A truck driver was killed Monday afternoon after he tried to stop on Mount Rose Highway using the runaway truck ramp.

The name of the victim has not been released.

According to the Nevada Highway Patrol, at 2:48pm, the 18-wheeler pulling a trailer transporting composite decking materials traveling westbound on the two-lane highway toward Lake Tahoe.

For reasons still being investigated, the unidentified male driver utilized the truck ramp in an effort to stop his vehicle. The truck and trailer stopped near the termination point of the ramp; however, the entire load of building materials shifted forward, crushing the entire cab and killing the driver.

No other vehicles were involved.

By Sean Whaley, Nevada News Bureau

CARSON CITY — Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval announced today that the state has reached an agreement with online retailing giant Amazon to begin collecting Nevada sales tax on purchases.

The agreement also calls for the state and the Fortune 500 company to work together for immediate enactment of federal legislation that will address the needs of states, retailers and consumers by creating a simplified and equitable framework for sales tax collection.

Sandoval said he will continue to push Congress to act on legislation that will allow states to collect revenues that are already due.

“The only way to completely resolve this issue is for Congress to enact legislation that, within a simplified nationwide framework, grants states the right to require collection by all sellers,” Sandoval said. “We thank Amazon for creating jobs and investment in Nevada and are very grateful the company is working with us on a federal solution.”

Amazon subsidiaries employ thousands of Nevadans in the Reno and Las Vegas areas.

“Amazon appreciates Gov. Sandoval’s focus on Nevada jobs and his efforts to encourage congress to resolve the sales tax issue this year,” said Paul Misener, Amazon vice president of Global Public Policy. “We strongly support federal legislation permitting interstate sales tax collection because it is the only way to level the playing field for all sellers, the only way for Nevada to obtain all the sales tax revenue that is already owed, and the only way to fully protect states’ rights.”

According to the agreement between the Nevada Department of Taxation and Amazon, the company will voluntarily begin to collect and remit Nevada sales tax beginning Jan. 1, 2014, or as of the effective date of federal legislation, whichever is earlier. Amazon will collect the sales and use tax in the same manner as traditional brick and mortar retailers, relieving Nevadans from having to self-report use taxes from these sales to the state.

By Cathy Locke, Sacramento Bee

A man fatally shot Saturday night near Union Valley Reservoir in El Dorado County has been identified by the county Sheriff’s Office as Randall Gene Center, 25 of Colfax.

Sheriff’s officials said Monday that circumstances leading up to the shooting are under investigation.

The Sheriff’s Office received a 911 call at 8:10pm. Saturday from a camper in the Union Valley Reservoir area who reported that an individual had been shot. Officials said the location of the shooting was in an undeveloped, remote shoreline area with no road access and could be reached only by boat.

Sheriff’s Department personnel responded to the area along with county fire and U.S. Forest Service units. When they arrived, they found the individuals involved in the incident, one of whom was dead.

By Northern Nevada Business Weekly

A membership-based, all-you-fly airline hopes to add service to the Lake Tahoe market next year.

Surf Air, headquartered at Santa Monica, is signing up members for its first routes, which will link Palo Alto, Monterey, Santa Barbara and Los Angeles.

But expansion into the Lake Tahoe market is one of the company’s priorities, says Wade Eyerly, a former aide to Vice President Dick Cheney who is Surf Air’s chief executive officer, says the carrier hopes to tap a market of Bay Area residents who want to avoid the hassles of driving to second homes at Lake Tahoe.

The company expects to add Lake Tahoe service by early 2013. It expects to launch its first service in California this summer, although it still needs approval from the Federal Aviation Administration.

Eyerly, who founded the company with his brother, David, a licensed commercial airline pilot, says Surf Air executives haven’t decided which airport in the Lake Tahoe area the company might use. Possibilities include the airports at South Lake Tahoe and Truckee.

Read the whole story

By Mark Glover, Sacramento Bee

Placerville-based El Dorado Savings Bank saw a nearly 4 percent year-over-year increase in first quarter net income.

The bank, which operates 32 branches in Northern California, including South Lake Tahoe, reported a profit of more than $2.1 million for the quarter ended March 31, up from about $2 million in the year-ago period.

“The improvement in profits for 2012 was a result of strong growth in new accounts and deposits,” said Thomas Meuser, chairman and CEO.

El Dorado reported total assets of $1.76 billion and savings deposits of $1.57 billion as of March 31, up from $1.64 billion and $1.46 billion in 2011.

By KCRA-TV

UNION VALLEY — Deputies are investigating a reservoir shooting in El Dorado County on Saturday.

El Dorado County sheriff’s deputies said they received a 911 cellular telephone call at about 8:10pm from a camper in the Union Valley Reservoir area reporting another person had been shot.

