July 4th celebrations often include cook-outs, picnics, boating, time spent with family and friends and, of course, fireworks. But for too many Americans, the nation’s annual celebration is filled with tragedy, as it is one of the deadliest holidays of the year when it comes to alcohol-impaired traffic fatalities.

The Avoid the 6 El Dorado County DUI Task Force will be out in full force during the 4th of July holiday weekend cracking down on impaired drivers with an aggressive DUI enforcement blitz to include a sobriety-driver’s license checkpoint and DUI saturation patrols.

Extra DUI roving patrols will be conducted July 1-4 in South Lake Tahoe. CHP will assign all available officers to the region’s freeways, state highways and unincorporated roads beginning 6pm Friday through midnight Monday.

Statistics gathered from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration over the past 25 years show that, on average, nearly half of all deadly traffic crashes over each year’s July 4th holiday involved some level of alcohol.

Do you have what it takes to run for an elected position?

Decision time is looming.

In Lake Tahoe Unified School District, Mike Doyle, Larry Green and Sue Novasel’s terms are up. On the Lake Tahoe Community College board, Karen Borges and Fritz Wenck’s terms are up. The terms of Mary Lou Mosbacher and Dale Rise are up on the South Tahoe Public Utility District.

Here are the other El Dorado County seats that will be on the November ballot.

Potential candidates may file for any of those positions beginning July 18. The deadline to file is Aug. 12 at 5pm unless an incumbent does not file – then the deadline is extended to Aug. 17.

There are Placer County offices being decided this fall as well as ones in Washoe County.

— Lake Tahoe News staff report

By George Warren, News 10

TRUCKEE — It may be legal, but that doesn’t make it right. Property owners in a Donner Lake neighborhood are paying double taxes to the local school district because the county line splits their property.

“I just feel it’s unfair,” said one of the homeowners who asked that her name not be used.

There are 18 modest homes on the south side of Cottonwood Street with their front yards in Nevada County and the actual house in Placer County. A 19th property split by the county line is a vacant lot.

Each address has two parcel numbers, one in each county.

The two counties take a pro-rated share of property tax based on the value of land and improvements in each jurisdiction. But a voter-approved special assessment for the Tahoe-Truckee Unified School District imposes a flat rate parcel tax that has been levied since 1989.

Last year’s school district parcel tax was $98. Voters recently approved boosting the tax to $135 beginning next school year.

“It’s not a lot of money. It’s the principle,” said the property owner who spoke to News10. She said the school district was unresponsive when she raised the issue, suggesting instead she apply for a senior exemption available to any property owner over the age of 65.

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Updated June 30 6am: Power was restored to South Tahoe customers before 10pm Wednesday, Liberty Energy said. An outage in Glenshire affecting 200 customers on Sommerset Drive and Donnington Lane near Truckee was fixed about 2am Thursday.

Nearly 3,300 Liberty Energy customers in South Lake Tahoe had been without power since a little after 5pm Wednesday.

A private tree trimmer dropped a limb on a power line, causing the outage, according to Randy Kelly with Liberty Energy.

The customers are in the Y area of town.

Kelly said crews are at the property trying to fix the problem. Some customers should have power by 7:30pm, with others coming back online gradually.

— Lake Tahoe News staff report

Washoe County sheriff’s deputies have been dispatched to several calls regarding door-to-door solicitation. Solicitors have been reported selling magazine subscriptions, household cleaners, and residential security systems. Some solicitors have been reported as being extremely aggressive.

On June 27 at approximately 3pm, concerned residents in the area of West Hidden Valley Drive and Mira Loma Drive called deputies in regards to magazine solicitors. Deputies contacted Sarah Proffitt, 27, of Sandy Ridge, N.C., Aaron Marcus, 24, of Richmond, Va., and Daniel Carlsen, 25, of Chicago. Not one had the proper license or work permit required and were subsequently arrested and transported to the Washoe County Detention Facility. All three subjects face charges of traveling merchant without a license and required work permit.

Deputies also contacted Michael Bailey, 31, of Willis, Texas. Bailey reportedly told deputies he transported the three subjects to the area in order to sell magazines. He was arrested on charges of an outstanding warrant and being in possession of marijuana.

There have been numerous door-to-door scams as well as burglaries possibly connected to solicitors casing neighborhoods. In the past, the vast majority of solicitors who have been contacted are not residents of Washoe County nor do they live in Nevada.

The Washoe County Sheriff’s Office offers these tips when dealing with solicitors:

* If you do not know the person, do not open your door. Don’t feel obligated to greet the unfamiliar person knocking at your door.

* If you are not interested in the item being offered, simply close the door and lock it. You do not owe the person an explanation.

* Stand in front of your home and see what is visible from the street. If you can see your valuable items through the front windows, so can potential burglars.

* Always keep doors and windows locked. Storm doors or security doors are helpful when dealing with solicitors because you can see and speak safely through the door. Never allow an unfamiliar person into your house.

* Call your local law enforcement agency if a solicitor is aggressively attempting to gain access into your home and/or refusing to show proper identification.

* If you see criminal or suspicious activity, call our non-emergency dispatch at (775) 832.9276.

U.S. Forest Service fuels management crews will conduct prescribed fire operations June 30 on Kingsbury Grade and in Rubicon Bay.

The Kingsbury Grade operation near North Benjamin is approximately 2 acres and is expected to last through Thursday.

The Rubicon Bay operation is approximately 1 acre and is also expected to last through Thursday.

All prescribed fire operations are dependent on weather and available staffing.

Residents and visitors can expect to see smoke from prescribed fire project areas. Smoke management is part of every prescribed fire burn plan, and efforts will be taken to reduce actual or potential smoke impacts on community areas.

