2015

Monday is the first day of school, and most parents will get several forms to fill out for each of their students, but there is one form that many may skip over if they think their children won't utilize it.

Not only does the National School Lunch Program Form give qualifying students free or reduced cost lunches and breakfasts, but it can also mean a few million dollars for the Lake Tahoe Unified School District (LTUSD) annually.

The Medical Marijuana Advisory Committee was created by the El Dorado County Supervisors to address taxation, cultivation, medical marijuana and other issues surrounding the use and distribution of the drug in the county.

As do all good ideas that want to become lasting projects, many years and lots of planning have gone into creating what will become the Robert Maloff Center of Excellence at Barton Health.

It's been 55 years since the Barton family donated the land where the first hospital in South Lake Tahoe was built, and it was in that same footprint of land that the ground was broken for the new center 26,000 square foot center on Tuesday.

Daniel Allen Coats, 34, of Turlock, was sentenced today to 18 months in prison and ordered to pay $8,938 in restitution for his role in a conspiracy to defraud the United States by filing false claims for federal tax refunds while in prison.

Deadlines for candidates interested in sitting on four local boards and councils have come and gone for most of the contests, so there is now a much clearer picture on the November elections.

There are now ten people interested in sitting on the South Lake Tahoe City Council. With a deadline of 5:00 p.m. on August 17, the last of the candidates submitted their paperwork just under the wire.

The annual Lake Tahoe Summit has welcomed Presidents, Vice-Presidents, Governors, Senators and other dignitaries from the world of environmental protection, and 2016 will be no different.

Today, the White House announced that President Barack Obama will head to South Lake Tahoe on Aug. 31 to speak about his commitment to protecting the environment and addressing climate change at the summit which will be held at Harvey's Outdoor Arena this year.

South Shore ambulance service has been a hot topic both locally, and across the county with growing concern over the costs and resulting manpower shortage of providing interfacility transfers (IFTs) to facilities outside of El Dorado County.

To understand the recent actions of the El Dorado County Board of Supervisors (BOS), a look at the past year is warranted.

The City of South Lake Tahoe Wants Out of the Ambulance Business

Lake Tahoe experienced a year like no other in 2015, according to scientists from the UC Davis Tahoe Environmental Research Center in its annual Tahoe: State of the Lake Report, released this week.

Lake Tahoe is experienced warming water, a 4.8 foot drop in clarity, increased algae and a lowering water level.

Thanks to global climate change, Lake Tahoe is warming faster than ever according to the report which covers results from tests conducted on the lake in 2015 concerning water temperature, clarity, invasive species and more.

The South Tahoe Wooden Boat Classic returns to the Tahoe Keys Marina this weekend with a celebration of vintage raceboats. Featured will be industrialist Henry Kaiser, Jr.'s one-of-a-kind 1930 Gar Wood Hornet II and his 1955 Scooter Too with its huge and extremely rare 24-cylinder Allison engine. Both hydroplanes are racing legends. Also on display will be the 1913 Redskin, the 1950's movie star Hurricane IV and the all-aluminium experimental Shanty II.

The celebrities golfing over at Edgewood for the 27th American Century Championship has the opportunity to stop over the at Korbel booth and participate in the 10th annual “Korbel Celebrity Spray-Off” on Thursday, July 21. This year, the bassist for Rascal Flatts, Jay DeMarcus, won top honors with his cork flying 80 feet.

As the prepared to tee off on the 18th hole, Korbel challenged celebrity and sports superstars to demonstrate their best champagne-popping talents at the Celebrity Spray-Off.

Starting in the upcoming Fall 2016 quarter, Lake Tahoe Community College will once again be offering reduced tuition to residents of certain nearby Nevada communities in the Tahoe Basin. Up to 100 Nevada residents living in specific communities who meet the parameters established in the new partnership between California and Nevada can tap into the new, lower cost, which is three times the California resident rate, or $93 per unit. This equates to a savings of $88 per unit from the $181 per-unit rate established for all other non-residents attending LTCC.

South Lake Tahoe natives Nicole Riegel Smith and Chris Smith have returned to their hometown, this time as college graduates with an expertise in brewing beer and a desire to open a new business on the South Shore.

Plans have been submitted and the work will soon begin on the Smith's venture. South Lake Brewing Company. They have signed the lease for the long vacant Ace Hardware building on the corner of Tata Lane and Lake Tahoe Blvd.

South Lake Tahoe resident Ronald Scott Williams was sentenced to three years in State Prison on Friday, July 8.

