By Dan Walters, Sacramento Bee

A strong surge in real estate transactions, new commercial and residential construction and rising housing prices should generate a $3-plus billion increase in property tax revenues for schools and local governments during the current fiscal year.

Local property tax assessors closed their books on June 30 and are reporting valuation gains ranging as high as 9 percent in San Francisco, which has the state’s hottest property market.

Just one major county, Kern, has reported a loss of taxable property values and it’s unique in that a major portion of its taxable property is underground, in the form of oil and has reserves.

Read the whole story

Sierra State Parks Foundation is offering Music in the Castle on July 16 at 5pm.

This fundraising evening features violinist John Metros, concert pianist David Nelson and guest musicians playing a special concert inside Vikingsholm with Scandinavian music themes. The concert will include the custom six-legged Steinway piano, commissioned by the home’s original owner in 1929.

A wine and hors d’oeuvres reception follows the concert.

Tickets are $100 each and can be purchased online.

The Sierra State Parks Foundation’s fundraising efforts at Vikingsholm have most recently included the restoration of the sod roof, upgrading all electrical components in the castle, and providing free school group tours. SSPF is currently fundraising to stabilize the south turret of the castle.

A chimney fire in Dollar Point on Tuesday night was contained to the roofline.

With temps in the 30s the past couple nights, people have been warming their homes with fires.

The full-time residents were not injured in the blaze that started about 8:30pm July 11.

“It’s a good idea to get your chimney cleaned and now is the perfect time to do it. We build fires year round. You need to keep them clean,” Beth Kenna with North Tahoe Fire told Lake Tahoe News.

— Lake Tahoe News staff report

A 57-year-old Truckee woman who died in her sleep may have succumbed to injuries from a bike accident.

Zoe King was pronounced dead at 5:14 this morning.

Jeremy Allen, the deceased’s boyfriend, told officers the two were riding bikes the night of July 11 on High Street when they collided. They reportedly got a ride home by Good Samaritans.

Officers would like to talk to the couple who provided the ride.

“No foul play is suspected at this time and the thoroughness of the investigation is a standard protocol for us in these types of situations,” Detective Sgt. Robert Womack said in a press release.

— Lake Tahoe News staff report

Truckee River Winery is looking for artists to turn retired barrels into works of art.

Barrels will then be auctioned off at the end of the summer, with the proceeds going to local charities.

If you are a local artist and are interested in participating in Cask as Canvas, fill out his form and either email it to info@truckeeriverwinery.com or hand deliver it to 11467 Brockway Road, Truckee. Applications will be accepted until July 17.

Registration is free and each contestant will be provided with a 55 gallon oak barrel.

By Ellen Knickmeyer and Juliet Williams, AP

SACRAMENTO – Gov. Jerry Brown has launched a campaign to extend some of the most ambitious climate-change programs in the country and ensure his environmental legacy when he leaves office in two years.

The centerpiece of the push is a cap-and-trade program that aims to reduce the use of fossil fuels by forcing manufacturers and other companies to meet tougher emissions limits or pay up to exceed them. The program has been one of the most-watched efforts in the world aimed at the climate-changing fuels.

The four-year-old program, however, is only authorized to operate until 2020 and faces a litany of challenges, including a lawsuit questioning its legality, poor sales of credits, and lukewarm support among Democratic legislators to extend it.

On Tuesday, the California Air Resources Board will release a proposed blueprint for continuing the cap-and-trade program until 2030, with a vote expected next year.

Supporters credit the strategy – born under previous Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, a Republican, and stemming from other climate change programs initiated under Brown – with helping to cut California’s overall output of emissions by 1.5 percent in its first two years, despite the massive energy demands of the state’s thriving economy.

With Brown set to leave office in 2018, a state appeals court is considering a challenge from the California Chamber of Commerce contending the pollution-credit program is an illegal tax, not a fee.

Environmental groups say the lawsuit and overall uncertainty about the survival of the program are undermining the market for pollution credits. A May auction saw companies buy only one-tenth of the available credits, leaving the state billions of dollars short in projected revenue from the sales.

