The South Lake Tahoe woman who at first believed she was attacked near Woodfords earlier this month is now determined the assault occurred closer to Meyers.

Alleged assailant

As Lake Tahoe News reported Oct. 13, head injuries can create jumbled memories.

The suspect is described as a white male, late 40s to 55 years old, 6-feet-1 or 6-feet-2, with a stocky build. Hair color is unknown, though he had a shaggy moustache, brown with some silver coloring. Facial skin has deep pores, pitted, with reddish hue. See attached composite of the suspect.

Lake Tahoe Secret Witness is offering a $500 reward for information leading to the arrest of the suspect – call (530) 541.6800. Information may also be directed to Detective Paul Kuhn at (530) 573.3022.

— Lake Tahoe News staff report

By Jessica Calefati, Josh Richman and Paul Rogers, San Jose Mercury News

SACRAMENTO — At first glance, it might seem that California lived up to its reputation for unmitigated liberalism in 2013.

Gov. Jerry Brown signed bills to let illegal immigrants get driver’s licenses and practice law; raise the minimum wage to $10 an hour, the highest of any state; and make California the only state this year to increase access to abortions.

But look a little closer, and the year wasn’t as far to the left as many think — or as it might’ve been had the Democrat-dominated Legislature and governor not reined themselves in.

Brown gave the National Rifle Association seven of the 11 vetoes it wanted, including a controversial bill to ban all semi-automatic rifles with detachable magazines. He angered many environmentalists by signing a bill to regulate, not ban, oil and natural gas fracking. And of 38 bills deemed “job killers” by the California Chamber of Commerce, only one — that minimum wage hike — made it to Brown’s desk and became law.

“We saw Jerry Brown this year weave a very cautious path, carefully picking and choosing his battles,” said Bruce Cain, a political science professor at Stanford University. “Any concern he has about an issue now will only intensify next year when he most likely runs for reelection.”

Read the whole story

Board of Equalization member George Runner will host a telephone townhall for restaurant owners on Oct. 28 at 10am.

The event, co-hosted by the California Restaurant Association, will provide specific information on tax issues important to the dining and beverage industry.

Those wishing to participate may register online or call (916) 445.3032.

Among the many tax challenges facing restaurant owners, caterers, and food truck operators are the “80/80 Rule” and tax rates for hot and cold food, food sold “to-go”, tips and gratuity charges, beverage sales, employee meals and complimentary food and beverages.

Lake Tahoe Community College’s theater arts department is gearing up for another night of laughter and comedy provided by the department’s improvisation group, Random Acts of Improv.

This performance is Oct. 25 at 7:30pm in the Duke Theatre.

Cots is $5.

This family-friendly show will feature seasoned improvisation performers, as well as a few fresh faces.

For more information, call (530) 541.4660, ext. 240.

By Teri Mizuhara

Smoke alarms save lives. It is your first line of defense in a structure fire especially since most home fires start in the middle of the night when you are sleeping.

According to the National Fire Protection Association, every 82 seconds a fire department somewhere in this country responds to a home fire. For as little as $8 you can buy a smoke alarm and sleep soundly knowing your family is protected.

Annually about 3,000 people die in house fires and about two-thirds of these victims did not have a smoke alarm or their smoke alarm was not working.

Some facts about smoke alarms:

• Always have a working smoke alarm. Consider interconnecting your smoke alarms. Although this is more expensive, this allows one smoke alarm to “talk” to the others by a hardwired system or wireless technology. If one alarm senses smoke it will relay the information and all the alarms in the home will go off. This way everyone is aware of a problem and can safely exit the home. Never disable a smoke alarm.
• For households with hearing impaired family members, there are smoke alarms designed to meet the needs of these individuals. The systems utilize extra loud (90dB) signaling combined with a bright strobe light to alert sleeping individuals and/or vibrating pager systems that transmit to hardware placed on bed frames, under pillows, or to specialized wrist watches. Search “fire protection services” to purchase this specialized equipment. Make sure this specialized equipment contains the California State Fire Marshal approval label. Be sure to get competitive bids.
• Photoelectric Smoke Alarms are better at sensing “smoldering fires” because smoldering fires produce large smoke particles. A smoldering fire may burn for hours before bursting into a flaming fire. ften these fires are caused by a cigarette, dropped match or stick of incense burning in a couch or in bedding.
• Ionization Smoke Alarms are better at sensing small smoke particles which are usually produced by a flaming fire that is burning items fast and spreading throughout an area very quickly. This may be a grease fire or a garbage can fire.
• If your household includes children, some studies suggest that smoke alarms that allow a parent to record their voice instead of the common “beep” alarm work better at rousing children from stage 4 deep sleep. Although they are more expensive, it is cheap insurance in the event of a house fire.

