citizens

With heavy rain expected over the weekend and into next week, the City of South Lake Tahoe is reminding citizens that sand bags are available, free of charge.

During wet storms, residents may find themselves with flooding issues around their homes and garages.

Sand bags are available year-round at the City’s Streets and Snow Removal Yard located at 1160 Rufus Allen Blvd. Their operating hours are Monday through Friday, 7:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

A person, or persons, impersonating deputies from the Douglas County Sheriff's Office, are targeting local residents in what has become a common phone scam.

The scammers call the resident and inform them that they failed to show up for jury duty, and has an active warrant. The impersonator even states dates of notices and case numbers.

The impersonator instructs the residents to wire money or to purchase a pre-paid credit card and they will call back to obtain the credit card numbers.

A day full of German food, live music and Fall fun is being planned by the American Legion Post 795 of South Lake Tahoe as they hold an Oktoberfest on Saturday, October 1 from noon-5:00 p.m. at the Legion Hall in South Lake Tahoe.

Residents and visitors are invited to join members of the American Legion and the Ladies Auxiliary for the German celebration which will include the Cash Only Band. At the same time, Legion members will be holding a food and toy drive for Christmas Cheer.

The Douglas County Sheriff’s Office and Douglas County TRIAD presented this year’s Senior Citizen’s Academy from September 12 through September 16, resulting in the graduation of 34 students who attended the week long program.

The goal of the Senior Citizen’s Law Enforcement Academy is to provide crime fighting educational programs, fire safety and general information to senior citizens of Douglas County.

Another wave of aggressive and threatening phone calls by people identifying themselves as the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is making its way across South Lake Tahoe.

On Friday, two dozen citizens either called the South Lake Tahoe Police Department, or stopped by their office, to alert them of the phone calls.

El Dorado County Superior Court Judge James Wagoner ruled today against the lawsuit filed by Jason Collin on July 14 to stop the Loop Road measure from being submitted to the voters November 8.

"I'm obviously disappointed in the ruling today," Collin told South Tahoe Now. "I still have a lot of concern about an initiative being pushed forward that has fundamental flaws and misleads voters."

Seven out-of-state men were arrested Saturday on felony fraud and other charges after officers uncovered a scam where the suspects allegedly went door-to-door asking for money donations they said would be used to assemble care packages sent to U.S. soldiers overseas, a Carson City sheriff’s deputy said.

Officers began investigating the men after dispatch received several calls from Carson City residents who said they were asked for money from one of the men and the pitch that was being used didn’t appear to be legitimate, according to the arrest report.

Readers of South Tahoe Now are already aware of this with our weekly coverage of police and sheriff calls for the South Shore, there is a rise in property theft.

According to the South Lake Tahoe Police Department (SLTPD), the rise is a result of thieves being able to act quickly when they see unattended and unsecured property in vehicles, homes and public places. Since July 1, 2016, there have been 54 reported thefts in just the city limits, or 3.375 thefts per day. Of the 54 thefts reported, 61% (33) are a result of unsecured and/or unattended property.

Phillip Garrido is now eligible for release over 400 years early.

The City of South Lake Tahoe hosted its first annual 4th of July parade on Monday, July 4, 2016. There were a total of 78 vehicles and approximately 200 people on foot either walking, biking, or dancing. American Legion Post 795 served as the parade marshals.

The City of South Lake Tahoe would like to say "Thank You" to all the parade participants, businesses and volunteers for making the 4th of July parade a fantastic community event!

The following current and former US armed forces members participated in the 4th of July parade;

This spring Live Violence Free, in collaboration with a multitude of partners, has been fortunate enough to expand the annual Girls Empowerment Retreat and organize the first ever Boys Empowerment Event. With the generosity of funding from Soroptimist International of Tahoe Sierra and MacDuff’s Public House, Live Violence Free worked closely with South Tahoe Middle School to engage 7th and 8th grade girls and boys in discovering their true potential for greatness.

Graduates of the Spring South Lake Tahoe Citizens Academy were honored during Tuesday's City Council meeting on June 7.

The graduates are: Kevin Brown, Dan Gill, Patrick Jarrett, LeeAnn Jarrett, Kirsten Jensen, Natalie Lehman, Michelle Lloyd, Eanad Lott, Devin Middlebrook, Kae Reed, Nicole Stimac, Jarred Uppendahl, and Kirk Wooldridge.

A prescribed fire by the Lake Valley Fire Department in the trees and brush surrounding the Upper Truckee River caused some concern by area residents on Thursday afternoon.

