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Local cyclists got into the biking mode Monday in South Lake Tahoe at the start of the two week long bike challenge.

Pearl Izumi at the Y hosted the "Ready, Set, Pedal" party with swag bags, food and special discounts. Riders gathered at the store and started on either a 5 mile or a 10 mile loop.

Here is a list of road projects around the Lake Tahoe basin.

Project: State Route 89 (El Dorado County): Work continues on a $25 million project from the "Y" junction with U.S. Highway 50 in South Lake Tahoe to Cascade Road, north of Camp Richardson. Curb, gutter and sidewalks will be added in the 1.1-mile four-lane section, and the highway will be widened in the two-lane section to Visitor Center Road to provide 4-foot paved shoulders on each side. Drainage systems are also being built and the roadway will be resurfaced. Completion is expected by spring 2017.

A one-half acre parcel of land that once held two South Lake Tahoe businesses will soon be restored to open space after a land purchase by the California Tahoe Conservancy (CTC). The two buildings, located at 2122 Lake Tahoe Blvd, will be razed in the next few weeks according to Joe Pepi, Program Coordinator/Associate Environmental Planner with CTC.

Tahoe Psychic and Heads Up Smoke Shop have both been cleared out and a fence has been placed around the property. The smoke shop has relocated a block away.

A popular South Lake Tahoe hamburger spot has opened a second location at the "Y".

Loreen Sanchez, owner of The Burger Lounge on Highway 89 has opened "The Burger Stop" at the South Y Center between Beach Hut Deli and Starbucks.

Wednesday was opening day, unveiling a full menu including gourmet burgers and hot dogs, fries, salads, 23 flavors of milkshakes and sundaes, freezes, floats, and ice cream.

Sanchez and her team will be open 7 days a week from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Phone in orders are available at 530-541-3642.

Lake Tahoe SummerFest’s fourth season, “Passport to a World of Music,” will bring Mozart, Beethoven, Mendelssohn to audiences July 31 – Aug. 16 (www.TahoeSummerFest.org). The three weekend series of nine different concerts will transport attendees through masterpieces translated by renowned artists and a nationally acclaimed orchestra of 40 players.

Exciting times for South Lake Tahoe in May as the community shines on the international stage as the location of the first stage of the Amgen Tour of California. Fourteen teams consisting of 84 of the top professional women racers will be in town for the race May 8-9, 2015. The racers consist of Olympic medalists, World Champions, Tour de France competitors and other cyclists from the National and International field.

Many of the teams have already been in the area getting ready for the Lake Tahoe stop on their tour. As we get closer to May 8, more of the participants will be in town.

While the summertime tourist to South Lake Tahoe should only be slightly affected, business owners along Highway 89 are worried about their livelihood with overnight road construction and blocked driveways.

During Thursday evening's Caltrans informational meeting at South Tahoe High, several owners of lodging properties, restaurants, sports and retail stores spoke about their concerns during the project which will last from mid-April to mid-October in 2015 and could even extend into the 2017 building season.

It took several more months than planned, but Soup Tahoe is now open on the South Shore.

In September, South Tahoe Now announced that SUP Tahoe would be converted into Soup Tahoe during the non-summer months where stand up paddling isn't as popular.

"There were many more regulations than we first figured into our business plan," said owner Eddie Smith of the delay in opening. Smith and his wife, Kimberly, got the doors opened to Soup Tahoe last week.

Almost twenty years later and the Tahoe Valley Area plan isn't in place, yet. John Hitchcock, the City of South Lake Tahoe Planning Manager, gave the Council another presentation on the status of the plan and where things stand as of today during Tuesday's City Council meeting.

First proposed in the early 1990's, the resurrection of the Tahoe Valley Area plan made great strides towards adoption in 2014 with Hitchcock holding four public meetings where input was requested, presenting the plan to TRPA three times, three times to City Council and twice to the planning commission.

Renovate, improve, contemporize and rebrand. That is what Burke Fathy says Sutter Capital Group plans to do with the former Factory Stores at the Y.

"The property needs to be repositioned," said Fathy, a partner with Sutter, told South Tahoe Now. "We are going to rebrand it from a factory store and make it more mixed tenant and give it new life."

The Sacramento investment group recently purchased the center after it fell into bankruptcy after years of mismanagement, Fathy said.

When reflecting over the past year it's hard to remember all that happened in one's life, unless you're good at keeping a journal and you have time to re-read it.

As I look back at what happened in South Lake Tahoe over the last 365 days, a lot happened, but what may seem to be a top story to me may not seem as important to a reader.

I reviewed our analytics, the numbers that are kept to show how many people read South Tahoe Now stories at any given point, and drew from those numbers to come up with the "South Lake Tahoe's Top Stories of 2014."

The South Lake Tahoe Cancer League is once again holding their 36th See's Candy Sale. It's time to grab your holiday gifts and help raise money for the league at the same time.

