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7/29/14 11:30 p.m. update: The El Portal Fire burning near Yosemite is now 34% contained. Firefighters gained good ground on all sides of the fire except for the northern portion which has caused concern for fire officials. Steep, rugged terrain continues to challenge the efforts of firefighters but progress is being made. The weather forecast calls for continued high temperatures reaching as high as 100 degrees near El Portal.

At this point in time 3,545 acres have burned. The cause of the fire is unknown at this time.

If you've noticed that the Jeffrey Pines near the intersection of Highway 50 and Pioneer appear to be dying, you may rest assured there is no immediate cause for concern.

The yellowing of the pine needles is caused by the needleminer, a native insect species that feeds on the needs of pine trees.

Can you survive the next wildfire in Lake Tahoe? Yes, if your community is prepared.

The Lake Tahoe Basin's firefighting agencies and UNR Cooperative Education have come together to promote the "Fire Adapted Community Concept." This type of community has five elements:

1. Community Protection - Well-designed fuelbreaks and safe areas protect the community.
2. Defensible Space - Proper management of vegetation surrounding the home reduces the wildfire threat.
3. Access - Good access helps emergency responders arrive in a timely manner.

Heavenly Mountain Resort has upped the ante on summer fun, introducing new adventures at the top of the Heavenly Gondola for Summer 2014. Summertime guests will have the opportunity to swing through the trees and fly through the air on new experiences including the Boulder Cove and Black Bear Challenge Courses, the Discovery Forest Canopy Course and the 3,300 foot-long Blue Streak zip line. On Friday, June 13, Heavenly Mountain Resort will open these expanded offerings to the public seven days a week from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. through September 1.

May was deemed Wildfire Awareness Month in the basin by Lake Tahoe fire agencies.

Thinning of the forest areas near South Tahoe High and the Sand Pit OHV began last week. This is part of the South Shore Fuels Reductions and Healthy Forest Restoration Project which will thin out about 10,000 acres between Cascade Lake and Stateline, Nevada.

The thinning of trees is for fuels reduction and forest health.

The Forest Service has closed the areas in units 19 and 117 (marked by a red "X" on the map above, from 7 a.m. until 6 p.m. daily through October 14, 2014, for public safety due to heavy equipment operations and falling trees.

South Lake Tahoe City Council members, City staff, project contractors and a few members of the public gathered Tuesday to celebrate the beginning of the Harrison Avenue Project.

City Council members Tom Davis, Angela Swanson and JoAnn Connor joined Mayor Hal Cole, City Manager Nancy Kerry, Police Chief Brian Uhler, Fire Chief Jeff Meston, Public Works Director Jim Marino and Mitch Grayson of Sierra Nevada Construction, the project's contractor.

The Sierra Nevada, with its beautiful blue lakes, towering granite mountains, forests with trees that appear to touch the clouds, thundering rivers and waterfalls, and hidden valleys has long been the domain of dreams, attracting the good and the bad, the adventurous and the delusional.

The Third Annual Lake Tahoe SummerFest returns to Incline Village for two weekends of classical music.

Concert goers will be treated to world class music under a tent near the lake at the Sierra Nevada College Campus August 1-3 and August 7-9.

The Lake Tahoe SummerFest orchestra is comprised of world renowned musicians representative of international symphonies including the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, San Francisco, Seattle, and Vancouver, among others.

Over 460 acres of Forest Service latd in South Lake Tahoe will be thinned out this Spring to improve forest health and reduce the risk of sever wildiires on the South Shore.

Starting Monday, April 21, The U.S. Forest Service Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit (LTBMU) will resume work on the South Shore Fuels Reduction and Healthy Forest Restoration Project.

Talk about the March Madness: the inaugural “Gone Bonkers” Kids Ski and Snowboard Race, March 2, features a top-to-bottom race over Granlibakken Conference Center & Lodge ski area's natural terrain, complete with gates for kids 5 to 12.

It’s all part of North Lake Tahoe's 2014 SnowFest, a 10-day winter madness festival, Feb. 28- March 9.

Low water levels in Folsom Lake are allowing El Dorado County and Placer County Sheriffs to search for plane that crashed into Folsom Lake on January 1, 1965.

Frank Wilcox, a Shingle Springs man, is hoping the dramatic drop in the level of Folsom Lake will finally reveal the wreckage of the Piper Comanche that went to the bottom following a mid-air collision, killing Wilcox's older brother and three other people. Only one body was recovered. The second plane was able to return to the airport.

Freshly fallen snow will add to the holiday ambiance of events in South Lake Tahoe this weekend!

