By Matt Stevens, Los Angeles Times

Californians halted a three-month slide in water conservation in September, saving enough to hearten state regulators who had previously expressed alarm about possible drought fatigue.

Residents and businesses cut their water consumption by 18.3 percent in September compared with the same month in 2013. The savings represented a slight uptick from the 17.5 percent reduction urban Californians managed in August.

Conservation backsliding has been a point of concern among officials in recent months.

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El Dorado County deputies recovered thousands of dollars in stolen goods last week. Photo/Provided

Two suspects were arrested last week on the South Shore in connection with burglaries totaling more than $10,000 in stolen items from people in South Lake Tahoe, El Dorado County and Douglas County.

After receiving calls on Oct. 25 of several vehicles in the Camp Richardson area being burglarized, El Dorado County sheriff’s deputies were able to track down people they suspected of using credit cards taken from the vehicles.

Billy Green and Tanya Moore as well as the vehicle that they were driving were located in the county on Oct. 26. Green, 31, was still in custody on Monday. His bail for the five charges was set at $24,000. Moore, 30, was also still behind bars today. Her bail was $19,000.

The single largest cache of stolen tools included a generator, and dozens of power and pneumatic tools stolen from a Gardnerville job site, deputies said. Items from several other burglaries were also located during the search of the suspects’ home.

— Lake Tahoe News staff report

By Nicholas K. Geranios, AP

The Western United States set records for low winter snowpack levels in 2015, and a new report blames high temperatures rather than low precipitation levels.

Greenhouse gases appear to be a major contributor to the high temperatures, according to the study published Monday in the journal Geophysical Research Letters.

Scientists looked at snow-measurement sites in California, Oregon, Washington, western Nevada and western Idaho. They found that in 2015, more than 80 percent of those sites experienced record low snowpack levels as a result of much warmer-than-average temperatures.

Most of the previous records were set in 1977, a drought year, said Philip Mote, lead author of the study and director of the Oregon Climate Change Research Institute at Oregon State University.

“The 2015 snowpack season was an extreme year,” Mote said. “But because of the increasing influence of greenhouse gases, years like this may become commonplace over the next few decades.”

Winter snowpack in the mountains is important in the arid West because the melting snow provides precious water in dry months. The snow drought last winter led the governors of California, Oregon and Washington to order reductions in water use.

California has been in a drought since 2011. Oregon and Washington experienced much higher-than-average temperatures during the 2014-15 winter, but they were not as dry overall as California, the report said.

“The story of 2015 was really the exceptional warmth,” said Dennis Lettenmaier of UCLA, co-author of the study.

“Historically, droughts in the West have mostly been associated with dry winters, and only secondarily with warmth,” Lettenmaier said. But in 2015, “the primary driver of the record low snow packs was the warm winter.”

For 111 of the snow-measurement stations in the region, the April 1 reading was zero for the first time ever, essentially indicating that there was no snow left, the study found. The overall snowpack level on April 1 in California and Oregon was 90 percent below average, the report found.

To the community,

As a sitting council member and board member of Lodging Association, I urge voters to vote yes on Measure P – “P” for play and recreation. This would increase hotel taxes by 2 percent throughout the city. The Lodging Association is supporting this measure because recreation is our economy; investing in our economy will encourage more visitors and visitors to stay longer, which in turn supports the rest of our local economy.

Tom Davis

I also urge a yes vote on Measure U, a one-half cent sales tax with a yes on R for roads to direct those funds into our roads. I’ve been advocating for this investment to roads for many years. My mantra is “Roads, roads, roads.” This money will improve our roads for years to come, which in turn will provide good paying jobs and this is what the citizens have told me is their priority. This is a good consistent funding source for roads. If passed, I and the City Council will encumber those funds to be used only for roads  — if measure R passes.

To address the housing concerns, I’ve asked the mayor to host a housing symposium in early 2017 bringing the city, county, TRPA and all adjoining agencies together to develop solutions for housing.

Everyone asks me, “Whom should I vote for City Council?” My answer is to vote for someone who works well with others, who is respectable of other city councilmembers and city staff; someone who listens to our local citizens and hears and treats others respectfully as well as earns the respect of fellow councilmembers, staff and community.

Tom Davis, South Lake Tahoe

·       The gates to Van Sickle Bi-State Park are closed for the winter season. The grounds remain open year-round, however, water, restrooms and trash collection are not available.