Large plumes of smoke could be seen from miles away, and with the burn not on the normal U.S. Forest Service weekly list of prescribed burning, many calls were made from concerned citizens. According to the USFS office in South Lake Tahoe, they alone had dozens of phone calls.

There will be three open seats on the Lake Tahoe Unified School District Board of Education this fall when voters head to the polls on November 8, 2016.

Governed by a team of five members, only Board President Barbara Bannar and member Ginger Nicolay-Davis are not up for re-election. Seats held by incumbents Adam Jones, Dr. Michael Doyle and Dr. Larry Green will be on the ballot.

Adam Jones, who represents Trustee Area #1, was appointed to the Board in March 2015 following the resignation of Sue Novasel.

Author Michael J. Makley joins our discussion of his scholarly book, Saving Lake Tahoe, which chronicles the ongoing battles amongst scientists, citizens, lawyers, governments, environmentalists, tycoons and entrepreneurs over how best to serve and utilize our greatest resource-- Lake Tahoe. Annoyed at TRPA? Read this book to understand the fascinating backstory of this unique agency and then join what is sure to be a dynamic conversation about issues we all confront. Join the Friends of the Library in partnership with the Lake Tahoe Historical Society for this free event.

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At the April 5 Council Meeting, Mayor Wendy David declared that comments by the citizens during the non-agenda portion of the Council Meeting will no longer be televised. It has been suggested that this was done to “prevent staff and others from begin slandered.” Except for Councilmember Conner’s request that this matter be placed on the agenda, the rest of the Council was silent. No motion, no vote, no agenda item, just a bare statement by the Mayor that the policy was changed.

Joshua Larsen, age 36 of Reno, was arrested by members of the Sheriff’s Office Internet Crimes against Children Task Force (I.C.A.C.), on child Sexual Assault and multiple child pornography charges, including Use of a Minor in Producing Pornography.

Law Enforcement became aware of Larsen after a tip was provided to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children’s “Cybertipline.”

In the mix you have El Dorado County, the City of South Lake Tahoe, Lake Valley Fire Protection and the Cal Tahoe JPA. More importantly, and most likely the reason for the passionate responses from all involved, the mix also contains the safety of the public.

On March 15, 2016, the City of South Lake Tahoe sent a letter to the JPA, stating their intent to pull out of the agency that was created in 2001 to supply ambulance service to the City and the County and a portion of Alpine County.

Rarely do I use this space to comment upon political issues within our community. That said, with the “politicization” of the US Hwy 50 South Shore Community Revitalization Project I felt the need to share some background and perspectives for consideration.

The public is invited to attend the next meeting of the Lake Tahoe Federal Advisory Committee (LTFAC) on Thursday, March 10, 2016 from 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. at the USFS offices in South Lake Tahoe.

On the agenda are issues related to federal activities in the Lake Tahoe Basin including an update to the Lake Tahoe Restoration Act, review of the environmental improvement plan and discussion on the comittee's future implementation strategy.

South Lake Tahoe citizens who graduated from the most recent South Tahoe Action Team (STAT) training sessions were honored during Tuesday's city council meeting.

The STAT program is designed to incorporate trained citizens in the field with the South Lake Tahoe Fire Department and other first responders during times of crisis. This is the first program of its kind in the Tahoe Basin.

"Our disaster preparedness capability is much better because of this class," said Fire Chief Jeff Meston.

On October 27, 2015, Sue Novasel, the County Supervisor representing South Lake Tahoe, Meyers, Tahoma and Pollock Pines was served a “notice of intent to circulate a recall petition” by a group of citizens who said they are “tired of the corruption and cronyism that has plagued our county for years.” It wasn’t only Novasel, but all five of the County Supervisors, Shiva Frentzen, Ron Mikulaco, Michael Ranalli and Brian Veerkamp.

With the ever-changing and rapidly evolving technology around us, dating practices and expectations have changed. Nowadays, there are a myriad of communication mediums to balance including texting, sharing photos and videos, various social media apps, and actual face-to-face interactions. As a result, adolescents have adopted these enhanced dating expectations which shift signs of care and affection away from traditional Friday night movie date to a constant stream of selfies, texts, emojis, and virtual relationship statuses. Teen Dating Violence (TDV) is growing as fast as technology.

A different kind of presentation will be made on the US50/South Shore Revitalization Project this week, one that will include a question and answer period and not just the open house atmosphere of recent Tahoe Transportation District meetings on the project. For the past several years, TTD has been holding public meetings and talking with the community shareholders in order to formulate the best plan for the future of Highway 50 through the Stateline portion of South Lake Tahoe, a plan initiated in 1980.