schools

A truck carrying tresses to a new building adjacent to the Beach Retreat & Lodge in South Lake Tahoe hit a power pole, causing a transformer to blow, a small fire and power outages to schools, businesses and homes.

The driver of the truck was lost according to South Tahoe Police, and cut through the Safeway parking lot to try and get to the building through the hotel across the street. As he came out of Safeway onto Johnson Blvd, the truck hit a pole and power lines.

What did you do for your summer vacation? Many students will hear that when they return to schools this fall but no group will probably have quite the story to tell as will a group of 30 college age students who were in South Lake Tahoe Thursday and Friday.

Registration for kindergarten at South Lake Tahoe schools will be held on August 4th. South Tahoe Middle School registration for new students will be held on August 12 and for new students at South Tahoe High August 11-14.

The first day of school is August 25th.

The likelihood of four-year degrees coming to Lake Tahoe Community College just got a major boost. A bill authorizing California’s Community College System to launch a limited baccalaureate degree pilot program was just approved by the State Assembly Committee on Higher Education. Senate Bill 850 (SB 850) allows 15 California community colleges to offer one 4-year degree as early as January 1, 2015, and starting no later than the 2017-18 academic year. The bill already passed through the state Senate back in May by a 34-0 vote.

The official dedication of South Lake Tahoe's 1.2-mile shared-use bike path that connects Elks Point and Round Hill Pines and provides access to Rabe Meadow with Nevada Beach and Round Hill Pines Resort will be held on Thursday, June 19 at 12 p.m.

The second segment of the Stateline-to-Stateline Bikeway, South Shore Demonstration Project adds to the existing path for a total of 2.2 miles. Meanwhile, the North Demonstration Project is expected to begin construction in 2015 and the first phase will connect Incline Village to Sand Harbor State Park.

Updated at 12:05 a.m. Wednesday morning: 100% of the precinct's results are in.

County Supervisor District 5
The top 2 will face off in November.

Kevin Brown – 788 votes, 19.06%
Kenny Curtzwiler – 731, 17.68%
Gerri Grego – 499, 12.07%
Sue Novasel – 1135, 27.46%
Teresa Piper – 235, 5.68%
Angela Swanson – 737, 17.83%

Measure P

Yes - 1271, 68.41%
No – 587, 31.59%

Measure L
Yes - 2552, 78.52%
No – 698, 21.48%

The South Tahoe Family Resource Center, next to Bijou Community School, will be holding a ground breaking ceremony from 4 p.m. to 5 p.m. for their new community garden.

The Family Resource Center (FRC) community garden will showcase a variety of permaculture techniques that help increase productivity and extend our short growing season. The grant will fund a permanent fence to protect the FRC garden as well as garden-related materials, seeds and soil.

For every day a student misses school it costs the Lake Tahoe Unified School District about $60 in lost revenue. With a budget centered around an average attendance of 95%, every time the figures dip below the average, it is a concern not only for the student's learning experience, but also for an already tight budget.

In a world full of acronyms it may be difficult to keep up on what they all mean. Here are two that you may want to learn as they have an impact on students in not only the Lake Tahoe Unified School District, but in the entire state of California.

The Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF) replaces California's nearly half-century-old, state-controlled school finance system with one that promises more local control as well as greater transparency and fairness. LCFF is designed to provide school districts with flexibility to direct resources to meet student's needs.

Coming on the heels of the announcement by U.S. News & World Report that their school was nationally ranked and placed as the 2nd best high school in Nevada, planned cuts at Whittell High School were unveiled at the May 9th Douglas County School Board Meeting.

Several concerned parents attended the last meeting and many more are planning on making the drive to Minden for this week's meeting. The parents have taken their mission to social media with starting the Facebook page: Concerned citizens and parents for Whittell High School.

Tahoe Douglas Rotary wishes to thank the Red Hut Cafe for once again hosting our popular Burger Night fundraiser! This year, with the generous support of the Ski Run Red Hut Café, Rick & Kelly Gardner as well as their friendly staff, we were able to raise enough money for two additional vocational scholarships and one additional academic scholarship for our students this year at Whittell and South Tahoe High Schools.

We'd also like to thank the few hundred South Lake Tahoe community members who attended Burger Night.

The Lake Tahoe Environmental Science Magnet School (LTESM) was selected as a 2014 California Distinguished School, an award given to just 5% of the state's schools.

“We are very proud of our programs and we are excited to be recognized as one of the top elementary schools in the state," said LTESM Principal Joel Dameral. "Our students, teachers and parents have worked hard to earn this Distinguished School recognition.”

Ivonne Larson, the Principal of South Tahoe High, was named Assistant Superintendent by the Lake Tahoe Unified School District Board on Tuesday, April 22. She will be in charge of Secondary Education, Career Technical Education and AVID for the district starting July 1, 2014.

