Move

9:30 p.m. update: The Boot Fire has grown to 4,620 acres with 0 percent containment. Evacuations and road closures continue to grow.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - The sixth bear in five weeks has been hit by a car and killed between South Lake Tahoe and the West Shore.

Late Wednesday night, August 15, an unknown car hit one of three bears attempting to cross Highway 50 near Edgewood Circle. The mother bear then drug her cub off the road into the wooded area near the bike path and remained there with her other cub until Toogee Sielsch of the Bear League arrived at 7:00 a.m. Thursday to remove the cub.

Squaw Valley Alpine Meadows and Alterra Mountain Company announced today that Ron Cohen has been selected as President and Chief Operating Officer of Squaw Valley Alpine Meadows. Cohen has served as the interim President & Chief Operating Officer at the resort since April, 2018, and will move into the permanent position effective immediately.

The Tahoe Keys Property Owners Association (TKPOA) will be moving their corporation yard from a 2.21-acre parcel of environmentally sensitive land to a developable 0.99-acre parcel adjacent to the Tahoe Keys Marina.

On Wednesday, the California Tahoe Conservancy Board authorized their staff to move forward with an agreement with TKPOA. This move allows the Conservancy to restore the site as part of its Upper Truckee Marsh restoration project, one of the largest and most important restoration projects in the history of the Lake Tahoe Basin.

The following is a copy of a letter sent to City Council, USFS, Supervisor Sue Novasel, California Tahoe Conservancy Officers, and others, and shared with South Tahoe Now:

Dear Mayor David and Council Members:

The following is a comment in support of Preferred Alternative 2B of the Upper Truckee River Restoration and Golf Course Reconfiguration Project submitted by the League to Save Lake Tahoe to California State Parks:

Officers from the South Lake Tahoe office of the California Highway Patrol (CHP) responded to US 50 and Pioneer Trail Wednesday morning after a citizen reported a possible bomb laying in the roadway.

Upon arrival they observed what appeared to be some type of explosive ordinance in the road and called in the El Dorado County Sheriff's bomb squad. The roadway was shut down temporarily for public safety according to a post on the CHP Facebook page.

Chariot, the new microtransit service in South Lake Tahoe, was officially welcomed to the community Tuesday during a Tahoe Chamber ribbon cutting ceremony with representatives from the League to Save Lake Tahoe, Tahoe Regional Planning Agency, the City of South Lake Tahoe and chamber members.

The National Weather Service (NWS) has issued a severe thunderstorm warning for South Lake Tahoe, Meyers, Glenbrook, Alpine County, Place County, El Dorado County, Washoe County, Douglas County an Western Carson City from 6:06 p.m. until 6:45 p.m. Sunday, July 22.

Radar has indicated a strong cell sitting over South Lake Tahoe and Emerald Bay, bringing a chance of quarter size hail and wind gusts up to 60 mph. In heavy hit areas, expect hail damage to vehicles along with wind damage to roofs, siding, fencing and trees.

Another strong thunderstorm cell is above Kirkwood.

During the July 24 El Dorado County Board of Supervisor's meeting, the next phase of additions to the Vacation Home Rental (VHR) ordinance will be discussed.

The ad hoc committee of Supervisors Sue Novasel and Michael Ranalli will be making the following recommendations:

Cap at a maximum of 12 overnight occupants, even if a home has enough bedrooms to accommodate more. The calculation of 2 people per bedroom plus 2. If someone wishes to have more than 12 the homeowner may apply for a conditional use permit.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - Smoke from the Ferguson Fire outside Yosemite is moved into Lake Tahoe and Carson City area today and more smoke is expected again early Monday. As of Sunday night, the fire has burned 4,310 acres and is two percent contained. An evacuation advisory is in place for the Western Yosemite area.

High pressure will build overhead and bring very hot conditions to Western Nevada Tuesday through Wednesday and warm conditions to the mountains. The high will
begin to move east on Thursday with thunderstorm chances increasing along with gradually cooling temperatures.

Expect overnight lane closures on SR28 from July 15 to July 19 as Nevada Department of Transportation (NDOT) crews clear roadway shoulders and drainage systems.

Single lane closures and travel delays of up to 30 minutes should be anticipated on State Route 28 July 15 through July 19 between 6:00 p.m. and 4:30 a.m. daily. The mobile road improvement operation is scheduled to begin in the Crystal Bay area on Sunday, July 15 and move eastward over the following nights. Roadside drainage, shoulders and slopes will be cleared of debris for a safer roadway and improved area water quality.

Efforts to bring a second vacation home rental initiative to November's ballot have hit a roadblock after the El Dorado County Elections office said they did not have enough valid signatures to take it to the voters.

