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It was a great honor to serve as a member of the Lake Tahoe Unified School District (LTUSD) Board of Trustees for the last four years. As previously reported, I am stepping aside to focus on my career and raising my beautiful baby girl. I said many times while I was on the Board that every family in the District was my family, and every child in the District was my responsibility. Now that I have a child of my own, I think the parents of LTUSD will understand when I say that I need to focus on my own family for the time being.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - With most of the Heavenly Holidays events canceled at the Heavenly Village this year, one event was still able to be held - the annual Breakfast with Santa.

The breakfast, moved outside this year due to COVID-19, was held each Saturday in December with the guest stars, Santa and Mrs. Claus. A limited number of tickets were available and each breakfast sold out.

Lake Tahoe, long known for its famed clarity and brilliant blue waters has a dirty secret. Beneath the surface, thousands of pounds of trash are breaking apart and impacting the lake’s aquatic habitats. In 2021, an extraordinary effort to remove trash around all 72-miles of Lake Tahoe with a SCUBA dive team of professionals and volunteers will begin. Spearheaded by the nonprofit Clean Up The Lake, the Tahoe Fund has committed to raising funds needed to make it happen.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif - It was a true community effort to get the Christmas Tree delivered to the Heavenly Village in South Lake Tahoe last week. For the third consecutive year, a tree was selected from the South Shore to be on display for the holiday season.

On Monday, November 16, 2020 the 64-foot tree was cut down by Kenny Curtzwiler of K & K Services at 6:30 a.m., lifted by a crane and placed onto a flatbed truck, escorted by South Lake Tahoe Police and CHP, driven to its destination, lifted off the truck and placed into a stand to be decorated.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - It was a special ceremony November 6, 2020, one that honored the police service of K9 Tara as she left her home for the last time. After surviving cancer surgery that resulted in the loss of one leg two years ago, K9 Tara was put to sleep after being hit by the disease once again.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - There has been much discussion in the community about the City of South Lake Tahoe's new Shared Rental Ordinance, one that is up for a vote during the November 3 City Council meeting.

A shared rental, also known as a hosted rental, is one where a person rents a portion of their home to a visitor on a short term basis* while they are still living in the home. They are not new in South Lake Tahoe, but the focus has been on creating an ordinance for them as a large number of people started obtaining business licenses for shared rentals in recent months.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - Organizers of SnowGlobe, the annual music festival held in South Lake Tahoe, have canceled their 10th annual event due to safety concerns.

"2020 has been a year of unprecedented challenges and we wanted more than anything to be a bright spot in this otherwise bleak year - but after close consultation with local and state health officials regarding the impact of COVID-19, we've made the difficult decision to cancel this year's festival," said SnowGlobe on their Twitter announcement Wednesday.

This Saturday I will drive a good friend with 93 years of knowledge to our voting place where we will cancel each other out. It's the American way. Voting is the most American thing we do. My mother and father took great delight in canceling each other every four years without damaging their sweet relationship in the least.

I tend to spend more time in the 19th century than the 21st, so call me a dreamer, but I like to remember how Stephen Douglas characterized Abraham Lincoln prior to their great debate, "a kind, amiable and intelligent gentleman, a good citizen and honorable opponent."

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - When Sandra Santane set out to build a "feel good" place where family moments could be created as well as a place where time could be spent for "me time," Cuppa Tahoe evolved.

"I wanted to create magic and had this idea for a long time," explained Sandra. She grew up in Holland where there were places where people would meet, talk and enjoy, and wanted that in South Lake Tahoe. She also grew up with a love of books that has stayed with her as she lived in Tunisia and now the United States. Books were both her inspiration and her escape.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - A summer-long project at Tahoe Valley Elementary School is now open to the public and the tree at the center of the love-filled efforts is in memory of student Marianna Zepeda.

The quiet, reflective garden area includes seating, a lending library and a tree dedicated to Marianna, a 4th grade student who passed away June 19.

"She was always happy and sunny," says Principal Christina Grubbs of the young student. "That is why we chose a sunny, yellow tree."

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - El Dorado County Sheriff's Office responds to calls throughout the county. The following are calls that only pertain to the South and West Shore, including Meyers, South Lake Tahoe, Meeks Bay, Tahoma, and the Echo Summit area. There may be some missing calls due to sheriff's logs not being completed at the time of the story.

Last Week's Log - http://southtahoenow.com/story/08/16/2020/el-dorado-county-sheriffs-report

This Week's Log:

8/23

ZEPHYR COVE, Nev. - The Zephyr Cove Elementary Parents Club and Whittell Boosters are reaching out to the community for support in the safe reopening of the two Douglas County Lake Schools on August 31.

