restoration

Imagine taking a class where one learns to restore a classic 1953 Cadillac convertible, 1965 Ford Mustang and 1952 Willys Jeep. Impossible in our area? Not any more.

Western Nevada College’s Automotive Mechanics program provides unique instruction in automotive restoration, and for the first time they will be offering it as a class: Special Topics in Automotive Mechanics (AUTO 198).

Jack Johnson is not only an entertainer, but he is also an environmentalist doing what he can to reduce his impact on the earth. When Johnson comes to Lake Tahoe this summer on July 28 and 29, one can not only expect great music, but also a zero waste tour.

His All at One initiative is a social action network where everyone can make a positive change in their local and world community. As he tours, Johnson will connect with non-profit groups, take environmental action, and receive rewards. All At Once promotes Sustainable Local Food Systems and Plastic Free Initiatives.

8:40 p.m. update: Crews found a broken cross arm on a power pole near the Y in South Lake Tahoe. They think they'll have the power back by 9:30 p.m. for the remaining customers that are still without power.
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6:30 p.m. update: About 1700 SLT customers have had their power restored. Crews are working on the remaining 1700+ customer still out. No est restoration time yet.
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"The channel looks good and recovery is holding up," said Theresa Cody, Restoration Hydrologist with the U.S. Forest Service. "Water is on the flood plains as its supposed to."

Cody was talking about the $7 million project on part of the Upper Truckee River known as Reach 5. The three-year long restoration project was to improve the river channel stability and aquatic habitat along 1.2 miles of the river adjacent to the Lake Tahoe Airport.

Approximately 240 customers in the Commonwealth Drive area of Kings Beach are experiencing an outage. Crews are onsite repairing a bad underground cable with estimated restoration around 3:00 p.m.

About 15 customers in the remote back area of Fallen Leaf Lake (Lilly Lake and Glen Alpine areas) will be without power for about two weeks as power poles and lines destroyed by winter storms are replaced via helicopter.

"Thank you to our customers for their patience and understanding as we make repairs in both these areas," said Kathy Carter of Liberty Utilities.

The Silver Rush, a new 4,159-foot long zip line opening this summer at Heavenly's Epic Discovery, will take users from tree-to-tree at speeds up to 40 miles per hour. Overlooking the Carson Valley, Silver Rush is comprised of five segmented zip lines; the final of which flies guests over the waters of East Peak Lake.

Once the ride is completed, guests enjoy a scenic ATV ride back to the top of the Gondola. It is a three-hour long experience.

Portions of the land where Knight's Inn currently sits and the corner lot at Ski Run Boulevard and Highway 50 were sold today to the Halferty Development Corporation for $3,100,000.

During a special meeting of the City Council two agreements were approved. The first was a Commercial and Disposition and Development Agreement (CDDA) and the second was a Purchase and Sale Agreement by and between the City of South Lake Tahoe and Halferty.

Wildlife survival, avalanche safety, snowmaking, and environmental restoration are all part of the curriculum at a unique outdoor classroom at Heavenly Mountain Resort.

Nearly 300 fifth-grade students from Lake Tahoe Unified School District (TLUSD) took part in the EpicPromise Winter Adventure Program over five days in January and March. The program includes a ride up the ski resort’s Aerial Tram, snowshoeing, and getting hands-on learning experiences at a trio of educational stations.

Trees will need to be removed from the Emerald Fire area, and the U.S. Forest Service Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit (LTBMU) is asking for comments on a proposal to remove the hazardous trees and plant seedlings in that area.

“Restoration of the Emerald Fire area will help restore habitat for various wildlife species and provide benefits to the Lake Tahoe watershed,” said LTBMU Forest Supervisor, Jeff Marsolais. “The restoration effort will also provide visual benefits to residents and visitors and allow for a more fire resilient landscape.”

The Lake Tahoe license plate has been around for 25 years in California, one of 12 special interest plates people can choose from when registering their vehicles.

Funds collected from sales are allocated to the California Tahoe Conservancy (CTC) who is required to support “preservation and restoration projects in the Lake Tahoe area” and for “establishing and improving trails, pathways, and public access for nonmotorized traffic.”

The South Lake Tahoe City Council made it official Tuesday and unanimously approved the purchase of the Knight's Inn for $5,935,000, paving the way for the 850-acre Bijou Park Creek Watershed Restoration Project. The 110-unit Knight's Inn, a motel built in 1956 on Highway 50 near Ski Run Blvd., has been owned by the Patel family since 1994.

"This project has been in the works for 10-12 years," said Pradip Patel. "This is the best for me, my family, and the community."

