Committee

The Lake Tahoe Restoration Act of 2015, a bipartisan bill sponsored by Nevada Sen. Dean Heller, passed the U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works on Wednesday.

The legislation, created alongside senators Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., Harry Reid, D-Nevada and Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., provides federal, state, and local partners important tools to reduce wildfire threats, improve water clarity, jumpstart innovative infrastructure projects, and combat invasive species.

Todd Moss has been promoted to Tahoe Douglas Fire Protection District Battalion Chief. The South Tahoe High graduate has been with the department since 1998 when he started at a firefighter/paramedic.

In his new capacity, Moss will be responsible for the day to day operations for A Shift. Moss will also serve as the Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Chief and Custodian of Records. Chief Moss will be the NV PERS Chief Officer Representative, a member of the Employee Benefits Committee and he will oversee the GASB 45 and 68 compliance requirements.

The South Tahoe Police Activities League (STPAL) would like to extend a thank you to the many community members, organizations and volunteers that made it possible to offer positive alternative activities to the youth of South Lake Tahoe this past summer.

STPAL reached over 60 local middle school-aged kids with the opportunity to learn lifelong skills in mountain biking, skateboarding, and golf alongside positive adult role models.

Much like the lake side of El Dorado County and the west slope don’t always see eye to eye, the Douglas County portion at the lake, and the valley residents are in the same situation.

The topic currently at the forefront is Buckeye Creek Reservoir, located in the eastern portion of Douglas County. BLM has most of the land in this undeveloped area, and the Douglas County Sewer Improvement District (DCSID) owns 1,001 of those acres.

The lack of fields for soccer, baseball, football, softball and other sports has long been a point of contention in South Lake Tahoe.

Recognizing the value of recreation in South Lake Tahoe, along with the need for trails, fields and parks, Measure S passed by voters in 2000. It brought in $6,500,000 to be used to maintain new bike trails, acquire, construct, and equip athletic fields, upgrade of Paradise Park facilities and construction of an ice rink. The measure promised three new fields in South Lake Tahoe, they got one.

Successful conservation actions from a collaborative Lake Tahoe partnership spanning the past 15 years have helped the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service decide today that Tahoe yellow cress (Rorippa subumbellata), a flowering perennial plant in the mustard family found only along the lake’s sandy shoreline, does not warrant federal protection under the Endangered Species Act (ESA).

In just over one year, America will be selecting a new President along with new senators and local officials. To help make a dent in the number of unregistered citizens across the country, Employee Voter Registration Week was created.

Its becoming a concern at beaches and venues around the country: increased trash left behind. Lake Tahoe sees massive amounts of trash on beaches after big weekends, especially the 4th of July, but the basin is not alone.

Headline in North Carolina: Residents upset with beach equipment and other trash left behind on shores.

Headline in Los Angeles: Trash left behind from the Made in America festival in downtown Los Angeles.

Headline in Indianapolis: Trail of trash left behind at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Change.

It’s happening fast in Reno-Tahoe tourism, from millennials’ growing influence in the marketplace to changing preferences among visitors, according to a new industry analysis.

And the quicker the region embraces it, the better.

“Reno-Lake Tahoe Tourism Industry – Navigating Change,” is a white paper written by South Lake Tahoe-based SMG Consulting and its president, Carl Ribaudo.

Students at South Tahoe High and South Tahoe Middle schools now have an option to the normal suspension process thanks to the Brief Intervention Program (BIP) developed by the South Tahoe Drug Free Coalition.

In the past, students would be sent home for three days when suspended for having, or being under the influence, drugs or alcohol while at school. In many instances this method was looked at as a few days vacation with little, or no, opportunity to learn from their errors.

Supervisor Sue Novasel, Lake Tahoe’s representative on the El Dorado County Board of Supervisors, announced the formation of an ad hoc committee that will engage a visioning process related to future development and use of County-owned properties and facilities in South Lake Tahoe. The vision committee will join with two members of the City Council and staff in collaborating toward mutual facility goals.

The Nevada Department of Transportation will reduce State Route 28 eastbound entering the Incline Village Gateway Roundabout from two to one lane in an effort to further enhance traffic safety.

Things are moving forward quickly for the Tahoe Paradise Resort Improvement District. The former maintenance person who lived at the park is gone, there are now special events planned, and a new employee is about to be hired.

There is a special meeting of the district's board of directors on Thursday night that will help form this summer's plans for the community park.

