money

In just over a week, the eyes of sports fans will be on Lake Tahoe as the 27th annual American Century Golf Championship opens at Edgewood Tahoe. The field of 86 celebrities from sports, television, music, stage, screen, politics, Nascar, and the US Marine Corps are all headed to the South Shore July 19-24 to play.

"The golfers anticipate getting the invitation letter to play," said Former NFL Head Coach and ESPN Analyst Herm Edwards. "We get excited at that moment."

The number of dead trees in the Sierra Nevada are now at historic levels and have fueled the risk of catastrohpic wildfires according to the U.S. Forest Service.

They announced Wednesday that they have identified an additional 26 million dead trees in California since October 2015, bringing the total to at least 66 million dead trees in the state. The most recent additions are located in six counties across 760,000 acres in the Southern Nevada region.

El Dorado County residents can keep their homes cooler this summer and warmer next winter by taking advantage of free weatherization services through the El Dorado County Community Services Weatherization Program. “The average household can save $400 or more each year on their energy bills after weatherization, depending on the work that is done,” said Kyle Hartman, weatherization supervisor with Community Services.

One can tell summer is here with the increased number of calls into the South Lake Tahoe Police Department. If keeping drivers, pedestrians and cyclists safe weren’t enough, officers responded to several out of the usual type of calls this weekend.

The South Lake Tahoe community pulled together behind Ryan Wallace in 2014 when he needed to buy a new prosthetic leg, which even at a discounted $25,000 was out of reach for the native man.

At the age of 19, Ryan had to have his leg amputated due to a rare form of bone cancer. The leg he received was wearing out after ten years, and the community helped Wallace buy the new one so he could walk and get back to coaching wrestling to the youth of the town.

Four new projects in South Lake Tahoe will be moving forward after the City was awarded $3 million in grants from the federal government through TRPA's Tahoe Metropolitan Planning Organization (TMPO).

The money will be used for the following:

$1.8 million for design and construction of the Sierra Boulevard Complete Street Project
$510,000 for construction of the Tahoe Valley Greenbelt Project
$390,000 for purchase of a Sander vehicle replacement
$200,000 for the design and engineering of the Lake Tahoe Boulevard Bike Trail

The weather is starting to clear and temperatures are warming up, just in time for the Memorial Day weekend. Don't forget, when you are coming or going from the Lake Tahoe Basin, check out the Caltrans message board at http://quickmap.dot.ca.gov/. Click on "Options" and "message boards." This handy tool shows you the exact time it takes to get from town over the mountain so you can stay longer and avoid the traffic!

Here is a list of some of the things to do on the South side:

Lake Tahoe Summer Kick Off Car and Bike Show at the Heavenly Village

Most people don't like taxes, or having any new ones, but South Lake Tahoe voters will have the choice in November to vote on two ballot measure that would bring about two tax rate hikes, one that only tourists will pay, and another that will be paid for by both locals and tourists.

If passed, the ballot measures will accomplish two things: replace the recreation complex and repair the City's roads and/or replace the aging fleet.

In a representative democracy, the system the United States supposedly has, the policy making is controlled by the representatives elected by the people. The idea behind representative democracy is that people will elect representatives that will serve their best interest. However, in the United States the funding for election campaigns is provided by large corporations, banks, and a handful of wealthy individuals that results in the election of representatives who serve the best interests of the large corporations, banks, and wealthy individuals.

Let the games begin, again! Dodgeball, table tennis, badminton, music, food, bounce house, science fair and more are all on tap for the 3rd annual Community Games on the Lake Tahoe Community College campus on Saturday, May 7 from noon to 4:00 p.m.

The LTCC Coyote athletes will train young soccer players and other kids activities include face painting and a scavenger hunt. But, its not all for kids, tournaments for adults will create a lot of excitement.

Charles Barkley, Justin Timberlake, and Steve Kerr and Andre Iguodala of the Golden State Warriors lead a group of 90 sports and entertainment stars coming to South Lake Tahoe for the 27th annual American Century Championship, July 19 – 24, 2016. Many were hoping to see Steph Curry on the list, but with the Olympic Games in Rio just after the tournament, speculation is that he had to skip the stop in Tahoe.

When you take your recyclables to the South Tahoe Refuse Buy Back Center during rest of April, and donate the proceeds to the Lake Tahoe Humane Society, the non-profit will earn double the donation value.

The center, located at 2192 Ruth Avenue in South Lake Tahoe, is open Tuesday through Saturday, 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. They give money for aluminum, glass, plastic and bimetal.

Give the cashier your receipt for the recycled items and tell them you want to put the money towards the Humane Society. The promotion ends April 30.

Just as people are seeing some extra cash in their pocket with tax returns being processed, scams are on the rise in South Lake Tahoe, and elsewhere, trying to cash in on the extra dough.