This is the first time LTUSD has had an Assistant Superintendent since Barbara Davis resigned in August of 2005. The new position for Assistant Superintendent is part time.

The District will post a job opening for STHS Principal this week to replace Larson.

Lake Tahoe children are invited to participate in the seventh annual Camp Sunrise. Camp Sunrise is a children’s bereavement camp, serving children ages 7 to 14, who have experienced the death of a loved one. Sponsored by the Barton Foundation and Home Health and Hospice, the grief camp takes place June 13 to 15 at Galilee Camp and Retreat Center in Glenbrook, Nevada.

The goal is simple, "Helping the youth of South Lake Tahoe to be well read and well fed."

Hunger isn't just an inner city problem. Hunger isn't just a third world problem. Hunger affects approximately 16 million children in the United States with 3 million rural community households being "food insecure."

How can children focus on solving a math problem or writing an English paper when he or she is trying to ignore the persistent pangs of hunger? School work is forced to compete with hunger.

If you weren't able to make it to Saturday night's Dancing With the Tahoe Stars, here is a video produced by John Durst and Fabulous Lake Tahoe! Tahoe Arts Project presented the second annual dancing event to raise funds that help bring the arts into the local schools.

JUDGES:
Marcia Sarosik of the Lake Tahoe Shining Stars Dance Troupe
Paul Middlebrook of KRLT radio
Don Bosson - realtor/musician

FEATURED PERFORMANCES
Liz Niven w/ Adam Hopkins Samba to "They Call Me Cuban Pete" by Desi Arnaz ( 2:15 )
Jodi Stewart and Lyndon Facey Hip-Hop to "Dirty South" ( 6:29 )

Skiers from Whittell, South Tahoe, North Tahoe, Incline, Truckee, Carson and Douglas High Schools met on the slopes at Heavenly Valley on Tuesday for the High School Slalom Races.

South Tahoe High's Connor McKeen came in 1st in the boys' races with a total combined time of 1:01.79. Grant Dunkelman of Douglas came in 2nd at 1:02.98 followed by Harrison Goss of North Tahoe 1:03.55.

Maia Bickert from South Tahoe High came in 1st in the girls' races with a time of 1:02.96, followed by Cheyenne Brown of Truckee with a time of 1:04.86 and Laurel Taylor of Incline at 1:07.66.

Ten local dancers will hit the stage for the Tahoe Arts Project's 2nd Annual Dancing With the Tahoe Stars on March 8 at 6:30 pm.

Watch former Mayor Tom Davis, STHS Theater Director Liz Niven, Realtor Klaus Utecht, Director of Tahoe Center for Orthopedics Chris Proctor, Tahoe Tot Spot owner Amy Thompson, Environmental Engineer Eric Taxer, Soroptimist Roberta Benvenuto, Jazzercise Instructor Jodi Stewart, Sierra at Tahoe Director Sean Sweeney and Dental Hygienist Frances Caro as they are paired with professional dancers in a fun competition.

Are you concerned with South Lake Tahoe’s party and drug culture and want to help decide how a new grant can be used to create lasting change in our community? Be a part of the solution and join other community members who want to provide change around drinking and drug use for youth in our community.

The 2014 Quality Counts report that evaluates school systems in the United States gave Nevada schools a "D" on it's "chance for success" index. California received a C-. The national average is C+. Both states dropped from their 2013 scores.

The report has 6 areas they evaluate on: Chance for Success, K-12 Achievement, Standards, Assessments & Accountability, The Teaching Profession, School Finance and Transitions & Alignment.

They knew something was amiss when they couldn't find the home on Saddle Road listed on their vacation rental home contract. A group of 15 college students came to South Lake Tahoe to enjoy the three day SnowGlobe festival, where their time would be spent at the concert, enjoying the town and kicking back in a fully furnished ski cabin. But the lodging situation wasn't as expected since they fell victims to a "craiglist" scam and paid for a rental home that wasn't real.

This year’s Festival of Trees and Lights was once again a huge success. The six-day event is a collaborative effort between Barton Health staff, community and Auxiliary volunteers, and sponsors. Thank you to everyone who volunteered, decorated a tree or a wreath, donated an auction item, or sponsored one of our many events! A special thanks to Barton Foundation’s volunteer steering committee who worked all year long to ensure the event was a magical experience.

Thanks to a new, streamlined transfer program developed by the California Community Colleges and California State University systems, students at Lake Tahoe Community College now have access to more degrees for transfer in a wider variety of disciplines, making it easier for them to transfer to CSU schools and earn their bachelor’s degrees within two years. So far, LTCC is offering eight new transfer degrees, with another five slated to be launched in June 2014.

Twenty-eight area nonprofits were awarded $85,000 in donations from the 2013 American Century Championship. In a ceremony on Thursday, the Lake Tahoe Visitors Authority distributed the checks through funds raised during the annual celebrity golf tournament.