This year's store is in the Raley's Center at the "Y", two stores down from Starbucks, next to Beach Hut Deli. They are open daily from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Call the shop at 530-542-4649.

They will be open until sold out.

The South Lake Tahoe Fire Department continues the holiday tradition of driving through City neighborhoods and passing out candy canes to our community youth. The decorated engine will Fire Station 2 at 5 p.m. nightly beginning December 10 and going through Christmas Eve.

December 10 Tahoe Keys and Venice Blvd.
December 11 Glenwood
December 12 Keys Blvd. and State Streets
December 13 South Y and Tata Ln.
December 14 Barton & Tahoe Island
December 15 Al Tahoe Blvd.
December 16 Springwood and Bijou Pines
December 17 Main Areas and Highway 50

Have you ever wanted to in a parade? This fun experience is waiting for you at the Third Annual Holiday Parade on Saturday, December 13. Golden Bear Events of South Lake Tahoe is planning this fun community event.

The 3 p.m. parade will start on the corner of Ski Run Blvd and Pioneer Trail, proceed down Ski Run, west on Highway 50 to TJMaxx at the Y.

The South Lake Tahoe Police Department is investigating several burglaries in the "Y" area of the city that occurred over the last two days.

On Wednesday, October 22 at 11:15 p.m., SLT Police responded to an alarm at the K-Mart Garden Center where they found the front glass door smashed in. Two suspects attempted to steal the cash registers but stole cash instead. They fled on foot and witnesses described the suspects as males wearing grey hooded sweatshirts.

Would you like to take part in the 3rd Annual Holiday Parade in South Lake Tahoe? Entries are now being accepted for this fun event which will take place on Saturday, December 13 at 3 p.m.

The parade route will begin at Ski Run Blvd and make it's way down Highway 50 to the Y.

All profits will go to the local food pantry, Christmas Cheer, who feeds approximately 1,000 families a month.

Families and businesses are welcome to participate for a fee of $50 per entry. Scout and school groups can participate for free though registration is still required.

There are several thousand deadly weapons on the streets of South Lake Tahoe every day.

This may seem like a drastic statement and I want to explain it. I'm not talking about guns or metal clubs, I'm talking about cars.

Have you ever waited at the intersection of Highway 50 and Sierra Blvd? How many times has someone rushed into the intersection against a red light as you were moving with your green light?

South Lake Tahoe motorists can expect one-way traffic control this week, from Monday through Thursday, 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Highway 50 from Airport Road to F Street. This stretch of road is getting erosion control and paving done.

This is part of a $12.1 million water-quality and roadway improvement project from the "Y" intersection of Highways 50 and 89 to the South Lake Tahoe Airport adding curb and gutter, sidewalks, new drainage systems and repaving the highway.

Completion is expected this fall.

Property Crime: Several South Lake Tahoe businesses were disrupted over the past three months (June/July/August) by 19 different smash and grab commercial burglaries. Typically, these burglaries are occurring in the early morning hours (between 3am-9am. The offender(s) have broken windows or glass doors to gain access to these businesses across town. The crimes have not been centralized in any one particular area, although several have occurred in the area of the Y and some of the same businesses have been victimized more than once.

The 25th annual Lake in the Sky Air Show at Lake Tahoe Airport in beautiful South Lake Tahoe, California is scheduled for Saturday, September 20, 2014. The Lake in the Sky Air Show has been described as “the best in the west” by one of its many professional aerial participants.

This year’s show which will include exciting aerobatic performances by several top performers including Bill Cornick, Jon Melby and Spencer Suderman.

Les Schwab Tire Center of South Lake Tahoe is hosting their 4th Annual Locals Car Show on Sunday, July 6 at the "Y" area tire store.

From 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. locals can show off their car, trucks, 4x4s and motorcycles for a $40 fee which included a bag of goodies. Everyone is welcome to attend and view the cars, have hot dogs, get cars washed, watch "the tire burn", listen to live music and enjoy the community event. There are also raffles and prizes.

All proceeds go to support Project 44, the foster family awareness program in South Lake Tahoe.

"I believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival," the 2nd President of the United States John Adams wrote to his wife, Abigail. "It ought to be celebrated by pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illuminations from one end of this continent to the other..."

Adams wrote of the country's celebration of America's independence on July 4.

South Lake Tahoe will have many of those activities for everyone to enjoy, including a parade!

Several stretches of bike trails in South Lake Tahoe will receive some much needed attention in July when 2.6 miles of trails are restored.

The Class 1 Bicycle Trail Rehabilitation Project will use funds from Measure R ($250,000) and $475,452 grant funding through Caltrans Bicycle Transportation Authority to fix the 20 year old trails.

July 7th will be the project's starting date and all is expected to be completed around August 9th.

Many locals may remember the contest held several years ago to name the new Trolley that would provide transportation service along Highway 50 throughout South Lake Tahoe.

The seasonal trolley is still around but it no longer has a regular route along Highway 50. One may see an occasional trolley along it's old route, but it is just being used for breaks of the bus drivers.