safe

On Monday, the U.S. Forest Service will start a mastication project on the Northwest shore of Lake Tahoe that will impact a portion of the Tahoe Rim Trail.

For the next 6 weeks, including weekends, staff will be in the area near Page Meadows. They'll be using a piece of equipment called a masticator which reducing the amount of material left behind after a tree thinning project. The machinery may cause flying debris to be thrown up to 500 feet.

As a parent, we want our children to be safe. Certain safety measures are designed to help keep children safe, like child safety seats, seat belts, and toddler gates. However, some parents may overlook one critical component to keep children healthy and safe: vaccinations. Current vaccinations are the most effective and safest they have been in history and have saved millions of lives from vaccine-preventable diseases.

There is a new way to enjoy two lakes with just a quick bike ride along the bike trail just completed by the U.S. Forest Service.

The Fallen Leaf Bike Path connects cyclists from the Fallen Leaf Lake Campground to the Pope Baldwin National Recreation Trail. The trail offers riders a safe and exciting alternative.

As reported by South Tahoe Now in April, the new trail also provided installation of bmps, upgrades, reconstruction and relocation of adjacent unauthorized trails.

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

The following are calls that only pertain to the South Shore.

7/11
1:22 a.m. - Prospector Trail: A 21 YEAR OLD WOMAN WAS ARRESTED FOR DRIVING UNDER THE INFLUENCE.
12:10 p.m. - Cherry Hills Circle: SUSPECT, A 40 YEAR OLD WOMAN, ASSAULTED THE VICTIM, A 55 YEAR OLD MAN, WITH A "BALL CHUCKER", A PLASTIC DEVICE USED TO THROW A TENNIS BALL.

7/12
3:03 a.m. - Oaxaco Street: A REPORT OF NOISE DISTURBANCE FROM VACATION RENTAL.

The 2nd Annual Meyers Mountain Bike Festival will take place on August 10, 2014 in the Divided Sky parking lot, located at 3200 US Highway 50. The festival kicks off with a “Triple Crown Ride” covering 30+ miles and a 5,200 elevation gain. Riders should arrive at the Divided Sky at 7:30 a.m. to register for the ride. A $25 donation will support the Tahoe Area Mountain Biking Association (TAMBA), and Clif Bar will have water and fueling stations along the ride.

The Boys and Girls Club of Lake Tahoe is extremely grateful of the services that are being donated by John’s Cleaners.

Once a week we have the opportunity to drop off our shirts that the kids wear daily and they wash and clean them for us. This is a very important service because we want the kids to feel comfortable and clean with the shirts we provide them.

The spring and summer weather is here and many of us are starting or planning to start those home improvement projects that just can’t be done in the cold and wet months. Maybe we have also heard about the dangers that can be present when working on surfaces that contain lead. As many of us now know, any home that was constructed prior to 1978 may have lead-based paint or lead containing finishes on any of the painted or varnished surfaces on the exterior and interior of the home and on outbuildings, fences and other surfaces as well.

Lake Tahoe is now home to the Tallac Hotshots, a select force of 20 wildland firefighters from the Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit (LTBMU).

The group completed a demanding and extensive certification process on June 19, making them the first Interagency Hotshot Crew from Lake Tahoe.

Formerly the Tallac Hand Crew, the Tallac Hotshots join an exclusive group of roughly 2,000 firefighters across the country.

"It's a challenge to make sure they are all safe," said Eric Guevin, Tahoe Douglas Fire Marshall. He was commenting on the increased number of calls his department received on the the 4th of July when tens of thousands of visitors come to the Lake Tahoe basin to celebrate. When more people come to Lake Tahoe the fire department sees a large increase in service calls.

"Our rescue crews were kept busy," according to Guevin.

The California Highway Patrol, Nevada Highway Patrol and Douglas County Sheriff's Office will be joining forces over the holiday weekend in South Lake Tahoe by conducting sobriety, car safety and driver's license checkpoints on both sides of the state line.

The California Highway Patrol will have their checkpoint in Meyers on Saturday, July 5 on U.S. Highway 50 between Pioneer Trail and State Route 89. It will be staffed by officers who are trained in the detection of alcohol and/or drug impaired drivers.

As part of a nationwide effort to keep boating and boaters safe, the South Lake Tahoe Police Department's marine units will have stepped up enforcement on the lake Friday through Sunday.

Operation Dry Water is an annual nationwide effort to highlight the risks and dangers of operating boats under the influence. The stepped up enforcement raises awareness of operating boats under the influence of alcohol or drugs in advance of the Fourth of July holiday.

Can you survive the next wildfire in Lake Tahoe? Yes, if your community is prepared.

The Lake Tahoe Basin's firefighting agencies and UNR Cooperative Education have come together to promote the "Fire Adapted Community Concept." This type of community has five elements:

1. Community Protection - Well-designed fuelbreaks and safe areas protect the community.
2. Defensible Space - Proper management of vegetation surrounding the home reduces the wildfire threat.
3. Access - Good access helps emergency responders arrive in a timely manner.

