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A long standing holiday tradition on the South Shore is about to get underway. Decorated fire trucks from both the Lake Valley Fire and South Lake Tahoe Fire Rescue Departments are ready to make their rounds in the community.

The SLTFR truck will leave Station 3 at 5:00 p.m. nightly from December 10-24. Here is their schedule:

Saturday, December 10- Keys/Venice
Sunday, December 11 - Glenwood
Monday, December 12 - Keys Blvd / State Sts
Tuesday, December 13 - Barton/Tahoe Island

The Douglas County Sheriff's Office is asking for the public's help in locating suspects in a home invasion robbery and beating of an elderly man in the Gardnerville Ranchos on October 30.

The violent crime occurred at 12:38 a.m. when the victim was awakened by the unknown masked suspects forcing their way into his Kimmerling Road home where he lives alone.

Approximately four masked subjects entered the residence, held down the elderly victim and demanded to know the whereabouts of his valuables. The elderly victim, who is in poor health, was beaten unconscious.

A Yuba City couple missing in the Sierra Nevada for two days were found late Monday afternoon by a search and rescue team who followed tracks they saw on a U.S. Forest Service road.

Susan and Rory Holloter had gone for a drive in the Wentworth Springs Road area of El Dorado County at 9:00 a.m. on Saturday, November 26 in their Dodge Ramcharger. A storm hit the area that afternoon and the couple became stuck.

South Tahoe Now and Curtis Fong of BikeandSkiLakeTahoe.com have teamed up together this winter to provide daily ski and weather reports to help you plan your day on the slopes.

GOOD MORNING LAKE TAHOE SKIERS & RIDERS… IF YOU ARE VISITING, WELCOME TO LAKE TAHOE!

SHAPING UP TO BE A GREAT DAY FOR EARLY SEASON TURNS. 1-2” FRESH SNOW OVERNIGHT WITH A CHANCE OF SNOW THIS MORNING… WINDS MAY IMPACT OPERATION OF UPPER MOUNTAIN LIFTS. SKI & RIDE WITH CARE!

As people starts to dig out from an overnight storm, holiday travelers will be heading home while others hit the slopes. Expect traffic to be slow over Echo Summit.

Heavenly Mountain Resort: 9" of snow in the last 24 hours. The resort will have 1 percent of the mountain open: 35/4800 acres, 5/28 lifts open, 5/97 runs open.

Kirkwood: 14" of snow in the last 24 hours. The resort will have 3 percent of their terrain open: 60/2300 acres, 3/15 lifts and 6/86 runs.

Sierra at Tahoe: 16" (base) to 24"(summit) of snow in the last 24 hours. They will have 4 lifts and 3 trails open.

12:00 a.m. update 11/27/16: Chain controls have lowered to Sly Park Road in Pollock Pines, heading eastward to Meyers on Highway 50. Chains or traction devices are required on all vehicles except four wheel / all wheel drive vehicles with snow treaded tires on all wheels.

SR 89 northbound: Chains or traction devices are required on all vehicles except four wheel / all wheel drive vehicles with snow treaded tires on all wheels.

Approximately $158 million was spent on Lake Tahoe water quality improvement projects around Lake Tahoe in 2016, and Caltrans is not done.

In 2017 two major projects will get underway, one on each end of the lake.

During the busy 2016 season, Caltrans and its contractors completed work on two projects on State Highway 89 and made significant progress on a third.

What happened in 2016:

A fast moving storm dropped up to a couple of inches of snow at lake level overnight, leaving behind chain controls over the passes, a wind advisory and a chance for a little more snow during the day Wednesday.

Heavenly Mountain Resort opens today with a reported 3-5" of new snow.

Road controls at 8:00 a.m.:

HWY 50/Echo Summit - Chains Required, All Vehicles Except 4-Wheel Drive with Snow Tires) on US-50 from mile post 59.8 in El Dorado County to mile post 70.6 in El Dorado County in California. (Twin Bridges to Meyers)

Black Friday and Cyber Monday are just days away. As the excitement of the holiday shopping season builds, the Washoe County Sheriff’s Office offers some tips that will help everyone have a successful day, as long as they focus on personal safety.

Here are some tips to keep in mind before heading out to the stores:

First and foremost, stay alert. Do not get so caught up in the shopping frenzy that you lose awareness of your surroundings. Report suspicious activity to law enforcement or store security.

A heavily armed 37-year-old man was shot early Friday morning after keeping law enforcement personnel at bay for twenty hours in Cameron Park.

A 911 call about a possible domestic violence situation in an apartment on La Canada Drive was received by the El Dorado County Sheriff's Office dispatch at 6:10 a.m. on Thursday, November 17. According to the reporting party, there was an armed man holding a woman and her baby against their will inside the apartment.

Construction on the new three mile shared-use path from Incline Village to Sand Harbor has ended for the season.

