·      Based on recent precipitation, the annual closure of dirt roads in Eldorado National Forest has been extended to April 15.

·      To help celebrate National Library Week, Amelia Bedelia will be at the Douglas County Public Library in Minden on April 14 at 11am. Bedelia is a very literal literary character, and she is often up to mischief. Families are invited to watch her wacky antics as she tries to “change” the towels and “dust” the furniture. Carol Nageotte will perform as this children’s book character.

·      Douglas County Public Library in Minden is having a children’s book swap April 14 from 10am-3pm. Children may bring a gently used book from home and trade it for another book in the swap.

·      Liberty Utilities’ business offices in Tahoe Vista and South Lake Tahoe will be closed April 10 so employees may attend customer service training.

·      Douglas County is having an open house April 11 from 6-8pm at the commissioners’ chambers in Minden to preview the new election equipment and electronic poll books.

·      The season is about to begin at Zephyr Cove Tennis Club. Go online to become a member.

·      South Lake Tahoe Fire Rescue Marine Boat 17 will be christened April 2 at 1:30pm at the Tahoe Keys Marina.

·      Mt. Rose ski resort plans to stay open until April 29.

·      Steel Pulse, Mike Love, Clear Conscience, and DJ DubFyah will be at MontBleu in Stateline on May 24. Doors open at 7pm, show at 8pm. Advance tickets $25, day of show $30.

·      South Lake Tahoe Optimist Club’s 51st annual Easter Egg Hunt is March 31 at  Lake Tahoe Community College adjacent to the gymnasium. Gates open at 10am, at 10:30am is judging of Easter bonnets and costumes, at 10:45am the  Easter Bunny lead parade, and 11am Easter Egg Hunt begins. Areas will be divided by age group.

WoodmenLife is sponsoring the “America Is…” video contest to get elementary school students excited about their country, and to show pride in their school and community. 

By sharing a 30-60 second video on the topic “What America means to me,” students and school representatives have the opportunity to win up to $2,500 for their school. The videos will be viewed on WoodmenLife’s Facebook page where the public can vote for their favorite. Prizes will be awarded to the top three videos with the most online votes.

The deadline to enter is April 26. Facebook fans will then cast votes from April 30-May 11. Contest winners will be announced May 14.

More info is available online.

Truckee Donner Public Utility District’s board of directors will discuss the Carbon Free Power Project (CFPP) & Small Modular Nuclear Reactors (SMRs) on April 4. 

The board will consider a power sales contract with the Utah Associated Municipal Power Systems for the CFPP.

The Truckee Donner PUD has been investigating the potential of SMRs since 2015. There were a series of workshops earlier this year.

The agenda item is part of the board’s regular meeting, which starts at 6pm at 11570 Donner Pass Road.

·      Truckee will host an informational workshop on April 16 at 2:30pm at the town hall regarding the planned expenditures of funds on road maintenance and improvement projects for fiscal year 2017-18.

·      Homewood Mountain Resort is extending its season to April 15.

·      Earth Day will be celebrated in South Lake Tahoe on April 28 from 10am-3pm at Bijou Community Park. 

·      Douglas County commissioners will be having special budget meetings on April 2 at 11am, April 3 at 9am and April 4 at 1pm. All will be at the Minden offices.

·      Active duty service members, reservists, National Guard members, military retirees and veterans will receive free tickets for the 29th annual American Century Championship July 10-15 in Stateline. Request tickets by going online.

The El Dorado County Board of Supervisors meeting regarding vacation home rentals has been rescheduled for May 2 at 6pm in the multipurpose room at South Tahoe Middle School.

This proposed purpose of this meeting is to

• Conceptually approve amendments to Title 5 – County Business License Ordinance of the El Dorado County Ordinance Code, Chapter 5.56 – Vacation Home Rentals in the Lake Tahoe Basin;
• Direct staff to work with the VHR Ad Hoc Committee and return to the board with the following:
       a)  Introduction of a revised ordinance that incorporates as many of the conceptually approved amendments as feasible;
       b)  A timeline for inclusion of any remaining conceptually approved revisions;
• Discuss the proposed calendar/work plan for the VHR Ad Hoc Committee.

