emergency

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - There are three open seats on the South Tahoe Public Utility Board of Directors this election season, two for a four-year term and one for a two-year term.

South Tahoe Now reached out to the candidates and below are their answers to a set of questions. For the two four-year terms, incumbent Kelly Sheehan is running for reelection, Duane Wallace is running after being appointed to fill Jim Jones's spot on the board until this election, and they are joined by David Peterson.

The US Forest Service has extended its emergency fire restrictions across all National Forest lands in California. This involves all USFS land in the Lake Tahoe Basin on both sides of the state line.

Smoking and all recreational fires, including campfires, bonfires, warming fires, wood fires, charcoal fires, or any other kind of outdoor fires, involving solid fuels are prohibited.

With the ongoing threat of wildfire and a very dry season, the danger of fire remains too high to allow recreational fires.

On April 18, 2017 the South Lake Tahoe City Council unanimously passed a resolution to: 1) Power the South Lake Tahoe community with electricity provided from 100 percent renewable sources by 2032 and 2) Reduce community carbon emissions from baseline by at least 80 percent by 2040, and reduce municipal emissions by 50 percent by 2030.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - It will be hard to find someone in favor of taxes, but with them being the reason many things in this world are funded, they are accepted to some degree.

On November 3, the City of South Lake Tahoe will be asking voters for support of a one-cent local sales tax known as Measure S.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - National Forest trails, trailheads, beaches and other day-use areas in the Lake Tahoe Basin will re-open for day-use only beginning Saturday, Sep. 19, 2020. Camping and overnight stays will not be permitted, and campgrounds will remain closed. Resorts will reopen for day-use only. Emergency Fire Restrictions will remain in effect through Nov. 30. I’ve attached the Forest Orders for your awareness.

The prohibition of the use of any ignition source on all National Forest System lands (campfires, gas stoves, etc.) throughout California remains in place.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - The Tahoe Coalition for the Homeless (TCH) will be receiving $9,576,000 to help their goal of ending homelessness in South Lake Tahoe. The community was one of seven California cities and counties to receive the first wave of Project Homekey grants totaling $76.5 million.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - The planned two-week closure of U.S. Highway 50 along a 1.2 mile stretch of Echo Summit will begin Friday, September 18 at 3:00 a.m. One-lane controlled traffic has been happening all week, and now both lanes will be closed as crews replace the 1939 bridge with brand new girders to meet seismic and safety standards.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - The Lake Tahoe Unified School District (LTUSD) was able to refinance $15.15 million in general obligation bonds in September, saving property owners in the district $3,335,698 in property taxes.

With low interest rates brought about by the pandemic and economic uncertainty, LTUSD refinanced two series of their Election of 2008 General Obligation Bonds.

“With interest rates near historic lows, we wanted to take this opportunity to save our community money, particularly in light of the downturn in the economy,” said LTUSD Superintendent Dr. Todd Cutler.

Due to unprecedented and historic fire conditions throughout the state, the USDA Forest Service Pacific Southwest Region announced they are extending the temporary closure orders for 18 National Forests in California. This decision will be re-evaluated as conditions change.

One of priorities established by the Tahoe Prosperity Center (TPC) during the pandemic has been to help local businesses find ways to affordably obtain required Personal Protective Equipment (PPE).

Through its participation in the El Dorado County Business Protection Workgroup, TPC has been able to help businesses find funding and develops plans to stay open through the impacts of COVID-19. They now have been able to procure the PPE needed to meet safety guidelines, protect employees and customers, and stay open for business.

The Fork Fire continues to burn west of Lake Tahoe in the Rubicon River drainage and near the King Fire burn scar.

An infrared (IR) flight was not available again last night and the estimated 2,200 burned acreage is National Guard data from a drone and firefighter observations on the ground. The fire is seven percent contained.

UPDATE 2:30PM 9/9/20: The North Complex Fire more than tripled in size since Tuesday and is now 150,140 acres with 38 percent containment.

5:30 p.m. UPDATE: Traffic is moving again and the crash has been cleared up. No other information is available at this time.

