·  The annual Environmental Summit is Aug. 24 from 9am-noon at Round Hill Pines. Sen. Deal Heller, R-Nev., is the host. This year’s theme is Transportation, Innovation and Sustainability.

· The next Lake Tahoe South Shore Chamber of Commerce Business After Hours Mixer is June 25 at 5:30pm at Basecamp Hotel at 4143 Cedar Ave. in South Lake Tahoe. Tickets are $10 for members and $20 for non-members.

·  On June 15, the El Dorado Trail parking lot at Jacquier Road will be closed for crack seal, slurry seal and striping.

·  North Tahoe Business Association is looking for donations to pay for the July 3 fireworks. The goal is $22,000, with $16,300 having been raised. Mail a check payable to NTBA, to P.O. Box 1023, Kings Beach, CA 96143.

·  More than 100 volunteers in Kings Beach showed up for Clean Up Day on June 6 and picked up 2,340 pounds of trash.

By Keith Ridler, AP

BOISE, Idaho — Interior Secretary Sally Jewell has announced $10 million for land restoration projects in 13 states in a strategy to reduce catastrophic wildfires.

Jewell said June 12 that making land more resilient to fire is essential for vulnerable species and for healthy rangelands, forests and watersheds.

Eight of the states are in the West, with projects in conifer forests and sagebrush rangelands, where wildfires have been especially destructive in the last decade. Sagebrush is also habitat for sage grouse, an imperiled bird under consideration for federal protections.

Georgia, Florida, Virginia and North and South Carolina also are receiving money to help restore longleaf pine forests, home to the endangered red-cockaded woodpecker.

The projects are part of a new Interior Department program uniting federal agencies, tribes, states and groups to create fire-resilient landscapes.

Gov. Brian Sandoval does not want Sen. Harry Reid’s job. Photo/LTN file

By Kyle Roerink, Las Vegas Sun

When Gov. Brian Sandoval revealed recently he would forgo a run for Senate, the announcement ended a year of speculation about his political future but triggered a new round of conjecture.

The subject this time around: What’s next for the Nevada GOP’s power structure?

U.S. Rep Joe Heck and state Sen. Michael Roberson are now the GOP front-runners looking to make high-profile ladder climbs this election season. The two are still publicly quiet about their plans, but Nevada political observers are abuzz about the futures of the two Southern Nevada lawmakers.

As for Sandoval, saying no to the Senate may open other doors. So what are the potential paths for the state’s top Republicans?

Read the whole story

To the community,

I have raised $1,990, allowing me to order many Spanish chapter books from Magic Tree House series and Junie B. Jones series. This will benefit all three classes in the Spanish TWI program at Bijou Community School.

We have many people who donated: Vincent Cefalu, Cardinale Automotive Group Tahoe Inc., Deana Budgell, Blue Dog Gourmet Pizza. Cristi Ellingford, Hetherton Agency, Jennifer Stafford, John Drum, Rebecca Bryson, ASA Real Estate Services, Luke Property Management, High Sierra Laundry, DBA Posh Finds, Timer World Properties LLC, Jennifer Webb, Karina Martinez, Cecilia Mendoza, Eneida Grajeda and Linda Bingham.

I raised the money because our students, both native and non-native Spanish speakers, are reading so well in Spanish. We needed more materials so I had to start a fundraiser to benefit all students in first grade TWI. We run reading groups where students are assigned a certain amount of pages everyday. Now we can run reading groups with books that are of high interest to the students.

Eileen Magallanes, TWI first-grade teacher Bijou Community School

By Jennifer Medina, New York Times

LOS ANGELES — Farmers with rights to California water dating back to the Gold Rush will face sharp cutbacks, the first reduction in their water use since 1977, state officials announced Friday. State officials announced that rights dating to 1903 would be restricted, but said such restrictions will grow as the summer months go on, with the state facing a prolonged drought that shows few signs of easing.

“Demand in our key rivers systems are outstripping supply,” said Caren Trgovcich, the State Water Resources Control Board’s chief deputy director. “Other cuts may be imminent.”

The cut impacts nearly 300 water right holders in the San Joaquin and Sacramento watersheds and delta whose claim to water came after 1903. State officials said that further curtailments are being considered weekly.

