By Vicki Gonzalez, KCRA-TV

The aftermath of relentless winter storms can still be seen throughout El Dorado County, after a series of destructive systems crippled dozens of locations at the start of 2017.

“It was a year none of us have really ever seen up here,” John Kahling, with the El Dorado County Department of Transportation, said. “We’ve got a lot of hilly terrain that causes water to move faster and get into more concentrated flows. And when you have that in areas that haven’t seen rain — serious rain — for several years, erosion and other damage is bound to happen.”

The county has been working nonstop to repair the damage. Many major routes are back up and running after being shut down for months.

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·      North Lake Tahoe Resort Association is looking for three marketing committee members. The term runs January 2018-December 2020. If interested, submit a letter and resume to Anna Atwood at anna@gotahoenorth.com by Nov. 27. 

·      The Sierra Nevada Freeride Club is hosting Sierra Nevada Avalanche forecaster Andy Anderson and pro skier Cody Townsend for a night of avalanche awareness. The free talk is Nov. 30, 7-9pm at Sierra Nevada College, room139/141 at TERC.

·      Tahoe Paradise Recreation and Park District is accepting applications until Dec. 1 for a board member to fill out the term of Sue Novasel, which expires Dec. 7, 2018. For more info, call 530.545.0193 or email info@tahoeflyfishing.com.

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

·      The Tahoe Basin Design Review Committee of Placer County will meet Nov. 28 at 4pm at the administrative building in Tahoe City to discuss the Tahoe City Lodge design.

Egon Klementi

A Lake Tahoe resident for many years, Egon A. Klementi died Oct. 24, 2017. He was 83.

Egon was born April 11, 1934, in Austria.

In his late teens he and his identical twin brother Helmut put an artistic spin on the tricks of bicycle stunt riding. The resulting show was so outstanding that the Klementi twins won many international competitions and performed all over Europe. Ed Sullivan saw them at the Moulin Rouge in Paris and brought them to his famous show in New York. Egons’s wife, Elfie, joined the show business act. It was a bike act with comedy and artistic skills performed on four continents. Their act brought them to Las Vegas and later on to Harrah’s in Reno and Lake Tahoe.

During the 35 years in showbiz and traveling all over the world, Egon drew and painted, taking classes from famous European artists and studied at the Ecole de Design de Paris in France. When he came to Tahoe he continued his formal study at the Lake Tahoe Community College.

The Klementis retired from show business in May 1989 at Harrah’s. This gave Egon more time to devote to his art. Egon poured his creative energies into pursuing the visual art. Silk painting became his favorite media, but he studied and worked in several media: photography, mixed media, metal leaf collages, sculptures with wood, marble, soapstone and metal. His contribution to art education includes serving as the president of the Nevada Art Association. He was for many years an artist in residence at the Tallac Historic Site in South Lake Tahoe and was an active member of the Tahoe Art League. He was teaching numerous painting classes and workshops across Northern Nevada and Northern California.

Egon also had a “normal job” as he puts it. He started out to be a limousine driver/chauffeur for Harrah’s Lake Tahoe in November 1994 and then was a butler at the Summit Suites until May 2005.

Egon lived life to the fullest. His joy-in-living, his constant joking and quick wit is hard to forget. His absence is deeply felt by those who knew him.

He will be forever missed by his wife of 53 years, Elfie; son Rene with his family living in Austria; and Helmut his twin brother here in Tahoe.

There will be no services.

With winter practically here, the South Lake Tahoe Police Department is reminding people who to drive in snowy, icy conditions.

Here are some tips:

• Make sure your tires are properly inflated and the tread is in good condition.
• Check your brakes, lights and windshield wipers to make sure they are functioning properly.
• Warm up your vehicle and make sure your windshield is clear of ice and snow before driving.
• Be alert. Constantly scan the road for hazards and give yourself enough room to react safely.
• Remember, stopping distances can double in rain and triple in snow.
• Minimize distractions, such as turning off or silencing your cell phone.
• Do not use cruise control during wet or snowy road conditions. Cruise control can cause skidding and loss of tire traction in winter conditions.
• Buckle your seat belt. Wearing a seat belt is the best defense to prevent injury and death in a crash. This includes buckling children into properly installed child safety or booster seats.
• Carry an emergency kit for safety, comfort and possible repairs.
• Ensure properly fitted tire chains in case of severe winter weather.
• Finally, don’t drive when you are tired or under the influence of alcohol, marijuana or drugs whether they be illicit or prescription. If you are under the influence of drugs or alcohol, always designate a sober driver.

By Sarah Litz, Reno Gazette-Journal

Three bears near a Taco Bell and CVS in Tahoe City were caught on camera by a deputy with the Placer County Sheriff’s Office.

