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Update 12:22PM: A small brush fire on Cold Creek Trail in South Lake Tahoe is contained and burned about one-quarter of an acre, reports U.S. Forest Service spokeswoman Cheva Heck. Fire personnel from Lake Valley Fire Protection District and South Lake Tahoe and U.S. Forest Service brought the fire to containment. The cause of the fire is under investigation, Heck said. Initial reports that came in said the fire started as a backyard burn pile.

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RENO — Nevada’s Drought Response Committee has announced all Nevada counties as being on either drought alert or drought watch with 11 counties classified by the U.S. Drought Monitor as under severe drought and six counties under moderate drought. The committee is organizing and activating three regional task forces to address the drought impacts in local and regional areas to begin gathering information about local plans, needs, vulnerabilities and available resources.

A skydiving accident claimed the life of a South Lake Tahoe man on Tuesday. El Dorado County Sheriff's Office confirms that Robert Ranieri, 29, died after landing in Lake Tahoe. He was found submerged in the lake by divers. Ranieri was among three who were skydiving earlier Tuesday morning from a helicopter. Two other men were found safe. The following is a news statement from the El Dorado County Sheriff's Office:

SACRAMENTO, Calif. - California's unemployment rate dipped slightly in April to 10.9 percent, the state said Friday, as a federal survey showed 20,000 new jobs were created.The state's jobless rate...

CARSON CITY — While Mitt Romney and Barack Obama were campaigning elsewhere Tuesday, Nevada Democrats and Republicans took up the battle for the presidency on their behalf.
Rep. Joe Heck, R-Nev., held a telephone conference call to talk up Romney’s credentials as a “turnaround specialist” who will get the country back on track. He also criticized Obama for failing to get spending or the national deficit under control as he promised early on in his presidency.

CARSON CITY — A state agency announced Tuesday it plans to consolidate three separate boards that oversee workforce development into one, resulting in $5 million more in federal funds directed annually to helping train job seekers to find employment.
The plan, “Moving Nevada Forward: A Plan For Excellence in Workforce Development,” was released by the Nevada Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation (DETR).

CARSON CITY — A broader measure of Nevada’s unemployment picture, including those who have given up looking for work, showed slight but continued improvement through the first quarter of 2012, a federal report released today shows.
The rate in Nevada dropped from 22.7 percent in the four quarters through Dec. 31, 2011, to 22.3 percent through March 31, according to the quarterly report from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

CARSON CITY — A new business index evaluating the states on the effects of their tax systems on entrepreneurship and small business ranks Nevada 3rd behind South Dakota and Texas.
The Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council’s “Business Tax Index 2012” pulls together 18 different tax measures, and combines them into one tax score that allows the 50 states and District of Columbia to be compared and ranked.

Carson City, Nev. - This time of year is a perfect occasion to Be a Force of Nature and the Nevada Division of Emergency Management is proud to be promoting severe weather preparedness week. To help spread the word and make its employees and members of the community better prepared, the Nevada Division of Emergency Management is committed to being a leader for weather-readiness by knowing the risk, taking action and being an example.

U.S. Forest Service fuels management crews continue prescribed fire operations on Kingsbury Grade near Andria Drive the week of April 16, 2012. Operations may continue through the end of the week, weather and conditions permitting.
Residents and visitors can expect to see smoke from this prescribed fire project area. The Forest Service strives to minimize the impacts of smoke on local communities. Smoke-sensitive residents should consider staying indoors and keeping doors, windows and outside vents closed. To directly receive prescribed fire updates, send an email to pa_ltbmu@fs.fed.us.

CARSON CITY – A little-known benefit of Nevada’s public employee pension plan is the right to purchase up to five years of service towards retirement.
Referred to by some as “air time,” or the ability to add years of retirement without actually putting in the time in a public sector job, the benefit can allow state and local government workers to retire early, collecting annual pensions years before they would be eligible otherwise.

The existing 2 percent Transient Occupancy Tax, which is up for renewal on the June 5, 2012 ballot, has funded a number of North Lake Tahoe public improvement projects and services since voters first authorized it in 1996.

The renewal, called Measure F, is not a tax increase and, if passed, would continue to be paid by lodging guests only via the TOT bed tax when they spend the night in North Lake Tahoe. North Lake Tahoe residents would not be taxed under Measure F.

OMAHA, Neb. - A California man accused of landing a plane loaded with 175 pounds of pot in Nebraska has been indicted on federal drug charges.The U.S. attorney's office in Omaha says 29-year-old Ju...

Three medical marijuana dispensaries in South Lake Tahoe are among the dozens of California cannabis clubs whose landlords have been sent letters from federal prosecutors warning of possible proper...

So who won? Both the League to Save Lake Tahoe and the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency have hailed a Feb. 29 decision by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals regarding TRPA's Shorezone Plan, a comprehensive document which governs lakeshore development, including the number of piers and buoys allowed on the lake.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. - California's largest utility and two tree-trimming subcontractors have agreed to pay nearly $30 million to settle federal lawsuits over the cause of wildfires in two national f...

CARSON CITY – Gov. Brian Sandoval said today he will propose to extend a package of taxes now set to expire in June 2013 into the next budget to avoid further cuts to education, which he said cannot withstand further reductions.
To maintain a basically flat spending plan for the two-year budget that will begin on July 1, 2013, Sandoval said the modified business tax that was maintained at a higher rate for large businesses in the 2011 legislative session, along with a small increase in the sales tax, must be continued.

ELKO, Nev. (AP) - A congressional panel is in northeast Nevada for a field hearing on what critics say is excessive environmental regulation on federal lands across the West.The House Resources sub...

The news for colon cancer is promising: Fewer people are dying from it, and the average number of new cases a year decreased by 66,000 over the course of four years, federal reports show. Colon ...

U.S. Forest Service fuels management crews will resume controlled pile burning on Kingsbury Grade near Andria Drive Tuesday, March 6.
The size of the operation will depend on the condition of the area, according to the Forest Service. Crews may continue operations through the week and possibly through the weekend, weather and conditions permitting.

Lake Tahoe's clarity improved in 2011, but its famed waters are far from historic values and goals set forth by federal and state regulators, according to a Wednesday report from the UC Davis Ta...

Five men from the South Lake Tahoe and Carson Valley areas face fines after being cited by the U.S. Forest Service for riding snowmobiles in the Mokelumne Wilderness on the Eldorado National Forest. Snowmobiling and any kind of motorized activity is illegal in nationally-designated wilderness areas.
The riders were issued mandatory notices to appear before the federal magistrate in Sacramento.