The California Transportation Commission has allocated $825 million in new funding to 92 highway, transit, and rail projects that are designed to strengthen California’s economy and upgrade the state’s vast transportation system.

The allocations included nearly $9 million from Proposition 1B, a 2006 voter-approved transportation bond. To date, the state has allocated nearly $8 billion in Proposition 1B funds.

El Dorado County is receiving $45,000 from the state Transportation Improvement Program for Placerville to construct a multipurpose trail to encourage non-motorized transportation and improve mobility, provide a connection to the bike and pedestrian overcrossing to Highway 50 at Bedford Avenue.

Between June 23-25, the South Lake Tahoe Police Department deployed officers into the Bijou neighborhood in support of the Residential Neighborhood Traffic Enforcement Program.

During that deployment, 41 traffic related traffic stops were made by the officers. Sixteen were for stop sign violations and 16 were for speed related and nine for other traffic violations.

Fifteen traffic citations were issued and 26 written warnings were given out. One vehicle was impounded due to the driver being cited for a third time for not having a driver’s license.

Because this particular neighborhood has such a major traffic related problem, officers will be in the Bijou neighborhood this week.

As a reminder, the speed limit for all California residential roadways is 25 mph unless otherwise posted.

If you would like your street or neighborhood put on the list, call or email Sgt. Shannon Laney at (530) 542.6104, slaney@cityofslt.us. Provide your name, number and a description of the problem in as much detail as possible to include times of days the problem is most prevalent.

By Shane Goldmacher, Los Angeles Times

SACRAMENTO — The Legislature passed an austerity budget Tuesday night that would cut from universities, courts and the poor, shutter 70 parks and threaten schools but would not — by officials’ own admission — restore California’s long-term financial health.

The UC and Cal State systems would face about a 23 percent funding cut, among the steepest in the proposal. Cash grants for the needy would fall, a program to help thousands of teen mothers get an education would be suspended and hundreds of millions of dollars would be siphoned from mental health programs.

The state park closures would be the first ever. Courts would face what the state’s chief justice has described as crippling reductions.

In an optimistic forecast, lawmakers built in an extra $4 billion of revenue. If all that cash does not materialize, K-12 schools — which had so far survived negotiations relatively unscathed — would face a cutback equal to shortening the academic year by seven days.

“These cuts will forever haunt our conscience,” said Assemblyman Bob Blumenfield (D-Woodland Hills), who chairs the budget committee in the lower house. “However, those of us who do vote for this budget can take comfort with the knowledge that we did what was necessary to move ourselves toward stability.”

Many of the cuts were adopted in March; more were undertaken Tuesday as a rare summer thunderstorm blanketed the city shortly before lawmakers began passing their second budget in as many weeks. Gov. Jerry Brown vetoed the first one but is expected to sign the new package before a fresh budget year begins Friday.

Brown lost his months-long bid to win enough Republican votes to extend temporary taxes that would have helped balance the books. Instead, he forged a deal with Democrats, who do not have enough votes to raise taxes alone.

As a result, temporary sales and vehicle tax hikes enacted in 2009 will officially come off the books Friday.

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By Jessie Marchesseau

The room was far from empty at the South Lake Tahoe City Council sign workshop Tuesday. As planned, the meeting was for discussion and public input only, and no action was taken.

More than a half dozen residents and business owners took their turn at the podium to express concerns over the city’s current sign ordinance.

“It took a problem, a bad problem, and sort of made it worse,” said Paul Gonzales of the Tahoe Chalet Inn.

Like most of the other business owners and managers in attendance, Gonzales would like to see the ordinance changed. However, exactly what should be changed was a little harder for everyone to put a finger on.

Blue Angel Cafe's sign is an example of one that conforms to the ordinance. Photo/LTN

Director of Development Services, Hilary Hodges, presented a short history of the sign ordinance that went into effect in 1989. The floor was then opened to public comment. The council members listened thoughtfully to what the speakers had to say and visited many of their concerns during the council’s discussion.

A handful of topics came up multiple times throughout the meeting. Financial incentives were perhaps the most visited topic of the evening. A new sign can cost business and property owners thousands of dollars. Residents and council members seemed to concur some sort of financial incentive needed to be offered to help businesses bring signs into compliance.

The other hot topics were the use of banners and sandwich signs, and once again allowing reader or message board type signs. While all of the council members touched on these topics, they were not fully in agreement.

One thing everyone agreed on, however: there is no consistent enforcement of the ordinance.

Among the council, there seemed to be a division of the sexes with Claire Fortier and Angela Swanson pushing for a quicker decision, fewer changes to the current ordinance and more stringent enforcement.

Tom Davis and Bruce Grego, on the other hand, approached the topic with less fervor than their counterparts. Both were in favor of liberalizing the current sign standards. Grego’s opinion of the current ordinance is that it makes everyone’s sign look the same. Davis advocates allowing more variety of signage and a grace period of another two to three years before enforcement begins.

Regardless of their differing opinions, council members acknowledged the urgency of the issue due to the current improvements being done to Highway 50. The work will require several businesses to move their signs, raising the questions: Should the city let them just move their old non-compliant sign, or require them to replace it with one that complies with the city ordinance? And should that ordinance be changed?

Even though the council was only supposed to meet once during the month of July, they added another sign ordinance workshop to the calendar, stating that this topic was too important to push back until August.

Over the next few weeks, South Lake Tahoe staff will be collecting input from local sign makers, business owners and the chamber of commerce to come up with a set of proposed changes to be discussed at next month’s workshop.

The next sign ordinance workshop is scheduled for July 26.