“Well, our resident bear whisperer, Deputy Nevins, was at it again last night in Tahoe City!” a Facebook post on the sheriff’s office page said. “He was patrolling the Lighthouse Center when he encountered these three ‘little’ bears. Looks like the second one was trying to get into the trash can. We love how they all gathered up and took off together! ‘Here comes the cops, run!!'”

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This is the SLTFD with a holiday greetings message.

It’s that holiday time of year and the South Lake Tahoe Fire Department would like to encourage everyone to think of those less fortunate members of our community. At all the city fire stations, you may drop off any new or like-new condition used toys into the Christmas Cheer barrels. Any donations will be gratefully forwarded to needy households this holiday season.

Also, the city fire department will again be handing out candy canes from the decorated fire engine driving throughout the community. Starting on Dec. 10 through Dec. 24, each night the holiday truck will make its way through specific sections of the city. Lake Tahoe News will post the schedule when it is released.

These scheduled dates will be dependent on the weather, and may be changed due to driving conditions or emergency responses.

The South Lake Tahoe Firefighters hope to see many of you on our routes this holiday and would like to wish everyone a safe and joyous season.

— Sallie Ross-Filgo, SLTFD

Tahoe Institute for Natural Science will be putting on a Christmas bird count on Dec. 17 from 8am-5pm.

This annual count is widely regarded as the largest and oldest citizen science project in the world. Each year, from Dec. 14-Jan. 5 tens of thousands of volunteers head out into the winter to count birds for a day. This tradition goes back to 1900, and in the intervening years, these birders have built a database on bird populations that is unmatched by any other wildlife census.

Local participants will meet at Alpina Coffee Cafe on Emerald Bay Road in South Lake Tahoe at 8am. The group will bird at Cove East and then split into smaller groups to bird at other areas.

Dave Borges talks about transportation in the American River Canyon. Photo/Denise Haerr

By Kathryn Reed

CAMP RICHARDSON – Roads in and around the Lake Tahoe Basin seem to be in a perpetual evolution.

Local historian Dave Borges took a group on a ride through transportation lore at a presentation this month at Camp Richardson Resort. The Lake Tahoe Historical Society talk went from the 1800s to today.

“We’ve progressed from deer tracks,” Borges said. Wagon trains followed those paths, then pavement covered the dirt.

Mostly Borges focused on the trek between South Lake Tahoe and Placerville. What now takes about an hour to drive used to take days to travel.

“El Dorado County couldn’t afford to build roads so they had franchises,” Borges said.

The Osgood Tollhouse was built in 1859. (It is now located at the Lake Tahoe Museum in South Lake Tahoe.)

According to Borges, the first year of the toll road $1.6 million was collected.

People would have to pay a toll at various locations through the American River Canyon. Traffic was steady in this era because of the Gold Rush on the West Slope and the Silver Rush in Virginia City.

Trading locations dotted the route; places where people could refresh their horses and stock up on supplies.

Borges said it was in 1877 that the county purchased the toll roads because by that time there was so little traffic. The transcontinental railroad in 1869 drastically changed how people traveled and did business.

By 1895 Caltrans took over. The problem was the roads weren’t constructed well. Workers slapped on some oil over the dirt, then some asphalt.

The Mormon Emigrant Trail came into being in 1848, Johnson Pass in 1852, Luther Pass in 1854, and Hawley Grade to Echo Summit in 1858.

Remnants of an old state bridge can be seen near Pioneer Trail and Golden Bear. Other sections along what is now Highway 50 also have historical markers.

At mile post 55.19 just past Strawberry is a rock masonry culvert from days gone by. It’s possible to still see three of the four posts from the 1901 Riverton Bridge.

At first roads were built higher on the hillsides. As they started to be constructed closer to the American River bridges had to be built as well.

Old Meyers Grade was the primary route of the basin to Echo Summit until 1946.

By Charles M. Blow, New York Times

 It is impossible to say too often or loudly how important a moment this is, when many women feel brave and empowered enough to speak up about being sexually assaulted or harassed by powerful men.

It feels like a watershed, like something is fundamentally shifting.

But the greatest measure of fundamental change will be when everyday offenses by everyday people are also named and shamed, the trickle down of speaking up.

For most women, the perpetrator is not a Hollywood executive, or a sitting senator or an esteemed journalist. For most, there will be no press conferences if they come forward. There will be no celebrity attorney to sit at their sides and stroke their hands. There will be no morning news shows to praise their courage.

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By Brian Fung, Washington Post

The Federal Communications Commission took aim at a signature Obama-era regulation Tuesday, unveiling a plan that would give Internet providers broad powers to determine what websites and online services their customers see and use.

Under the agency’s proposal, providers of high-speed internet services, such as Comcast, Verizon and AT&T, would be able to block websites they do not like and charge Web companies for speedier delivery of their content.

The FCC’s effort would roll back its net neutrality regulation which was passed by the agency’s Democrats in 2015 and attempted to make sure all Web content, whether from big or small companies, would be treated equally by internet providers.

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