Vehicle technologies in the United States and around the world are in a phase of rapid change. The last six years have seen the introduction of self-driving cars, mass-production of electric vehicles, and new vehicle-sharing.

Electric vehicles are coming and the Lake Tahoe region has a chance to become the electric highway in the Sierra. Millions visit the region and transportation has impacted air quality and become the second largest source of greenhouse gas emissions. To counteract the tendency “to love a place to death”, regional planners are leading an effort to encourage the use of plug-in electric vehicles.

A talk on Oct. 18 will allow people to learn more about:

• Efforts under way to bring electric vehicles to the Tahoe-Truckee region
• Myths and facts about electric vehicle ownership
• Vehicle options and incentives for buyers.

The free talk is from noon-1:30pm at the U.S. Forest Service Office, 855 Alder Ave, Incline Village.

By Alejandro Lazo and Anne Tergesen, Wall Street Journal

Gov. Jerry Brown approved a bill creating state-sponsored retirement plans for about 6.8 million Californians who don’t have them through their private employers.

The nation’s most populous state becomes the eighth state to establish such a program.

The AARP estimates about 55 million full- and part-time private-sector workers in the U.S. lack access to retirement-plan coverage through work. States have been filling in that gap by creating such plans.

Read the whole story

With the onset of cooler, wetter weather, the Tahoe National Forest is preparing for prescribed fires that will occur
throughout the fall, winter and spring, as conditions allow.

Planned projects include burning piles of stacked vegetation and low to moderate intensity understory burns of vegetation on the forest floor. The primary goals of these projects are to reduce the severity of future wildfires and provide protection for communities in the wildland urban interface. In addition, the prescribed fires will promote a diverse and more resilient forest, as well as improve wildlife habitat.

All four ranger districts on the Tahoe National Forest are planning to implement prescribed fire. Some of the planned projects include:

• The Sierraville Ranger District will conduct understory burning at Lewis Mill and west of Highway 89 (south of Little Truckee Summit), as well as pile burning in the areas of Loyalton Pines, Sierraville, Calpine, and Sagehen Summit.
• The Truckee Ranger District will conduct understory burning east of Stampede Reservoir and on the west side of Highway 89 and Prosser Lakeview/Prosser Heights.

The music and dance revue ElectroSwing Burlesque is returning to The Loft in South Lake Tahoe on Oct. 12.

This original live production show features the vocals of Ashley Kepler, along with the trumpeter Jef Derderian, rhythmic drumming by Dosto Klee, as well as dance artists of The Dame Doll Dancers, Jayde Reid and Mikaela Bianchi.

The cast is often rotating and the songs changing.

The burlesque show will be every other Wednesday — Oct. 12, Oct. 26, Nov. 9, Nov. 30,  and Dec. 14. Showtime is 8pm, doors open at 7:45pm, with pre-party in the lounge at 7pm.

The show is recommended for those 17 and older. Reserved seats are $30 (plus tax/fees), and are available online.

As part of the ticket price, Jeff VanHee of Tahoe Moonshine will be offering a flight of tastings during intermission.

Publisher’s note: The following endorsement is from Lake Tahoe News after a team of seven community members gathered to discuss who should be on the Lake Tahoe Community College board of education.

Forthright, informed and prepared to serve – that’s Nancy Dalton.

Those are some of the reasons why Lake Tahoe News is endorsing her for the Area 4 seat on the Lake Tahoe Community College board.

Nancy Dalton

As a math teacher at South Tahoe High School she will be able to be a bridge between the college and Lake Tahoe Unified School District. As the two institutions continue to develop career and technical education programs that are linked, it is critical to have someone on the inside who gets what high school students are going through and understands their needs.

The two entities are losing the current link with Larry Green leaving the LTUSD board.

Ironically, he is a math instructor at LTCC. As a numbers guy, he has been able to use his expertise when it has come to financial matters on his board. And while understanding algebra and geometry at the high school level does not mean someone understands the nuances of a multi-million budget with restricted and unrestricted dollars or the management of a facilities bond, we are hopeful Dalton will have an awareness that someone with a different discipline would not likely have.

