Review

El Dorado County Sheriff John D'Agostini announced the 2013 Sheriff's Office Award Winners in a recent ceremony. During the ceremony, employees and community members were recognized for exemplary actions and service. Prior to them receiving their awards, a review of their actions that warranted recognition was read to attendees. These actions included traumatic life threatening situations, major investigations and exemplary work performance. Those from the South Lake Tahoe portion of El Dorado County are in bold:

OFFICER OF THE YEAR - Dan Fulton

A public workshop on the vision for the South "Y" area will be held on Thursday, February 27 in the South Lake Tahoe City Council chambers at 6 p.m.

Future planning and land use guidance for what is known as the Tahoe Valley Area Plan will be discussed as the City's project leaders seek input from the community as to what the area should be.

The Tahoe Valley Plan reflects the City’s effort to rekindle the economic vitality and spirit of the Tahoe Valley Community and to enhance the area's unique characteristics.

Readers will discover “deftly-crafted narrative moments that unreel like snippets of cinema” in the poems of June Sylvester Saraceno’s new book, entitled “Of Dirt and Tar.”

The second, full-length collection of poetry by Saraceno, the English department chair at Sierra Nevada College, will be released March 1 by Cherry Grove Collections, with accolades on its jacket by some of the nation’s top poets.

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The City of South Lake Tahoe is encouraging residents to be informed and engaged in the community and is offering several opportunities in the coming weeks to do just that.

"In an engaged community, every person has the information, the opportunities and the support needed to take action and lead change throughout their lives," according to the Knight Foundation. "When people become involved, and exercise their full democratic rights, they make their lives and those of others better."

Rates for South Tahoe Public Utility customers need to be raised "in order to be prepared for fire, prevent sewer or recycled water spills into the lake and meet law requirements on new meter installation," according to South Tahoe Public Utility District G.M. Richard Solbrig. He provided explanation of the three challenges to the district in a presentation to Tahoe Douglas Rotarians on Friday, January 31.

Heavenly Mountain Resort's proposal to expand to year round, non-skiing activities is now under review by the U.S. Forest Service, Tahoe Regional Planning Agency and the Lahontan Regional Water Quality Control Board. Heavenly's plan is to create a summer experience for guests with the addition of zipline and skycycle canopy tours, a mountain bike park, a ropes course, water activities, hiking trails,mountain excursion tours and nature interpretation.

Scientists today presented research findings and recommendations to the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency Governing Board that address Lake Tahoe’s aquatic nearshore environment and the heightened interest in understanding factors contributing to its apparent deterioration.

If you’re looking for business assistance at an affordable rate, this is the workshop series for you. Mann, Urrutia, Nelson, CPAs & Associates (MUN CPAs), will present this three-part workshop series for business owners. The workshops will take place October 23, October 30, and November 6, at 10am in the TahoeChamber Conference Room.

October 23: The different options for structuring your company: Sole Proprietor, LLC, S Corporation - How should you be structuring your busines?

My daughter and I had been planning our annual Apple Hill trek for several days when I decided to change it up a bit. Since my free time is so rare I figured why not include a visit to our favorite little town Sutter Creek? And then, since we're doing that, might as well throw in a drive down beautiful Highway 4! Since the portion of the road we'll be covering is closed after the first big snow we had to do it! The day was plotted on a map in my head with some verification on google maps. The map said our little trip was going to take 5 hours and 10 minutes and cover 225 miles.

The public will be able to voice their opinion of the proposed "Loop Road" project during the final meeting of the US 50 South Shore Community Revitalization Project Community Review Committee (CRC) meeting this week.

The 6 p.m. meeting will be held on Wednesday September 25 at the LTVA building at 169 Highway 50 in Stateline.

Agenda items include discussion of US 50/South Shore Community Revitalization Project Priorities and Design Elements and the final CRC Recommendation to TTD (Tahoe Transportation District) Board of Directors.

A compromise agreement reached by conservation groups, off-roaders and three rural counties settles litigation going back to the 1990’s by resolving the status of contentious trails in Northern California’s Eldorado National Forest, according to documents posted today by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER). Under the agreement, some trails and dirt roads would reopen, others would remain closed and still others would begin restoration of past damage.

