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Our home of beautiful South Lake Tahoe is one of the biggest tourist attractions in the world. With around 4.3 million visitors in 2011, as well as certain main events and holidays where our city's population doubles and even triples. With this nonstop tourism occurring throughout South Lake Tahoe, it only makes sense to have a “downtown” area, which is what the loop road will provide. Despite the concerns of how the loop road will hurt our community, there are a lot of long term social and environmental benefits involved in this project.

In the next "Tahoe Talks" on Wednesday, May 18, learn about the number one threat to Lake Tahoe’s legendary clarity: stormwater pollution. Local experts will talk about projects around Lake Tahoe that are helping to keep pollution from entering the Lake and steps you can take every day to prevent things like trash, oil, fine sediment and nutrients from making their way to Lake Tahoe.

Speakers:

Moderator: Zack Bradford, Natural Resources Manager, League to Save Lake Tahoe
Russ Wigart, Stormwater Coordinator, El Dorado County

Four people were cited for selling alcohol to minors on April 29 during a compliance sting by the South Lake Tahoe Police Department.

During the operation, minors under the direct supervision of officers, attempted to purchase alcohol from ten retail licensees in the city limits.

40 percent of those businesses sold alcohol to the teen decoys. Clerks at Safeway Gas, Chevron Gas, Whiskey Dicks and Chevy's Restaurant were all cited and face a minimum fine of $250, and/or 24 to 32 hours of community service for a first violation.

Warmer water led to a loss in clarity of Lake Tahoe in 2015, according to data released Tuesday by the UC Davis Tahoe Environmental Research Center and the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency. The average annual clarity (measurements from both summer and winter) is at 73.1 feet, a 4.8 foot decease from the previous year.

This isn't all bad news though, the clarity is still over nine feet greater than the lowest recorded average of 64.1 feet in 1997.

Researchers lower a 10-inch wide disk called a Secchi into the lake, and researchers measure the depth of its visibility.

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.

"These are always tough cases," said El Dorado County Judge Suzanne Kingsbury Friday as she handed down an unexpected sentence to the 78-year-old man who killed a bear near his South Lake Tahoe home on July 10, 2015.

Gilbert Alan Wetenkamp pleaded no contest on March 11, 2016 to the misdemeanor charge of unlawfully taking of a bear.

The 78-year old man responsible for killing a bear found off Pioneer Trail in South Lake Tahoe on July 10, 2015 has pleaded no contest to the misdemeanor charge of unlawfully taking of a bear.

Appearing in El Dorado County court Friday, Gilbert Wetenkamp admitted to killing the bear that he said in July caused damage to his home over several incidents, and that he feared for his life.

The following is the ski, snowboard and weather report for Tuesday, March 1, 2016 for South Lake Tahoe brought to you by Lake Tahoe SkiBum.

Lake Wind Advisory in effect from March 1, 8:00 a.m. until March 1, 10:00 p.m.

Weather - South Lake Tahoe will have a high today of 60 and a low tonight of 34. Today: Mostly sunny, with a high near 60. Breezy, with a south wind 5 to 10 mph increasing to 15 to 20 mph in the afternoon. Winds could gust as high as 30 mph. Tonight: Partly cloudy, with a low around 34. Southwest wind 10 to 15 mph.

Mark Zlendick, the former El Dorado County sheriff's deputy who was arrested in May, 2015 on drug charges, pleaded guilty to one charge of drug trafficking Tuesday, February 9.

Dear Henry,

Just curious, my cat has started sticking his tongue out, I mean a lot. He will just sit and stick his tongue out at me. It’s cute but should I be concerned?

Thanks,
Arnold

Dear Arnold.

I’m actually glad you brought this up. While yes it’s cute, I had a kitty with this habit. While some cats just do this for no apparent reason my concern with your kitty is that it is new behavior. If you cat was doing this its whole life and your veterinarian had seen no signs of trouble then I would say you just have a silly kitty.

The El Dorado County Board of Education has promoted one of its own to the top job, one that has been vacant since the November, 2015 resignation of Jeremy Meyers.

Dr. Ed Manansala became the new superintendent Tuesday, moving up from his position as Deputy Superintendent of Educational Services, one he'd held since June of 2013.

After decades of planning, analysis, and public input, the California Tahoe Conservancy Board recently approved the final plan to restore the largest remaining wetland in the Lake Tahoe Basin. The Upper Truckee River and Marsh Restoration Project will restore over 500 acres of highly disturbed wetland habitat, improving the natural filtration capacity of the Marsh and reducing a major source of fine sediment that clouds Tahoe’s famed lake clarity.

