buses

"Choose joy, even in hard times," two-time Olympic gold medal winner David Wise told students form the Lake Tahoe Environmental Magnet School on May 25.

Wise had just shared his children's book "Very Bear and The Butterfly" with kindergarten and first grade students from the school who were on the Lake Tahoe Community College (LTCC) campus for a day of literacy.

One thing is certain, something has to change or there will not be enough money to operate buses around the South Shore of Lake Tahoe. What isn't certain is how those changes will look, where extra funding can come from, or if services will have to be cut.

During Friday's Tahoe Transportation District (TTD) board meeting, options to keep a sustainable transit system in place for Lake Tahoe were discussed. Buses continue to operate at a loss and that cannot continue, according to the TTD staff.

As the tents are taken down, the stage removed and all other components of SnowGlobe disappear for another year, an evaluation of the Community Play Field and other aspects of the seventh annual event in South Lake Tahoe are being made. There may be negatives to the popular event that draws in 20,000 people a day, there are also many positives to be celebrated.

There is more to the three-day festival, SnowGlobe, than music and crowds, a side of the event many aren't aware of.

With the new year just around the corner, the California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) is reminding the public of several new laws or changes to existing law that, unless otherwise noted, take effect January 1, 2018.

The Tahoe Transportation District (TTD) Board of Directors approved several funding agreements with local entities Friday which will provide free rides for several groups including Lake Tahoe Community College (LTCC) students, employees and guests of the Ridge Tahoe and associated properties, as well as Heavenly Mountain Resort employees.

The agreement between TTD and Lake Tahoe Community College (LTCC) to allow current students with a valid Lake Tahoe Community College identification card to ride all local transit services at no charge during the academic year ending June 30, 2018.

UPDATE 3:30PM - Residents with proper identification will be allowed to pass through closed highway areas in Topaz Estates and north of the fire. School buses will be running as normal for Thursday afternoon.

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The Nevada Highway Patrol and California Hwy Patrol are working traffic control for the Slinkard Fire in Topaz near the Nevada and California state line.

North of the fire, Hwy 395 is closed in both directions at Leviathan Mine Road, which is south of Gardnerville, Nevada.

South of the fire, Hwy 395 is closed in both directions at Hwy 182 in Bridgeport, Calif.

After an absence in 2016 due to construction on the campgrounds at Camp Richardson, the 25th anniversary of the Valhalla Renaissance Faire returns to the South Shore for one weekend, June 10-11, 2017.

A weekend of Olde England style merriment and celebration will take place through seven acres of woods in the historic Camp Richardson, taking people back to Elizabethan times, complete with the "Queen" herself.

This year's festival takes on a renaissance, fantasy and pirate theme from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. on Saturday, 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m on Sunday. T

For the next three summers, Caltrans crews will be in town to work on their U.S. Highway 50 South Lake Tahoe Highway Improvement Project, and Caltrans spoke with locals Wednesday evening about what they could expect during the project which starts May 1, 2017 and should end by winter, 2019. This will be their last Lake Tahoe Environmental Improvement Program (EIP) task to collect and treat stormwater runoff which accomplishes several other goals as well.

$57 million will be spent in South Lake Tahoe to also:

Heavy rain and snow has created some travel issues for school buses around the lake and in Washoe County. Here is an update of school schedules for Friday, February 10:

Lake Tahoe Unified School District is open (all South Lake Tahoe Schools)

Incline Village and all of Washoe County schools are closed

Tahoe Truckee schools are on a two-hour delay

Douglas County schools at the lake are on a main bus stop schedule only

South Lake Tahoe, Calif. - Tahoe Transportation District (TTD) has announced their buses in South Lake Tahoe will be on limited operations Monday, January 23 as the most recent storm makes its way out of the area.

South Lake Tahoe has experienced back-to-back major storms that left the roads narrow and difficult to negotiate safely.

Each February since 2012, people around the globe have been participating in "One Billion Rising" events to bring human trafficking and violence against women and children to the forefront, and South Lake Tahoe has joined them.

Experts say one in three women across the planet will be beater or raped during her lifetime, which equals one billion women.

South Lake Tahoe will again join towns in hundreds of countries to express support through dance, joy and community to celebrate the fact that they have not been defeated by this violence.

Snow Days. Kids love 'em, parents maybe not so much.

Last week's five snow days, and a lack of one this week caused some parents to raise concern with how the Lake Tahoe Unified School (LTUSD) decides when to close school for the day.

Closing school is always a tough call for school superintendents across the country, so what is the science behind closing schools when it snows in the Lake Tahoe Unified School District?

South Lake Tahoe students are able to enjoy the never ending snow day with school being canceled for the fifth straight day on Friday, January 13. Due to the extreme snow removal conditions still going on throughout South Lake Tahoe, on all bus routes and school sites from the week long blizzard, Lake Tahoe Unified School District officials decided to call a snow day.

