For El Dorado County residents with the most severe forms of mental illness, the Assisted Outpatient Treatment (AOT) program (also known as the Laura’s Law program), is available.

The program, coordinated through the El Dorado County Behavioral Health Division of the Health and Human Services Agency, gives additional tools to families, agencies and individuals to get people who need mental health treatment into those services.It

It recognizes that some people with the most severe forms of mental illness may need help in understanding that they need treatment.

The AOT program uses a community-based, case management model to assist the seriously mentally ill with placement into mental health treatment. The program works with clients to seek voluntary participation whenever possible, but can utilize the court system if needed to leverage that treatment.

To be eligible for the AOT program, an individual must be evaluated to see if they could benefit from treatment and if they meet specific criteria.

For more information, call 530.573.7970 in South Lake Tahoe.

By Scott McFetridge, AP

DES MOINES, Iowa — A century-old train trestle stands as one of the trophies of Des Moines’ push to spruce up its downtown. Bicyclists and pedestrians pose for pictures beside the brightly painted beams of the Red Bridge and gather on viewing platforms overlooking the Des Moines River.

But little more than a decade after it was restored, crews went back to the site with a crane to hoist the span 4½ feet higher, at a cost of $3 million, after experts concluded that the river’s flooding risk was nearly double earlier estimates. Climate change was likely to blame.

Climate change is often seen as posing the greatest risk to coastal areas. But the nation’s inland cities face perils of their own, including more intense storms and more frequent flooding. Even as President  Trump has announced his intention for the U.S. to withdraw from a global climate agreement, many of the nation’s river communities are responding to climate change by raising or replacing bridges that suddenly seem too low to stay safely above water.

In Reno, officials spent about $18 million to replace a bridge over the Truckee River last year and plan to replace three more after flood-danger projections were increased by up to 15 percent.

Read the whole story

A series of earthquakes have been rattling the Gardnerville area on Tuesday afternoon.

The strongest was measured at 3.9 at 3:45pm June 6. It was centered about 12.5 miles southeast of Gardnerville near Double Springs Flat.

Two subsequent temblors occurred — a 2.2 at 3:51 and a 2.1 at 4:18pm.

No injuries or damage have been reported.

— Lake Tahoe News staff report

More than 2,000 customers in South Lake Tahoe have been without power for the better part of Tuesday afternoon.

This is because a vehicle took out a power pole at Al Tahoe Boulevard and Pioneer Trail.

No one was injured in the accident. No further details, though, have been provided.

Liberty Utilities said power should be restored by 5pm June 6.

— Lake Tahoe News staff report

·      Mike Love and guests Chad Wilkins, Taking Root and disc jockeys Ramone & Clay will be at Blu Nightclub at MontBleu on June 9. Doors open at 9pm. Must be 21 to attend.

·      Zephyr Cove Tennis Club members Tricia Ward and Ray Fugitt won their respective divisions at the Reno City Championships during Memorial Day weekend. Ward paired with and Karen Diehl to win the women’s 4.0 division; and Fugitt played with Dennis Diehl in men’s 4.0.

·      June 11 is the Coach Bob Shaffer Memorial Golf Tournament and barbecue at Gray’s Crossing. All proceeds go to support Truckee High School Sports and Clubs. More info is online.

·      Chris Skelding is now director of sales, marketing and events at the Hyatt in Incline Village.

·      The 107th annual Carson Valley Days Festival is June 9-11. This year’s theme is A Salute to First Responders. Douglas County sheriff’s Deputy Teresa Duffy will be grand marshal of the parade.

By Sandra Chereb, Las Vegas Review-Journal

CARSON CITY — Nevada lawmakers gave final legislative approval Monday to a package of bills that resolved a stalemate over the budget and signaled the 2017 Legislature would end without chaos by midnight.

The Assembly’s approval of three key bills needed to bring the session to a close came swiftly and without discussion Monday afternoon, about 12 hours after they were voted upon in the Senate.

Republicans and Democrats came to terms to pass Senate Bill 546, a key budget bill that was held hostage over a Republican push for education savings accounts — a voucher-like program pushed by the GOP and opposed by the Democratic majority.

Read the whole story

By Don Ashton

Last Friday, I delivered to the Board of Supervisors and publicly released the county’s recommended budget. The 422-page document deserves some context.

In theory, crafting a budget should be a relatively simple endeavor. You add up the money that comes in, subtract the cost of mandated programs that must be paid for, and if you’re lucky enough to have anything left over, decide where it should be spent. If you’re smart, you’ll also sock away some of the surplus for a rainy day or an unforeseen emergency. In the case of El Dorado County, and many counties throughout the state, we’re running up against some very difficult choices due largely to the uncertainty of our revenue streams and the increasing costs of continuing our current level of services.

Don Ashton

A lot of discussion over budget priorities ends up focusing on the General Fund part of the budget, since this is the part that the board has the most discretion over. The “what comes in” part of our General Fund budget is comprised primarily of property and sales taxes. Given the nature of these revenue sources, they’re difficult to control. As for the “what goes out” portion, since counties are a subdivision of the state, many of our programs are mandated by the state but are underfunded.

