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Lake Tahoe’s extraordinary deep water clarity is attributed to its uncommonly clean water which allows sunlight to reach much greater depths than possible in most other water bodies. Fine sediments through stormwater runoff into the lake reduces this clarity.

With the cancellation of the 19-year long tradition of fireworks over Labor Day in South Lake Tahoe due to budget constraints, the Tahoe Douglas Visitors Authority and other local businesses have pulled together to present a full menu of things to do on the South Shore from a laser light show to concerts and a carnival.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - For six years Live at Lakeview has been the place to be on Thursday nights in South Lake Tahoe, and this week marks their 60th free concert.

On August 17, the signature concert series will have Sol Peligro and Boca do Rio on the beach at Lakeview Commons starting at 4:30 p.m.

The popular series is presented by Toyota USA, the City of South Lake Tahoe and On Course Events and goes until the end of August.

Final two shows of 2017:
August 24: Lutan Fyah + The Riddim Rebels PLUS Rocker-T and opening act, VTA

It's a Hootenanny, complete with music by the Redneck Quartet, local beer tasting, food and fun, all put on by the South Lake Tahoe Rotary club on Saturday, August 19 from 3:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. at Lake Tahoe Golf Course.

Tickets or those over 21 are $45 if bought ahead of the event, $50 at the door and include unlimited beer tasting and food. Kids 6 and under are free, and designated drivers and those ages 7-20 are $20.

Besides food, drink and dancing there will be face painting and family games.

The Tahoe-Douglas Rotary Club is partnering with Bread & Broth by hosting five Adopt A Day of Nourishment sponsorships over the next ten months.

“The Tahoe-Douglas Club is happy to support Bread & Broth’s wonderful program and looks forward to a strong relationship with B&B and its fantastic volunteers,” commented Ashley Colvin, Tahoe Douglas Rotary Club President. Hosting the Monday Meal dinners which serve the less fortunate of our community aligns with the club’s mission to serve others by working side by side with the community on local service projects.

The following is the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) roadwork schedule for the Lake Tahoe area.

EMERGENCY PROJECT

U.S. Highway 50 (El Dorado County): The highway is reduced to one lane in each direction at Bridal Veil Falls for slope repair work. Completion is expected late this year.

LONG-TERM PROJECTS

The parent company of many Applebee's and IHOP restaurants plans to close up to 160 locations according to a report released Thursday, but both the South Lake Tahoe and Carson City locations are franchised by other companies and therefore not affected.

In fact, the South Lake Tahoe IHOP will reopen Saturday, August 12 with a new look, new logo and new signage. Their being closed for the remodel led to speculation they were included in the list of shuttered restaurants.

SnowGlobe, the annual outdoor music festival in South Lake Tahoe, has come to town over the New Year's Eve holiday since 2011, and now they want to add ten years to their contract that expires this year.

During Tuesday, August 15th's South Lake Tahoe City Council meeting, promoters will make a presentation to the City outlining their plans, showing how they think they can become the largest funding source of South Lake Tahoe projects and non-profits.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - The Tahoe Heritage Foundation is holding their 33rd annual Great Gatsby Festival at the Tallac Historic Site on Saturday and Sunday, August 12 and 13.

Join them in the celebration of the rip roaring '20s with events including guided living history tours, vintage automobiles, historical talks, games, activities, food and drink, silent auction and raffle, merchandise to purchase and much more.

From 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. on Saturday, and 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. on Sunday, the free event will be open to the public.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - Lake Tahoe Secret Witness Program if offering a $3,000 reward leading to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons responsible for the murder of local gas station attendant Manpreet Singh on August 3, 2013.

“Friends and family never forget and neither should we," said El Dorado County District Attorney Vern Pierson as he asked for the public's help in solving the case.

Singh was the lone employee on the night shift at U.S. Gas on Lake Tahoe Boulevard when a gunman entered the store, shot and killed him.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - "We've been waiting to be in South Lake Tahoe for a long time," said R. Adam Smith, Executive Director of Store Development for Whole Foods in Northern California. "Couldn't be more thrilled than to be here today."

Smith took part in Monday's groundbreaking at the new Bijou Marketplace along with the Jim Halferty and Chris Peto of Halferty Development Ground, the owners of the property along Highway 50 and the corner of Ski Run Boulevard, and local officials.

El Dorado County reorganized what is now Community Development Services to include directors of three primary departments, and they recently announced the hiring of two of those new directors, one for Planning & Building and the other for Environmental Management. Both men were interim directors as the departments were being reorganized and the search for director was underway.

The city received some good news this week. We were successfully awarded $2.9 million in federal funds to complete all of the funding for the Sierra Blvd. Streetscape project-we are now 100% funded through construction. Kudos to Stan Hill with the City for his excellent grant application. Per Jim Marino, Asst.

