Fire activity in California.

·       The South Lake Tahoe Fire Department has installed automated external defibrillators in all city staffed buildings.

·       The Tahoe Kids Triathlon hosted by Athlete’s United and Epic Tahoe Adventures will be at the South Lake Tahoe rec center on Aug. 16 at 1pm.

·       Here are the El Dorado-Tahoe and Sierra roadwork schedules from Caltrans for the week.

·       There will be a tea party at the Children’s House located on the grounds of the Hellman-Ehrman Estate at Sugar Pine Point State Park on Aug. 5. A special tour of the “Big House” is included in this event that supports the Sierra State Parks Foundation. Tickets and more information are available online.

Truckee Fire Protection District staffed stations are now safe surrender sites for newborns.

First created in January 2001, the Safely Surrendered Baby Law was signed permanently into state law in January 2006. The law’s intent is to save lives of newborn infants at risk of abandonment by encouraging parents or persons with lawful custody to safely surrender the infant within 72 hours of birth, with no questions asked.

From Jan. 1, 2001, to Dec. 31, 2014, 685 newborns have been surrendered in California, and 73 newborns were surrendered during the 2014 calendar year. This is compared with 164 infants abandoned since 2001, five of which occurred in the 2014 calendar year.

The four stations are located at:

• 11473 Donner Pass Road, Truckee
• 10277 Truckee Airport Road, Truckee
• 10900 Manchester Drive, Truckee
• 53823 Sherrit Lane, Soda Springs.

Old Meyers Grade in the early 1900s. Photo/Lake Tahoe Historical Society

Even in the early 1900s old and new intersected. The above photo shows a horse-drawn carriage and a horseless carriage meeting on the Old Meyers Grade while crossing Echo Summit. This was years before the current Highway 50 Echo Summit route was built in the 1930s.

Meyers Grade as it looks today. Photo/Bill Kingman

Now paved, the Old Meyers Grade still exists. It is mapped as Johnson Pass Road just uphill behind the camera where it traverses the summit.

— Bill Kingman

·       Signs recently posted at South Lake Tahoe post offices announcing changes to retail service hours were posted in error, and have since been removed. There are no plans to adjust retail service hours in the Lake Tahoe region at this time.

·       Truckee Department of Public Works road crews will be performing cross country drainage maintenance work in the easements in the Prosser area from Aug. 3-18. Expect delays.

·      Sierra Nevada College has been named one of the 30 Great Small Colleges for Nature Lovers by the website greatvaluecolleges.net

·       Here is a link to El Dorado County’s “most wanted” suspects.

·       South Lake Tahoe is going to spend $255,000 for conceptual designs at the swim complex.

The Placer County Sheriff Office’s search and rescue teams have started their annual telemarketing fundraising drive throughout the county.

Money is being raised to purchase mobile communications equipment for the Lake Tahoe area.

Telephone solicitors will be calling Placer County residents to ask for donations. Anyone wishing to make a donation will be sent a pre-addressed envelope. Callers will not ask for credit card information. Donations should only be sent to the following addresses: P.O. Box 4150, Auburn, CA 95604 or P.O. Box 1710, Tahoe City, CA 96145.

During recent fundraising efforts, another company calling themselves “Search and Rescue Charities” led some donors to believe that they were donating to Placer County.

For further information, call 530.889.7846.

More than nine miles of Highway 49 in El Dorado County are being repaved to extend the service life of the roadway another 10 years or more.

Caltrans is resurfacing Highway 49 from the Amador County line to just south of Pleasant Valley Road in the town of El Dorado.

Work, which will also include some culvert and guard rail replacements, is being performed weekdays from 6am-6pm under reversing traffic controls. Motorists should expect delays of up to 15 minutes per stop.

The paving involves applying an emulsion over the existing roadway to seal it and then putting down a thin layer of hot-mix asphalt over top.

The contract has 45 working days and the project will be completed this fall.

·       The Tahoe Rim Trail Association offers a variety of guided hikes. For more info, go online.

·       El Dorado County Senior Day Care Services is hosting a free training for family caregivers of people with dementia on Aug. 24 from 2:30-4:30pm at the senior center, 990 Lassen Lane in El Dorado Hills. Seating for the training is limited. For more information, contact Jillien Smith at 916.358.3565.

·       Susie Glaze & The Hilonesome Band will be at the Boathouse Theatre on the South Shore on Aug. 5 starting at 8pm. Tickets are $22 in advance, $25 at the door and $30 preferred seating.

·       Placer County hired Jacqueline Debets, Humboldt County’s economic development coordinator.

·       Heavenly Village in South Lake Tahoe is hosting car shows Aug. 1-10.

·      There will be a two-day Insect Adventure Camp at Northstar on Aug. 11-12, with Tahoe Institute for Natural Sciences providing the instruction. The camp is for ages 4-12. For more info, go online.

·      San Diego-based elctro hiphop soul collective Vokab Kompany will headline the Fun First party at the Crystal Bay Club in Crystal Bay on Aug. 28 starting at 9pm. The summer bash is a project by Truckee hat company Bigtruck Brand.

·       Truckee Donner Chamber of Commerce is having a workshop Aug. 4 from 6-7:30pm about how to brand Truckee. The meeting is at the Truckee airport.

·       Lake Tahoe South Shore Chamber of Commerce is hosting a workshop titled the Best Things in Your Website’s Life are Free. It will be at the chamber office in Stateline on Aug. 11 from 5-7pm. For more info and to register, go online.

·       There is going to be a clean up day in Washoe Meadows State Park on Aug. 8 from 9am-noon. Meet at the Lake Tahoe Boulevard entrance near Tahoe Mountain Road. To RSVP and for more info, email Sarah Markowitz at sarah.r.markowitz@gmail.com.

·       Squaw Valley’s Brews, Jazz and Funk Fest is Aug. 8-9 from 2-8pm each day. The daily entry fee is $5 per person, with proceeds going to the Humane Society of Truckee-Tahoe.

·       Richie Lawrence and the Yolos will be playing outside the Valhalla Grand Hall on the South Shore for free on Aug. 2 from noon-2pm.

·       El Dorado County wants people to take an online survey about public health.

Rep. Tom McClintock, R-Granite Bay, on Aug. 5 will join officials from the Department of Veterans Affairs to provide information on the department’s benefits and its service delivery procedures.

All veterans are welcome and encouraged to bring questions and observations on how the department is serving those who served our nation.

The meeting will be at 10am at the Placerville Town Hall, 549 Main St., Placerville.

Joining the congressman at the forum will be Juilianna Boor, director of the VA Oakland Regional Office and David Stockwell, director of the VA Northern California Health System.