·       Barton Foundation’s 25th annual Gala is Dec. 3 from 5:30-11pm at MontBleu in Stateline. It includes a five-course meal, live and silent auctions, dancing, and more. All proceeds will benefit the Community Health Endowment with a Fund a Dream Appeal supporting Barton Health’s Cancer Wellness Program. For tickets or more information, call 530.543.5909.

·       The deadline to sign up for South Lake Tahoe’s lifeguard training class has been extended to Nov. 3. Register online.

·       Live Violence Free is offering free crisis intervention training. The 80-hour training certifies participants to provide face-to-face, direct advocacy and prevention services to survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault, and child abuse. For more information, contact Aisling Peterson at apeterson@liveviolencefree.org .

·       Local hero’s night is back at Azul Latin Kitchen in South Lake Tahoe. Teachers, nurses, firefighters, and police officers eat for free every Wednesday night through Nov. 23.

The U.S. Forest Service will continue prescribed fire operations this week in areas on the south end of Lake Tahoe.

If conditions are favorable, operations may take place on urban lots near Heavenly Mountain Resort and off South Upper Truckee near Highway 89 South in Christmas Valley. Operations will continue as conditions allow.

Smoke from prescribed fire operations is normal and may continue for several days after an ignition depending on the project size and environmental conditions. Agencies coordinate with state and local county air pollution control districts and monitor weather conditions closely prior to prescribed fire ignition.

To receive prescribed fire notifications, send an email topa_ltbmu@fs.fed.us.

By Sean Whaley, Las Vegas Review-Journal

VIRGINIA CITY — If you want to vote in the upcoming general election in this former mining boomtown you might have to go to jail first.

Early voters in much of Storey County are voting in the former jail of the city’s historic county courthouse. It will be in use on Election Day on Nov. 8 as well.

“It’s our chance to show off the slammer,” said county Clerk-Treasurer Vanessa Stephens. “We thought it was a good chance to showcase this county treasure.”

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Medication safety is the title of a free talk on Nov. 7 from 1-3pm at Lake Tahoe Resort Hotel in South Lake Tahoe.

Staff from Barton Health will address safety issues regarding prescriptions, offer questions to ask a pharmacist, and provide information about proper storage and disposal. It is free.

According to the South Tahoe Drug Free Coalition, prescription drug abuse is a growing problem across the United States, with opioid related deaths quadrupling since 1999. In addition, every year more than 34,000 U.S. children go to the emergency room for accidentally ingesting prescription drugs.

The coalition is working to combat these deadly trends by handing out free prescription drug lock bags. To obtain a bag or to find out more information, contact Kelsey Magoon at kmagoon@tahoeyouth.org
or 530.541.2445.

Lake Tahoe experienced more rain than usual in October. Photo/Kathryn Reed

By Kathryn Reed

South Lake Tahoe received 7.29 inches of rain in October. The average amount of precipitation for October is 1.8 inches at the airport.

The National Weather Service in Reno did not have monthly precip records for South Lake, but said this year is bound to be in the top three.

In Tahoe City, 6.96 inches was recorded last month. The October record of 8.34 inches was set in 1962.

Most of the moisture came in four days – Oct. 14-17.

“Three-quarters of the monthly total came in those four days. It was a combination of the atmospheric river and a strong jet stream across the Pacific that brought big surges of moisture,” Brian Brong, meteorologist with the National Weather Service, told Lake Tahoe News.

Scattered showers will linger today, with the next chance of moisture in the basin possible on Sunday. Snow levels will be above 7,000 feet.

Brong said it will be dry for the next few days in the basin. Truckee could experience some fog. Nighttime temps will be plummeting – low to mid-20s in the basin, in the teens in Truckee.

By Brad Branan, Sacramento Bee

A race for El Dorado County supervisor that’s heavily focused on development has gotten testy, with both candidates lobbing accusations.

The opponent of Assemblywoman Beth Gaines, R-El Dorado Hills – who is running for supervisor as her term in the Legislature expires – is questioning her motives for seeking the office and her support by special interests, including developers.

Gaines, in turn, is painting longtime fire district board member John Hidahl as a fiscally irresponsible Democrat in a conservative county. Hidahl, a retired aerospace engineer, has served on the El Dorado Hills fire district board for 33 years.

Gaines and Hidahl are competing to replace Supervisor Ron Mikulaco in District 1, which represents El Dorado Hills.

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