A man was shot and killed Jan. 30 at the Beverly Lodge in South Lake Tahoe. Photo/Darcy Baker

One person has been shot to death in South Lake Tahoe and the suspects are on the loose.

Police officers were notified about 8pm Saturday that shots had been fired at the Beverly Lodge on Highway 50. When they arrived they found a man laying in the parking lot.

He was transported to Barton Memorial Hospital where he succumbed to his injuries.

Sgt. Travis Cabral said the man, whose name, age and hometown have not been released, was not staying at the hotel.

No one at the hotel on Jan. 30 would comment other than to say the police were there.

“We don’t have a suspect in custody right now,” Cabral told Lake Tahoe News. “Right now we have two or more suspects involved.”

He added that it’s possible the suspects and victim knew each other. A description of the suspects was not immediately available.

The type of gun involved and the number of shots fired is not being released at this time.

Officers would not say if this was gang related.

— Lake Tahoe News staff report

El Dorado County offers general civil legal services to county residents 60 years of age or older through the Senior Legal Services office.

Individuals may meet with an attorney to get legal advice, solve problems, mediate disputes, prepare legal documents, and be represented in specific types of elder abuse issues.

The Senior Legal Services office is located in the Placerville Senior Center, and is open from 7:30am-4:30pm, Monday through Friday. The staff also travels around the county to see clients in South Lake Tahoe, El Dorado Hills, Cameron Park, Greenwood, and Pioneer Park, and will visit disabled seniors in homes and care facilities.

Additionally, Senior Legal Services provides a wealth of self-help materials and legal educational programs on topics of popular interest to clubs, retirement groups, and other senior organizations.

There is no charge for the services provided through Senior Legal Services. The program is funded through the Older Americans Act as well as the county and through donations by clients and their families. To make an appointment, call 530.621.6154.

By Pashtana Usufzy, Las Vegas Review Journal

Health officials say a disease believed to have caused a major increase in birth defects among Brazilian-born babies is unlikely to flourish in Nevada, though travelers could bring it to the state.

As of Thursday, 31 cases of Zika virus disease have been confirmed in the United States, but all are related to travel outside of the country, Southern Nevada Health District Disease Investigation and Intervention Specialist Tony Fredrick said. There are no known cases in Nevada.

Cases have been reported in 11 states, the District of Columbia, 20 countries in South and Central America, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Read the whole story

By Megan Messerly, Las Vegas Sun

A contingent of Nevada conservatives remains undeterred in its efforts to repeal a portion of Gov. Brian Sandoval’s $1.5 billion omnibus tax plan passed during the last legislative session, even as those repeal efforts remain tied up in the courts.

Lawyers from a coalition supporting the tax plan filed an appeal with the Nevada Supreme Court this week, asking the court to reconsider a ruling made by a lower court judge last month in favor of repeal supporters.

But that isn’t stopping Republican State Controller Ron Knecht and others involved with the RIP Commerce Tax PAC from continuing to push ahead in gathering signatures to get the measure on the ballot.

Read the whole story

·      A staff member of Rep. Tom McClintock’s office will be at Lake Tahoe Airport on Feb. 1 from 10-11:30am to discuss issues facing the district, which includes the California side of Lake Tahoe, as well as any difficulties people may be experiencing with a federal agency

·       Elegant Evening, Soroptimist International of Tahoe Sierra’s annual fundraiser, is April 23 at Harrah’s Lake Tahoe from 5:30-9:30pm. Tickets are $65 and include a seated meal. Entertainment is by local Trey Stone.

·       Truckee was named Small Community of the Year by Infill Score and Curbed Ski Town of the Year.

·       In U.S. News & World Report’s Best Hotel Rankings the Ritz-Carlton Lake Tahoe is a Gold Badge winner for being one of the best hotels in the United States.

By Shirin Rajaee, CBS-13

In an emergency, your first instinct may be to dial 911, but the El Dorado County Sheriff’s Office is asking residents to dial something longer for faster results.

In an emergency, time is your enemy and every second counts, but calling 911 with your cellphone in El Dorado County may not be your fastest option.

For dispatcher Courtney Barbot and her team, a busy day at the dispatch center may mean 650 emergency calls a day. Some of those calls come straight to them, but others may need to be transferred from another agency.

Read the whole story

The physics of snow formation, symmetry of snow crystals, why snow is white, different types of snow, the various qualities of snow, how these different types of snow affect skiing-snowboarding, waxing for snow conditions, and the different properties of man-made snow will all be discussed Feb. 18.

Benny Bach from UNR’s physics department is the guest speaker that night at the Tahoe Environmental Research Center on the campus of Sierra Nevada College in Incline Village.

Registration is required for the talk. The program will begin at 6pm with refreshments and no-host bar starting at 5:30pm. A $5 suggested donation will be collected at the door.

By Kathryn Reed

The South Shore cycling community has big plans for this year that involve allocating money for trails and signage, as well getting jurisdictions to coordinate improvements to better leverage the limited dollars that are available.

Shay Navarro, head of the Bicycle Advisory Committee for the South Lake Tahoe Recreation Joint Powers Authority, on Jan. 29 presented her group’s goals for the year to the board.

The three-member board is comprised of reps from South Lake Tahoe (Austin Sass), El Dorado County (Sue Novasel) and Tahoe Paradise Resort Improvement District (Victor Babbitt). The men are new to the board, with this being their first meeting. The board is tasked with overseeing the expenditure of Measure S/R funds.