Deputies said the location where the shooting happened is in an undeveloped remote shoreline area with no road access and can only be reached by boat.

Several sheriff’s department personnel immediately responded to the area, as well as county fire units, and U.S. Forest Service units. Upon their arrival, deputies said they located the involved subjects, one of which was deceased.

The investigation is ongoing, detectives said.

National Work Zone Awareness Week is April 23-27.

“There was one death and close to 700 work zone crashes in active Nevada work zones last year,” NDOT Director Susan Martinovich said in a press release. “Each driver truly needs to give their undivided attention while driving, particularly through road work zones.That means driving slowly and safely.”

Work is going on now on Highway 28 on the East Shore, with Highway 50 in South Tahoe to be dug up starting in May. Photo/LTN

Throughout the year, NDOT and partners work to keep drivers and road workers safe, using protective barriers, warning signs, lower speed limits, lane closures and flaggers in certain work zones. Construction work is also scheduled during nighttime and off-peak hours.

While work zone driving fatalities across the U.S. have steadily declined from a high of 1,186 in 2002, vehicle drivers and passengers comprise up to 90 percent of national work zone deaths. The last NDOT highway employee to lose his life while working in a work zone was Frank Fuentes, who was killed in 1995 by a drunken driver in Las Vegas.

National Work Zone Awareness Week is sponsored by the Federal Highway Administration.

The Placer County Board of Supervisors meets three times each year in the Lake Tahoe area, with April 23-24 being the next time.

Items on the agenda include:

Considering approval of an amendment to an agreement between the county and Tahoe Truckee Disposal Co., and Placer County Eastern Regional Sanitary Landfill.

Community Development Resource Agency will present the board with an update on the status of the Placer County Biomass Program and Cabin Creek Biomass Facility Project.

A request by Public Works staff to approve purchase agreements for two parcels as part of the Kings Beach Commercial Core Improvement Project.

The meetings will be held at the North Tahoe Events Center, 8318 North Lake Blvd., Kings Beach. Monday’s meeting will begin at 2pm and Tuesday’s meeting is scheduled to start at 9am.

The full agenda is online.

By Kathryn Reed

A loud boom that was heard and felt Sunday about 8am could be related to the Lyrid meteor showers.

While folks at the National Weather Service in Reno said they did not feel or hear anything, they did see something.

“I can tell you that I was speaking to a co-worker and she saw a flash across the sky,” meteorologist Mark Faucette told Lake Tahoe News. “If they are bright enough to see in the daytime, they are slightly bigger than the usual meteor.”

But Faucette stressed that he is no expert in these matters and that it is pure speculation on his part that what people heard-felt was related to the Lyrids – which were to peak this morning.

No one at CalTech’s Jet Propulsion Lab – where they deal with matters that are outside the Earth’s atmosphere – was available for comment.

Police dispatch in South Lake Tahoe said their phone has been ringing off the hook from callers asking what the commotion was. They don’t know what the cause of the noise was.

By Kathryn Reed

INCLINE VILLAGE – Figure out what works for your area, get community buy-in and the people will come.

That was the message during the Special Events – The Lifeblood of Rural Tourism workshop last week at the annual Rural Roundup event put on by the Nevada Commission on Tourism at the Hyatt in Incline.

Curtis Fong, who is the master behind the two annual cycling events around Lake Tahoe, and Bernadette Anthony and Michele Yegge Evans with Mesquite Gaming spoke about what needs to take place for an event to become successful.

The annual Soroptimist International South Lake Tahoe wine tasting is successful because locals believe in it. Photo/LTN file

And success was defined in different ways. It’s possible the event is not a big money-maker, but the people coming to town are dropping cash so it’s successful in a broader scope. Turning a profit is not likely to happen the first three years, they said.

Anthony stressed how events can be developed from a variety of ideas – tapping into a hobby (like what they did with their Bunco event), embracing history, the natural environment, national or state holidays, cultural events, or sports.

Events can include animals – from cow chip tossing to bird watching; foot events – from historical walking tours to pub crawls; motor events – tractor pulls to personal watercraft.

Fong said it’s important to define the goals of the event. With outdoor events, he said to consider the geography – mountains, sky, water, wind, open space – all play a role in what type of activities can take place.

Creating a sense of value for the consumer was driven home by Fong.

“Package everything. Everything is perception in terms of marketing,” Fong said.

When he puts on the annual America’s Most Beautiful Bike Ride people know the fee isn’t just to ride 72 miles – it includes a shirt, lunch on the course, post-party and more.

Anthony added the event must benefit the entire area. “Then everyone will get involved,” she said.