South Lake Tahoe is accepting applications for the South Tahoe Action Team.

STAT will be on four consecutive Wednesdays at 5:30pm beginning Oct. 18.

This program is designed to incorporate trained citizens in the field with South Lake Tahoe Fire Rescue and other first responders during times of crisis.

Classes will be taught at the SLTFR Training Facility and run approximately two hours per class through Nov. 8.

To apply, fill out this application and return to the fire department at 2101 Lake Tahoe Blvd. or email it to kgeorge@cityofslt.us.

The public on Oct. 24 will have the opportunity to review, and provide comments and feedback on the initial design concept for the proposed renovation of the North Tahoe Event Center in Kings Beach.

North Tahoe Public Utility District and Laulima reps will be at the 5:30-7:30pm meeting. Laulima is taking over the lease of the center.

The initial design concept is also online. 

Comments will be collected and forwarded to LKBEC representatives. Questions or comments relating to the permitting process or future operation of the Event Center cannot be answered at this time.

By Sean Whaley, Las Vegas Review-Journal
 
CARSON CITY — A legal opinion from Nevada Attorney General Adam Laxalt on a stalled private gun sale background check measure says Gov. Brian Sandoval can again ask the FBI to perform the work.

But the legal analysis issued Thursday also says there are potential safety risks should Nevada change from its current status where all background checks are performed by the state.

Sandoval sought the opinion on Oct. 4, just days after 58 people were killed in a mass shooting in Las Vegas.

Read the whole story

By Kathryn Reed

Not every bear has always been able to be released into the wild, but until this year none had mysteriously died at Lake Tahoe Wildlife Care.

Two have in a three-week period.

The diagnosis is adenovirus.

“It is rare,” Peter Tria with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife said of the disease. “It has never been detected in free range wild black bears ever to our knowledge. It has been detected in captive bears.”

While the South Shore rehab facility’s goal is to heal injured animals and return them to their natural environment, the animals are considered captive while being treated.

This the first time anything like this has happened in the 17 years LTWC has been treating black bears under a permit from the state. (The facility has been open since 1978.)

The disconcerting thing is that it’s not known how the virus got into the facility. It is a strain found in canines and coyotes. However, it is something domestic dogs can be vaccinated against so those cases are seldom seen. Humans can also get the virus.

“We might not ever know (how we got it), but we are trying to prevent it from happening next year,” LTWC owner Tom Millham told Lake Tahoe News.

The four remaining bears have tested positive for adenovirus. However, they are continuing to put on weight, as is normal as they bulk up for their winter slumber. (Two of the original eight bears being cared for this season have already been released.) The bear deaths occurred in August and September.

Millham is now the only one allowed into the bear cage. Instead of feeding the bears twice a day, they are getting a larger quantity once a day. He’s wearing a disposable hospital gown, gloves and dipping his shoes in a bleach solution before putting on booties.

The goal is to keep that pen from being exposed to any outside contaminant. The bears are essentially quarantined.

Tria told Lake Tahoe News the state is happy with the measures LTWC is taking to ensure all of the animals’ health.

UC Davis and Cornell University have received blood samples. Scientists there, along with the state officials and local veterinarian Kevin Willits are trying to get to the bottom of the virus, but it’s possible answers may always be elusive.

Cheryl Millham, the other owner of LTWC with her husband, speculates that if their facility on Al Tahoe Boulevard that is being built were complete, it would have been easier to separate the sick animals. But until more funding is secured, the site continues to operate in the Millhams’ back yard.

To the community,

All of us living in this tourist town understand a simple truth: our infrastructure is burdened with more than it can handle. Specifically, our roads. Each year, millions of visitors drive to Tahoe to enjoy the natural beauty of our home, but the damage this causes to our roadways is a serious problem. We need help making our community safer for driving, walking, and biking.

