By Veronica Rocha, Los Angeles Times

Firefighters are tackling larger and more aggressive wildfires as drought conditions continue for a fifth year in California, drying out swaths of forest land.

Raging wildfires in Northern and Southern California kept firefighters busy over the weekend, pushing the number of acres burned so far this year to well over 20,000.

“Now already this year, crews have responded to 1,562 wildfires that have burned nearly 28,000 acres,” said Daniel Berlant, spokesman for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.

That’s twice as many acres burned for the first six months this year than in 2015, he said. According to CalFire, 11,353 acres burned for the same period in 2015.

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South Lake Tahoe Library is hosting a summer reading challenge from June 21 to Aug. 27.

Children, teens and adults of all ages are encouraged to participate. No registration is required; just pick up a reading log at the library and read.

Special performances will be on Fridays at 2 pm from July 8-Aug. 12.

For more information view the events calendar online.

To the community,

On May 30, Bread & Broth’s Adopt A Day of Nourishment dinner was sponsored by a grant from John McDougall of the Pay it Forward Community Fund at the Parasol Tahoe Community Foundation.   J

McDougall and his sister, Janet McDougall, were on hand at his Pay it Forward sponsorship dinner to help as needed to feed the 80 folks who attended the evening’s meal.

“Each year I am so appreciative of all the local support for Bread & Broth,” wrote John McDougall.  “The volunteers that work each week are truly paying it forward.”

Through his Pay it Forward Foundation, McDougall encourages others, especially the youth of our community, to do good deeds for others to show that they care. McDougall has made a commitment to spread joy and kindness and his annual B&B dinner sponsorships have made the day for many members of our community.

There are so many ways to pay it forward and B&B is very grateful that McDougall has chosen to annually support one of our Monday evening meals. McDougall’s $250 donation funded a baked chicken dinner served with oven-roasted potatoes, sautéed red cabbage and zucchini dishes and a green salad. This nutritious meal provided by McDougal’s grant funds more than fit the bill in ‘paying it forward to those in need in our community. Kudos to McDougall for this thoughtful and heartfelt grant program.

Carol Gerard, Bread & Broth

·       Alex Terrazas, assistant town manager for Truckee, is leaving to be city manager of Los Banos.

·       John Runnels is trying to sell his corner lot at the Y in South Lake Tahoe. He’s doing so himself. He didn’t respond to an LTN email.

·       The North Tahoe and Meeks Bay fire districts are having a Fire Safe Barbecue on June 11 from noon to 3pm at 222 Fairway Drive in Tahoe City.

·       Kahle Community Center is having dog obedience classes from June 16-July 21. Cost is $80. Dogs must be at least 4 months old, have a training collar and fabric or leather lead. Bring the dog’s shot record to first class. For more information or to register for the class, call 775.586.7271.

·       Squaw Valley’s free summer movie series begins July 7 at 8:30pm. They will run each Thursday through Sept. 1. Here is the schedule.

Sierra State Parks Foundation is putting on its inaugural Archives Tour on June 15.

Attendees will meet at Donner Memorial State Park Visitor Center at 9am for a trip to the California State Park Archives at McClellan Air Force Base.

Lunch is provided, along with exclusive access to the China Bar Lawn at the Auburn State Recreation Area. Attendees will be joined by a state park interpreter turning lunch hour into an opportunity to learn more about the Gold Country.

At McClellan Air Force Base docents will give a tour of the California State Park Archives. The Statewide Museum Collections Center is described as “a working collections management facility and its open storage concept allows tour participants to go behind the scenes for a close-up look at the diversity of materials acquired by cultural specialists throughout the state and how these historic objects are stored and preserved.”

The first stops include archives, photo archives, and archaeology where the corresponding head archivist/curator will talk about each program and any current projects. Then there is the processing hall where attendees will be able to see various processing rooms, the conservation lab and isolation room. This leads back into the vault for a tour of three bays of open storage collection space – highlighting various historical objects and the stories behind them. Artifacts from the Sierra region will be highlighted.

Tickets are $60 ($55 for members), with limited seating. Reservations are required. Parking, transportation, entrance fees, lunch and snacks are included in the ticket price. To purchase tickets, go online.

Some Bijou students came from as fas as the Tahoe Keys. Photos/Provided

By Rebecca Bryson

Although this was the first year for South Tahoe Middle School to participate in Bike to School, they hit it out of the park.