A 57-year-old man from Washington has been indicted on charges he posted threats on a popular news website that he was going to kill an officer of StemExpress, a company in Placerville, Calif. that sells stem cells and human tissue to biomedical research companies.

Scott Anthony Orton, of Puyallup, was arrested by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) after he posted threats on July 16, 2015 after videos surfaced that supposedly showed a relationship between Planned Parenthood and StemExpress.

Now that the gift giving season is upon us, many people may have model airplanes, drones or quadcopters on their wish list. There are some new rules in place that all users of the unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) need to know.

The Federal Aviation Administration today that all UAS units weighing between 0.55 pounds and 50 pounds must be registered by February 19th, 2016.

Police Department 50th Anniversary As you might expect, once the City was incorporated in 1965, it took some time to create a police department. On July 1, 1967 the police department began providing police services to the City. In 2017,we’ll plan a small public 50th celebration at the police department. Our initial plans include hosting and honoring some of the department’s original members. Over the years there have been many changes. Some points of interest include:

For years I thawed my turkey, covered it with butter and herbs and foil, and popped it into the oven, always afraid to steer away from what I knew worked.

That was, until I watched Emeril Lagasse on Good Morning America about ten year ago. Now, its all about the brine!

The first year I tried the brine I had the recipe all written out and followed it closely, but since then I improvise with whatever is in the kitchen cupboards.

Since this is Tuesday there is still time to do a brine, but you need to hurry.

This past summer was Lake Tahoe’s busiest tourist season in recent memory. With the economy rebounding and major population growth projected for nearby metropolitan areas, this summer is also a harbinger of change. We must be prepared to meet the challenges of increased visitation in the future.

The Loft at Heavenly Village has been in the works for months, and now it's just a few weeks from opening day on December 15.

The new indoor, year-round live theater is in a newly created space above the current Heavenly Village Cinemas created by PR Entertainment. It will include a bar and lounge, 107 seat theater and Italian restaurant featuring Chef Lisa Devenchezi-Miller, who also owns of Capisce? in South Lake Tahoe.

The Tahoe Regional Planning Agency Governing Board on Wednesday approved a $7,500 settlement agreement with the Tahoe Keys Marina and Yacht Club, LLC.

The settlement is for the Tahoe Keys Marina and Yacht Club’s unauthorized grading and creation of coverage at a California Tahoe Conservancy property located near the end of Venice Drive in South Lake Tahoe. The property impacted by this violation is not classified by TRPA as a stream environment zone or wetland.

It is with deep sadness and sorrow that we inform our South Lake Tahoe community and others of the passing of Officer Mark Hounsell and his wife Jeanne. Mark had served the citizens of South Lake Tahoe as a Police Officer since May 19, 2007.

While many may hike past Lily Lake to get to a myriad of trails going through Desolation Wilderness, I took the trail to go the historic Glen Alpine Springs. Even though my walk was mid-day on October 13, I passed many other hikers on the two-mile hike, all enjoying the warm, un-fall like weather.

Even though I've lived in South Lake Tahoe for 36 years, I'd never gone past Lily Lake. Wanting to get to the springs before winter, there was no time like the present to finally accomplish that task!

The sixth annual “South Lake Tahoe Food and Wine Festival” arrives at Harrah's and Harveys Lake Tahoe, Oct. 16 - 18, for an autumn weekend of great food, fine wine and high spirits.

Award-winning Chef Mark Tarbell is the featured celebrity chef this year, hosting several key events.

A man from Homewood, CA was arrested and cited on September 25, 2015 for allegedly furnishing alcoholic beverages to minors during the South Lake Tahoe Police Department's "Decoy Shoulder Tap Operation."

Mark Finlayson, 38, was approached by a minor under the direct supervision of a peace officer outside a store in the area of Emerald Bay Road and Lake Tahoe Blvd. The minor asked Finlayson to buy them alcohol, stating they were underage and couldn't purchase the alcohol by themselves.

Finlayson faces a minimum $1000 fine and 24 hours of community service.

Everyone hopes for a winter of big storms at Lake Tahoe. Recent media hype evokes images of a "Godzilla" El Niño. But for Tahoe, big storms come with big impacts to Lake clarity as snowmelt and stormwater runoff transport pollutants and fine sediment into the Lake.

So how do Tahoe communities protect the Lake from big storm events?