shopping

The Tahoe Chamber’s GO Local & Win Holiday Contest rewarded residents for spending locally during the holiday season in a time when small businesses needed it most. Kicking off in late November for Small Business Saturday, the holiday contest recorded $39,134 in spending at local restaurants and retailers through January 1st, a 291 percent increase from the 2019 contest.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - Many times shoppers in South Lake Tahoe want to know where they can go to support local crafters and business owners. South Tahoe Now opened the center column of the front page to advertise small local businesses who joined in the free program, and now another robust page of local shopping options has arrived just in time for the holidays.

South Lake Tahoe Holiday Bazaar is an online version of what would normally be the annual craft fair and bazaar season. The website has about two dozen makers and businesses at this time with more signing up daily.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - With a surge of COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations, California Governor Newsom today issued a new regional stay-at-home order as an "emergency brake" to slow the spread of COVID-19 in the state.

This order goes into effect in regions with less than 15 percent ICU availability. At this time, the El Dorado County does not fall into that group but it could be a matter of days until it does. The county is part of the Greater Sacramento Region which is at 22 percent capacity as of Thursday.

Sunsational Clothing and Tans offers a full clothing and shoe boutique in South Lake Tahoe. They offer tanning, sauna, spray tanning, and red light therapy. They have recently installed a new Ultra Level 5 Tanning Bed.

Daily specials are always offered,

Sunsational CLothing and Tans is open seven-days-a-week. They are located at 2227 Lake Tahoe Blvd. They can be reached at 530-542-8757.

30 percent off Shopping Spree when you mention this story.

South Lake Tahoe has a wide variety of small businesses from jewelry to experiences on the lake. With the impact of the pandemic on their business this is a perfect season to think of them while doing your shopping.

Small Business Saturday is November 28, the annual day after Black Friday to highlight shopping at the places who are a part of the community. They are the businesses we go to when seeking donations for silent auctions or to provide food for fundraisers. They are invested in the well-being of the South Shore community and to keep them here we need to support them now.

ALPINE COUNTY, Calif. - The least populated county in California is just to the south of Lake Tahoe. Alpine County, population about 1,200, includes the towns of Markleeville, Woodfords, Kirkwood and Bear Valley. While not big, Alpine County is experiencing a surge of COVID-19 cases just like the rest of the country.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - Walmart is hosting a COVID-free virtual shopping event for Toys for Tots of South Lake Tahoe until November 30. From the ease of a phone or computer, select any of the items listed on the registry, add to your "cart" and the toys will come directly to South Lake Tahoe.

The list is under the retailer's gift registry as Toys 4 Tots Lake Tahoe's Registry, or visit https://www.walmart.com/lists/view-events-registry-items?id=98012121-7913-4cd7-b409-a4d7d488cd92.

Items on the list fit all budgets or a gift card can be added to the "cart."

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - The South Tahoe Chamber of Commerce Board recently asked the nine City Council candidates ten questions they felt were of most importance to its members. The questions focused mainly on topics relating to things that will or may affect both the local small businesses and the community in general.

Their board made the decision to not endorse a specific candidate this election, but instead rank them based on how much they align with the South Tahoe Chamber of Commerce goals based on their answers to the questions below.

South Tahoe Now reached out to all nine candidates for South Lake Tahoe City Council and provided the same list of questions to each one of them. Once a day their answers will be published in the order received.

Today's candidate is Keith Roberts.

Profession: Executive Chef

How many years in SLT: 5 years

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - El Dorado County will be able to move to the next colored tier on September 21 if COVID-19 cases remain under four cases per day average and test positivity stays below five percent for two consecutive seven-day periods.

The County started off the new color-tiered reopening plan in the Red/Substantial tier due to data from the weeks of August 5-11 and August 12-18.

"The State requires that a County remain in the assigned tier for three weeks

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - The Food Bank of El Dorado County is looking for volunteers to help distribute food to individuals in need on August 26 from 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. in South Lake Tahoe.

Distribution will be located at St.Theresa's Catholic Church parking lots located at 1041 Lyons Avenue. Volunteers will be bagging up fresh produce and pushing shopping carts full of food to the recipient's vehicles.

If you are interested in volunteering please email info@foodbankedc.org to sign up.

If in need of food assistance, the food giveaway will be from 10:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - Barton Health's Attic Thrift Store in South Lake Tahoe hasn't reopened yet, but they are having several events to help those in the community facing challenges.

