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San Francisco voters are poised to hand a decisive victory to Airbnb and city residents who want to turn their homes into vacation rentals. Proposition F, a measure to curb short-term rentals drastically, was losing by a margin of 61 percent to 39 percent, according to the early count of mail-in ballots.

Prop. F, the most contentious and most expensive issue on the Tuesday ballot, centers on whether vacation rentals divert scarce housing to lucrative illegal year-round hotels, as its backers claimed, or help middle-class people make ends meet, as Airbnb and other opponents said.

There's an old joke about the seasons in Lake Tahoe: There are two seasons in Lake Tahoe. Winter, and Road Construction.

While the "winter" comment may not be as it once was, there is no question about "road construction" as it now goes from May through October.

Part of living in the mountains is sharing our best weather months with construction workers, road controls and traffic cones. Residents get that. But what drivers went through during the 2015 construction on highways 50 and 89 was not only inexcusable, it was preventable.

A school bus and pickup collided Friday afternoon on Highway 50 East near Airport Road in Carson City, sending the driver of the pickup to the hospital. The driver of the bus and two children aboard were not injured, said Carson City Fire Chief Bob Schreihans.

"There were no injuries to anyone on the bus and the parents of the kids were there to pick them up," said Schreihans.

The critical importance of brake safety in commercial vehicles is the focus of Brake Safety Week, a nationwide campaign September 6-12.

A shuttle and bike valet will be available for the large crowd expected to attend the 19th annual Lake Tahoe Summit on Monday, August 24 at the Round Hill Pines Beach Resort in Zephyr Cove.

This year, U.S. Senator Dean Heller (R-Nevada) is hosting the free event.

The theme of this year’s Lake Tahoe Summit is “Connecting Lake Tahoe’s Environment and Economy through Innovation and Transportation.” The keynote speaker is Chris Bently, Chief Executive Officer of Bently Enterprises.

8 p.m. update 8/18/15:

The Walker Fire has now burned 3,715 acres and is now 35% contained. It has been determined that the fire is human caused and is under investigation.

There are 484 firefighters working on the fire along with 4 helicopters, 2 Air tankers, 34 Engines, 10 Crews, 6 Water Tenders, and 4 Dozers.

235 structures remain threatened but none have burned so far.

Most teens start school too early in the morning, which deprives them of the sleep they need to learn and stay healthy, a new study says.

The American Academy of Pediatrics last year urged middle schools and high schools to start no earlier than 8:30 a.m. in order to allow teens — who are biologically programmed to stay up later at night than adults — to get the recommended 8.5 to 9.5 hours of sleep each night.

City Councilwoman JoAnn Conner and just one member of the public showed up at the South Lake Tahoe council chambers on Wednesday as Caltrans unveiled their $57 million U.S. Highway 50 Improvement Project. This three year project will have major impacts on businesses and travel from the "Y" to Trout Creek Bridge starting in 2017 so Caltrans officials at the presentation expected more involvement from the community.

The insurance company Odella released their list of the forty best and forty worst cities to live in for commuting to and from work in the state of California. Those of us that live in South Lake Tahoe know why the community was named the tenth best with an average commute of 17.8 minutes.

1/10/15 11:45 a.m. update - The Douglas County Sheriff’s Office is investigating a child abuse case involving a 2 month old infant.

On January 10, 2015 at 12:48 a.m., the two month old infant was taken off life support and died. The cause of death is pending autopsy.

Suspect Trent Getty was located in Sacramento, California at a Greyhound Bus Depot and was taken into custody by the Sacramento Police Department. Suspect Getty is in custody in the Sacramento County Jail and is awaiting extradition back to Douglas County, Nevada.

Investigation continues.

Time to get your Santa on and run in the annual South Lake Tahoe Santa Run! Grab your Santa suits and hats and enjoy a 1.3 mile run up Ski Run Blvd from Blue Angel Cafe to Himmel Haus.

The Heavenly Ski and Snowboard Foundation (HSSF) is holding their annual Santa Run on Sunday, December 21 at 4:00 p.m., rain or snow. They will be raising funds for the HSSF Scholarship Fund wil the help of Himmel Haus, Blue Angel Cafe and Rainbow Mountain.

Dr. James Tarwater has informed parents that schools in South Lake Tahoe are closing immediately due to a power black out for the area. He reported that the black out will last until 4:30 p.m.

All parents are requested to pick up their students and buses will start transporting children if they are normally transported by bus. Each school has a different Bus departure time starting with STMS at 12:45 p.m., STHS at 1:30 p.m., Bijou at 1:35 p.m., Sierra House and Tahoe Valley Elementary schools at 2:10 p.m., and the Magnet School at 2:25 p.m.