Kathleen Whatford, the school’s PE teacher, along with Principal John Simons and Assistant Principal KarenHolmes, spearheaded a major initiative with “biking school buses” coming from all over town. Students met each morning at designated spots. Then a teacher or parent would lead them to school, picking up more kids along the way.

It was a major coordination effort, involving teachers, parents, students and the Lake Tahoe Bicycle Coalition. And as a result of this big push, there were 85, 120 and 150 bikes at the STMS last Wednesday through Friday (as opposed to the usual 5-15).

There were so many bikes that Simons opened up the tennis courts to lock the bikes there.

Students and adults use pedal power to get to STMS.

Andre Albanese, a sixth-grader who biked 9 miles each way from North Upper Truckee every morning said, “It gave me a real sense of independence. I realized how beautiful Tahoe is and hope to keep doing it some other mornings as well.”

And the good news is that the kids keep coming. There were still at least 50 bikes at the middle school again this Monday — despite the fact that the official Bike to School event ended last week.

Parents and teachers at Bijou and Sierra House elementary schools also set up designated routes this year for the first time. At Sierra House, Principal Ryan Galles led a group from the Bijou Bike Park to the school each morning. Sierra House and Tahoe Valley are at a disadvantage from being located on busy streets, but that didn’t stop the kids from coming.

Jamie Lowe, first-grader at Sierra House, exclaimed that it was so fun and special to ride to school every morning with her daddy.

Kids at Tahoe Valley were fired up for Bike to School week as they had just had a Bike Rodeo the previous Tuesday where California Highway Patrol officers taught bike safety skills to all third-, fourth- and fifth-graders. Arial Carreau, third-grader at Tahoe Valley, declared that “biking to school makes me stronger. My family will keep biking and walking to school until the end of the year.”

Magnet school students ride down Apache to their school.

At Bijou there were six designated routes assigned for June 1, but the momentum kept going the other two days as well. When Lizbet Cedeno (second grade) arrived by bike at Bijou last Wednesday morning, she immediately asked the organizers, “We are going to do this again tomorrow and the next day, right?” Dulce Zepeda, a first grader, was part of a walking group, but she declared that she definitely wanted to get a bike so that she could ride to school next time.

By the end of the week, students and families were organizing their own routes. A group of more than 15 came all the way from Tahoe Keys. Joel Bingham, a Bijou parent, lead a group of 10-15 every morning from his house near the meadow. The kids saw coyotes, birds and wildflowers along the way. The kids on his team declared that it was a very special way to get to school. They plan to keep going as many days as possible.

The Environmental Magnet School’s big day was Friday. For the second straight year, teachers and parents led kids to school from all along North and South Upper Truckee as well as along the new Saw Mill Road bike path from the Y area. At 8:50am, they all convened at the Meyers Post Office to ride down Apache en masse. This year, kid bikes alone were estimated at 165 — certainly surpassing last year’s numbers.

A very big thank you all the teachers, parents, and Bike Coalition members who participated and led kids to school. And, a big congratulations all the student bikers. Keep those wheels rolling!

Rebecca Bryson is co-chair of the Community Mobility Work Group and co-founder of Small World Parent Network.

Now through June 13 the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office and other state agencies are beefing up patrols and issuing citations to pedestrians and motorists who are breaking traffic safety laws.

Nevada state law requires pedestrians to use sidewalks, crosswalks and pedestrian bridges and obey all traffic control signs and signals.  If there is no sidewalk, pedestrians must walk on the left side of the street, facing traffic. For motorists, they must yield to pedestrians and avoid passing vehicles that are stopped for pedestrians.

Nearly 90 percent of the pedestrian and driver’s involved in fatal crashes are local residents, and not tourists, according to Douglas County officials.

Coming this summer to the North Tahoe Regional Park in Tahoe Vista is the second location of the Tahoe Treetop Adventure Park. (The original is at Granlibakken in Tahoe City.)

The aerial adventure park will consist of 70 tree platforms connected by a variety of bridges and/or ziplines. Each bridge is unique, some are easy, others are challenging, most of them are wobbly.

Every participant wears a climbing harness and is connected to a safety cable at all times.

It will take about 2.5 hours to finish the course.

It is designed for ages 5 and older, with beginner, intermediate, and advanced courses to accommodate
all levels of athleticism.

