• U-Haul in South Lake Tahoe is looking to build storage units at the Emerald Bay Road site.

• The High Fives Foundation, Alpine Meadows and Volkl Skis present Trains 2013 Freestyle Ski & Snowboard Contest on April 20 from 11am-4pm.

• The 9th annual Squaw Valley Prom raised $35,000 in ticket sales, of which $13,000 was donated by the High Fives Foundation to co-host nonprofit CharitySmith. CharitySmith is a national society that administers more than 100 memorial funds, including scholarships, medical research, funds for military families, and other charitable causes.

• Lake Tahoe Pizza is celebrating 40 years of serving pies in South Lake Tahoe.

• The South Tahoe Wooden Boat Classic is July 26-27 at the Tahoe Keys Marina.

Now that the snow has melted, it is a good time to take a walk around your house to look for any damage that icicles may have caused.

Be sure to check the gas meter and any other utility lines that may have been damaged.

It’s time to begin cleaning up any loose debris on your roof, gutters, and around your property, such as pine needles, pine cones, and dead vegetation.

Be sure to properly store any snow removal equipment properly, and get your chimney and your furnace cleaned.

— Sallie Ross-Filgo, South Lake Tahoe Fire Department

Steve Buelna

Placer County recently created the position of an ombudsman for the Community Development Resource Agency’s Tahoe office to resolve problems.

The idea came about from discussions between North Tahoe business leaders and county staff. They wanted to improve customer service and business development in the Lake Tahoe Basin. Lake Tahoe, with its numerous overlapping layers of regulatory authority, can be a difficult path to follow for those wishing to start, expand of change a business, the county said.

Steve Buelna, a 13-year county employee and a supervising planner in the Tahoe office, will be the ombudsman/facilitator for all Tahoe projects. He acts as the county’s single point of contact and communication, and has the authority to work with, and provide direction to, all agency division staff.

John Spinola of South Lake Tahoe provided this mid-1960s aerial photo of Tahoe Keys (left), and Google Earth is the source of the current view (right).

I’ve inserted 3 white “X” marks in the bottom-left of each photo to provide a common reference point; the water gap at Christie Drive. Diagonal at the very bottom-left is the main artery street Venice Drive which the developers originally had named Sierra Boulevard. Obviously, that had to change.

The developers also succeeded in having First Street renamed as Tahoe Keys Boulevard, although today that name changes again to Ala Wai Boulevard.

The third and concluding Tahoe Keys developer was the Dillingham Corporation which had offices located on the Ala Wai Canal, an artificial waterway in Honolulu.

— Bill Kingman

• Lake of the Sky Outfitters will be hosting Ladies Night with Renee Gorevin of Tahoe Treks on April 26 at 7pm. Gorevin leads women on backpacking trips and provides wilderness education in the Sierra Nevada and other California locations. The talk is free. The store is at 1023 Emerald Bay Road, South Lake Tahoe. Seating is limited, so RSVP to (530) 541.1027.

• Check out this video to see an eagle rehabbed at Lake Tahoe Wildlife Care learning to fly again.

• The Cal Poly Pomona Jazz Band will be performing at the Lake Tahoe Home and Garden Show on April 27 from 3-5pm in the gym in the Recreation Complex on Rufus Allen Boulevard in South Lake Tahoe.

• Here are the weekly Caltrans roadwork schedules for El Dorado-Tahoe and Sierra.

• Elder Options is celebrating its 25th anniversary with an open house May 1 from 4-6pm at the Placerville location, 82 Main St.

The U.S. Forest Service has scheduled three public meetings next week, including one in South Lake Tahoe, to discuss ski resorts and water.

The water rights center on ski resorts and snowmaking.

This article provides some background on the topic.

The Forest Service open houses are April 16 in Lakewood, Colo., April 17 in Salt Lake City, and April 18 from 4-6:30pm at the Forest Service at 35 College Drive, South Lake Tahoe.

On April 30 at 6pm, the Friends of the Library is hosting “The Humane Movement: Past, Present, and Future” presented by the Lake Tahoe Humane Society and S.P.C.A.

Dawn Armstrong and Liz Maul will give a brief history of the humane movement, past, present, and future, while sharing how a local humane society reaches every member of the community.

The free event is at the South Lake Tahoe Library, 1000 Rufus Allen Blvd.

For questions, email Tahoe.Programs@gmail.com or call (530) 573.3185.

The Family Resource Center’s Cinco de Mayo party is May 3 from 5-10pm at Heavenly’s California Lodge.

Adult tickets are $20 or $25 at the door, and children’s tickets are $10 for 6 to 12 years of age; 5 years and under are free.

Tickets may be purchased at the Family Resource Center Monday-Friday from 9am-5pm.

All proceeds raised from this event will help support family programs and basic services for all in need in South Lake Tahoe.

For more info, call (530) 542.0740.

El Dorado County Sheriff’s Team of Active Retirees has two programs that can assist citizens while away from their homes and on vacation.

The STARS unit provides training, literature, and Neighborhood Watch information to assist communities in establishing their own programs. Data shows that active Neighborhood Watch programs deter crime and help build a safer community.

STARS will also provide vacation checks on your home while you are away. STAR members check the perimeter of your house to ensure you have not been a victim of a crime and your house is in good condition. Their presence deters crime. If they find a problem, they immediately let deputies know who will investigate the circumstances and make you aware of the outcome. This is a service which is offered at least twice a week to homeowners on vacation.

These services are offered and available to any citizen living in the unincorporated area of El Dorado County free of charge. If interested in utilizing these services, or becoming a STAR volunteer, the Tahoe number is (530) 573.3005.

• State Sen. Ted Gaines, R–Rocklin, on April 10 voiced his strong opposition to Assembly Bill 468, a measure that would implement a new, 4.8 percent tax on property insurance policies to create a “disaster relief fund” in California.

• El Dorado County Office of Education has hired Ed Manansala as the associate superintendent of Educational Services.

• Full House Resorts’ lease with an affiliate of Hyatt Hotels Corporation for the Grand Lodge Casino at Hyatt Regency Lake Tahoe in Incline Village has been extended and is now scheduled to expire Aug. 31, 2018.

• Keep the Sierra Green is in the running for a $25,000 grant. Voting is through April 22 to bring the money to Truckee. Click here for more info.

• There will be free paper shredding on April 20 from 10am-noon at the Squaw Valley Village parking lot; and free electronic waste dumping that day from 10am-2pm.