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A trip to South Lake Tahoe for the 4th of July fireworks turned deadly in 2014 for a couple from Dixon, CA when the motorcycle they were riding was struck by a drunk driver in the Twin Bridges area.

Megan Hickel, 28, was sentenced on Monday to 12 years in state prison for killing the couple, 48-year-old Richard Schwab and his wife Kelly, age 49.

El Dorado County Superior Court Presiding Judge Suzanne Kingsbury handed down the sentence after Hickel pled guilty to two counts gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated.

A motorcyclist who was injured trying to elude officers during a 100 mph chase in March was sentenced to six months in jail on Wednesday.

Peter Thomas Hall, 50, of South Lake Tahoe, appeared in custody before East Fork Justice of the Peace Tom Perkins.

A South Lake Tahoe man who bilked 11 people out of $3.6 million will be spending the next 19.5 years in prisons.

Scott H. Summerhays, 56, made false statements and used phony documents to solicit the money from victims who thought they were helping him purchase the Genoa Lakes Golf Course.

On Monday, May 18, Senior U.S. District Judge Larry R. Hicks ordered Summerhays to prison, followed by three years of supervised release, and ordered to pay $1.4 million in restitution.

Federal prosecutors have dropped charges against a Tuolumne County man accused of starting a massive 2013 wildfire that burned for more than two months and eventually charred more than 257,000 acres in the Stanislaus National Forest and Yosemite National Park.

Marijuana is still on the list of dangerous drugs after U.S. Federal Court Judge Kimberly Mueller's ruling in Sacramento Wednesday. The move disappoints advocates that saw the case as a chance to get closer to their goal of nationwide legalization.

Mueller denied the motion of the defendants in United States v. Bryan Schweder to dismiss an indictment on that basis that the continued scheduling of marijuana as a Schedule I controlled substance in federal law was unconstitutional.

Last month, the City Manager and City Council hosted a strategic planning session with all City departments to ensure we are coordinated and pulling together to address key community issues. Community wellness is one such focus area.

The El Dorado County Superior Court has announced the appointment of Douglas R. Hoffman as Court Commissioner. Hoffman will be based in South Lake Tahoe but will serve in all of the branches in El Dorado County. He will hear all case types, but will specialize in cases involving family law, child support, domestic violence and civil harassment, juvenile dependency and delinquency, traffic, limited civil cases, as well as overflow matters as assigned by the Presiding Judge.

As we enter a New Year, it’s time for artists to share their thanks in celebrating one of Northern Nevada's icons by applying for spring residencies at the Black Rock Desert High Rock Canyon Emigrant Trails National Conservation Area. Applications will be accepted until March 31.

To protect his mythic status as an American sports hero, Lance Armstrong lied under oath in 2005, saying he never used performance-enhancing drugs. An arbitration panel in Texas ruled it's time for him to pay for it, handing down a $10 million penalty believed to be the largest such sanction against an individual in American judicial history.

In a 2-1 decision, the panel ordered the disgraced cyclist to pay the money to SCA Promotions, a Dallas sports insurance company that paid Armstrong's bonuses for winning the Tour de France and then helped cause his epic fall from grace in 2012.

A federal grand jury returned a six-count indictment today against Mark McLeod Wygant, 44, resident of Chico and former South Lake Tahoe Fire Captain, charging him with Sexual Exploitation and Attempted Sexual Exploitation of Minors, United States Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner announced.

Thousands of people have been voting on Facebook for the Northern Nevada Favorite Model's contest over the past several weeks and a South Tahoe High graduate ended up on top, winning by a few hundred votes.

Kelsey Adams, daughter of DR. Steve Adams and Colleen Karcher, has been modeling for several years. She entered the contest for fun, not sure of what to expect.

Casino company Caesars Entertainment (CZR), the owner of Harrah's and Harvey's in Lake Tahoe, announced early Thursday that it had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in federal court in Chicago for its main operating unit in an attempt to beat back an effort by some creditors who filed their own bankruptcy plan in Delaware on Monday. They claim the company has cheated them.

A Sacramento man pled guilty today to conspiring to induce aliens to illegally enter the Unites States for private financial gain.

Sippy Lal, 61 was arrested in 2012 along with co-defendants Mamta Sharma and Rani Singh-Lal on charges they ran an elaborate immigration-fraud scheme involving foreign nationals from India who paid money to have a sham marriage in order to get into the country. The trio recruited U.S. citizens in the Sacramento area in an effort to legalize their immigration status.