The meeting will be held at the park located at 1011 San Bernardino Avenue in Meyers at 6 p.m. on Thursday, July 9.

The agenda includes:

a) Events Committee Update - 50th Anniversary Party and Music in the Park

The Barton Memorial Hospital Auxiliary has awarded $13,500 in scholarships to local students. The Barton Auxiliary recognized the eleven recipients from Lake Tahoe and Minden schools at their annual Scholarship Luncheon on Monday, June 8.

In light of the recent officer involved shooting in South Lake Tahoe, the discussion about body cameras being worn by local law enforcement has once again surfaced. While there has been discussion by the South Lake Tahoe Police Department (SLTPD), according to Lt. Brian Williams, no decisions have been made.

"A large part [of the wearing of cameras] hinges on the State as there may be regulations coming soon," said Williams. He said they have to watch out for taxpayers dollars and not spend money on a system that might not be allowed by state laws.

Back in the mid-1990s, the Tahoe Citizen's Committee pursued the creation of a new county at Lake Tahoe, succeeding the lake portion from the rest of Douglas and Washoe counties. The group felt that all Nevada side communities at the lake did not get their fair share of funding from their counties. The proposed county would have stretched from Incline Village at the north to Stateline on the south.

The Lake Tahoe Federal Advisory Committee (LTFAC) is scheduled to meet from 9 a.m. to noon, June 22, 2015, at the U.S. Forest Service Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit Forest Supervisor’s office, 35 College Drive, South Lake Tahoe, Calif., 96150. LTFAC will address issues related to federal activities at Lake Tahoe.

Items on the agenda include an overview of committee history, review of committee charter, update on status of Lake Tahoe Restoration Act and Southern Nevada Public Lands Management Act, and discussion of Committee’s future strategy.

Homelessness has many faces. Some are old, some are young. It affects all races, religions, and sexes. It can be triggered by a poor economy, inconsistent work, a medical catastrophe, and death of a family member. In the Lake Tahoe Unified School District (LTUSD), there are 246 homeless students (1).

I recently sat down with one of those students to understand a day in the life of a homeless student.

Graduates from South Tahoe High will be enjoying an evening of games, music, food and fun on Friday, June 5, 2015 at the longtime local tradition, Sober Grad Night. In an effort to create an event that provides a safe, and sober, event that all seniors can enjoy after their graduation ceremony, the South Tahoe High Sober Grad Night committee has been working for months to make the evening a night to remember.

A controversial bill that abolishes "personal belief exemptions" for vaccinations won overwhelming approval in the California Senate on Thursday, bolstering supporters' hopes that it will also clear the Assembly and be signed into law.

The measure by Democratic Sens. Richard Pan, of Sacramento, and Ben Allen, of Santa Monica -- introduced after a outbreak of measles in December at Disneyland sickened 136 Californians -- passed 25-10 after the two senators agreed to compromises aimed at easing its passage.

An Opening Day celebration is planned at the South Tahoe Little League Complex this Saturday, April 25th. A parade and ribbon cutting ceremony are planned prior to the start of scheduled games. The parade will start on the street next to the South Tahoe Middle School tennis courts at 9:00 a.m. with a planned parade path to follow Lyons Avenue to Rufus Allen, and into the major’s field by way of the snack shack entrance. Parking will not be available at South Tahoe Middle School due to the eWaste collection event. Parking is available along Rufus Allen Blvd.

Unpaid traffic fines and mushrooming fees have left 4.2 million Californians with suspended driver’s licenses — more than one-sixth of the licenses issued statewide — with poor people the hardest-hit, according to a newly published study that criticizes policies that take drivers off the road because of debts they can’t pay.

The documented ill health effects from inhaling secondhand smoke were squared off against individual rights at a hearing Thursday on a bill that would ban smoking in cars while children are present.

Assembly Bill 322 by Mike Sprinkle, D-Sparks, was supported in the Judiciary Committee hearing by health advocates who argued that children should not be exposed to an adult who is smoking in a confined space such as a vehicle.

Drivers violating the law could be pulled over for the offense by police and fined $25. It would not count as a moving traffic violation.

A Senate committee on Friday unanimously approved a bill that would expand legal protections for justifiable homicides involving occupied vehicles, as well as make it illegal for anyone convicted of domestic violence, even a misdemeanor offense, to own a gun.

Senate Bill 175, sponsored by Majority Leader Michael Roberson, R-Henderson, was amended to clarify the justifiable homicide provisions relating to incidents such as carjackings.