In South Lake Tahoe last week, a woman who was selling furniture was caught up in a scam that ended up costing her $1,500, the same price she was selling the items for. According to El Dorado County Sheriff's Sgt. Michael Seligsohn, scams are getting more sophisticated such as the vacation rental scams, but the sold furniture scam this victim fell for is very common.

The annual Spirit of Spring fundraising event at Edgewood Tahoe to raise money for the Boys and Girls Club of Lake Tahoe will be held on Tuesday, April 12, 2016 from 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.

This event is co-sponsored by Southern Wine and Spirits and Edgewood Tahoe and always follows the beverage company's annual sales event at the South Shore golf course. They bring out their wines and other spirits, along with a great food selection created by the Edgewood chefs, with 100% of the proceeds going to BGCLT.

It has been about 18 months since the Cal Tahoe JPA voted to spend $192,000 on badly needed EKG monitors for the nine ambulances that serve the South Lake Tahoe and Meyers area. As of March 31, not a dime has been spent due to a division between the two fire departments that are part of the JPA.

"I don't want public safety to get in the way of politics," said SLT City Councilman Tom Davis at Thursday's emergency JPA meeting. Davis is one of two Council representatives on the JPA board. The other is Mayor Wendy David.

In January, 2016, South Tahoe Now carried stories concerning the rise of vacation rental scams in Lake Tahoe. The first story described the epidemic of scams through Craigslist that targeted those looking for vacation rentals in South Lake Tahoe.

El Dorado County Sheriff's Office responds to calls throughout the county.

The following are calls that only pertain to the South Shore. There may be some missing calls due to sheriff's logs not being completed at press time and the story will be updated when provided.

3/13
2:34 p.m. - Possession of a controlled substance - A 29-YEAR-OLD MALE WAS ARRESTED

3/14
1:00 p.m. - False Imprisonment and Human Trafficking

1:05 p.m. - Found Property - High Meadows Trail - A BANK DEBIT CARD WAS REPORTED AS FOUND PROPERTY.

3/15

Frank Sinatra Jr., the son of the legendary entertainer who also had a long musical career of his own, died Wednesday at a Daytona Beach, Florida hospital. He was 72.

Sinatra had been on his "Sinatra Sings Sinatra" tour and was scheduled to perform at the Peabody Auditorium on Wednesday. The venue posted an announcement in social media that the singer had taken ill.

Spring forward, fall back.

But why?

The reason the United States and many other countries, mostly in the West, shift to daylight saving time is contentious and confusing, and some of the more popular explanations are not grounded in reality. (It isn’t for farmers, as you may have learned in school.)

The general concept is to move an hour of sunlight from the early morning, when many would sleep through it, to the evening, when you could most likely do more with the light.

This is part two in a series of a look into Human Trafficking in South Lake Tahoe.

Human trafficking. Its not just a Third World problem, its not just a big city problem, and its not a poor or rich problem. There are millions around the world who are victims to human trafficking, a business that is estimated to be a $32 billion industry.

And its happening in our backyard.

The facts are sobering.

For the past few weeks, "celebrities" from South Lake Tahoe have been practicing with their professional partners, all in a quest to win the coveted mirror ball trophy in the Tahoe Arts Project's 4th annual Dancing with the Tahoe Stars

All of the rehearsing, and nursing aches and pains, have come down to this, the final event which will be held at MontBleu Resort on Saturday, March 5 at 6:30 p.m.

South Tahoe Now caught up with a few of the couples in their secret rehearsals as they polished up their dance moves in preparation for the big night.

The building is old and worn out, but the coffee, bagels and treats inside have kept both locals and visitors happy for over two decades.

Rude Brother's Bagels is located on the bottom floor of a building located at 3117 Harrison Avenue in South Lake Tahoe. The current owners of the popular coffee and bagel shop, Jim and Lisa Gosh, have been in the same location since 2001 after buying the business from Steve Rude.

If only dogs could talk!

Two months after a dog went missing from a Fresno family's home, he showed up in South Lake Tahoe. How he got to the lake is unknown, and the truth most likely will never be uncovered.

On the day after Christmas, 2015, Toby the dog escaped from his yard after someone lifted the fence to break into the family's home after they had left for a two day trip to Las Vegas.

The Douglas County Sheriff’s Explorers just finished a week-long detail in Pebble Beach, California working the AT & T Pebble Beach Pro-Am Golf Tournament to earn money for their POST.

Thirteen DCSO Explorers handled pedestrian control, traffic control and security details in and around the famous 17 mile drive in Pebble Beach. They saw golf professionals like Phil Mickelson and Vijay Singh as well as amateurs like Justin Timberlake, Mark Wahlberg, Carson Daly and Larry The Cable Guy.