To the community,

Eutrophication – diminishing clarity due to excessive nutrient loading.

According to the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency, the year-round or permanent resident population of the Lake Tahoe Basin is approximately 50,000.

There are approximately 50,000 year-round Lake Tahoe residents of which, in my opinion, 20 percent own and care for our canine guest, which suggest the number of canines to be in the range of 10,000 dogs living in the Tahoe basin.

It is expected that a 30-pound dog will eat approximately one-half pound of food per day, or 15 pounds of dog food per month. Assuming that 70 percent of the nutrients consumed is converted directly into energy the remaining 30 percent is left as waste.

Some math: 10,000 dogs x 15 pounds/month x 12 months x 0.30 = 540,000 pounds of waste deposited per year.

In addition to the 540,000 pounds of waste from our local dogs we can add to that number the number of pounds of waste per year from our visiting dogs, which is an unknown quantity. Then we can add to that number the number of pounds of waste from our local and visiting cats, an unknown quantity. All of which push up the number of pounds of waste deposited per year.

My theory as to the cause of the algae blooms and aggressive growth of the Eurasian milfoil weed found in the basin is directly correlated to the waste produced from our pets. This theory could be verified by studying the bloom locations and comparing them to the locations of our drainage outlets where the nutrient concentration would be greatest.

There are solutions to this problem and I encourage all of the residents of Lake Tahoe who own pets and also acknowledge this as a problem suggest a solution of their own.

Comments welcome.

Sincerely,

Mark Allione, dog owner

By Jon Ortiz, Sacramento Bee

Joe Farrow had it right Wednesday morning when he said, “Everybody in this room knows we have an issue to work on. A big issue.”

The CHP commissioner uttered those words before kicking off a five-hour meeting to talk about mental-health training for police. More then 100 experts and advocates, lawmakers and legislative staff, public health officials, family members and police officers from around the state gathered at the patrol’s North Sacramento headquarters.

It’s not a coincidence that Farrow wants CHP to take the lead. Last July, a motorist shot video of CHP Officer Daniel Andrew straddling 51-year-old Marlene Pinnock on the ground and repeatedly striking her. The pictures of a young white officer beating a mentally confused African American grandmother grabbed national attention.

Farrow shuttled back and forth from Sacramento to Southern California to make amends with local politicians and civil-rights activists. He didn’t hide his embarrassment. He apologized. He promised to investigate. He vowed to change how his officers deal with the mentally ill.

Read the whole story

El Dorado County Elections Department on Nov. 12 released new numbers from the Nov. 4 election.

This is not the final count. Provisional ballots have not been counted.

Here are the numbers for South Lake Tahoe City Council, with the top three being elected:

Wendy David –1,676 votes

Tom Davis — 1,409

Austin Sass — 1,284

Angela Swanson — 1,248

Brooke Laine — 1,211

Matt Palacio — 1,175

Bruce Grego — 1,096.

In the Lake Tahoe Community College trustee race Michelle Sweeney is 53 votes ahead of Bob Grant.

If a candidate asks for a recount and the vote does not change, the candidate must pay for the recount.

— Lake Tahoe News staff report

By Michael Muskal, Los Angeles Times

Americans recently passed a milestone when federal officials reported that water use across the nation had reached its lowest level in more than 45 years: good news for the environment, great news in times of drought and a major victory for conservation.

What was surprising in the U.S. Geological Survey report released last week was how little of the 13 percent decline in national water usage was due to the public cutting back.

In drought-stricken areas, such as California and other states across the West, consumers are used to frequent warnings about the need to save water. Dry public fountains, limits on lawn watering and official requests for shorter showers have all been aimed at reducing water use at a time when reservoirs are shrinking and streams are running dry.

But it turns out that the public reduced water use by only about 5 percent from 2005 to 2010, the most recent period measured by the USGS.

Read the whole story

Arrest warrants have been issued for three people believed to be connected to a string of burglaries in Truckee dating to 2013.

