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After an outpouring of support from the community, Lake Tahoe Community College's Theater Arts program will continue as its vitality is evaluated and its future determined with the help of a community based task force.

Being gay and a high school student in South Lake Tahoe in 2005 was challenging.

"It was a scary, dark place at the time," said Alex Boyar, who 'came out of the closet' at age 14. "Its a much different environment today."

Boyar, along with his mother Dr. Virginia Berry and sister Christina Boyar, stopped by South Tahoe High Thursday to talk to the students of Ally, the Gay-Straight Alliance Club at the school that he co-founded in 2005.

Jeff DeFranco will become the fifth superintendent/president of Lake Tahoe Community College on February 1, 2016, succeeding Dr. Kindred Murillo who is leaving to take the same position at Southwestern College in Chula Vista.

The LTCC Board of Trustees announced their selection at Tuesday's board meeting. DeFranco is currently the school's vice president of administrative services, a job he has held since 2012.

"This is very surreal," DeFranco said as he addressed the trustees after the announcement. "It's a dream come true."

The community is invited to attend the 22nd annual Holiday Extravaganza in the MontBleu Showroom on Wednesday, December 14 and Thursday, December 15, 2016 at 7:00 p.m. each evening.

Since 1995, Lake Tahoe Unified School District choirs from the 3rd through 12th grades have performed on the stage for their holiday concert. They will once again be joined by the Faculty/Parent choir, Blue Ribbon Classical Choir, all who sing together for the big finale.

Dr. Kindred Murillo was one of the top three finalists for Chancellor of the Contra Costa Community College District (CCCCD), but during a special meeting on Friday, that job was given to the chancellor of University of Minnesota Crookston.

'I was honored to be a finalist, and I wish Dr. Fred Wood the very best," Murillo told South Tahoe Now.

Dr. Annie Davidson should be the next LTUSD School Board member from Trustee Area #1. Since coming to Lake Tahoe, she has jumped into the community with great energy and commitment. For example, she is an adjunct faculty member of Lake Tahoe Community College and co-teacher at Tahoe Parents Nursery School with Aileen Yure and Jennifer David. She served as member of the Sierra House Elementary PTA Board as a co-grant coordinator, classroom volunteer, and also volunteers with the Coalition for the Homeless and Warm Room Advisory Council.

UPDATE 9AM: Carson City School District Superintendent Richard Stokes offered condolences on behalf of Carson High School to family members after it was learned a 16-year-old CHS male student was killed in a rollover crash in Goni Canyon early this morning. An adult also died in the accident. The names of the victims have not been released.

“On behalf of the school, our students and faculty, we are very sorry for this loss. Our thoughts go out to family and friends of the student,” said Stokes.

Dr. Annie Davidson filed Thursday to run for school board member of the Lake Tahoe Unified School District serving Trustee Area 1.

The commumity is invited to the Lake Tahoe Community College's Class of 2016 commencement on Friday, June 24 at South Tahoe Middle Schoolat 6:00 p.m. 174 students are graduating, 40 with honors, eight with highest honores, 36 with departmental certificates and 61 with a transfer degree that guarantees them a seat in a California State University this fall.

The theme of graduation this year is based on a William Arthur Ward quote: "If you can imagine it, you can achieve it. If you can dream it, you can become it."

Mickey George, a member of the Whittell High School class of 2012, helped the California Polytechnic State University (Cal Poly) Supermileage Team recently achieve high scores at the Shell Oil Eco-Marathon in Detroit.

The three-day event scores a car's performance based on energy efficiency, not speed. George served as the team's manufacturing lead.

Achieving 1,215 miles per gallon, Cal Poly's gasoline-fueled prototype vehicle was the top-scoring American entry and placed third overall at the 10th annual competition.

The community is warmly invited to Lake Tahoe Community College on Thursday, April 14 to enjoy two new art exhibits celebrating the talents of LTCC’s faculty, staff, and students. Free artist receptions will be held simultaneously from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m., offering a chance to meet the artists whose work will be on display and enjoy light refreshments.

On Tuesday night at the annual Jalé and Warren Trepp Business Plan Competition, three teams of young entrepreneurs studying at Sierra Nevada College competed for $6,000 in cash prizes.

This event is one of the most exciting celebrations of the academic year at SNC Tahoe. After each team presented twenty-minute oral presentations to a panel of live, external judges and a public audience of more than 100 people, the room waited in anticipation for the announcement of the winners.

