spring

Finding a spot to build a snowman or do a little snowshoeing will be a little easier this winter as Placer County’s Squaw Valley Park in Olympic Valley will remain open to offer a free snow play option for visitors and residents.

The park’s parking area will be plowed all winter long, creating a free and convenient place to park and play.

California ski towns are going to have to wait a little longer for recreational marijuana.

On Jan. 1, adults 21 and over will be allowed to possess up to 1 ounce of recreational marijuana in California, but most ski towns in Northern California won't allow sales of retail product yet.

Some of the most popular ski towns in Northern California — South Lake Tahoe, Truckee and Mammoth Lakes included — have moratoriums on recreational marijuana businesses, which means that product won’t be available until late spring, at the earliest.

The following are the Lake Tahoe and El Dorado County road projects being done in the coming week by the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans).

LONG-TERM PROJECTS

As weather permits, the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) has scheduled projects at Lake Tahoe and in El Dorado County. The following are the projects for the week:

LONG-TERM PROJECTS

The Tahoe Women’s Community Fund invites you to join our 2018 membership! We are a philanthropic leadership organization dedicated to building and engaging an inclusive and diverse membership of people interested in strengthening our community through the power of collective giving. Plus, through a very generous gift of $100,000 from Ms. Lisa Maloff, we will be matching membership money dollar for dollar, doubling our collective giving power for 2018!

Plans for the next phase of a multi-agency project to connect North Lake Tahoe to South Lake Tahoe along State Route 28 with a Class 1 shared-use pathway are underway, and the U.S. Forest Service Lake Tahoe Basin Management is seeking public input.

Heavenly Mountain Resort has taken steps to improve their skiing and snowboarding terrain while also adding energy and water efficiency changes.

Improvements would include selective widening of ski trails, removing trail obstacles and relocation and/or realignment of some portions of existing snowmaking air and water pipelines, increase energy and water efficiency as they seek to improve safety and maintain native species.

In the works since 2014, the last hurdle for the new El Dorado County Public Safety Project was approved on Tuesday at the Board of Supervisor's meeting when they unanimously approved a $49 million contract to design and build a new public safety facility. Clark/Sullivan Construction and Broward Builders were awarded the contract to design and build the facility.

Next to Commons Beach in North Lake Tahoe are the Place County owned Fire Station 51 and adjacent properties, and they are looking for someone to reinvent the area into a mixed-use development.

Experienced mixed-use development firms and other interested parties are invited to submit letters of interest for a long-term lease and their reuse concept for the former firehouse, Tahoe Community Center building and the former visitor center building.

The Tahoe Women's Community Fund celebrated their third annual Membership Celebration this past Thursday at Harvey's. With over 150 in attendance, we celebrated the success of our collective giving circle! Dr. Guy Lease gave an inspiring keynote speech on "The Power of Education in Our Community", and Karin Holmes was honored as our first annual Woman of Distinction! The positive strength in the room was amazing!

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - The long awaited 11 foot tall bronze sculpture "Spirit of Competition" perched on top of a 4.5 ton boulder was unveiled during a ceremony at Champions Plaza Friday.

Sculptor Gareth Curtiss transported his creation from his studio in Fortine, Montana just two days ago in the back of his van, early Thursday morning the bronze sculpture was picked up with a crane and placed on top of the boulder, bolted in and wrapped up for the ceremony.

Medicare Open Enrollment is October 15 through December 7, 2017. This enrollment period is one of the few times Medicare beneficiaries can change, enroll into or dis-enroll from, a Part D drug plan or a Medicare Advantage Plan (such as an HMO). Changes to plans are effective January 1, 2018.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - Mother Nature delayed the completion of the Spirit of Competition bronze sculpture, but now it is ready and will be unveiled to the public in a ceremony on Friday, October 27 at 12:00 p.m. at Champion's Plaza.

Artist Gareth Curtiss has a studio in Montana, and wildfires in the area set back his completion date and canceled the previously scheduled ceremony.

With the clearing out of the construction staging area at the corner of Fox Street and Highway 28 in Kings Beach, the end of an era for the revitalization of Kings Beach comes to a close.

