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SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - After a referendum to put a halt to the South Lake Tahoe cannabis ordinance was successful, a meeting held Monday was to work through the points of the ordinance Cody Bass and Tahoe Wellness Cooperative took issue with.

Led by the City Council representatives Austin Sass and Brooke Laine, members of the original cannabis workgroup, Cody Bass and some members of the public, about two dozen in total, spent three hours trying to come up direction for the city attorney to use in creating a new ordinance.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - Each of the nine candidates for City Council answered the same ten questions that were given to them by South Tahoe Now. For nine consecutive days the candidate's responses will be shared in the order received.

Today, the first-time candidate Bruce Grego gives his responses as he seeks a seat again on the South Lake Tahoe City Council:

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - There will be no legal sales of adult-use marijuana in South Lake Tahoe until at least 2019 after the referendum against the City's Cannabis Ordinance passed. Assistant City Clerk Sue Blankenship certified the results of the sample signature count by the El Dorado County Elections Department and now it's the City Council's turn.

Lake Tahoe South Shore Chamber of Commerce (Tahoe Chamber) is hosting a candidate forum on October 4 for candidates running for South Lake Tahoe City Council. Three City Council member seats are up for election, which includes those held by incumbents, and candidates, Wendy David, Tom Davis and Austin Sass. All nine candidates are confirmed to attend.

The forum will be held in the Lake Tahoe Community College Board Room from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.

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 Family Resource Center (FRC) has long been a stronghold for the South Lake Tahoe community, providing necessary life services to community members in need. This summer, the FRC was especially busy with the ninth year of Parabajitos, an early intervention and prevention program that aims to engage youth and strengthen their connection with their community. The FRC is also home to the Bijou Community Garden, a project started four years ago by community member Brian Hirdman.

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This story has been updated to include Lake Tahoe Community College Board of Trustees candidates.

Nine South Lake Tahoe residents have qualified to run in November and thrown in their hats for three open seats on City Council.

The three incumbents, Mayor Wendy David, Mayor Pro Tem Tom Davis and Councilman Austin Sass will all be running for reelection. They will be joined by some veterans of local politics as well as newcomers.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - It takes more than soil and seeds to make a garden, it takes nutrients and care, and in the case of the memorial garden at the South Lake Tahoe Library, it takes a love of books and the color purple.

Barbara Berezin-Kearney, affectionately known as BB, was a Literacy Specialist at South Lake Tahoe Library who spent endless hours teaching people to read at the library and jail so they could have a better future. After her passing in 2002, a memorial garden was built to remember her warm, loving and caring personality.

For the second time this week, a group gathering signatures to get initiatives on November's ballot has failed to get past the first phase of signature validation.

On Friday, the El Dorado County Elections Department said the group attempting to grandfather in the existing medical marijuana dispensary in South Lake Tahoe and allow them to sell adult use marijuana failed the first count of a sample 500 signatures.

The Tahoe Wellness Cooperative at 3445 Lake Tahoe Boulevard is the only medical marijuana dispensary in the City limits.

The Tahoe Regional Planning Agency (TRPA) has published the summer 2018 edition of Tahoe In Depth. The award-winning newspaper, in its sixth year of publication, strives to provide residents, visitors, and policymakers with information about protecting, enjoying, and exploring the Lake Tahoe Basin.

The summer 2018 edition includes a special report on 10 years of fighting aquatic invasive species at Lake Tahoe, as well as the 10th anniversary of the watercraft inspection program that has successfully prevented any new introductions of aquatic invasive species over the last decade.

UPDATE 11:09PM: A voluntary evacuation order was placed Tuesday night for the Carson Colony area off of Curry Street in South Carson City. The Voltaire Canyon area is also voluntary evacuation. Plans are in the works to open a shelter for those displaced.
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UPDATE 10:54PM: Carson City Sheriff Ken Furlong said Tuesday night's fire at Voltaire Canyon was started by campers who were burning excrement and toilet paper.

There were two campers detained and were cooperative, said Furlong. There were up to eight individuals who were camping in the area who were taken off the hill.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. – Lake Tahoe Golf Course has retained its designation as a "Certified Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary" through the Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary Program for Golf Courses, an Audubon International program.

Bobby Jaeger, Golf Course Superintendent, led the effort to maintain sanctuary status on this course. Lake Tahoe Golf Course was designated as a Certified Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary in 2003 and is one of 904 courses in the world to currently be designated as such.

The water content in the Sierra snowpack was measured in Phillips April 2, 2018 and it is at 49 percent of the April 1 average.

