Wayfinding signs in Reno have more latitude because of not being on a state highway.

By Kathryn Reed

The forces behind creating informational signs on the South Shore that are relevant and prominent will bring what they hope are the final designs to the South Lake Tahoe City Council on Sept. 15.

Then Caltrans needs to give its blessing before installation begins next summer. A maintenance agreement between the city and Caltrans will be part of next week’s discussions.

Wayfinding, as the national movement is called, is about creating signs with words and symbols to help direct people to various destinations. The problem with doing it on Highway 50 is Caltrans has a whole lot of rules without much wiggle room.

This means from Meyers to the state line the signs will be blue, brown and green, with white lettering. They have to be a certain number of feet high, lettering height is regulated and other state highway rules apply.

Signs on Pioneer Trail, Ski Run Boulevard and other city-county streets allow for more latitude in creativity.

Symbols on the highway will be somewhat generic — a skier, hiker, tent for camping, swimmer for beach access, fork and knife for restaurants. No fun stuff like San Francisco where an outline of Italy symbolizes North Beach.

In 2007, the Lake Tahoe South Shore Chamber of Commerce was given an $88,000 grant from the city and $42,500 from El Dorado County to create the program. Nancy Kerry when she was at the chamber was the lead on the project and continued to be so when she became a city employee.

When the new signs are in place, what is in place now will be taken down.

By Kathryn Reed

LTCC's bookstore will be operated by Barnes and Noble as of November.

South Lake Tahoe is about to have a real bookstore again — sort of.

Barnes and Noble is taking over the running of Lake Tahoe Community College’s bookstore in November. The board approved this decision Sept. 8.

“It’s premature to say they would expand the bookstore, but it’s not out of the realm of possibility,” said Christina Proctor, LTCC spokeswoman.

Part of the college’s capital improvement plan for 2011 is to improve the bookstore. With the national retailer coming in, the expense could fall on their shoulders if they so desire. It’s possible the bookstore could be relocated on campus.

When the bookstore first opened Stanford Inc. was the operator. When they went out of business, the college took over.

In the agreement with Barnes and Nobles, LTCC will receive a percentage of the gross sales that will go into the general fund. Gross sales in 2008-09 were $753,000.

The retailer plans to upgrade the computer system and stock the store with different merchandise than what’s currently available.

This endeavor could bring a good chunk of change to the college, provide students with less expensive texts and give the South Shore a place to buy new books without leaving the hill.

Barnes and Noble is not new to college campuses — this will be the 27th one.

The board agreed to other improvements earlier this summer when it updated its five-year capital outlay plan.

Remodeling of the admissions and records area as well as the bookstore are slated to occur in 2011. Combined, the two projects will cost about $130,000. Of course the Barnes and Noble deal is likely to change the bookstore component.

The money is not in hand for those improvements. It’s something the college will have to fund.

The state will pick up the $1 million-plus cost of building a warehouse and vehicle storage. Plans aren’t expected to be drawn until 2013.

A parking lot is also on the to-do list. However, this will be something LTCC must pay for. The state pays for parking lots at the K-12, UC and CSU levels, but not for community colleges. This is a reason most two-year schools charge for parking. It is slated to be constructed in 2014-15.

Still on the list are the classroom building/faculty offices and tennis courts. But the reality is they keep getting pushed into the future and seem to be ideas more than anything else at this point.

“It’s a very real possibility that those time lines could be pushed to a further date,” Proctor said of all of the projects.

Literature being passed out by South Tahoe Public Utility District incumbent Ernie Claudio is causing a stir.

The second page of the two-page information sheet lists 102 names of people under the heading “I depend on these people for advice and they know me on a first name basis.”

The document implies the individuals are supporters of his. The names were used without the person’s knowledge or consent.

Lake Tahoe News Publisher Kathryn Reed is one of the people listed. It was brought to her attention by another candidate for the utility district board. Claudio has promised to not use her name in the future. Others have called and emailed Claudio demanding their name be removed from his campaign literature.

Sources have told LTN that the Fair Political Practices Commission has been notified.

Dear Publisher,

I am writing to you to ask your help regarding a newspaper article letting our community know that Konnie Susich, our dear friend and 20-year kindergarten teacher at Zephyr Cove Elementary School, has multiple myeloma.

You can learn more about this cancer at www.multiplemyeloma.org She has been undergoing treatment at Huntsman Cancer Institute (University of Utah). For more information about her treatment, you can read her journal at http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/ksusich/journal

There are many costs associated with the treatment, which her insurance does not cover. Her estimated out of pocket expenses over the next 2½ years is approximately $23,000. Due to the risk posed while her immune system is weakened, she cannot teach or be near children at all during the first six months of treatment. She greatly misses “her kids”!

We want Konnie to focus all her energy on getting well, without having to worry about financial concerns. To assist her, my husband, Lawrence Howell, and I have set up a donations account at Wells Fargo Bank (Account #2553092657). Donations can be taken to any branch. Checks can be made payable to Choice Corporation/For the Benefit of Konnie Susich.

We have scheduled a fundraiser at Round Hill Pines Beach for Sunday, September 20th from 4 to 8pm. This spaghetti dinner will be $25 per adult and $15 per child. Tickets are available at the door. Harrah’s has generously donated the food. The Forvilly Family has generously donated the venue.

