By Kayla Fitzgerald, Sacramento Bee
Lip sync battles have taken law enforcement agencies by storm across the nation.
Now the sheriff deputies of El Dorado County are partaking. They posted a Facebook video singing Justin Timberlake’s “Can’t Stop the Feeling” hit Wednesday night.
Tara
Tara is home after having surgery on July 18 for cancer.
Now that Tara had retired, South Lake Tahoe police Sgt. Jason Cheney is responsible for all of the medical bills.
South Lake Tahoe Police Canine Association supplements the cost of medical bills through the sales of K9 Hero’s, and donations for the specific cause.
Donations may also be sent to: SLTPCA, PO Box 17071, South Lake Tahoe, CA 96151 or make one online.
Harrah’s and Harveys Lake Tahoe will implement a paid valet and self-parking program beginning July 30.
This new parking policy will operate continuously 24/7 throughout the year. Different parking rates will apply to high season (summer and ski season) and low demand season, and will be fixed at $25 for self-park and $30 for valet parking during special event days, including outdoor concerts, celebrity golf and designated holidays.
Platinum and above Total Rewards guests will continue to self-park for free. Complimentary valet will also be available for platinum and above Total Rewards guests. Discounts are available for Gold Total Rewards guests. Parking charges for non-Total Rewards hotel guests can be billed to their room.
The initiative is intended to improve the parking experience for guests, according to the casinos.
A sample of some of the new paid parking rates for “high season” includes the following features:
· First hour for self-parking at Harrah’s and Harveys is free.
· Self-parking up to four hours is $10 and four to 24 hours is $13.
· Valet parking is $15 up to four hours and $20 from four to 24 hours.
· Valet and self-parking is always free for Platinum, Diamond and Seven Star Total Rewards members.
· Gold Total Rewards guests receive a $3 self-park and a $2 valet park discount year ‘round.
· Locals dining in any Caesars Entertainment-owned outlet or shopping in any outlet at either property will receive free, validated parking (with purchase) from that outlet.
· “Locals” are defined as those residing anywhere within the Lake Tahoe Basin, Carson City/Carson Valley, Minden and Gardnerville.
By Nic Abelow
They could be among the most memorable journeys you take.
Travel with a difference: the essence of the volunteer vacation. You take the trip, you help make the difference for others, and perhaps you see the world differently as a byproduct. If you are thinking about combining travel with some service, there are things you should know.
Nic Abelow
Know the various options. If you’re traveling solo, you’ll commonly work alongside locals on a community-organized project, and live in dorm-style lodging with other participants. If you have a young family, a homestay may be arranged with a host couple or family, or personal accommodations could be scheduled for you; the service aspect can often be tailored to the interests and abilities of the kids. Animal lovers often work in shelters or in conservation management programs.
How can you book a service vacation? Travel agents and tour companies guide the way. You can even book one through groups such as REI, Discover Corps, Global Volunteers, and the Sierra Club. Some hotels and resorts will give you a huge discount if you are part of a volunteer effort. Be sure to ask what percentage of your fees will go to the local community (and not to organizational overhead).
Some trips emphasize tourism with a bit of volunteering. Often people can only volunteer for a day or two, not a week or month. A new class of vacations responds to that reality. Agencies such as Namu Travel, specializing in trips to the Caribbean and Latin America, structure trips this way; Carnival is even doing this on its cruises to the Dominican Republic.
Nic Abelow is a certified financial planner and LPL financial advisor with Abelow, Pratt & Associates Financial Advisors and Wealth Management in Lake Tahoe.
Charles Goldman on July 18 at the unveiling before about 50 people. Photo/Kathryn Reed
By Kathryn Reed
The love Charles Goldman has for Lake Tahoe goes much deeper than the depths of this cobalt blue body of water.
His relationship with the water and somewhat the land is much greater than most beings.
Goldman first came here in 1958 and a year later began what would become a decades-long career of research. He is considered the godfather of limnology, the study of fresh water.
It’s not just scientific papers that he has authored, though there are plenty of those. Many of which led to policies that affect the lives of those who live and visit here on a daily basis.
The 86-year-old Goldman has also written two children’s books and is in the process of writing another book about the adventures of limnology that will be geared toward the non-scientist.
A while ago he penned a poem about what Tahoe means to him. Now it is visible for all to see at Ski Run Marina on a 48-inch by 70-inch piece of art that was unveiled July 18 near Riva Grill.
