construction

SR-89 at Emerald Bay may open Saturday after crews have made significant progress on clearing away snow from last week's storm as well as snow and debris 20 feet high from a slide that fell onto the highway at Vikingsholm.

Meanwhile, one lane of U.S. Highway 50 remains open in each direction at Bridal Veil Falls while emergency work continues on a major slipout that destroyed the #2 westbound lane and also impacted the #1 lane. Work there is also expected to take several months for the design and construction of a new retaining wall to stabilize the slope.

Transient Lodging License taxes may soon be increased one percent at properties in the Lake Tahoe portion of Douglas County (Lake Tahoe Township) to fund redevelopment projects including the addition of an event/convention center.

Overwhelming support for the tax increase was evident at the Douglas County Commissioner's meeting Thursday, where the elected officials voted 4-1 to approve the increase which would go into effect May 1, 2017.

Roadwork to clear mud and rocks from Highway 50 continues on both sides of the state line of Lake Tahoe with no estimated reopening time released by either transportation agency.

Last week, five boulders fell onto the highway near Logan Creek on the east side of the lake, prompting Nevada Department of Transportation (NDOT) to close the road due to an unstable hillside. Progress is being made on the stretch of road that connects South Lake Tahoe to Carson City according to Meg Ragonese of NDOT. She said the "monolithic-size boulders" are being removed.

With the ground saturated by a combination of rain and snow, a vehicle-sized boulder slid into a portion of the eastbound lane of Highway 50 at Lake Tahoe near Logan Creek on Monday morning causing some traffic delays.

No injuries were reported in the incident which happened some time after 7:00 a.m. The eastbound lane was partially blocked by the slide, according to the Nevada Department of Transportation.

The roads around Lake Tahoe have been hard to navigate this week after several feet of snow fell in the basin after the last series of storms over the weekend. Many streets in South Lake Tahoe remain narrow and thick with snow, making it hard to drive through neighborhoods.

Just as residents struggle with all that snow left on their roofs, driveways and walkways, City snowplows are also struggling with what seemed at times as nonstop snow.

Twenty-five years ago, I finished my graduate work in Oregon and moved to Northern Nevada for a planning position at TRPA. Having spent a large part of my youth hiking and camping at Tahoe and in the Sierra, the move felt like coming home.

Due to college closures and extreme weather and power outages, Lake Tahoe Community College (LTCC) has rescheduled auditions for their winter production, Love/Sick until Tuesday, January 17 at 7:00 p.m. in LTCC’s Duke Theatre.

There are roles in the play for men and women of various ages and types for the play which was written by John Cariani. Performances of Love/Sick take place March 17-26, 2017.

Nevada Department of Transportation (NDOT) has announced that State Route 207/Kingsbury Grade, the main connection between South Lake Tahoe and the Carson Valley is back open after temporary repairs were made to stabilize the sink hole.

"We actually put in an interim repair and in the spring or early summer we'll come back and completely reinstall the eroding drainage pipe that caused the sinkhole," said Meg Ragonese, NDOT Public Information Officer.

She told South Tahoe Now to remind motorists that even though the road is open tonight, chains or snow tires are required.

The following 37 businesses took out licenses with the City of South Lake Tahoe in the month of November, 2016.

11/03/2016
BIJOU CREATIVE - JAGACIEWSKI DANIEL
CONFORTI PLUMBING INC - CONFORTI PLUMBING INC
KEN WAGNER CONSULTING - WAGNER KEN
LAKE TAHOE WOW - SKIBUM FAMILY INC

11/04/2016
AMBLER CONSTRUCTION - AMBLER MICHAEL
MICHAEL HARRIS RIDE SHARE - HARRIS MICHAEL

11/07/2016
BURKE WILLIAMS AND SORENSEN LLP - BURKE WILLIAMS AND SORENSEN LLP
ENGEL INSULATION INC - ENGEL INSULATION INC

Should El Dorado County receive a $57.1 million loan from United State Department of Agriculture (USDA) to replace their aging public safety facility/Sheriff's office in Placerville? The Board of Supervisors (BOS) will make a decision on this at a special meeting on Tuesday, December 28 at 10:00 a.m.

While many locals have probably never used the pool at MontBleu, guests of the South Shore casino hotel are being treated to the first major renovation at the pool in over 30 years.

The pool's signature rock waterfall is gone, something that was deteriorating after then of thousands of timed falling water displays, In its place is a small lazy river, popular with the younger set due to its four-foot depth.

Four years ago this month, TRPA approved the 2012 Regional Plan. The landmark plan charts a course to restore Lake Tahoe’s environment and revitalize our communities and it was forged through Herculean work by California, Nevada, local governments, the public, and dozens of other partners.