This Saturday, July 18, from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., join Make Tahoe Records at Scott Forrest Fine Art Studio at 2572 Lake Tahoe Blvd., South Lake Tahoe to help Black Ice Theatre Co.

On Thursday afternoon about 4:30 p.m. a fire crew from South Lake Tahoe Fire Rescue (SLTFR) responded to a brush fire at the Christian Science Church near Smart & Final. The crew managed to contain and extinguish the blaze and the church building sustained only minimal damage.

A shopping cart was found near what appeared to be the fire origin and contained what appeared to be personal property. The exact cause of the blaze is unknown but illegal campers have been a continuing problem in that area.

NORTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - If you've been on SR89 near Tahoe City lately you've noticed the new roundabout that was installed south of the Fanny Bridge near the transit station. A new bridge over the Truckee River was also created during the first stage of the SR89/Fanny Bridge Revitalization Project which included another roundabout on the west end of Tahoe City on SR89.

EL DORADO COUNTY, Calif. - California Governor Gavin Newsom has given El Dorado County the go-ahead to move fully into Stage 2 of the reopening phases. They joined Butte County to became the first two counties in the state to be allowed to move forward.

While businesses can start to reopen, there is still a statewide ban on nonessential travel. Second-home owners are still asked to respect that order and come to South Lake Tahoe to check their homes, or quarantine upon arrival. Vacation rentals are still not allowed in this stage.

The following is a letter sent to El Dorado County and City of South Lake Tahoe. It is published here in its entirety at the request of the author.

The South Tahoe Chamber of Commerce would like to offer encouragement and support of a revival of the local economy, while continuing to keep the health and safety of our residents in mind. Cases of COVID-19 have remained low in our region when compared to other more populated areas around the State and Nation. We applaud the quick action taken by the County and City that has helped us keep the case count low.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - A four-week on-line acting workshop will be starting on May 11, 2020. Take 2 Performers Studio and Tahoe Production House have teamed up to bring this workshop to youth with a focus on television and film acting.

This is an interactive class where students will develop a solid foundation and acting techniques including improv, auditioning skills for film and television, and on-camera experience with instructors Justine Reyes and Holly Lorge.

With the global spread of Covid-19, we have discovered how quickly our world can change and have responded with sacrifices. It’s clear that we deeply value the health and well-being of our community.

With our response, we have improved the health of our planet, too. It’s remarkable! On the 50th anniversary of Earth Day, our skies are the cleanest they have been for over a century.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - A South Lake Tahoe-based concierge service is now offering free grocery delivery to seniors over the age of 65 and to those in need.

Tahoe Warm Welcome has been providing home and guest services to homeowners and visitors to the Lake Tahoe Basin since 2006. Operated by two long-time locals with over 30 years of customer service experience, they are no expanding what they offer during the coronavirus pandemic to include free shopping services for seniors and anti-viral sterilization cleaning packages for the home.

MEYERS, Calif. - The members of the Lake Valley Fire Protection District (LVFPD) help the community every day as first responders and protecting the community, but they are now adding on a new role.

They have donated money as well as started a program to go grocery shopping for the elderly in their district or for those unable to get to the store due to coronavirus impacts.

Last week members of the district's foundation presented a check for $1,000 to Bread & Broth to help supply food to those in the community who are impacted by layoffs due to the coronavirus.

During a Tuesday evening press conference, Nevada Governor Steve Sisolak ordered a statewide closure of all nonessential businesses in the state, including casinos.

The Stateline, Nevada casinos not already closed will close March 17 at midnight. The nonessential businesses in the state must close by noon on Wednesday, March 18.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - Quarterly reports on the sales tax received by the City of South Lake Tahoe and El Dorado County (EDC) were released this week. The quarter ending September 2019 shows the County's taxable sales in the unincorporated area grew by 4.3 percent when compared to the same period in 2018. In South Lake Tahoe, taxable sales grew by 6.0 percent. County-wide including both cities within its boundaries saw a 5.1 percent increase. In comparison, the Sacramento region was up 4.5 percent.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - The long-discussed 56-acre parcel in the middle of South Lake Tahoe is finally seeing movement again, and both the South Lake Tahoe City Council and El Dorado County Board of Supervisors (BOS) supporting further conversation. A formal agreement between the two is expected later in 2020 with another one-two years of public meetings, consultant review, and planning before plans are implemented. The California Tahoe Conservancy is funding the cost of the consultant, just as they did 30 years ago.