Entering the El Dorado County Fair just got easier. This year’s fair theme “There’s Magic in the Air” is appropriate because the fair can “magically” accept online entries.

The fair runs June 14-17.

The entry guide on online. At the top of the page, hold mouse over El Dorado County Fair, then click on entry guide. Click the tab that says “exhibits sections and forms.”

Once you have decided what you are going to enter, download the form from the same tab. Email the form to entry@eldoradocountyfair.org, then go to the “Pay with PayPal” tab to pay fees.

In keeping with the magical theme, a Harry Potter category has been added. For crafters there are options such as making magic wands and favorite sock puppet magical character.

Most of the entry forms are due by 4pm on May 24, the exception being flowers, plants, fruits and veggies. They have a June deadline. Actual entries are due in June.

Livestock cannot enter online.

To the community,

Since 2010, Bread & Broth has been funding our Monday meals through the Adopt A Day of Nourishment program. The Monday meal served every week at St. Theresa Grace Hall provides a hot, tasty and nutritious dinner to any individual who comes to our doors.

In addition to the full course meals, our dinner guests can pick up a food giveaway bag filled with fruit, vegetables, dairy products, canned goods and bread/pastries, and can stay until 5:30pm to grab cartons filled with the dinners leftovers. For many of the dinner guests, the Monday meal is a pleasant evening enjoying a wonderful meal and visiting with friends. 

For a donation of $300, individuals, organizations, businesses or church groups, can sponsor an Adopt A Day and host a meal that will feed up to 100 individuals. Thanks to Vail EpicPromise grant funds, Heavenly Mountain Resort sponsors six Adopt a Days annually. On April 9, Heavenly sponsored the Monday meal and members of Heavenly’s product, sales and services department, Kellie Rochioli, Raymond Marshall and Randal (Wil) Wilson, volunteered their time to serve as the sponsor crew assisting the B&B volunteers with the evening’s meal.

“It feels good to get involved with helping the residents of our community,” commented Rochioli after working on the serving line. “It’s good food for the soul.”  

Heavenly and its crew members are always ready to serve others and lend a hand, and their sponsor crew members frequently express how humbling and uplifting the experience is. 

Carol Gerard, Bread & Broth

By Kathryn Reed

The adage there is no such thing as bad publicity may be tested as South Lake Tahoe’s reputation among vacation home renters spreads.

City officials are hoping the negative regional and national media attention about its $1,000 fines for owners and tourists turns out to be a positive. This is because going after the violators is intended to create a better experience for everyone – local and visitor.

People tend to forget when they are on vacation, staying someplace other than a hotel, that people next door are likely to live there full time. Those residents have jobs to get to that are best performed with a good night’s sleep, not a party next door. Visitors don’t take into consideration that even though there isn’t a fence, the yard next door is private property. For some reason they think the kayak tied up at a nearby dock is something they can use.

And while these examples may be isolated, they are happening enough to have necessitated the City Council to implement stringent rules with penalties that get people’s attention. A slap on the wrist wasn’t working.

“I did get an email from a potential visitor after the [Reno Gazette-Journal] article came out indicating that Lake Tahoe had been on their family’s bucket list but they would be removing it based on what they’d read,” Carol Chaplin, Lake Tahoe Visitors Authority executive director, told Lake Tahoe News. “I understand the visitor center has had a few folks in who have commented on the unfriendliness of the penalties. I couldn’t say if it will have a long-term impact, but my opinion is that we should be able, as a community, to find balance and respect for both residents and visitors. It’s not an issue unique to our destination, so I think we could look to other communities for best practices.”

On April 17, the council received its first quarterly update about how the rules that were put into effect just before Christmas are working.

Of the handful of people from the public who spoke, some suggested softening the message the city is putting out by welcoming people before threatening them. One person took issue with the public information officer having boasted about the city’s VHR rules being in the news outside the basin, and instead said it was more of a black eye for the city.

Here are some stats from Dec. 22-March 31 regarding the 188 VHR complaints:

·      Parking – 105 complaints, 40 violations

·      Noise – 34 complaints, 8 violations

·      Trash – 7 complaints, 3 violations

·      Occupancy – 8 complaints, 1 violation

·      Hot tub – 13 complaints, 4 violations

·      Camping – 1 complaint, 0 violations

·      No sign – 2 complaints, 0 violations

·      Unpermitted – 17 complaints, 7 violations

·      Miscellaneous – 1 complaint, 0 violations.