Officials at Placer County today thanks everyone who shared their input and helped make this project a big success, and for patience with the inconveniences that road construction projects bring.

Items completed this season include:

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - If you've ever been inside Brother's Bar & Grill at the "Y" you most likely noticed all of the money taped to the walls and ceiling, anything with an open space had cash on it.

One day, local business owner was at Brother's having breakfast when he noticed all of the money was gone. He found out from owner Spencer Weiss that he had taken it all down and was now inside threes large garbage bag.

"It consumed the whole place," Weiss said of the cash over every inch of space. "It diminished the feel."

What does one do with bags full of cash?

I read with great interest Mayor Sass’s recent editorial of how he and Wendy David have been living, sleeping, and eating the VHR issue for over 2 years. I internalized these words and reflected how we, as responsible vacation home rental managers, have been dealing with inept City Councils and City Management for over 12 years.

Hundreds of plants grown under the green thumbs of UCCE Master Gardners of Lake Tahoe were sold Saturday morning during their annual plant sale.

Normally held in the spring, this year's event was moved to the fall due to a delayed start to the growing season due to the long winter we saw in the Sierra. The community apparently was ready for the sale as a long line of gardeners were already waiting when the doors opened at Sierra House Elementary.

A bonus this year were tours of the Sierra House Grow Domes as well as a Yard Art sale of the student's crafts.

The 2017 pine nut harvest season kicks off on lands managed by the Nevada Bureau of Land Management and Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest. Both agencies are working together to ensure the public is safely harvesting pine nuts and aware of the regulations.

The length of the pine nut harvest season varies depending on crop quality and seasonal weather conditions. It is generally September to late October when pine nuts are available for harvest.

The Tahoe Regional Planning Agency (TRPA) Governing Board on Wednesday approved an emergency permit for Caltrans to remove hazardous dying trees along its highways and rights of way in the Tahoe Basin.

California Gov. Jerry Brown declared a tree mortality emergency in October 2015 because of widespread tree die-offs after several years of severe drought. There are now an estimated 102 million dead trees in California, with the greatest tree mortality in the Southern Sierra Nevada.

The Alpine County Grand Jury has released their 2016-17 report and in it they are recommending the County improve their relationship with South Tahoe Public Utility District (STPUD) and work out a new financial deal with the South Lake Tahoe based water provider.

EL DORADO COUNTY, Calif. - El Dorado County has received a $57.14 million loan to build a public safety complex in Diamond Springs that will bring together the Sheriff’s Office operations which are currently spread out across 13 different locations in the county.

The loan is provided through the Community Facilities Direct Loan Program.

Several fires in California and Nevada are burning on Sunday with thousands of firefighting personnel fighting the blazes. The list below is of current fires in both states, updated with information available at 11:00 a.m. on July 9.

California Fires

Alamo Fire - 23,867 acres, 10 percent contained, San Luis Obispo County

Schaeffer Fire - 14,342 acres, 11 percent contained, 798 personnel, 17 miles north of Kernville, CA

Whittier Fire - 7,800 acres, 5 percent contained, 400 personnel with more on the way, Lake Cachuma, Santa Barbara County

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - The following are incidents the South Lake Tahoe Fire Rescue department responded to 235 calls from May 26 - June 19, 2017.

05/26
10:46 - 1000 block of Al Tahoe Blvd - EMS call, excluding vehicle accident with injury
13:44 - 3700 block of Montreal Rd - Medical assist, assist EMS crew
14:24 - 700 block of Eloise Ave - Electrical wiring/equipment problem, other
15:02 - 2100 block of Lake Tahoe Blvd - EMS call, excluding vehicle accident with injury
20:48 - 3300 block of Lake Tahoe Blvd - Vehicle accident with injuries

Littering in Tahoe is a big problem. Everywhere you go, there is trash and no one picks it up. People don't throw their trash in the garbage; they leave their trash on the ground and it makes its way into the lake. Other people who pass by it don't pick it up either. The problem started with the tourists who come to the beaches and throw their trash anywhere and they think that it won’t do anything to our lake. Tourists don’t take care of nature and our lake as much as the locals here. Some locals leave their trash everywhere as well.