The City of South Lake Tahoe has prepared a joint environmental document consisting of an Initial Study/Negative Declaration and Initial Environmental Checklist/Finding of No Significant Effect (IS/ND and IEC/FONSE) for the Tourist Core Area Plan. The draft environmental document is being circulated for public review and comment for 30 calendar days. Public agencies and interested members of the public are invited to review and comment on the document. All comments should be submitted no later than 5:00 p.m. on Wednesday August 28, 2013.

South Lake Tahoe poet and LTCC English faculty Janet Smith has won the 2013 Guy Owen Prize for her poem “The Children’s Section.” The poem, for which Smith received $1000, will appear in the fall issue of the “Southern Poetry Review.”

Poet Arthur Smith chose the poem from a short list of finalists.

“The subject matter, the reading experience in childhood, could have been easily sentimentalized, but the poet consistently pulls back from that with an even more powerful detail which sees into the heart of the creation of the imagination,” he said.

Very few community members turned out for the US 50/South Shore Community Revitalization Project meeting held at Lake Tahoe Resort Hotel on Thursday night. Invitations were mailed and/or hand delivered to all residents in the proposed project area so they’d be able to better understand the process of relocation and financial reimbursement should the Revitalization Project be approved. Since many of those invited speak Spanish and Tagalog, interpreters were on hand to assist with translations, but no one in attendance needed their services.

South Lake Tahoe City Manager Nancy Kerry announced Friday the appointment of Raymond Jarvis as director of Public Works and Mary Morris as Administrative Services director both of whom will begin their service with the City on August 12.

Cultivating a passion and appreciation for the outdoors is a year-round task, and Heavenly Mountain Resort is stepping up to the challenge by expanding its summer operations to include more interactive, family-friendly learning experiences.

“Lake Tahoe is a year-round destination, and there is a tremendous opportunity to offer more summer activities at the top of the Gondola,” said Pete Sonntag, Heavenly’s general manager. “Our hope is that visitors of all ages and backgrounds are able to create life-long connections to our National Forests through adventure, play and recreation.”

From its beginnings in 1963, South Lake Tahoe residents envisioned a hospital and then built it with their time, energy, contributions and commitment. At times, they “literally” put hammer-to-nail to create the first-ever year-round health care facility at Lake Tahoe – Barton Memorial Hospital. In doing so, these committed individuals and families ensured a better future for future generations and 50-years-later we invite our community to celebrate the hospital’s dedication, growth and future.

An elevated pedestrian walkway through the casino corridor will be among five options considered for a proposed Loop Road project following a Friday decision by the Tahoe Transportation District.

The TTD’s Board of Directors selected which options for the long-discussed project will undergo environmental review, while also voting to make what has become known as the Triangle Alternative its preferred option for the Loop Road, seen by some as key to the South Shore’s future.

Plans to restore around 300 acres of meadow, provide for wildlife habitat and re-establish natural fire breaks around the west shore of Lake Tahoe near Meeks Bay is up for public review.
A 30-day public comment begins Saturday, March 30 for the proposed Meeks Creek Meadow restoration project, the U.S. Forest Service Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit announced.
Here is a news release:

The Lake Tahoe Community College Writers’ Series will proudly celebrate National Poetry Month on Friday, April 12 at 7:00 p.m. in the LTCC Library.
Three award-winning poets — Kelle Groom, Lexa Hillyer, and Krista Lukas — will read from their works, engage the audience with a Q and A, and sign books. The event is free and open to the community. Books will be available for purchase.

Parking along Highway 89 by the Camp Richardson Resort could disappear under the Forest Service's proposal for the popular recreation area. The U.S. Forest Service Lake Tahoe Basin Management Un...

Two Tahoe conservation groups, the Sierra Club and Friends of the West Shore, filed a federal lawsuit on Monday challenging new rules for Lake Tahoe that seriously reduce protections for the treasured mountain lake. The new Tahoe Regional Plan Update, approved in December by the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency (TRPA), shifts authority over future development decisions to local jurisdictions. The plan also allows those towns and counties to adopt weakened pollution controls that do not meet the minimum environmental requirements established by TRPA.

The North Lake Tahoe Fire Protection District will continue its avalanche training on Wednesday and Friday at the Mt. Rose Summit Highway, across from the summit parking lot area.

Training objectives and stations will cover transceiver and RECCO search, proper probe line set up and execution, snow pit/snow pack information and a search dog demonstration.

As a private pilot, I recently demonstrated a stall to a flight instructor as part of my biennial flight review. Let me explain.An airplane needs thrust and lift in order to fly. The thrust is prov...