Twelve four-season resorts with 20,000 skiable acres are all now part of a new company that was formed to acquire Intrawest Resort Holdings, Inc. and Mammoth Resorts.

Affiliates of KSL Capital Partners, LLC and Henry Crown and Company now own Squaw Valley, Alpine Meadows, Mammoth Mountain Ski Area, Snow Summit, Bear Mountain and June Mountain in California; Steamboat Ski & Resort and Winter Park Resort in Colorado; Blue Mountain Ski Resort in Ontario; Mont Tremblant Resort in Quebec; Stratton Mountain Resort in Vermont; and Snowshoe Mountain Resort in West Virginia.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - The big winter of 2016/17 may be over, but its effects continue to linger, and this time it comes with a pointed snout, small rounded ears, a body-length scaly tail and a high breeding rate.

And because of this four legged rodent, fondly known as the mouse, traps and poison are flying off the shelves of stores in South Lake Tahoe, and phones in local exterminators' offices are ringing off the hook.

8:00 p.m. update: Road construction on Highway 50 is what led to the closure of Bank of the West in South Lake Tahoe.

"Nearby construction resulted in an air quality issue at our South Tahoe Branch, which was quickly identified and is being remedied," Anita Fox, Senior Vice President of Public Relations and Corporate Communications for Bank of the West told South Tahoe Now this evening. "We anticipate re-opening the branch no later than Thursday."

In the meantime, those wishing to conduct in-branch transactions can visit the bank's Tahoe City Branch at 150 West Lake Boulevard.

The trip from Lake Tahoe to Reno just got a bit shorter as the Nevada Department of Transportation (NDOT) opens the final three miles of the Interstate 580 Carson City Freeway project to traffic on Wednesday, August 2 at 10:00 a.m.

Construction on this final, southern portion of the project began in 2015.

As part of a phased opening, the new freeway ramps between Fairview Drive at the northern end of the new Carson City Freeway will open later that afternoon or on August 3.

Every year, on the first Tuesday in August, nearly 40 million people in 16,000 communities across the United States turn out to celebrate National Night Out. The event was first hosted in 1984 as a way to bring communities together and promote stronger ties between citizens and the law enforcement personnel who serve them. Communities are at their best when neighbors feel a common bond and a sense of community not only among themselves but also with their local public servants, and National Night Out is a fun and enjoyable way to foster those important ties.

Climate change has brought major changes to Lake Tahoe including warmer water, an increase in dying trees and a reducing summertime lake clarity.

These and other findings were released today in the UC Davis Tahoe Environmental Research Center (TERC) annual Tahoe: State of the Lake Report for 2016. The year was marked by the hottest temperatures on record followed by a winter of unprecedented levels of rain and snow in the Sierra Nevada.

TERC Director Geoffrey Schladow presented the report at a free public talk July 27 in Incline Village.

Imagine taking a class where one learns to restore a classic 1953 Cadillac convertible, 1965 Ford Mustang and 1952 Willys Jeep. Impossible in our area? Not any more.

Western Nevada College’s Automotive Mechanics program provides unique instruction in automotive restoration, and for the first time they will be offering it as a class: Special Topics in Automotive Mechanics (AUTO 198).

Community support is needed to help the girls participating in "The Girl's Project," an empowerment group focusing on the needs of young women in the South Lake Tahoe area.

Tahoe Youth and Family Services started “The Girl’s Project” in 2010 with the vision to empower high risk young girls in our community to become more confident and influential women later in life. The Girl’s Project originally began in three of our local elementary schools, Tahoe Valley Elementary, Sierra House Elementary and Bijou Elementary and has now expanded and includes the South Tahoe Middle School.

Vail Resorts CEO Rob Katz announced today that his company has committed to zero net emissions by 2030, zero waste to landfill by 2030 and zero net operating impact to forests and habitat.

"Everything we do at Vail Resorts is driven by the spectacular natural environments where our employees, guests and communities live, work and play," Katz said in a press release. "The environment – and our stakeholders’ passion for it – is our business, and we have a special obligation to protect it."

The California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) will be working on the following road projects in the Lake Tahoe Basin between July 23-July 29, 2017.

EMERGENCY PROJECTS

U.S. Highway 50 (El Dorado County): The highway is reduced to one lane in each direction at Bridal Veil Falls for slope repair work.

State Route 193 (El Dorado County): Motorists can expect a full closure of the highway from the junction with State Route 49 in Placerville to Chili Bar from 8 p.m. to 5:30 a.m. Monday through Friday for roadwork repairs. More information: http://bit.ly/2to2pbb

Thousands of people turned out Saturday morning to celebrate the near-completion of the much-anticipated Carson City Interstate 580 freeway bypass riding their bicycles, walking, jogging or skating on top of the pavement that will soon carry tens of thousands of vehicles upon it when open next month.

The I-580 run, walk and ride event began about 9 a.m. Saturday and continued until noon.