By Argus Observer

ONTARIO, Ore. — An Incline Village man had just left the Ontario Airport Sunday morning and was flying around the Owyhee Dam, when the propeller of his single-engine plane hit a power line, shearing off one of the blades.

The plane, an EA 300LT, went into a flat spin and crashed about 11am, about 2 miles below the Owyhee Dam, killing its pilot and sole passenger, 52-year-old Edward Wilson Claugus.

Edward Wilson Claugus of Incline died June 23 flying near the Oregon-Idaho border. Photo/Troy Colson/KTVB-TV

Claugus had a hangar at the Ontario Airport, according to Malheur County Sgt. Rich Harriman.

Harriman said investigators found a piece of the sheared-off propeller blade some distance from the crash site.

Witnesses said they had seen Claugus flying around the area on Saturday, and that he had landed at Pelican Point that day.

The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating.

The dam is on the Owyhee River south of Ontario near the Idaho border.

Lake Tahoe Community College’s 38th annual commencement ceremony is June 28 at 6pm in the gymnasium.

This year’s graduation ceremony theme is One College, One Community.

This year, 140 students will receive their AA degrees.

Following the ceremony, a reception with light refreshments will be served just outside the gymnasium.

This year’s commencement address will be delivered by Rita Cepeda, a 30-year veteran of the California Community College system.

By Kathryn Reed

Keep the umbrellas handy today, but have the sunscreen within reach because a record high is possible by the end of the week in Lake Tahoe.

“It’s certainly unusual for this time of year,” is how Shane Snyder, meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Reno, described the rain that has been soaking the Lake Tahoe Basin and points east and west.

If it’s going to be wet, usually it’s isolated thunderstorms. Not so with this cold system that is moving in from the Pacific. It’s more reminiscent of a winter storm pattern.

Wet weather is going to stick around for another day in the Lake Tahoe Basin. Photo/Kathryn Reed

The rain hasn’t been enough to wash away the D word. Last week, the U.S. Department of Agriculture designated all counties in Nevada, except for Storey County, natural drought disaster areas. All California counties along the Nevada border have been given the same designation.

According to the National Weather Service, “Near record dryness has prevailed since January. Precipitation from January to May 2013 has ranked in the lowest 10 percent on record in most of Western Nevada and Northern California.”

The West Shore has been getting most of the rain. That is expected to continue through much of Tuesday.

“We’ll start to dry out for good Tuesday night and onward for a while,” Snyder said.

The rain is doing a couple things – washing away all the pine pollen and lessening the risk of fire.

But with temps expected to soar again by the end of the week, the fire danger will return.

Snyder said temps could be 10 to 15 degrees above average starting on Friday and lasting through the weekend. Locations closer to the lake will be in the 80s, while outlying areas like Truckee are expected to be closer to 90 degrees.

The record in South Lake Tahoe for June 28 and June 29 is 87 degrees. The former was set in 2010, while the latter was set in 1972. Truckee’s record high of 92 for June 28 was set in 1915, and the June 29 record of 91 was set in 1956.

All of those, Snyder told Lake Tahoe News, could be broken.

And expect warmer than usual weather for July 4.

An elevator at El Dorado County offices in South Lake Tahoe was shut down because no one paid the bill to keep it running.

“The elevator was shutdown June 13 for a day while invoices for permits from 2010 and 2011 were corrected,” Judi McCallum, who is Supervisor Norma Santiago’s assistant, told Lake Tahoe News.

An employee of the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health showed up to turn off the elevator at the Takela Avenue office.

Mike Applegarth, principal analyst with the county, said the county paid its bills in 2010 and 2011, but did so late. The shutdown was for not paying the late fees.

According to Applegarth, the invoices did not get paid because they were not going to the correct location. This in part had to do with the county reorganizing its departments.

A county employee paid the $460.90 penalty to get the elevator running again, which allowed the person on the top floor in a wheelchair the ability to leave the building.

— Lake Tahoe News staff report

Publisher’s note: The following was read into the record June 20 at the California Tahoe Conservancy meeting by Ann Nichols, president of the North Tahoe Preservation Alliance. She asked for it to be reprinted here.

When you search for the CTC website, Google states, “Founded to protect, preserve & restore the water quality, wildlife, public access, recreation, and natural beauty of the Lake Tahoe Basin.”

The Asset Lands program is an ill-conceived radical departure by the CTC that conflicts with these claims. We challenge you to do the right thing and restore public confidence:

1. Cancel the existing program

2. Inaccurate parcel identification information has or is being distributed

a) 37 conservation easements not owned by the CTC included

b) 18 erosion control facilities included

3. Estimates and inaccuracy erodes public confidence in the selection process

4. Eliminating existing public access, including existing large open space parcels used exclusively for public access and recreation in direct conflict with the primary mission of the CTC, for example:

a) 14.56 acres of public access in Tahoe Vista

b) 5.76 acres of public access in Kingswood

c) 9.21 acres of public access off Ward Creek Road

5.  Including primarily steep parcels if they have a buildable site is in conflict with the CTC claim that steep properties would not be developed.

a) Sherman Way 15 acres

6.  CTC Public outreach has been nil and only in response to public outcry.

7.  Starting slow by selling off sites on the South Shore is hardly reassuring.

8.  Patrick Wright’s claim that only “3-7 parcels on the South Shore are being sold now, so don’t worry” is condescending at best. All neighbors should be notified in writing that nearby parcels could be sold to private parties and that those properties could be developed and fenced.