Wednesday was National Signing Day, and eleven players on the the Lake Tahoe Community College Coyote soccer team signed letters of intent and accepted scholarships to attend four-year colleges. LTCC is the only Junior College in the country to send 100 percent of its sophomore team members to a four-year university to play sports.

Another STHS graduate and LTCC soccer player, Andres Orozco, signed a letter of intent to attend University of Antelope Valley in Lancaster, Calif.

The Coyotes made it to the state's Final Four this year and were the Golden Valley Conference Champs.

The Improv at Harveys – Howie Nave: Host & Emcee, Henry Phillips and Sandro Iocolano, Wednesday – Sunday, January 20 – 24, 2016 The Improv presents the funniest names in comedy every week in the Cabaret Theater at Harveys Lake Tahoe! Shows happen at 9 pm every Wednesday through Sunday.(775) 588-1728

Production of Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Cinderella at the South Tahoe High School

The Lake Tahoe Community College Board of Trustees is meeting in closed session tonight to discuss the search for the school's next president following the announcement that Superintendent/President Dr. Kindred Murillo will be leaving her post.

Murillo, who started at the college in July, 2011, requested the Board meet and discuss an exit date for her which would take place sometime in the next 18 months.

During the January 19 meeting, the Board will also discuss a timeline for the process of finding Murillo's replacement.

South Lake Tahoe Police Officer Andy Eissinger is enjoying his new job as the Resource Officer at South Tahoe High, having moved into the position when Aaron Crawford retired at the end of the 2014-15 school year.

Eissinger said the first five months on the job have gone well and have been a nice break from being on patrol for the City the last eight years. He spends all eight hours of the day on the campus, interacting with students and dealing with issues that come up on a daily basis.

A 3-2 vote cast last Monday repealed a portion of the 2013 Ban on Single-Use Plastic Carryout Bags. I don’t intend this to be a discussion on whether plastic bags should be banned or not (although I openly support policies that bring about greater environmental stewardship in our community), but I am questioning whether there was due diligence in acquiring the data needed to accurately represent the desires of the community when making this decision.

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Lake Tahoe Community College is taking environmental course work to a new level with its new Environmental Technology and Sustainability (ETS) program, being offered for the first time starting this fall. The new ETS program offers three areas of concentration: biological resources, physical resources, and sustainability. Students can earn an Associate of Arts degree, as well as a Certificate of Achievement.

To help mark the late Malcolm X’s birthday, Lake Tahoe Community College is hosting a screening of his most famous speech followed by a faculty panel discussion on Tuesday, May 19 from 12 p.m. to 2 p.m. in the Board/Aspen Room inside the library building.

This is a free event, and the entire community is welcome and encouraged to participate.

Lake Tahoe SummerFest’s fourth season, “Passport to a World of Music,” will bring Mozart, Beethoven, Mendelssohn to audiences July 31 – Aug. 16 (www.TahoeSummerFest.org). The three weekend series of nine different concerts will transport attendees through masterpieces translated by renowned artists and a nationally acclaimed orchestra of 40 players.

The Lake Tahoe Community College Foundation and Rotary Club of South Lake Tahoe are teaming up once again for the fourth annual “Off the Wall” Art Auction at LTCC. Participants can enjoy works of art created by locally and regionally known artists, bid on their favorites, and support local education and charitable organizations, all at the same time.

The artwork up for auction is being donated by a number of local artists, including nationally known artist and LTCC Art Department Chair Phyllis Shafer, David Russo, and many other Art Department faculty members.

Across the nation, adjunct faculty at colleges will be walking off the job Wednesday in recognition of National Adjunct Walkout Day. In South Lake Tahoe though, full and part-time faculty at LTCC will host a "Teach-In" to educate students and the public about adjunct positions.

From 11 a.m. to 12 p.m., faculty, students and the public will meet in the Main Building's Commons to discuss part-time faculty concerns nationwide, including fair wages, improved job security, and better working conditions.

The 20th Annual MontBleu Holiday Extravaganza will highlight the talents of South Lake Tahoe children, teachers, parents and alumni.

Lake Tahoe Community College seeks submissions of poetry, fiction, and creative non-fiction for its 25th annual edition of The Kokanee literary journal

If you are, or have been, a student or faculty member of Lake Tahoe Community College, you are eligible to submit up to five poems or up to two pieces of literacy fiction or non-fiction for publication in the journal.

Writers can submit both prose and poetry pieces for consideration.