In closing, the best scenario is to make sure you have a smoke alarm in each bedroom, outside the sleeping areas and on each level of the home. Follow the manufacturer’s instructions for installing and testing the smoke alarm. Don’t forget to vacuum the smoke alarms since dust and bugs can cause nuisance alarms. Don’t forget to replace the smoke alarm a minimum of every 10 years; just because the light is on does not mean it will work properly.

Teri Mizuhara works for the El Dorado-Amador unit of CalFire.

By Kathryn Reed

Coordination and connectivity are two of the main items missing when it comes to recreation on the South Shore.

People don’t know what’s available, where things are, how to find out about them and once they figure it out things are not linked together.

Survey takers said South Lake Tahoe’s pool is an important asset. Photo/LTN file

An example is bike paths don’t lead to the parks that do exist on the South Shore.

Consultants putting together the recreation plan for the area found that 85 percent of the survey respondents believe it is either essential or very important for South Lake Tahoe and El Dorado County to offer recreation facilities, programs and public parks to residents.

“If it should be us, then the resources should be provided. It’s the only way to meet that demand,” Lauren Thomaselli, South Lake Tahoe recreation manager, said at a recreation commission meeting Oct. 17.

But the county does not provide any recreation services in the basin. It’s facilities are limited at the lake with owning Lakeview Commons and the rest of the 56-acre project area which it leases to South Lake Tahoe, and there are parks in Tahoe Paradise and Tahoma, but not run by the county.

El Dorado County Recreation Commissioner Bob Smart pointed out how the basin wasn’t even included when the county did its master plan for recreation.

Now officials are acknowledging this part of the county matters.

The South Lake Tahoe and El Dorado County recreation commissions met Thursday to get an update on where the joint Parks, Trails and Recreation Master Plan is at as well as to figure out how their respective entities could help. (Commissioner Rebecca Bryson from the city and Commissioner John Hidahl from the county were absent.)

It’s possible Douglas County will be at the table in the future because it has hired the same consultant to work on a complementary rec plan so the entire South Shore is tied together.

The master plan the city and El Dorado are putting together goes from the state line, to Tahoma and out to Twin Bridges.

Vickie Sanders, parks manager for El Dorado County, explained how the county is looking to hire a firm to create an all-encompassing website for recreation. The goal is to have links to relevant recreation partners like the U.S. Forest Service and Tahoe Rim Trail Association so it’s not just city or county provided recreation – but all recreation in the county. It would also have a calendar of events.

But it was pointed out how the end product is only as good as what gets submitted to the site for inclusion.

Because it is an El Dorado County product it will not have Douglas County information. This means the coordinated-connectivity piece for the South Shore will still be missing, at least online for the public through this future site.

City Commissioner Bonnie Turnbull expressed concern about yet another website when there are so many now.

Some of the discussion on Thursday centered on the results of the survey that asked people a slew of recreation questions. It was brought up how the city’s ice rink was not deemed very important by people but before it was built it ranked higher than bike trails and ball fields. But that was 13 years ago and demographics and items to choose from in the survey were much different.

In ranking the top three recreation items in order of importance out of a list of 18, bike trails had 55 percent of the votes, Lakeview Commons 41 percent and the recreation-swim complex 39 percent.

City Commissioner Scott Valentine mocked the 8 percent who said there is nothing to be done to improve access to parks and recreation facilities on the South Shore.

It is possible people don’t want their tax dollars spent to upgrade facilities, or they don’t use them, or all of their time is spent on the lake or in the mountains and not on/at man-made recreation entities, or maybe they don’t recreate.

What survey takers said the top three things they want are parks to connect to bike trails (62 percent), improve sidewalk access (44 percent) and provide more neighborhood parks (38 percent).

