rocks

Drivers between South Lake Tahoe and Spooner Summit may once again travel along Highway 50 after it was closed for several days after boulders larger than passenger vehicles rolled down the hill onto the road just north of Cave Rock.

Nevada Department of Transportation (NDOT) reopened the road with one lane of traffic moving in each direction.

No vehicles were involved in the slides, and no injuries were reported.

7:00 p.m. update - Caltrans is advising motorists that U.S. Highway 50 in the Kyburz area will remain closed at least through Monday night and potentially longer due to multiple mud slides.

Caltrans and an emergency contractor are working on three slides in a 12-mile area, and several smaller slides are also active near the highway.

An 11-year-old boy was killed and three other people were injured when a BMW went off Highway 50 in El Dorado County, the California Highway Patrol said.

The crash happened about 12 a.m. Wednesday on westbound Highway 50 near Riverton Court when a 33-year-old man driving a BMW lost control of his vehicle as he was making a turn, officers said. The driver tried to apply his breaks when the wheel locked causing the car to go off the road.

Placerville CHP Sgt. Chris Davis said the speed limit in this area is 55 mph, but that night it was dropped to 45 as a precaution.

There is a flash flood warning on Saturday for the Little Valley and Emerald Fire burn scars.

The National Weather Service in Reno has issued the warning for Saturday afternoon through late Saturday night.

Another band of heavy rain is expected Saturday afternoon with rainfall rates over over 1" in three hours in the areas of the burns. The rain could trigger debris flows and rock falls, which have already been reported across Highway 89 near the Emerald Fire.

These rocks and debris may affect area homes and highways, the NWS said.

Update 5:00 p.m. 9/7/16: The man killed in Monday's hiking incident near Cascade Falls has been identified as Airman 1st Class Tyler Oimoeon of Beale Air Force Base. He from Mt.Horeb, Wisconsin.

"Our thoughts and prayers are with Airman Oimoen's family, coworkers and friends," Lt. Col. Matthew Mountcastle said. "During this difficult time, we are caring for his family and coworkers with the support of the Beale community."

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A 21-year-old man died at Cascade Falls on Monday afternoon after taking a fall off granite rocks in the area.

El Dorado County Sheriff's Office responds to calls throughout the county.

The following are calls that only pertain to the South Shore. There may be some missing calls due to sheriff's logs not being completed at press time and the story will be updated when provided.

6/24

1:13 p.m. - Burglary - Highway 50 - A VEHICLE WAS BURGLARIZED

1:49 p.m. - Search and Rescue - Pacific Crest Trail - SEARCH AND RESCUE INITIATED FOR AN INJURED 55-YEAR-OLD FEMALE HIKER ON PACIFIC CREST TRAIL SOUTH OF ECHO SUMMIT.

With construction started in the U.S. 50 Cave Rock tunnel, travelers need to know restrictions now that both lanes of traffic go through the eastbound tunnel.

Because of the slope of the interior to the tunnel, no oversized vehicles or oversized loads are allowed (wider than 8'6" and taller than 14'6"). Most buses and RVs are smaller than these restricted sized, and have been able to travel through the tunnel safely according to Meg Ragonese, Nevada Department of Transportation (NDOT) Public Information Officer.

Two massive boulders that fell onto State Route 4 at Ebbetts Pass in Alpine County have been removed by dynamite.

On March 26, crews from Caltrans District 10 responded to a report of boulders in the roadway, and there they found two boulders on the roadway, which has been closed for the winter season. One was estimated to be 300 tons and measured 16’ tall x 25’ wide x 18’ thick while the other was about 100 tons and 14’ tall x 20’ wide x 10’ thick.

Caltrans crews used approximately 30 pounds of explosive material to detonate the boulders which created about 700 yards of rock.

A rock slide near Johnson Pass Road closed both lanes of Highway 50 at 6:00 p.m. Tuesday evening. Most of the rocks could be moved to the side of the road, but two large boulders had to wait for heavy equipment to be pushed off the roadway according to the California Highway Patrol.

Both lanes were closed but Caltrans is now allowing intermittent traffic through. As of 7:30 p.m., one large boulder remained. They expected to be done with that boulder by 7:30 p.m.

A Valentine's Day rockslide at Emerald Bay closed Highway 89 for about an hour. The California Highway Patrol responded to a call of rocks on the roadway and controlled traffic in the are until a truck equipped with a plow could clear off the slide.

The road reopened at 11:34 a.m.

No other details are available at this time.

8:15 p.m. update: Highway 50 through Cave Rock is now open and clear. All rocks have been cleared away.

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A large boulder rolled onto Highway 50 Saturday evening on the Lake Tahoe east shore, closing one eastbound lane of traffic on the west side of the Cave Rock tunnel.

According to the Nevada Highway Patrol, just after 6:00 p.m., several rocks fell onto the roadway, the largest too heavy to be moved by one of their patrol cars. They are now waiting for a bulldozer to clear the roadway.

NHP estimates for all to be cleared by 9:15 p.m.

The business of second chances is everyone’s business. Choose your path!

