A Zephyr Cove resident was involved in an accident Tuesday afternoon near Carson City.

According to the Nevada Highway Patrol, Kenneth Woolsey Isaac, 48, of Zephyr Cove was traveling west on Highway 50 when for unknown reasons his vehicle crossed into the eastbound lane and struck a vehicle driven by Gustavo Galindo Cordova, 83, of Silver Springs.

Isaac was transported via CareFlight to the Renown Medical Center in Reno. Cordova was taken to the Carson Tahoe Hospital by ground for non-life threatening injuries.

The accident occurred May 1 at 4:10pm approximately four miles east of Carson City.

A medical reason is being looked at for possibly being the cause of the accident, according to the NHP.

— Lake Tahoe News staff report

By Kathryn Reed

Two issues not on the May 1 South Lake Tahoe City Council docket received more public comment than the entire published agenda.

Operators of businesses in South Lake Tahoe near the state line descended upon the City Council chambers Tuesday to give the electeds an earful about what they think about the proposal to reroute the loop road.

Another group voiced its support of renaming Lakeview Commons Tahnu Leweh, which in Washoe means the people’s place.

Angie Watson, an owner of several apartment complexes that would be impacted if the loop road were to go through, said she wants to keep her property and not be bought out.

“We don’t want to sell,” she told the council.

Mike McKeen with Powder House, Curt Carlson with Tahoe Bottle Shop, Barbara Parina with Sidestreet Boutique, and Umang Patel with Tunderchief were the business owners who all said the loop road is a bad idea.

JoAnn Conner, president of South Tahoe Chamber of Commerce, said, “We feel it will hurt California businesses to help Nevada businesses.”

The council under the recommendation of City Councilwoman Angela Swanson agreed to have a special workshop about the loop road on May 29 from 6-8pm at Lake Tahoe Airport.

The Tahoe Transportation District at its regular May 11 meeting is expected to be discussing the loop road. (Swanson is the council’s rep to the TTD board.) The meeting begins at 9:30am at Embassy Suites in South Lake Tahoe.

All things related to TTD besides the loop road – like the trial ferry service on the North Shore this summer and BlueGo bus service – are scheduled to be discussed at the May 15 council meeting.

With Lakeview Commons, this was the first time El Dorado County had formally approached the city about the request to consider the naming. Judi McCallum, assistant to Supervisor Norma Santiago, read a letter from her boss into the record.

The letter states the naming on Aug. 19, 2008, was supposed to be temporary.

Santiago on Tuesday night told Lake Tahoe News, “According to our lease, we have the ultimate naming authority. We will figure out how to do that.”

That is not how the city interprets the records.

When Swanson at the end of the meeting asked for a future agenda item to discuss the naming of this reconstructed area at El Dorado Beach, she didn’t receive a second. That means the council is good with the name Lakeview Commons.

The Board of Supervisors will take up the Lakeview Commons name issue May 8.

It was agreed by the council that at a future meeting the council would like to hear about potential funding sources to complete what was known as the 56-acre project and to talk about reconvening the steering committee. The project area includes Lakeview Commons and the land on the other side of Highway 50.

By Kathryn Reed

PHILLIPS STATION – Frank Gehrke with the Department of Water Resources did not need his instruments Tuesday as he walked through a barren field. Snowmelt was more in evidence on the final snow survey of the season than the actual white stuff.

“With climate change, we’ll definitely see more of these extremes,” Gehrke said comparing the abundance of snowfall a year ago to the dismal showing this season.

The May 1 reading in 2011 had 5 feet of snow with 3 feet of water content in the open area near the entrance to Sierra-at-Tahoe off Highway 50. This week the evidence of snow was the runoff at the far end of the field that was puddling and the patches on the higher peaks.

No snow for Frank Gehrke of the Department of Water Resources to measure on May 1. Photo/Kathryn Reed

Statewide, the snowpack water content is at 40 percent of average for this time of year.

According to the National Weather Service in Reno, the streams in the Lake Tahoe area have already hit their high water mark.