On the revenue side, the only way to substantially increase the amount we receive from property taxes is to increase the number of dwellings. Unfortunately, this also comes with increased costs in services and unless done correctly, does not break even. As a result, many counties and cities turn to our other primary funding source: sales tax.

Sales tax can be adjusted by either increasing the number of business within the county or by increasing the sales tax rate. The primary sales tax generator in El Dorado County is our gas stations. Our county sales tax rate is 7.25 percent. For comparison purposes, the sales tax rate in the two incorporated cities in the county, Placerville and South Lake Tahoe, is 8.25 percent and 7.75 percent, respectively. The sales tax rate in Folsom, where many of our residents shop is 7.75 percent; the rate for Placer and Amador counties is the same as ours, 7.25 percent.

A closer comparison between our neighboring counties (Amador, Placer and Sacramento) identifies that El Dorado County has the second highest unincorporated population after Sacramento (Placer is third, Amador is fourth). We have the fewest number of county employees-to-unincorporated residents (1 employee for every 81 residents compared to Sacramento (1:42), Placer (1:41) and Amador (1:58), and we collect $640 in taxes per unincorporated resident; far less than Sacramento ($933), Placer ($1,523), and even Amador (which collects $1,057/resident).

Take the property tax and sales tax revenue – which are both lower per resident than all three of our neighboring counties – combine that with the obligations the state continues to pass down to counties and increasing retirement costs (CalPERS increases are projected to be $9 million over the next two years) and it’s clear to see we can’t do it all.

If the residents of El Dorado County want increased discretionary services, e.g., libraries, veterans, better roads than what the state is willing to provide, and the high quality of service to our seniors, while maintaining the high quality of public safety provided in El Dorado County, we need to offer additional shopping venues – which typically requires larger populations obtained through residential development – or increase the tax rates. If we aren’t willing to do either, we must accept that the current level of services to our discretionary but essential services will be reduced.

Here’s the bottom line: we have no control over state mandates that are underfunded; we have no control over CalPERS; we have some control over property and sales taxes, but will have to make adjustments in them to maintain service levels. Budgeting. Simple, but not easy.

Tell us what you think by taking a one-minute survey here. Or email us at budget.comms@edcgov.us.

Don Ashton is the chief administrative officer for El Dorado County.

Douglas County deputies on June 5 search Rabe Meadow. Photo/Anthony Spatucci

Reports of a man with a gun led Douglas County sheriff’s deputies to Rabe Meadow on June 5.

Deputies drove part way onto the U.S. Forest Service property in Stateline.

“Three deputies looked and were unable to locate anything,” Deputy Bernadette Smith told Lake Tahoe News.

A person reported seeing a man with a rifle in the trees.

— Lake Tahoe News staff report

Squaw Valley’s dog-friendly music festival Peak and Paws returns to the village June 17-18.

There will be pet-friendly guided hikes, a Splash Dogs dock jumping competition, Yappy Hour drink specials, an array of pet-centric specialty products and vendors, as well as live bluegrass music all weekend. All proceeds from the event benefit the Humane Society of Truckee-Tahoe.

A $5 entry donation will also go toward the Humane Society of Truckee-Tahoe. Last year’s festival raised $22,500.

This year it will be two days, going from 11am-5pm both days.

The high-end Tahoe Beach Club development in Stateline has an illegal fence. Photo/Anthony Spatucci

By Kathryn Reed

Illegal fences going into Lake Tahoe have caught the attention of the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency.

Property owners must get a permit from the bi-state regulatory agency before construction. This was not done.

A TRPA inspector was at the Tahoe Beach Club on June 2 to talk to the Stateline property owner.

“The fencing is not allowed, but if you look you will see some sort of metal material buried in the sand in the water on the other side,” Tom Lotshaw, spokesman for TRPA, told Lake Tahoe News. “The TRPA inspector asked the property owner to come up with a timely plan to remove that buried metal material and to remove the temporary fencing, but allowed them to leave the temporary fencing in place for now since the buried material on the other side could be a safety risk.”

Just north of Cave Rock a chain link fence is extending into the lake. It starts from the land, with several sections extending into the water. It looks like it could have been out of the water during the drought. Now it just looks like trash.

A chain link fence has become a water hazard near Cave Rock. Photo/Anthony Spatucci

TRPA on June 5 contacted that property owner. According to Lotshaw, the landowner intends to let TRPA know this week how he plans to remove the fence. 

California and Nevada have different rules regarding the public’s access to the shore. This is why there tend to be more fences on the Nevada side to keep people out.

California owns a public trust easement that allows access for the public year-round between the high water mark (6,229 feet) to low water mark and below. In a drought, this can be a large swath of land, aka beach.

Such an easement does not exist in Nevada. This means it would be trespassing to walk along private property or to dock a boat there.

While it may be private property, owners still must abide by the law when it comes to putting up fences at the lake.