By KCRA

A bear that attacked a camper near Union Valley Reservoir in Eldorado National Forest going into the holiday weekend was shot and killed by wardens Friday evening.

The attack occurred at about 2 a.m. at the Yellowjacket Campground, located at the Sierra reservoir.

Kirsten Macintyre with the California Department of Fish and Game said a husband and wife heard a noise outside their tent and saw a bear rummaging through a cooler.

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It took an El Dorado County Superior Court jury about a day to convict Joshua Barber of kidnapping, infliction of torture, aggravated assault and terrorist threats.

Co-defendant Amanda Johnson entered a plea agreement to which she was sentenced to 11 years in state prison in return for truthful testimony against Barber.

The two were involved in a prostitution business when on Nov. 22, 2008, they attacked and severely beat a South Lake Tahoe woman. The incident started in the parking lot of a South Tahoe motel, which several people witnessed.

They forced the victim into a vehicle, while continuing to beat her and threatening to kill her. They took her to the Camp Richardson area, where she was stripped of most of her clothing and left in the snow.

The victim heard traffic, was able to move toward the sound and was found by a Caltrans snowplow driver. He called for assistance.

Barber will be sentenced at the South Lake Tahoe courthouse on July 23. He faces life in prison for the torture conviction as well a number of years in prison for the other counts, including a special finding that he inflicted great bodily injury.

By Reno Gazette-Journal

The Nevada Highway Patrol will conduct a drunk driving checkpoint Sunday near Incline Village.

A similar checkpoint last year led to 1,508 vehicles being screened, the NHP said in a statement. Twenty-six vehicles were directed to a secondary screening area where two people were arrested for drunken driving, one at the checkpoint and another who tried to avoid the checkpoint.

Also, a 17-year-old was cited for being a minor consuming alcohol.

Personnel from the Sparks Police Department, the Washoe County School District Police Department, the sheriff’s offices for Carson City and Washoe County and the Nevada Highway Patrol will screen the traffic.

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A Lake Tahoe News reader from South Lake Tahoe wrote in saying:

“The trailer park at 2333 Eloise is being torn down. I live in Sky Meadows just behind the trailer park, and have been watching men work on removing items from the park over the past few weeks. Then they brought out a large tractor and have begun tearing through the old trailers and making large piles of rubble. If anyone has any information on what is going to be done with the property once the trailers are all removed … let me know.”

Here is the response from Gene Palazzo, director of Redevelopment/Housing for South Lake Tahoe:

“The park has been for sale for some time. About a year or so ago the owner was talking with a potential affordable housing developer, who was also working with the city to see if the city would be interested/willing in supporting a 2010-11 application to HCD for HOME funds. They were unable to put the financing package together so the deal fell apart after about a year of time invested by them.

“More recently, a potential buyer came into our offices stating they were looking to buy the property. He discussed improving the park and installing new mobile/type homes that would be more ‘Tahoe’ looking. That was months ago, and he was going to do it without requesting housing funds because he didn’t want to restrict renting to low-income.

“The real estate agent working with the previous owner stated the property has been sold and the new owner is in the process of fixing it up. Mobil home parks are regulated by the state Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD).”

By Reno Gazette-Journal

Caltrans is asking motorists to avoid driving on Interstate 80 between Truckee and the Nevada border during peak hours this weekend, due to lane restrictions and narrow lanes.

Caltrans officials said motorists should find alternate routes due to delays of up to 45 minutes during the Fourth of July weekend. Motorists will want to avoid I-80 between 2pm and 9pm Friday, and between 10am and 6pm Sunday and Monday.

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By Dan Walters, Sacramento Bee

The state Legislature voted this morning to give kidnap victim Jaycee Lee Dugard $20 million to head off a potentially larger judgment against the state for failing to adequately supervise her alleged kidnapper, prison parolee Phillip Garrido.

The $20 million was placed into an otherwise routine “ciaims bill,” Assembly Bill 1714, on Wednesday. It passed the Senate 30-1 and the Assembly 62-0 sending it to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. Because the bill would clear the Legislature in the new fiscal year and the state has not approved a budget, the governor will have to formally request that the measure come to his desk.

