To the community,

We do not have our elected leaders’ voice at the Board of Supervisors:

As you may have heard by now, our new (El Dorado Count)y supervisor, Sue Novasel, cannot vote on, nor participate in planning for the new Meyers Area Plan. First, we respect Sue. She’s a hard-working woman who clearly cares for her community. However, with the county’s legal opinion that she cannot participate due to a conflict of interest, our community has been left without an elected vote on the plan. Yes, a second opinion is being requested from the state, but this takes time.

This is unsettling to say the least. Worse yet, this comes after many community volunteers have spent over a year trying to slow the fast-moving TRPA and El Dorado County train down so that the Meyers community has the chance – through a transparent, inclusive, and clear process – to develop the plan for our own future that is based on the desires of area residents, not TRPA nor special land speculator’s interests. We had high hopes that our new supervisor could help ensure the kind of process our community deserves. Now, we have an appointed supervisor from another district who comes from downtown Placerville, not Meyers.

The planning process is flawed, undemocratic, and not inclusive. So what do we do now?

That’s the big question. The last thing anyone wants is a repeat of the county’s 2014 process, whereby TRPA and the county present a spruced-up “dog and pony” show at yet another community workshop intended to impress but lacking clear and transparent information regarding the changes TRPA wants to impose on Meyers. Nor does anyone want to see the community’s input tossed out the window (again) by a Planning Commission unfamiliar with Meyers and the poor planning process we’ve dealt with to date.

There is a better way to plan for Meyers’ future.

We believe we can still turn this around. We have an opportunity to decide our own future. In fact, our neighbors at the Y in the city of South Lake Tahoe have recently given us a reason to be optimistic — the South Lake Tahoe community stood up to TRPA, and through a well-informed process led by city staff, citizens were able to define the future they want – not what TRPA imposed on them. As a result, the draft Tahoe Valley Area Plan (the “Y” Area Plan) has been modified and scaled down from the increases imposed by TRPA’s 2012 Regional Plan update. For example, the 56-foot height (four stories) prescribed by TRPA for the entire “town center” (most of the Y area) was reduced. In another example, TRPA’s “one-size-fits-all” town center approach was divided into five districts to recognize the unique qualities throughout the area. Notably the 1993 Meyers Plan included four districts in “downtown Meyers” before TRPA’s Plan lumped them all into one “town center.” We have wondered if the SLT community can choose unique districts and height, why has there been so much resistance to the Meyers community doing the same?

We have also heard positive comments from numerous members of the public regarding the city’s public outreach; rather than spouting off numbers and presenting charts, staff brought pictures to workshops and asked the public to voice opinions; thus giving people the chance to express what they wanted without having to first take an LTCC class in land use planning.

The entire Meyers Community, not outside special interests, must decide what is contained in any new Meyers Plan.

Meyers can still take charge of planning for our own future. But, the community volunteers need your help. The County has scheduled another public workshop for the Meyers Area Plan update for May 6 from 5:30-7:30pm at the magnet school in Meyers, 1095 East San Bernardino Ave.

We need you to attend and speak up. Demand a clear and transparent process and one that includes the entire Meyers community. Tell the agencies what you want to see for Meyer’s future. Make a fuss and don’t put up with another “dog and pony show.” If our community does not rally to this effort, we will be pushed aside by TRPA, county representatives from outside the basin, and NV-side development interests (e.g. Stateline’s Tahoe Chamber) and left with TRPA’s plan for the future of Meyers. From what we’ve heard from the community so far, their vision for the future of Meyers is a far cry from the interests of those of us who have made the Meyers area our home. TRPA does not represent Meyers, and the only board member that has lived and worked in Meyers had to recuse herself from the Meyers Plan update.

Meyers community members can make a difference if you get involved.

Some food for thought: Lack of involvement and complacency allowed TRPA to push their plans on us over two years ago without most of us knowing it. If we don’t get involved now, we will remain vulnerable to TRPA’s plan for Meyers. So, we can sit back and be upset about the inability of our elected representative to participate in our plan update, or we can take action and demand that the new plan represents what we want to see for Meyers. Let the other El Dorado County Board members know that we don’t want TRPA’s plan for Meyers – we want our own. Please join us on May 6 and be ready to be heard.

