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Angela Roberts has joined the team at Coldwell Banker McKinney & Associates in South Lake Tahoe according to a company press release.

Angela’s first memories of Lake Tahoe were formed in her childhood as she took yearly summer vacations with her family. She immediately fell in love with the majestic and abundant beauty the area offered and these memories stayed with her into adulthood.

Fed up with waiting, Nevada lawmakers are ramping up efforts to have private companies, fire districts and others paid for work conducted years ago to reduce fire danger in vulnerable areas around Lake Tahoe.

The Legislature earlier this month passed a joint resolution urging Congress to pay contractors who performed extensive fuels treatment work in the wake of Tahoe's disastrous Angora Fire of 2007.

The facts are startling. El Dorado County has twice the number of suicides than the state average. El Dorado County has 2.5 times the state average of maternity mental issues. The domestic violence rate in El Dorado County is 1.5 times higher than the state average. More people are living in the county with mental issues than ever before.

A day long forum of mental health care providers, agencies, medical professionals and other community members was held in South Lake Tahoe on Thursday in order to find what needs are being met, and unmet, in the area.

Suspected arsonist Wayne Huntsman remains in the county jail in South Lake Tahoe, awaiting his court trial. Huntsman is accused of setting the September, 2014 King Fire which burned almost 100,000 acres near Pollock Pines.

A trial setting conference has been set for March 13 in Department 2 of Superior Court of El Dorado County.

Aided by rainfall, firefighters were taking control of a forest fire that destroyed about 40 homes in the Eastern Sierra near Mammoth Mountain.

Crews had the blaze about 65% contained by Sunday, nearly two days after a blaze whipped by winds tore into the towns of Swall Meadows and Paradise, with about 250 inhabitants. The towns are about 25 miles southeast of the Mammoth Mountain ski resort, near U.S. Highway 395.

The main problem now is more than four dozen downed power lines and damaged trees, making conditions too hazardous to lift mandatory evacuation orders in the area.

Update: This property has sold.

If you've been hankering for a getaway at Lake Tahoe and have $98 million to spare, you're in luck.

Check out Shakespeare Ranch, which takes up 133 acres along 423 feet of shoreline. It's named for Shakespeare Rock, which overlooks the property and is said to resemble the playwright.

The South Tahoe Alliance of Resorts (STAR) gave a total of $15,000 to three area non-profits this holiday season to feed families as well as secure essential upgrades to community centers/programs.

STAR gifted $5,000 to Christmas Cheer All Year’s Food for Families, which resulted in $11,400 worth of fresh food from Raleys supermarket. Through this initiative Raleys was able to purchase items at wholesale while selecting various items that were in more demand. For every $1 donated to Christmas Cheer results in more than $2 worth of food.

Since the beginning of December, 2014 there have been 19 thefts, six burglaries and two robberies reported in the South Lake Tahoe city limits. While many of these are petty thefts, others have resulted in the theft of valuable jewelry, electronics and other belongings from residences while the owners weren't home.

Have you protected your home to the best of your ability? Many of us may think that "it can't happen to me," but when a home was burglarized around the corner from me, I changed that mode of thinking and started looking into ways to better protect mine.

Imagine packing up the car and heading up to South Lake Tahoe to enjoy a week at the large vacation home you just rented, only to find out that the house isn't yours to use when you arrive.

That scenario happened over the recent holiday when not one, not two, but four different groups thought they rented a home on Bonita Road near Heavenly Mountain Resort. All of the groups found a home for rent on Craigslist, a popular website used for buying, selling and renting.

When reflecting over the past year it's hard to remember all that happened in one's life, unless you're good at keeping a journal and you have time to re-read it.

As I look back at what happened in South Lake Tahoe over the last 365 days, a lot happened, but what may seem to be a top story to me may not seem as important to a reader.

I reviewed our analytics, the numbers that are kept to show how many people read South Tahoe Now stories at any given point, and drew from those numbers to come up with the "South Lake Tahoe's Top Stories of 2014."

The man accused of starting the King Fire earlier this year has been indicted on felony arson charges according to the The El Dorado County District Attorney Vern Pierson.

Wayne Huntsman is charged with felony arson of forest land with multiple special allegations of arson with aggravating factors. He sits in the El Dorado County Jail in South Lake Tahoe with a bail set at $10,000,000.

