restrictions

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - The following is a list of the long term and short term projects the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) has scheduled for the week around Lake Tahoe, in the Sierra and El Dorado County.

LONG-TERM PROJECTS

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - Every ten years a Census is taken of all people living in the Unitied States. While the state of California currently has a 64.5 percent response rate, South Lake Tahoe once again is lagging far behind.

As of August 6, 28.1 percent of those living in South Lake Tahoe had turned in answers to the Census Bureau. El Dorado County as a whole, 58.6 percent. Nationally, the Census return rate is 63.2 percent.

Why is it so hard to get South Lake Tahoe residents to participate?

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - New South Lake Tahoe Police Chief David Stevenson was sworn in during a ceremony on Monday, receiving his official badge from his wife Jennifer in front of his mother and sister. The virtual ceremony had just a few attendees due to COVID-19 restrictions, but many were able to log onto their phones and computers and watch the 25-year veteran of the force, and South Tahoe High graduate, move into the top spot in the police department.

EL DORADO COUNTY, Calif. Calif. - Traffic leaving South lake Tahoe through Meyers on Sundays and holidays through the winter can be a nightmare. Map apps lead visitors onto roads that are steeper and not plowed as much as US50, thus creating hazards and clogged roads. Tow trucks are backlogged hours to assist getting the stuck vehicles off Apache, Mandan, North Upper Truckee and Sawmill Roads.

Due to these jammed roads, residents in the area cannot to get to work or the grocery store, and a Traffic Advisory Committee was formed to seek solutions.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - The National Weather Service (NWS) in Reno has issued a Red Flag Warning for thunderstorms and strong outflow winds for Monday, July 27 from 5:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m.

The Fire Weather Watch is no longer in effect.

Normally, the Basin averages six Red Flag Warnings per season, and this makes four - and it's still July. Please remember all outdoor sources of open flame are prohibited until the Red Flag Warning declaration expires, and that includes gas/propane fire pits and grills.

The Nevada Interscholastic Activities Association (NIAA) has announced their high school sports schedule for members in their area, including South Tahoe and Truckee High Schools.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the uncertainty of school reopening schedules, traditional fall sports have moved to Spring 2021. Adjustments to the schedules were voted on by the NIAA Legislative Commission which is comprised of the superintendents of each school in the league.

The new schedule (all have six competitive weeks) for NIAA sanctioned sports:

Winter Season Sports

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Twenty-five California students have been named as National Youth and Young Adult Ambassadors by the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids for demonstrating leadership in fighting tobacco use in their communities.

These young leaders were among 133 youth and young adults from 33 states who participated in the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids’ Digital Advocacy Symposium, a five-day online training session focused on building advocacy, communications and leadership skills.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - Lake Tahoe Community College's Lake Tahoe Basin Fire Academy just graduated its 14th class of firefighters. There were added challenges due to the coronavirus and restrictions on classroom instruction, but with the flexibility of instructors, the state, and the college, the Fire Academy was one of the lucky programs that was able to complete training this year.

Almost all of the following graduating cadets are already employed:

Adam C. Alessi
Melanie O. Andersen
Cody L. Beggs

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - Good news for the South Shore after the California Tahoe Conservancy announced today a major milestone in creating affordable housing at the "Y" in South Lake Tahoe.

The partnership of Related California and St. Joseph Community Land Trust (SJCLT) has been selected to build the community's first modular multi-family housing development. They are naming it Sugar Pine Village.

GENOA, Nev. - For the past 100 years, the Town of Genoa has held a Candy Dance but the 101st event is being canceled due to COVID-19. In a 5-0 vote Wednesday, the Genoa Town Advisory Board decided to forego the event due to health and safety concerns for residents, vendors, staff and sponsors.

Independence Day has a long tradition of bringing family and friends together from near and far to enjoy many of the things that make us uniquely American. Along with all of the freedoms we enjoy we share a strong national conscience. Part of that conscience is accepting responsibility for fulfilling, as individuals,
our civic duties. In these times of pandemic, perhaps our most important civic duty is to ensure the health and safety and wellbeing of ourselves, our families and our community.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - With months of people being under "Stay at Home" orders, and if the past few days are any indication, this holiday weekend will be busy at Lake Tahoe as people get out in the fresh air, hike, bike, go to the beach and get on the water.