The Boys and Girls Club of Lake Tahoe would like to thank the One Medical Group for donating 15 bikes to the Boys and Girls Club of Lake Tahoe. We were lucky enough to receive 8 girls’ bikes and 7 boys’ single speed Huggy bikes with matching helmets.

We plan to utilize these during our summer program to teach the members bike safety and how to properly ride a bike as well as integrating them into our programs.

10:45 p.m. update - Romeo has been located and returned home safe. No other details have been provided.

The Douglas County Sheriff's Office and Search and Rescue are searching for 11 year old Romeo Obrien who was last seen at 2 p.m. in the Gardnerville Ranchos near Patricia Court.

Romeo is 5'3" tall, has brown hair and brown eyes with a scar under his left eye. He was last seen wearing a blue DARE shirt and blue shorts.

Romeo’s last known direction is unknown. Romeo has been entered into NCIC as a missing person.

May was deemed Wildfire Awareness Month in the basin by Lake Tahoe fire agencies.

A $2.8M Proposition 84 grand was received by the City of South Lake Tahoe’s Engineering Division yesterday. The Round 2 grant will correct erosion control issues in the Sierra Tract neighborhood.

Fifty-three motorcyclists died on Nevada roadways in 2013, surpassing the previous year’s number of fatalities by 39 percent, according to the Nevada Department of Public Safety, Office of Traffic Safety (OTS).

Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval proclaimed May 2014 as Motorcycle Safety Month, focusing on the motorcycle as an important form of transportation, and reminding its riders and all motorists of important safety guidelines.

A 26 year old Placerville, CA man is in custody at the El Dorado County Jail after allegedly trying to groom a 15 year old boy for sex.

On Monday, April 14th, the boy reported to the Sheriff’s Office in Placerville that he had received sexually suggestive and descriptive text messages from an unknown 26 year old male, who identified himself as Glenn Coco. The text messages described the man's sexual desires for the 15 year old.

A record-breaking 100 businesses will participate in the 2014 Business EXPO –“Tahoe South in ACTION” this Friday, March 28. The event begins at 4:30pm and continues until 8:30pm in Harrah’s Lake Tahoe Convention Center. It will highlight South Shore businesses’ goods and services to an anticipated crowd of 1,200 attendees.

The following vendors will exhibit:

A Hand at Home
Acker RV Rentals
Alpine Smith Snow Removal and Driveway Sealing
American Legion Post 795
Bank of the West
Barton Memorial Hospital
Beach Hut Deli
Beach Retreat and Lodge Tahoe

El Dorado County Sheriff's Search and Rescue teams were called out twice on Friday evening, once to the Cascade Falls area and the other to Vikingsholm.

The first call came in just before 5 p.m. on Friday, March 15. Two women from Illinois were hiking near Cascade Falls and became lost. They called 911. While waiting to be located, the women came across other hikers who assisted them in returning to the camp ground where they were met by Search and Rescue at approximately 6 p.m. No injuries were reported.

The public is encouraged to come to Barton Memorial Hospital and celebrate Patient Safety Awareness Week with Barton Health. On Wednesday, March 5, Dr. Clint Purvance, Barton’s Chief Medical Officer, will recognize our successes, lessons learned, and commitment to our patients while creating patient safety awareness. Barton staff will announce the Patient Safety poster contest winner. Festivities begin at 1 p.m. in the Snowflake Lobby at Barton Hospital.

A Wednesday night house fire in South Lake Tahoe has turned into a criminal investigation.

South Lake Tahoe Police officers and fire fighters responded to a residential fire in the 1100 block of Long Valley Avenue at 6:10 pm. They found the home fully engulfed in flames with fire starting to spread to nearby trees, though they were able to contain the fire to the area of the burning home. It appears the house is likely to be a total loss.

The house has received the attention of the police and fire department prior to Wednesday night's fire.

The single use plastic bag ban goes into effect on January 15 in South Lake Tahoe. In order to help people with the transition, the city's Lead Safe Tahoe team is giving away free reusable shopping bags on the following dates:

January 13 from 1:30-3:30 p.m. @ Raley's at 4000 Lake Tahoe Blvd. (near Stateline)
January 14 from 2:00-4:00 p.m. @ Safeway on Johnson Blvd.
January 15 from 1:00-3:30 p.m. @ Raley's on 1040 Emerald Bay Rd. (The "Y")
January 15 from 4:00-6:00 p.m. @ South Lake Tahoe Grocery Outlet on 2358 Lake Tahoe Blvd.

Tragedy struck at the 2012 SnowGlobe in South Lake Tahoe when 19 year old Alyssa Byrne became separated from her friends and died of hypothermia after falling in a snow bank after attempting to walk back to her hotel.

Out of that tragedy, the "Always My Buddy" program was developed. Alyssa's family wanted to make sure another family didn't have to go through what they did by making sure everyone that is an unfamiliar place is safe.