In late 2013 and into the early 2014, Truckee experienced an increase in residential burglaries.

Evidence was submitted to the state Department of Justice in Sacramento for additional forensic analysis. All burglaries were linked by DNA collected inside each crime scene. Subsequently arrest warrants were issued for the following people:

• Darren Michael Hoffman from Truckee surrendered himself to the Nevada County Sheriff’s Office in October Officers said his DNA was linked to a residential burglary in Truckee and also later to a burglary involving a firearm which was recovered in another crime.
• Carlos Kyle Woodbridge from Citrus Heights was arrested in Sacramento in October on burglary charges.
• Nathan Eugene Sprague-Sullivan from Orangevale was arrested in Sacramento in October on burglary charges.

Officers continue to investigate these burglaries to try and recover property and identify any other suspects.

Anyone with information is asked to call 530.550.2323.

— Lake Tahoe News staff report

An electrical fire caused damage to house in Meyers on Nov. 9.

Firefighters responded to the Nottaway residence about 3:30pm Sunday.

“It was later determined that the fire started in the kitchen and was accidental/electrical in nature,” Leona Allen, spokeswoman for Lake Valley Fire Department, told Lake Tahoe News. “The loss value is still being investigated.”

No one was home when the fire started.

— Lake Tahoe News staff report

• Zawadisha’s third annual Holiday Bazaar is Nov. 29 from 10am-3pm at Bona Fide Books HQ in Meyers.

• There is a teen writing group every Saturday at 3pm at the South Lake Tahoe Library. For more info, go online.

• Sugar Bowl will be opening for the season Nov. 26.

• Lt. Bryan Golmitz will be in charge of the Tahoe office for El Dorado County Sheriff’s Department when Lt. Pete Van Arnum retires at the end of the year. This is a temporary assignment.

• Schaffer’s Mill Golf Club in Truckee will host the Gene Upshaw Memorial Golf Classic on July 12-13.

By Todd Shields, Bloomberg

President Obama called for the “strongest possible rules” to protect the open Internet, advocating stricter controls than a regulator he appointed and causing shares of Comcast Corp. and other broadband providers to drop.

“I am asking for an explicit ban on paid prioritization,” Obama said today in a statement, referring to so-called fast lanes for preferred Web traffic. His comments tilt the White House against positions advocated by broadband providers and Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler, who said the president’s vision has potential legal and policy pitfalls.

Companies led by Comcast, Verizon Communications Inc. and AT&T Inc. argue that only light regulation is needed to ensure providers don’t block or slow Web traffic, and they say strict rules would squelch investment. Public policy groups want tough regulations that guarantee all websites are treated equally and can be accessed by people increasingly reliant on the Internet.

Read the whole story

By Danielle McCreaTuesday, Las Vegas Sun

With state approval recently of dozens of medical marijuana licenses, a native Nevadan with two decades in the gaming industry is laying the groundwork for the new industry’s next steps.

Heidi Cook, managing partner of Regulated Employee Resources, is creating an education program to ensure businesses keep up with state and county regulations.

Her company is developing a virtual school that will teach licensees and their employees all the rules to legally operate, relate best practices from out-of-state industry leaders, and provide access to a network of local business lines, from banking to insurance to security.

Cook, who was an account manager with IGT for more than 20 years, said the gaming industry’s evolution in Nevada correlates to medical marijuana now in that the state took a “back-door” business into the “regulatory sunlight.”

Read the whole story

Lake Tahoe Society for Storytelling & Enlightenment is a collaboration of Bona Fide Books of Meyers and local artist Jared Manninen.

LTSSE seeks to build community at Lake Tahoe and keep its history alive through inspired storytelling. In 2015, LTSSE will launch its first collection of illustrated Tahoe history books.

A sampler will be available this month at the Valhalla Holiday Faire  (Nov. 21-23), and at the Zawadisha Holiday Bazaar (Nov. 29).