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Christmas was made very special for 100 South Lake Tahoe children on Saturday, December 16, 2017 when philanthropist Lisa Maloff joined Tahoe Youth and Family Services (TYFS) in ringing in the holidays with a special celebration that won’t soon be forgotten.

Earlier this month, Mrs. Maloff made a generous donation of $75,000 to the agency that serves the youth and families South Lake Tahoe, Douglas County and Alpine County. Mrs. Maloff asked TYFS to hold a very special Christmas party so she could spread some holiday cheer and create magical memories for our local children.

A South Lake Tahoe hair salon is gaining attention from around the country because of their specialized wedding hair services, and its all because of Rah Hair Salon's owner Angelia Zajic and her team of eight stylists.

Zajic, a South Lake Tahoe native and a graduate of Whittell High School, opened Rah in 2009 after working at New Wave and in the Aveda Salon at MontBleu. It was her experience with Aveda that led Angela to creating a spa-like atmosphere at the studio which is located at 2572 Lake Tahoe Blvd #4.

The Beach Retreat in South Lake Tahoe is not your normal lake front hotel this season. It has been transformed into something from the North Pole. Walk through the grounds and look at their lights and holiday decor that cover every inch of the resort and stay on display until mid-January. All Winter Wonderland events are family friendly, and some are even pet-friendly. Children must be accompanied by an adult at all events.

Santa's Elves were at it again this year in South Lake Tahoe! They visited the South Lake Tahoe Children's Memorial tree for the fifth straight year, leaving behind signs of Christmas with stockings and garland.

There is a stocking at the tree for every child who is memorialized there.

The memorial was created 26 years ago when tragedy struct the local community when South Tahoe High students Rory Hrbacek, Sandy Haynes, and Casey Wells died in an vehicle accident on Pioneer Trail.

Almost 200,000 people have been evacuated from their homes as six large fires continue to burn out of control in Southern California. 500 confirmed structures have been destroyed and 23,000 homes are still threatened.

The largest of the fire, the Thomas Fire, has burned 115,000 acres and is five percent contained. It is in Ventura County between Hwy 150 and Hwy 126, north of Santa Paula.

The Creek Fire has burned 15,323 acres and is now 20 percent contained. It is Los Angeles County east of Sylmar.

The Heavenly Wine Walk in South Lake Tahoe Thursday sold out and ended up raising over $4,000 for victims and first responders of the recent Santa Rosa fires.

Dreu Murin Productions and Heavenly Village produced the wine walk which will become a quarterly event.

"Thank you to Liz at Pacific Crest Galley and Mike Owen and all the other Carson Road Wineries," said producer Dreu Murin. "It was a great night!"

New wineries and a new charity will be focused next time.

The Heavenly Village will have a Wine Walk on Thursday, November 30 from 5:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. Sample wines crafted and shared by the Carson Road Wineries (El Dorado County), food specials and chances to win great prizes at every location.

The cost is a $20 donation and all proceeds go directly to Santa Rosa area families and first responders who were affected by the recent wildfires.

Parking every night after 5:00 p.m. in the Heavenly Village parking garage is just $5 for the evening. The tent for the event is by the fountain and stop by for your tickets there.

The 7th annual Meyers Community Tree Lighting Celebration will be held on Friday, December 1 from 5:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. in the Divided Sky/Downtown Cafe parking Lot in Meyers underneath the big tree.

The evening will be full of fun activities for the whole family:

-Santa arrives in the CalStar helicopter (weather permitting)
-Free hot chocolate and popcorn
-Christmas fire truck
-Christmas carols/music

All in the Meyers' community style.

Lake Tahoe Community College (LTCC) soccer fans will have to wait a few more days to watch their Lady Coyotes in the playoffs. Their first round opponent, the Solano Falcons, had to forfeit Saturday's game due to a lack of players.

The forfeit automatically gives them a first round win.

Clear Creek Tahoe, the private residential community and club in the mountains just east of Lake Tahoe, has hired a seasoned hospitality director as part of their commitment to create one of the finest amenity collections in the country.

Franck Savoy has been hired as its general manager. Drawing on more than 20 years of experience in luxury hospitality management, Savoy will be responsible for all operations at the property.

Exclusive communities nationwide continue to offer members more elevated experiences, and that is why Clear Creek Tahoe brought Savoy on board.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, CALIF. - 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 time of story.

Some of those recently added to last week's log:

11/1

4:29 p.m. - Battery - South Lake Tahoe - A FEMALE JUVENILE WAS ARRESTED FOR BATTERY AFTER SHE ASSAULTED HER 52-YEAR-OLD MOTHER.

11/3

Good news for South Lake Tahoe as the Amgen Tour of California has announced their 2018 race schedule. A favored site for the women’s race, South Lake Tahoe will once again host the men for the Stage 6 finish and welcome back the women for the fourth year in a row on May 18. 2018.

