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With winter just around the corner, all visitors to California’s National Forests should continue to plan ahead before visiting and recreate responsibly once there. Early snowfall has already begun on some forests and road conditions will begin to impact access so please ensure that your vehicle is snow ready before you go.

With California off to a dry start for the water year, the California Department of Water Resources (DWR) announced Tuesday an initial State Water Project (SWP) allocation of 10 percent of requested supplies for the 2021 water year.

Initial allocations are based on conservative assumptions regarding hydrology and factors such as reservoir storage. Allocations are reviewed monthly and may change based on snowpack and runoff information. They are typically finalized by May.


Douglas County has recently seen an alarming increase in COVID-19 cases in an extremely short period of time. This is part of a regional and statewide trend in rapidly increasing confirmed COVID-19 infections and they are experiencing strain to their healthcare system and first responders.

DOUGLAS COUNTY, Nev. = After consultation with the Douglas County officials, the towns, public safety agencies, and Douglas County Emergency Management it was determined in-person public holiday events in the towns of Gardnerville, Genoa, and Minden have been canceled. This includes the 25th annual Parade of Lights hosted by the Carson Valley Chamber of Commerce. County officials said the action was deemed necessary for the safety of the community, due to the most recent State directive limiting public gatherings to no more than 50 people.

Tahoe Fire and Fuels Team (TFFT) members will continue prescribed fire operations this week in the Lake Tahoe Basin, weather and conditions permitting. California State Parks and Tahoe Douglas Fire Protection District are scheduled to burn hand piles on the east and west shores. Smoke may be visible.

Project Name: Sugar Pine Point State Park
Responsible Agency: California State Parks
West of Hwy 89, along S Fire Rd and Campground Rd
Burn Type: Hand Piles. Total Acreage: 20.00
Planned Ignition: 11/30/2020 - 12/18/2020
Duration of Ignition and Smoke Production: 3 weeks

Liberty Utilities will host a virtual workshop on Wednesday, December 2 at 7;00 p.m. to provide information about service reliability and, more importantly, plans and progress being made to improve your electric service.

Reliability Reporting Virtual Public Workshop
Wednesday, December 2
7:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.
Register to attend the meeting here: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/7145023892160935696

Liberty makes continuous infrastructure investments to improve service reliability. However, outages can still occur for many reasons—some beyond Liberty’s control.

The Tahoe Chamber’s annual GO Local & Win holiday contest will launch on Small Business Saturday, November 28, and continue through January 1 to reward the community with cash prizes for shopping and dining at local businesses for the holidays.

This campaign comes at a critical time for businesses facing continued restrictions, and it is essential that the community band together and spend locally to save small businesses.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - Caltrans is planning a $16.8 million U.S. Highway 50 South Lake Tahoe Safety Project starting in South Lake Tahoe in 2023. Circulation of the project's Draft Environmental Document (DED) was expected on November 25, but it has been delayed, Caltrans announced Tuesday.

The safety project is proposing to install additional intersection and mid-block lighting, pedestrian signals and advisory signs from the “Y” intersection to Pioneer Trail.

California State Park and Tahoe Douglas Fire Protection District crews are scheduled to continue prescribed fire operations this week, weather permitting. Smoke may be visible.

Project Name: Secret
Responsible Agency: Tahoe Douglas Fire District
North of Glenbrook
Burn Type: Hand Piles
Total Acreage: 10.00
Planned Ignition: 11/23/2020
Duration of Ignition and Smoke Production: 2-4 days of ignition and 2 days of burn down time
Estimated Direction of Smoke Travel: North/Northeast

Project Name: Sugar Pine Point State Park

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - El Dorado County health officials say another 88 residents have tested positive for COVID-19 since Friday. Of those, 18 are in El Dorado Hills, 14 in Cameron Park/Shingle Springs/Rescue, four in North County, one in South County, 10 in Greater Placerville, one in Diamond Springs/El Dorado, three in Pollock Pines/Camino/Kyburz, 25 in Lake Tahoe region. There are 12 awaiting address confirmation.

One of those new cases, 12 are under the age of 18, 49 are aged 18-49, 15 are aged 50-64, and 12 aged 65 or older.

Sugar Bowl Resort and Royal Gorge Cross Country will open for the 2020/21 winter season on Friday, November 27, 2020 with new safety procedures.

“We are eager to welcome our guests back to the mountain and are thrilled that opening day is just a week away,” said Greg Dallas, President and CEO of Sugar Bowl/Royal Gorge. “Our team has worked tirelessly on a reopening plan that keeps the safety of our guests and staff as the top priority.”

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - El Dorado County health officials say another 31 residents have tested positive for COVID-19 since yesterday. Of those, ten are in El Dorado Hills, one in Cameron Park/Shingle Springs/Rescue, three in North County, four in Greater Placerville, one in Diamond Springs/El Dorado, and 13 in Lake Tahoe region (One fewer "address awaiting confirmation"- the count by region will only add up to 31 if there's a "-1" from the "address awaiting confirmation" category. Right now the County currently awaiting for address confirmation for 2 cases).