The two volunteer boards expressed a desire to meet more often. There was a time when they had meetings twice a year. They are also going to begin to share their respective minutes and agendas with each other.

Future happenings:

• In the next couple weeks the full survey will be available online via the city and county’s websites.

• A meeting on Dec. 11 at 6:30pm (location still being determined) will be the public’s opportunity to participate in a roundtable discussion about the recreation master plan.

• In January subcommittees made up of the commissioners from both jurisdictions and those on the recreation master plan committee will meet to work on six specific areas.

To the community,

As they entered St. Theresa’s Grace Hall on Oct. 7, Bread & Broth’s dinner guests were greeted by the smiling faces of the sponsor crew representing Heavenly Mountain and Kirkwood resorts’ marketing and communications team.

In addition to helping with the dinner’s setup and cleanup, Kelly Campbell, senior brand manager; Sally Gunter, communications manager; Ashley Smith, communications coordinator; and Margo Stoney, graphic design specialist, generously filled each guest’s tray with baked salmon, roasted veggies and green salad.

“We were very happy to be able to help out with such an amazing organization that gives back to our community in such an impactful way. It was nice to see the smiles our actions put on people’s faces.”

As the evening’s Adopt A Day of Nourishment sponsors, Heavenly and Kirkwood resorts once again supported the efforts of B&B to feed the less fortunate of our south shore community both with their monetary donation from the Vail Echo Foundation and their employees volunteering at the dinner.

Bread & Broth is very grateful for the monthly Adopt A Day sponsorships hosted by Heavenly Mountain and Kirkwood resorts. Every Monday, sponsorships feed over 90 members of our community who are in need of a healthy and filling meal.

To help B&B as a donor or sponsor, please contact me at (530) 542.2876 or carolsgerard@aol.com.

Carol Gerard, Bread & Broth

“Dateline” is airing an episode Oct. 18 involving a Reno family who was in a shootout at their rural Sierra cabin.

Their family cabin, where this all took place, is about one hour from Susanville near the Antelope Lake area. The cabin is approximately two hours from Quincy, where the trial took place.

The story focuses on Chad Wallin-Reed, a husband and father, and a summer night that would change his life forever.

The show airs on NBC at 9pm.

The U.S. Forest Service Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit is working to open many facilities and restore public services that had been suspended during the government shutdown.

Most Forest Service facilities in the Lake Tahoe Basin normally close by the end of October. Sites that normally close in mid-October, such Pope, Baldwin and Nevada beaches and Fallen Leaf, Meeks, William Kent and Kaspian campgrounds, will remain closed.

The LTBMU’s priority will be opening day-use recreation sites for the remainder of the season as soon as staff can clean them and determine that they are safe for public use. This includes sites such as Eagle Falls, Glen Alpine and Big Meadow trailheads, the Sand Pit, Sawmill Pond, Echo Lakes, Logan Shoals Vista and Secret Harbor and Chimney beaches.

The Taylor Creek Visitor Center parking lot and restrooms will open to serve visitors using nearby beaches or the trails, but the visitor center and the stream profile chamber will remain closed for the season.

Watson Lake and Blackwood Canyon campgrounds will open, but Luther Pass Campground will remain closed. Camping opportunities continue to be available at Zephyr Cove Campground and Camp Richardson. Inspiration Point will be open through mid-November.

The Forest Supervisor’s office has resumed its normal schedule of Monday through Friday, 8am-4:30pm. The North Shore office may resume its normal Wednesday through Friday schedule as soon as Friday.

For questions about the status of specific facilities, call (530) 543.2694.

U.S. Forest Service fuels management crews will conduct prescribed fire operations near the intersection of Pioneer Trail and Al Tahoe Boulevard in South Lake Tahoe beginning Oct. 18.

Crews expect to burn approximately 1 acre per day, weather and conditions permitting. Operations are expected to last through next week.

Smoke will be visible. The Forest Service strives to minimize the impacts of smoke on local communities. Smoke-sensitive residents should consider staying indoors and keeping doors, windows and outside vents closed.

Forest Service staff will post road signs around the areas affected by the prescribed fire, send email notifications, and update the local fire information line at (530) 543.2600, No. 6. To receive prescribed fire notifications, send an email to pa_ltbmu@fs.fed.us.