Soon South Lake Tahoe vehicles will not be seen at Lake Tahoe Unified School District owned fields. Photo/LTN

By Kathryn Reed

Players won’t notice anything different, but those who schedule and pay for the use of fields and tennis courts in South Lake Tahoe are likely to encounter fewer headaches going forward.

This is because this month city and Lake Tahoe Unified School District electeds are expected to ratify agreements that put LTUSD in control of these public entities. This means setting the fees, maintaining the facilities, paying for water-sewer-electric, and all of the scheduling. The latter has been under the district’s purview for a couple years.

The big change is oversight will be handled by one agency. The school board heard a presentation about this on Sept. 8 (no member of the public spoke), but won’t take action until Sept. 22. The agreement is on the Sept. 15 City Council agenda.

In putting together the recreation master plan it was evident a streamlined approach was needed to eliminate confusion for the public. This included a one-stop shop for booking facilities, and a clearer understanding of what the costs are. The agreement speaks to those issues.

LTUSD Superintendent Jim Tarwater is looking to keep the same fees for locals and charge more for out-of-town groups. Tarwater said the current prices are comparable to other facilities, though they are a little on the low side.

“Tournaments are what I’m looking at. Once we have established people they’ll keep coming up,”  Tarwater told Lake Tahoe News.

The change means the city will no longer be maintaining property it doesn’t own, nor will it be paying utility bills at the various sites. The city for a number of years had been doing so at some of the school district sites.

“For some reason over the years as lights would be installed they just got left in the city’s name. The city is transferring utilities to the property owner,” City Manager Nancy Kerry told Lake Tahoe News.

In this first year of the agreement the city will pay the district a $100,000 stipend to offset its new expenses.

The two agencies will evaluate that subsidy on an annual basis.

“They will hire a reservation clerk, grounds superintendent and tournament coordinator. The city wants to help offset that because it helps support community recreation,” Kerry said.

Tarwater said the scheduling piece would change by hiring someone to work 20 hours a week, with flex hours to handle crunch time in the spring and early summer. More grounds crews will be hired, too.

Attracting tournaments could offset expenses as well as increase revenue. South Tahoe High School hosted three football camps this summer. Breakfast, lunch and dinner were served to the players, which netted the district a few thousand dollars.

“We are looking at a more full service approach and outreach,” Tarwater said.

Tarwater would also like to put a pot of money aside to fix the tennis courts at South Tahoe Middle School, as well as get more groups to use the high school courts. (He said the football players put tents on STHS courts this summer because they got scared when they saw a bear.)

The recreation center and ice rink are not part of the agreement. However, the ball field at Lake Tahoe Community College and the fields that will be built adjacent to the artificial turf one will come under a separate agreement among the three entities. Later this fall LTUSD, SLT and LTCC electeds are expected to create a joint powers agreement to handle the fields there.

—–

       Notes:

·      South Lake Tahoe City Council meeting is Sept. 15 at 9am at Lake Tahoe Airport.

·      Lake Tahoe Unified School District meeting is Sept. 22 at 6pm at the district office on Al Tahoe Boulevard.

Publisher’s note: This letter was sent to Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval and is printed with permission.

To Gov. Sandoval,

If education and workforce development are your priorities, would you start by addressing the Keep Our Bears Wild program and the executive proclamation leading to Bear Logic month that are not being enforced by NDOW? Where is the education of the public to reduce the bear welcoming mat? Why are bears being trapped and killed under false pretenses? Why doesn’t your organization educate homeowners on bear aversion tactics? Why aren’t bear proof boxes mandatory? Why aren’t businesses fined for overflowing garbage bins? Why are bears euthanized when a homeowner leaves a door open inviting intruders? Why don’t bear lives matter more? Why doesn’t NDOW refuse to trap when it’s the homeowner’s fault like California? Where is NDOW’s accountability? Who do they answer to?

They sure seem to be running amuck. Educate the public. Educate NDOW.

There is no reason we cannot coexist with bears when we are living in their territory. Stop sacrificing the bears and start educating the public and holding NDOW accountable.

Sincerely,

Dianne Gross, El Dorado Hills

By Jordan Malter, CNN Money

Last year, 17.4 million households struggled to put food on the table.

That means 14 perent of households either experienced a reduced quality of diet or disrupted eating patterns at some time during the year, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said in its annual food security report.

That percentage is ‘essentially unchanged’ from 2013, the USDA said. This is despite the fact that the economy improved overall during that time period, with the unemployment rate falling from 8 percent in January 2013 to 5.6 percent by the end of 2014, when the USDA conducted its survey.

Read the whole story

A $9.9 million grant from the California Federal Lands Access Program will be used to improve 6.5 miles of Donner Pass Road (Old Highway 40) from Interstate 80 to the Truckee.

The grant was awarded to Nevada County, though part of the work will be done in Placer County.

Upgrades include Class II bicycle lanes, parking and pavement rehabilitation.

Work is slated to begin in 2016, with completion in 2019.

By Bettina Boxall, Los Angeles Times

After four parched years, most California voters seem to be taking the drought in stride, saying it has had little to no effect on their daily lives. They oppose sacrificing environmental protections to expand water supplies and generally approve of how Gov. Jerry Brown has handled the crisis, according to a new statewide USC Dornsife/Los Angeles Times poll.

While a majority of respondents opposed easing environmental restrictions, voters strongly favored other approaches to boosting supplies, such as water recycling, capturing storm runoff and increasing groundwater storage.

The poll results suggest that California has proved remarkably resilient during one of the worst droughts on record — one that prompted Brown to impose the state’s first-ever mandatory restrictions on urban water use.

Read the whole story

By Associated Press

Federal forecasters upgraded this year’s El Nino to an unusual strong status, but said it’s probably not a record breaker or drought buster.

Mike Halpert, deputy director of the federal Climate Prediction Center, said the current worldwide weather shifting event doesn’t match the monster El Nino of 1997-1998, nor is it likely to.

With even warmer waters in the central Pacific in August, the hottest in more than 17 years, the prediction center moved the El Nino up from moderate status. So far the El Nino is the third strongest on record, behind 1997-98 and a weird one in 1987-88 that peaked early.

Meteorologists said strong El Ninos usually dump heavy rains on southern California, but its four-year water deficit is too big to be erased in one wet winter.

The final workshop in the Tahoe Friendly Landscaping series is Sept. 12 at Lake Tahoe Community College in Room B103 from 9am-1pm.

Converting Lawn to a Water Wise Landscape the Easy Way will provide hands-on demonstrations on turf removal, sheet mulching, and converting to micro irrigation. There will also be a discussion on different landscape styles and techniques.

This workshop is free and open to the public.

Updated 8:20pm

A mandatory evacuation notice has been issued for the town of San Andreas because of the Butte Fire.

“Emergency officials are asking the public to adhere to this order and evacuate the area immediately due to rapid and explosive fire conditions,” CalFire officials said in a statement Friday afternoon.

The 64,728-acre fire is burning east of Jackson in Amador and Calaveras counties. Containment has decreased to 5 percent.

“Fire behavior remained extreme throughout the day with rapid, uncontrolled fire growth to the south and east. Unfavorable weather coupled with fuel moistures at critical levels have resulted in explosive fire conditions. Mandatory evacuations continue to expand as the fire continues to grow. Residents are urged to stay vigilant due to current and expected fire conditions,” authorities said.

Six houses and two out buildings have burned in the fire that started the afternoon of Sept. 9. However, 6,400 buildings remain threatened. The cause of the fire is under investigation.

Many neighborhoods in the area have been evacuated. Evacuation centers have been set up at the Jackson Rancheria Hotel, San Andreas Hall and Calaveras County Fairgrounds.

— Lake Tahoe News staff report

A South Lake Tahoe man was arrested this week on domestic violence, arson and other charges in a case in which the victim told officers her boyfriend had said “we are going to die today.”

Brandon Rothermel

Officers received a 911 call Sept. 9 at 2pm from a woman saying her boyfriend had physically assaulted her at his apartment in the 600 block of James Avenue. She also said Brandon Rothermel, 33, was pouring gasoline inside the apartment. While 911 operators were still speaking with the victim, she reported the apartment was on fire.

An officer attempted to detain Rothermel. but Rothermel grabbed the officer’s handcuffs and refused to let them go. Rothermel also reportedly used his lighter on the officer, resulting in a minor burn to the officer’s skin.

The fire damaged property inside the apartment.

Detectives served a search warrant and recovered several containers of gasoline and a lighter in the living room. They also recovered a firearm that was not registered to Rothermel.

— Lake Tahoe News staff report

The 4th annual Fall Festival and Chili Cook Off is Sept. 12 from 10am-4pm at the South Lake Tahoe Recreation Complex on Rufus Allen Boulevard.

Admission is free. There will be free games and prizes for the kids, and a free door prize ticket for all attendees. Several local nonprofit organizations and public safety entities, South Lake Tahoe Cancer League, Clean Tahoe, Lake Tahoe Humane Society,Tahoe Coalition for the Homeless, K-9 and SWAT Associations, and Christmas Cheer were given free space to promote their services to the public.

Those who bring a non-perishable food item for Christmas Cheer will receive an extra door prize ticket. South Tahoe Refuse has also donated a silent auction item, which includes the use of a dumpster. This item will be dedicated to raising money for the South lake Tahoe Cancer League at this event.