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Expect delays if heading south on US50 near Cave Rock at Lake Tahoe. At 4:30 p.m., the Nevada Department of Transportation reported the crash, but details are unavailable at this time.

According to their Nevada Roads website, delays could last until 6:00 p.m. It appears the northbound lanes are moving.

Use caution. Emergency crews are at the scene.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - There will be two new members of the South Lake Tahoe City Council after the November 3 election. In the coming weeks the pubic will have chances to hear from the candidates both via zoom, in print and possibly in person. Below are eight of the ten candidates responses to questions asked by the local #IRunWithMaud group.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - It was 1:15 a.m. on the morning of September 6, 1970 when nurse Donna Ann Lass was working in the first aid room of the Sahara Tahoe Hotel & Casino in Stateline, Nevada. She made a log entry just before her last patient entered the room 15 minutes later, one-half hour before getting off duty.

Donna was scheduled to make a log entry at 1:45 a.m. but it was never completed and she was never seen again. Although her car was found parked at her apartment she wasn't seen leaving the Sahara.

Now that the Bread & Broth 4 Kids (BB4K) summer program came to an end on August 26, the backpack school program resumes and will once again provide weekend food bags to Lake Tahoe Unified School District children. Bags will be available to qualified families at four school sites (Sierra House, Bijou, Tahoe Valley and South Tahoe Middle School) and school bus stop locations every Friday beginning September 4. As the bus drivers deliver breakfast and lunch to the students, the bags will be handed out.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - A collaboration between the South Lake Tahoe Police Department (SLTPD), the Tahoe Coalition for the Homeless, El Dorado County Behavioral Health, Barton Health and the Caltahoe JPA ambulance will be bringing a new service to South Lake Tahoe community members in crisis.

The emerging collaboration is called the South Tahoe Alternative Collaborative Services (STACS).

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - Residents in the Tahoe Keys are being asked to use only boiled tap water or bottled water for drinking and cooking purposes after an electrical failure at one of their wells (#3) Monday. The power failure led to a loss of water pressure.

The Tahoe Keys Property Owner Association's (TKPOA) said they emailed and hand delivered notices to residents to advise them of the boil water order.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - The City of South Lake Tahoe has released their emergency order that will require masks worn in the city limits starting Friday, August 21, 2020. Below are facts, questions and answers:

What is the mask mandate?

Governor Newsome mandated all Californians wear a mask in certain circumstances to prevent the spread of COVID-19. For more details on that order click here.

How does the administrative fine work?

Douglas County has changed the process for reporting issues with vacation home rentals (VHRs) in the Lake Tahoe Basin.

Effective immediately, a new third party administer, HdL, will handle general VHR complaints in Tahoe Township while the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office will continue to handle noise and parking violations. The county contracted with HDL Companies to handle lodging tax for all commercial and short-term rental permitting and room tax administration.

EL DORADO COUNTY, Calif. - As most in the South Lake Tahoe and Meyers area already know, getting out of town over US50 and Echo Summit on Sundays and holidays can be slow moving during summer, but during the winter it can be a miserable time both for visitors and locals.

Forest officials everywhere are saying: Recreate Responsibly.

Despite large campaigns about fire restrictions and "pack it in pack it out," many visitors to the Eldorado National Forest are not acting responsibly.

Fire and law enforcement officers had another busy weekend contacting a record numbers of visitors about campfires they had made that are not allowed under the current fire restrictions in the Eldorado National Forest.

DOUGLAS COUNTY, Nev. - In response to the number of people and groups expected at a protest in Minden, Nevada on Saturday, Douglas County officials have expanded traffic controls to keep everyone safe.

Cement walls have alread been installed to block motor vehicle traffic on Water Street to allow participants to move safely and freely on foot in the area. The protest is planned for 11:00 a.m. on August 8 on the steps of the Judicial Law Enforcement Center in Minden. The road is planned to be closed until Monday.

The Nevada Gaming Control Board (NGCB) has completed 10,135 inspections and opened 156 regulatory cases since gaming properties were able to reopen on June 4 after they were closed for over two months. All have been related to non-compliance with the Board’s Health and Safety Policies issued on May 28. To date, they have alleged findings against four licensees