Both of the schools will begin the 2020/2021 school year on Aug 31 with in person, daily instruction utilizing social distancing and other safety protocols.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - South Lake Tahoe Fire Rescue recently held ceremonies for the hiring of three new firefighter/paramedics and the promotion of three to the rank of captain. Due to COVID-19 restrictions, ceremonies were small and held at the fire station during their shifts.

Captain/Paramedic Mike Taormina

“It’s just a BMW, isn’t it?” Every Supra owner will indubitably be asked this annoying question at some point, likely many, many times. And that’s a real shame because, regardless of the backstory of how the new Supra came to be, it’s a wonderful sports car for the road.

Remember minivans? Now think about this for a moment: how many new minivans do you see on the road? In my youth, it seemed like every third car on the road was a people carrier. In 2020 I hardly see any brand-new ones, and the answer seems to be that minivan buyers simply switched to SUVs instead. Maybe it’s because they’re simply uncool and became a cliché of new parents. Regardless of the reason, what if there was a vehicle that is a marriage of both? Enter the Pilot.

LAKE TAHOE, Calif./Nev. - Mardy Fish won the 31st American Century Championship (ACC) at Edgewood Tahoe on Sunday with a three-round total of 76 in the Stableford scoring system used at the popular celebrity golf tournament.

Fish followed up his record round on Saturday with a rather ordinary 21-point effort Sunday, but it was enough to claim his first title at Tahoe. He's had five top-five finishes at Edgewood in six previous appearances in the ACC.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - A local man has started a Go Fund Me page to raise funds to fix his dog Titan's broken femur.

Just over a week ago Titan, an 11-month-old puppy, was chasing a chipmunk and went over a cliff trying to catch it. In the fall he broke his femur.

Demetrius Prunty, the dog daddy, lost his job due to COVID-19 closures and hasn't been able to get the dog's leg repaired. The $2,500 fundraising request is to pay for Titan's doctor bills.

Prunty, who has lived in South Lake Tahoe for four years, adopted Titan after his birth in August 2019.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - For the past 27 years, Frank Kovac has been with the Lake Tahoe Unified School District (LTUSD).

When he landed in South Lake Tahoe Kovac already had spent time teaching at Fairfax High School, Emerson Junior High, James Rutter Middle School, and Paul Revere Middle School, but he found his niche beginning locally at South Tahoe Middle School.

After one year at STMS Kovac took the position as athletics and activities director at South Tahoe High School (STHS), a position he held for five years.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - Law enforcement has come a long way in South Lake Tahoe since the first police department started on July 1, 1967. At that time there were 30 sworn male officers who were chosen from a list of more than 400 applicants who wanted to be part of the first police department for the new city. They were tested in Seal Beach, Roseville, and South Lake Tahoe then interviewed in Los Angeles and Sacramento.

DOUGLAS COUNTY, Nev. - A man who was vacationing in the Stateline, Nevada area last month is wanted by the Douglas County Sheriff's Office (DCSO) on a warrant charging him with Domestic Battery with Strangulation during that visit. They are asking for the public's assistance in locating the suspect, 27-year-old Ryan Manuella.

Manuella is known to have family, friends, and/or associates in the states of California, Texas and New York, although at this time he may be anywhere in the United States according to DCSO.

If arrested, the bail requested on Manuella is $100,000.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - There have been public gatherings across the country in response to the death of George Floyd on May 25 in Minneapolis, Minnesota, some peaceful, some turning into riots.

On Saturday, May 30, a peaceful candlelight vigil was held at Lakeview Commons in South Lake Tahoe to highlight "Black Lives Matter" and to raise awareness of racial injustice.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - Two different crimes in South Lake Tahoe on Wednesday turned out to be related and the alleged suspects were arrested near Fresh Pond, California.

On May 20 at approximately 2:50 p.m., officers from South Lake Tahoe Police Department (SLTPD) responded to the 7-11 at 2620 Lake Tahoe Boulevard after receiving a call of a robbery. Upon arrival, the clerk told officers a man and a woman had walked into the store with black masks on, approached the counter where the female demanded money.

Back in 2019, the World Health Organization, the American Nurses Association and others pronounced 2020 Year of the Nurse, and in 2020 it would celebrate nurses and nursing. They chose this year because it’s the 200th birthday of Florence Nightingale, the founder of modern nursing who trained nurses to focus on compassion with a commitment to patient care.

The following is a letter sent to El Dorado County and City of South Lake Tahoe. It is published here in its entirety at the request of the author.

The South Tahoe Chamber of Commerce would like to offer encouragement and support of a revival of the local economy, while continuing to keep the health and safety of our residents in mind. Cases of COVID-19 have remained low in our region when compared to other more populated areas around the State and Nation. We applaud the quick action taken by the County and City that has helped us keep the case count low.