Twenty-nine paid the citations without question. Fifty-one percent of the 72 citations have been appealed. Eighteen were dismissed, 11 were upheld with seven of those paying the full amount, the rest are still in the hearing process.

Trash complaints could become a non-issue with bear boxes being mandatory at VHRs starting July 31.

There is bad behavior by locals as well. Going after repeat bogus complainers has been brought up. Then there are the people who are unwelcoming to out-of-towners.

“We’ve heard of visitors being heckled when they arrive at a reserved VHR, which is an unfortunate statement about how we treat people in general,” Chaplin said.

The LTVA board is expected to have a discussion about vacation home rentals in the coming months.

Then there are the visitors who don’t understand why they have to comply with rules they find restrictive such as not going into a hot tub between 10pm and 8am even without jets. That rule came into being because of the countless disruptive noisy guests who shattered the silence of an otherwise quiet neighborhood.

Helping with the enforcement is Host Compliance, which was hired by the city to find violators and take complaints. The 24/7 hot line (530.542.7474) is live. The company also monitors rental ad activity and transient occupancy tax collections.

Maureen Stuhlman, who oversees VHRs for the city, told the council Host Compliance has revolutionized how she and others are able to manage the short-term rentals. She showed a slide of the city with dots all over indicating that on April 17 1,072 VHRs with ads were compliant, while 319 were non-compliant. Staff is then able to use that data to track down the owners because Host Compliance has provided the addresses.

As of April 6, the city had 1,396 active VHR permits.

By Nancy Chang, San Francisco Chronicle

Some 4.9 million Californians face food insecurity — our neighbors, a fellow PTA parent, the children running down your street. Yet, as Californians worry about where they will get their next meal, bags full of groceries end up in dumpsters.

As our state’s population rises and the food waste problem is expected to grow, we can’t let these precious resources continue to go to the landfills.

Our Legislature has taken an important first step in scaling up food recovery efforts. The California Good Samaritan Food Donation Act, signed into law last October, legalized the donation of food past its sell-by and best-by dates. Most items are good long after these dates, which are proxies of quality and not of safety. These misleading dates are responsible for an estimated 8 billion pounds of food wasted nationwide at the cost to consumers of almost $30 billion annually.

Read the whole story

By Kurtis Lee, Los Angeles Times

States that have passed laws legalizing recreational marijuana in recent years appear to have found some new, unexpected supporters: Republican politicians.

Since voters began to pass recreational marijuana measures in 2012, the pro-pot movement has seen swift support from many Democrats, with Republicans often pushing back against legalization. Those expressing concern or opposition have cited, among other things, the potential for pot to be a gateway drug, and they have regularly sided with law enforcement, which has established a unified front against recreational marijuana.

But a recent mix of public opinion, an influx in tax revenue and questions surrounding states’ rights has in part led to a shift in rhetoric and legislative proposals.

Read the whole story

By Art Marroquin, Las Vegas Review-Journal

It looks like a few drivers need a reminder on what it means to stop.

Sandra said she’s noticed a few motorists who roll past stop signs at four-way intersections. Randy said he received a citation for failing to stop at a red light while making a right turn. Mark said he was nearly sideswiped by a red-light runner who also was turning right.

In all of these cases, it sounds like the offending motorists were pulling a California roll. And we’re not talking about the tasty sushi treat.

For those who are unfamiliar, California rolls happen when drivers slow down — rather than stop — then drive through an intersection when they think it’s safe.

Read the whole story

By Liam Dillon, Los Angeles Times

A robust effort to attack California’s housing shortage was rejected Tuesday by a state legislative panel at the Capitol, felled in part by opponents who argued that it treated small cities and large ones like San Francisco the same way.

The defeat for Senate Bill 827 came in its first legislative hearing, a surprisingly early end for a bill that had attracted national attention. Sen. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco, was attempting to tackle two of California’s most pressing issues: the rising cost of housing and the need for development that is consistent with the state’s ambitious goals to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Wiener’s colleagues on the Senate Transportation and Housing Committee contended the bill would be too blunt.

