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Welcome to summer! The solstice officially arrived Friday at 8:54 a.m., welcoming in the longest day of the year. As the snowpack melts away, and the lake fills above rim, we enter the warm and dry months that we relish after winter. As Lake Tahoe’s landscape begins to dry out, wildfire danger will grow.

Our respite from the seasonal dangers of wildfire here in the basin is coming to an end. With temperatures climbing, relative humidity lowering, and afternoon winds blowing across the lake, the basin will become susceptible to wildfire.

It prides itself as a first-of-a-kind Israeli cycling startup. The first-ever Israeli cycling team with 30 riders from all corners of the world that has proven it can beat all odds. And now it is set to face the most challenging Amgen Tour of California ever.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - Over 200 members of the community gathered last week for a Community Wildfire Preparedness and Evacuation Planning meeting that featured ten panelists for an important discussion on what is on the minds of many.

The goal is to be a community that is wildfire ready, and the speakers went through the ways both they and the citizens of the South Shore can be prepared for wildfire, establish evacuation routes and what the emergency response will be.

MEYERS, Calif. - Traffic through neighborhoods in the Meyers area has become unbearable to many residents as vehicles leaving South Lake Tahoe to take to side streets in an effort to circumvent Highway 50 traffic over Echo Summit.

In an effort to find solutions to a problem that keeps Meyers residents from their homes for hours at a time, a townhall-style meeting was held on Friday night.

Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) is in emergency mode in extreme fire-risk areas in Butte, Sierra, Placer, Nevada, El Dorado, Amador, Plumas, Calaveras and Yuba counties due to Red Flag warnings by the National Weather Service. These shutoffs will affect about 70,000 customers.

South Lake Tahoe is served by Liberty Utilities and not part of the utility company's plan to start proactively shutting off power for safety as early as 5 p.m. Sunday and continuing through the evening.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - Fall is just around the corner (it starts in one week) and the mild days and cooler nights are a sign of its arrival.

The red flag warnings and lake wind advisories have expired and winds will return to more typical afternoon breezes with temperatures near normal for mid-September.

Dry conditions prevail with near normal temperatures through next week.

The forecast from the National Weather Service in Reno:

Sunday - Sunny, with a high near 71. Southwest wind 5 to 10 mph, with gusts as high as 20 mph.

There are extreme fire danger warnings up for Lake Tahoe, the Sierra Nevada and Western Nevada starting on Tuesday, September 11 at 1:00 p.m.

The Lake Wind Advisory will run until 9:00 p.m. Tuesday. Winds will be from the Southwest 15 to 20 mph with gusts to 35 mph. Wave heights will be from one to three feet with highest waves from mid-lake to east shores. Small boats, kayaks and paddle boards will be prone to capsizing and should remain off lake waters until conditions
improve.

A Red Flag Warning has been issued for the Sierra, including the Donnell Fire area where 23,824 acres since starting on August 1. Northwest winds and low relative humidity may increase activity along the southern and eastern areas of the fire, keeping smoke away from Lake Tahoe. Concern areas include Long Valley, Haypass, Sardine, and Red Rock Meadows. The fire may also travel in a Southeast direction towards Kennedy Meadows within the Middle Fork Stanislaus River corridor. A Forest Order Closure has been issued for the Carson-Iceberg Wilderness and Spicer Lake.

8:00 p.m. 8/5/18 UPDATE: SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - The body of a 21-year-old California man was located in Lake Tahoe Sunday afternoon, more than 24 hours after he jumped off a boat near Edgewood Tahoe.

El Dorado County Sheriff's Office cadaver dogs alerted others to the body of the man about one-quarter mile off shore between Tahoe Meadows and Lakeside Marina just before 5:00 p.m. Sunday, according to South Lake Tahoe Police Officer Traci Trapani.

For more on the story: http://southtahoenow.com/story/08/05/2018/california-man-drowns-lake-tahoe
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There are important regulations to be aware of when visiting and living in Lake Tahoe, and not all jurisdictions have the same rules.

City of South Lake Tahoe

No outside fires are allowed in the City unless it is a cooking fire with charcoal in a barbecue or in a fire pit with gas piped in, or one that uses liquid petroleum. Anything that creates embers is banned, including wood burning fire pits and backyard bonfires.

Even if wood fire pit has mesh lid, it is banned. No open burning is allowed at this time, including the burning of pine needles are yard debris.

Sierra House Elementary School celebrated the opening of the 2018 Winter Olympic Games on Friday morning with lots of excitement. They had the torch, the cheering fans, the Olympic flag and the national anthem.

A torch relay started at 9:15 a.m. with torch bearing students running their portion of the relay before passing it on to the next runner. The relay circled the school a few times, with each passing of a runner drawing cheers from the crowd of students, parents and faculty.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - The long awaited 11 foot tall bronze sculpture "Spirit of Competition" perched on top of a 4.5 ton boulder was unveiled during a ceremony at Champions Plaza Friday.

