoon.

Approximately 5,100 acres of National Forest land are slated to be burned this fall, winter and spring according to the U.S. Forest Service (USFS).

LONG-TERM PROJECTS

State Route 89 (Placer County): Work continues on a $70.1 million project from Tahoma to the "Y" junction with State Route 28 in Tahoe City on Lake Tahoe’s West Shore that will upgrade storm water drainage and treatment systems, add curb and gutter, resurface and realign the road, add new left-turn pockets and widen shoulders on a 9-mile stretch of the highway. Completion is expected in fall 2016.

Last year, it was the "Bear Selfie" craze that showed how people can disrespect nature. This year, the issue can be known as "Tree Tagging."