business

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - Many South Lake Tahoe businesses have been impacted by closures due to the COVID-19 pandemic but one business, Rise Designs, has worked on sharing their designs with other local enterprises through their "Tahoe is My Happy Place" campaign.

Mike Miller and Marley Reel, coowners of the 13-year-old business that specializes in screenprinting custom hats and shirts with artwork for many local businesses and groups. They do projects with a customer's artwork or help them with it. They also recently created the City of South Lake Tahoe's new logo.

DOUGLAS COUNTY, Nev. - Douglas County Board of County Commissioners held a special meeting on April 29, 2020, regarding recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic and economic impacts to local businesses in the county. The Board decided unanimously to deliver a letter to Governor Sisolak in support of reopening Douglas County and hand-delivered the letter in unison with community members and the Sheriff's Office at 8:30 a.m. Thursday.

EL DORADO COUNTY, Calif. - During their special meeting on Tuesday, the El Dorado County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved sending a letter to Governor Newsom to allow a phased opening of some businesses and loosening restrictions on the public in El Dorado County.

Residents have responded to the closures by abiding by stay-in-place orders enacted to stop the spread of COVID-19.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - One layer of stay-at-home orders has been lifted for El Dorado County as its Public Health Officer, Dr. Nancy Williams, has lifted her stay-at-home directive effective April 30, the original date it was to be lifted when set on March 19.

This doesn't mean that South Lake Tahoe and the county are open for business though as the State's order is still in effect.

"We are requesting from the Governor that we [South Lake Tahoe] can move towards reopening in a phased approach with attention paid to his six guidelines," said South Lake Tahoe Mayor Jason Collin.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - For the second time in as many weeks, Overland Meat & Seafood Co. of South Lake Tahoe gave away 1,000 pounds of hamburger to the first 500 people to come by the store.

This time, Overland owners Brian and Kim Cohen had other businesses join in the fun.

Grass Roots gave away $10 gift cards, Heart Rock Herb & Spice Co. gave away spice samples, and Safeway at Bijou added two pallets of fresh fruits and vegetables to the mix.

"This is community effort at its finest," said Brian.

Celebrations have taken on many new forms since the start of social distancing. Birthday parties have become processions of cars parading past a celebrant’s home—people honking and waving, tossing candy and small gifts (for later disinfecting, then enjoying). And huge international celebrations like the 50th anniversary of Earth Day this week have moved online, giving room for individuals to celebrate and explore the conservation movement in new ways.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - In less than 90 days life has changed in South Lake Tahoe, California and the United States. The West caught up quickly to the novel coronavirus pandemic that was first contracted by a human in China on November 17, 2019.

Scientists and doctors pled for the public to stay home to keep the virus from spreading, and that plea worked better in some areas than others.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - Times are tough for many during the coronavirus pandemic with small businesses struggling to make ends meet when unable to have their doors open.

One of those businesses is Emerald Bay Bar & Grill at 888 SR89 in South Lake Tahoe.

Formerly known at Brother's Place, owner Spencer Weiss and his family and friends have turned to GoFundMe as a way to get donations and save the business.

STATELINE, Nev. - In what has been a hotly debated topic for months between the five Douglas County Board of Commissioners and members of the public, the Tahoe South Events Center passed the final hurdle Thursday. In a 3-2 vote, the commissioners approved bond issuance, the final step in the approval process. The Tahoe Regional Planning Agency (TRPA) had previously unanimously approved it.

The City of South Lake Tahoe is currently accepting applications for community
members to join the newly formed transformational change sub-committee. This committee is focused on developing second and third economies for Tahoe in the wake of the COVID-19 crisis.

The committee is proposing to bring together a diverse and innovative group of community stakeholders, thought leaders, and experts to implement policies, programs, and projects today that will have long term beneficial impacts for South Lake Tahoe over the next 50 years.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - The line of "socially distant" people stretched down 3rd Street in South Lake Tahoe Monday morning. They were there to get the free packages of hamburger Overland Meat & Seafood Co. was giving to the community during the financially stressful times brought by the coronavirus

In business since 1987, Overland said this was their best, and largest, event in the 33 years they've been open.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - It has been a few weeks (though it may seem like months) since business shut their doors, nonessential workers were asked to stay home and nonessential travel came to a screeching halt in order to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus and COVID-19.

