neighbors

South Lake Tahoe may not be known as the home of the $2,000 parking ticket after action taken by the City Council Tuesday.

National media attention spotlighted the fines ($1,000 to the renter and $1,000 to the homeowner) associated with violations of the vacation home rental (VHR) ordinance approved at the end of 2017 by the South Lake Tahoe City Council. This negative publicity has prompted some cancellations of tourist visits, or other changes to vacation plans, according to those in the industry.

Help spruce up South Lake Tahoe neighborhoods and "Keep Tahoe Clean" on Saturday, May 12 during the 3rd annual Spring Cleanup day. Last year, 118 volunteers spent a morning picking up nearly 1,500 pounds of trash.

The Clean Tahoe Program and City of South Lake Tahoe are organizing the day, so get together with your friends, family and neighbors to remove litter from our community. Check-in at the cleanup locations will begin at 9:00 a.m. and volunteers will be assigned a stretch of road to clean. Afterwards, everyone will meet up at Bijou Park for a FREE lunch and celebration.

We can always count on either Supervisors Novasel or Ranalli starting off each VHR public meeting discussing VHR’s with the reminder that VHR’s are an allowed use for single family dwellings under TRPA’s land use Ordinances. They have attempted to make us believe the word of God (TRPA) has set this in stone, and that we should all now work together to allow these nuisance businesses to coexist in our neighborhoods.

Weather has not be the best friend of those wanting to get a revised vacation home rental (VHR) ordinance for El Dorado County. Snow and unsafe travel conditions for staff driving to South Lake Tahoe from Placerville for the meetings lead to the cancellation of the March 3 and March 24 meetings, and the original February 1 meeting had to be stopped due to overcrowding. The next Board of Supervisors meeting on VHRs will be in South Lake Tahoe on May 2 at 6:00 p.m. in the South Tahoe Middle School multi-purpose room.

Many head to the cooler at their local beverage purveyor, perhaps never thinking of the process involved in getting that beer from the brewery to their lips.

This week, South Lake Brewing Company canned 4,800 cans of three types of beer, their already famous Fog Nozzle and Angora IPA, along with their Pillow Line Pale Ale. This was their second canning since opening in May, 2017, and it was also their biggest.

Two Douglas County senior citizens have fallen prey to a scam involving the purchase of gift cards.

If you are a parent looking for child care, you have probably encountered some challenges. There is currently a shortage of child care slots in El Dorado County. Many child care facilities who offer care are full and have waiting lists. This situation is very frustrating for parents and their employers. In order to work, parents are forced to juggle child care between friends, neighbors, and family members which can often be inconsistent and unreliable. Parents may also be forced to consider a child care situation of questionable quality.

Captain Bryce Cranch has been promoted to the position of Battalion Chief, filling the vacancy left by retiring chief Rich Nalder.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, CALIF. - Lake Tahoe Community College (LTCC) has just received the highest level of accreditation possible from the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges, Western Association of Schools and Colleges (ACCJC). The commission reaffirmed the college’s accreditation for seven years on the basis of a comprehensive evaluation. This reaffirmation puts the college in excellent standing until its next full accreditation review in Fall 2024.

Tahoe Arts Project is bringing Cascada de Flores to the South Shore for a week of shows at local schools, culminating with a performance open to the public on February 2 at the Lake Tahoe Community College Duke Theatre at 7:00 p.m.

Cascada de Flores brings the nostalgic song and traditions of Mexico and its neighbors into simple and beautiful arrangements that allow space for both improvisation and pure expression.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE - The following is a recap of activity the South Lake Tahoe Police Department responded to 336 calls between January 4 -15, 2018.

Calls Resulting in Arrests/Citations:

1/4

Trespassing in the 2100 block of South Ave
Evading in the 2800 block of Hank Monk
Domestic Battery in the 3700 block of Tamarack

1/5

Domestic Battery in the 3700 block of Tamarck
Unlicensed Driver in the 3700 block of Lake Tahoe Blvd

1/6

Spousal Abuse in the 1200 block of Lester ave

There will be a special meeting of the El Dorado County Board of Supervisors to discuss vacation home rentals (VHRs) in South Lake Tahoe at 6:00 p.m. on February 1 at the City Council chambers.

Supervisor Sue Novasel said she believes a meeting about the South Shore should be held on the South Shore so more of the citizens could attend and participate.

The hot topic of VHRs has divided many neighbors with opinions on both side of the issue.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE - The following is a recap of activity the South Lake Tahoe Police Department responded to 198 calls between December 13 - 20, 2017.