Read the whole story

To the community,

Volunteering is a very special gift given by men, women and youth at Barton Memorial Hospital. Whether it be with their own personal time or a monetary donation, I am constantly humbled by these volunteers’ generosity and how greatly they help patients. Some are retired, wanting to stay active with their community, and some are youth volunteers just starting out in the working world to build their knowledge and resume.

April is National Volunteerism month. Volunteering sets a great example and reflects an empowering reason to give back, while offering a variety of health benefits. In a recent study, researchers found evidence that volunteers had lower blood pressure, lower levels of depression, increased life satisfaction, an enhanced well-being and were less likely to get dementia.

Barton is incredibly fortunate to have a dedicated team of volunteers working across many different departments. The community might not be aware of how many interactions with volunteers they may have from the moment they walk through our doors.

See those smiling faces at the information front desk? They are volunteers. Those friendly folks that will sit with you in the emergency department? Also volunteers. The men and women helping at discounted community wellness Lab days and blood drives? They are volunteers as well. If you were offered a magazine, snack, game or toy from our comfort cart, it was offered by a volunteer. From helping with important fundraising efforts to reading to residents in the Skilled Nursing Facility, the strong work ethic and deep sense of caring from volunteers at Barton make a tremendous impact with patients and our community as a whole.

As I have gotten to know Barton’s volunteers personally, I enjoy learning about their decision to get involved. Many of Barton’s volunteers have a personal tie with the hospital and choose to volunteer not just here, but at other non-profit organizations in our community as well. These folks have hearts of gold and I am constantly humbled by their service and selfless giving.

Patti Cobel, guest relations coordinator at Barton Health

Power is expected to be restored to residents in Meyers by 6pm April 18.

Liberty Utilities on Wednesday afternoon de-energized underground lines so South Tahoe Public Utility District could fix a fire hydrant.

The hydrant had been damaged earlier in the day when a vehicle hit it. This occurred on Friant Drive between Matheson and Murietta drives.

— Lake Tahoe News staff report

By Kathryn Reed

Apparently it pays just to show up.

The South Lake Tahoe City Council on April 17 agreed to hire Prothman Executive Recruitment to find city manager and city attorney candidates. The votes were 4-1 on each contract, with Councilman Tom Davis in the minority for the city manager vote and Councilman Austin Sass the dissenter on the city attorney.

Brad Robbins with Prothman spoke at Tuesday’s meeting, saying he was impressed with how the council conducted itself based on seeing them in action that morning. There were snickers in the audience. He told the council he had done some research about the city and thought they were a great group.

Of the three firms applying for the job for the city attorney search, only Prothman had a rep at the meeting.

The council members did not discuss the other candidates.

Sass said he was fine with the current firm Burke, Williams & Sorensen, with Nira Doherty doing the bulk of counsel responsibilities.

In the end, the majority of the council said having an in-house attorney is better for all involved. These last six months were the first time South Lake Tahoe had used an outside firm as legal counsel for routine work and not just hired as special counsel.

The city attorney search will cost $8,500, with a not-to-exceed figure of $12,000.

While the council talked to Robbins they broached the subject of his firm doing the city manager and interim city manager searches as well. They ultimately picked him to find a full time city manager. That will cost about the same as finding a city attorney.

The recruitment for city manager and interim city manager were a combined separate agenda item, however the city had never asked for firms to apply. Government Code normally mandates a more fair process for hiring firms than just giving it to the person who happens to be in the room.

The city’s human resources director will find the interim. Unsolicited, three people have turned in resumes for that position, with a fourth expressing interest. As this time their information is not public.

The city will be accepting resumes for interim city manager until April 26. The council at a special meeting on April 30 will interview the candidates. It remains to be seen what part will be done in open and/or closed session.

Fire Chief Jeff Meston has been acting city manager since earlier this year when City Manager Nancy Kerry was let go for reasons that could remain forever a secret. Meston has told the council he is stepping down from the city manager role in a matter of weeks.

Also at the April 30 meeting the council will be getting a lesson in the Brown Act and ethics training. The time of the meeting is still to be determined.