volunteers

South Lake Tahoe's only wildlife rescue and rehab center, Lake Tahoe Wildlife Care, opens their doors to the public just once a year, and Sunday, August 2 is that day.

Visit their facility and see the wildlife currently under their care through closed circuit monitors. LTWC volunteers will be on hand to guide visitors through the wildlife rehab center, explaining what is in each cage and the story behind each animal. The open house will run from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

LTWC brand clothing will be on sale, as well as renderings of the new facility which will open in the Spring of 2017.

The celebrities have been gone from South Lake Tahoe for over a week, back to their jobs and families. While they were the attraction of the American Century Golf Championship, the true stars were the volunteers who made it all happen.

Volunteers helped in many aspects. Soroptimists had their food tents and spent every day serving sandwiches, drinks, chips and snacks.

The Lake Tahoe Bike Coalition had a group out each day, manning the bike valet for the 200 cyclists that used their free services.

Every time we offer support and understanding to a family or friend that is caring for a loved one living with mental illness we give them hope. Recovery is absolutely possible! Education is a core component of recovery. Through an array of free NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness) education and support programs for individuals, family members, providers and the general public we are improving lives right here in our community.

Visit www.NAMI.org to learn more.

• 1 in 5 adults in America experience a mental illness.

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Friends, family and over 50 Search and Rescue volunteers from five counties are searching for 46-year-old Edward Cavanaugh who was last seen on July 17.

The El Dorado County Sheriff’s Office says the Bay Area man was last seen in the Rock Creek area where he was riding his blue Yamaha YZ 250. Cavanaugh parted ways with another rider he had been riding with and said he was going to utilize the trail system to return to a residence he owns in the area. This trail system is in the Georgetown Divide area between the towns of Mosquito and Garden Valley.

Tom and Cheryl Millham have been operating Lake Tahoe Wildlife Care (LTWC) out of their home since 1978. Since then, they've treated over 22,000 animals, released over 14,000 rehabilitated animals back into the wild, have a volunteer crew of 2,000 people, and train 50 to 100 new volunteers annually.

Almost 40 Search and Rescue volunteers from El Dorado County Office of Emergency Services (OES) went to Shasta County over the weekend to help search vast terrain for an abducted 6-month-old baby.

The team of 20 volunteers were in Redding, CA, just hours after their services were requested on Friday, July 10 and spent the weekend searching through chest high starthistle and stickers, with no sign of the missing baby. Another group of 18 El Dorado County Search and Rescue (SAR) volunteers headed up on Sunday.

Hundreds of volunteers started cleaning the beaches of South Lake Tahoe after the July 4 fireworks celebration that brought an estimated 100,000-125,000 people to the area. The massive amount of trash left on the beaches in the past caused many local people, groups, agencies and businesses to help educate the public about not trashing beautiful South Lake Tahoe.

A hang-glider was found dead Friday afternoon near Slide Mountain, Washoe County Sheriff's Office spokesman Bob Harmon said.

The victim has not yet been identified, Harmon said, and has been described only as an adult male. No other information was available.

Dispatch received word of the man going down at 1:30 p.m. Friday. The victim was discovered at 4 p.m. by air south of the Slide Mountain ski area after several agencies and groups of volunteers were unable to locate him through a ground search, Harmon said.

Aquatic invasive plants are threatening Lake Tahoe! The League to Save Lake Tahoe needs everyone's help to prevent the spread of these pesky invaders.

'Eyes on the Lake' is the League's volunteer program to help prevent the spread of aquatic invasive plants in Tahoe’s waters. If you are a water lover in Tahoe (SCUBA diver, paddler, swimmer, beach goer, or boater) and want to help ensure Lake Tahoe’s waters stay clear and pristine, then 'Eyes on the Lake' is for you.

Volunteers will learn how to identify plants in the classroom and in the field. Help protect the Lake while you play.

Those of us living in the Sierra Nevada are well aware of the drought and of the growing threat of wildfires caused by dry conditions. Due to the threat of catastrophic wildfires in the West, three major players at the government level have called for reforms in the way the federal government funds wildfire suppression efforts.

The public is invited to the League to Save Lake Tahoe's free Summer Kickoff party at the League to Save Lake Tahoe in South Lake Tahoe on Friday, June 10 at 5:00 p.m. Music, food, fun, prizes and education will all be part of the evening's activities.

The party will feature the grand re-opening of their Fritzi & David Huntington Environmental Education Center. Featuring cutting-edge interactive displays, the Education Center’s overhaul has improved the agency's ability to educate and engage the public about how to protect Lake Tahoe and the threats facing the Lake.

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For over 20 years, students at South Tahoe High have been enjoying a safe and sober Grad Night. Committed parents and community members have been working hard to create a "never to forget" and "once in a lifetime: experience for all STHS graduates.

