government

Galt City Council members on Dec. 15 were expected to name an experienced administrator in smaller jurisdictions as Galt’s next city manager.

Eugene Palazzo, who started his career in 1989 as a planning technician in Nevada County, has served as Crescent City’s city manager since 2011.

The council vote was not known at press time.

Galt city staff wrote in the council report that Palazzo has more than 27 years of experience in local government.

A couple from San Jose, Calif. has filed a lawsuit against the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency (TRPA) over a lot they purchased in the Angora Fire area they have been denied building permits on.

Ray and Teresa Burns purchased a piece of property at 889 Lake Tahoe Blvd. The house that had once been located there burned in the 2007 Angora Fire and the Burns bought the lot when it went into foreclosure in 2009.

According to the San Jose Mercury News, the lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court in Sacramento on Thursday, December 10 by the firm they hired, Pacific Legal Foundation (PLF).

This past summer was Lake Tahoe’s busiest tourist season in recent memory. With the economy rebounding and major population growth projected for nearby metropolitan areas, this summer is also a harbinger of change. We must be prepared to meet the challenges of increased visitation in the future.

A consumer alert has been issued regarding scams targeting seniors who served in the military and their survivors.

“California’s veterans have made extraordinary sacrifices to keep our nation safe and uphold our most sacred values and freedoms,” said Attorney General Kamala Harris. “Sadly, many of our senior veterans are being targeted by scam artists seeking to take advantage of them for a quick profit. My office will continue to protect our veterans and ensure that predators who seek to profit from their service are held accountable.”

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 recent reversal of sign ordinance fees reflects on the poor leadership of South Lake Tahoe’s government. After an eruption of dissent from the business community, the City had to reverse its onerous sign permit fees and acquiesce to the demands of the business community.

During a special meeting of the South Lake Tahoe City Council on Monday, October 19, JoAnn Conner was publicly censured, a first of its kind for the City. An overflowing crowd spent over three hours in Council Chambers as comments were made both supporting Conner, and against what they said was "abusive, bullying and intolerant behavior."

As El Dorado County prepares their three year strategic plan they are seeking input from the community on many different issues.

A survey is the first step, and can be taken here. This is the first step and it will be followed by local town hall meetings and focus groups. Information gathered will be presented to the County Supervisors and goal-setting teams.

There have been no meeting dates announced yet.

Got your fingers crossed for a wet, white winter ahead?

The chances have just improved even more. Updated federal government forecasts Thursday raised the likelihood to near certainty for an El Nino event noted for bringing stormy winters in the past as witnessed in the historically strong El Nino winters of 1982-83 and 1997-98.

Are some bears just born to be bad? Or do they learn from other bears that raid garbage cans, break into cars and homes and eventually have to be killed because they’ve lost their fear of humans?

Scientists have researched this classic debate over “nature” and “nurture” among black bears for decades, from Yosemite National Park in the Sierra to central Florida and the Adirondacks in upstate New York.

Parents worried that their college-bound children might succumb to the temptations of campus life may want to take note of a new analysis that found that students tend to experiment with specific types of drugs for the first time during certain times of year.

Lawmakers from Nevada and California met Monday on the shores of Lake Tahoe to discuss how to protect a national treasure as it faces continued threats to water clarity, invasive species, wildfire and drought.

Ever since President Bill Clinton held the first meeting in South Lake Tahoe in 1997, the annual focus of the Lake Tahoe Summit is to protect what Mark Twain called "the fairest picture the whole world affords."

Our transportation systems are entering a period of accelerated change unlike anything we've seen since the invention of the internal combustion engine more than a century ago. We are in the early stages of a sweeping transformation in how we travel that is driven by the ongoing convergence of transportation and information technologies.

After the passing of the $55 million Lake Tahoe Community College General Bond, known as Measure F in November, the next step was to sell the bonds.

On August 6, 2015, $19 million of Series A bonds were sold at a much better rate than anyone expected. When the market opened at 7 a.m. PST, investors were ready to jump on these bonds and it only took two hours to sell them, and waiting in the wings were another $54.4 million in orders.

The biggest single investor was State Farm Insurance who bought about 25% of the bonds or, $4.7 million.

Reno resident Tony Herrin, 36, was sentenced today by United States District Judge Kimberly J. Mueller to two years and nine months in prison and ordered to pay restitution of $411,333 for theft of government property, United States Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner announced.

During the past two weeks, several El Dorado County residents have been the target of scam artists attempting to obtain money from them. The scammers are not from the area and use internet based phones which allow them to select a local area code. They have been identifying themselves as local law enforcement and tell the call takers that they have missed jury duty and that a warrant has been issued for their arrest. The scammers tell the victims if they don’t pay, they will be arrested for the warrant. In most cases the caller has told the victim the amount of the warrant was $5,500.00.

The South Lake Tahoe City Council narrowly approved a new temporary craft show ordinance and increased fee schedule during their meeting on Tuesday.

"Seems like overkill," said Councilwoman JoAnn Conner in her vote against the ordinance. "Its a tremendous amount of work for anyone who wants to come in and do an event and its a tremendous amount of work for staff."

Conner was speaking of the new ordinance which changes the rules for the eight temporary craft shows held annually in the city each year. She and Tom Davis were the two dissenting votes.

This week, the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency voiced its strong support for legislation to reauthorize the Lake Tahoe Restoration Act that has been introduced in Congress by Tahoe’s Senate delegation.

Sponsored by U.S. Senator Dean Heller (R-Nevada) along with Harry Reid (D-Nevada), Dianne Feinstein (D-California), and Barbara Boxer (D-California), the Lake Tahoe Restoration Act would authorize up to $415 million in federal funding over 10 years to help continue critical environmental restoration work at Lake Tahoe.

The controversial bill that would give California one of the country's strictest vaccination laws headed on Monday to Gov. Jerry Brown's desk, with supporters urging him to sign it and opponents promising to stand vigil around the clock to convince him to veto it.

On Monday, a majority of the California state Senate again passed Senate Bill 277, incendiary legislation that would require almost all schoolchildren to be fully vaccinated in order to attend public or private school, regardless of their parents' personal or religious beliefs.

The only exception would be for medical reasons.

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.

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.

Soon, memories of "The Hole" will be replaced with the vision of new retail, restaurants and condominiums as the next phase of construction begins in South Lake Tahoe.

The Chateau at the Village will continue its growth to the corner of Friday Avenue and Highway 50.

The Tahoe Prosperity Center mission is uniting Tahoe’s communities to strengthen regional prosperity. Prosperity is defined as “the condition of being successful or thriving, especially economic well-being.” The Tahoe Prosperity Center is the basin-wide organization focused on that goal for all who live and work in Lake Tahoe.

Raul E. Moreno Campos, a doctoral candidate and teaching fellow at UCLA’s Department of Political Science, will be at Lake Tahoe Community College on Tuesday, May 26 at 12 p.m. Campos will give a presentation on “State-Sponsored Violence, U.S. Imperialism, and the Salvadoran Civil War” in the LTCC Commons, inside the main building. This is a free event, and the community is welcome and encouraged to participate.