state

SACRAMENTO, Calif. - (AP) - Parents, especially in rural parts of the state, can breathe easier after state lawmakers changed their minds Thursday and voted not to target school bus service in a mi...

Smoke will be noticeable today at the north end of Emerald Bay as the U.S. Forest Service continues its prescribed fire operations. Here's the notice from the Forest Service regarding the controlled burn.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - More than 20 years of redevelopment at the South Shore came to an end this week as California legislators grapple with fixing a state budget that is in seemingly constant...

California State Parks is gearing up for a legal battle with the South Shore's Washoe Meadows Community over the reclassification of Washoe Meadows State Park into a “state recreation area.”
The classification change is a critical component of a proposal to move up to nine holes of Lake Tahoe Golf Course onto undeveloped land as part of a project to restore that section of the Upper Truckee River.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) - The state Assembly on Monday narrowly approved legislation that would return control of California's $3 billion court budget to the Legislature, stripping some authority f...

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) - The California Supreme Court on Friday upheld the state Senate maps drawn last year by an independent redistricting commission, dealing a blow to GOP attempts to block Dem...

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - The Lake Tahoe Unified School District has moved to cut about $2.4 million from their 2012-2013 budget in the wake of deep state cuts to education funding."This is probab...

I want to inform my local government of the growing reputation of South Lake Tahoe. The reputation is, if you go to South Lake Tahoe you will probably be pulled over by one of the many state or cit...

State Sen. Greg Brower, R-Reno, has asked Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto why an outside legal firm was retained to defend the state against a freeway construction dispute. Legal costs char...

CARSON CITY – A panel of lawmakers today began a review of the state’s 45-year-old formula for funding public education with an eye towards addressing the needs of the state’s urban districts as they work to educate special education students, English-language learners and children in poverty.

The panel is still searching for funding for a study to help in the review, however. The failure to find private funding for a study could jeopardize any meaningful review in this interim, lawmakers were told.

With the arrival of winter weather in this area, we certainly have plenty of water frozen on our creeks, streams, rivers, ponds, lakes and reservoirs.
And, that ice covering effectively inhibits your opportunity to catch fish…unless you are an ice fisherman.

WASHINGTON (AP) - President Barack Obama is ready to reclaim the spotlight with a plea for economic fairness in a State of Union address that opposition Republicans panned in advance as a rehash of...

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) - California's unemployment rate dipped slightly in December to 11.1 percent, its lowest rate since 2009, the state reported Friday.The rate is two-tenths of a percentage po...

Winter weather continues through today in the Lake Tahoe Basin. Ski resorts report up to 2 feet of snow from the system which arrived Friday and continues today. The National Weather Service in Reno reports that a second and much colder storm will move into the area on Sunday into Monday, dropping temperatures and bringing more snow. Here is the latest from the Lake Tahoe Visitors Authority on the storms:

SACRAMENTO (AP) - Republican lawmakers on Thursday failed to override Gov. Jerry Brown's veto of a bill that would have allowed local governments to take over the operations of state parks forced t...

View Washoe Drive Fire (1/19/2012) in a larger map

UPDATE 10PM: Reno Fire Chief Michael Hernandez said tonight the Washoe Drive Fire has consumed and estimated 3,700 acres, burned at least 20 structures and has resulted in one fatality.
Hernandez would not go into details of how the person died. He said the 250+ firefighters on the scene have stopped the forward progress of the fire. He said the fire started in the East Lake area, and then followed the Highway 395 corridor north, where it was stopped just south of Galena High School.
Highway 395 will be closed until further notice due to damage to debris and damage to guard rails, power poles and other item near the roadway. Gov. Brian Sandoval told state workers who commute by this route to stay home Friday. Evacuations have been lifted for the Galena area. About 2,000 people are still unable to go back to their homes tonight.
Hernandez said firefighters saved more than 800 homes that were in the path of this destructive fire.
The cause of the blaze is still under investigation.
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UPDATE 9PM: Reno Fire officials report forward progress on Washoe Drive fire has stopped. Fire behavior is moderating due to diminishing winds, lowering termperatures and increasing humidity/moisture moving over the Sierra Nevada/Carson Range. Fire burns more than 3,000 acres with zero containment; 10,000 evacuated; no count on home and structure losses.

U.S. Highway-395 remains closed between 1.8 miles north of Carson City to the Junction of SR 341/431 (Mt. Rose Junction) in south Reno. U.S. Highway 395 could remained closed on Friday (1/20) through the morning commute - make alternate plans.
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At 4:40 pm Thursday, Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval, under his constitutional and statutory authority, made a state declaration of emergency which qualifies local governments for federal assistance associated with this event. The National Guard is on standby at the request of Sandoval and Washoe County. California has also provided fire assistance as part of a Governor to Governor agreement with Jerry Brown.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with those who have been and are being affected by this fire,” Sandoval said. “Declaring a state of emergency ensures that every resource from the local, state and federal level is available to assist. The Nevada Division of Forestry and the Department of Public Safety have also engaged with local responders.”
Additionally, Nevada has been approved by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) for a Fire Management Assistance Grant (FMAG). As a result, Nevada is eligible for up to 75 percent funding assistance for eligible costs. The request was made by the Nevada Division of Forestry on behalf of Washoe County at the onset of the fire.

More below the fold.

The snow forecast to hit the Lake Tahoe region during the next few days is expected to give the Tahoe Fund's Plate for Powder program a boost along with Sierra ski resorts and businesses. Drivers who purchase a California or Nevada Tahoe vehicle license plate will receive two free ski lift or Nordic tickets to the resort of their choice. New Tahoe plates cost $50 in California and $61 in Nevada.