Meanwhile, groups representing oil interests confirmed last week that they are in direct talks with the Brown administration over cap-and-trade.

California oil companies have long sought to alter or repeal the state’s low-carbon fuel standard. By 2020, those companies would be required to reduce the carbon content of gasoline and other fuels by 10 percent, a significant jump from the current 2 percent.

Any deal-making on climate change would reflect a pragmatic approach to the oil industry by Brown, who took office encouraging immediate boosts in oil and gas drilling to spur California’s economy, even as he promoted incentives that would reduce long-term reliance on fossil fuels.

“What you’re seeing now is an all-hands-on-deck effort to formulate the most responsible way forward.” said Derek Walker, an associate vice president of the Environmental Defense Fund. “They’re talking to the oil industry, talking to environmental groups, to organized labor – they’re talking to everybody.”

Brown has leveraged his position as governor to help draw attention to the battle against climate change. He has set non-binding mandates for increased use of solar, wind and other renewable energy sources in California in the decades to come while signing accords and global support statements aimed at easing climate change.

At home, though, Brown has encountered trouble from moderate Democrats in the state Assembly who last year blocked his plan to slash statewide petroleum use in half within 15 years.

The same lawmakers refused to endorse legislation by Sen. Fran Pavley, D-Agoura Hills, seeking to dramatically cut greenhouse gas emissions through 2050. Pavley was forced to scale back her proposal that now would extend only to 2030. She has since compromised even further, agreeing last month to merge parts of her plan with legislation mandating that revenues from such programs be spent in low-income communities affected by pollution.

Winning legislative support could be key for Brown in ensuring the survival of the cap-and-trade program, said Jessica Levinson, a political science professor at Loyola Law School.

“His ability to solidify cap and trade is a big part of being able to say to other governors, to other countries, ‘We’re doing something big and specific and real and it works,“’ Levinson said.

Should the program succumb to legal challenges, market weakness or legislative ambivalence: “Jerry Brown’s fingerprints will be on whatever we ultimately decide to do,” Levinson said.

Work began this week on the final phase of the Upper Truckee River Reach 5 restoration project.

The U.S. Forest Service in collaboration with the California Tahoe Conservancy are diverting the river around the construction area to protect water quality and allow construction of the new channel to be completed.

Boaters will be prohibited from entering the construction area upstream from the project. Signs will be posted at the Elks Club Drive boat launch location notifying boaters of the closure and a barrier will be strung across the river upstream from the temporary bridge to prevent boaters from going downstream.

Fishing will also be prohibited in the construction area during water diversions. Fish will be relocated from within the project area into the Upper Truckee River both up and downstream from the construction. The closure will remain in place until Oct. 14.

This is the final year of the four-year construction project to replace the existing stream channel with a new channel that is more stable and is connected to the adjacent floodplain, which will ideally provide better aquatic habitat, support a healthier meadow ecosystem, and reduce the amount of fine sediment that reaches Lake Tahoe.

By Associated Press

Officials in Nevada say they see broad horizons for the unmanned aerial systems industry following the posting of federal aviation rules designed for small drone aircraft.

As one of six states picked in 2013 for Federal Aviation Administration-authorized testing — and the first in 2014 to be able to issue airworthiness certificates — the Silver State is emerging as a key hub for the drone industry, said Chris Walach, operations director for unmanned aviation at the Nevada Institute of Autonomous Systems.

“We have the education structure, we have the knowledge set, we have the skills, we have the industry base and the resources … to become the thought leader in the global industry,” Walach told the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

In Congress, Democratic Rep. Dina Titus of Nevada noted this week that a House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee funding measure includes provisions to certify Nevada as an unmanned aviation systems testing state through 2020.

The FAA says the six drone testing states — the others are Alaska, New York, North Dakota, Texas and Virginia — are equals. But the Nevada Institute is the only FAA-designated airworthiness representative, able to independently certify unmanned aircraft.