Snow removal has been ongoing and very difficult due to the amount of and consistency of the snow, the notice of cancellation said.

Denim is now the state’s official fabric to recognize its role in California history, and every autographed collectible sold in California must come with a certificate that verifies it's not a forgery. Those are just two of 898 new laws facing Californians in 2017.

Here are just a few of them compiled in part by California Highway Patrol (CHP):

The South Lake Tahoe chapter of the Citizen's Climate Lobby recently asked all ten of the candidates their views on climate change, green buildings and our carbon footprint and how they can make a change if elected.

The Citizen's Climate Lobby is an organization focused on national policies to address climate change, and the South Lake Tahoe chapter is one of 354 in the United States and abroad.

Patricia Sussman of the local chapter said just five of the candidates responded to their questions.

School starts on the California side of the South Shore on Monday, August 29, are you ready?

Here is a list of the local school start and end times:

STHS starts at 7:55 a.m. and ends at 2:40 p.m.
STMS starts at 7:45 a.m. and ends at 1:55 p.m.
Bijou starts at 8:35 a.m. and ends at 2:45 p.m
Sierra House starts at 9:10 a.m. and ends at 3:20 p.m.
Tahoe Valley K - 5 starts at 9:10 a.m. and ends at 3:20 p.m. TK runs from 9:10 a.m. to 1:15 p.m.
Lake Tahoe Environmental Magnet School starts at 9:15 a.m. and ends at 3:25 p.m.

The Tahoe Transportation District will assume daily operations of the bus transit system in South Lake Tahoe beginning July 1, and along with that change is a new name. Blue Go is out, and TTD is in.

42 buses make up the local system which have more than 800,000 trips annually on their routes which cover both sides of the state line including commuter bus service from the lake to Carson City and the Carson Valley.

"Nerves of steel, patience of a saint," is how Lake Tahoe Unified School District (LTUSD) Transportation Supervisor Christy Blach described the bus drivers entrusted with carrying the community's children around in the big yellow school buses.

On Tuesday evening, LTUSD honored driver Coral Lathrop with their Bus Driver of the Year award. Lathrop has been driving full time since 2014, and is a favorite amount parents, kids and fellow drivers.

Not only do people around South Lake Tahoe get the opportunity to watch international stars of men's cycling on Thursday, they also get to watch the women as the Amgen Tour of California features both races.

There will be a Lifestyle Festival in the parking lot at Heavenly California Base Lodge from 10:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. This is the starting and ending point for the women's race, as well as the finish for the men, so a great viewing spot, but there are other opportunities to watch the cyclists as they zip by all through town.

It's a snow day for all Lake Tahoe Unified schools today, Friday, January 15. This includes South Tahoe High, South Tahoe Middle School and Meyers, Tahoe Valley, Sierra House and Bijou Elementary schools.

Douglas County schools at the lake are on a one hour delay with buses stopping at main bus stops only.

The corner of Tina Court and Ski Court for students living in the Tramway and Kingsbury Village area: ZCES - Bus will arrive at 7:57 a.m. and depart at 8:20 a.m.

Glenbrook area will board at the entrance to Glenbrook

ZCES - Bus will arrive at 7:36 a.m.

Thousands of music fans will descend upon South Lake Tahoe this week for what has become the most popular outdoor winter music festivals in the country.

Thousands of people will be on hand December 27 through 31 to experience what is being billed as a fusion between music festival, winter expedition and New Year's Eve celebration.

Also promised is cold, with night time temperatures in the low teens. Appropriate clothing and outerwear is strongly encouraged.

For the list of artists each day, see the photos in this story.

Tuesday's show runs from 2:00 p.m. to 11:30 p.m.

The Blue Go buses that run along the two main routes through South Lake Tahoe will be free from December 19 through January 3.

Routes 50 and 53 will be free for all riders. All other routes will operate under normal fares.

For more information on routes, visit their website here.

Most teens start school too early in the morning, which deprives them of the sleep they need to learn and stay healthy, a new study says.

The American Academy of Pediatrics last year urged middle schools and high schools to start no earlier than 8:30 a.m. in order to allow teens — who are biologically programmed to stay up later at night than adults — to get the recommended 8.5 to 9.5 hours of sleep each night.

SnowGlobe will be able to have amplified music go later this winter in order to stagger the times concert goers leave the venue. With 15,000 people leaving at the same time, concert promoters said this would allow them to more adequately and safely accommodate the people leaving and not create long lines at the buses.

During Tuesday's City Council meeting, the council voted unanimously to allow the concert promoters to have amplified music in the tents only until 11:30 p.m. on December 29 and 30 and until 1:00 a.m. on December 31.