“Some of the smaller creeks had decent rises this year, but nothing to warrant an advisory or flood warning,” meteorologist Scott McGuire told Lake Tahoe News. He said the minimal snowpack this year meant no flooding, unlike a year ago.

While a small weather system is expected to settle over the basin this week, scattered showers and cooler temps are all that’s expected. No big weather events are on the horizon.

But McGuire did caution that while flooding is not an issue, rivers and creeks are running fast and are extremely cold.

“It doesn’t take a whole lot of water to sweep someone off their feet,” McGuire said.

It’s all that water in California reservoirs that is keeping the nerves of farmers and municipal water purveyors calm. Last year’s deluge and the late storms this season have kept the water levels at serviceable levels.

“Overall, our water supply is OK this year,” Gehrke said.

Lake Oroville is at 97 percent capacity.

Source: Department of Water Resources

By Chris Sieroty, Las Vegas Review-Journal

Tropicana Entertainment Inc., the gaming company controlled by investor Carl Icahn, on Tuesday reported a first quarter loss as its three casinos in Nevada continue to struggle to recover from the recession.

The Las Vegas-based company posted a loss of $4.8 million on net revenues of $155.2 million for the quarter ended March 31. That’s compared to a loss of $1.4 million on net revenue of $156.8 million in the first quarter of 2011.

In Nevada, the company owns the Tropicana Laughlin and the River Palms properties in Laughlin, and the MontBleu casino in Lake Tahoe. The gaming company attributed its overall first quarter performance to “uncertain economic conditions.”

Read the whole story

By Steve Green, Las Vegas Sun

Hotel-casino operator Caesars Entertainment Corp. of Las Vegas on Tuesday said its first-quarter loss widened, even as business improved in Las Vegas.

Caesars said it lost $280.6 million, or $2.24 per share, in the quarter ended March 31 vs. a loss in the year-ago quarter of $147.5 million, or $1.18.

Net revenue of $2.27 billion was up 4.3 percent.

Caesars said the loss widened as interest costs for its $19.79 billion in debt increased.

Caesars said that in Las Vegas, where its properties include Planet Hollywood and the Rio, visitation to its hotels and casinos increased 5.9 percent during the quarter vs. 2011’s first quarter.

Las Vegas customers, however, spent 1.7 percent less per trip during the quarter, Caesars said.

For Las Vegas, this resulted in quarterly net revenue of $771.6 million, up 6.2 percent from the 2011 period.

Las Vegas EBITDA on the property level increased 9.3 percent to $211.3 million. EBITDA is a key casino industry performance measure meaning earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization.

Read the whole story

By Jason Blevins, Denver Post

If the 2011-12 ski season was a test, Vail Resorts passed with top marks.

The largest resort operator in North America on Tuesday illustrated the power of its season pass program by reporting 2011-12 ski season lift ticket revenue that barely moved from last year despite the worst snowfall in 30-plus years. In a season that saw a 50 percent annual decline in snowfall and a 12.6 percent decline in visits, the now seven-resort ski industry leader reported a mere 0.3 percent decline in lift ticket revenue.

Lack of real snow kept skiers away from Heavenly this season. Photo/LTN

The Broomfield-based company’s Colorado resorts – Vail, Beaver Creek, Breckenridge and Keystone – saw an 8.9 percent decline in visitation. Vail’s California resorts – Heavenly and Northstar saw a whopping 24.2 percent decline. (Vail’s most recent acquisition, California’s Kirkwood ski area, was not included in the latest round of ski metrics.)

Read the whole story

Caltrans announced today that construction will resume on five road work projects on the California side in and around the Lake Tahoe Basin.

The projects are designed to rehabilitate and reconstruct drainage facilities – allowing roadway run-off to be directed to treatment collection facilities rather than Lake Tahoe and its tributary waterways. Some projects will also improve safety and traffic flow and encourage walking and bicycling with wider shoulders, lane restriping, adding or widening bicycle lanes, and installing some sidewalks and traffic signals.