If any one would like to help with fundraising efforts, they can contact me, Heather Howell at htiernanh@gmail.com

Thank you for your help,

Heather Howell, Nevada

In the first week of registration at Lake Tahoe Community College, enrollment is up 31.4 percent for full-time students over this time last year. Part-time admissions is only up 0.4 percent.

Lousy economies tend to send people back to the classroom. But this is happening when the cost of each unit went from up $3 to $17/per unit this fall.

With classes not starting until Sept. 22, enrollment could spiral even higher. This comes off a record year for enrollment in 2008-09.

Another change this fall is the minimum class size. It went from eight to 10 students for academic classes, and from eight to 12 for phys ed-wilderness studies.

Discussion of how the Lam Watah trail will be used in the Stateline bike project was discussed Sept. 10. Photo/Kathryn Reed

By Kathryn Reed

STATELINE — Differing opinions and several questions were brought out Thursday night about the two routes being proposed for the southern demonstration project of the Stateline-to-Stateline bike trail.

A third alternative, which is to do nothing, was not endorsed by any of the five people who spoke. More then 20 attended the meeting.

The roughly 30-mile trail from Stateline to Crystal Bay will have a demonstration site on both ends that will be built before the bulk of the trail is developed.

Charles Dane, Douglas County parks commissioner, said his board voted 5-0 Sept. 1 for Alternative B because it better meets the goals of the project and needs of users, plus it’s less intrusive to private property owners. Douglas County commissioners are scheduled to take up the issue later this month.

Cyclists were well represented at the meeting. Richard Boyle of Zephyr Cove said he’s already pedaled around the lake seven times this year. Peter Roth who lives in the Elk Point area wants the powers that be to look at using the trail the US Forest Service recently put in by Round Hill.

Ty Polastri, who runs Lake Tahoe Bicycle Coalition, had a slew of questions and concerns about what type of amenities will be at the trailheads — like bathrooms, bike racks and information kiosks.

He is concerned that when this three-mile long trail ends at Round Hill cyclists will be left at a dead-end with no information about what trails might exist in the area, nor prior knowledge that the initial route doesn’t go far.

“We are patch working bicycle trails in the basin,” Polastri said.

Deborah Moretto of Elk Point asked about maintenance of the trail and enforcement if people are not respectful of private property. Disrupting wildlife habit was another big concern of hers.

The comments will be incorporated into the environmental document. Anyone can comment on the three alternatives until Sept. 21. Address them to Melissa Shaw, 128 Market St., Stateline, NV 89449.

The schedule is to have the draft environmental analysis done this fall or winter, with its release in early 2010. The public will have 30 days to comment on it. The final EA is expected  in summer 2010. It will go before the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency and US Forest Service, the joint lead agencies on the project, in summer 2010. Ground could be broken in 2011.

More information about the project is at www.nvtahoebikeway.com.

Assembly Ted Gaines speaks to constituents at Riva Grill. Photo/Kathryn Reed

By Kathryn Reed

State parks, releasing prisoners, budget woes, water and concealed weapons. Those were some of the topics broached by Ted Gaines and his South Shore constituents.

The assemblyman who represents the California side of the lake was in South Lake Tahoe last month for an informal coffee and chat with locals.

“I think we get too polarized when we are trying to solve problems,” Gaines said of the Legislature. He believes legislators get caught in ideological quagmires that prevent them from moving forward for the greater good of California.

With that said, the Republican didn’t hold back on criticizing those on the other side of the political aisle.

“We have a huge water crisis in the state of California,” Gaines said. “Democrats don’t want anymore surface water storage. I think they don’t want more growth.”

When it comes to cutting state departments such as state parks he wishes it were handled differently.

“Sometimes it’s like using a meat cleaver when we should be more precise,” the assemblyman said.

He didn’t have any insider knowledge into which state parks in the Lake Tahoe Basin may be closed. Sept. 18 is the date the names of the 100 state parks to be shuttered, which is more than one-third of the whole system, will be announced.

Gaines questions why the state pays for a prisoner with sleep apnea to be hospitalized and receive 24/7 guard service at taxpayers’ expense.

“I know government is inherently inefficient,” he said.

He pointed to being a supporter of consolidating 11 state boards or commissions as an accomplishment in the last session.

About 20 people turned out for the morning gathering at Riva Grill. Representatives form South Lake Tahoe, El Dorado County, Lake Tahoe Unified School District, Lake Tahoe Community College, Lahontan Water Board, South Tahoe Fire and El Dorado Sheriff’s, along with residents were in attendance.

Marguerite Sprague, executive director of Sierra State Parks Foundation, talks about proposed state park closures on KTHO 590-AM (www.kthoradio.com) on Saturday at 10am. The show will be re-broadcast at 6pm Monday.

Sept. 18 is the date the governor’s office has picked to disclose the names of the 100 parks set to be closed. This represents more than one-third of the state parks.

IVGID’S board the district’s initial 20-year $105 million capital plan will be discussed at a retreat at The Chateau in Incline. The agenda package is under “News and Events” at www.ivgid.org.

Tahoe Regional Planning Agency is updating the Tahoe Bike/Ped Master Plan. Provide feedback at the Tahoe City PUD Administrative Board Room, 221 Fairway Drive, Tahoe City. For information, contact Karen Fink at kfink@trpa.org or (775) 589.5204.