By Ryan Sabalow and Ed Fletcher, Sacramento Bee

It was October, and most of the vacation homes on this part of Lake Tahoe were empty. Bob Chaplin, 82, was living alone on a quiet street.

And he was getting nervous.

Bears had been breaking into his neighbors’ houses. Shuttered windows and locked doors did little to slow them down on their quest for whatever food remained in pantries or refrigerators. In the mornings, Chaplin wandered the streets and found evidence of the bears’ burglaries – broken glass, ruined furniture and homes strewn with bear feces and urine.

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Nevada Department of Transportation on March 18 will begin overnight single lane closures as part of an ongoing project to install a traffic signal on Highway 395 at Airport Road and improve other highway intersections in the Carson Valley.

Onene lane of northbound 395 will be closed near Johnson Lane Sunday through Thursday between 6pm-6am. Speeds will be reduced to 55 mph through the work zone. The road construction schedule is subject to change, based on weather and rate of snow melt over the weekend.

The overnight single lane closures will continue through the coming months on 395 between Airport Road and Stephanie Way. Periodic roadway shoulder closures will also continue to be in place on southbound U.S. 395 between Stephanie Way and Airport Road over coming weeks for project-related utility work.

Drivers should anticipate a short-term closure of left-hand turns between southbound U.S. 395 and Airport Road later this spring as a signal is installed at Airport Road. Nearby detours will be available via Johnson Lane.

By Tom Millham

Late August into early September 2017, Lake Tahoe Wildlife Care had two bear cubs die suddenly over the space of two weeks; a shock to the entire organization.

LTWC’s veterinarian, Kevin Willitts, worked with Brandon Munk of the California Department of Fish and Wildlife to determine the cause of these bears’ deaths.

After extensive work by Munk and his team, alongside various other agencies, it was determined that a virus called canine adenovirus was responsible for the cubs’ deaths.

Through additional testing, the remaining four cubs being cared for at LTWC’s facility have proved to be positive for the virus. Initial concerns included the source of this virus so LTWC took immediate measures to quarantine the remaining cubs, in addition to the rest of the rehabilitation compound.

The four remaining cubs continued to show excellent health and are expected to remain healthy. They entered into their hibernation period – in early December – and have been seen nestling in the straw inside their den.

The loss of these two bear cubs stimulated additional investigation by Munk and pathologists at the California Animal Health and Food Safety laboratory. Their work has shown that other black bears in California have been exposed to canine adenovirus. Their investigations are ongoing and the significance of these findings is yet
to be known.

The two cubs (Burns Canyon and Laytonville) are expected to be released sometime in late March/early April, while the two cubs from the Tahoe area (Sky and Bliss) are scheduled to be released in late April/early May.

Tom Millham is the co-founder of Lake Tahoe Wildlife Care.

By Jason Hidalgo, Reno Gazette-Journal

Four years ago, Nevada launched a marketing program to promote local farmers, manufacturers, producers and restaurants and their products.

The program’s mantra is “Food and agriculture products made and grown in Nevada.” Fast forward to 2018, however, and the Buy Nevada is facing challenges as it struggles to keep its program up to date amid a lack of resources.

Timed to tap into increased interest among consumers for healthier food options and supporting operations that are closer to home, the Buy Nevada program — which is overseen by the Nevada Department of Agriculture — was designed to give the state’s businesses a helping hand while giving consumers confidence that they were supporting local or homegrown companies.

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Crystal Bay and the Third Creek area of Incline Village are under a stage 1 avalanche alert.

Washoe County issued the warning Friday morning because of the continued heavy snowfall, and strong winds. Officials said the warning could be upgraded to a stage 2 later on March 16. Stage 3, which could occur this evening, means to shelter in place.

The winter storm warning issued by the National Weather Service  in Reno remains in effect through 5am March 17.

— Lake Tahoe News staff report

El Dorado County District Attorneys Office is partnering with Lyft to encourage local residents to use safe rides to reduce impaired driving during this St. Patrick’s Day weekend.

On March 16 and March 17, Lyft will provide discounted rides in the greater Sacramento area, including El Dorado and Placer counties. New users can enter the code 2018RIDESAFE in the app for $10 off the first two rides, and existing users may claim 10 percent off one ride with the code RIDESAFEELDORADO.

Impaired driving remains a serious problem throughout the state and in El Dorado County, which was fourth worst in total fatal and injury collisions in 2015, according to the DA. In California, there were 17,390 injury collisions involving alcohol in 2015. That same year, there were 122 alcohol-involved injuries or fatalities in El Dorado County.

Updated 11:42am:

Schools in Lake Tahoe Unified, Douglas County, Truckee Unified and Incline are closed on Friday because of all the snow.

Courts in El Dorado County are starting at 10am on March 16, and expect to close early.

Lake Tahoe Community College is open, however it plans to close at 3pm.

Roads are a mess. Check the state icons on the home page of Lake Tahoe News to stay updated.

Ski resorts are digging out. Before heading to the slopes, check to see what is open.