In El Dorado County Superior Court, the 27-year-old was found guilty of lewd or lascivious acts with a minor age 14-15.

Williams was originally arrested on September 29, 2015 on an arrest warrant for the crime committed in the County area of the South Shore on August 4, 2015. He had been out on bail until his sentencing.

The establishment of a world record of a Women’s Longest Drive at Elevation will be made during next week's American Century Championship celebrity golf tournament in South Lake Tahoe.

Champion long ball artists Heather LeMaster and Blair O’Neal will be making the attempt prior to the 27th annual tournament on July 19 at Edgewood Tahoe.

The Tahoe-Douglas Rotary Club, in partnership with NBC Sports, is presenting a very unique, one-of-a-kind opportunity during the American Century Golf Championship on Wednesday, July 20 at the Hard Rock Cafe inside Harvey's from 7:30 a.m. to 9:30 a.m.

Hear personal insights from two athletes who are playing in the South Lake Tahoe tournament. In past years, the participants have been very candid and entertaining, giving those joining the event an experience they won't soon forget.

The following is a reprint of a story South Tahoe Now carried on the 4th of July weekend in 2015. With the anticipated traffic on roads headed out of the Lake Tahoe basin on Tuesday, we felt this information would be helpful.

Three new message signs were unveiled in South Lake Tahoe this week, just in time for the holiday weekend. Since the fourth of July is a big tourist draw, it is the perfect time to test out all the message signs can provide to those on the road.

A lawsuit against the City of South Lake Tahoe over the fees charged to those who rent out their homes as vacation rentals was won by the City in court this week. The June 23 verdict was received by all parties on June 28.

Judge Steven Bailey of the El Dorado County Superior Court issued an 11-page decision supporting the City's rights to charge fees to recover their costs in administering the VHR ordinance, including staff time for accounting, planning, building department, administration, code enforcement and other costs.

Even though the winter of 2016 brought a strong El Nino, it wasn't enough to recover from the previous years' dismal snowpacks.

In a report released by a team of researchers led by UCLA, the snow water equivalent (SWE) seen in 2015, when added to the previous three years of drought, was the worst seen in 1,200 years.

Since the SWE in the Sierra snowpack directly affects the state, the scientists also said that, even if the Sierra has average snowpacks, it will take
California until at least 2019 to recover.

As lawmakers grapple with how best to combat the nation’s prescription painkiller abuse crisis, a recent survey is shedding light on how patients who get these medications — drugs such as OxyContin, methadone or Vicodin — sometimes share or mishandle them.

The commumity is invited to the Lake Tahoe Community College's Class of 2016 commencement on Friday, June 24 at South Tahoe Middle Schoolat 6:00 p.m. 174 students are graduating, 40 with honors, eight with highest honores, 36 with departmental certificates and 61 with a transfer degree that guarantees them a seat in a California State University this fall.

The theme of graduation this year is based on a William Arthur Ward quote: "If you can imagine it, you can achieve it. If you can dream it, you can become it."

A flea from a Yellow pine chipmunk in the Tahoe area has tested positive for plague according to El Dorado County health officials. The flea was sampled from one of three rodents trapped in the Fallen Leaf Campground area during routine plague surveillance May 18, 2016.

The popular historical walking and biking tour through the Al Tahoe neighborhood in South Lake Tahoe has taken a big step forward and is now easy for everyone to participate.

Joining forces, the City of South Lake Tahoe and Lake Tahoe Historical Society have placed permanent posts in nine locations through the neighborhood, all in spots where history took place.

"History Lives Here!" was rolled out in the summer of 2015 as part of the City's 50th anniversary celebration. Now with the posters placed on permanent posts, the historical spots are not only fun to find, but easy to see.

On September 12, 2001, advertising luminary Allen Kay coined the phrase, “If you see something, say something.”[1] In the wake of horrific events the day before, Kay recognized that no matter how well trained, equipped and staffed, law enforcement can’t do it alone. Within a relatively short period of time, the slogan was plastered on New York City transit vehicles. Over time, the Law Enforcement and Homeland Security slogan has become so well known it has been described as the equivalent of Nike’s “Just do it” advertisement.[2]

The community is invited to a memorial service on June 11, 2016 for Robert Porter Rockwell, Jr. who was also well known in South Lake Tahoe as “Old Long Skis.” He died on November 3, 2015, and his family and loved ones were waiting for a summer memorial service, where everyone could gather outdoors and celebrate his life.