By Kathryn Reed

A bankruptcy judge today extended the time Randy Lane and his partners have to come up with a plan for the stalled would be convention center in South Lake Tahoe.

Lane and John Serpa, the two lead agents of Zephyr Cove-based Lake Tahoe Development Company, filed for bankruptcy in October. They had 120 days to come with a reorganization plan.

The public should know this summer if the Chateau project will resemble these original drawings.

Upon failing to do so, the company asked for an extension of that exclusivity period to July 2.

The court on March 2 said LTDC has 90 more days, or until June 2 to come up with a plan. That plan would then have to be approved by the creditors who are owed $54 million and the judge by Aug. 2.

Between now and then LTDC and Michael Rosenfeld, the investor Lane lined up to pick up the pieces of the muddled $410 million hotel-retail-convention center complex, must give updates about their due diligence to get the project moving. Those reports must be submitted on the first and 15th of each month.

Those reports must contain:

How negotiations are going between all parties;

How much time and money has been spent by the investor on the negotiations and reorganization plan;

Statement by investor he is still interested;

Report on Tahoe Regional Planning Agency permits;

Report on plan progress.

A city official close to the process said, “If Rosenfeld walks way, Randy is done.”

Lane was not immediately available for comment.

OMIF, the largest creditor, and City National, an outspoken creditor, agreed with the judge’s decision.

South Lake Tahoe had supported a 30-day extension.

If Lake Tahoe Development Company does not submit a plan by June 2, the judge said he would not issue another extension.

Speculation is the project will be much different than what permits have been issued for. It’s unknown if the Chateau at Heavenly Village, as it’s been called, will continue to be the working name.

By George Warren, News10

SACRAMENTO — An appeals court Monday rejected an attempt by state corrections officials to avoid turning over additional documents relating to the bungled parole of Phillip Garrido.

The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) sought to overturn a Sacramento judge’s order that the department hand over all of Garrido’s parole records as requested by several media organizations under the Public Records Act.

The CDCR argued publishing the documents could endanger the safety and security of its staff.

Read the whole story

By Kathryn Reed

South Shore attorney Mike Laub paid Harrah’s Entertainment $5.225 million for the five parcels that encompass Bill’s Casino at Stateline.

The sale went through Friday.

Bill's is gone; what the new business name will be remains to be seen.

Billâ’s ceased being a casino Jan. 4. It was a slots only gaming facility for the past few years. Named after Harrah’ founder Bill Harrah, the small club nestled on the east edge of Harrah’s Lake Tahoe was a draw for locals and tourists in its heyday. People used to spill out onto the sidewalks because it didn’t have traditional doors.

Like so much of the gaming industry in Northern Nevada, but especially in Lake Tahoe, the influx of Indian casinos throughout California has been debilitating.

Laub, who has a Glenbrook mailing address, has spoken with Douglas County officials about putting a strip club in where the casino was.

It’s zoned for such a business.

Douglas County Manager Michael Brown said Laub has not submitted any plans to the county.

Brown said the county, including the elected commissioners, have jurisdiction over land use issues but cannot deny a business the right to operate just because they may not like the type of establishment.

Commission Chairwoman Nancy McDermid did not return phone calls.

Laub did not return phone calls Monday either. Jacqueline Peterson with Harrah’s Entertainment in Las Vegas said, “I don’t imagine we’re commenting” when asked what the company thought of potentially having a strip club steps from its Harrah’s Lake Tahoe and Harvey’s properties.

Even though Harrah’s and MontBleu have nightclubs inside the casinos, access to them is only from inside the casino. Scantily clad women have been part of their lineup at times, but never have they operated what would be called a strip club.

“We are opposed to it,” Mike Donovan, spokesman for MontBleu, said of a strip club moving in next door. “I don’t think it’s good for the overall market place. An element like that taints the cleanliness of the Lake Tahoe market just a bit. I think it will hurt other aspects of the Lake Tahoe market.”

Lakeside Inn and Casino as well as the Gaming Alliance are also opposed to this type of business going in.

“Douglas County commissioners will hear an overwhelming weight of opposition to this not for moral reasons, but purely for economic development reasons,” Mike Bradford, president of Lakeside Inn, said. “Edgewood Companies is working on a proposal that would turn Horizon into some completely different kind of facility. With a strip club across the street, it would be a disincentive to do that.”

Edgewood Companies officials didn’t return calls. The Minden-based company owns the property Horizon and MontBleu are on as well as the Edgewood Tahoe Golf Course.

Bradford acknowledged that gaming is taking a backseat to the outdoors and that something more inline with what he envisions for the future of the South Shore should occupy the Bill’s property to better complement where the area is going, not where it has been.

No one from Horizon or Lake Tahoe Visitors Authority returned calls.

Publisher’s note: The decrease is only for Nevada customers.

By Bill O’Driscoll, Reno Gazette-Journal

Electricity and natural gas customers of NV Energy are in line to catch another break on rates, this one set for next fall.