More than 3,400 seasonal employees are needed by Vail Resorts for the upcoming ski season at their Lake Tahoe resorts Heavenly, Kirkwood and Northstar.

Three job fairs will be held in October where perspective employees can meet with resort personnel and have interviews.

This first job fair will be held on Saturday, October 11, from 9:00 a.m.- 2:00 p.m. at the Red Cliffs Lodge at Kirkwood Mountain Resort. There will be a free shuttle for job fair attendees that will leave the South Lake Tahoe Transit Center at the Y at 9 a.m., returning at 1 p.m.

Dear voters,

I’m hoping you will send a message by voting for me to work for you on the South Tahoe Public Utility District Board. I’ve been a local 40 years, through droughts, storms, power outages and great sunny powder ski days.

At 21, I opened Happy Steak Restaurant and owned it for 16 years. I was CEO of the California based South Lake Tahoe Chamber for 12 years and I taught Business and Personnel at LTCC. I have a BA in business administration and I’m a graduate of the Institute for Organization Management. I’m a past STPUD Board member.

Labor Day Weekend is only a few weeks away there are some ancillary events leading up to August 31's Sample the Sierra that the public can participate in.

Friday, August 29
Pop-Up Dinner
Enjoy a 3-course meal prepared by Chef Stephen Moise of The Ridge Tahoe and experience Elevate Tahoe. A portion of proceeds will be go towards Let It Grow! $75 per person

Saturday, August 30
Farm-to-Fork Bus Tour

Festival goers will have their say this Labor Day weekend as Sample the Sierra adds a competitive edge to the food and wine festival with the introduction of a new award – Best Tasting Experience! Attendees will vote for the booth that has their favorite flavorful creation that includes fresh ingredients that are prepared by a local chef or restaurant and then paired with regional wine, beer or spirits. The booth with the most votes will be awarded the Best Tasting Experience of 2014.

The Tahoe Regional Planning Agency closed it's parking lot to motorized staff vehicles on Friday for what has become a hallmark event for the agency.

Over 60 staff members of both TRPA and adjoining offices at their lower Kingsbury building biked, walked, used transit or a combination of these to get to work.

The 4th annual event started started as a way to get more staff members of TRPA to participate in the Tahoe Bike Challenge.

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.

Paid Parking Is A User Fee

There are many people in this community that want to see more positive changes made. Those include bike paths, road repair or replacement, more public art, a BMX track, improvements at the Skate Park and other recreational areas. They want more events at Lakeview Commons, like the summer concert series, which the City helps support for the locals and visitors alike. They like the upgrades around Harrison Avenue and free parking lot being built next to the Tribune building. All of these pull millions from the City’s General Fund.

There is a park and ride system for Sand Harbor in place once again for the summer of 2014.

In it's third year, the Tahoe Transportation District’s East Shore Express, the shuttle bus provides rides Incline Village to Sand Harbor. They are able to do so with a federal grant and funds gathered from the selling of Lake Tahoe License Plates.

Get your East Shore Express map.

Jenn Boyd of Weidinger PR hosts this wide-ranging panel discussion from the Elevate Your View: Leadership Lake Tahoe 2014 summit. The panel features Dana Williams, former mayor of Park City, UT; plus Carl Ribaudo of Strategic Marketing Group and Carol Chaplin of the Lake Tahoe Visitor's Authority's Tahoe South campaign.

PANEL DISCUSSION:
Jenn Boyd Introduction (0:35)
Dana Williams on transforming Park City (6:06)
Carol Chaplin on what Tahoe South is doing to promote itself (10:00)

5/5/14 Update: Ruth Anne returned home safely. No other information available at this time.

South Lake Tahoe Police are looking for Ruth Anne Scudder who hasn't been seen since Tuesday morning when she left her Lakeview Avenue home.

Scudder has moderate mental retardation which may affect her judgement. She also speaks slowly.

Police said she frequents BlueGo bus services for transportation.

She is described as being 5'4" with blonde hair, blue eyes and weighs 135 pounds. It is unclear what clothing she was wearing when she left her residence.

The South Lake Tahoe community was treated to 320 free books on Wednesday night as part of World Book Night.

Volunteers from Friends of the Library gave books out at beaches, bus stops, the El Dorado County Food Bank truck, recreation center, Senior Center, Juvenile Treatment Center, Tahoe Senior Plaza and various other places around town. They announced on Facebook that they were heading out, but didn't disclose locations until after the books were distributed.

"We enjoyed reaching out to others in our community by sharing a special book," said volunteer Lynne Brosch.

The Welcome Home celebration for the South Lake Tahoe Olympians will be held on Saturday, March 15. A procession will leave South Tahoe High at 1 p.m. and proceed to the Y, down Highway 50, through Meyers and to Sierra at Tahoe.