Edgewood Creek is getting an overhaul to improve water quality. Photos/Kathryn Reed

By Kathryn Reed

Playing in the rough has taken on a whole new meaning at Edgewood Tahoe.

The Stateline golf course looks like a construction zone these days. And that’s because it is one.

By December 2016 the 154-room Edgewood Lodge should be open. There will also be 40 cabin units along the eighth and ninth fairways that will be fractional ownership. The lodge will include a 120-seat restaurant, adventure center, spa, fitness center and lakefront pool.

Right now much of the golf course appears to be more dirt than grass. Work on the lodge will resume in the spring. Work on water quality projects will continue through the winter.

“The best time to perform creek enhancements is during periods of low flow,” Lew Feldman, attorney representing Edgewood Tahoe, told Lake Tahoe News. “It includes increased storage capacity of ponds that act as a catchment basin and expansion of wetlands. It will occur over this winter period, which from an environmental perspective is the safest time to undertake these enhancements.”

That is the work that can be seen from Highway 50. Mounds of dirt have been piling up.

It is Edgewood Creek that is getting so much attention. It is at the bottom of the 4,000-acre Kingsbury Watershed.

Holes 7, 8, and 9 will be tweaked to accommodate Edgewood Lodge. The clubhouse is in the background.

That dirt being taken out of the ponds is called “dredge spoils”. The plan is to keep as much of it as possible on the property to be used for the hotel and golf course hole realignments.

When the project is done it’s estimated that more than 400,000 pounds of sediment will be captured each year, with another 50,000 pounds of fine sediment. This means all those particles will not be reaching Lake Tahoe.

Future dredging will be necessary because sediment will always flow downhill to Edgewood.

Feldman called this the largest private water quality improvement project in the basin’s history.

While he wouldn’t give the exact dollar amount, he said it is costing several million dollars. The project is expected to be finished by spring before the runoff starts.

On the other side of the golf course holes 7, 8 and 9 are being worked on. Nine should be done next year. It will have a lakefront finish. Seven and eight will be finished the following year.

To the community,

As supervisor of Lake Valley’s wildfire prevention program for almost 10 years, I have witnessed a great change in our community’s awareness and understanding of our biggest hazard. However, I can honestly say that we have so much more work to do.

Martin Goldberg

For less than $10 a month, you can both safeguard our community and move our economy forward. Wildfire prevention is cheaper than suppression.

Residents will continue to receive free curbside chipping. Local tree and roofing contractors will continue to benefit through rebates.

With the creation of a fire adapted community, homeowners will see a reduction in their homeowner insurance. A yes on H provides my program and firefighters with sustainable funding.

I am proud of the program and firefighters I have created and I promise you will be proud of us in the future.

Vote yes and be part of Lake Valley’s family. I know so many of you personally. I have visited your home, I have given you what I know about wildfire and I have marked your trees. Now I am asking for your yes vote this Tuesday.

Thank you,

Martin Goldberg, Lake Valley Fire Protection District

By Dave Marquis, KXTV-TV

A Camino man charged by a black bear beside his home barely managed to slam a door shut in time to escape.

“I’ve seen a bear up close, but this is up close I don’t want to get again,” said Bart Emry, as he recalled the early Monday morning encounter next to his home on Copperton Road.

When his dog Daisy nudged him in bed, Emry assumed she needed to go to the bathroom outside. But when he opened the door, he saw what he estimated to be a 350-pound black bear less than 50 feet away.

“It was out there eating the garbage and my dog was just looking at it for a minute and then she jumped back,” Emry said.

That’s when the bear charged.

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The 30-day jail sentence for one of two women involved with tampering with a bear trap in Incline Village is being appealed.

Incline Village Justice of the Peace E. Alan Tiras sentenced Season Morrison, 35, of Reno earlier this month to 30 days in jail.

Her mother, Cheryl Morrison, 63, of Truckee received a suspended sentence, fine, community service.

They were convicted in May.

Their attorney, Bradley Paul Elley, has filed an appeal in Morrison’s case.

“Obviously I and my clients are upset with the decision and that’s why I’m appealing,” Elley told the Reno Gazette-Journal.

— Lake Tahoe News staff report

The Tahoe Douglas Zephyr Firefighting Crew will be conducting pile burn operations on the Van Sickle Bi-State Park on Oct 31.

The burn location will be visible from much of the Upper Kingsbury and Stateline areas. The treatment area is between the Gondola fire scar and Edgewood Creek.

Twenty to 30 acres will be burned depending on the weather. The piles will be monitored and burn overnight.

By Frank Pallotta, CNN Money

You’re still a ratings success, Charlie Brown!

The Halloween mainstay “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown!” may be old, but it’s still a ratings treat for ABC. When the 1966 Halloween special was shown in early October this year it brought in 6.28 million viewers for the network.

It’s not just Baby Boomers tuning in to watch. The Peanuts classic brought in 2.1 million viewers between the ages of 18-49, a prized demo for advertisers, and it generated an animated conversation on Twitter.