Charles Goldman next to the mural with his poem at Ski Run Marina in South Lake Tahoe. Photo/Kathryn Reed
I dream of Tahoe wherever I may go
I dream this dream of Tahoe in sunshine or in snow
I see the cobalt waters in the alpine afterglow
Where pine and aspen forests take many years to grow
And I’ll return to Tahoe from wherever I may go
Yes I’ll return to Tahoe despite where winds might blow
And although my travels wander across the land and sea
My memories of Tahoe will always stay with me
The air is clear and brilliant where Sierra meets sky
It fills me with a sadness when I must say goodbye
But if we keep its blueness this lake will never die
And the children of our children will never have to cry.
Local artist Abner Rivera camouflaged the word “love” into the sky behind the poem to capture the feeling so many have about the lake. Goldman is then seen standing on the top of Mount Tallac looking out to Lake Tahoe with Cascade Lake and Emerald Bay below him.
It was marina owner Elie Alyeshmerni who came up with the idea of adding this layer of art to his center. He and Goldman only met about a month ago, but it was friendship at the get-go. It all came together that fast.
Speaking at the dedication on Wednesday night were Darcie Goodman Collins with the League to Save Lake Tahoe and Geoff Schladow with the UC Davis Tahoe Environmental Research Center. Both have worked with and for Goldman, and revere him. They single Goldman out, recognizing him as the one to sound the alarm to begin protecting Tahoe if it were to have a chance to remain the iconic body of water that it still is.
By Joanne Marchetta
Nearly 25 years ago, the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency and dozens of partners embarked on an unprecedented mission to conserve and restore the Lake Tahoe Basin’s treasured natural resources through the Lake Tahoe Environmental Improvement Program.
That partnership has continued to grow. Today, the EIP is one of America’s most ambitious and successful landscape-scale restoration programs, with more than 50 local, state, federal, nonprofit, and private sector partners completing projects that improve Lake Tahoe’s forests, streams, wildlife habitat, water quality, and public recreation opportunities.
Joanne Marchetta
As the annual Lake Tahoe Summit approaches on Aug. 7, hosted this year by Sen. Dean Heller, R-Nev., now is the time to reflect on the challenges and successes of this “epic” collaboration and recommit to working together to face the most difficult issues like climate change.
This year’s summit follows the news that Tahoe’s famous water clarity in 2017 fell to the lowest levels ever recorded. The end of the most severe drought in a millennium followed by the wettest winter on record and record summer temperatures all combined to reduce the lake’s average annual water clarity to 59.7 feet. But one bad year does not make a trend. We continue to make major progress on restoring Tahoe’s clarity to its historic level of nearly 100 feet by reducing storm water pollution from roads and urban areas and restoring streams, meadows, and wetlands that play a critical role in the watershed’s health.
There are many challenges in front of us. But heading into this year’s summit the Lake Tahoe region can take stock of what we have accomplished together.
This summer marks the 10th anniversary of Lake Tahoe’s Aquatic Invasive Species Program. Over the last decade, watercraft inspections have successfully prevented the introduction of any new aquatic invasive species in the lake.
With the inspection program keeping new invasive species out of the lake, collaborating partners are completing more projects to control populations of aquatic invasive species that found their way into the lake decades ago. Last year, partners treated 14.5 acres of the lake for Asian clams and aquatic invasive plants — a new record for the number of treatments in one year at Lake Tahoe. And we are working with both the public and private sectors to expand Tahoe’s aquatic invasive species control program, testing new treatment technologies like ultraviolet light and securing funding to make continued headway on this important issue.
Over the last two decades, basin fire agencies have treated more than 70,000 acres of forest to thin out brush and other hazardous fuels in the wildland urban interface areas that surround Lake Tahoe communities, with more than 50,000 acres of forest treated since the devastating Angora Fire in 2007. Fire management partners are working to complete the first round of fuel reduction in all 117,000 acres of wildland urban interface at Tahoe within the next 10 years and working with communities to create defensible space and improve wildfire preparedness through the Tahoe Network of Fire Adapted Communities Program.