A winter storm warning remains in effect through 5am March 17. The National Weather Service in Reno say there could be another 8-15 inches at lake level, with 1-3 feet above 7,000 feet.

The Sierra Avalanche Center in Truckee has issued a backcountry avalanche warning for the greater Lake Tahoe area. That is in effect through 7am Saturday.

— Lake Tahoe News staff report

·      Truckee’s electeds approved a Raley’s grocery store to be built at Soaring Way and Highway 267.

·      Tahoe Truckee Unified will be hosting two parent meetings to discuss school safety. The first is March 28 at 5:30pm at Truckee High, then the following night at the same time at North Tahoe High.

·      Zephyr Cove Library is hosting an after school movie program on March 28 at 4pm. “A Bug’s Life” (rated G) will be shown on a big screen in the meeting room. The movie and popcorn are free.

·      Tahoe Donner’s Lodge Restaurant & Pub was recognized by OpenTable as a 2018 Diners’ Choice winner for the fifth consecutive year. The Lodge was voted among the highest restaurants in North Lake Tahoe in the following categories: Best Value, Best Service, Best Ambiance, Best Food and Best Overall.

By Kathryn Reed

Edgewood Companies this week proved it has abandoned its roots as a family cattle company that grew into an integral component of the South Shore community and is now just another corporate entity that looks more at the bottom line than the front line.

The company officially severed a 28-year relationship with Soroptimist International of South Lake Tahoe because it wants a bigger share of the food and beverage take at the American Century Championship golf tournament.

SISLT has been affiliated with the celebrity golf tournament since the inaugural event in 1990. In that time the nonprofit service club went from operating one food tent to four. In 2017, the organization put in more than 2,500 volunteer hours at the golf tournament.

The time and hours involved keeps growing because the tournament is growing. With a record crowd of nearly 50,000, it means that there are that many more people who want to eat and drink.

Back when the tournament started Edgewood Companies was known as Park Cattle Co. In 2013, the Park family split its assets. Those who retained the rights to Edgewood Tahoe Golf Course brought in professional managers and the family presence was lost.

There was another management shakeup late last year with the departure of longtime General Manager Bobby King and Patrick Rhamey, who oversaw the real estate sector. Corinna Osborne, who had been director of hotel operations for Edgewood, is now the general manager.

She is who has been corresponding with Soroptimist representatives. She did not return Lake Tahoe News’ phone calls.

Osborne asked club members to meet with her and John McLaughlin, Edgewood Tahoe president/CEO, in early February.

“We got the feeling at the meeting they had no idea what we do,” SISLT President Pam Barrett told Lake Tahoe News. “The new management doesn’t seem to respect our efforts of the past to continue the relationship.”

That was the lone in-person meeting. Discussions have been by email since then.

The prior general manager at Edgewood had a hands off approach with Soroptimist. According to Barrett, the club had no problem with the relationship. They met with Edgewood folks before the tournament, knew the hours to staff the food booths, turned in the money each night to Edgewood, and returned the next day – the next year.

Edgewood supplied the food. It started with hot dogs, and last year included salads, sandwiches and burritos, wine, beer and non-alcoholic drinks.

For their efforts, SISLT received a portion of the proceeds. Usually is was just less than half of the take. Last year the group received about $50,000.

The club and Edgewood split the cost of the equipment. Every year SISLT has paid to store these items, which it only uses at the golf tournament.

Osborne wrote to SISLT members, “As far as supplies and equipment that you have purchased, stored, etc… Edgewood has no record of such a scenario.”

Barrett said since then the club has been told it can keep the stuff.

Edgewood offered to pay the club the equivalent of $10/hour for each person who worked this coming year. Club members would be doing so alongside Edgewood employees and possibly other nonprofit volunteers. (Nevada’s minimum wage is $8.25/hour, California’s is $11/hour.) This would amount to less than half of what the group made last year.

“That’s a pretty measly offer,” Barrett said. “They call what we get a donation. We don’t think of it as a donation because we worked for it.”

Lake Tahoe News was provided a statement through Weidinger Public Relations from Edgewood.

“Reflective of our long held tradition of community involvement, we are looking to benefit Tahoe-based organizations in an impactful and immediate way,” CEO McLaughlin said. “In reviewing tournament food and beverage procedures the executive committee agreed the previous arrangement with Soroptimists [stet] required a more transparent process to guarantee funds are distributed annually and invested in a manner that benefits our community immediately. To that end, we’re talking to other local organizations about their involvement. Soroptimists [stet] have done a wonderful job over the years, we sincerely appreciate their involvement and hope the monies raised through their efforts with the event have helped many.”

Because there was no actual direct dialogue between LTN and Edgewood, clarifying questions could not be asked.

In response to McLaughlin’s statement, Barrett said, “I don’t exactly see how he can say the donations are not transparent. I think his problem is that he doesn’t think Edgewood got enough credit in the media. He says the money was a donation from Edgewood. We say we worked for that money. The reason there was not a lot of publicity is that Bobby King never asked us for any publicity.”

Barrett said Edgewood starting this year wanted to dictate how the club disbursed its money from the golf tournament. The group said no way.

