illegal

The South Lake Tahoe Police Department has received unspecific information about someone in South Lake Tahoe performing basic dental work without a proper dental office or licenses. A check with two local dentists indicates that some people have needed dental repair work after receiving substandard dentistry possibly occurring in someone’s kitchen. It appears that such activity would function as a “cash” business and prey on the vulnerabilities of the poor.

The police department asks:

Darrell Hinz was the trusted construction manager hired by the United Auburn Indian Community to complete its Indian Hills Road office project.

Instead, Hinz became enmeshed in a fraud scheme that federal investigators determined would ultimately suck $17 million out of the project in fraudulently inflated invoices.

The money ended up paying for luxuries that included a $70,000 BMW, a condo in South Lake Tahoe and a new swimming pool.

San Francisco voters are poised to hand a decisive victory to Airbnb and city residents who want to turn their homes into vacation rentals. Proposition F, a measure to curb short-term rentals drastically, was losing by a margin of 61 percent to 39 percent, according to the early count of mail-in ballots.

Prop. F, the most contentious and most expensive issue on the Tuesday ballot, centers on whether vacation rentals divert scarce housing to lucrative illegal year-round hotels, as its backers claimed, or help middle-class people make ends meet, as Airbnb and other opponents said.

The Carson City Sheriff’s Office is investigating an incident at Mark Twain Elementary School on Wednesday where a 7-year-old boy picked up a teddy bear with five hypodermic needles. The boy was stuck with one of the needles, which was then tested and found positive for methamphetamine.

A federal grand jury returned a 70-count indictment today against eight men, charging them with various firearms offenses involving manufacturing and dealing firearms without a license, United States Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner and ATF Special Agent in Charge Jill A. Snyder announced.

The following is a list of all 911 calls received by South Lake Tahoe Fire Rescue (SLTFR) from October 1 to October 7, 2015.

October 1, 2015: 5 calls: 3 EMS calls, 1 call for unauthorized burning, 1 call for CO2 detector being activated due to malfunction.

October 2, 2015: 8 calls: 5 EMS calls, 1 call for natural gas leak, 1 call canceled en route, 1 interfacility transfer.

October 3, 2015: 11 calls: 7 EMS calls, 1 false alarm, 1 canceled en route, 1 service call "other," 1 unauthorized burning.

A large illicit marijuana grow in the mountains of Lincoln County, NV was eradicated after law enforcement found 6,476 marijuana plants in the remote area. The plants had an estimated street value of $17 million.

It appears that individuals had operated the site for several years and was capable of producing large quantities of illegal marijuana intended for sales and distribution. In addition to the marijuana plants, law enforcement personnel recovered and removed nearly two miles of black irrigation piping, along with various chemicals, used during the growing process

Drug task force agents investigating the alleged sales and use of illegal narcotics in the South Lake Tahoe city limits arrested seven adults and confiscated drugs and paraphernalia.

Agents from the South Lake El Dorado Narcotic Enforcement Task Team (SLEDNET) served a search warrant at a home located in the 800 block of Tallac Road on Monday, August 24, 2015 at 3:00 p.m.

Inside the home, they found 11 adults, seven of them who claimed to reside at the location.

Perched around a secluded campfire in the Rocky Mountains, Glenn Martin jerked forward, said, "Ow," and died. The wayward bullet that struck him in the national forest has campers and other users calling for changes in recreational shooting policy.

Martin, 60, died July 3 in the Pike & San Isabel National Forest, 30 miles southwest of Denver. The 3.1-million-acre forest holds the record for the most gun-related violations reported in the country, a review of federal records by the USA TODAY Media Network shows.

El Dorado County Sheriff's Office responds to calls throughout the county.

The following are calls that only pertain to the South Shore. There may be some missing calls due to sheriff's logs not being completed at press time and the story will be updated when provided.

7/5

10:18 p.m. - Vacation Rental Noise - Cold Creek Trail

10:39 p.m. - Grand Theft - Fallen Leaf Lake Rd - AN UNKNOWN SUSPECT(S) REMOVED THE VICTIM'S PERSONAL PROPERTY FROM HIS VEHICLE. THE VICTIM WAS NOT SURE IF HIS
VEHICLE WAS LOCKED DURING THIS INCIDENT.

Over 2,000 cars drove through a July 4 sobriety check point in Douglas County on US 50 at Spooner Summit.

There were 22 drivers who were pulled over to a secondary screening during the check point which lasted from 2:30 p.m. to 8:15 p.m. Of those, three were arrested for driving under the influence of drugs, one for driving under the influence of alcohol and one person was arrested on an outstanding warrant.