9. Asset Lands program should be vetted in advertised public meetings that are on the North and South Shore locations. The CTC owes it to every California citizen to have a full comparison and review of the CTC’s old and new missions, as well as the significant change in course under its current leadership. The CTC owes the public an explanation of the sharp turn it has taken with regard to Tahoe’s protected lands.

10.  Adjacent open space parcels now having development potential greatly affects neighboring property values.

a.) In the case of the 5.76 acres on Queens Way, property values could swing by as much as $100k each.

11.  Develop new program where adjacent property owners could purchase CTC lands at a discounted price with deed restrictions against new development.

12. Rather than sell of protected lands, perhaps it’s time for the CTC to wind down the agency just as the State Coastal Conservancy is doing.

13. At the very least, since the Asset Lands program now promotes “developable parcels in highly urbanized areas that could support sustainable compact development consistent with local area plans”, the CTC should eliminate “conservancy” from the title.

14. The new change of mission and use of public bond monies is a breach of public trust.

The annual Family Blast at El Dorado Fairgrounds is July 4 starting at 4pm.

Bring a coolers, propane barbecue and your dancing shoes.

There will be kids’ activities, food and beverages to buy, music from 6-10pm, hay mazes, arts and crafts, and fireworks.

For more info, call (530) 621.5860; prices vary based on age and whether parking or walking in.

There will be an authors’ fair in Carson City on July 27 from 11am to 3pm.

Books will be available to purchase. Many genres of writing will be represented.

The free event is at 310 S. Carson St., Carson City.

Authors who would like to attend this event, may contact Sandie at admin@sandiespsychicstones.com.

By Kathryn Reed

While seniors and mental patients continue to co-mingle at the South Lake Tahoe Senior Center, the electeds finally have a meeting on the books to discuss who uses that site.

South Lake Tahoe Councilmembers Tom Davis and JoAnn Conner are the city’s committee dealing with the situation. They will meet with El Dorado County Supervisor Norma Santiago next week.

The only correspondence the city had received from county CAO Terri Daly as of Monday was the letter dated May 15 in which she said the city had no right to kick a county agency out of a county-owned building.

“Please be advised that the county intends to continue occupancy and use of the building in accordance with the Facility Use Agreement. However, in the spirit of cooperation and being mindful and sensitive to the concerns raised by the senior groups, the county will attempt to look at other potential sites for the Mental Health Wellness Center,” Daly wrote in that letter. “Frankly, I feel that by remaining we are subjecting the clients of our wellness center to unjustified and disrespectful mistreatment.”

The city and county have an agreement regarding that building that dates to 1968. It’s been amended a couple times. The changes in the late 1980s say the building is for the sole use of the seniors and if the city were to use it for anything else, the city would be in breach of contract. The county apparently doesn’t have to abide by the same criteria.

Former City Manager Tony O’Rourke signed a deal in 2012 without council’s approval to allow mental health to occupy part of the building. The council earlier this month refused to ratify that agreement, which essentially voided it. The county contends the council never had to approve it so therefore it is enforceable.

The problem is the two populations play together as well as the city and county. Space used by the seniors has been taken over by mental health. Items the seniors have paid for have been damaged and stolen. Seniors have repeatedly testified at council meetings and to city staff that they feel threatened and that their sanctuary is anything but that now.

Another issue is the county has not been paying its utility bills for the site. Daly didn’t respond to an email about the senior center and county Auditor Joe Harn said he didn’t know anything about the bill until contacted by Lake Tahoe News on June 24. He did say he would pay the bills as soon as the city sends him the bills directly.

The county owes more than $9,000 for utilities from 2012. The county said it shouldn’t have to pay all of that so the city said it would reduce it to about $4,900. That invoice was submitted on Dec. 4, 2012. The next invoice will be for more, according to city officials, because it will include 2013 expenses.

Troopers from the Nevada Highway Patrol recently received grant funding from the Northern Nevada DUI Task Force to host an “If You Drink, Think” event.

It will June 26 from 5-9pm at 1864 Tavern in downtown Reno. Patrons visiting the establishment that evening will be able to log or track the amount of alcohol consumed and then will have the opportunity to submit to field sobriety tests as well as provide a breath sample to learn their level of impairment.

One of the most frequently asked questions is how much alcohol does it take for someone to become intoxicated at the 0.08 percent legal threshold? Because each individual ingests and processes alcohol at a different rate, as well as some other issues such as the size and weight of a person and how much or little food might be in the stomach, can all factor into this equation differently.

Troopers will be interacting with the public that evening to share traffic safety messages in light of the upcoming 4th of July holiday weekend. As part of this grant funded event, taxi-cab rides from Whittlesea Checker Taxi will also be available for those patrons who do not bring a safe and sober driver with them.

The Friends of the Library are bringing history alive in a unique way with Paulette Grune’s “Reflections of the Past”.

Grune shares the life of a Civil War era woman told through her attire.

This is one way to commemorate the 150th anniversary of Gettysburg. This free presentation is July 13 at 3pm.

The South Lake Tahoe Library is at 1000 Rufus Allen Blvd. For questions, email Tahoe.Programs@gmail.com or call (530) 573.3185.