voters

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - A we say goodbye to 2019, 2020 is on the horizon with hopes, dreams and a list of wishes for the new year.

Instead of taking a look back at 2019 let's take a look forward to 2020 in South Lake Tahoe. What does this year have in store for us?

EL DORADO COUNTY, Calif. – Voters who have been mailed a postcard from the
El Dorado County Registrar of Voters Bill O’Neill indicating they are a "No Party Preference" may have to re-register.

“We are confident our mailing list of NPP voters is accurate, however, some voters may have had their party preference unknowingly changed as a result of automatic voter registration through the California Department of Motor Vehicles,” O’Neill said.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - It's looking a lot different at the Boys & Girls Club of Lake Tahoe facilities at the former Al Tahoe Elementary School on Lyons Avenue.

The current South Lake Tahoe site for BGCLT had major clearing this week to make way for a brand new clubhouse. Old portable buildings were removed as were some trees as crews make way for their multi-million dollar future home.

Daylight saving time is coming to an end for the year, with clocks being turned back one hour starting at 2:00 a.m. Sunday, November 3. For the past 237 days, most Americans have been on daylight saving time and it will be another 127 days until it returns.

The sun will set on Sunday in South Lake Tahoe at 4:57 p.m. It will keep getting dark earlier each day for a few weeks, with sunset occurring a little before 5 p.m. for a couple of weeks in December before the days start getting longer.

The City of South Lake Tahoe has launched its October Edition of "At Lake Level." The monthly newsletter is prepared by City Manager Frank Rush in an effort to keep the community well informed about City issues and initiatives.

Development Commodities Available at No Cost for Qualified Affordable Housing, Town Center, and Distressed Property Development

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - Vacation Home Rentals (VHR) in South Lake Tahoe continue to be the hot topic, even months after a measure to ban most of them in the city limits narrowly passed in the November 2018 election. Voters approved Measure T by 58 votes.

The subject has created a big divide in the community and a decision by the South Lake Tahoe City Council Tuesday will not lessen that division though their intent is now clear.

The Tahoe Paradise Recreation and Park District is now applications for an opening on their board of directors made vacant with the announced departure of Victor Babbit.

There is a five-person board for the park district and those interested in the open position can apply for the volunteer, unpaid position until September 16, 2019

Appointed directors set policy for the district and manage Tahoe Paradise Park.

One would think it would be easy to answer this question. However, recently I found that a structure recently completed and to be advertise for rental was approved as a VHR even before its construction which allows 30 occupants, parking for 23 cars and has 13 bedrooms. This property is in a residentially zoned neighborhood outside the "casino core" area.

It is no wonder that residents are becoming more concerned about VHRs. It seems more and more that VHR stands for Vacation Hotel Rental versus Vacation Home Rental.

Tonight we had eight cars in the VHR across the street. The house is rated for four cars with a maximum of ten people. We reported it this time. We usually do not report violations because it makes us anxious… no one wants to be the “BAD” guy. The call was simple enough and the response was surprisingly quick. Roughly 20 minutes after our call the officer arrived to view the cars parked in the driveway, in the street, in the front yard and along the side of the house.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - If you thought gas prices on the California side of Lake Tahoe were already high, they are about to go up again on July 1. Tax will now rise from 41.7 cents to 47.3 cents per gallon and is the second in a wave of gas tax increases.

The July 1 increase is part of the new annual adjustment to California's gas taxes.

In 2016, the state's tax on gas was 28 cents. It rose 12 cents per gallon in 2017 after the Legislature passed a 10-year tax and fee increase.

SnowGlobe remains a popular and divisive event in South Lake Tahoe. It brings thousands of visitors during our busiest holiday and drives room rates through the ceiling. It also is now proven to violate El Dorado County noise regulations which the County refuses to enforce. It violates the Bijou/Al Tahoe Community Plan noise regulations which the TRPA refuses to enforce. It violates the requirements of the Temporary Activity Permit which both the City and TRPA are working to revise.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - When the City formed in 1965 it was incorporated as a general law city for the purpose of having more local control over public services such as police, fire, and snow removal.