The utility today filed its annual deferred energy cost adjustments with state regulators which, if approved, would mean average reductions of 10.2 percent for electricity and 4.6 percent for natural gas starting next fall.

Read the whole story

By Erin Kelly, Gannett Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama is poised to sign a bill aimed at reviving the nation’s recession-battered travel industry.

The bipartisan Travel Promotion Act, given final approval by the Senate this week, funds increased efforts to market top U.S. travel destinations, including Nevada, to tourists from other nations.

The legislation, pushed by lawmakers from Nevada, Arizona, California and Florida, also would educate foreign travelers about U.S. security and entry regulations to make them seem

Promoting Lake Tahoe will be part of the tourism bill. Photo/Kathryn Reed

less daunting.

Read the whole story

By Kathryn Reed

A special closed session meeting of the transit authority that oversees BlueGo, the bus system on the South Shore, seemed to produce more questions than answers.

Lake Tahoe News normally receives notification via email of the South Tahoe Area Transit Authority meetings. Not so in this case. A phone call long after dark alerted this publication that a meeting had been called.

BlueGo Administrator John Andoh said the agency’s legal counsel put out the agenda on Tuesday. Apparently, not to all of the media as would be normal.

The agenda items listed at bluego.org says:

A. EMPLOYMENT APPOINTMENT

Title: Executive Director

B. EMPLOYEE PERFORMANCE EVALUATION

Title: Transit Administrator

C. EMPLOYEE DISCIPLINE/DISMISSAL/RELEASE

Title: Transit Administrator

D. ADJOURNMENT

Chairwoman Nancy McDermid said the meeting was to listen to a company the city of South Lake Tahoe wanted to bring in to give a presentation. Assistant City Manager Rick Angelocci, who is vice chairman of STATA, and Mayor Kathay Lovell, did not return calls Friday night.

McDermid said the city took it upon itself without direction from the STATA board to bring the company in. She said the board members who were at the Friday morning meeting didn’t take action.

The finance and marketing committees are expected to analyze the data from the presentation.

McDermid said there is no direction to replace MV Transportation, which operates the system. She was evasive when asked if Andoh would retain his position.

McDermid said now that the agency is not under the umbrella of the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency, it is trying to figure out how to structure the organization, what type of staffing to have, how to increase revenue without fare increases, and to initiate an audit of its fleet of 43 buses.

“I honestly don’t know what was discussed,” Andoh said hours after the meeting concluded. “I’ve been pressuring them to get an executive director.”

For now, he still has his job.

By Lauren Gustus, Reno Gazette-Journal

WHISTLER, British Columbia — The Reno-Tahoe area isn’t going to secure host status for a future Winter Games during the Vancouver Olympics.

But Reno Tahoe Winter Games Coalition members are here, trying to plant a seed.

“It is not the occasion to sell,” said Nevada Lt. Gov. Brian Krolicki, chairman of the nonprofit coalition’s board. “It’s the time to show our support. It’s the time to kick some tires and eyeball folks, and make sure that we think this is something we believe we’re up to.”

Read the whole story

By Stan Stanton, Sacramento Bee

A judge today refused to allow accused kidnappers Phillip and Nancy Garrido to visit each other in jail for now, but he ordered the El Dorado County sheriff to allow them two five-minute phone calls between now and April 15.

Judge Douglas Phimister said he did not believe the couple had given up all their rights to speak to each other, and ordered that Nancy Garrido be given the option of calling her husband in the jail if she so chooses.

Read the whole story

By John Simerman, Contra Costa Times

Jaycee Dugard, her two daughters and her mother each have filed claims against the state for damages from failures by parole agents to unearth the mystery of her 1991 kidnapping and years of captivity.

The claims, which generally precede lawsuits, were filed with the state Victim Compensation and Government Claims Board. In the simple, two-page forms, Dugard, the two girls and her mother, Terry Probyn, all cite “various lapses by corrections department” and claim “psychological, physical and emotional” damages, said Jon Myers, spokesman for the board.

They list no dollar figure for damages, only a checked box indicating they exceed $25,000. State law requires personal injury claims to be filed within six months of an “incident.” Authorities learned Aug. 26 of Dugard’s identity and that she and the two girls fathered by Phillip Garrido had been living in a hidden backyard compound near Antioch.

Read the whole story

By Kathryn Reed

Blue sky has given way to gray in the greater Lake Tahoe area as the anticipated storm blows in.

Winds are picking as what is being described as a fast moving storm approaches. Winds are expected to be in the 50mph range this afternoon, twice that forceful this evening on the ridges.

More snow headed to Lake Tahoe this evening. Photo/Kathryn Reed

The National Weather Service has issued a storm warning from 1pm Friday to 10am Saturday for elevations above 7,000 feet – so, the passes, not the lake level. The storm is expected to be at its worst between 5-11 tonight.

Snow totals are predicted to be 6-12 inches above 7,000 feet and 2-6 inches below that elevation.

Temperatures are to be mild during they day, but in the teens Saturday night.

The sun should return on Sunday, with snow in the forecast for Tuesday.