building

Approximately $158 million was spent on Lake Tahoe water quality improvement projects around Lake Tahoe in 2016, and Caltrans is not done.

In 2017 two major projects will get underway, one on each end of the lake.

During the busy 2016 season, Caltrans and its contractors completed work on two projects on State Highway 89 and made significant progress on a third.

What happened in 2016:

By now, most people have heard: Federal courts upheld the 2012 Regional Plan for Lake Tahoe, affirming the blueprint that maintains development caps and strengthens environmental protections while encouraging community revitalization, redevelopment, and updated infrastructure.

Capturing the most attention these days is the traffic in our small communities from millions of people who drive up to enjoy our lake. And the transportation system is where TRPA is giving more focused attention to benefit Tahoe’s environment, economy, and quality of life.

Roman Kreminski lives in South Lake Tahoe and, like many others, makes his living in building "Spec Homes," the process of building and selling homes for sale without any particular buyer in mind. It used to be a good business for Kreminski based on speculation of a strong real estate market and buyers waiting to invest in paradise.

He kept about five local families working full time to build the homes.

After Thursday's South Lake Tahoe Planning Commission meeting Kreminski said, "I'm done."

The future of the Blue Granite Climbing Gym in South Lake Tahoe was made much clearer Thursday during the South Lake Tahoe Planning Commission meeting.

Smart & Final is planning their return to South Lake Tahoe and plan on moving into the remodeled Staples building on Highway 50 by mid-January, 2017.

The Southern California based business will be holding a job fair for those interested in working in the local store on Tuesday, November 15 from 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.at Harrah's Tahoe. Applications can be downloaded on their website and brought to the job fair, or into the store once it is opened.

All candidates for South Lake Tahoe City Council were given the same questions. With just one day to go to the elections, we will be featuring their answers and a video of their interview with Tahoe Regional Young Professionals through the day.

Tamara Wallace, 46, Retired Businesswoman/Chamber Exec

Discuss your interest in serving on City Council. What is your prior experience in working with civic, community or governmental organizations?

All candidates for South Lake Tahoe City Council were given the same questions. With just one day to go to the elections, we will be featuring their answers and a video of their interview with Tahoe Regional Young Professionals through the day.

Brooke Laine, 52, Branch Manager, US Bank, Born and raised in SLT

Discuss your interest in serving on City Council. What is your prior experience in working with civic, community or governmental organizations?

Adults looking to get their high school equivalency, take workforce readiness classes, or explore individualized career and educational pathway planning are invited to attend an informational session at Lake Tahoe Community College on November 9.

LTCC’s Adult Education Consortium, called ADVANCE, is establishing a solid network of providers, services, and industry partners throughout the South Tahoe and Alpine communities to ensure adults have access to a broad range of opportunities to help them “learn, earn, and grow” in their education, career and community.

The 14th Annual Halloween Treat Street will be held at Lake Tahoe Community College (LTCC) on Halloween from 5:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. in the school's physical education building. This is a safe, warm (and dry) indoor event hosted by radio station KRLT 93.9FM/KOWL 1490AM.

When one sees a vacant lot in the Lake Tahoe Basin with a California Tahoe Conservancy (CTC) sign placed on a tree within its borders, it normally that means the parcel will remain vacant.

And in most cases, that is true.

In the basin, CTC owns 4,780 parcels of land totaling 6,400 acres, many of those parcels are about 1/4 acre in size. In the 1980s and 1990s, most of these smaller lots were purchased due to their being deemed environmentally sensitive. If a lot, or a portion of a lot, was once considered to be sensitive, they are permanently protected and cannot be built upon.

Ever find yourself spending a day on the slopes when you wish you could get a quick work task completed, then get back to skiing or boarding? That wish will be a reality this winter as Tahoe Mountain Lab and Vail Resorts have developed a first of its kind coworking space at Heavenly Mountain's Lakeview Lodge.

Starting in December, the on-mountain solution will open for people that need to hammer out a few hours of work but would still like to enjoy a day on the slopes.

Two hot topics for locals were discussed during a Caltrans informational meeting at the Lake Tahoe Airport on Thursday evening: A roundabout and viaduct replacement.

The 3-legged Roundabout

Citing the safety of the intersection of Highway 50 and 89 in Meyers as the catalyst, project managers, engineers and planners unveiled their plans for a three-legged roundabout at the intersection to the dozens of interested citizens who attended.

There are many important issues concerning the Nation, California and South Lake on the November 8th ballot. Not only we will decide on who the next President is but we’ll also be voting in two City Officials, who some could argue will actually have a greater impact on our daily lives than the Nation’s Leader.

