To the community,

In light of the unprecedented number of snow days we have experienced this early into the winter season and our desire to make up instructional time for our students, the district is proposing making changes to the current 2016-17 school calendar.

Rob Leri

In addition to eliminating three minimum days (Feb. 1, March 8, May 10) to gain additional, uninterrupted instructional time for our students, district administrators and teachers are considering an independent study option during part of Ski Skate Week. With this proposed option, your child could complete assigned coursework remotely or attend makeup classes on Feb. 22, Feb. 23, and Feb. 24 at school sites and complete assigned course work on-site with teacher support.

Please note:

• Transportation would be provided for the proposed makeup classes during Ski Skate Week.
• Food service would be available for the onsite makeup classes.
• The proposed makeup classes during Ski Skate Week would provide two more snow days to be used with a school end date of June 21. If we have fewer snow days, school would end earlier.

District leadership considered extending the school days with more instructional time, however the state of California doesn’t allow this.

Our board of education approved the submittal of a waiver of five school days to the California Department of Education. Therefore, based on the number of snow days to date, June 26 would be the last day of school if we don’t have any more snow days this year. By adding the independent study option, it provides for three potential snow days. With this option, as of today, school would end on June 21 if we don’t have any additional snow days.

We’d like to hear your input on these changes and what would work best for your family before the proposal goes before our board of education. We have a special board meeting scheduled on Jan. 25 at 4:30pm at the district office where the board will consider this proposal.

Please click here to share your feedback.

Rob Leri, superintendent Tahoe Truckee Unified School District

By Kathryn Reed

On Jan. 8, South Tahoe Public Utility District pumped more than twice as much treated water than it does on July 4 – normally it’s busiest day.

That’s what happens when the skies open and rain doesn’t stop.

In that 24-hour period more than 12½ million gallons passed through the South Shore sewer district. This was the seventh largest 24-hour flow in the district’s history. The record was 17.29 million gallons on Feb. 17, 1986.

South Tahoe PUD’s board got an update Jan. 19 on how the district handled the first round of January storms.

The best news is there were no spills. Plus, the district stayed within its permitted allowable discharge per Lahontan Regional Water Quality Control Board. STPUD has a permit for 18½ million gallons at one time. It hit 17½ million gallons on Jan. 8. Changes to its infrastructure allows it to handle 20 million gallons at once. Because of these improvements the district plans to ask Lahontan to revise its permit.

If the district were to go over the permitted allotment, it could be fined. The last fine came in March 1995.

Once things dry out, district personnel will be investigating the Upper Truckee pump station because it had one of the largest flows when normally it has one of the smallest.

“This indicates a failure in the system,” district Assistant General Manager Shannon Cotulla told the board. “Going forward we want to look at that collection area.”

Power outages kept crews busy. It was hard to find diesel in town because STPUD was buying so much to keep its generators at the plant and pump stations going.

“It took a Herculean effort to keep things form spilling out there,” Cotulla said of Fallen Leaf Lake.

Employees worked around the clock, some sleeping at district facilities, to ensure the equipment kept running and no wastewater got into the environment.

By David Porter, AP

NEWARK, N.J. — Supporters of legalized sports gambling in New Jersey and several other states were dealt a no-decision of sorts Tuesday when the U.S. Supreme Court delayed a ruling on whether it will take up the states’ challenge to a federal ban.

The court invited the solicitor general to file a brief on behalf of the government, which means a decision could take several more months.

The Supreme Court had been expected to include the sports betting case in its announcement Tuesday on which cases it will hear this year.

New Jersey is challenging a 1992 federal law that restricts sports betting to Nevada and three other states that already had approved some form of wagering.

In recent briefs to the Supreme Court, lawyers representing the state have argued the federal law violates the Constitution by preventing states from repealing their own laws.

Several states including Mississippi, West Virginia, Arizona, Louisiana and Wisconsin have joined New Jersey’s effort.

President-elect Donald J. Trump hasn’t named a new solicitor general yet. When Trump officially takes office Friday he will be the first U.S. president to have owned casinos. He has spoken favorably about legalizing sports gambling.

