By Kathryn Reed

Thousands of dollars in bicycle trail and ball field improvements on the South Shore were approved Friday by the South Lake Tahoe Recreation Facilities Joint Powers Authority.

Money for the projects comes from Measure S/R dollars. This voter approved initiative affects the California side of the South Shore.

The 6-year-old Sawmill bridge that crosses the Upper Truckee River on Highway 50 is in need of a new top coat because the concrete is disintegrating. There are so many loose particles on the span that it is getting close to the point where riding across it on a road bike could mean an instant flat tire.

While there was a lawsuit between the builder and El Dorado County regarding the bridge, it had more to do with days worked and not the short lifespan of the work.

County officials are hoping to find a product that will last 20 years.

Sawmill bike bridge is in need of a new overcoat. Photo/Kathryn Reed

Deterioration of the current bridge is being blamed on the sand and salt Caltrans spreads on the highway, the expansion and contraction of material from temperatures, and not having laid down materials in optimal conditions.

The board on Jan. 23 agreed to use $87,000 to help resurface this bridge.

Doing so would create a smooth bicycle path from Meyers to South Lake Tahoe because the final phase of the path on Sawmill Road is slated for construction this summer, too.

The recommendation for this and other projects came to the JPA board from the Bicycle Advisory Committee.

The committee also suggested, and the board approved, $70,000 to rehab the class 1 trail between Trout Creek and Edgewood Circle between Lakeview Commons and the property where the Alta Mira building used to be.

This route will be close to the highway and is not what has been long been called phase 2 of Lakeview Commons. The continuation of the bike trail on those plans calls for a cantilever bridge that would jut out onto the lake and get people away from the road. But lack of funding is stalling that project.

The other bike related allocation was for $10,000 to be spent on wayfinding signs along class 1 trails.

When it comes to ball fields in the area, the T-ball fields will get the most attention this coming season – in the form of new turf.

While bleachers are desired at the Little League field, there may not be the money to make that happen.

The fields committee is going to seek donations from service clubs to pay for the bleachers. If that doesn’t work, there are old bleachers that could be brought in.

To the community,

As the Bread & Broth dinner guests were lining up outside of St. Theresa Church’s Grace Hall, the volunteers from the Tahoe Sierra Kiwanis Club were busy helping the Bread & Broth volunteers prepare for the evening’s free meal on Jan. 12.

As the evening’s Adopt A Day of Nourishment sponsor, Kiwanis Club members Carolyn Willford, Carmen Delgado, Mike Foster and Pat Frega took the opportunity to help people in need.

“Kiwanis serving at Bread & Broth is one our most rewarding experiences,” Foster said.

As the host for the evening, the Kiwanis Club provided the funds which covered the cost of the evening’s meal of over 100 servings of ham and sausage sauerkraut stew, mashed potatoes, roasted veggies, apple sauce and a wide variety of desserts.

Due to sponsorship donations of $250, B&B is able to serve healthy, well-balanced meals every week and to purchase fruits and vegetables to add to the groceries donated by stores and business for give away bags for those attending the dinner. As she was filling up “to go” containers with leftovers from the meal, Delgado was asked about her first time volunteering at a B&B dinner. She responded, “Very nice, very rewarding, enjoyed every minute.”

The B&B volunteers always looks forward to the annual sponsorship of the Tahoe Sierra Kiwanis Club and their members who always make the evening so enjoyable with their great attitudes and desire to improve the lives of others.

Carol Gerard, Bread & Broth

Terrie Q. Sayre

Terrie Q. Sayre, a longtime radio personality in Lake Tahoe and Carson City, died Jan. 22. She was 54.

Ms. Sayre was born Dec. 1, 1960.

For the past seven years she and husband Skip, a former executive with Sahara, High Sierra, Harrah’s, and past Lake Tahoe Visitors Authority executive director, had been living in New Mexico.

News reports from New Mexico say she died from flu complications.

The former Miss Nevada helped put on pageants for youngsters in South Lake Tahoe and hosted the Miss Albuquerque pageants.

Most recently she was the host of a morning radio show.

She had worked at KTHO and KOWL in South Lake Tahoe. She was the co-host of “Reno’s Morning News Saturday” on KOH-AM. She also worked in television.

Ms. Sayre was a longtime animal supporter, having supported causes in the Tahoe area such as Douglas Animal Welfare Group and continued that type of work in her adopted home of New Mexico.