The South Lake Tahoe chapter of the Citizen's Climate Lobby recently asked all ten of the candidates their views on climate change, green buildings and our carbon footprint and how they can make a change if elected.

The Citizen's Climate Lobby is an organization focused on national policies to address climate change, and the South Lake Tahoe chapter is one of 354 in the United States and abroad.

Patricia Sussman of the local chapter said just five of the candidates responded to their questions.

We've all seen the recent NFL player's protest over the treatment of blacks by not standing during the playing of the National Anthem at games. While I don’t agree with their method, it made me think about the way people respect the flag in general.

When growing up I always heard "Don't let the flag touch the ground," "The flag is only outside during daylight hours and not during rain or bad weather," and, as a Girl Scout, I learned how to fold the flag in the correct manner and learned the flag had to be burned if it was mistreated.

The following are incidents the South Lake Tahoe Fire Rescue department responded to from October 1 - 11, 2016.

10/1/16: 10 calls - 5 EMS, 1 interfacility psych transfer, 1 person in distress, 2 illegal attempts to burn, 1 alarm sounded - no fire

10/2/16: 7 calls - 3 EMS, 1 building fire, 1 vehicle accident with injuries, 1 interfacility psych transfer, 1 chimney or flue fire

10/3/16: 8 calls - 4 EMS, 2 interfacility transfers, 1 gas leak, 1 good intent call

10/4/16: 7 calls - 5 EMS, 1 no incidents found upon arrival

Nevada wildlife biologists released a three-plus year old male black bear back into the forest near the top of Mt. Rose Summit on Monday morning after capturing him Sunday in Incline Village at Lake Tahoe.

Nevada Department of Wildlife trapped the young bear while attempting to trap another bear that had caused damage to a building, according to wildlife biologist Carl Lackey. The bear that was captured and then later released Monday wasn't the bear Lackey was looking for.

Lackey says that NDOW had handled the released bear once before in the mountains east of the Lake Tahoe Basin.

To get a look at the properties the County owns, and to get a look at services and programs going on in South Lake Tahoe, the El Dorado County Board of Supervisors (BOS) met on the South Shore last week for tours and discussions.

The County owned properties in SLT were highlighted during a morning tour. Each of the properties, the Senior Center, the Museum, the Art League building and the Visitor's Authority building, are owned by the County and maintained by the City.

When Krysinthia White’s team, 20 Percent Survival, completed the MedWAR Tahoe Challenge at the Taylor Creek Sno-Park, they knew it was not a first place finish. Yet they were still smiling after six flat tires, a bee sting, and multiple wrong turns.

“From our perspective, last place was the best place,” says White. “We had the entire lake [Fallen Leaf] to ourselves and pretty much the entire trail.”

20 Percent Survival is one of ten teams of wilderness enthusiasts and medical responders who participated in the inaugural MedWAR Tahoe Challenge on Saturday, September 17.

An old, blue building on the corner of Highway 50 and Sawmill Road adjacent to the Upper Truckee River is being demolished, and the sensitive land it sits on will be restored to natural wetlands.

The building is near the site of the historic Ethel's Pie Shop.

The 1.05 acre parcel was acquired by the California Tahoe Conservancy under its Tahoe Livable Communities Program in December 2015.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. – As part of ongoing efforts to evaluate and use numerous tools to fight aquatic invasive plants in the Tahoe Keys, the Tahoe Keys Property Owners Association recently announced its plans to apply for a permit for a small-scale demonstration of aquatic herbicides in 2018.

At the Lake Tahoe Summit last month, we saw the power of what we can accomplish when we work together. Progress over the last two decades was showcased when President Obama made his first-ever visit to Tahoe and said conservation and restoration efforts like ours are more important than ever as the nation works to adapt to a changing climate and create a more resilient environment.

The South Lake Tahoe City Council meeting on Tuesday will feature the following topics:

Commercial Floor Space - Doctors Steve Leman and Clint Purvance have applied for Commercial Floor Space allocations (CFA) for three projects at the Y area. Together they are asking for 6,170 square feet of CFA from the City's allotment for a building at 941 Emerald Bay Road. Leman himself is asking for 4,621 square feet at 2215 South Avenue and another 4,025 at 1072 4TH Street. He also wants to purchase another 28,940 Square Feet of 1B Banked Land Coverage from the City.

Three new art exhibits will be featured at Lake Tahoe Community College this fall and they will be celebrated with a free artist reception from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m on Thursday, September 29. Meet the artists and enjoy light refreshments with fellow art lovers.