In a 2015 interview with Fox Sports 1, Trump indicated he wouldn’t oppose sports betting or daily fantasy sports “because it’s happening anyway.”

Republican Gov. Chris Christie has championed New Jersey’s effort in an attempt to use sports gambling revenues to bolster the sagging fortunes of the state’s casino and horse racing industries.

The case has a lengthy legal history.

New Jersey voters overwhelmingly approved legalized sports betting in 2011 and the following year the state enacted a law allowing betting at racetracks and casinos.

The four major pro leagues and the NCAA sued to block that law from taking effect, arguing the integrity of their games would be threatened and there would be more incidences of game-fixing. A trial judge and, later, a federal appeals court ruled against the state.

Christie then signed a bill into law in 2014 that repealed prohibitions against sports gambling at casinos and racetracks. Repealing the laws instead of passing a new law was seen as a way to get around the federal law by not having sports gambling officially authorized by the state.

However, that challenge also met defeat at the hands of a federal judge in New Jersey and a federal appeals court in Philadelphia.

The Department of Justice, joining the sports leagues, has argued that since New Jersey’s 2014 law authorizes gambling at racetracks and casinos by prohibiting it everywhere else, it amounts to state authorization and is a violation of the 1992 federal law.

Though exact figures are impossible to calculate, it’s estimated tens of billions of dollars are bet illegally on sports annually in the U.S., with a sizable chunk handled by organized crime syndicates.

Nevada is the only state allowed to offer wagering on single games. Delaware, Montana and Oregon were exempted from the 1992 federal ban and are permitted to offer limited multi-game parlay pools.

Congress gave New Jersey a one-time opportunity to become the fifth state before the ban was enacted, but the state failed to pass a sports betting law in the required time window.

By USSA

LAAX, Switzerland – Jamie Anderson (Meyers) scored a third-place podium finish at one of the most prestigious contests of the year — the LAAX Open — which served as a stop on the FIS World Cup Tour for the first time in 2017.

Julia Marino (Westport, Conn.) also had a strong showing for the women, finishing just off the podium in fourth. Red Gerard (Silverthorne, Colo.), who is fresh off his first World Cup podium at Kreischberg last week, was fourth for the men.

The podium was Anderson’s third of the year, after a stellar December that featured wins in big air at the Toyota U.S. Grand Prix at Copper Mountain and slopestyle at the Breckenridge Dew Tour.

“I’m really happy,” Anderson said of the finish. “It was a great contest, really progressive.”

Enni Rukajarvi of Finland won the women’s event, while Austria’s Anna Gasser continued her highly successful season with a second-place finish. Also making a strong showing for the American women was Hailey Langland (San Clemente), who finished sixth as the youngest competitor in the field (16).

For Gerard, it was another excellent finish in a year that is proving to be a breakout one for the 16-year-old Coloradan. The strong Canadian men swept the podium—Max Parrot scored his second World Cup win of the season after winning the big air at the Copper Grand Prix, Mark McMorris was second and Tyler Nicholson was third.

By Sage Sauerbrey, Moonshine Ink

Anyone who has spent a reasonable amount of time in the mountains can probably remember at least a few times when they made a real bonehead move and got lucky. 

Even though the “sidecountry” — the out of bounds area surrounding a ski resort — may give the illusion of safety due to its proximity to controlled terrain, there have actually been more avalanche fatalities in the California “sidecountry” over the last 60 years than in the backcountry. 

“It’s a false sense of security, I think,” said Randall Osterhuber, director of Donner Summit Avalanche Seminars. “You’re either in the backcountry or you’re not; you’re either on one side of the rope line at the ski area or you’re not.”

Read the whole story

Placer County is going after vacation rentals that are not paying transient occupancy tax.

The county is launching an initiative to ensure lodging operators are registered with the county and following the rules for TOT collection and remittance.

The goal is to identify and notify non-compliant lodging providers of the county’s TOT ordinance requirements, ensure compliance and extend assistance in completing the registration process. In addition, inspections of existing operators’ records will be conducted on a more frequent basis, including field inspections and desk audits.