During this year's phase one, crews built an underpass beneath the highway to bring the upcoming shared use path from the east to west side of the road near the Flume Trail. In addition, work began on the three new parking areas located near the Ponderosa Ranch and Tunnel Creek Café that will provide safer options for the one million recreationists who visit the area each year. This year’s efforts also included the relocation of a sewer (effluent) pipe near Hidden Beach.

There are multiple prescribed fires both in the Eldorado National Forest and around the Lake Tahoe Basin today, but it is one of those that had residents worried and resulted in phone calls into local fire departments and the Forest Service.

This week, 119 acres are being burned by Owens Camp, near Silver Fork and the American River west of South Lake Tahoe, and the winds associated with a front moving into the Lake Tahoe Basin Tuesday resulted in visible smoke that could be seen around the lake.

Noel Farmer, a South Lake Tahoe resident, has been a vocal opponent to Vacation Home Rentals (VHRs) in his Heavenly Valley neighborhood. Farmer is present at City Council and Planning Commission meetings, as well as Zoning Administrator meetings when the topic is VHRs.

During this Tuesday's meeting at the airport, the City Council members will discuss Farmer's petition to ban street parking on the dead-end street where he lives, Regina Road, in the 3600 and 3700 blocks.

With a record number of local residents recently vying for two open City Council positions, many are hoping there is a renewed interest in filling vacancies on four city commission and board spots as well.

The City of South Lake Tahoe is looking for residents to fill 19 city commission and board positions on the Planning Commission, Recreation Commission, Airport Land Use Commission and the Building/ADA Board of Appeals. Applications are being accepted until the deadline of December 2, 2016.

PLANNING COMMISSION:

The monthly meeting of the South Lake Tahoe Planning Commission on November 10 will have four major projects to consider, along with hearing an appeal of a vacation rental permit denial.

All candidates for South Lake Tahoe City Council were given the same questions. With just one day to go to the elections, we will be featuring their answers and a video of their interview with Tahoe Regional Young Professionals through the day.

Tamara Wallace, 46, Retired Businesswoman/Chamber Exec

Discuss your interest in serving on City Council. What is your prior experience in working with civic, community or governmental organizations?

Readers of South Tahoe Now's reports on local crime have seen an increase in reports of property crimes such as petty theft, theft from cars, auto theft and robbery.

The Tahoe Douglas Fire Protection District and U.S. Forest Service have scheduled prescribed fire operations around the South Shore from Spooner Summit to Meyers, weather and conditions permitting.

Starting Sunday, November 6, the agencies will start burning hand piles off Logan Creek Drive and on Kingsbury Grade on the East Shore, and on urban lots near Heavenly Mountain Resort and off North Upper Truckee Road on the South Shore.

Nevada (Locations and planned date of ignition):
Logan Creek - 10 acres of hand piles start November 6

If you're driving north of Lake Tahoe this month, expect delays as the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) begins to groove pavement on Interstate 80 Monday, November 7. Crews will be working from 6:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. until November 23.

Additional work days may be required after the Thanksgiving holiday weekend. (No work is scheduled on Veterans’ Day November 11.)

For the first time in several decades, the Eldorado National Forest will sell Christmas tree cutting permits. Permits for pine, fir or cedar trees up to 6 inches in diameter at the base will be available beginning November 14, 2016. "The goal of this program is to provide an enjoyable holiday experience for families and friends in the natural setting of their national forest" said Forest Supervisor Laurence Crabtree.

It is an exciting time to live on the South Shore – during a critical point in our region’s evolution and potential. It is time to set our course: moving away from bickering and blaming, exclusionary special interests and single-industry dominance to consensus-building and proactively choosing progress. Whether we live in Nevada or California, everyone benefits from uniting towards a sustainable vision for the South Shore.

A joint law enforcement campaign in Nevada will be focusing on distracted drivers on the state's roads from November 2 to 13 in an attempt to reduce deaths caused by drivers who are texting or making phone calls while behind the wheel.

In the first half of 2016, traffic deaths in the country rose 10.4 percent over 2015, meaning 1,665 more deaths in just six months. That follows a 7 percent increase in deaths the prior year.

The popular Lake Tahoe basin Christmas tree permits from the U.S Forest Service go on sale Monday, November 7 in South Lake Tahoe and North Lake Tahoe, then on November 9 in Incline Village.

Permits cost $10 each with a limit of two per family. They must be purchased in person, are not transferable and are sold on a first come, first serve basis. Even though the last day for tree permit sales is on December 23, they are normally sold out well before that date, sometimes as early as December 4.

The gates have closed to Van Sickle Bi-State Park in South Lake Tahoe, but the grounds will remain open for the public to enjoy year-round.

The California Tahoe Conservancy announced the closure today and wants to remind park users that when the gates close, services such as water, restrooms and trash collection are not available.

Fall and winter park users are reminded to park legally and not to block the gate, and to pack out your garbage so the park can remain clean for all others to follow, and to protect the wildlife.