Ms. Sayre received a bachelor’s of arts in theater arts from UNR and was a master graduate of Rapport Leadership International. While in the Tahoe-Carson area she belonged to Carson Valley Chamber of Commerce and Visitors Authority, Skin Cancer Awareness Foundation, and Tahoe Douglas Rotary.

Services are pending.

Nevada is one of 18 states in the country that has explicit state-level workplace protections for all LGBT employees. It is also one of 36 states with marriage equality.

This data was released this week by Human Rights Campaign in partnership with the Equality Federation in its first national report assessing the status of state legislation affecting LGBT equality across the United States. HRC is the nation’s largest lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender civil rights organization.

“Despite historic progress on issues like marriage equality, a majority of states still struggle to reach even a basic level of equality for LGBT people,” said HRC President Chad Griffin said in a statement. “Most states lack statewide non-discrimination laws to protect LGBT people – putting countless individuals and families at risk, and creating inequalities in adoption and surrogacy, employments benefits, and youth safety and well-being.”

“Even worse,” Griffin said, “equality opponents continue to push deeply harmful laws forward, including those seeking to undermine critical protections in the guise of “religious liberty.”

Though same-sex marriage is legal in 36 states and Washington, D.C., more than 111 million people, or 35 percent of Americans, live in states that have marriage but where LGBT people are not fully protected from discrimination in the workplace. And more than 206 million people nationwide live in states where every LGBT person lacks fully-inclusive statewide workplace sexual orientation and gender identity protections.

Advocates in Nevada are expected to focus this year on passing comprehensive anti-bullying protections for young people.

The SEI assesses states on their LGBT-related legislation and policies, good and bad, in six areas: relationship recognition, parenting laws and policies, non-discrimination laws, hate crimes laws, anti-bullying laws, and health and safety laws and policies. Based on that review, the SEI assigns states to one of four distinct categories.

Nevada and six other states falls into the category Building Equality. These have marriage equality and have taken steps toward more robust LGBT equality, including passing basic non-discrimination and hate crimes laws. Some lack explicit gender identity protections, and several lack comprehensive anti-bullying laws. Bad laws are more common, so advocates work to stop bills that undermine LGBT equality, and pass more comprehensive non-discrimination laws.

The full report, including detailed scorecards for every state, is available online.

— Lake Tahoe News staff report

California State Parks and the U.S. Forest Service may continue prescribed fire operations on Jan. 26.

Operations may take place near Tahoe City on Highway 28 between Rocky Ridge and Lake Forest, near Emerald Bay at Eagle Point Campground, the boat camp and behind Vikingsholm, Gardner Mountain near South Tahoe High School, Luther Pass near Grass Lake, Ski Run Boulevard near Heavenly, and on the East Shore near Logan Creek Drive and the north side of Spooner Summit. Operations will last through the next several weeks as conditions allow.

Smoke from prescribed fire operations is normal and may continue for several days after an ignition depending on the project size. Agencies coordinate with state and local county air pollution control districts and monitors weather conditions closely prior to prescribed fire ignition.

Before conducting prescribed fire operations, agencies may post road signs around affected areas and make email or phone notifications. The Forest Service updates the local fire information line at 530.543.2600, ext. 6.

By J.D. Morris, Las Vegas Sun

Americans will illegally wager 38 times more money on this year’s Super Bowl than they will legally in Nevada, the only state with full-fledged sports betting, according to a projection from a casino industry trade group.

American Gaming Association President Geoff Freeman told a gathering of mayors in Washington, D.C., on Thursday that his organization expects the Super Bowl to elicit $3.8 billion in illegal wagers compared with Nevada’s legal $100 million.

Freeman said the estimate on those illegal bets was a first for his organization, but his prepared remarks didn’t specify how they determined that number.

Read the whole story

Seasonal “no parking” rules are in effect even without snow. Photos/LTN

“No parking” signs along Lake Tahoe Boulevard and Sawmill Pond Road are being noticed more this year than years past. Part of this has to do with the 1.7 mile bike trail that was put in last fall paralleling the boulevard so more people are in this area. And with the weather more like spring than winter, people are using the trail and wanting to park where they had been allowed to up until a month ago.

There is a wide spot on the north side the road at the intersection of Sawmill Pond that was initially used for parking. Now there are multiple “no parking” signs.