The adventure park will be open year-round. Prices will be approximately $50 for youth and $60 for adults with discounts available for North Tahoe Public Utility District residents.

By Benjamin Spillman, Reno Gazette-Journal

Nevada Department of Wildlife officials killed a 2-year-old bear after it made repeated forays into the Sand Harbor area.

According to department spokesman Chris Healy, the bear displayed troubling behavior that prompted officials to capture and euthanize it.

“It is a tough situation,” Healy said. “Outwardly it looked healthy but the behavior was troubling.”

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By Kathryn Reed

El Dorado County voters put Judge Nelson Brooks back on the bench, but were divided over what to do with growth initiatives.

Brooks was first appointed to the bench by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in 2009, and was elected a year later to a six-year term with more than 75 percent of the vote. This go-round he came in with 58.53 percent, or 25,568 votes, while his opponent Roland Thiemann had 41.16 percent, 17,982 votes.

Their race was bitter, contentious and turned heads throughout judicial circles in the state. This is because it is almost unheard of for a sitting judge’s colleagues to support a challenger.

El Dorado County Superior Court is split, though most are in Brooks’ corner, which is led by presiding Judge Suzanne Kingsbury. On the opposite side is Judge Steve Bailey who wants Kingsbury’s title. He put Thiemann up against Brooks.

“It’s really too bad that happened,” Brooks told Lake Tahoe News of the divisiveness. “I will do anything I can to heal any rifts there might be and getting people to work together instead of at cross purposes.”

It was a slow, steady stream of voters on June 7 at Lake Tahoe Airport. Photo/LTN

Measure E and G pertain to growth initiatives for the county. A yes vote limits growth, a no doesn’t. The no position was heavily funded, with Parker Development writing most of the checks. Some expect the “no” side to have spent $1 million to defeat the measures. The television ad buys in the final weeks leading up to the June 7 primary were impressive.

“They are two different measures. The more important one is E,” Sue Taylor, community activist, told Lake Tahoe News. “That is what we have had since 1998 to keep it a slow growth county. It will be harder for developers because of the gridlock on the freeways that need to get mitigated.”

Developers will have to address the road concerns before they can build.

Measure E passed with 51.81 percent; 1,701 votes separate the yes votes from the no.

Measure G was defeated by 1,168 votes. No – 51.24 percent, yes – 48.76 percent.

A new supervisor is going to occupy District 1 because Ron Mikulaco decided to vacate his seat. He instead ran for state Assembly because incumbent Beth Gaines is being termed out. She in turn was running for his supervisor seat.

Mikulaco, a Republican, came in second in El Dorado County in this race, but didn’t fare as well with voters throughout the 6th District. Democrat Brian Caples and Republican Andy Pugno will be on the November ballot.

Gaines was the top vote getter with 25.58 percent, and John Hidahl a close second with 23.17 percent. More than 200 votes separate them.

Brian Veerkamp will retain his seat for District 3, and Shiva Frentzen for District 2.

Placer County voters kept its incumbents, with Supervisors Jennifer Montgomery, Kirk Uhler and Jim Holmes decisively winning re-election.

Statewide seats have the top two vote getters squaring off in November, no matter the party affiliation.

State Sen. Ted Gaines handedly took top honors in the 1st Senate District.

“While it is early, I am pleased by (Tuesday’s) election results. It proves that my positive message of stopping tax increases and limiting government spending resonated with voters across the North State. I look forward to continuing this work on behalf of the people of El Dorado and Placer counties,” Gaines told Lake Tahoe News.

The Republican will face Democrat Rob Rowen in five months.

While some areas of the state experienced reporting glitches, El Dorado County had no problems, according to elections officials.

“With everything going on out in the media, we expect the turnout in the 60 percent area. That is still to be seen,” Linda Webster, EDC elections worker, told Lake Tahoe News. She said previous presidential primaries had turnouts between 40 and 60 percent.

Winners in other El Dorado County races:

·       5th Assembly District – Republican Frank Bigelow, incumbent.

·       4th Congressional District – Republican Tom McClintock, incumbent.

Placer County winners:

·       1st Congressional District – Incumbent Doug La Malfa (R) and Jim Reed (D) will meet in November.

·       4th Congressional District – McClintock.

·       1st Assembly District – Brian Dahle, had no challenger.

·       5th Assembly District – Bigelow.