superintendent

Douglas County Utilities have once again earned the prestigious honor of receiving “Best Tasting Water in the State of Nevada.” For the third time in five years, Douglas County Utilities has brought the award home, this time for Montana Well No. 3 that serves the West Valley area. On August 2, 2018, the Nevada Rural Water Association will announce and present Douglas County Utilities with the award during the Douglas County Board of County Commissioner’s Meeting. The service area includes the West Valley area from Walley’s to James Canyon.

The Board of Trustees of the Lake Tahoe Community College (LTCC) District is pleased to announce the selection of Dr. Jonathan King as the college’s new Vice President of Student Services beginning August 6. Dr. King is currently the Dean of Counseling and Student Support Programs at Southwestern College in Chula Vista, CA, where he has served since January 2015.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. — Lake Tahoe Community College (LTCC) is pleased to welcome Dr. Donna Sohan, the new Director of Institutional Effectiveness, who joined the campus administration in early July after a national search.

LTCC Superintendent/President Jeff DeFranco said, “Dr. Sohan fills a critical role for the college. She has worked extensively with both four-year and community colleges and brings to LTCC the essential experience in generating, analyzing and utilizing data effectively necessary to support the full range of institutional decision-making.”

The El Dorado County Elections office has released their final tally of the ballots from the June 5, 2018 election.

Here are the results:

County Supervisor, 5th District
Novasel and Curtzwiler will face off in November

JEFFREY SPENCER 1149 16.74%
NORMA SANTIAGO 954 13.90%
KENNY CURTZWILER 2217 32.31%
SUE NOVASEL 2524 36.78%

County Supervisor, 4th District
Ranalli and Parlin will face off in November

LORI PARLIN 4564 37.97%
BOGDAN AMBROZEWICZ 1494 12.43%
MICHAEL RANALLI 5946 49.46%

County Auditor-Controller
Harn wins

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - Lake Tahoe Community College is excited to present its annual scholarship awards to 81 deserving students at a special luncheon taking place on Friday, June 29 – the same day as the college’s graduation ceremony. The 2017/2018 academic year was a record-breaking year of scholarship fundraising for the LTCC Foundation, with generous donors supporting the granting of 120 awards amounting to more than $126,000.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - After an extensive nationwide search for the perfect candidate to fill Lake Tahoe Community College’s (LTCC) first-ever, full-time, tenure-track faculty position in Wilderness Education and Outdoor Leadership, LTCC is pleased to announce the hiring of Dr. Clinton Culp, an avid outdoorsman.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. – Lake Tahoe Golf Course has retained its designation as a "Certified Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary" through the Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary Program for Golf Courses, an Audubon International program.

Bobby Jaeger, Golf Course Superintendent, led the effort to maintain sanctuary status on this course. Lake Tahoe Golf Course was designated as a Certified Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary in 2003 and is one of 904 courses in the world to currently be designated as such.

"Choose joy, even in hard times," two-time Olympic gold medal winner David Wise told students form the Lake Tahoe Environmental Magnet School on May 25.

Wise had just shared his children's book "Very Bear and The Butterfly" with kindergarten and first grade students from the school who were on the Lake Tahoe Community College (LTCC) campus for a day of literacy.

Karin Holmes can now take the "Interim Principal" off her name tag and add "Principal."

During last week's Lake Tahoe Unified School District(LTUSD) Board of Trustees meeting, the new position was made official.

"We're fortunate to have Karin Holmes," said LTUSD Superintendent Dr. James Tarwater. "She is an outstanding educator."

In July 2017, Holmes was given the interim principal job at Sierra House Elementary after Ryan Galles left the district for a job in Vacaville.

A couple of social media posts with accusations of bullying in a South Lake Tahoe school this week have led to outrage, several concerned parents, backlash and sign carrying parents in front of the school Friday morning.

While bullying is still prevalent across the country, what happened at South Tahoe Middle School (STMS) this week has been determined by all involved, including school officials, parents and law enforcement, to not be bullying but more of a wrong choice while playing with a friend.

One student threw rocks at their friend during a school break, hitting them.

Marina Middle School in El Dorado Hills went into a "Shelter in Place" status on April 25 after two adolescent boys were seen by an area resident pointing what she believed to be a black handgun at each other.

At 8:48 a.m., the resident advised the El Dorado Sheriff's Office (EDSO) the boys were seen on foot headed in an unknown direction. Due to the close proximity to the school, deputies briefed the district superintendent and vice principal.

As a precautionary measure the "Shelter in Place" was initiate as deputies continued to check surrounding neighborhoods.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - Students will soon be able to graduate from South Tahoe High, move into Lake Tahoe Community College (LTCC) for their associate degree, then head over to the new Lisa Maloff University Center for a Bachelor of Arts degree in Liberal Arts, Global Business Management, Psychology, and possibly in the near future, Ski Resort Management.

