By Anick Jesdanun, AP

Deborah Braswell, a university administrator in Alabama, is a member of a dwindling group — people with a landline phone at home.

According to a U.S. government study released this month, 50.8 percent of homes and apartments had only cellphone service in the latter half of 2016, the first time such households attained a majority in the survey. Braswell and her family are part of the 45.9 percent that still have landline phones. The remaining households have no phone service at all.

More than 39 percent of U.S. households — including Braswell’s — have both landline and cellphone service.

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By Tom Stienstra, San Francisco Chronicle  
 
A view of Emerald Bay near South Lake Tahoe from the Highway 89 overlook. The Emerald Bay boat-in, one of the prettiest campgrounds in America, opens next Thursday.

If you act now — and conduct a little bit of detective work — you can book a marquee campsite for Memorial Day weekend at a lake, state park or even at Lake Tahoe.

For the holiday weekend, thousands of campsites and cabins are available in Northern California. Starting this weekend, many campgrounds and recreation facilities are opening for the summer season across most of California.

One example is at Lake Tahoe, where boat-in sites at Emerald Bay and drive-in sites at adjacent D.L. Bliss State Park open for the season next Thursday, first come, first served.

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·      The League to Save Lake Tahoe’s Forest Stewardship Day will be June 10 from 8:30am-12:30pm. Participants will work in the Angora Burn area to improve trails and continue to thin brush to give light to young trees. A light breakfast, refreshments and a prize will be provided to all volunteers. RSVP to events@keeptahoeblue.org for meeting location.

·      Bluesdays is a free outdoor concert series that takes place every Tuesday from June 13-Sept. 5, from 6-8:30pm in the Events Plaza in the Village at Squaw Valley. The lineup is online.

·      There will be a five-day women’s yoga retreat Aug. 14-18 at Galilee Retreat Center near Glenbrook led by yoga instructors Jena Baird and Marissa Mignone. For more info, email mountainblessingsbirth@gmail. com.

·      Anyone who visited Tahoe Cross Country this last season is asked to take this online survey.

·      Carol Tretten of Reno and her Gold River Racket Club Women’s 8.0 team just won the Adult 65 & Over National Invitational in Arizona. Tretten is currently on the 4.0 women’s team out of Zephyr Cove Tennis Club.

By Associated Press

Now that Nevada has approved an early start to recreational cannabis sales, existing medical marijuana companies in the state are readying for a burst of new business that could equate to tens of millions of dollars in additional revenue this year.

The early rollout will make Nevada the fifth state with an operational recreational market and the first to launch since last November’s election, when voters in four states approved adult-use programs. Nevada will also be the first new recreational state to go live under the Trump administration.

Nevada’s recreational marijuana industry got the thumbs-up for an “early start” program Monday, when state tax authorities approved temporary regulations that allow licensed medical marijuana companies to begin adult-use sales July 1.

According to Marijuana Business Daily, Nevada’s recreational market could generate $75 million or more in sales this year and $450 million-$550 million annually down the road. Tourist spending is expected to account for a heavy portion of sales.

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To the community,

Tahoe locals: There is a very important meeting on May 31 at Zephyr Cove Elementary School from 4-6pm that we really need people to attend. NDOT will be presenting their concept for shrinking down Highway 50 to just one lane in each direction from Glenbrook to Round Hill. They claim it will make 50 more productive and safer, but there are many reasons why it is not a good idea.

1. Just as the 580 extension is being completed that will allow quick and direct access to Tahoe from Reno, this would bottleneck the traffic.

2. Reno, Sparks and surrounding areas are growing and expanding like crazy, create more visits to Tahoe. This change will make that much more difficult.

3. Imagine yourself in the winter behind someone who doesn’t know how to drive in the snow and now there are no passing lanes. They claim there will be turnout sections, be we all see how well they are (NOT) utilized on Kingsbury grade.

