Jake O’Malley

A Go Fund Me account  has been established to help with the funeral costs for Jake O’Malley.

The Whittell High School grad was a wildland firefighter for the Bureau of Land Management based out of Winnemucca. While on duty July 10 his engine was involved in a single vehicle accident. O’Malley and his roommate, Will Hawkins, died. One other firefighter survived.

There will be a  memorial service for the two firefighters on July 19 at 1pm at the Winnemucca Events Complex, 1000 Fairgrounds Road.

Law enforcement and their family may eat and drink for free on Aug. 1 at California Burger Co. in the Heavenly Village, Beach House on Lakeside Beach and at the Beer Garden at Base Camp Hotel. All are in South Lake Tahoe

Ted Kennedy, who runs the establishments, on his Facebook page said,  “We appreciate you. We’re honored to have you with us. We can’t thank you enough for what you do. We want you to know that we stand behind you.”

He said in September a bigger thank you is coming that will involve all of his restaurants in the Tahoe area. He also owns Azul Latin Kitchen and Base Camp Pizza in South Lake Tahoe, as well as pizza places at Northstar and Squaw Valley. Kennedy said he will be encouraging other businesses to participate then.

Jasmine

Jasmine is a beautiful, playful and sweet kitty who is looking for her forever home. She is 6 years old, has lived with other pets and children, and loves attention.

Jasmine greets people with purrs and meows. She would love to have a home to explore and nice quiet places or sunny spots to curl up and nap. She could be happy with other cats if introduced properly.

Jasmine’s adoption fee is $20. Come meet her, you’ll fall for her big eyes, lovely markings and friendly attitude.

Jasmine is spayed, microchipped, tested for FIV, and vaccinated. She is at the El Dorado County Animal Services shelter in Meyers, along with many other dogs and cats who are waiting for their new homes. Go to the Tahoe animal shelter’s Facebook page to see photos and descriptions of all pets at the shelter.

Call 530.573.7925 for directions, hours, and other information on adopting a pet.

For spay-neuter assistance for South Tahoe residents, go online.

— Karen Kuentz

By Kathryn Reed

Both sides in a lawsuit involving the city of South Lake Tahoe and Tahoe Pines Lodge say they won. Now they each want the other to pay their respective attorneys’ fees.

The property owner’s attorneys are seeking more than $1 million, citing evidence why the city should essentially be punished for how it handled the case.

“The court should award attorney fees to HF Lenders II, in care of Mr. Cobrae, in the amount of $6,159.87, and to Mr. Cobrae on his own account in the amount of $949,085.28. This substantial attorney fee is merited under the standards articulated, and is in the interest of justice to full incentive attorneys to litigate against the city in future attempts to illegally seize entitlements from other property owners,” court documents read.

Darren Cobrae bought the property in December 2014. Between then and when the city filed the lawsuit in February 2015, 41 administrative citations were issued. The city wanted Cobrae to cleanup and fix things, some of which were the result of fire damage, but there was also water damage, mildew, illegal construction, improper doors and some rooms without deadbolts.

Tahoe Pines Lodge has had issues with upkeep and problem guests for years. Photo/LTN

The city had issued a notification of substandard house to Sue Pebley, the prior owner, because she had run the place into the ground. It was Cobrae’s intent to fix the place up – and it has been.

“Since we filed the lawsuit all those items were corrected,” City Attorney Tom Watson told Lake Tahoe News. “Code enforcement is to apply the laws consistently on all of our properties for the protection of the people who live there.”

This property is more for long-term guests instead of tourists.

The city contends it took filing the lawsuit and the attempt to get it into a receivership for the health and safety issues to be fixed.

Cyrus Sanai, lead attorney for Cobrae, told Lake Tahoe News, “This is a pretty extraordinary case of abuse of power by the city against a small business man.”

Deputy City Attorney Nira Doherty in her opening statements earlier this year before El Dorado County Superior Court Judge Warren Stracener said the evidence a receiver should take over “comes in the declarations of the code enforcement supervisor and building official who stated that no repairs have been made to the property up until the time of the filing of the motion and petition. … The history of this property shows that there has been no attempt to correct any violations of this property until the receivership was filed.”

Sanai believes the city did all it could to take over the property, citing how the building inspector was not allowed at one point to go to the hotel.

An email that is part of the court record from building inspector Dave Walker to Cobrae says, “You asked if I could come by and inspect your property at 966 Modesto next week but I have been instructed by legal that request cannot be accommodated.”

In his deposition, Walker said it is unusual for anyone in the City Attorney’s Office to tell him not to inspect a property.

Eventually, the city dropped the case – saying all the infractions had been corrected. Dropping the suit is why Sanai believes his client won.

“We were willing to let this go because our position was we got what we wanted,” Watson said. That is why the city believes it won.

