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El Dorado County Sheriff's Department Captain Randy Pershon has been appointed to the Judicial Council Collaborative Justice Courts Advisory Committee. This committee makes recommendations improving the processing of cases in drug courts, domestic violence courts, peer courts, and other community-based treatment courts. They also propose rules, standards, and forms; reviews and recommends legislation; identifies potential funding sources; oversees the treatment court grant process; and acts on assignments referred to it by the Judicial Council.

U.S. District Judge Kimberly J. Mueller on Wednesday sentenced former South Lake Tahoe police officer John Gerald Poland, 45, to 18 months in prison for one count of obstruction of an official proceeding. He was ordered to self-surrender to the Bureau of Prisons on Nov. 6.

A former El Dorado County resident was sentenced Thursday to four years and nine months in prison and ordered to pay $2.8 million in restitution, United States Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner announced.

Daniel Chartraw, 40, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Morrison C. England Jr., after he pled guilty to wire fraud on Jan. 24, 2013. Many victims submitted letters discussing the impact of Chartraw’s fraud on their finances and their families, according to a news release.

UPDATE 11:35AM: NV Energy crews found the source of the outage on Upper Kingsbury, an underground cable failure on Quaking Aspen.

Crews are replacing the bad section of cable, which may take approximately three hours (as of 11 a.m.). The crews restored power to some of the affected customers by switching to alternate electrical circuits. However, approximately 60 customers in the neighborhood will not have their service restored until repairs are completed.

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An overnight power outage continued to affect several upper Kingsbury Grade customers Monday morning, NV Energy confirms.

South Lake Tahoe has appointed Thomas Watson to serve as its city attorney. He begins work July 8.

“Tom Watson was the obvious selection as our new City Attorney based on his extensive experience as City Attorney for the cities of Visalia, Porterville, Lindsay, Farmersville, Mendota and Woodlake,” said South Lake Tahoe Mayor Tom Davis in a news release. “We are very pleased to have a highly qualified, experienced, and seasoned professional join our team and we welcome Tom to our city.”

South Lake Tahoe police Officer Johnny Poland is expected to plead guilty next week to federal charges. “They said in court that they needed a week for negotiations,” Lauren Horwood with the U.S. Attorney’s Office told Lake Tahoe News after the May 15 hearing in Sacramento. “Another hearing is set for May 22 for entry of a guilty plea.”

William “Bill” Yeates, a California attorney with 34 years of experience in environmental law, has joined the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency Governing Board following an appointment by the California Senate Rules Committee.

The seat is one of 14 voting positions on the Lake Tahoe environmental planning agency’s board - seven representing California and seven representing Nevada. One board seat, appointed by the President of the United States, is non-voting.

A Fresno man was sentenced Monday to prison on marijuana trafficking and conspiracy charges, in which he had grow operations in El Dorado, Placer and Tehama counties and then he and partners distributed the marijuana throughout the country.
Uriel Ochoa-Espindola, 44, received a sentence of 17.5 years, according to U.S. Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner.
Below is a U.S. Justice Department news release:

Several Lake Tahoe area nonprofit organizations and agencies will receive financial aid this year through partnerships announced Monday by the United Way of Northern Nevada and the Sierra.

The partnerships are aimed to address issues identified in each of the Lake Tahoe area communities, said Karen Barsell, CEO and president of United Way of Northern Nevada and the Sierra.

The annual opportunity for citizens to take part in the 2013-2014 El Dorado County Grand Jury by submitting their names for possible nomination has arrived.

The Grand Jury is an excellent vehicle for committed men and women to keep government close to and responsible to all of our County’s citizens. Applicants must be Untied States citizens, at least 18 years of age, have resided in the County for at least one year at the time of the swearing-in date, and cannot hold an elected office.

Nevada's Supreme Court justices will present their budget at a hearing before the money committees Wednesday, and the center of attention is expected to be the plan to create their own security for...

Catch the Reno Bighorns versus Rio Grande Valley on the basketball court Sunday at the Reno Events Center. The day begins with the fifth and sixth-grade girls league finals at 10:30 a.m.The seventh...

WASHINGTON - Citing the principle of equality that drove the nation's founding, President Barack Obama spoke out Friday against California's ban on gay marriage and said the Supreme Court should st...

Other than a puppy that suffered from smoke inhalation, no one was injured after a house fire started at 1601 Estate Court, South Lake Tahoe on Wednesday. Lake Valley Fire Protection District Fi...

In its wisdom - and yes, I am being ironic - the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco issued a ruling Tuesday that revives a California inmate lawsuit to force the state Department of...

A 26-year-old Placerville man pleaded guilty Friday to conspiring to manufacture, distribute, and possess with intent to distribute marijuana, U.S. Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner said.

Dylan Hudson was in charge of an interstate marijuana-trafficking conspiracy, according to court documents. More than 1,100 pounds of processed marijuana, more than $329,000 in cash, and eight firearms were seized during the course of the investigation.

SAN FRANCISCO - A lawyer for Barry Bonds has urged a federal appeals court to toss out the slugger's obstruction of justice conviction.Dennis Riordan (REAR-den) argued Wednesday before the 9th U.S....

Two Tahoe conservation groups, the Sierra Club and Friends of the West Shore, filed a federal lawsuit on Monday challenging new rules for Lake Tahoe that seriously reduce protections for the treasured mountain lake. The new Tahoe Regional Plan Update, approved in December by the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency (TRPA), shifts authority over future development decisions to local jurisdictions. The plan also allows those towns and counties to adopt weakened pollution controls that do not meet the minimum environmental requirements established by TRPA.

A lawsuit was filed in federal district court today against the first significant update to environmental protection standards at Lake Tahoe since 1987, a move that rolls back the clock nearly that far on efforts to restore the Lake’s fragile ecosystem, according to the bi-state Tahoe Regional Planning Agency (TRPA), the defendant in the case.

John Gerald Poland, 44, of South Lake Tahoe, was indicted today by a federal grand jury for multiple counts of witness tampering and obstruction of an official proceeding, U.S. Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner announced.

This case is the product of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, South Lake Tahoe Police Department, and the State of California Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement (SLEDNET Task Force). Assistant United States Attorney Michelle Rodriguez is prosecuting the case.

U.S. District Judge Morrison C. England Jr. sentenced Erika Michele Carlton, 38, of Roseville, to 18 months in prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release, for theft from an Indian tribal government, United States Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner announced. Judge England also ordered her to pay $236,050 in restitution.

This case was the product of an investigation by the United States Secret Service and the Placer County Sheriff’s Department. Assistant United States Attorney Kyle Reardon prosecuted the case.

The El Dorado County Sheriff's Office has announced classes for its 2013 Citizen's Academy. Residents of the county can learn about the law enforcement agency and its many functions, said Sheriff John D’Agostini.

Classes run one night each week, (typically Tuesdays) from 6 to 9 p.m.. The next academy is scheduled to begin March 19 and will end June 25, 2013 The academy classes are held at the Sheriff’s Placerville OES training facility. The Citizen’s Academy is offered on a first come first served basis to El Dorado County residence and is free of charge.

The driver of a car that struck and critically injured a bicyclist in August was sentenced to more than three years in state prison Wednesday afternoon.El Dorado County Superior Court Judge Suzanne...

The lady Vikings and Warriors meant business as they took the court for a physical cross-town rivalry. The Vikings took control of the game early on, and cruised to a 49-24 win over Whittell on ...