AEG, the world’s leading sports and live entertainment company, made the announcement Thursday.

The Santa Rosa Flyers, the amateur youth hockey teams based at Snoopy's Ice in Santa Rosa, Calif., will be in South Lake Tahoe this weekend for season games against South Tahoe Amateur Hockey Association's Tahoe Grizzlies. Thirteen families from the Santa Rosa hockey organization lost their homes in the recent wildfires.

Jeffrey Scott Harkins, age 63, passed away in his Los Osos home on September 30, 2017.

Overnight significant winds fanned over a dozen fires across Northern California. 15 new wind whipped wildfires in nine counties have already burned over 73,000 acres in the past 12 hours. Firefighters have been challenged with winds gusting in excess of 50 mph causing extreme rates of spread and volatile burning conditions.

A fundraiser will be held in South Lake Tahoe on Saturday, September 9 for long-time local Bill Horning. The South Tahoe High graduate has had some recent major medical issues but is on the road to recovery.

Horning has spent the last 35 years playing Santa Claus for the community at events such as the Barton Foundation Festival of Trees. He not only worked at the High Sierra and MontBleu, and most recently the Marriott, but has also been a coordinator with Bread and Broth and Second Serving.

Tom Watson gave his resignation to the City Council on Wednesday, August 16, ending his four year stint as South Lake Tahoe's City Attorney.

Watson told South Tahoe Now he has been hired as the City Attorney in Tracy, California, a job that will get him closer to family.

“I am proud of what the City Attorney’s office has accomplished during my time here," said Watson. "I appreciate the Council and Staff’s dedication to this community and want Tahoe to thrive and prosper.”

LAKE TAHOE - Boating, rafting, kayaking and paddling are just a few ways to enjoy beautiful Lake Tahoe, but they come with simple safety precautions and preparations to ensure that day is complete and enjoyable.

"People are very excited to get on the water," said Edwin Lyngar, Nevada Department of Wildlife's (NDOW) Water Educator. "Take safety precautions as you can't depend on luck."

Lyngar as well as both California and Nevada water safety experts were at Sand Harbor last week to inform the public about how easy it is to be safe on the water.

The featured tellers at this year’s event are Willy Claflin, world music percussion band The Batamba Collective, Mother Lode Storytelling Guild tellers Linda Kennedy and Joan McCammon, and chautauquan Larry Lippmann as “Hank Monk”. The weekend also features early afternoon shows specifically for families and children, an open mic storytelling concert and a storytelling group Carson Valley Memories led by Nancy Raven.

Location

The Soroptimist International of Tahoe Sierra club gave away $21,000 on Thursday at their annual youth awards and scholarship ceremony.

The following are the categories and winners:

South Tahoe High School Scholarships
Sophie Caputa, headed to UC Santa Cruz to major in Political Science
Kamren Gronwold, headed to Feather River College to major in Equine Science
Isabel Leon, headed to LTCC and the plans to go to UC Davis to major in Chemical Engineering
Jocelyn Lopez, headed to Cal State Humboldt
Lek Wei Seow, headed to UC Merced to major in Micro-Biology

Two members of the South Lake Tahoe Police Department (SLTPD) were promoted on during an official swearing-in ceremony at the Lake Tahoe Airport on Monday.

Shannon Laney was promoted to lieutenant and Doug Sentell was promoted to sergeant as they took their oath with SLTPD Police Chief Brian Uhler.

With the retirement of Brian Williams, Laney was chosen to take his place, then Sentell took over Laney's old position.

Many drivers plan ahead when planning their travel along highways in interstates across the county. Want to miss rush hour? Don't hit that city in the morning and late afternoon. Mad dash to Santa Cruz on a warm Saturday? Leave early in the morning or go the night before to miss the backup of traffic.

Smooth travel over Highway 50 in the Sierra requires the same planning or one will get stuck in heavy traffic on Friday evenings heading to Lake Tahoe, or Sunday mornings leaving Lake Tahoe (or the day after a holiday).

The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) has announced the availability of low-interest federal disaster loans for some California private nonprofit organizations. The federal government is offering assistance after the severe winter storms, flooding and mudslides hit the state Jan. 3-12, 2017.

The eligible nonprofits must provide essential services of a governmental nature.

Measurements of the Sierra snowpack by both California and Nevada water officials have good, but not surprising news: There is well above average amounts of snow and snow water content in the Sierra Nevada, and Lake Tahoe and Truckee basins.

During his monthly trek into the snow at Phillips Station, 15 miles southwest of Lake Tahoe, Frank Gehrke, chief of the California Cooperative Snow Surveys Program found 22.1 more inches of water in the snow than what he found January 3.