Calls Resulting in Arrests/Citations:

12/13 - 18 total calls
Warrant in the 1000 block of Johnson Blvd

12/14 - 21 total calls
Unlicensed Driver in the 1000 block of Al Tahoe Blvd

12/15 - 23 total calls
Warrant in the 1000 block of Chonokis Rd
DUI in the 1000 block of Glenwood Way
Trespassing in the 800 block of Michael Dr

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE - The following is a recap of activity the South Lake Tahoe Police Department responded to 369 calls between November 28 - December 12, 2017.

Calls Resulting in Arrests/Citations:

11/28 - 26 Total Calls

Driving on a suspended/revoked license at Emerald Bay Rd & West Way
Resisting at Lake Tahoe Blvd & Tata Lane
DUI at Oakland & El Dorado Ave
Assault with a deadly weapon in the 1400 block of Glenwood Way
Unlicensed Driver in the 2800 block of Lake Tahoe Blvd

11/29 - 24 Total Calls

For seven years the South Lake Tahoe Moose Lodge 1632 has supplied boxes of food supplies for local families in need, and this year will be no different.

This week, members of the lodge will deliver 50 decorated boxes, each packed full of a ham, vegetables, canned goods, pasta, potatoes, bread, tortillas and everything else needed to feed a family a big holiday meal, and then more for leftovers.

This year's recipients will be selected by the Family Resource Center.

After meeting with the City, Lake Tahoe Unified School District, police, neighbors and other interested parties, the Tahoe Coalition for the Homeless (TCH) is one step closer to opening a warm room for the winter in South Lake Tahoe and could be open by January 1, 2018.

The South Tahoe Action Team (STAT) is now stronger by ten members as the most recent class of graduates was announced at Tuesday's South Lake Tahoe City Council meeting.

Nearly 100 residents have been trained in the program offered by South Lake Tahoe Fire Rescue (SLTFR).

“The STAT program is designed to have neighbors helping neighbors,” said South Tahoe Fire Department Chief Jeff Meston.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE - The following is a recap of activity the South Lake Tahoe Police Department responded to 189 calls between November 6 - November 12, 2017.

Calls Resulting in Arrests/Citations:

11/6 - 33 Total Calls

Unlicensed Driver at Tamarack Dr & Blackwood Rd
DUI at O'Malley & Blue Lake Ave

11/7 - 19 Total Calls

Drunk in Public in the 3900 block of Lake Tahoe Blvd

11/8 - 39 Total Calls

Unlicensee Driver at Lake Tahoe Blvd & Silver Dolalr Ave

11/9 - 20 Total Calls

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, CALIF. - 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 time of story.

Some of those recently added to last week's log:

11/1

4:29 p.m. - Battery - South Lake Tahoe - A FEMALE JUVENILE WAS ARRESTED FOR BATTERY AFTER SHE ASSAULTED HER 52-YEAR-OLD MOTHER.

11/3

The Mueller family really enjoys making people happy! As owners of Adventure Mountain Lake Tahoe, the sledding, tubing and snow play resort located at the top of Echo Summit, they provide winter activities that can be enjoyed by people of all ages.

The Santa Rosa Flyers, the amateur youth hockey teams based at Snoopy's Ice in Santa Rosa, Calif., will be in South Lake Tahoe this weekend for season games against South Tahoe Amateur Hockey Association's Tahoe Grizzlies. Thirteen families from the Santa Rosa hockey organization lost their homes in the recent wildfires.

The heartbreaking fires in Northern California’s wine country this month have upended hundreds of thousands of people’s lives. In just over one week, the fires across Northern California burned more than 220,000 acres, destroyed 6,000 buildings, and killed more than 40 people. Our hearts go out to our neighbors in Napa, Sonoma, and Mendocino counties.

The last meeting of El Dorado County's Medical Marijuana Advisory Committee was a packed house, with a majority of those in attendance made up of cannabis growers in the area, and more of the same is expected at their next meeting.

One of the organizers, County Supervisor Sue Novasel of the South Shore, said all participants were respectful of each other's opinions. "It was a good meeting," said Novasel. She said many were concerned about a proposed registration procedure.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - Eight hours, and testimony from 29 people later, the City Council has crafted a new ordinance that attempts to strike a balance between locals and vacation home rentals (VHRs).

"While tourism is the lifeblood in our town, the residents are the heart and soul," said SLT City Councilman Jason Collin.

Passionate testimony from all sides was presented at Tuesday's meeting as has been the case for the 20+ meetings on the subject of VHRs.

The direction from the City Council to staff is to create an ordinance that will contain the following: