The Tahoe Keys Property Owners Association will host an independent expert panel and public workshop on Aug. 11 to discuss plans to fight aquatic invasive weeds.

TKPOA has developed an integrated weed management plan to address the growing weed problem in the Tahoe Keys, and its potential impacts in Lake Tahoe.

The meeting will be from 6-8pm at the South Tahoe Public Utility District headquarters, 1275 Meadow Crest Drive, South Lake Tahoe.

The experts include Pat Akers, California Department of Food and Agriculture; Joe DiTomaso, UC Davis; Kurt Getsinger, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers; Sudeep Chandra, UNR; and Joel Trumbo, California Department of Fish and Wildlife. This panel has been asked to review the plan.

The plan takes a comprehensive, holistic approach to the growing weeds problem, integrating the best science and proven techniques from elsewhere in Lake Tahoe and in the country.

The plan will need to be approved by the Lahontan Regional Water Quality Control Board. Some aspects of the plan could be implemented as early as 2016.

By Jeremy B. White, Sacramento Bee

Gov. Jerry Brown has called a state of emergency across the state in response to wildfires engulfing much of drought-stricken California.

This summer fire season has been particularly intense, with a series of blazes such as the Rocky Fire in Lake County and the Wragg Fire near Lake Berryessa consuming thousands of acres and leaving firefighters scrambling.

In declaring a state of emergency, Brown mobilized the California National Guard and relaxes some regulations like environmental rules or those governing trespassing on private property.

Read the whole story

Author and Sierra Nevada native Gary Noy is returning to the South Lake Tahoe Library to give a talk titled A Tale of Two Icons.

It is about the sad history of two famous California Gold Rush symbols — James Marshall, the discoverer of gold at Coloma in 1848, and Sutter’s Fort, the frontier castle of John Sutter. Noy will examine how the two individuals who had the most to gain from the Gold Rush, Marshall and Sutter, both died in poverty while yearning to regain their previous glory.

Noy is the author of “Sierra Stories: Tales of Dreamers, Schemers, Bigots and Rogues” and is presently writing a book on the “California Gold Rush”, which is scheduled for release in 2016.

There will be a book sale and signing following the free Aug. 12, 6pm talk at the library, 1000 Rufus Allen Blvd.

More than nine miles of Highway 49 in El Dorado County are being repaved to extend the service life of the roadway another 10 years or more.

Caltrans is resurfacing Highway 49 from the Amador County line to just south of Pleasant Valley Road in the town of El Dorado.

Work, which will also include some culvert and guard rail replacements, is being performed weekdays from 6am-6pm under reversing traffic controls. Motorists should expect delays of up to 15 minutes per stop.

The paving involves applying an emulsion over the existing roadway to seal it and then putting down a thin layer of hot-mix asphalt over top.

The contract has 45 working days and the project will be completed this fall.

To date, 5.5 million acres across the Western United States have gone up in flames. This would be like having the entire state of New Jersey be charred.

Most of the acres burned —4.7 million acres, or 85 percent of the total — have been in Alaska, where 300 fires are currently burning.

The ongoing drought, coupled with summer heat, has exacerbated the fire season in the West.

Major wildfires in the region include:

• The Reynolds Creek Fire in Montana’s Glacier National Park grew from a 2-acre burn to a 2,000 acres in a matter of hours. The blaze, which has burned more than 3,100 acres and cost $4.3 million so far, is one of the top priority fires in the nation.
• Calfire has proclaimed the Lowell Fire the most dangerous of the nine California fires that crews are battling. The wildfire has injured four firefighters, consumed more than 2,200 acres, and is still threatening 1,800 homes.
• Crews are rapidly gaining ground on the Blue Creek Fire in Washington, which has scoured more than 6,000 acres and cost $6.25 million.

By Carolyn Lochhead, San Francisco Chronicle

WASHINGTON — California Sen. Dianne Feinstein introduced a sweeping drought bill Wednesday that takes a much broader approach to the state’s water shortages than her failed effort last year to work almost exclusively with House Republicans to deliver more water to San Joaquin Valley farmers.

Feinstein’s new measure is important for one big reason: Feinstein introduced it. The state’s senior senator has made herself an authority on California water policy, and no bill dealing with the state’s drought has much chance of passage without her approval.

In contrast to a recently passed House measure that focuses mainly on getting water to valley farms — and rolling back environmental protections to do it — Feinstein included something for almost everyone.

Read the whole story

By Jon Ortiz, Sacramento Bee 

Legislative Analyst Mac Taylor said this week he doesn’t know what would happen if a new public pension ballot proposal becomes law.

“There is significant uncertainty as to the magnitude, timing, and direction of the fiscal effects of this measure and its effects on current and future governmental employees’ compensation,” Taylor wrote in a Tuesday letter to Attorney General Kamala Harris. “… The magnitude and timing of these effects would depend heavily on future decisions made by voters, governmental employers, and the courts.”

The assessment, co-signed by state Finance Director Michael Cohen, will soon appear on petitions for a proposed ballot measure that aims to upend the way public pay and benefits are set by requiring voters to weigh in.

Read the whole story

By Monte Morin and Rosanna Xia, Los Angeles Times

Despite record heat, drought-conscious Californians managed to slash urban water use by 27 percent in June and demonstrated once again that they were on track to meet Gov. Jerry Brown’s historic 25 percent conservation order, state water officials said Thursday.

Data released by the State Water Resources Control Board showed that Californians had reduced their water consumption by 59 billion gallons compared with June 2013, indicating what officials called a fundamental change in water-use habits.

At the same time, 16 water suppliers missed their conservation targets by 15 or more percentage points and will be contacted by water officials for an explanation, as well as corrective actions, within the next two weeks, officials said.

Read the whole story

Updated July 31 11am:

Douglas County sheriff’s deputies killed a 48-year-old Gardnerville man Thursday after he allegedly pointed weapons at multiple officers.

Mark Perkins died at his residence in the Ranchos.

On July 30 at 2pm deputies were told Perkins was armed with several weapons, was threatening his wife, and made statements to wanting to kill a neighbor and officers.

An arrest warrant was obtained.

At 5:30pm members of the SWAT team evacuated surrounding houses.

Deputies said Perkins came out of his home armed and confronted them.

“At some point during the confrontation Perkins pointed two weapons at multiple officers. The officers fired their weapons and Perkins was struck by the deputies gunfire and died at the scene,” deputies said in a press release.

It is not known how many officers discharged their weapons or how many bullets struck Perkins.

“On the amount of shots fired, that is information central to an active investigation so we will not discuss/release that at this time,” Undersheriff Paul Howell told Lake Tahoe News.

Howell added, “Initial record checks of Perkins has not revealed any convictions, however the active investigation will conduct a more detailed search of databases.”

The six deputies involved are all on paid administrative leave. Their names are expected to be released next week.

Carson City Sheriff’s Office will conduct the criminal investigation of the officer involved shooting.

The last officer involved shooting with DCSO was in December 2011.

— Lake Tahoe News staff report

·       The Tahoe Rim Trail Association offers a variety of guided hikes. For more info, go online.

·       El Dorado County Senior Day Care Services is hosting a free training for family caregivers of people with dementia on Aug. 24 from 2:30-4:30pm at the senior center, 990 Lassen Lane in El Dorado Hills. Seating for the training is limited. For more information, contact Jillien Smith at 916.358.3565.

·       Susie Glaze & The Hilonesome Band will be at the Boathouse Theatre on the South Shore on Aug. 5 starting at 8pm. Tickets are $22 in advance, $25 at the door and $30 preferred seating.

·       Placer County hired Jacqueline Debets, Humboldt County’s economic development coordinator.

·       Heavenly Village in South Lake Tahoe is hosting car shows Aug. 1-10.