The VHR Ad Hoc Committee will meet on April 12 at 5:30pm at the magnet school in Meyers to examine all issues regarding vacation rentals and look at possible solutions. The committee will then report their findings and make recommendations back to the full board. 

·      Kirkwood Mountain Resort will be closing April 8.

·      Caltrans advises that until further notice it is unsafe to boat under the Highway 49 bridge in the Coloma-Lotus area due to a damaged and unstable wooden support structure used for construction. This damage was caused by recent high water on the South Fork of the American River. The bridge is safe for motorists to cross.

·      Jenifer Davidson is now assistant county manager for Douglas County. Her salary is $114,920 a year. She had been town manager of Minden since 2011.

·      A free screening of the award-winning documentary film “He Named Me Malala” will be shown in Lake Tahoe Community College’s Duke Theatre on April 27 at 5:30pm. A discussion panel will follow. 

·      Tahoe Douglas Fire Association will be sponsoring and co-hosting the annual Tot Egg Hunt at Kahle Community Park on March 30 at 11am for children up to 6 years old. Bring a basket to collect eggs.

El Dorado County has launched a website dedicated to road work projects that have been completed, are currently being done, or are slated to begin this calendar year.

Of the 100 projects listed, 58 are maintenance projects, 28 are storm damage projects, and 14 are capital improvement projects. These projects collectively account for nearly $100 million.

The site contains an interactive overview map of the county with each project marked with different icons indicating whether the project is related to storm damage repair, maintenance or capital improvement and where it is along the continuum of construction.

When a user clicks on an icon, the page moves to screen that provides the project description, estimated cost, estimated construction date (or completion) and the funding source. Many of the projects also include images of construction. Additionally, when a user selects a project, a second map appears on the right side of the screen that displays a zoomed-in location of the larger map highlighting the precise location of the project. Finally, users can also search for projects by name.

Because of the complexity of the mapping features, the functionality of the site works best on Chrome rather than Internet Explorer. 

·      Caltrans and NDOT are reminding political candidates that campaign signs are not allowed in the right-of-way on state highways.

·      Heavenly Mountain Resort has extended its season through April 22.

·      A question about the $40,000 annual line item on the El Dorado County budget for the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency prompted this response from TRPA: “The Compact calls for local jurisdictions to contribute $150,000 per year. Half is split evenly, and half by assessed property value.”

·      Harrah’s South Shore Room will be the venue for the May 4 acoustic evening with Sammy Hagar & The Hagar Family.

·      There is a planned outage by Liberty Utilities in South Lake Tahoe on March 29 from 8:30am-noon on Gardner Street, Wentworth Street, Panther Lane and Taylor Way to replace a power pole.

·      Sierra State Parks Foundation presents an evening with John Grenbenkemper, Institute for Canine Forensics’s historic human remains detection canine handler, on April 21 at the Donner Memorial State Park Visitor Center located at 12593 Donner Pass Road, Truckee. Doors open at 5pm, with the program beginning at 5:30pm. Cost is $5. Parking is free.

·      North Tahoe Business Association’s free concert series at Kings Beach State Recreation Area kicks off June 29 and takes place for nine consecutive Friday evenings through Aug. 31 (excluding Aug. 10).

·      Suzi Vinci is now Placer County’s veterans service officer.

·      The Bicycle Advisory Committee of the South Lake Tahoe Recreation Facilities Joint Powers Authority will meet April 4 from 9-11am in the downstairs conference room at Lake Tahoe Airport.

·      The Douglas County Public Library is showing “Winnie the Pooh: Springtime with Roo” (rated G) on April 7 at 2pm in the Minden Library meeting room. The movie and popcorn are free.