Last year’s pilot program to remove snow from the city’s class 1 trails barely happened because of lack of white stuff, so the money is being used this season.

With $22,000 left over from the Sawmill bridge decking project because the bid came in lower than expected, the bike committee is recommending that money be used to plow paths in the county that go from Viking Way to Meyers.

Novasel said the county’s department of transportation has questions about whether that path meandering through the woods (paralleling Lake Tahoe Boulevard) could sustain a vehicle regularly on it without damaging the asphalt, as well as questioning the need for snow stakes. She said a resolution won’t happen this winter.

It is estimated there will be $65,000 from the measures for bike-related improvements this year. While the board agreed with the committee’s priority list, final adoption will come in the summer when the exact figure is available. The preliminary list is necessary so committee members may work with city and county staff to get the projects on their calendars. Much of the this will be ironed out between the committee members and staff from the city and county at the March meeting of the bike group.           

El Dorado County officials have concerns about plowing the path that parallels Lake Tahoe Boulevard. Photo/LTN

The list in order of the bike committee’s priorities include:

·      Adding money to ensure completion of the class 1 segment along Rufus Allen Boulevard from the library to vector control and from Rufus Allen to the senior center. This includes the planned rehabilitation of paths between the bridge east of Meeks Lumber and Edgewood Circle and between Lakeview Commons and the Alta Mira site.

·      To decrease user conflicts, painting a yellow line down the Linear Park and Harrison Avenue paths is recommended. Widening Linear Park is also a suggestion.

·      Improve the pavement on paths at 15th Street, community playfields, and boardwalk by Lake Tahoe Golf Course.

·      As the city does work on Sierra Boulevard, create an extension from there to the class 1 trail behind Scusa restaurant and Fitness Evolution. “This is perfect timing because they plan to rip out the entire parking lot after the snow season,” Sass said.

·      Add green paint in the area of Eloise Avenue and Dunlap Street in the city when crews are striping the area to improve bike safety. This would be a pilot program. Green paint is a growing trend to help vehicles and bikes coexist on the same roads.

·      Increase signage where appropriate. They could give directions and mileage to key areas, as is the case with other signs the committee has funded.

·      While Measure R/S funds cannot be used to repave a street, the committee is urging the city to fix the dilapidated Eloise Avenue because it is a major route for cyclists and the surface is more suitable for a mountain bike than a road bike.

·      The committee wants to ensure intersection improvements included in the Tahoe Valley Area Plan are sensitive to the needs of cyclists.

·      The county is asked to realign the Pat Lowe trail for better access to Pioneer Trail and Highway 50 with funds from the On-Our-Way grant.

·      It is suggested the city extend a path from Melba Drive to Lake Tahoe Airport so cyclists have an alternative to getting to that facility, which doubles as city hall, without having to ride on Highway 50.

·      The group wants the city to apply for bike-friendly status, with the goal of getting a higher rating than bronze as has been awarded in the past.

—–

In other action:

·      Babbitt brought up the likelihood the park in Meyers will need more money than the $50,000 it currently receives via the voter-approved measures. Bike committee member Chuck Nelson pointed out this is not what voters approved and believes it would be illegal to do so. Novasel said the matter can be further investigated and discussed at the next meeting.

Lake Valley and Tahoe Douglas fire protection districts, California State Parks and the U.S Forest Service may continue prescribed fire operations beginning Feb. 1.

To view a map with project locations and details, go online.

Residual smoke may be seen in locations where operations have taken place over the last several weeks.

Smoke from prescribed fire operations is normal and may continue for several days after an ignition depending on the project size and environmental conditions. Agencies coordinate with state and local county air pollution control districts and monitor weather conditions closely prior to prescribed fire ignition. They wait for favorable conditions that will carry smoke up and out of the basin.

Before conducting prescribed fire operations, agencies post road signs around areas affected by prescribed fire, send email notifications and update the local fire information line at 530.543.2816.

By USSA

GARMISCH-PARTENKIRCHEN, Germany – A bruised and banged up Travis Ganong (Squaw Valley) led five Americans into the top 30, with a sixth-place finish, in the Audi FIS Ski World Cup Saturday on the Kandahar downhill track.

“I wasn’t really sure I was going to be able to ski this week with my knee – I had a bone bruise after Kitzbuehel,” said Ganong, who skied to his best result ever on the Kandahar downhill track. “I’m just really happy that I pushed through and raced today because it’s an awesome result.”

Norway’s Aleksander Aamodt Kilde stepped in for injured teammate Aksel Lund Svindal, who blew his knee last week in Kitzbuehel, and came out of the 30th start position to win his first career World Cup downhill. Slovenia’s Bostjan Kline was second, and Switzerland’s Beat Feuz was third.

For the Americans, Steven Nyman (Sundance, Utah) was 10th; Andrew Weibrecht (Lake Placid, N.Y.) tied for 17th; Jared Goldberg (Holladay, Utah) was 20th; and Wiley Maple (Aspen, Colo.) cracked the top 30 in downhill for the first time this season in 23rd. Tommy Biesemeyer (Keene, N.Y.), Bryce Bennett (Squaw Valley) and Marco Sullivan (Squaw Valley) all DNFed.

“Today (the Kandahar downhill track) surprised us,” Nyman said. “The first training run, it was really soft and warm, but it bound up and got frozen and was brutal. It’s an endurance track. Even though it’s only about two minutes, it’s bumpy and dark the whole way down. And it turns, a lot. It’s a nonstop fight.”