In October, the county contracted with Host Compliance to assist with its effort in identifying, in real-time, Internet-based rental companies operating out of compliance in the unincorporated areas of Placer County. Services provided under the contract include trend monitoring, address identification, compliance monitoring and rental activity monitoring.

Last June, the county also initiated a contact with MuniServices to assist with conducting more frequent inspections of records, ensuring lodging providers are complying with the requirements.

·      Tahoe Rim Trail Association will begin accepting applications on Jan. 25 for two through hikes of the Tahoe Rim Trail. These are 15-day, 165-mile, guided and supported backpack trips. Dates are July 22-Aug. 5 and Aug. 26-Sept. 9. Cost is $1,745. Register online. 

·      El Dorado County Connections – One Stop is hosting a free employer forum on Feb. 8 at 1pm at 3047 Briw Road in Placerville. For more information, call 530.573.4330.

·      Lake of the Sky is showing “11th Hour” produced by Leonardo DiCaprio on Jan. 27 at 7pm.
Leading experts in climate change discuss the impacts that are occurring worldwide because of the rising temperatures. It is free at Unity at the Lake, 1195 Rufus Allen Blvd., South Lake Tahoe.

·      World champion magician Joel Ward is at The Loft showroom in South Lake Tahoe now through Jan. 31.

·      On Jan. 24 Placer County supervisors are expected to declare a state of emergency because of the January storms.

To the community,

Lake Tahoe South Shore Chamber of Commerce would like to thank the community for supporting the local charity, Bread & Broth, at the annual Connect for a Cause Charity Mixer at Riva Grill on Jan. 12.

Over 100 people attended the event and together raised $1,299 for Bread & Broth. Tahoe Chamber couldn’t have been more pleased with the turnout and the amount of donations received for the B&B 4 Kids program.

We’d like to thank Riva Grill for hosting the event and providing the generous spread. Tahoe Chamber would also like to thank Lauren Lindley Photography for providing a mobile photo booth that allowed guests to try on costumes and take fun photos to remember the night.

A special thank you to all of the businesses that provided great raffle prizes, including Artemis Lakefront Café, Attic Thrift Store, CalStar, Epic Tahoe Adventures, Fresh Ketch, Heart Rock Herb & Spice, Heavenly | Kirkwood, Heavenly Sports, Lakeside Inn and Casino, Lake Tahoe Cruises | Zephyr Cove Resort, Lake Tahoe Resort Hotel, McP’s Taphouse, Mott Canyon Bar & Grill, Oakley, Overland Meat & Seafood Co., Powder House Ski & Snowboard, Reclaimed Tahoe, Samurai Restaurant, and Summit to Shore Chiropractic.

This event wouldn’t have been possible without the support of Tahoe Chamber members and the community. 

Brittani Curtis, Lake Tahoe South Shore Chamber of Commerce

By Seth A. Richardson, Reno Gazette-Journal

CARSON CITY — Gov. Brian Sandoval is proposing a 10 percent excise tax on retail marijuana sales once the recreational industry gets moving in Nevada.

Sandoval made the announcement during his State of the State address on Tuesday in Carson City where the Republican outlined his proposed $8.1 billion budget, an 11 percent increase from the 2016-17 $7.3 billion budget. Despite earlier indications, there will not be a deficit for lawmakers to figure out if Sandoval’s budget is adopted.

Besides the marijuana tax, Sandoval backed improvements for for Reno’s Spaghetti Bowl, a new engineering school at UNR and funding for education savings accounts despite the Nevada Supreme Court putting a halt to that program last year.

Read the whole story

By Associated Press

Carson City has approved a temporary ban on recreational marijuana dispensaries.

The Reno Gazette-Journal reports that the city Board of Supervisors passed the six-month moratorium Thursday.

The decision comes as the Nevada Department of Taxation works on drafting regulations for the industry.

A ballot measure passed by voters in November legalized the use of recreational marijuana in Nevada beginning Jan. 1.

City Community Development Director Lee Plemel says the moratorium will be in effect through July, unless pot regulations are adopted sooner.

The taxation department has until the end of the year to establish rules for the state’s recreational marijuana program.