These numbers may seem small, but it actually beat current shows in its time slot including Fox’s “Hell’s Kitchen” and The CW’s “Arrow.”

Not bad for a special that’s been running since the Johnson administration.

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By Western Farm Press

California vintners and growers across the state are grateful for another excellent vintage, despite an ongoing drought and earthquake that rocked south Napa in late August as crush was getting underway.

A mild winter and spring caused early bud break, although the overall length of the growing season was similar to past years.

A compacted harvest began in July for sparkling wines and started winding down by mid-October for later ripening varieties. Moderate temperatures, with only minimal rain in September, allowed for even ripening.

According to the USDA Pacific Regional Crop Production Report from August 2014, California’s wine grape production this year is forecast at 3.9 million tons, down 8 percent from 2013’s record high crop. The 2014 harvest is the third largest on record.

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Caltrans encourages motorists to be prepared for winter driving conditions, particularly in the snowy Sierra, with the first big winter storm expected to hit Friday and continue into the weekend.

Here are some winter driving tips:

• Check your antifreeze level and make sure it is properly filled and formulated for winter temperatures.

• Check your tire pressure and tread.

• Replace the wiper blades and fill the windshield wiper fluid reservoir; be sure to use a winter formula to help de-ice windshields.

• Carry tire chains that are the correct size for your tires, in good working order and practice installing the chains before needing to use them.

• Have a full tank of fuel before traveling.

• Have blankets, extra clothing, food and water, towels, a shovel, a flashlight, an ice scraper, a small bag of sand or kitty litter and road flares.

• When traveling with children, carry small activity packs for them to help prevent driver distractions.

• Have a fully charged cell phone before leaving and carry a car charger.

• Reduce speeds during winter weather and allow for additional stopping time.

• Turn on headlights to see and be seen.

• Turn off cruise control.

• Avoid quick starts, stops and fast turns. Accelerate, brake and steer smoothly and gradually.

• Keep additional distance from other vehicles.

• Watch carefully for snow removal equipment and don’t crowd the plow. Only pass snow removal vehicles when a safe, legal passing area is available and sight distance is good.

• Use extra caution on bridges, ramps, overpasses and shaded areas; they may freeze first.

• If your vehicle begins to skid, steer in the direction of slide and slowly remove your foot from accelerator.

• Understand that winter weather and road conditions can change rapidly and allow for extra travel time.

• Make sure you share the route you intend to take with friends or family.

• Elena Hight, Olympic snowboarder from South Lake Tahoe, has created a cookbook to support breast cancer.

• Squaw Valley will be hosting a traditional Thanksgiving dinner at High Camp on Thanksgiving Day. Reservations may be made by calling 800.403.0206 or emailing info@squawalpine.com.

• Washoe County Sheriff’s Office has received a $99,000 grant from the Nevada Department of Public Safety, Office of Traffic Safety to put on events focusing on DUI, distracted driving, seat belts, speed, and pedestrian safety. Nevada Highway Patrol received $129,500 for the same purposes.

• Information about California’s 130 defined benefits and defined contributions public pension systems is now online.

By Peter Hecht, Sacramento Bee

Building and real estate interests, led by the developer of the Serrano El Dorado Hills community, have dumped more than $1million into the campaign to defeat growth control ballot measures in El Dorado County.

Parker Development Co., builder of the 4,700-home Serrano community, has donated $866,750 through its affiliates, Serrano Associates and Marble Valley Co., to campaign committees opposing local November ballot initiatives M, N and O. The money has helped bankroll a blitz of mailers as well as anti-initiative television commercials during the World Series.

Parker Development is seeking county zoning changes to build 3,236 homes and townhouses and retail and event centers in a development called the Village of Marble Valley, planned for oak-studded hills south of Highway 50 in El Dorado Hills. In addition, the company is hoping to win approval to build 1,028 homes and townhouses on the site of the former El Dorado Hills golf course and a second location in the community.

A ballot measure backed by growth control advocates – Measure M – could challenge Parker Development’s plans. Measure M would ban any new residential subdivisions in the county if the California Department of Transportation determines that any stretch of Highway 50 west of Placerville is at or is forecast to reach gridlock traffic levels. The measure also would prevent the county from rezoning rural residential properties for higher-density housing construction.

Another growth restricting initiative, Measure O, qualified for the ballot thanks to a grass-roots movement of residents fighting a proposed 1,045-home subdivision, San Stino, near Shingle Springs communities of mostly 5-acre parcels. Measure O seeks to amend the general plan to effectively stop San Stino and similar building plans by restricting higher-density residential construction in Shingle Springs, Camino, Pollock Pines and parts of El Dorado Hills and Cameron Park.

A third initiative, Measure N, was put on the ballot by a Sacramento commercial builders alliance, Region Builders. Measure N would extend for 25 years the provisions of a 1998 voter-approved measure that imposed steep traffic impact fees on subdivision developers. But Measure N also proposes allowing local county road funds to be used for improvements to Highway 50, a move seen by opponents as a potential boon for commercial building in the freeway corridor.

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