south tahoe

The year was 1914. Charlie Chaplin appears in his first movie. Ford Motor Company announces an 8 hour work day and a wage for employees of $5/day. Woodrow Wilson is President and Babe Ruth makes his major league debut. November 12th of that year was when Jean Dahlinger of South Lake Tahoe was born.

Today, 100 years later, Jean celebrated her 100th birthday at the Barton Mountain Cafe with family, friends and community members. Known as "The Dancing Machine," Jean was serenaded by the South Tahoe High Jazz Band as they played "Happy Birthday" and "America the Beautiful."

In keeping with its mission to bring more arts to more people, El Dorado Arts Council is thrilled to announce its new partnership with BATS, Bringing Art to Schools, an art appreciation and art history program for South Lake Tahoe students in kindergarten through fifth grade. BATS students both learn about classic works of art—their meanings, styles, and the movements that informed them—and create their own art based upon a selected theme.

Last spring the South Lake Tahoe planning commission approved plans for turning the Highland Inn motel into commercial space. Original plans for the space include a spa, restaurant and bar and other businesses.

A sign hanging in the front window of the former motel is advertising space available in the new building along with a photo of the planned rendition.

The Lake Tahoe Unified School District (LTUSD) was awarded over $150,000 to look into providing safer, more walkable and bikeable off highway routes around South Tahoe Middle School (STMS), Bijou Park and Lake Tahoe Community College. The Tahoe Regional Planning Agency (TRPA) awarded the grant as part of their $500,000 "On Our Way" program grants.

Another public workshop to get feedback from the community will be held on Wednesday, Nov. 19, from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. in the STMS Multi-purpose room.

South Tahoe High's Boys cross country team is bringing home a Division 1-A fifth place finish from the 2014 NIAA State Cross Country Championships in Las Vegas. Their counterpart across the state line, Division III Whittell High School, is also bringing home fifth place honors from the tournament.

South Tahoe's highest finisher was Dillon Lemons who finished 18th. He was followed by Orion Maxwell (21st), Paul Mutz (25th), Mario Mangiaracina (33rd), George Freeman (42nd), Paul Hoefer (45th) and Chase Stalter (52nd). Their top five finishers ended up with a total time of 1:31:27.1.

The South Tahoe High Cross Country team is in Clark County this weekend for the Nevada High School Cross Country Championships. The boys will compete on Saturday at 1:20 p.m. and the girls run at 10:45 a.m.

South Tahoe's Dillon Lemmons led the Viking runners during the regional championship on Halloween with an 8th place finish. Teammates Orion Maxwell (12th), Paul Mutz (16th), Mario Mangiaracina (17th), George Freeman (26th), Paul Hoefer (35th), David Holmes (39th) and joined Lemmons to give South Tahoe a third place finish with an average time of 18:49.

With just 13 votes separating two candidates and deciding who will be on the South Lake Tahoe City Council, thousands of uncounted absentee and provisional ballots could actually change the outcome.

El Dorado County election officials told South Tahoe Now today that an estimated 12,000 absentee ballots and 1,000 provisional ballots may take until Thanksgiving to count. By law they have 18 days to certify the election and all votes must be counted by then.

100% of the ballots from polling locations have now been counted in the El Dorado County and City of South Lake Tahoe elections. The following is the result pending some absentee ballots that still need to be counted.

County Supervisor Area 5

Sue Novasel - 59.92% 3529 votes
Kenny Curtzwiler - 39.58% 2331 votes

City of South Lake Tahoe City Council
Top 3 win a seat

Wendy David 18.00% 1205 votes
Tom Davis 15.56% 1042 votes

It’s the brassy, bright, and promising year of 1959. Boston’s Colonial Theatre is host to the opening night performance of a new musical. When the leading lady mysteriously dies on stage the entire cast & crew are suspects.

I’ve lived in South Lake Tahoe for 22 years, and I’m the Dean of Career & Technical Education and Instruction at Lake Tahoe Community College. I'd like to share a few stories about students I’ve known through my work at LTCC, and how Measure F will provide new pathways to create many more great stories like these – stories about young people whose lives were changed because of the programs and opportunities available through our local community college.

The South Tahoe Drug Free Coalition announced today that last month's Drug Take Back Day netted 40 pounds of prescription drugs.

Pouring rain and below average temperatures may have kept some people away, but the take back day was still deemed successful since there are now 40 pounds of drugs being kept out of the hands of kids and the environment.

Last Spring's event took in over 55 pounds.

The South Lake Tahoe Police Department responded to a brawl in progress at the mid-town Jack in the Box on Tuesday afternoon. When they arrived they found two men and a woman confronting a man. The suspects had a bat and a slungshot (homemade weapon with a weight on the end of a rope) on them according to Detective Doug Sentell of the SLTPD. Sentell said that even though a bat was present it wasn't used on the victim.