A group of cyclists riding the trail on Friday were miffed this access has been taken away, as well as on Sawmill Pond. They said the U.S. Forest Service owned lot at the pond is icy, creating a whole other set of problems.

“Those signs are not new. We put them up every winter,” Tom Halverson with El Dorado County Department of Transportation told Lake Tahoe News. “When there is snow on the ground they park in the street and go play around at the lake. It causes traffic problems for snow removal.”

Thinking winter had arrived when the snow fell in December, the county put up the signs. Halverson said they wouldn’t come down until spring.

El Dorado County sign makers need to remember I before E except after C.

What he didn’t know until LTN pointed it out is that one of the “yield” signs is misspelled. Halverson said he would go look at it.

— Lake Tahoe News staff report

• Friends of Alpine Meadows is making noise about changes to the resort since KSL took over a few years ago. Check out this report for details.

• The Nevada Visitors Guide is available for free at area visitors’ centers or online.

• South Lake Tahoe Firefighter’s Association provides CPR classes. For more info, call 530.542.6161.

• South Tahoe Alliance of Resorts provided $15,000 between three area nonprofits this holiday season to feed families as well as secure essential upgrades to community centers/programs.

• Burton Mountain Festival is Jan. 23-25 at Northstar. It is billed as the most extensive, interactive snowboard demo experience in North America. And it’s free.

After a three-month investigation, South Lake Tahoe father and his 23-year-old son were arrested Jan. 22 on a slew of drug and weapons charges.

A high-risk search warrant was served at the Tallac Avenue residence Thursday night by South Lake Tahoe police officers and South Lake El Dorado Narcotics Enforcement Team members.

Arrested were Richard Martin, 55, and Joshua Martin. The father is accused of possession of ammunition by a drug addict and possession of firearms by a drug addict. The son faces charges of possession of heroin, possession of drug paraphernalia, possession of ammunition by a drug addict, and possession of firearms by a drug addict.

In November, Joshua Martin was reported to the police as a suspicious person standing in the parking lot of the jail with an adult female. A police K9 found heroin and marijuana packaged for sale, needles and other paraphernalia in his vehicle, according to officers.

Martin and Kimberly Doig, 35, of South Lake Tahoe were on charges of being under the influence of a narcotic and possession of narcotics for sale.

In December, SLTPD patrol officers arrested Martin after a traffic stop. He was allegedly driving under the influence of a narcotic substance. A K9 officer found a needle and a metal spoon displaying burn marks, along with about one pound of packaged illegal marijuana, according to officers. Martin and passenger Anthony Lelis, 25, of Santa Rosa were arrested on charges of being under the influence of a narcotic, unlawful possession of drugs and narcotic paraphernalia and sales of controlled substances.

On New Year’s Eve, Martin was again arrested by SLTPD. This time he was accused of a shoplift burglary at Big 5 Sporting Goods. He was in the company of three adults associated with the Tallac Avenue address. The investigation into that case is ongoing. Police charged Martin with burglary, saying he stole from the store Dec. 30 and Dec. 31.

On Jan. 16, officers responded to Barton Memorial Hospital regarding a gunshot victim. Martin had been shot in the hand. Officers said Martin told them he accidentally shot himself while cleaning a handgun at home. While Martin was at Barton, El Dorado County sheriff’s deputies engaged in a pursuit of the vehicle registered to his father, Richard Martin. SLTPD officers assisted deputies when the pursuit concluded within the city. The male driver fled on foot and was not immediately identified and captured.

“A number of various recent contacts between patrol officers and current parolees, and others with prior felony criminal convictions established a common link to the residence on Tallac Avenue. These contacts indicated the likelihood of illegal drugs being sold from, and consumed at, this residence,” officers said in a statement.

Inside the house, investigators discovered suspected heroin and unlawful drug paraphernalia, a shotgun, rifle and two handguns, along with ammunition.

— Lake Tahoe News staff report

Nate Holland of Squaw Valley took home the bronze Friday in snowboardcross at the X Games in Aspen.

This is an event the three-time Olympian has won seven times.

Canada’s Kevin Hill took gold, while Italy’s Omar Visintin placed second. silver.

On the women’s side, Lindsey Jacobellis won her ninth title, giving her the most gold medals for a woman of an X Games.

Canadian Dominique Maltais took second, followed by France’s Nelly Moenne-Loccoz.

— Lake Tahoe News staff report