The Lake Tahoe Historical Society invites everyone to their annual Holiday in History Open House on Saturday and Sunday, December 7-8. On Saturday from 11 to 7 pm and Sunday from 11 am to 3 pm, visitors can tour the 1930s log cabin, view a Victorian holiday scene, enjoy free cider and cookies and children can even call the North Pole from a special antique phone! The event is free.

The Barton Foundation has been a cornerstone for The Barton Health Group for more than 20 years by providing excellent healthcare service to customers and also have been big players during the holiday season. This year’s Barton Festival of Trees and Lights will celebrate the 50th anniversary of Barton Health and Coldwell Banker Select will be contributing to the event in a major way. The franchise will be donating a gorgeous “sports themed” Christmas tree to the event, which will be auctioned off at the black tie gala event on December 7th.

Granlibakken Conference Center & Lodge at Lake Tahoe (http://www.Granlibakken.com) offers a Thanksgiving tradition that celebrates family and friends with a hearty holiday feast around the dinner table and boundless opportunities to work up an appetite or work off the satisfying dinner.

Called one of America's favorite Christmas stories, The Best Christmas Pageant Ever is a funny, memorable, and outrageous family play. In this Christmas tale, Mrs. Bradley, struggling to put on a church Christmas pageant, is faced with casting the Herdman kids- probably the most inventively awful kids in history. You won't believe the mayhem- and the fun- when the Herdmans collide with the Christmas story head on! A cast of over 20 local kids ages 7 to 13 help bring the show to life.

Lake Tahoe property owners and contractors can now design their own residential BMPs (Best Management Practices) with a free online tool provided by the TRPA.

BMP Designer is a GIS based tool found on the agency's Stormwater Management Program's website.

In order to utilize the BMP Designer, users should have knowledge of their property’s physical characteristics including:

• The direction water flows on the property
• Where utilities are located (always call 811 prior to digging)

My daughter and I had been planning our annual Apple Hill trek for several days when I decided to change it up a bit. Since my free time is so rare I figured why not include a visit to our favorite little town Sutter Creek? And then, since we're doing that, might as well throw in a drive down beautiful Highway 4! Since the portion of the road we'll be covering is closed after the first big snow we had to do it! The day was plotted on a map in my head with some verification on google maps. The map said our little trip was going to take 5 hours and 10 minutes and cover 225 miles.

A major road construction project through South Lake Tahoe is drawing to a close as turf, trees and plants are installed along Highway 50 between Trout Creek and Ski Run Boulevard. The $43.1 million project to collect and treat storm water runoff and provide substantial safety and beautification features started in 2011. The project also included ADA compliant sidewalks with lighting and landscaping and Class II bike lanes to give bikers a safer ride

Drivers can now drive by and see the 183 newly planted trees, 4,966 new shrubs and ground cover plants and 10.897 square yards of turf.

As the chairlifts at Kirkwood Mountain Resort came to a halt this past spring, the Snow Park Technologies (SPT) snowcats were powering up. For twenty days, an SPT crew of seven logged 1,200 hours building the slopestyle course of Bobby Brown’s dreams. Three years ago the professional skier, who is based in Denver, CO, was asking friends, “What’s next for slopestyle skiing?” The result is Red Bull Megaslope, a 2,750-foot long course that flawlessly incorporates six epic features winding across the natural terrain of the mountain.

From start to finish, the course featured:

Forest thinning on public land along the west side of Fallen Leaf Lake will begin Friday, Aug. 16, the U.S. Forest Service Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit announced Thursday. Thinning will take place south of the dam and will move closer to the dam in a couple of weeks.

A single engine Mooney airplane crashed shortly after take off from the South Lake Tahoe airport at approximately 11:10 AM today.

The plane was observed by numerous witnesses begin to lose altitude after take off, and bank sharply into a wooded area east of the airport. The plane crashed into some large pine trees and flipped over.

The male pilot, Steven Lefton 67 years of age of Palo Alto, CA was killed on impact. His wife, Karen Lefton sustained moderate injuries and was pinned in the wreckage of the plane.

With tinder-dry conditions after one of the driest winters on record, California fire officials will suspend burning permits along the West Slope and Eldorado National Forest beginning June 17. Fire restrictions in the Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit will begin July 1.

CAL FIRE’s Amador-El Dorado- Sacramento Unit will suspend door-yard burning permits and the Forest Service will begin fire restrictions in portions of Eldorado National Forest.

Thinning of trees for fuels reduction and forest health begins this week on National Forest System lands between Montgomery Estates and Sierra Tract in South Lake Tahoe.

The contractor has begun mobilizing equipment and will begin cutting trees within the next few days. The Forest Service has closed the area from 7 a.m. until 6 p.m. daily through July 26 for public safety due to heavy equipment operations and falling trees.