With coronavirus impacts being our community's major priority, we hope you're staying safe and encourage everyone to stay at home and follow directions from health organizations so we can return to our jobs, schools, and normal lives safely, and as soon as possible. While health wellbeing is the leading concern, the reality of long-term economic impacts from this terrible virus makes the need to plan for a secure future a priority now more than ever.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - City Council has two items on their special meeting agenda for Wednesday, April 8 at 1:00 p.m. The meeting is live-streamed on Channel 21 and on the City’s website at www.cityofslt.us.

There will be no formal action on the first item. They will be discussing their newly appointed Transformational Change Committee which is comprised of Councilmembers Cody Bass and Devin Middlebrook.

At their meeting last week, the council created two other committees as well that will address the response and recovery to the COVID-19 crisis:

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - Support of local businesses is important during these trying times, and a website has been created to give users up-to-date information on those open to the public during the coronavirus pandemic.

Visit https://tahoe.is/ for a complete list.

This list is updated by the business owners as things change.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. - The FBI anticipates cyber actors will exploit increased use of virtual environments by government agencies, the private sector, private organizations, and individuals as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Computer systems and virtual environments provide essential communication services for telework and education, in addition to conducting regular business. The criminal, or cyber actor, will exploit vulnerabilities in these systems to steal sensitive information, target individuals and businesses performing financial transactions, and engage in extortion.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - During their special meeting Wednesday, the South Lake Tahoe City Council discussed three topics related to the current COVID-19 pandemic crisis.

One of their action items was to vote on an urgency ordinance that would establish a moratorium on commercial evictions due to COVID-19. During their emergency meeting on March 20, 2020, the Council unanimously supported a provision to put a temporary moratorium on residential evictions.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - The South Lake Tahoe City Council will hold a special meeting on Wednesday, April 1 at 9:00 a.m. to address the formation of a South Lake Tahoe COVID-19 Economic Recovery Task Force Subcommittee, a moratorium on commercial evictions, and citations and fines for violations of the State of California's Stay at Home order.

ALPINE COUNTY, Calif. - Today the Alpine County Health Department was notified of the first laboratory-confirmed case of the new coronavirus COVID-19 infection in an Alpine County resident. The individual is recovering at home and was never hospitalized.

Alpine County is located south of Lake Tahoe, has a population of 1,120 and is 743 square miles in size and includes Markleeville and Bear Valley.

An investigation has determined the person was exposed and acquired the infection in a location distant from Alpine County. This person and their household "have

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - The City of South Lake Tahoe issued an emergency order Friday morning, one that gives them the power to issue administrative citations to those who violate California Governor Newsom's 'stay at home' order.

“We are taking this crisis seriously and it is important that those who don’t, know there can be consequences to ignoring the Governor’s orders,” said Interim City Manager Brad Kilger, “This is about keeping our community safe, and that’s what this city is going to do.”

Part of Kilger's role for the city is as its director of emergency services.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - During their emergency meeting Wednesday, the South Lake Tahoe City Council voted to support the temporary use of the City's recreation center for the homeless population during the coronavirus pandemic and to follow the State of Calfornia's lead not halting commercial evictions at the time.

The vacation home rental (VHR) industry stands with our neighbors, community, and City Leadership in South Lake Tahoe to discourage visitors to our town at this time. South Shore of Tahoe VHR industry companies have blocked calendars to prevent reservations, issued full refunds for cancelations, and offered incentives encouraging visitors to postpone travel to later dates.

We all need to do our part to eliminate the spread of COVID-19 with social distancing, limiting exposure to our friends, family, and neighbors, and make every attempt to flatten the curve.

On Monday, the Washoe County Health District reported 19 additional cases of COVID-19 in that county, moving the total number of cases to 44.

Due to the influx of cases, the Health District will not provide specific details or any other information due to medical information and privacy requirements.

The additional 19 confirmed cases were from 2-plus days of testing due to the increased number of tests being submitted to the Nevada State Public Health Laboratory from throughout the region and state.

The California State Public Health Officer and Director of the California Department of Public Health have ordered all individuals living in the State of California to stay home or at their place of residence, except as needed to maintain continuity of operation of the federal critical infrastructure sectors.

Some people may be confused and hear different messages and wonder exactly what are "essential services". To list what the State order covered they have come out with a guideline to help navigate these unchartered waters.

What does this mean?