The Sustainable Community Alliance (SCA) turned in 1,843 signatures, thinking that would be enough to guarantee the needed 1,005.

Elections staff did a random count of 500 of those signatures to verify the person signing was a registered voter in the City limits. They found 243 valid signatures in that sample.

In an effort to keep cars off the road, a key to increasing the clarity of Lake Tahoe, a new micro-transit system is heading to South Lake Tahoe.

Chariot, a shuttle company based in San Francisco, is coming to town for a three month trial run starting in just a few weeks.

"Chariot will be more responsive than traditional transportation," Jesse Patterson, Deputy Director of the League to Save Lake Tahoe, told South Tahoe Now. "We'll get Chariot here and get people on board, then see if it works."

More ballots have been counted in El Dorado County, leaving just over 2,000 still be counted out of the almost 23,000 left to do after election day.

County Supervisor 5th District

It appears Curtzwiler and Novasel will face off again in November.

JEFFREY SPENCER 1120 16.82%
NORMA SANTIAGO 916 13.76%
KENNY CURTZWILER 2149 32.28%
SUE NOVASEL 2454 36.86%

County Supervisor 4th District

If Ranalli doesn't get to 50 percent there will be a runoff with Lori Parlin in November.

LORI PARLIN 4439 37.86%
BOGDAN AMBROZEWICZ 1451 12.38%
MICHAEL RANALLI 5818 49.62%

Charter Communications allowed the Sacramento NBC affiliate, KCRA, to remain on their channel lineup through Tuesday's primary, but as of June 8 it is no longer available despite viewers and government officials reaching out.

It has always been an amazing accomplishment for a student from South Tahoe High to be selected to go to either Boy's State or Girl's State, programs sponsored by the American Legion and American Legion Auxiliary.

For the first time organizers can remember, twins have been selected to represent the community in the unique and exciting government-in-action learning programs which teach youth how to be knowledgeable stewards of freedom, democracy and patriotism.

Several Lake Tahoe agencies have joined together to remind residents and visitors to practice proper food storage and trash disposal at all times while in bear country. Intentional or unintentional feeding of bears can result in the bear being killed, fines and/or jail time for violators. Every year law enforcement and state wildlife officers respond to hundreds of calls in which bears may pose a public safety threat and/or are damaging property. In some cases, the animals are euthanized.

Become part of the solution and help save our Tahoe bears!

Egan Bernal, Team Sky’s 21-year-old Colombian rider, defended his lead from Thursday's race in Lake Tahoe to claim the 2018 Amgen Tour of California championship by the second largest margin in race history, +1.25” ahead of BMC Racing Team’s U.S. rider Tejay van Garderen. Team EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale’s Daniel Martinez (COL) rounds out third place overall.

South Lake Tahoe may not be known as the home of the $2,000 parking ticket after action taken by the City Council Tuesday.

National media attention spotlighted the fines ($1,000 to the renter and $1,000 to the homeowner) associated with violations of the vacation home rental (VHR) ordinance approved at the end of 2017 by the South Lake Tahoe City Council. This negative publicity has prompted some cancellations of tourist visits, or other changes to vacation plans, according to those in the industry.

Low pressure remains over Lake Tahoe and Northern Nevada through Tuesday. This will keep temperatures near average with chances for showers and a few thunderstorms. Another system will move into California and Nevada Wednesday continuing the chances for showers and thunderstorms through much of next week.

The forecast from the National Weather Service in Reno:

Tonight - Scattered showers and thunderstorms before 11pm, then isolated showers. Partly cloudy, with a low around 35. Southwest wind 5 to 10 mph. Chance of precipitation is 40%.

The League to Save Lake Tahoe, Mountain Area Preservation and Sierra Watch are filing today a notice of appeal in California’s Third District Court of Appeals seeking adequate environmental protection for Lake Tahoe from the proposed Martis Valley West Project.

The California office of Lake Tahoe Visitor's Authority (LTVA) has been closed due to roof and flooding issues, with all of their operations in their Stateline office, for now.

Last year's flooding caused LTVA to rip out the carpet in the back of the building which was the first county jail at the lake, opening in 1947. Three staff executives who had their offices at the rear of the building were moved to the front.

There are several reasons, as well as ideas for a solution, surrounding the traffic jams in Meyers that occur on many Sundays and holidays as vehicles leave the South Lake Tahoe area.

El Dorado County Supervisor Sue Novasel held another town hall meeting about traffic with almost 30 people at the Lake Tahoe Environmental Magnet School this week. She brought along El Dorado County transportation staff and was joined by the California Highway Patrol.