Walach said the program, working with the governor’s economic development office, focuses on boosting drone industry small businesses, research, development, manufacturing and jobs.

The FAA regulation approved June 21, known as Part 107, sets standards for routine use of drones weighing less than 55 pounds by real estate agents, farmers, filmmakers and countless other commercial operators.

The long-anticipated rules mean commercial operators can fly drones without special permission.

William O’Donnell, an executive at Las Vegas-based AviSight, an aerospace and remote sensing services company, told the Review-Journal the new rule knocks down a huge barrier for drone operators who currently need a pilot’s license and a so-called 333 exemption from the FAA.

“And if people are getting their training here, they can open their businesses here and really push the state in becoming the best out there in terms of commercial drone activity,” O’Donnell said.

Researchers at the Desert Research Institute and UNLV College of Engineering are also studying applications for unmanned systems.

UNLV engineering Professor Woosoon Yim said one program he’s studying would allow plug-and-play interchangeable measuring devices for drones, including radiation, chemical and water vapor sensors.

To the community,

Sheriff Chuck Allen and the entire staff at the Washoe County Sheriff’s Office would like to thank the citizens and visitors of Washoe County for the outpouring of gratitude that has been shared with all of the employees at the Sheriff’s Office.

“The tragedy that occurred in Dallas only exemplifies the measures that law enforcement officers go to each day they put on their uniform and go to work,” Allen said. “Men and women who have sworn to protect the Constitution of the United States of America and defend the freedom of the citizens they protect are no different than you and me, moms and dads, sisters and brothers.”

Since taking over as sheriff of Washoe County in January 2015, Allen has worked with other law enforcement agencies to strengthen the relations between law enforcement and the community. Allen has met regularly with leaders of religious groups and other citizen groups to forge relations within Washoe County.

“Our hope in reflecting on the recent tragedies is that we will continue to strengthen the dialogue between the diverse sectors of our community. My hope is that we would all work for improved community relations for the future of Washoe County and those relations would spread well beyond the borders of our region,” Allen said.

Employees at the sheriff’s office have been showered with words and tokens of appreciation from the community over the last few days and the Washoe County Sheriff’s Office Facebook page has been inundated with gratitude and encouragement from the public.

“I have heard many stories of Deputies working within Washoe County receiving handshakes and citizens recognizing them for the work they do,” Allen said. “It just goes to show what a great community in which we live and work.  I sincerely want to say ‘thank you’ to our community for supporting all law enforcement officers.”

Deputy Jeff McCaskill, Washoe County Sheriff’s Office

To the community,

Sierra Valley Electric Inc. was the Adopt A Day of Nourishment sponsor for Bread & Broth’s dinner on June 26.

Sierra Valley Electric Inc. is locally owned and operated and has been serving the South Lake Tahoe community since 1975. Owners Sandy Herback and Bob King and their employees have a strong sense of community and adopting a dinner to feed the hungry of our community is just one of the many ways the company tries to be involved in all aspects of the Tahoe south shore community.

At Sierra Valley Electric’s dinner, the B&B volunteers served a hot and nutritious meal with the help of two very hard working Sierra Valley Electric employees. According to Mary Ann Valle, the sponsor crew coordinator, Ralph Duron and Nick Chandler were two of the hardest working sponsor volunteers that have helped at the B&B Monday evening dinners. After helping with bagging food giveaway bags, serving dinner and prior to cleaning up cleaning up, Chandler commented that the dinner was “great for our community!”

Bread & Broth would like to express our sincere thanks to Sierra Valley Electric Inc. for the great job they do providing service to the South Tahoe community and their support over the years sponsoring Monday evening meals at St. Theresa Church Grace Hall.

As a nonprofit, all volunteer organization, B&B depends on our partnerships with generous local community supporters like Sierra Valley Electric Inc.

To partner with B&B as a donor or sponsor, contact me at carolsgerard@aol.com or (530) 542-2876.

Carol Gerard, Bread & Broth