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - El Dorado County health officials say another 52 residents have tested positive for COVID-19 since yesterday. Of those, 15 are in El Dorado Hills, five in Cameron Park/Shingle Springs/Rescue, four in North County, one in South County, eight in Greater Placerville, eight in Pollock Pines/Camino/Kyburz, and 11 in Lake Tahoe region.

One of those new cases, three are under the age of 18, 31 are aged 18-49, 15 are aged 50-64, and three aged 65 or older.

Another 374 people were tested for the coronavirus and 322 negative tests results were received.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - The safety of patients and healthcare workers is Barton Health’s top priority. The health care system has operations in place to continue to meet the demand for medical services as COVID-19 cases surge across the nation and Lake Tahoe. After preparation for the anticipated increase of patient volume this fall and winter, aspects of Barton’s plan are being implemented to meet the needs for patient care.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - El Dorado County health officials say another 97 residents have tested positive for COVID-19 since yesterday. Of those, 21 are in El Dorado Hills, ten in Cameron Park/Shingle Springs/Rescue, three in North County, two in South County, 14 in Greater Placerville, eight in Pollock Pines/Camino/Kyburz, five in Diamond Springs/El Dorado, and 33 in Lake Tahoe region. There are three positive results awaiting address confirmation.

One of those new cases, six are under the age of 18, 50 are aged 18-49, 23 are aged 50-64, and 18 aged 65 or older.

UPDATE 8:15PM: The Mountain View Fire is currently burning around the community of Walker. Due to the fast moving nature of the fire, an Evacuation Order has been issued for the Walker, Coleville and Topaz areas, and US 395 is still closed from Bridgeport to the Nevada state line. There is 0 percent containment and 5,000 acres burned according to Inci-web. Liberty Utilities has de-energized the communities of Walker and Coleville up to Topaz at the state line for safety precautions. Liberty is working with all emergency agencies and will safely restore power when possible.

Stories published on Lake Tahoe News are now free in archival form.

Lake Tahoe News was the preeminent source for news about the greater Lake Tahoe area from 2009-18. When it closed in summer 2018 the site was accessible via a paywall. That has been removed so people may access past stories without paying a fee.

EL DORADO COUNTY, Calif. - The State of California today announced new COVID-19 tier assignments, moving El Dorado County into Tier 1 Purple starting at noon on Tuesday, November 17. This date has been changed from the county's previously announced noon on Thursday.

Under the Purple Tier, the following sectors are permitted for OUTDOOR ONLY operations These sectors must still maintain mitigation measures (social distancing, face covering, and sanitization):

-Cardrooms, satellite wagering

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - El Dorado County health officials say another 37 residents have tested positive for COVID-19 since yesterday. Of those, three in Pollock Pines/Camino/Kyburz, six in El Dorado Hills, three in North County, five in Greater Placerville, six in Cameron Park/Shingle Springs/Rescue, and 14 in Lake Tahoe region

One of those new cases, three are under the age of 18, 25 are aged 18-49, seven are aged 50-64, and two aged 65 or older.

Another 393 people were tested for the coronavirus and 356 negative tests results were received.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - With an early snow storm dropping almost a foot of snow around Lake Tahoe last week, and another few days of possible snow on the way, Southwest Gas is reminding its customers to start preparing for the winter months now. Customers living in areas that receive heavy snowfall need to take extra precautions to keep their natural gas meters and piping safe.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - With services stopped during the first months of the pandemic due to safety concerns, Barton Health is bringing back health and wellness programs to its Robert Maloff Center for Orthopedics & Wellness.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - A burn ban in the Lake Tahoe Basin was put in place this summer in response to the unprecedented and extreme fire conditions in California. While there were no major fires in the Basin there were record setting acres burned across the state.

A ban of charcoal barbeques, wood fire pits and open burning was but in place along with extra bans during Red Flag Warning conditions.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - After Lake Tahoe Unified School District (LTUSD) leadership looked at current COVID-19 data they announced Monday they will not be shifting to the next learning phase and will remain in Phase 2.

In accordance with their Pandemic Educational Plan timeline, LTUSD concluded its assessment of the data and criteria required did not meet what was needed for a possible shift to the next phase. There has been a significant increase of COVID-19 cases over the past four weeks with 15 new cases over the weekend.

LAKE TAHOE, Calif./Nev. - The Tahoe Fire and Fuels Team (TFFT) will begin conducting prescribed fire operations in the Lake Tahoe Basin this week, weather and conditions permitting.

North Lake Tahoe Fire Protection District is scheduled to being operations Monday at Diamond Peak Ski Resort (50 acres) and later near War Bonnet Way/Peace Pipe Lane in Incline Village (20 acres).

California State Parks is scheduled to begin operations at Burton Creek (17 acres) and Sugar Pine Point (20 acres) state parks beginning as early as Tuesday.