Personal use fireworks are illegal to use or possess in the Lake Tahoe Basin, including sparklers and so-called “safe and sane” fireworks. As you enjoy your holiday, leave fireworks to the professionals by attending one of the many public displays around Lake Tahoe.

With illegal and unattended campfires the cause of over 90% of wildfires in the Lake Tahoe Basin, new fire restrictions go into place on July 1, 2015. Campfires and charcoal barbecues will be restricted to designated recreation sites, and other fire-related activities are prohibited until the end of fire season.

“Increased fire danger due to the ongoing drought combined with warmer and dryer weather is a big concern for the basin," said U.S. Forest Service fire management officer, Kit Bailey. "Fire restrictions help reduce the possibility of human caused fires.”

As one can imagine, Donielle Morse has been very busy lately. As the Water Conservationist specialist for the South Tahoe Public Utility District (STPUD), Morse spends her days informing, teaching and keeping up on the new state water mandates.

Drought or no drought, water conservation is necessary and its the reason South Lake Tahoe is faring better than most communities in the West. Since 2007, local water users have cut back 27% of their annual water usage.

Search warrants were served on Monday at five locations related to Tahoe Wellness Cooperative (TWC) and its owner Cody Bass. Staff from eight agencies spent hours at the South Lake Tahoe medical marijuana dispensary, pulling out boxes and containers of cannabis and records.

Four people were arrested earlier this week in El Dorado County when the El Dorado Gang Enforcement Detail (EDGE) contacted several gang members at their homes.

El Dorado County Sheriff’s Office, El Dorado County Probation, El Dorado County District Attorney’s Office, and the South Lake Tahoe Police Department participated in the sweep on May 18.

The Larch Avenue neighborhood's quite Tuesday evening was disrupted by what was described as a violent explosion caused by an illegal honey oil lab.

"My mother's floor rose and fell," said neighbor Daniel Castillo. His mother and sister live in the apartment above where the explosion occurred. Their apartment has a large crack above the front door. "My nephew was standing outside when it happened," Castillo continued. "He said the windows of the apartment came out like a balloon being blown up."

It’s Wildfire Awareness Month at Tahoe, and with the summer tourist season around the corner, we must all remember that drought has left our Region with severely dry forest conditions and an extreme risk of wildfire. This summer we need to think about “when” not “if” another fire will happen. All of us have important roles to play in preventing the next wildfire, and in making sure our homes, families, and communities are prepared for it.

El Dorado County Sheriff's deputies arrested five Bay Area residents on Thursay who are accused of being part of a counterfeit credit card ring.

On April 30, 2015 at about 1:00 p.m., deputies responded to Red Hawk Casino for a fraudulent use of a credit card. Red Hawk casino security reported two persons inside the casino attempted to use forged or stolen credit cards in an attempt to obtain cash. One was described as an adult Hispanic man and the other as an adult African American woman.

When children are removed from their homes and put into foster care, it is most likely the worst day of their life. Foster children are kids who have to be taken from their homes due to some sort of safety risk, such as abuse, neglect, parental incarceration, or illegal activity in the household. When a community does not have enough homes to accommodate for foster youth, the children have to move to the closest available foster home, often times being several hours away.

There are many sides to the South Lake Tahoe Vacation Home Rental (VHR) situation. On one side are the locals whose peaceful lives have been disturbed because they are the neighbors of vacation home rentals that are reportedly out of control with excess noise and trash that come from inconsiderate renters. On another side are the people wanting to enjoy South Lake Tahoe from the comfort of a private home. Yet another side are the second home owners who want to earn money from their vacation home.

An illegal campfire at Granite Lake in Desolation Wilderness started a wildfire on Tuesday according to the U.S. Forest Service (USFS). With the lack of a deep snowpack and high winds in the area this week, the fire could have easily spread had it not been for the quick response by USFS firefighters.

Illegal and unattended campfires cause over 90 percent of wildfires in the Lake Tahoe Basin. Fire managers are concerned about the impact from illegal campfires as we are in our fourth year of drought and forest conditions are already as dry as they would be in June.

Illegal tree cutting at a South Lake Tahoe hotel and approval of the Heavenly Mountain Resort Epic Discovery Project are just two of the agenda items for the next Tahoe Regional Planning Agency (TRPA) Governing Board meeting.

The TRPA board meeting will be held on March 25 at the Chateau in Incine Village and on March 26 at the agency's office in Stateline.

There is an increase in illegal sales of tobacco products in El Dorado County, including South Lake Tahoe.

County health and law enforcement officials released the results of a recent operation where trained youth volunteers, aged 14-17, went into stores to purchase cigarettes. Of the 142 retail stores the youth went into, 32 stores sold them tobacco.