Sincerely,

Joe Cardinale, Angie Olson, Jennifer Quashnick, Moya Sanders, Rebecca Schwartz and Diane Verwoest

By Julie Rovner, NPR

Many women were thrilled when the Affordable Care Act became law in 2010, because it required insurance companies to cover a broad array of women’s health services without any out-of-pocket costs.

Five years later, however, the requirement isn’t being enforced, according to two studies. Health insurance plans around the country are failing to provide many of those legally-mandated services including birth control and cancer screenings.

The studies by the National Women’s Law Center looked at health plan coverage documents and consumer complaints in 15 states. One of the studies focused on contraception, while the other looked at a range of women’s health issues, including maternity care, breast-feeding support and other services.

Read the whole story

Echo Summit has always been a main connector to South Lake Tahoe. It used to be accessed via Johnson Pass Road, which connected to what is now called the Old Meyers Grade.

An aerial view of Highway 50 in the Echo Summit area. The white X marks where the next three photos were taken nearly 100 years ago on Johnson Pass Road, Photo/Google Earth

Old Echo Summit Road in 1918. Photo/Lake Tahoe Historical Society

Early days of the summit. Photo/Lake Tahoe Historical Society

In the 1930s and 1940s, the construction of Highway 50 over Echo Summit as we know it today was under way.

A 1919 Cadillac makes it over the summit. Photo/Lake Tahoe Historical Society

The Highway 50 Association advertised it as “All-Year High-Gear Highway 50” in 1949 as seen here
in the Stanford Daily.

Four-wheel drive was not an options in the 1930s. Photo/Lake Tahoe Historical Society

With today’s technology, a simple mouse click produces a live webcam view of Highway 50 traffic over Echo Summit. Photo/Caltrans

— Bill Kingman

By Kathryn Reed

Volcanoes aren’t usually something people associate with Lake Tahoe.

However, evidence of their existence is all around. It was volcanoes that plugged the valley to form the lake. Mount Watson, Mount Pluto, Cave Rock and Martis Peak are the major markers of the volcanic activity from millions of years ago.

Lava flow cut off the Truckee River drainage. Volcanic bombs are dispersed in various parts of the Lake Tahoe Basin. These rocks can be the size of a fist and as large as a Volkswagen.

Dave Schnake, local geologist and Tahoe Rim Trail Association board member, spoke about the various geologic formations in the basin to about 90 people last week at the South Lake Tahoe Library as part of the Friends of the Library programs.

“It’s not something that happened. It is happening,” Schnake said of the changing landscape.

Geologist Dave Schnake talks about rock formations in the Lake Tahoe Basin. Photo/Denise Haerr

Underground activity that finally reached the surface is in large part how the mountains came about.

“When magna reaches the surface you get a line of volcanoes,” Schnake said.

Nevada is full of mountains – having more mountain ranges in the United States than any state except Alaska.

About 70 million years ago this active volcanic activity subsided.

The rocks at Sand Harbor are other evidence of underground objects reaching the surface. Their roundness was formed under water and has nothing to do with wave action.

Most land movement is so minuscule that in a normal lifespan it is not noticeable. Geology tends to be measured in millions of years.

The Sierra Nevada is rising, but it’s hard to notice. Schnake said the biggest movement today is because of groundwater being drained from the San Joaquin Valley. This is pushing them up because it is taking weight off of the mountain range.

It takes something like the earthquake in Nepal to make massive movement. Schnake said Kathmandu moved 10 feet.

Substantive knowledge about plate tectonics wasn’t known until the 1950s as submarines started mapping the ocean floor. Deep ocean drilling also brought forward more information. This led to better understanding of how the continents separated.

The Earth is always moving in some ways – some noticeable, some not.

Areas around Lake Tahoe have had plenty of changes through the years. A chunk of Slide Mountain slid off in 1983, with debris reaching Highway 395. The scar from the slide at Emerald Bay is still visible.

The McKinney Bay slide was more than 10,000 years ago. Schnake said it caused a wave more than 300 feet that sloshed back and forth for days.

To the community,

South Shore community members felt the need for speed networking on April 30 at Lucky Beaver Bar & Burger. Attendees participated in speed networking rounds resulting in new business connections during Lake Tahoe South Shore Chamber of Commerce’s Need for Speed Networking Business After Hours Mixer. The speed networking rounds enabled attendees to easily meet new people and learn more about their partner’s local business.