Sculptor Gareth Curtiss transported his creation from his studio in Fortine, Montana just two days ago in the back of his van, early Thursday morning the bronze sculpture was picked up with a crane and placed on top of the boulder, bolted in and wrapped up for the ceremony.

Before that question can be answered, we need to understand what a mega fire is. To be a mega fire it needs to meet these five points:

1. Starts near or in a high fire danger area during approaching or actual red flag conditions,
2. Escapes the initial attack,
3. Develops into a campaign fire covering a large area,
4. Requires thousand of firefighters and extensive additional resources to bring final containment,
5. Often cause huge property and other cultural losses in addition to vegetation destroyed.

17 large wildfires that started in the past 24 hours continue to burn across California and have burned over 115,000 acres. The winds that fanned these fires Sunday night and Monday morning have decreased significantly, but local winds and dry conditions continue to pose a challenge. With the decrease in the winds combined with cooler weather, firefighters made good progress overnight. Sheriff officials have confirmed that 11 people have died as a result of the wildfires in Sonoma, Mendocino, Napa and Yuba counties.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - Those who were alive on Tuesday, September 11, 2001 remember exactly what they were doing when they first saw the reports of the four attacks coordinated by al-Qaeda in New York, Virginia and Pennsylvania.

Today, sixteen years later, those who lost their lives during the attacks were remembered during a ceremony at the American Legion Hall.

The National Weather Service has issued a Red Flag Warning for the Lake Tahoe area from 2:00 p.m. Wednesday to 8:00 p.m. Thursday.

Thunderstorms with potentially dangerous lightening strikes are forecast along with heavy rain and possible flash flooding.

A negatively tilted trough is setting the stage for a widespread outbreak of thunderstorms this afternoon through Thursday from the northern Sierra and far western Nevada to the Oregon border.

The first South Lake Tahoe Police Department community gathering was a successful one on Saturday as the 50th anniversary of the department was celebrated with hundreds of people at Lakeview Commons. There were rides on both the police and fire boats, a concert, BBQ, interactions with the police K-9s, booths, fingerprinting and an awards ceremony.

Going above and beyond the call of duty was recognized with awards to both staff members and the public.

The first national call to prayer came in 1775, when the Continental Congress asked the colonies to pray for wisdom in forming a nation. Since then, a call to prayer has continued from President Lincoln’s proclamation of a day of “humiliation, fasting, and prayer” in 1863 to an annual national day of prayer signed by a joint resolution by Congress in 1952 that was signed by President Truman.

Now, the National Day of Prayer is held on the first Thursday in May.

We've all seen the recent NFL player's protest over the treatment of blacks by not standing during the playing of the National Anthem at games. While I don’t agree with their method, it made me think about the way people respect the flag in general.

When growing up I always heard "Don't let the flag touch the ground," "The flag is only outside during daylight hours and not during rain or bad weather," and, as a Girl Scout, I learned how to fold the flag in the correct manner and learned the flag had to be burned if it was mistreated.

More money is headed to preserve and restore Lake Tahoe. In Washington Wednesday the U.S. Senate passed its $415 million version of 2015's Lake Tahoe Restoration Act by a vote of 95-3.

The money for Lake Tahoe is part of the $10 billion Water Resources Development Act of 2016.

This is the first time the funding legislation to reauthorize the Lake Tahoe Restoration Act has cleared the full Senate even though its has succeeded at the committee level several times.

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

Firefighters responded to two small fires on Sunday, one at Round Hill and the other in the meadow behind the Ross store.

A person walking behind the US Forest Service building and Ross/Rite Aid building saw a fire and rushed into Ross to call 911. Firefighters responded quickly and the small fire was quickly extinguished. The fire was only able to burn a 5 ft x 5 ft square. The cause is under investigation.

Lake Tahoe and Northern Nevada are not alone this weekend as a combination of hot and dry conditions with gusty winds will bring dangerous fire weather conditions to a large portion of the western U.S. Any fire in this region will have the potential to grow rapidly out of control so extreme caution is urged near dry grass and brush. Numerous Red Flag Warnings are in effect from the Sierra Nevada to the High Plains of South Dakota.

The post-holiday week starts off with a Lake Wind Advisory on Lake Tahoe and Red Flag Warnings across Western Nevada. Expect winds in South Lake Tahoe to be 5-15 mph during the day and evening, with gusts up to 25 mph.

The Lake Wind Advisory is from 1:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. Carson City and Reno winds will be up to 35 mph.

The rest of the week's forecast from the National Weather Service:

Tonight - Clear, with a low around 47. Southwest wind around 5 mph.

Tuesday - Widespread haze. Sunny, with a high near 75. Southwest wind 5 to 15 mph, with gusts as high as 25 mph.