Some projects will also improve safety and traffic flow and encourage walking and bicycling with wider shoulders, lane restriping, adding or widening bicycle lanes, and installing some sidewalks and traffic signals.”

Projects in El Dorado and Placer counties include:

1. Highway 267 near Northstar – May 1

Location: Highway 267 near Northstar Drive to near Brockway Summit

Purpose: Slope stabilization and shoulder paving to reduce runoff damage

Approximate hours — May 1–3, 7am-5pm; May 4, 7am-noon; May 7–10, 8pm-5am; May 10–11, 8pm-noon.

2. Highway 50, South Lake Tahoe – Mid-May

Location: Trout Creek Bridge to Ski Run Boulevard in South Lake Tahoe

Purpose: Stormwater collection and treatment, widen shoulders, sidewalks, Class II Bike Lanes, pedestrian lighting, traffic signals, landscaping

3. Highway 50 South Lake Tahoe – Mid-May

Location: Ski Run Boulevard to Wildwood Avenue in South Lake Tahoe

Purpose: Stormwater collection and treatment, widen shoulders, sidewalks, Class II Bike Lanes, pedestrian lighting, traffic signals, landscaping

4. Highway 89 near Squaw Valley – Mid-May

Location: Highway 89 from the Nevada County line to Squaw Valley Road

Purpose: Pavement rehabilitation to restore ride quality for motorists, bicyclist, and improve drainage

5. Highway 89 Lakeside Project – Mid-May

Location: Highway 89 from the Tahoe City to Tahoma

Purpose: Stormwater collection and treatment, widen shoulders, curb, gutter, retaining walls and pavement resurfacing (with asphalt concrete)

Motorists are asked to allow up to 30 minutes of extra driving time in some areas.

Placer County is buying two parcels in Kings Beach that will be used for parking.

A 1.1-mile section of Highway 28 through the middle of this Lake Tahoe community will be transformed from a four-lane highway with one signalized intersection into a three-lane thoroughfare that uses roundabouts and other traffic calming features. The project will build sidewalks, bicycle lanes and other aesthetic improvements.

Because on-street parking will be reduced when the project is built, part of its design is to add off-street parking primarily in the commercially developed areas adjacent to the highway. The two parcels obtained last week will be used for that purpose.

The utility relocation work is expected to begin this month.

While South Lake Tahoe City Manager Tony O’Rourke told Lake Tahoe News on April 30 that he is still negotiating with Yakima, Wash., officials, news outlets in that town make it sound like it’s a done deal he will be moving north.

“I’m gonna make it hard on myself, I’d like to come up there and buy a home, how’s that as a starting point? That’s a pretty good anchor point into the community. The city has nothing to worry about,” O’Rourke is quoted on KAPP-TV.

S. Tahoe's No. 1 and No. 2 officials -- Tony O'Rourke and Nancy Kerry -- at the April 30 Bonanza Park ceremony. Photo/LTN

Yakima’s City Council on April 27 offered O’Rourke the job of city manager.

Also according to the television station, O’Rourke plans to start the new job by July.

— Lake Tahoe News staff report

Truckee schools were on lockdown briefly Monday after an armed man holed up in his vehicle on Richard’s Boulevard northwest of Donner Pass Road.

Robert Maklia eventually surrendered to police officers. He faces charges of reckless discharge of a firearm and branding a weapon at law enforcement. Before being jailed he was taken to Tahoe Forest Hospital to be evaluated.

Police officers were notified about noon April 30 by Nevada County sheriff’s deputies of a subject reported to be distraught and possibly armed with a firearm.

Police located Maklia sitting in his parked vehicle on Richard’s Boulevard.

Maklia exited his vehicle holding a handgun, according to officers. He allegedly refused to drop the handgun and hid behind his vehicle.

“Maklia discharged a round from his gun in an unknown direction while hiding behind his vehicle. He later put down his handgun and approached police,” according to a press release. “Maklia was not compliant with police commands to surrender and was taken into custody without incident after being struck with a less lethal bean bag round.”

— Lake Tahoe News staff report