Thank you to Lucky Beaver Bar & Burger for hosting and to all of the community members that helped to make this event such a success. The next BAHM is May 28 at Round Hill Pines Resort in Zephyr Cove.

Shannon Earley, chamber communications coordinator

By Karen Weintraub, New York Times

The microwave has gotten a bit of a bad rap about its effects on nutrients. Cooking and heating food by any method can result in some degradation of nutrients.

Vitamins C and B12, for instance, degrade quickly when a food is heated. But other nutrients may actually benefit from the rise in temperature. For example, carotenoids, the antioxidants found in colorful vegetables like carrots and tomatoes, increase when the proteins that bind them break down during heating, said Guy Crosby, the science editor for America’s Test Kitchen and an adjunct associate professor at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

The Harvard Health Letter recently concluded that microwaving may be preferable to other methods for heating food.

“Because microwave cooking times are shorter, cooking with a microwave does a better job of preserving vitamin C and other nutrients that break down when heated,” it reported. “The cooking method that best retains nutrients is one that cooks quickly, heats food for the shortest amount of time, and uses as little liquid as possible. Microwaving meets those criteria. Using the microwave with a small amount of water essentially steams food from the inside out. That keeps more vitamins and minerals than almost any other cooking method.”

Read the whole story

· The California Public Utilities Commission has mandated that Lukins Water Company customers may only water twice a week – even addresses on Monday and Thursday and odd addresses on Tuesday and Friday. It must be done before 7am or after 7pm.

· Nevada Beach’s gates are open.

· Here are the Caltrans roadwork schedules for the week for El Dorado-Tahoe and Sierra.

·  The annual Harrah’s/Harvey’s Hike for the Humane Society is May 16 starting in the back parking lot of Harrah’s. The guided hike, which starts at 9:30am and includes lunch, is $10. There will also be a first come, first served vaccination clinic for $5. For more information, call Niki at 530.542.2857.

· Al Pacino will be at the Peppermill in Reno on July 18 to share stories and more from his long acting career. He will also perform some of his most popular theatrical and on-screen moments. Doors open at 7pm, show is at 8pm. Tickets are available online.

El Dorado Savings Bank reported first quarter profits of $2,991,623, which represented a 4 percent decrease compared to the same time a year ago.

“The decline in earnings is the result of the drop in interest rates that began late in 2014,” CEO George Cook Jr. said in a statement. “While loan volume has increased, the lower rates on new loans and investments caused a reduction in the bank’s profit margin.”

El Dorado ended the quarter with $1.93 billion in total assets and savings deposits of $1.72 billion.

The Placerville-based bank operates 35 branches, 32 in California and three in Northern Nevada.

— Lake Tahoe News staff report

By Andrea Domanick, Las Vegas Sun

Nevada’s jobs outlook continues to point up, with employment expected to return to pre-recession levels by mid-2016, Nevada’s Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation reported Friday.

Job growth is expected to climb by 45,000 jobs in 2015, 52,000 jobs in 2016 and approach 60,000 jobs in 2017, surpassing peak levels last seen in 2007.

Employment peaked in 2007 at 1.28 million jobs; as of third quarter 2014, the state is at 1.20 million jobs.

Read the whole story

To the community,

The employees of the Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit were the evening’s Adopt A Day of Nourishment sponsors for the meal served by Bread & Broth on April 27.

Through their Wellness, Recreation and Morale committee, the local U.S. Forest Service employees donated the funds during events held last December to cover the $250 donation needed to host an Adopt A Day.

As an all volunteer, nonprofit organization Bread & Bread truly appreciates that the our local Forest Service employees have donated so generously due to their concerns about those who struggle with hunger in our Lake Tahoe South Shore community.  With the funds raised by the Forest Service employees, B&B was able to provide all of the food, supplies and utilities needed to serve over 120 meals and “to go” containers.

Helping the B&B volunteers at the dinner were Forest Service employees Karen Kuentz, Jordan Burge, Melraine Johnson, Tom Fuller and Katie Kuchenbecker. With input from his fellow sponsor crew members, Fuller wrote, “The Wellness, Recreation and Morale Committee of the LTBMU were happy to support B&B with both our time and funds raised by our fellow employees.  We enjoyed the opportunity to help serve our community.”

Carol Gerard, Bread & Broth