Dear League To Save Lake Tahoe and the Humane Society,

First of all, I want to say thank you on behalf of the students at Mt. Tallac High School and to tell you we appreciate all of you for your hard work. Without you it would be difficult to earn lab science credits. I think everything you guys do for Tahoe is great!

LONG-TERM PROJECTS

State Route 89 (Placer County): Work continues on a $70.1 million project from Tahoma to the "Y" junction with State Route 28 in Tahoe City on Lake Tahoe’s West Shore that will upgrade storm water drainage and treatment systems, add curb and gutter, resurface and realign the road, add new left-turn pockets and widen shoulders on a 9-mile stretch of the highway. Completion is expected in fall 2016.

LONG-TERM PROJECTS

State Route 89 (Placer County): Work continues on a $70.1 million project from Tahoma to the "Y" junction with State Route 28 in Tahoe City on Lake Tahoe’s West Shore that will upgrade storm water drainage and treatment systems, add curb and gutter, resurface and realign the road, add new left-turn pockets and widen shoulders on a 9-mile stretch of the highway. Completion is expected in fall 2016.

A CHP helicopter crew and rescue personnel with mountain climbing experience had to be called upon the get three young people from Sacramento off a rocky Sierra Nevada outcropping.

The El Dorado County Sheriff’s Office got a cell phone call for help in the early morning hours Saturday from the three stranded hikers. They were on a ledge in the Desolation Wilderness and could not safely go up or down.

LONG-TERM PROJECTS

State Route 89 (Placer County): Work continues on a $70.1 million project from Tahoma to the "Y" junction with State Route 28 in Tahoe City on Lake Tahoe’s West Shore that will upgrade storm water drainage and treatment systems, add curb and gutter, resurface and realign the road, add new left-turn pockets and widen shoulders on a 9-mile stretch of the highway. Completion is expected in fall 2016.

You'll soon be seeing red if all goes as planned.

The annual trek of the Kokanee salmon into Taylor Creek from Lake Tahoe should begin in the next week or so, but with the drought and a very active beaver population, the Forest Service had to step in and help.

"We didn't have a lot of fish last year," said Lindsay Gusses, the Taylor Creek Site Supervisor. "We are updating our strategies to have fish here during the festival."

In September, longtime physician Dr. Paul Marlowe will say farewell to his patients and the urgent care practice where he has provided care for 32 years as he embarks on an adventure with his wife Lorraine. The uniquely quirky and endearing Dr. Marlowe is known throughout the community for providing exceptional care since 1983.

Thousands flock to the Sierra Nevada every fall to watch the color changes of the aspen trees along with the annual upstream migration of the Kokanee Salmon in Taylor Creek to lay their eggs and complete their life cycle.

The bright yellows, oranges and reds of the aspen are emblematic of fall in Lake Tahoe, but this year that will not happen in the typical fashion that people have become accustomed to.

In a stroll through many of the aspen groves on the South Shore it looks like fall has already happened with dried leaves leaving the branches and making their way to the forest floor.

LONG-TERM PROJECTS

State Route 89 (Placer County): Work continues on a $70.1 million project from Tahoma to the "Y" junction with State Route 28 in Tahoe City on Lake Tahoe’s West Shore that will upgrade storm water drainage and treatment systems, add curb and gutter, resurface and realign the road, add new left-turn pockets and widen shoulders on a 9-mile stretch of the highway. Completion is expected in fall 2016.

A multi-sport expedition that took participants from mountain top to mountain top, up rocks and into the lake and along rivers has wrapped up in South Lake Tahoe. Eleven teams with four members each spent the past several days running, biking, orienteering, mountain climbing, kayaking over 520 miles of some of the world's most beautiful terrain.

LONG-TERM PROJECTS

State Route 89 (Placer County): Work continues on a $70.1 million project from Tahoma to the "Y" junction with State Route 28 in Tahoe City on Lake Tahoe’s West Shore that will upgrade storm water drainage and treatment systems, add curb and gutter, resurface and realign the road, add new left-turn pockets and widen shoulders on a 9-mile stretch of the highway. Completion is expected in fall 2016.

LONG-TERM PROJECTS

State Route 89 (Placer County): Work continues on a $70.1 million project from Tahoma to the "Y" junction with State Route 28 in Tahoe City on Lake Tahoe’s West Shore that will upgrade storm water drainage and treatment systems, add curb and gutter, resurface and realign the road, add new left-turn pockets and widen shoulders on a 9-mile stretch of the highway. Completion is expected in fall 2016.

You're hiking along the trails of Lake Tahoe, fall and break your ankle. How do you get to the hospital? You're exploring the valleys and canyons of the Sierra, it gets dark and you don't know where you are. How do you get to safety? You've fallen on the slippery rocks of a waterfall and can't get out. Who do you call?

El Dorado Search and Rescue (SAR) is the answer to all of these questions and dozens more. Annually, the volunteers and deputies that make up SAR handle between 150 and 200 calls in the county portion of the Tahoe basin (AKA the east slope).