The man accused of starting the King Fire earlier this year has been indicted on felony arson charges according to the The El Dorado County District Attorney Vern Pierson.

Wayne Huntsman is charged with felony arson of forest land with multiple special allegations of arson with aggravating factors. He sits in the El Dorado County Jail in South Lake Tahoe with a bail set at $10,000,000.

A South Lake Tahoe man who spent at least 40 days a year skiing while claiming he was totally disabled from employment was sentenced today to one year in prison and ordered to pay $160,000 in restitution.

Honorable Dylan Sullivan was appointed by Governor Jerry Brown to fill retiring Judge Daniel B. Proud's seat on the El Dorado County Superior Court. She won the June primary to become the Judge for Office 5, so this announcement moved up her start date by four months.

Judge Sullivan has been specifically assigned to department 7 by Presiding Judge Suzanne N. Kingsbury, due to her training and experience, to assist the Court in effectively implementing criminal justice realignment in El Dorado County. She was sworn in by Kingsbury on September 19.

Six candidates are vying for the open El Dorado County Supervisor Area 2 seat left vacant by the departure of ousted Ray Nutting.

With 100% of the vote counted, Shiva Frentzen led the pack with 30.96% (2,374) of the vote. Troubled and ousted Supervisor Ray Nutting's wife Jennifer is also one of the candidates. She ended up with 13.21$ of the vote.

During Ray Nutting's sentencing on six misdemeanor charges stemming from loans received for the purpose of getting bailed out of jail, Judge Timothy Buckley ordered Nutting to vacate his County Supervisor seat for District 2.

Buckley also sentenced him to three years of probation and 30 days of community service.

On May 14th, El Dorado County Supervisor Ray Nutting was found guilty on six misdemeanors involving illegal and undocumented loans from county employees and a county contractor.

Nutting was found not guilty on three felony charges including filing false documents, perjury and approving conflict-of-interest contracts.

The El Dorado County Board of Supervisors met with legal counsel Wednesday to discuss whether Supervisor Ray Nutting was suspended from the office of county supervisor by operation of law because of jury verdicts on May 14, 2014 that found him guilty of six misdemeanors.

Sample ballots for the June 3 primary elections in California were mailed out April 25th, and absentee/mail in ballots are being mailed out Monday and Tuesday, May 5 and 6.

According to the mailed ballots, South Lake Tahoe county voters have the following choices in June:

U.S. Representative for the 4th District - Tom McClintock or Art Moore
State Assembly for the 5th District - Frank Bigelow
Superior Court Judge for Office 1 - Vicki Ashworth, David Combellack or Joe Weinberger
Superior Court Judge for Office 5 - Joseph Hoffman or Dylan Sullivan

RENO, Nev. (AP) — A Lake Tahoe-area man accused of bilking 11 investors out of $3.6 million in a fraudulent scheme to buy a Douglas County golf course has pleaded guilty to 24 federal charges, including wire fraud and money laundering.

U.S. Attorney Dan Bogden says 55-year-old Scott Summerhays of South Lake Tahoe, pleaded guilty Wednesday in federal court in Reno.

From 2008-10, prosecutors say Summerhays told potential investors he was purchasing Genoa Lakes Golf Club near Gardnerville for $17 million.

Selected among several local outstanding youth Josh Kornbeck will compete against other Boys & Girls Club members for the California Youth of the Year title and a $1,000 college scholarship from Tupperware Brands Corporation. As the new Youth of the Year for Boys and Girls Club of Lake Tahoe, 16-year old Josh is a true example of an extraordinary young man recognized by Boys & Girls Clubs of America (BGCA) for his sound character, leadership skills and willingness to give back to the community.

The County of El Dorado and the Judges of the Superior Court of California, County of El Dorado, are pleased to announce that Brian Richart has accepted appointment as El Dorado County’s new Chief Probation Officer. A unique position under California law, the Chief Probation Officer is appointed by the judges of the Superior Court, with the Board of Supervisors setting the salary and benefit levels. Due to the importance of this position, the Superior Court worked collaboratively with the Sheriff’s Department and county officials to select the best possible candidate.

A compromise agreement reached by conservation groups, off-roaders and three rural counties settles litigation going back to the 1990’s by resolving the status of contentious trails in Northern California’s Eldorado National Forest, according to documents posted today by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER). Under the agreement, some trails and dirt roads would reopen, others would remain closed and still others would begin restoration of past damage.