On the afternoon of June 5, the seniors will be walking down the school's football field during graduation ceremonies. That night, they'll be celebrating at Heavenly's California lodge with games, food, fun, a hypnotist, dancing and more until the early hours of the morning of the 6th.

Homelessness has many faces. Some are old, some are young. It affects all races, religions, and sexes. It can be triggered by a poor economy, inconsistent work, a medical catastrophe, and death of a family member. In the Lake Tahoe Unified School District (LTUSD), there are 246 homeless students (1).

I recently sat down with one of those students to understand a day in the life of a homeless student.

Graduates from South Tahoe High will be enjoying an evening of games, music, food and fun on Friday, June 5, 2015 at the longtime local tradition, Sober Grad Night. In an effort to create an event that provides a safe, and sober, event that all seniors can enjoy after their graduation ceremony, the South Tahoe High Sober Grad Night committee has been working for months to make the evening a night to remember.

More than a hundred trained volunteers will continue a 15 year tradition with a one-day hands-on effort to capture a snapshot of the health of Lake Tahoe’s watershed on May 16 at Lake Tahoe Community College.

“Snapshot Day creates the opportunity for people of all ages and experience levels to take part in protecting our watershed,” said Jesse Patterson, deputy director for the League to Save Lake Tahoe.

Volunteer monitoring teams will collect data that is used for restoration projects and overall watershed protection. Snapshot Day covers as much geographic area as possible in order to capture a “snapshot” in time of water quality for the entire Truckee River watershed. Samples are taken from the Lake Tahoe Basin and follow the Truckee River watershed all the way to Pyramid Lake.

All ages and experiences welcome! Lunch will be provided for all volunteers on south shore after the event.

Please leave your furry friends at home!

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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 press time and the story will be updated when provided.

4/26
1:06 p.m. - Runaway - Lake Tahoe Blvd - 16 YEAR OLD MALE JUVENILE RAN AWAY FROM HIS GROUP HOME SUPERVISOR WHILE AT A STORE.

1:50 p.m. - Firearm Turnover - Johnson Blvd - SUBJECT TURNED OVER A FREIND'S FIREARM DUE TO HIS MENTAL STATUS.

Exciting times for South Lake Tahoe in May as the community shines on the international stage as the location of the first stage of the Amgen Tour of California. Fourteen teams consisting of 84 of the top professional women racers will be in town for the race May 8-9, 2015. The racers consist of Olympic medalists, World Champions, Tour de France competitors and other cyclists from the National and International field.

Many of the teams have already been in the area getting ready for the Lake Tahoe stop on their tour. As we get closer to May 8, more of the participants will be in town.

It was a festive and lively event at the Barton Auxiliary’s annual volunteer appreciation luncheon on Monday, April 13. More than 80 volunteers from the hospital, gift shop, and The Attic Thrift Store attended and were recognized for their service and gifts.

Join the Barton Foundation for the 21st annual Tiki Tee Off Golf Tournament and Luau. All proceeds support the Community Health Endowment to benefit the health and wellbeing of South Shore residents.

This year’s golf outing will take place on Friday, May 22, at the Lake Tahoe Golf Course in South Lake Tahoe. Check-in and buffet brunch will start at 12 p.m. The shot gun scramble will tee off at 1:30 p.m.

South Lake Tahoe elementary students just completed four weeks of Barton Health's We Can program. We Can stands for "Ways to Enhance Children’s Activity and Nutrition."

The students had weekly challenges that focused on fitness and nutrition goals. PE teachers from Bijou Elementary, Environmental Magnet School, Sierra House, and Tahoe Valley orchestrated the program by motivating students with weekly goals and the Cafeteria staff served fruits and vegetables to match the color of the week.

Over 1,500 people attended the Tahoe Chamber's annual Business Expo at Harrah's Tahoe on Friday. Hundreds of businesses and dozens of volunteers created an evening that won't soon be forgotten.

The U.S. Forest Service Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit is asking for public input on a proposal to reconstruct the Kingsbury Stinger Trail near Kingsbury Grade. The Stinger Trail runs approximately 2.75 miles from Genoa Peak Road (Forest Road 14N32) to Terrace View Drive on lower Kingsbury Grade and is open to all-terrain vehicles, motorcycles and mountain bikes. The trail is very steep in places, is prone to erosion, crosses private land for approximately 280 feet on the lower segment and no longer meets current Forest Service standards for safety and sustainability.

The League to Save Lake Tahoe and Lake Tahoe Community College are offering a course, “Water Quality Monitoring of Streams and Lakes (GEG 107),” to provide students skills applicable for entry level field, environment and science technician job duties with Tahoe resource agencies.