We welcome all ages to come learn about the League’s volunteer programs and how you can Keep Tahoe Blue this season. Event attendees will receive training to assist with outreach and events and hear from the League’s dedicated volunteers. Refreshments, dinner, drinks and raffle provided. Please RSVP to events@keeptahoeblue.org

Location

Stateline, Nevada – The Tahoe Regional Planning Agency (TRPA) is accepting nominations for its annual Best in Basin awards program through Friday, March 31.

TRPA created the awards program to recognize projects that demonstrate exceptional planning and design and compatibility with Lake Tahoe’s environment and communities.

9:30 p.m. update:
Portola: Trees fell on primary line; crews on site making repairs; most customers should be restored by 10 pm.
River Road/Silver Creek/Fir Crags Road/Hwy 89. Avalanche danger and weather conditions prohibiting crews from accessing damage; customers should plan on multi-day outage. We hope to access Weds morning.
Ward Canyon: broken pole; estimate most customers restored by 10 pm.

9:40 p.m. update: Internet and cable service for customers in the South Lake Tahoe and Carson Valley region have been restored.

The severed fiber option lines above Airport Road in Minden were reconnected one-by-one. According to Charter, there can be thousands of wires in each line.

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5:15 p.m. update: Charter Communications estimates their crews will have services restored to the region by 8:00 p.m.

11:20 p.m. update: Power is coming back on to many residents who've been without it much of Friday night. Nevada Energy is now showing 502 customers still out in the 89449 area, 193 in the 89410, 45 in 89448, 31 in 89460 and 4 in 89423.

Liberty Utilities outages remain the same.

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10:55 p.m. update: Liberty Utilities reports more Lake Tahoe customers are without power. In El Dorado County 143 customers, and in Placer County, 105 customers are without power.

The Tahoe Regional Planning Agency (TRPA) Governing Board on Wednesday unanimously approved Placer County’s Tahoe Basin Area Plan and the Tahoe City Lodge Project.

“This is the fourth area plan approved at Lake Tahoe and an important milestone for implementing the 2012 Regional Plan,” said Joanne S. Marchetta, executive director of TRPA. “With this plan, we can take significant steps to improve the environment and strengthen communities on Lake Tahoe’s North Shore.”

7:00 p.m. update - All customers except those who live in the River Road area have had their power restored. Since Saturday, Liberty has been using a helicopter to reach remote areas to repair severe damage necessary to restore service to the 136 customers in the River Road area. Unfortunately, helicopter operations were limited today due to weather and once they were underway, additional damage was discovered. If the weather cooperates and the helicopter is able to fly, Liberty hopes to restore power to these last customers by Tuesday night.

5:30 p.m. update Thursday - The Tahoe Keys and Tahoe Mountain area has just lost power temporarily. The West Shore has been restored from Tahoe City South to Sugar Pine Rd. and HWY89 (735 Customers). South Shore crews are deployed and working on six primary wires serving multiple areas. Restoration times are estimated between 8:00 p.m. tonight and tomorrow afternoon. Tahoe Pines Area (Barker Pass Rd. to Cherry St.) has very heavy damage with multiple poles down that requires helicopter repair. Weather permitting, helicopter repair will start tomorrow.

Power outages are still plaguing Lake Tahoe area residents and businesses, and Liberty Utility crews have been working nonstop to deal with the issues caused by the blizzard. There are currently approximately 20,000 customers without power in El Dorado, Placer and Nevada counties.

"All Liberty Utilities and NV Energy crews have worked together through the night," said Liberty Utilities spokesperson Kathy Carter. "Because of the numerous large trees that have fallen through lines and wires down, it is causing the restoration process to be very slow working one community at a time."

6:00 p.m. update Monday - Power is back on to all but 50 customers along the West shore. Liberty Utilities said their crews were able to rebuild a major transmission line today that serves the West Shore. The 50 customers still without power are along SR-89 between Squaw Valley and Truckee as well as in a couple of scattered areas. With the snow coming down hard now, Liberty will continue to monitor this line as well as work on restoring power to those customers without service.

The University of Nevada Seismological Lab operates around Lake Tahoe and Western Nevada to monitor earthquake and wildfire data, but now they're helping with flood monitoring.

They have placed a temporary camera above the Truckee River at on Arlington Street in Reno. The view is updated every minute and can be seen here: http://floodwatch.nvseismolab.org/

2:15 p.m. update - All power has been restored to Liberty Utility customers in Lake Tahoe.

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9:30 a.m. update - About 394 Liberty Utility customers are still affected by the power outage on Grizzly Mtn Drive, Arapahoe Street, Kickapoo, Snowflake, South Upper Truckee Drive, Reindeer Way, Woodchuck Court, St. Nick Way, Santa Claus in Christmas Valley. They expect to have all back on line by 11:30 a.m. today.

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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.