4. If there is an emergency evacuation, god forbid, this will impede our ability to get out quickly.

5. Nevada side people, consider how difficult it is now to turn left off of Warrior Way. When all the traffic is funneled into one lane, things will be even more difficult.

This impacts people on both sides of our state line. Please consider attending no matter where you live in the South Shore.

The list can go on and on. If you have a business in South Tahoe, you need to consider the impact to your business when it is even more difficult to get here.

We need to show up at this meeting and tell NDOT that this is a bad idea. You need to have your opinion on record. Please come, learn, share your opinion and keep our four-lane highway.

Stacy Noyes, Zephyr Cove

Two on-ramps and one exit ramp to and from westbound Interstate 80  in Truckee will be closed May 23-25, from 7am-5pm.

Caltrans will perform concrete grinding work on the ramps as well as freeway lanes. The on-ramps to westbound I-80 to be closed are from Highway 89 just north of the freeway, as well as the ramp from Donner Pass Road near the Coachland round-about. The off-ramp to be closed is the Central Truckee exit (No. 186) to Donner Pass Road.

The repair work will also require alternating lane closures of three lanes on westbound I-80 between the Highway 89 interchange and the Central Truckee exit.

Expect local street congestion as well as delays on westbound I-80.

By David Caraccio, Sacramento Bee

The historic CB Kruger Whitehouse in Truckee is for sale for $1.5 million, and what comes next for the distinguished property could be interesting.

The Victorian house is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and offers a prominent street front location on Donner Pass Road, 18 parking spaces and a variety of commercial uses, from restaurant to retail and office. Most recently, a wine bar, florist shop and hair salon occupied the property, but it was best known when it was a fine-dining restaurant, according to Andrew Smith of Oliver Luxury Real Estate, which listed the property.

Also, zoning still allows the property to return to use as a single-family home, Smith said.

There seems to be endless possibilities for the site, which is owned by Aaron Bigelow and Tanya Thayer of Tahoe City.

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Truckee Donner Public Utility District has resumed its tree trimming program for the season.

The district has spent nearly $2.5 million in the past decade to remove trees and branches near power lines.

Trees growing into power lines or falling during storms creates the risk of fire and power outages. The TDPUD trims or removes trees to maintain the required clearance between the TDPUD’s energized power lines and vegetation. TDPUD maintains trees for approximately 134 miles of the overhead power lines that they operate and follows a set tree trimming calendar cycle.

Trimming and maintaining the health of trees on private property, including trees near the secondary overhead power line connected to homes and businesses, is the property owners’ responsibility. TDPUD, if called and requested, will de-energize the secondary power line at no charge while the property owner does this work.

Call the TDPUD at 530.587.3896 with any questions or concerns regarding tree trimming.

Placer County has entered an agreement with the Lahontan Regional Water Quality Control Board so the county can sign off on grading permits for residents of eastern Placer County that previously required a trip to water board offices in South Lake Tahoe.

The agreement offers a simpler, more efficient permitting process for applicants by allowing the county to review and permit small construction projects that disturb less an acre of land. Previously, those projects required applicants to file directly with Lahontan.

This applies to projects in the eastern portion of the county, but not those in the Lake Tahoe Basin.

Approval for residential projects in the basin that need Tahoe Regional Planning Agency sign-off can also be done by the county at its offices at 775 North Lake Blvd. in Tahoe City.

The Tahoe Bike Challenge, a friendly competition to see who can replace the most car trips with trips by bicycle, returns June 1-14.

Many of Tahoe’s elementary and middle schools coordinate safe rides to school during the Bike Challenge. Each day, parents and community volunteers check in students who rode or walked, with prizes provided to students for their bicycling achievements.

South Tahoe Middle School will host a day-long bicycle skills clinic for students, with volunteers from the Community Mobility Group and the Lake Tahoe Bicycle Coalition.

Information on the Tahoe Bike Challenge can be found online, including details on how to register as a team or as an individual, and how to log miles.

People can find tips on safe riding at the Bike Coalition’s website. To find a route to school or work using the best bike route, use this interactive online map.