University of California Cooperative Extension is developing a committed corps of volunteer naturalists and citizen scientists trained and ready to take an active role in natural resource conservation, education, and restoration.

Aspiring naturalists may enroll in a 40-hour course that combines classroom and field experience in science, problem-solving, communication training and community service. Classes will be at the Sagehen Creek Field Station in Tahoe City

Classes are:

June 5 – July 18 (6-week adult course)

July 18- 24 (1-week youth immersion course)

July 6 – 12  (1-week adult immersion course)

For more information, contact Leslie Smith at sagehen-calnat@berkeley.edu.

AAUW-South Lake Tahoe will host a meet and greet open house on May 7 from 3-5 pm at the Creekside Room at Lake Tahoe Community College.

At this informal drop-in event, guests will have the opportunity to learn about the organization’s programs, interest groups, and sponsorship of various educational opportunities for local students.

“We moved here from Southern California knowing no one. I was invited to an AAUW meeting and was overwhelmed by their welcoming spirit and the diverse activities they offered. In addition to the informative monthly meetings, I attended a meeting of the Talking on Paper: Women Writing interest group. The TOP gals have grown into a warm fellowship of friends. Their enthusiasm and hospitality ranks high on my top Tahoe treasures list. There is something for every woman in AAUW,” Denise Haerr, a member since 2013, said in a statement.

For more information, contact Kay Henderson at kmhende@charter.net or 530.544.5150.

South Lake Tahoe is launching SpeakUp SLT, an online community engagement platform that allows citizens to provide feedback and help to prioritize community issues that are most important to them.

SpeakUp SLT will combine the power of social innovation and crowdsourcing with an online forum to prioritize projects and make the best decisions for our community. Citizens can vote on, comment on, and share other citizens’ ideas, as well as their own.

In addition to posting and liking ideas, there are discussion and forum sections on the website where topics and ideas can be posted for community feedback.

Both directions of Highway 50 between El Dorado Hills Boulevard and Bass Lake Road, as well as closures of the Latrobe Road on-ramp to eastbound Highway 50, the Bass Lake Road on-ramp to westbound Highway 50, and White Rock Road between Valley View Parkway and Entrada Circle will be closed May 3.

These closures are necessary to facilitate blasting operations on the north side of Highway 50 for El Dorado County’s Silva Valley interchange project.

Traffic will be detoured around the closures via El Dorado Hills Boulevard, Serrano Parkway and Bass Lake Road. Motorists are encouraged to take other alternate routes around the area that also bypass the closures. Portable changeable message signs will be placed around the work zone to keep motorists updated on any changes to the timing of the closures.

Eastbound lanes from Latrobe Road to Bass Lake Road will be closed from 6-8am; eastbound on-ramp at El Dorado Hills Boulevard-Latrobe Road will be closed from 4:30-8am;  westbound lanes from Bass Lake Road to El Dorado Hills Boulevard-Latrobe Road will be closed from 6-8am; and westbound on-ramp at Bass Lake Road will be closed from 4:30- am.

• There will be a Memorial Day ceremony at Happy Homestead Cemetery in South Lake Tahoe on May 25 at 11am.

• Tahoe Turning Point is hosting its inaugural charity golf tournament on Sept. 17 at the Lake Tahoe Golf Course in Meyers. For more info, click on the flyer.

• A perinatal substance abuse conference will be Sept. 10 from 8:30am-4pm at Lake Tahoe Community College. Physician Thomas Hale will be the keynote speaker.

• The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics has approved Sierra Nevada College as a member effective Aug. 1.

• For the sixth consecutive year South Tahoe High School students are among the winners in the U.S. Congressional Art contest. Teresa Tenocelotl won second for her photograph entitled “Wind”. Kyle Robertson won third “Elder”. The two honorable mentions went to Vanessa Pacheco and Alexandra Cody.

Lake Tahoe Community College is rejiggering administrative positions.

Mostly it is about changing titles and not new hires.

The previous research director position has been changed to director of Institutional Effectiveness. This person will be responsible for research, planning, and student learning outcomes. This position is vacant. The college is also looking for an executive director of the Foundation and College Advancement, with the college and LTCC Foundation splitting the expense of that person.

The April 21 staff report says, “Over the past 18 months various resignations from Lake Tahoe Community College, changing workloads due to changes in enrollment and how full-time equivalent students are generated, and opportunities for college staff to promote and train into positions, the superintendent-president is recommending a reorganization of most of the direct reports to president.”

• Michelle Risdon, interim executive dean of Instruction, will be interim vice president of Academic Affairs.
• Sue Gochis, dean of Student Academic Support Services,  will be executive dean of Student Success.
• Shelley Hansen, interim manager of Human Resources, is now director of Human Resources.
• Diane Lewis moves from interim Marketing and Communications manager to director of Marketing and Communications.

• Jeremy Evans has been hired as coach of Lake Tahoe Community College’s women’s soccer team.

• Wagon Train will go from Zephyr Cove to Placerville from May 30-June 4.

• El Dorado County Mental Health’s South Lake Tahoe clinic is hosting a free open house May 13 from 6-8pm at 1900 Lake Tahoe Blvd.

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

• T.C. Ghisletta of Tahoe Douglas Fire Protection District is now a certified hazmat technician. He will be on the Quad County HazMat Team – Douglas, Central Lyon, Carson City and Storey counties.

The first seaplane at Lake Tahoe. Photo/Lake Tahoe Historical Society

The oldest-known presence of an “airship” at Tahoe was photographed at Lucky Baldwin’s estate on the South Shore in the early 1900s. Over the years, there have been various seaplanes based around Lake Tahoe.

Republic RC-3 Seabee

In the mid-1940s, Republic Aircraft Corporation built 1,060 RC-3 amphibious planes, popularly called SeaBees. They could operate on land or water. The engine was mounted above and behind the pilot and passengers, as if to have the “backward propeller” push the plane.

Wes Stetson on KTHO. Photo/Bill Kingman

At Lake Tahoe, Wes Stetson offered passenger flights on his Seabee for more than 30 years, mostly from Emerald Bay in the 1940s and 1950s.

Wes Stetson’s SeaBee at Tahoe Keys in 1969. Photo/Rich Jamieson

In 1969, Stetson perched his yellow SeaBee at the Tahoe Keys Property Owners Association pier. He would broadcast on KTHO while flying until his passing in the late 1970s.

Tahoe Keys Pier in 2015. Photo/Bill Kingman

The Tahoe Keys pier was rebuilt a few years ago, but today it stands high and dry because of the drought.

— Bill Kingman

Residents in the Amador-El Dorado Unit of CalFire will need burn permits beginning May 1.

They are free and valid for three years from the date of issuance and allows for the burning of dry vegetation (not household trash) that originates on the landowners property. Permits are available at most of the local staffed fire stations.

The use of burn barrels is no longer legal in Amador or El Dorado counties.

For more info, call 530.621.5897.

• Lake Tahoe Hard Rock opens Splash Day Club at the pool on May 23. It will be open on select weekends to the general public – for a price – from noon-6pm through Labor Day.

• Sno Frozen Yogurt Café is opening this summer in the Chateau complex in South Lake Tahoe.

• All Tahoe National Forest campgrounds will be open before Memorial Day weekend.

•The Bicycle Advisory Committee of the South Lake Tahoe Recreation Facilities Joint Powers Authority meets May 1 from 9-11am at Lake Tahoe Airport.

• Check out this time-lapse video of Yosemite produced by a group in Meyers.