South Tahoe High Graduate Francisco Figueroa-Yanez, known as "Frankie" to his friends, has his new career as a school teacher in San Francisco highlighted in a recent SFGate article titled "Bay Area schools scramble for qualified teachers amid shortage." Frankie graduated from STHS in 2007, went to Santa Clara University where he majored in Biology and Spanish and is now at the University of San Francisco working on his masters degree. He visits South Lake Tahoe when time allows to see his parents and friends.

The Whittell Warriors Varsity football team improved their record to 8-0 after a double overtime win over Mineral County on Friday night. The Warriors fell behind in the first quarter 22-8 and went into the locker room at half time trailing 44-22. At the end of regulation play the score was tied at 44 after Whittell came back with two touchdown passes by Colin Buchholtz late in the game. Max Primo's 6 yard rushing TD in overtime was followed by a pass by Buccholtz to Armando Rodgriquez for a touchdown put Whittell on the win column with a final score of 56-50.

Members of the South Tahoe High Jazz Band have been invited by Chico State professor, and Director of Jazz Studies, Rocky Winslow to take part in an individualized, private, jazz clinic with himself and two other jazz all-stars: Paul Romaine and Mark Patterson (both of Convergence Jazz Sextet).

The students will also participate in a sound check on stage with the Jazz All Stars and the Chico State Jazz X-Press. That evening they are the invited, special guests at the Chico State Jazz X-Press Concert, followed by backstage mingling with the performers.

Over 100 South Tahoe High students, teachers and staff participated in a demonstration of the power of words on the campus today. I AM NOT was the theme of t-shirts worn for the day.

"The project focuses on the power of words and the fact that they can negatively affects all of us," said Principal Chad Houck. "These words are often the language of bullies, the reason kids miss school, and sometimes even the reason our students find little worth in themselves."

The nomination period for the 2014 Blue Ribbon Awards ended on Friday, October 10 at noon. TahoeChamber’s prestigious awards program that recognizes exceptional South Shore businesses received over 175 nominations for eight separate award categories. The finalists and winners will be announced at the 7th Annual Blue Ribbon Awards dinner and ceremony on November 13 at Harrah’s Lake Tahoe. Tickets for the awards ceremony are now available for purchase at www.tahoechamber.org.

The Nominees:

Four Business and Economics Majors at Chapman University are working to change the lives of millions of people around the world. One of the young men who started ‘Health 2 Humanity' is from our area. John Cefalu is not only a South Tahoe High School grad, the 19-year-old entrepreneur is now also a soap-making expert.

A pep rally and a parade through South Lake Tahoe started off the South Tahoe High homecoming festivities on Friday afternoon which culminated in a convincing win on the gridiron for the varsity Viking football team.

Looking for their first win during the 2014 football season, South Tahoe took their 0-6 record to the field against the team from Dayton. They scored 28 unanswered points after Dayton started off the game with a safety.

Division iA Standings

School Name League W-L Pct. PF PA overall W-L
Churchill County 6-0 1.000 269 65 6-1

If the success of Thursday night's merging of South Lake Tahoe politics with speed dating is any indication, we should see many more forums done in the same format in the future. A much more educated and knowledgeable voter emerged from the evening's event at Lake Tahoe Community College.

Be an informed voter this November! An educational forum featuring all the candidates on the ballot running unopposed will be held at Lake Tahoe Community College on Thursday, October 9.

The South Tahoe Chamber of Commerce, KTHO Radio and Lake Tahoe Community College are jointly sponsoring the Candidate's Forum in the Aspen Room, which is in the college's library building, from 5 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.

My wife and I bought a retirement home in Tahoe in 2002, in part because there was a college in South Lake Tahoe. I have been on the LTCC Foundation Board since 2009. I am writing to urge everyone to support Measure F to modernize Lake Tahoe Community College and increase the educational opportunities offered there.

There are an estimated 500 unpermitted, illegal marijuana grow houses on the South Shore according to local law enforcement. In the city limits, South Lake Tahoe Police Chief Brian Uhler estimates there are 300 houses where marijuana is growing illegally with another 200 in the El Dorado County portion of the South Shore according to SLEDNET’s Matt Underhill. (SLEDNET stands for South Lake El Dorado Narcotics Enforcement Team, a joint drug enforcement task force)

Did you know that South Lake Tahoe has a professional ice hockey team? The Lake Tahoe Blue are members of the Western States Hockey League and host teams from across the country at their home ice, the Lake Tahoe Ice Arena.

If you were at the South Tahoe High football game last weekend you would have caught a glimpse of the team as they rooted on the Vikings.