Many of us have driven on Highway 395 between South Lake Tahoe and Southern California. I’ve done that route many times myself on the way to and from San Diego and Disneyland. As heading South, the Owens Valley opens up after leaving the town of Bishop, just over 200 miles from Tahoe. You’ll pass through the town of Independence, and six miles later you’ll find yourself at the Manzanar National Historic Site (the town has an ironic name as you’re about to find out).

As the keynote speaker at last month’s National Workshop on Large Landscape Conservation in Washington, D.C., U.S. Department of the Interior Secretary Sally Jewell emphasized the central role collaboration must play for America to protect its natural resources, balance economic needs, and address emerging environmental challenges such as climate change.

“We are moving into an era of epic collaboration,” Jewell said, explaining that regional partnerships across jurisdictional boundaries are more important than ever for the federal department that manages 20 percent of our nation’s land.

As part of their mission to give back to the community and protect the environment, Vail Resorts gave away 49 grants to Lake Tahoe area groups during a ceremony on Tuesday at Heavenly Valley.

Because of the drought, three wells in South Lake Tahoe have higher levels of contamination. Some wells have been shut-downs and the state of California is investigating.

What are the first thoughts that go through your mind when you see a youth on the streets? How did they get there, where are their parents, and are they safe? It’s disturbing to realize that between 1.6 and 2.8 million youth run away annually. Most youth who run away do so because of threatening environments at home, such as physical/verbal abuse, substance abuse issues, questions of sexual orientation, or escaping state care. Unfortunately, by choosing to run away, they further subject themselves to threatening situations that impede their progress in life.

The El Dorado County Commission on Aging is actively recruiting to fill one vacancy. The Commission plays a very important advisory role to both the Area Agency on Aging and the El Dorado County Board of Supervisors on matters concerning senior residents. The Commission focuses its efforts on issues such as:

Development of community centers in strategic areas of the County to ensure provision of accessible services to all senior residents Promotion of services that enable seniors to remain in their homes for as long as possible identification and prevention of elder abuse

This is Sallie of the South Lake Tahoe Fire Department with a Halloween safety Announcement.

September brought the reality of wildfires to the forefront in the Lake Tahoe Basin. The King Fire came within eight air miles of the U.S. Forest Service Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit boundary, and as we all anxiously awaited its containment, the Cascade Fire broke out in the Desolation Wilderness.

With California and Nevada grappling with a third year of drought, one of the largest and most complex challenges we face over the long run at Lake Tahoe is adapting to a changing climate.

Climate change will affect the protection and restoration of our beautiful mountain lake as well as the expansive forests around it. And the health of our lake, forests, and communities are all intertwined.

9/29/14 8 p.m. update - The King Fire is now 92% contained and has remained at 97.099 acres burned. More personnel has been released and there are now 3,401 remaining on the fire.

Mop up and patrol continued. Continued the demobilization of excess resources. Continued to backhaul excess equipment and trash. Fire suppression repair is ongoing. Homes and damaged buildings on White Meadows Road are being evaluated for future damage from possible mud and debris flows caused by the last two days of rain. Some homes and buildings are being prepared with sand bags by crews.

There are an estimated 500 unpermitted, illegal marijuana grow houses on the South Shore according to local law enforcement. In the city limits, South Lake Tahoe Police Chief Brian Uhler estimates there are 300 houses where marijuana is growing illegally with another 200 in the El Dorado County portion of the South Shore according to SLEDNET’s Matt Underhill. (SLEDNET stands for South Lake El Dorado Narcotics Enforcement Team, a joint drug enforcement task force)

Volunteers have completed marking all the storm drains in the Tahoe Keys neighborhood and marina with metal “No Dumping — Keep Tahoe Blue” signs. Over 40 volunteers with the League to Save Lake Tahoe’s Stewards of Stormwater program marked 180 drains over several days in August and September, making it the first neighborhood at Tahoe to mark all its drains.

Camp Richardson will be turned into an agricultural center on September 16 when over 500 third and fourth graders from South Lake Tahoe take part in the 2nd Annual Tahoe Farm Day.

Tahoe Farm Day is an all day field trip where the students learn about the wide variety of regional agriculture. Over 30 volunteer presenters bring agriculture alive for students through creative, interactive activities that feature fruits, vegetables and farm animals as well as concepts of healthy eating, nutrition, and stewardship of the land.