I’m voting yes on Measure C because we have waited too long to address our community’s critical infrastructure needs. While I agree with recent editorials that the city should invest in road safety, our city’s budget simply does not have sufficient funding to cover the many services we provide for year-round residents and tourists – emergency services, fire protection and response, law enforcement, and road maintenance. We need a separate source of funds to ensure our roads get the long-term attention they deserve.

Enter Measure C, a new way to shift the financial burden of roadway repairs off our residents onto the many tourists visiting and shopping in town each year. This smart measure will fix potholes, repave crumbling roads, and ensure that our entire city has safe routes for drivers, pedestrians, and bicyclists. Measure C is the only way for voters to ensure our roads are repaired with revenue that legally cannot be diverted by the City Council for other projects.

But this issue goes beyond City Council. It is up to us as a community to decide that we are fed up with our roads being in constant disrepair. Instead of continuing to ignore our city’s most visible problem, I am voting yes on Measure C to solve it.

Katie Riley, South Lake Tahoe

By George Avalos, Bay Area News Group

The deadly wildfires that roared through Sonoma and Napa counties this week, destroying thousands of homes, might also scorch the Bay Area’s already brutal housing market for months or years to come, experts warned Friday.

An estimated 2,800 homes have been destroyed in the wind-whipped infernos in Santa Rosa alone, and a total of about 3,000 homes have been lost in Northern California — a catastrophe that potentially leaves several thousand people to determine whether to eventually resume living on their devastated properties or to move elsewhere.

As a result, an already strained housing market — whose grim signature is skyrocketing home prices — could soon become even tighter as displaced residents begin scouting for places to live until their homes can be rebuilt, or they decide to relocate.

Read the whole story

By Eli Segall, Las Vegas Review-Journal

When a “Do not disturb” sign hangs outside a hotel room for a while, staff will usually call or knock at some point to make sure everything’s OK.

But in the wake of the Las Vegas massacre, hotel operators may be asking themselves: How long should we wait before contacting guests who want to be left alone?

A gunman broke two windows in a 32nd-floor room at Mandalay Bay and sprayed bullets at concertgoers across the street on Oct. 1. Armed with at least 23 firearms, he killed 58 people at the Route 91 Harvest festival and left nearly 500 injured in the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history, and then killed himself. He may have been able to prepare for the attack because housekeeping staff didn’t enter the room for some time.

Read the whole story

By Laura J. Nelson, Sonali Kohli, Paige St. John, Dakota Smith and Nina Agrawal, Los Angeles Times
 
The grim toll from the Northern California wildfires continued to rise Friday as officials said an estimated 5,700 structures were destroyed and that at least 34 people died.

Firefighters continued to gain control of some fires scorching Wine Country, thanks in part to continued calm winds in some parts of the region. Officials expect the death toll to rise as search efforts continue in neighborhoods from Santa Rosa to the hills of Napa County.

The Redwood Valley fire in Mendocino County has burned 34,000 acres and was 10 percent contained as of Friday. Between that fire and the 2,500-acre Sulphur fire, about 8,000 people have been evacuated, according to CalFire.

Read the whole story

By Mark Studyvin, Mountain Democrat

The Placerville City Council unanimously adopted a resolution to extend creating an urgency ordinance for marijuana at its Tuesday night meeting.

Up for debate was the topic of regulating cannabis cultivation and prohibiting the manufacture, processing, laboratory testing, labeling, storing and wholesale and retail distribution.

The urgency ordinance was originally extended in December of last year. California government code allows for these extensions. This would be the final extension and is good for up to one year. The current extension expiration is Oct. 28.

Read the whole story

Vail Resorts CEO Rob Katz has set up a program to give back to the communities where his company does business, including the greater Lake Tahoe area.

This is a personal contribution, not from the Colorado-based company.

Katz, according to a press release, has established a donor-advised charitable giving vehicle that will be funded from the shares and proceeds he will receive from exercising Vail Resorts share appreciation rights (SARs) that are approaching their 10-year expiration date.

These assets that are expected to total approximately $58 million,will make grants over a long-term period based on the recommendations of Katz and his wife, Elana Amsterdam.