Soroptimist groups worldwide are about enhancing the lives of women and children. That is reflected locally with how grants funds are allocated.

What Edgewood’s issue is with how SISLT used its money is unknown.

Going forward the company wants to involve more nonprofits, at least at the tournament.

Osborne said to SISLT, “The tents will not be designated to any organization. These will be designated as ‘Edgewood Charitable’ tents. This is currently in development. Once we have selected the charities, we will have appropriate signage and messaging representing the organizations.”

Edgewood as the host of the golf tournament has control over all the food and beverage operations.

It’s hard to know who Edgewood will partner with since it has cut ties with other groups.

The other South Shore Soroptimist group – Soroptimist International of Tahoe Sierra – had become a partner in its sister club’s service at the golf tournament.

In SITS’s weekly email sent March 15 the comment in respect to the Edgewood news was, “They seem to be putting profits over the people of this community.”

Edgewood has told Live Violence Free it cannot have its annual gala there this year. The Lake Tahoe Boys & Girls Club is also not welcome back to Edgewood for its fundraiser.

By Joe Mathews

Stay away from my lake, Californians.

It’s too important, for the likes of you.

Joe Mathews

Yes, as a legal matter, I don’t own Lake Mathews. But I’ve always felt a kinship with a Riverside County reservoir that spells our mutual name the correct way, with just one “t.” What’s more, Lake Mathews serves as the beating heart of the system that supplies water for me and millions of Southern Californians.

Lake Mathews represents an end and a beginning. It’s both the terminus of the 242-mile aqueduct from the Colorado River, and a distribution center, sending that water, via gravity, from its elevation of 1,500 feet, around the region.

It’s also a singularly forbidden place. All over California, rivers, canals and reservoirs double as sites for recreation and leisure. But not Lake Mathews. It’s completely fenced off. And decades of efforts to secure public access have been denied by its owner, the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California.

So in an era when every body of water inspires plans for public access or development or both, Lake Mathews retains a special mystique. My lake is like an old-time movie star—unknowable. And that’s probably the way it should remain.

The special status of Lake Mathews is the product of its history. The area, known as Cajalco Canyon, was mostly orchards when the Met identified it as the perfect elevated spot to build a reservoir for Colorado River water that could flow downhill into Southern California. But one landowner, who believed the property contained tin that would make him rich, waged an epic legal fight against eminent domain. The Met eventually secured the land—completing a dam in 1939 and starting water deliveries in 1941—but the legal cost is one reason why the water district hasn’t shared its hard-won lake with the public.

That tough stance embodies the lake’s namesake, William Burgess “Billy” Mathews, who, with contemporaries William Mulholland and Ezra Scattergood, fathered the water and power of modern L.A. (While Billy doesn’t appear in my Mathews family genealogy, L.A. history is malleable enough for me to claim him.) Mathews was elected L.A. city attorney in 1900, served as general counsel of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, from 1909 to 1929 (doing the legal dirty work to secure Owens Valley water), and then quietly obtained Colorado River water and formed the Metropolitan Water District. But he died in 1931, as the project that would bear his name was just getting under way.

With the goals of preventing contamination and protecting water quality, the Met has repeatedly fortified Lake Mathews—by boosting its capacity and by buying surrounding land to keep development away. The lake got further protection in 1982 with the establishment of Lake Mathews and the area around it as a nature reserve that protects habitat for 65 plant and animal species, including bald eagles.

While other reservoirs in the region—Lake Perris, Diamond Valley Lake—were opened for recreation, Lake Mathews has remained off limits. Riverside County and the city of Riverside have been seeking public access since 1960. The idea remains popular and talked about in the area. But the Met hasn’t budged.

Former Riverside Mayor Ron Loveridge says the city probably should have annexed Lake Mathews in the 1960s, which would have provided local leverage for public access. In 2012, local Assemblyman Kevin Jeffries introduced state legislation to open the lake, but the Met forcefully slapped it down. Even if it had passed, the legal protections against public access are “bulletproof.”

Other waterways in California have very limited public access, too—for example, there are limits on access to Hetch Hetchy, the Yosemite-adjacent valley that provides San Francisco water. But there is something especially pristine about Lake Mathews. “A lot of times you have to make compromises and tradeoffs,” says Jeffrey Kightlinger, the general manager of the Met, and allow hiking or other public uses of reservoir. But why should the Met do it at Lake Mathews, where it doesn’t have to?

Recently at the lake, a couple miles off the 15 as it makes its way to San Diego, I drove around the fenced-off shoreline, and then got out and walked for a couple miles. Despite the fence and the warning against trespassing, it felt idyllic, its water deeply blue, with birds chirping everywhere. In the lake, the fish, unmolested by visiting humans, grow so big that they are sometimes removed and used to seed other waterways where the public can fish.

The Met offered me a chance to get inside the fence and get a tour. But I declined. It seemed wrong to intrude on a place that, because it belongs so profoundly to California, doesn’t really belong to any of us.

Joe Mathews writes the Connecting California column for Zócalo Public Square.