Many Tahoe Basin stakeholders once questioned if we could work together, but the Regional Plan ushered in an era of collaboration. Today, the answer is how can we work together more efficiently. By building and strengthening partnerships we have made remarkable progress. This year was no different.

Summit County is currently in the review process for a 28-acre workforce housing site in Keystone from a development partner of Vail Resorts.

Approximately $158 million was spent on Lake Tahoe water quality improvement projects around Lake Tahoe in 2016, and Caltrans is not done.

In 2017 two major projects will get underway, one on each end of the lake.

During the busy 2016 season, Caltrans and its contractors completed work on two projects on State Highway 89 and made significant progress on a third.

What happened in 2016:

The following 47 businesses took out business licenses with the City of South Lake Tahoe during the month of September:

09/01/2016
ASHLIE CURTIN RIDESHARE
DANIEL JONES RIDESHARE
DONNAS RIDESHARE
N. CEBALLOS INC

09/02/2016
CLAY RUSSELL RIDESHARE
IVANA RIDESHARE
JACQUELINE PALMER RIDESHARE
MIGUEL R RIDESHARE
RANDY CARLSON RIDESHARE

09/06/2016
KDC CONSTRUCTION
SHANNON SMITH RIDESHARE

09/07/2016
EFREN ROSALES RIDESHARE
HEALING JOURNEYS

09/08/2016
SIERRA VIEW HONEY

09/09/2016
RANDYS QUALITY ROOFING
RITCHIE ELECTRIC
RYAN SELF RIDESHARE

09/13/2016

Construction on the new three mile shared-use path from Incline Village to Sand Harbor has ended for the season.

During this year's phase one, crews built an underpass beneath the highway to bring the upcoming shared use path from the east to west side of the road near the Flume Trail. In addition, work began on the three new parking areas located near the Ponderosa Ranch and Tunnel Creek Café that will provide safer options for the one million recreationists who visit the area each year. This year’s efforts also included the relocation of a sewer (effluent) pipe near Hidden Beach.

With a record number of local residents recently vying for two open City Council positions, many are hoping there is a renewed interest in filling vacancies on four city commission and board spots as well.

The City of South Lake Tahoe is looking for residents to fill 19 city commission and board positions on the Planning Commission, Recreation Commission, Airport Land Use Commission and the Building/ADA Board of Appeals. Applications are being accepted until the deadline of December 2, 2016.

PLANNING COMMISSION:

All candidates for South Lake Tahoe City Council were given the same questions. With just one day to go to the elections, we will be featuring their answers and a video of their interview with Tahoe Regional Young Professionals through the day.

Trey Riddle, 38 years old, Bartender, 3 years in South Lake Tahoe

Discuss your interest in serving on City Council. What is your prior experience in working with civic, community or governmental organizations?

In an effort to clear up misinformation about the proposed US50 Community
Revitalization/Loop Road Project, the Lake Tahoe South Shore Chamber of Commerce (TahoeChamber) hosted a public meeting Thursday evening at the Lake Tahoe Resort Hotel. With the amount of negative public comments and voiced skepticism during past meetings, Measure T, and in social media, a larger group was expected than the 35 people who attended (and many of those were Tahoe Transportation and Tahoe Chamber staff).

On November 8, voters in South Lake Tahoe are tasked with selecting not only local and national leadership, but they are also faced with raising taxes. Measure P is on the ballot, but it is very different than other taxes, and let me explain why.

Two hot topics for locals were discussed during a Caltrans informational meeting at the Lake Tahoe Airport on Thursday evening: A roundabout and viaduct replacement.

The 3-legged Roundabout

Citing the safety of the intersection of Highway 50 and 89 in Meyers as the catalyst, project managers, engineers and planners unveiled their plans for a three-legged roundabout at the intersection to the dozens of interested citizens who attended.

Boys and Girls Clubs from across the country will be having "Lights on Afterschool" on Thursday, October 20 as a way to highlight the importance of a safe place for kids to go after school.

From 4:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m., the students who attend the Boys & Girls Club of Lake Tahoe (BGCLT) will show how they feel about the club by designing the future building that will house them.

A proposed 3-legged roundabout in Meyers at the intersection of Highway 89 and Highway 50 will not significantly affect the quality of the environment according to a report just released.

The Department of Transportation (Caltrans) is proposing the intersection improvements due to safety concerns for both cyclists and drivers. The purpose is to influence traffic calming with the implementation of a roundabout, something transportation officials say is needed because the intersection is experiencing a number of collisions related to the intersection type.

The Board of Trustees at Lake Tahoe Community College has fully thrown its support behind a $9 billion bond measure on the November 8 ballot, called Proposition 51: Public School Facility Bonds, which would provide funds for public school construction and repairs in California.