Sierra Nevada College was the first school to offer four-year degrees at LTCC, and now there will be another.

Sound levels from SnowGlobe have been a concern of many residents in South Lake Tahoe, and after a presentation at Tuesday's City Council meeting, new sound monitoring protocols will start this year.

After Recreation Superintendent Lauren Thomaselli gave the SnowGlobe Special Event Agreement Annual review, staff decided to perform the sound measurement for the 2018 festival in both A-Weighting and C-Weighting.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, CALIF. - Since January 1, 2018 there have been 18 school shootings in the United States, 25 fatal school shootings since 1999's Columbine High School tragedy. With the deadly shooting February 14, 2018 at Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, many communities are looking at their own schools and their safety procedures to help prevent a repeat of a tragic event.

What is commonplace at schools across the country are drills for "shelter in place" and for students to understand what to do, and not do, in case of an emergency.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, CALIF. - The El Dorado County Board of Supervisors meeting held in South Lake Tahoe had to come to an early end Thursday after a City fire official deemed the over 150 people crammed into the airport council chambers too many over the maximum occupancy of 112 to be safe.

Approximately 300 people filled the airport, all wanting a chance to participate in the County's discussion of amending their vacation home rental (VHR) ordinance. Those not in the council chambers filled the airport lobby.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, CALIF. - Lake Tahoe Community College (LTCC) has just received the highest level of accreditation possible from the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges, Western Association of Schools and Colleges (ACCJC). The commission reaffirmed the college’s accreditation for seven years on the basis of a comprehensive evaluation. This reaffirmation puts the college in excellent standing until its next full accreditation review in Fall 2024.

South Tahoe High math and choir teacher Paul Kushner has been placed on paid administrative leave by the Lake Tahoe Unified School District (LTUSD) pending an investigation into undisclosed allegations.

"The nature of the allegations, and the investigation process, are confidential," Shannon Chandler, Executive Assistant to the LTUSD Superintendent, told South Tahoe Now as she verified Kushner was placed on leave.

When asked about the circumstances, LTUSD Board President Barbara Bannar said she could not comment on personnel matters.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - Monday is the last day to buy tickets for the Tahoe Women's Community Fund (TWCF) annual Membership Celebration Dinner on Thursday, November 2 from 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. at Harvey's Lake Tahoe.

Ticket sales will close at noon. They can be purchased for $35 HERE.

Since escrow on Kingsbury Middle School fell through over a year ago, the school has remained vacant and unlisted at an annual cost of $45,000. Now the Douglas County School District is considering putting the property up for sale once again.

Lake Tahoe Unified School District is looking for volunteers to help them in their quest to help students with a healthy lifestyle as well as their efforts to be sustainable and use of renewable energy.

Community members with an interest or expertise in any of these areas are encouraged to join one of the following committees:

Wellness Committee – Nutrition, Wellness Committee – Physical Education and Activity, and Renewable Energy and Sustainability Committee

Lake Tahoe Unified School District Superintendent Dr. James Tarwater was given a pay raise and three-year extension to his contact during Tuesday's school board meeting.

Dr. Tarwater, who joined the District on May 13, 2005, was given a satisfactory evaluation on his performance during closed session at the August 22, 2017 Board of Education meeting.

The Board unanimously approved a two-percent pay increase.

Dmitri Pajitnov (Dima), a member of the Heavenly Mountain Resort Ski Patrol team, has been missing since July 3, 2017 when he fell through a snow bridge on Washington's Mt. Rainier near Pebble Creek as he skied down the mountain.

His body has not been found and friends are heading back to the area this weekend for what they are calling a recovery mission.

Dmitri's ski partner observed the fall and searched for two hours using an avalanche probe and transceiver before descending to Paradise and reporting the incident according to a report from the National Park Service.

South Lake Tahoe, Calif. — Dr. Deanna Brothers has been named this year's Lake Tahoe Community College Distinguished Alumni and will be honored during the school's commencement ceremony on Friday, June 30.

Each year, LTCC’s Foundation recognizes one special alumnus to receive this prestigious award for their exemplary achievements in their particular endeavors in life.

During a special meeting of the Lake Tahoe Community College Board of Trustees on Thursday, Russi Egan was hired as the college's new Vice President of Administrative Services.

Egan is currently the Vice President of Administrative Services and Chief Financial Officer at Palo Verde College in Blythe, Calif. She will begin her new job at LTCC on July 1.

The position has been vacant since Jeff DeFranco became the school's new Superintendent/President in January, 2017.