The California Department of Water Resources snow survey team did their final physical measurement of the year at their normal location in Phillips at the intersection of Highway 50 and Sierra-at-Tahoe Road, west of Lake Tahoe.

Depth of the snow was measured at 32.1 inches and it contained 12.4 inches of water which is 49 percent of long term average for April 1 at the location.

The snowpack measured in at 52 percent of average.

Tahoe Wellness Cooperative (TWC), the only medicinal marijuana collective in South Lake Tahoe, was given the boost they needed Tuesday during a special SLT City Council meeting.

Cody Bass, the nonprofit's executive director, has been unable to purchase many products for this business since retail sales of marijuana have been allowed in the state of California. Those businesses are now only allowed to sell to others with a license.

Do you know someone who loves Lake Tahoe and strives to protect it every day? Would you like to see their dedication recognized? Now’s your chance.

The 2018 Lake Spirit Awards recognize real people making real progress in conserving Lake Tahoe’s unique natural environment and are now open for nominations. The awards honor those committed to a spirit of cooperation and protecting Lake Tahoe.

Even with the recent snowfall, the monthly measurement of the snowpack at Phillip Station west of Lake Tahoe was just 14 percent of the historical average. The Department of Water Resources (DWR) manual snow survey found little snowpack there, two months into what is typically California’s wettest three months.

Measurements at Phillips Station revealed a snow water equivalent (SWE) of 2.6 inches at Phillips as measured there since 1964. SWE is the depth of water that theoretically would result if the entire snowpack melted instantaneously.

January is National Radon Action Month, and University of Nevada Cooperative Extension’s Radon Education Program is offering educational presentations and free radon test kits across the State of Nevada.

One presentation is scheduled for 6:00 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 23 at the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency (TRPA) offices in Stateline, 128 Market St. University of Nevada Cooperative Extension has partnered with the California Radon Program, so free radon test kits will be available at the event for residents of both states.

Snow was hard to find Wednesday during the California Department of Water Resources (DWR) first measurement of the snowpack in the Sierra Nevada this winter.

Snowpack is off to a slow start, with just 3 percent of average found at Phillips Station, The measurement January 3 revealed a snow water equivalent (SWE) of 0.4 inches. The average is 11.3 inches in early January at Phillips, as measured there since 1964. It's elevation is 6,873 feet and located at the intersection of Highway 50 and Sierra-at-Tahoe Road.

Plans for the next phase of a multi-agency project to connect North Lake Tahoe to South Lake Tahoe along State Route 28 with a Class 1 shared-use pathway are underway, and the U.S. Forest Service Lake Tahoe Basin Management is seeking public input.

What is currently six portable buildings at the Al Tahoe school site could be a new home for the Boys & Girls Club of Lake Tahoe (BGCLT). That is the idea Jude Wood presented to the school board Tuesday night.

Wood, the BGCLT Executive Director, spoke in front of the Lake Tahoe Unified School District's Trustees, giving them a look into a proposed partnership and future facility use agreement with the District with a new Clubhouse built on District owned property. The Club would fully fund the new building.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. – The Barton Foundation is delighted to announce the appointment of Troy Matthews as its new Executive Director.

Matthews’ commitment to serving his community is exhibited through his involvement and leadership in multiple organizations including Tahoe Regional Young Professionals, the South Tahoe Drug Free Coalition, Progress for Tahoe, El Dorado County Housing Task Force, LTCC Theater Arts Task Force, Leadership Lake Tahoe, and serving on the Lake Tahoe Unified School District School Board.

The Tahoe Regional Planning Agency (TRPA) Governing Board on Wednesday approved an emergency permit for Caltrans to remove hazardous dying trees along its highways and rights of way in the Tahoe Basin.

California Gov. Jerry Brown declared a tree mortality emergency in October 2015 because of widespread tree die-offs after several years of severe drought. There are now an estimated 102 million dead trees in California, with the greatest tree mortality in the Southern Sierra Nevada.

South Lake Tahoe Fire Rescue along with multiple local agencies are coming together and hosting the 4th annual Wildfire Safety Expo on Saturday, June 17 from 12:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. in the TJ Maxx parking lot located at the “Y” where
Highways 50 and 89 intersect.

Everyone one is invited to the free event with lots of information about being prepared in case of a wildfire.

This week, June 4-10, is Community Health Improvement Week. It is a national celebration to recognize the work and efforts of health professionals to improve their community’s health.

One thing you will hear from Barton Health professionals is that improving the health and wellness in our community takes collaboration and commitment. This can be seen in the actions taken in the last two years to address South Lake Tahoe’s most pressing health concerns.