Now there is discussion about changing to a charter city. During their March 5 meeting, Councilmember Cody Bass asked that this subject come forward at a future meeting and Councilmembers Jason Collin and Devin Middlebrook said they were interested in learning more about what the differences are between the two, and what it would mean to South Lake Tahoe to switch.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - One could feel the air let out of a South Lake Tahoe courtroom as visiting Judge Gary Mullen read his decision to the five defendants, their five lawyers and family members in attendance, one that tossed out their request to drop murder charges against all of the suspects in the robbery and murder in 2016 of Dennis Wright.

Judge Mullen declared California Senate Bill 1437 unconstitutional. The bill was signed by then-California Governor Jerry Brown in September 2018 and changed the liability for accomplices to felony murder.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - Road rehabilitation has long been a concern of City Council, but there hasn't always been money in the budget to do anything more than patching, pothole filling and some resurfacing. With almost 130 miles of roads (260 lane miles) maintained by the City of South Lake Tahoe, with many of them past their prime, it would take millions of dollars to get all of them to a top rating.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - The City Council decided today by a vote of 5-0 to have City staff to start the design process that will allow up to 47 new parking spaces along Bellamy Court in the Heavenly Village area in South Lake Tahoe.

On March 14th, the City of South Lake Tahoe held a public meeting to discuss the already approved plan to re-route Hwy 50 through a bunch of small businesses and a whole neighborhood, around the backside of Harrah’s where half of the existing Loop Road now sits. This plan was concocted by the Tahoe Transportation District (TTD) and the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency (TRPA) with little input from the community and the near absence of participation by our former City Leaders.

With the season we've had in the Sierra, who wouldn't want an extra hour of sunshine to beat those end-of-winter blues? (Even if we might have to wait for sunshine and no snow for a few days)

Don’t forget to set any clocks that aren’t on a smart device ahead one hour before heading to bed Saturday night, and, if you're like me, it will take weeks to pull out the instructions on changing the clock in our cars and on the microwaves.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - Followers of South Tahoe Now's police log have long known that the number of local auto thefts has been a concern of the South Lake Tahoe Police Department (SLTPD) for the last several years, but they are now seeing a disturbing trend with a large spike in the crime over the past year.

In 2018 SLTPD investigated 70 auto thefts, with 60 of them being crimes committed in the city limits. This reflects as 30 percent increase in the thefts in the last two years, 52 percent since 2008.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - During their closed session meeting Monday, the South Lake Tahoe City Council expressed interest in working together will all the stakeholders involved in the Vacation Home Rental (VHR) battle to come up with a compromise.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - There are new laws in California in 2019 that will affect those on the road, bike paths, eating at restaurants, paying bail and receiving minimum wage. In 2018, 1,217 bills made it to Governor Brown's desk and he signed 1,016 of them which are now new laws.

Here is a highlight of some of those laws which will soon be in effect:

The El Dorado County Health and Human Services Agency, Behavioral Health Division invites the public to provide input on the Fiscal Year 2019-20 Mental Health Services Act (MHSA) Annual Update. Community members can provide input by attending an upcoming community meeting or by submitting an online survey or an email.

Community meetings to receive input for the MHSA Annual Update are scheduled as follows:
• Tuesday, January 8, 2019, at 1:00 p.m. at the Placerville Library, 345 Fair Lane in Placerville

EL DORADO COUNTY, Calif. - It was a historic turnout for a midterm election across El Dorado County, and now the results have been finalized for the November 6, 2018 election.

The final report was released at 2:36 p.m.

The most watched issued for South Lake Tahoe voters was Measure T, the citizen generated measure to ban vacation home rentals from residential neighborhoods starting in 2021.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - The final count of ballots for the November 6th election might be done as soon as Friday, November 30, 2018 though its not guaranteed. With just 47 votes separating the "yes" and the "no" votes on Measure T in South Lake Tahoe, many are anxiously awaiting the results. El Dorado County has 30 days from the election to send the certified election results to the State of California.

LAKE TAHOE, CA/NV - It's been 38 years in the making. On Thursday, November 15, 2018, the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency (TRPA) Board of Directors unanimously approved the final joint environmental document for the US 50/South Shore Community Revitalization Project, also known as the "Loop Road."

Last week, the board of the Tahoe Transportation District (TTD) unanimously approved the same document, the final Environmental Impact Statement (EIR/EIS/EIS).