And while it can be difficult to have a full-time job and be an elected official, Dalton has proved that she is up to the task. She has been attending LTCC board meetings for most of this year, so she understands the time commitment, the amount of reading involved and the demands beyond the meetings.

The board and college as a whole will benefit from Dalton’s leadership experience with other boards, as department chair at STHS and helping manage her husband’s construction business. While education is her primary background, her diverse interests and past will help her make decisions as a college board trustee.

We agree with her when she says the main priorities of the board should be:

·       Hire a competent superintendent/president

·       Fulfill the improvements stated in Measure F

·       Work within the budget.

While her opponent, Dave Hamilton, has impressive credentials and is passionate about the college, as a former instructor he also has baggage that we don’t believe would be conducive for making a harmonious board.

Only two South Shore candidates on the California side filed campaign financials that were due Sept. 29.

According to the El Dorado County Elections Department, Annie Davidson and Nancy Dalton are the two who say they have campaign committees.

Fines can be administered by the Fair Political Practices Commission if a candidate is delinquent with a filing.

Candidates like to be strategic about when they report contributions in case it might sway voters. With the next filing not due until the end of this month, most people voting by mail will have done so before the financials are public.

Here are the forms from Davidson and Dalton. Davidson is running for Lake Tahoe Unified School District and Dalton for Lake Tahoe Community College.

— Lake Tahoe News staff report

By Steven Church and Christopher Palmeri, Bloomberg

Getting Apollo Global Management LLC and TPG Capital to give up control of gambling giant Caesars Entertainment Corp. was hard enough. Now comes the challenge of deciding who replaces them.

Creditors will own about 70 percent of Las Vegas-based Caesars after the company and its bankrupt operating unit finish reorganizing sometime next year. Those creditors are still negotiating the details of who will govern the sprawling empire, which owns one of the most iconic brands in gambling and operates 47 casinos — including Harrah’s Lake Tahoe and Harveys —  in six countries, said four people familiar with the talks.

Caesars and the creditors are racing to work out the wording of the final legal documents needed to implement the deal.

Read the whole story

Work can finally begin on the Highway 89-Fanny Bridge project in Tahoe City.

The $30.1 million construction contract was awarded to Martin Brothers Construction.

Work is to begin this fall and be done in summer 2018.

Once the project is completed, the stretch of road starting on the north side of Fanny Bridge extending to the new roundabout on West Lake Boulevard will become a Placer County maintained road.

Highway 89 will be routed through what is known as the 64 acres.

Project proponents say the long-term benefits include a reduction in air pollution, less congestion, improved safety for pedestrians and cyclists, less sediment run-off from upgraded storm water treatment included in project plans.

The contract award includes Placer County’s 2.2-mile Dollar Creek Shared-Use Trail Project near Highway 28 between Dollar Hill and Tahoe Vista.

By Paul Rogers, San Jose Mercury News

Every October in California, leaves and temperatures fall, pumpkins dot the fields and college football season takes stride.

But despite the trappings of autumn, October is California’s most dangerous month for wildfires, posing a deadly mixture of heavy seasonal winds, unpredictable weather patterns and bone dry vegetation.

If history is a guide, the Loma Fire, which began burning through a remote corner of the Santa Cruz Mountains on Sept. 25, may not be the end of the Bay Area’s fire threats for the year. It may just be the beginning.

Five of the six most destructive wildfires in state history, ranked by the number of homes burned down, have occurred in October. Chief among them is the Oakland Hills Fire, which destroyed 2,843 homes and killed 25 people on a blustery day in 1991.

Read the whole story

With more than 540,000 Nevadans already registered to participate in the annual statewide public earthquake drill, the Great Nevada Shakeout is hoping to up that total by another 100,000 residents.

The Great Nevada ShakeOut is a simple, coordinated “drop, cover and hold on” exercise. It is Oct. 20 at 10:20am.

Last year, more than 560,000 Nevadans participated.

To register as an individual, business, school or government agency or organization, go online.