Jaycee Lee Dugard

Dugard was 11 years old when she was kidnapped off the street near her home in South Lake Tahoe in 1991, and authorities say she was held prisoner for nearly two decades in Garrido’s Antioch home. He and his wife, Nancy, face numerous charges relating to the case and potentially face life in prison.

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A South Lake Tahoe jury this week found Kenneth Sharonoff guilty of second-degree murder in the killing of Clark “Otto” McCabe.

The two men had been arguing when Sharonoff used a crossbow to kill McCabe on Jan. 23 in Placerville at a homeless encampment.

The case was tried in Tahoe at the El Dorado County Superior Courthouse, with the verdict being rendered on June 29. The jury of nine women and three men also found Sharonoff guilty of a felon being in the possession of two firearms and elder abuse. The victim was 68.

Sharonoff is also charged in the case with two prior strike convictions, which will be the subject of a court trial on July 15. A sentencing date will most likely be set then as well.

He faces a term of 15 years to life.

Smoke was billowing from the attic space above the kitchen of a South Lake Tahoe residence with Lake Valley firefighters reached the structure Wednesday night.

Crews were able to extinguish the 8:55pm blaze at 1172 Canarsee St. before it spread to the surrounding structures or wildland.

All occupants were able to exit the residence and no injuries were reported.

Along with the Lake Valley units, engines and personnel from South Lake Tahoe Fire Department and CalFire assisted.

The cause of the fire has been determined to be a bird’s nest on top of a light fixture that caught fire because of the heat. Residents should check all light fixtures on their homes for any material that may catch on fire, according to fire officials. Lake Valley also recommends residents use roof vents in their homes that are engineered to prevent fire from being transferred into the combustible attic spaces from outside the structure.

By Kathryn Reed

The South Lake Tahoe City Council has called a special closed session meeting for July 1 at 6pm at Lake Tahoe Airport.

Agenda item – city manager.

First order of business will be to discuss the two men who were interviewed June 27. A decision is likely to be made whether the council wants to consider one, both or neither a finalist. A finalist means they would go through an interview by the two employee groups and public panel.

The two men interviewed on Father’s Day already went through the additional interview process.

The reason given by the council for the differing processes is the first two had no problem with their names being out in the public and the last two didn’t want their employers to know they were looking for a job until they became a finalist. This in turn has set up what appears to be two standards for city manager candidates. Council members defend the process by saying in the end everyone will have interviewed whoever is chosen to be city manager.

More than one council member has acknowledged this has not been the smoothest of processes, and that things could have been handled differently — like having the public/employees interview only the candidates the council deemed finalists.

With past city manager hirings, what was called public sessions were in fact closed-door interviews where select people were chosen and sworn to secrecy. They didn’t meet any threshold of being public.

It’s also possible on Thursday the council will decide to interview an additional person.

If anyone were going to be interviewed – by the council or the three panels – it would be after the long holiday weekend. In a perfect scenario, the council will pick the person by July 8. That person could make a decision the next day.

Assuming the person says yes, they could give four week’s notice – with their last day being Aug. 6 at their current job. Aug. 9 could be their first day on the job in South Lake Tahoe.

This would leave a one-day gap between Aug. 7 – City Manager Dave Jinkens’ last day – and the new guy’s start date. (Only men have been interviewed.)

Mayor Kathay Lovell said the goal all along has been to have someone hired before Jinkens’ last day.

“We’re still shooting for that,” Lovell said. “My goal is to get a new city manger in as efficiently and quickly as we can.”

By Patrick McGreevy, Los Angeles Times

SACRAMENTO — After an exhausting political fight to put an $11.1-billion plan for shoring up the state’s water supply before voters, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger now wants to yank the measure from the November ballot.

The governor is working with legislative leaders to postpone the water bond proposal as its prospects appear increasingly dim. Polls suggest voters may not have the appetite for such borrowing at a time when the state budget is in continuing crisis.

Arnold Schwarzenegger

And the governor’s vow to aggressively fight another measure on the November ballot, one that would roll back the landmark global warming bill he signed in 2006, threatens to distract from the effort to get the water bond passed.

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