TRPA and partners on the Tahoe Fire and Fuels Team are also working to expand this forest health work into the broader landscape through the Lake Tahoe West Restoration Partnership. This groundbreaking project is focused on restoring forest resilience to drought, insect attacks, and climate change in 60,000 acres of Tahoe’s West Shore, an area spanning from Emerald Bay to Squaw Valley. Last summer, project partners completed a resilience assessment of West Shore forests. We are now working on a restoration strategy to accelerate forest health and fuel reduction projects in this area and incorporate water quality and recreation improvements to restore one of Lake Tahoe’s most iconic landscapes and create a model we can use for other parts of the basin.
Much more progress is on the horizon for the Lake Tahoe Region. TRPA and its transportation and recreation partners are working on a corridor management plan for Highway 89 to improve traffic congestion, parking, and public recreation access in the heavily visited Emerald Bay area and to develop a Tahoe Basin Sustainable Recreation Strategy. Partners have brought new bike share and micro-transit services to Lake Tahoe and started construction on several major transportation projects, including the Fanny Bridge Community Revitalization Project in Tahoe City, the Incline to Sand Harbor Bike Path, and new bike paths at Dollar Point and Meeks Bay. With the recent public acquisition of Johnson Meadow, we are looking forward to vastly expanded restoration of Lake Tahoe’s largest tributary, the Upper Truckee River.
With continued collaboration, Lake Tahoe can meet its major challenges head on in the next quarter century, from a changing climate to continued population growth in neighboring metropolitan areas and increased visitation from those areas.
The upcoming Lake Tahoe Summit is a time to build upon and celebrate our successes and to recommit ourselves to working together on the many challenges we will face in years to come. By continuing to collaborate and work together, we can ensure we leave behind a healthy and resilient Lake Tahoe for future generations to cherish.
Joanne Marchetta is executive director of the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency.
By Henry Fountain, New York Times
For years, there has been a movement in California to restore floodplains, by moving levees back from rivers and planting trees, shrubs and grasses in the low-lying land between. The goal has been to go back in time, to bring back some of the habitat for birds, animals and fish that existed before the state was developed.
But in addition to recreating the past, floodplain restoration is increasingly seen as a way of coping with the future — one of human-induced climate change. The reclaimed lands will flood more readily, and that will help protect cities and towns from the more frequent and larger inundations that scientists say are likely as California continues to warm.
Researchers say it is unclear whether climate change will make California drier or wetter on average. What is more certain is that the state will increasingly whipsaw between extremes, with drier dry years, wetter wet ones and a rising frequency of intense periods of precipitation.
A woman involved in a fatal DUI accident at Cave Rock last summer pleaded guilty this week to causing death and causing substantial bodily harm while driving under the influence.
Kimberly Ann Davis, 40, of Carson City faces up to 40 years in prison.
Sranthon Bunnag, 52, of Thailand was a passenger in the vehicle. She was killed after their vehicle collided head-on with a minivan on June 26, 2017.
Court records show Davis’ blood-alcohol content at nearly three times the legal limit.
— Lake Tahoe News staff report
Eric Almdale
A South Lake Tahoe man was arrested this week after allegedly starting several fires and robbing someone in his family.
Eric Almdale, 43, was arrested on charges of arson of an inhabited dwelling and robbery.
Police arrested Almdale after he was allegedly using a knife to tear up the waiting room at Barton Memorial Hospital.
Over the course of a few days he went on a crime spree that involved arson, robbery and vandalism.
— Lake Tahoe News staff report
· The Olympics were well represented in the July 18 ESPY Awards. Reno’s David Wise was named Best Male Action Sports Athlete.
· South Lake Tahoe officials will be having a discussion about food trucks on Aug. 2 from 2-4pm and 5-7pm at the swim complex on Rufus Allen Boulevard.
· Reno Philharmonic principal cellist Peter Lenz will perform Dvorak’s Cello Concerto in South Lake Tahoe (1041 Lyons Ave.) on Aug. 3, 7pm and in Incline Village (300 Country Club Drive) Aug. 5, 3pm. Adults are $30 ($40 preferred seating); seniors $25; youth free ($15 preferred seating).
· The Douglas County Public Library celebrates the success of its Children’s Summer Reading Program with a visit from Jacques the Magician. This free show will take place July 31 at 6:30pm in the C.V.I.C. Hall, 1602 Esmeralda Ave. in Minden.
· Brad Johnson is now general manager/CEO of the North Tahoe Public Utility District. Since 2007, he has served as the director of engineering and asset management for the Incline Village General Improvement District.