This week El Dorado County will begin rehabilitation of the deck and walkway of the Mount Aukum Road Bridge at the North Fork of the Cosumnes River. The rehabilitation process requires closure of one lane of the bridge.

This closure will be in effect through May.

The work will affect the northbound and southbound lanes of Mount Aukum Road at different times. To facilitate traffic movement across the bridge, temporary traffic signals will be installed at both ends of the bridge. These signals will allow one-lane with alternating one-way traffic to move across the bridge. Portable changeable message signs will be in place to advise approaching motorists of the exact date of closure.

Questions regarding the project or the lane closures should be directed to Monika Pedigo at 530.621.5954 or monika.pedigo@edcgov.us.

By Christopher Cadelago and Phillip Reese, Sacramento Bee

Dawn and Nick LaPolla of Fair Oaks are solidly middle class, and they aren’t uninsured.

Yet their required switch to a new health insurance plan under federal changes puts them at a financial crossroads.

If they earn less than $94,200 a year, the family of four’s preferred plan through the California health exchange would cost about $750 a month. But if they make even slightly more, they’ll pay about $1,040. That’s because they would exceed the threshold to qualify for federal subsidies. Their current high-deductible plan, which expires in two months, costs $573 a month.

Unlike wealthier state residents who more easily can afford the new, often more comprehensive plans, or lower-income people aided by government subsidies, the LaPollas are part of a sizable segment of Californians slowly coming to grips with dedicating a greater percentage of their income to new policies.

For the vast majority of residents, the Covered California subsidy isn’t an issue. Low-income residents receive health insurance through Medi-Cal. Millions of others have insurance subsidized by their employer.

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Lake Tahoe News staff report

One of the obstacles with securing funding for transportation projects in the Lake Tahoe Basin is that the area is considered rural.

But congestion defies that rural status when there are more than 5 million visitors vying for a spot on the road.

“On an average busy day there are more than 200,000 residents and visitors in the basin,” Carl Hasty, executive director of the Tahoe Transportation District, said in his presentation last week to the South Lake Tahoe City Council.

His agency’s goals include getting the rural designation changed, creating a regional transportation system, installing bike trails, all while keeping an eye on environmental concerns.

Hasty said there will be workshops this summer on the loop road project. This project would change the alignment of Highway 50 on the South Shore so it goes behind Harrah’s and MontBleu and then turns the current highway into a city street. The draft environmental documents should be released this fall.

Councilwoman JoAnn Conner reiterated her concerns about displacing local businesses and residents, saying she believes the millions of dollars this project would cost could be better spent.

The ferry project that would service Ski Run Marina and one in Tahoe City is moving forward. TTD sees this as a commuter vessel and one for tourists.

Mayor Hal Cole said he could envision this as a recreation item, not something people would use daily.

Planning is progressing on the north end of the Stateline-to-Stateline bike trail. It will eventually hook up with the route already completed on the South Shore that goes from Kahle Drive to Round Hill Pines Beach.

This summer 0.6 miles of bike trail will go in from the southern boundary of Sugar Pine Point State Park to Meeks Bay Resort.

Construction of the Highway 89 bypass around Tahoe City will start in 2015. This is so highway traffic avoids the seismically challenged Fanny Bridge. It will turn the bridge and approach to it into a city street.

Thirteen agencies are collaborating to create a scenic byway on Highway 28 near Incline Village.

By Ruben Vives, Los Angeles Times

When his body was discovered, 34-year-old Andres Marin was still sitting on his light blue mountain bike, leaning against the side of a hill in the Cleveland National Forest.

He had his helmet on and his binoculars were around his neck; his hands were on the handlebars and his feet on the pedals.

“He was still trying, he was still fighting,” his wife, Christyna Arista, said. “He froze to death up there.”

On Tuesday, Arista, 33, said she’s not sure what happened to her husband during his birthday bike ride, but she was angry that the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department had suspended its rescue efforts.

Sheriff Lt. Zachary Hall said rescue efforts were suspended because of poor weather conditions, a decision mountain experts backed.

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By James Nash, Bloomberg

Gov. Jerry Brown, who decries a widening gulf between rich and poor, is campaigning for a fourth and final term presiding over a state that’s outpacing the U.S. in producing millionaires and food-stamp recipients.

The number of households with more than $1 million in assets gained 3.6 percent since the Democrat took office in 2011, compared with 3.5 percent nationally, according to Phoenix Marketing International’s Global Wealth Monitor. Food-stamp use rose 18.2 percent in the period, almost twice the nation’s 9.4 percent, U.S. Agriculture Department data show.

Brown, 75, who signed a bill to raise California’s minimum wage to $10 an hour by 2016, goes before the state Democratic convention tomorrow unopposed after turning budget deficits into the largest surplus in more than a decade. California’s economic health improved more than 44 other states between the first quarter of 2011 and the second quarter of 2013, according to the Bloomberg Economic Evaluation of States.

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Amanda Weavil, a doctor with Barton Health, will be giving a lecture on female chronic pelvic pain on April 1 from 6-7pm.

Attendees will learn about the causes of chronic pelvic pain and how it can affect your fertility, as well as what can be done to help alleviate chronic pelvic pain as well as surgical and non-surgical treatment options.

The free lecture is at Lake Tahoe Community College’s board room.

By Howard Stutz, Las Vegas Review-Journal

Ultimate Gaming was already attracting poker players from Northern Nevada to play the company’s Internet wagering platform.

An agreement announced Thursday with Reno’s Peppermill Casino and four Northern Nevada casinos operated by the same company could grow that customer base.

Under the deal, UltimatePoker.com, the online poker room operated by Station Casinos-owned Ultimate Gaming, will become the Internet poker destination for the five casinos in Reno, Sparks and Wendover.

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By Allison Aubrey, NPR

Americans who ate a diet rich in animal protein during middle age were significantly more likely to die from cancer and other causes, compared with people who reported going easy on foods such as red meat and cheese, fresh research suggests.

The study published Tuesday in the journal Cell Metabolism, was based on an analysis of data from NHANES, an ongoing federally funded study that surveys Americans about their eating habits and behaviors.

In this particular study, researchers tracked about 6,000 older adults included in the survey to find connections between dietary patterns, death and disease.

But here’s the catch: The researchers also found that for older people, ages 65 and up, there may be a benefit to eating more protein. In this age group, higher levels of protein seemed to be protective against cancer and premature death.

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Shannon Skarritt, with the Tahoe Rim Trail Association, will give a presentation April 22 at the South Lake Tahoe Library.

She will introduce people to a snippet of TRTA’s 33-year history as well as its many programs, volunteer projects and more.

The free talk is at 5:30pm.

Angel

Angel is a beautiful Siamese mix, 10 years old. She came to the shelter when her owner lost her home due to a divorce. She is OK with other cats, but she’d prefer a quiet home without children or dogs. She has never been outside.

Angel is spayed, microchipped, and vaccinated. She is at the El Dorado County Animal Services shelter in Meyers, along with many other cats and dogs who are waiting for their new homes.

Go online or to the Tahoe animal shelter’s Facebook page to see photos and descriptions of all pets at the shelter.

The shelter will resume dog adoptions on March 11. There are five available dogs who have been waiting patiently for the health precautions to be lifted, and they would love to go home soon.

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