The case allows the winner to seek attorneys’ fees. Sanai filed for them first. The enhanced amount is because of the alleged egregious nature of the suit to begin with. Once those documents were filed the city countered, saying it had won and therefore owed $70,000 for its time involved.

A July 28 court date is scheduled before Stracener to decide the attorneys’ fees matter.

By Dan Walters, Sacramento Bee

The California Public Employees’ Retirement System – the nation’s largest pension trust fund – took a beating during the Great Recession, dropping nearly $100 billion in value.

Dan Walters

However, it recovered nicely as the nation emerged from recession and finally got back to its pre-recession level three years ago.

At the time, it sparked much celebratory verbiage from the system’s professional cheerleaders. But the public employee union flacks have been noticeably quiet since then – for good reason.

CalPERS’ investment portfolio barely eked out a profit during the 2014-15 fiscal year and it performed even more poorly during the 2015-16 cycle that ended June 30, declining by $8 billion (2.6 percent) to $293.7 billion.

Read the whole story

The National Weather Service in Reno has issued a red flag warning for July 18 in the Lake Tahoe Basin.

Wind gusts as high as 40 mph and low humidity with little to no rainfall during the last two months will lead to high fire danger on Monday across much of western Nevada, the Lake Tahoe Basin and northeast California, the agency warns. Wind gusts of 30-40 mph will kick up around 10 am Monday morning and continue well into the evening.

“Under these dry conditions even a small spark can quickly grow into a large and dangerous wildfire before first responders can contain them,” officials said in a statement.

The Truckee Police Department issued this warning, “Extreme caution is necessary including no open flames. Hot engines from weed eaters, mowers and chains saws can start fires. Campfires should be out and cold to the touch. Report any smoke immediately to 911.”

By Patrick McGreevy, Los Angeles Times

Thousands of felons serving time in county jails would be allowed to vote in California elections from behind bars under a bill moving swiftly through the state Legislature despite widespread opposition from law enforcement officials.

Assemblywoman Shirley Weber, D-San Diego, introduced the measure with an aim that providing convicts the right to vote will give them a better sense of belonging to society and possibly reduce their chances of committing new crimes when released.

But police chiefs and sheriffs throughout California say the proposal that passed narrowly in the state Assembly undermines a longstanding social compact: those who commit a serious crime lose not only their freedom to live in society for a time but also their right to participate in democracy.

Read the whole story

By Associated Press

Many motorists are clogging their car’s engine by not using gasoline with enough added detergents.

That’s the conclusion of a study by the AAA auto club.

Federal rules in place since 1996 require all gasoline to have some engine-cleaning additives, but many major brands have extra detergents. AAA said tests it commissioned from an independent lab found that lesser gasolines left 19 times more deposits on engine intake valves than so-called top-tier fuels after the equivalent of 4,000 miles of driving.

AAA said carbon deposits reduce a car’s mileage, increase emissions and hurt performance, especially on newer cars.

The auto club said gasolines with extra detergents cost an average of 3 cents per gallon more. And that could be their undoing.

Three-fourths of consumers surveyed by AAA buy their gas based on price or the service station’s location. Only 1 in 8 picked a brand because it has extra detergents.

AAA’s director of automotive engineering, Greg Brannon, said car owners can undo some deposits by switching gasoline for a few thousand miles.

The program to promote higher-detergent fuels grew out of concern by some car makers that the EPA standards for fuel detergents were too weak to prevent buildup that affects car performance. General Motors, Honda, Toyota, BMW, Fiat Chrysler, Mercedes-Benz and Volkswagen are sponsors.

The Michigan-based Center for Quality Assurance runs the program and charges gas stations a fee to use the Top Tier seal of approval. Two executives of the group declined to disclose the fee.

By Joy Resmovits, Los Angeles Times
 
For the last 15 years, a number between 200 and 1,000 told parents in California how good their child’s school was.

Up next: They might have to decipher performance through a series of colored boxes.

California is in the process of redefining its system for rating public schools, in a way that is both transparent for parents and more precise than just using test scores. The changes come after the number system, called the Academic Performance Index, was suspendedand as the state tries to satisfy the Every Student Succeeds Act, the federal government’s replacement of No Child Left Behind.

The latest proposal, presented Wednesday at a meeting of the State Board of Education in Sacramento, is “the California Model,” a display of 17 colored boxes that summarizes how a school is doing in such categories as math or career readiness, both in terms of current status and progress over time.

Read the whole story

Carson Tahoe Health is in the process of revamping its master plan that will be the vision for the next decade.

The Carson City-based healthcare group will delve into what types of services might be needed in the future and facilities to make that happen.

Looking at what is working today and how to be more efficient will also be studied.

Carson Tahoe has offices in Dayton, Minden and at Lake Tahoe as well as in the capital city.

— Lake Tahoe News staff report