The July Fourth holiday at Lake Tahoe will look a bit different this year with firework shows canceled, social distancing, the requirement of face coverings in public places and growing concerns about responsible recreation.

LAKE TAHOE, Calif./Nev. - It will be different at the American Century Championship at Edgewood next week with no fans allowed, but what won't be different is the philanthropic focus of the tournament.

The Resilience Fund-Tahoe has funded its first local loan to Freshies Tahoe. The funds helped save their outdoor patio deck, which was in desperate need of repair and will be critical to ensuring their future success serving customers outdoors.

“After many months of unsuccessfully trying multiple federal avenues for support of Freshies during the business disruption caused by the pandemic, we are thrilled to have qualified for this very generous Resilience Fund loan! We are ready to get our deck open! Thank you so much,” said owners Erik and Melodie Ulman.

With its decision last week, the U.S. Supreme Court delivered a real sense of relief and a bit of a reprieve to approximately 800,000 DREAMers in America, including 200,000 in California alone. When the justices sided with Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients, ruling that the way the Trump administration rescinded the program in 2017 was unlawful, it was a big victory for immigrant communities and their many allies.

As temperatures at Lake Tahoe are heating up, so are discussions about wearing a face mask in public. While science continues to reveal new information about the coronavirus, one thing is clear: wearing a face mask slows the spread of COVID-19, if enough people wear them.

Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit Engine 344 firefighters are on scene Monday afternoon after a report of a wildfire on Lake Tahoe's east shore.

The Chimney Fire was reported at approximately 1:00 p.m. and is located on National Forest lands south of Chimney Beach near the shoreline. Firefighters have the fire surrounded and have knocked it down. It was reported to be a five-foot by 10-foot fire, said Lisa Herron, spokeswoman for the Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - The California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) has resumed work on area highways. The following is their current project list at Lake Tahoe and in the Sierra.

LONG-TERM PROJECTS

LAKE TAHOE, Calif./Nev. - The USDA Forest Service Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit (LTBMU) is enacting campfire restrictions to protect the health and safety of employees and communities, effective immediately and until further notice. Outside of developed campgrounds and certain permitted facilities, igniting, building, maintaining or using a fire on national forest land in Lake Tahoe will be prohibited.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - The Tahoe Coalition for the Homeless (TCH) had settled into their new winter home on 3rd Street in South Lake Tahoe when the COVID-19 pandemic hit, forcing them to look for a larger space to get more people off the streets.

The City of South Lake Tahoe opened its recreation center to the nonprofit as it was already closed due to the pandemic, allowing TCH to add more beds and services and become a 24/7 facility.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - On Wednesday, May 27, El Dorado County rescinded its nonessential travel ban into the Lake Tahoe Basin, just as it did when letting the County-specific Stay At Home order expire in April.

The messaging is confusing as local orders are lifted, and state orders are still in place.

The action by the County does not mean that travel into Lake Tahoe Basin is all of a sudden okay though.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - This week's Drought Monitor shows much of the West in some level of drought. Lake Tahoe, the Sierra, and Western Nevada are all in a "moderate drought" stage with no end in the immediate future.

The 90-day outlook shows higher than average temperatures and lower than average precipitation, neither of which is good to break out of a drought.

Following below-average precipitation most of the winter, May storms delivered 181 percent of average in the Northern Sierra for this time of year, but the results aren't showing enough to remove the area from drought.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - The messaging from the state, county, and city has been consistent throughout the coronavirus pandemic: This is not the time to travel to South Lake Tahoe. Nevada has also sent out the same message as a ban on nonessential travel that was created to prevent the spread of COVID-19 between communities.

Ambiguity, uncertainty, and contradictions abound in this pandemic. Add time to the list of contradictions swirling around us. Morning and night sometimes seem a week apart. The first month of shelter‐in‐place dripped by for many of us. The second month was gone before we knew it. And now summer is fast approaching. We welcome the season because in ordinary times it can elevate our well‐being, but these are not ordinary times. With most of the attention and intensity now on reopening, the question that hangs in the balance is, are we ready? Is it the right time?