Read the whole story

By Matt Stevens, Los Angeles Times

The California Attorney General’s Office has asked the state Supreme Court to depublish a controversial ruling that it argues will impede the state’s ability to encourage conservation by charging people higher rates when they use excessive amounts of water.

In a seven-page letter filed late last week, the AG, arguing for the State Water Resources Control Board, said an April decision by the 4th District Court of Appeal contains “unnecessary and overbroad language” that could hamper the state’s efforts to fight water waste amid the ongoing drought.

In a lawsuit challenging a tiered water-rate structure once used in the city of San Juan Capistrano, the appellate court found that the system was unconstitutional because it charged more for water than it cost the city to provide the service.

At least two-thirds of California water agencies use some type of tiered-rate structure, which officials say has been an effective tool for encouraging customers to use less water. The remaining agencies use a flat-rate structure based on the units of water consumed.

Read the whole story

When Dan Kerr passed away last June he left behind a legacy with the Barton Health Auxiliary. Now he has left a new mark.

Dan Kerr

From his estate, he donated $219,097.92, divided equally between Barton Auxiliary and Barton Foundation.

“Dan was a big part of the Barton Auxiliary family,” Joyce DeWitt, Barton Auxiliary president, said in a press release. “It means so much to see him leave behind such a generous gift to Barton, where he already gave so much of his heart and his time.”

The money will be used to fund health programs and services that benefit the community.

Kerr coordinated the monthly Barton Auxiliary blood drives, donated more than 26 gallons of blood, and served as Auxiliary president for six terms.

The Placer County Sheriff’s Office and Youth in Action Team are hosting a community information evening June 17.

The event is from 6-7:30pm at North Tahoe High School auditorium, 2945 Polaris Road, Tahoe City.

Sheriff’s representatives will be covering the following information:

• An overview of drug and alcohol resistance programs in the community; what to look for and contact information if a potential issue is seen.
• Statistics from 2005-2014 on DUI and drunk in public arrests with a breakdown of visitors vs. locals.
• Youth and the health risks of underage drug and/or alcohol use.
• A brief overview by the CHP on issues they are confronting in the area.
• What agencies have done to work on the above problems; what is being done now and future plans.

A maintenance worker at a South Lake Tahoe hotel was arrested less than 24 hours after a woman reported being physically and sexually assaulted. Manuel Ramos-Munoz, 30, of South Lake Tahoe on June 11 at 10pm turned himself into police officers.

Manuel Ramos-Munoz

He was booked into jail on felony charges of kidnapping for the purpose of committing a sexual assault, assault with the intent to commit rape, forcible oral copulation, penetration by foreign object, assault with a deadly weapon, uttering terrorist threats, and battery causing great bodily injury.

The South Lake Tahoe woman who is in her 20s who was assaulted is recovering from her injuries.

Ramos-Munoz has been a maintenance worker and resident at the Big Pines Mountain House of Tahoe for four years. This is the same motel from which the victim had been abducted at knifepoint about 2am Thursday while socializing with friends.

Detectives contacted Ramos-Munoz later Thursday. Officers said he agreed to voluntarily come to the police department for questioning. Officers said Munoz confessed to forcing the victim away from the motel to a secluded area where he cut her clothes off with his knife, to sexually assaulting her, and to several other relevant details about which only a suspect would be aware.

— Lake Tahoe News staff report

Life doesn’t have to be uncomfortable at Burning Man. Photo/Burner Bungalows

By Megan Willett, Business Insider

Burning Man — the annual weeklong festival that draws wealthy techies and artists alike to a stretch of desert 120 miles north of Reno — is coming up in August, which means attendees are starting to think about how to build their elaborate camps.

The idea behind Burning Man is for tens of thousands of campers to come to the dessert and build a new arts-focused, DIY metropolis that functions without the use of money. They’ll erect tents, temporary buildings, stands, and outposts to live in and create their own creative, artistic, and out-there community.

These so-called burners spends months leading up to Burning Man getting their costumes, decorations, and living areas prepped — but some are opting to get ready-made storage container camps from a company called Quick Space instead of constructing their own from scratch.

Read the whole story