By Kathryn Reed

All things Lake Tahoe are on the agenda of the El Dorado County Board of Supervisors when the gang meets Nov. 10 on the South Shore.

This is the board’s once a year meeting when they leave Placerville and make their way to Lake Tahoe – the other part of the county they rule over, but seldom visit.

Happy Homestead Cemetery district is on the Board of Supervisors' Tuesday agenda.

Supervisor Norma Santiago, the lone voice of the basin, said an ordinance regarding invasive species will be brought forward. It is based on Lake County’s ordinance. That area is home to Clear Lake.

Another issue will be the appointment of two board members to sit on the Happy Homestead Cemetery board. First supervisors must decide to expand the special district board to five members from three. The theory is bringing the board to five members will allow it to function better.

The only applicants for the board are John Poel and Joe Tillson.

The cemetery district has been in a state of unrest for the past year as it deals with two members who have been on for a short time, and a staffing situation that not everyone is happy with.

Lakeview Commons is also on the agenda. For what was expected to be a slam dunk at an earlier meeting is now a growing concern and could derail what was known as the 56-acre project.

Supervisors will meet Tuesday at Lake Tahoe Airport at 9am.

By Cathy Locke, Sacramento Bee

El Dorado County health officials say local healthcare providers have begun receiving shipments of the H1N1 flu vaccine.

“Doctors in the community who ordered the vaccine should have received the vaccine or will be getting it within the next few weeks,” Cathy Dunbar, county immunization coordinator, said in a news release. “People who are interested in getting the vaccine should check with their doctor’s office.”

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By Marc Lifsher, Los Angeles Times

STATELINE – When big investment firms want to tap public pension funds for money, they often put in a call to Alfred J.R. Villalobos.

From a modest office near Lake Tahoe’s casinos, Villalobos has spent years helping Wall Street players like Apollo Management gain access to the vast wealth held by the California Public Employees’ Retirement System and other funds.

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By Gus Thomson, Auburn Journal

After seven months, nightly traffic detours off Interstate 80 east of Colfax are over.

The $70 million Caltrans project to rehab 11 miles of the freeway between Colfax and Alta is essentially completed, allowing two-way traffic back on I-80 24 hours a day.

The final convoy of trucks, buses and RVs making the nighttime detour along Highway 20 and Highway 49 finished Wednesday morning, Caltrans spokeswoman Rochelle Jenkins said.

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By Dan Majors, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

The woman who has filed a civil lawsuit against Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger claiming he sexually assaulted her last summer has quit working for the Nevada hotel where she said the incident occurred.

Calvin R.X. Dunlap, the Reno-based attorney for the woman, tonight confirmed that his client quit late last week because of “the way she was being treated” by managers at Harrah’s Lake Tahoe, where she was a casino host.

She was not forced to quit, he said.

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El Dorado County officials expect to certify the Nov. 3 election on Nov. 19.

As of Wednesday, about 900 absentee ballots and about 100 provisional ballots still needed to be counted.

If an outcome does change, it would likely be in the Lake Tahoe Unified school board race where Judy Cefalu is five votes ahead of Duane Wallace.

Officials don’t believe it will change Measure B or other contests.

By Kathryn Reed

Kindertown is open.

El Dorado County Superior Court Judge Steven Bailey issued a stay on Wednesday morning for the South Lake Tahoe day care-preschool. This means Kindertown can keep operating until a final decision is made.

Maria Barrows-Crist thanks her attorney Mike McLaughlin after Wednesday's hearing. Photo/Kathryn Reed

Maria Barrows-Crist is eager to welcome back the parents who have left while uncertainty hung over the center. About 35 kids have stayed at the facility during the fight with the state.

The state Department of Social Services wants to shut the center down based on 15 citations.

As Bailey went through each of the accusations he said he didn’t think the state had a case.

For him to make a more concrete decision, Bailey has requested a transcript of the hearing before the administrative law judge and all supporting documents.

A status conference is scheduled for Dec. 9. When the final outcome may be reached is not known.

Mike McLaughlin with Feldman Shaw and McLaughlin LLP in Zephyr Cove is representing Barrows-Crist. He would like Bailey to return the case to the state for it to issue a “reasonable if any penalty” against Barrows-Crist.

Brenda Ray, deputy attorney general with the state Department of Justice, argued keeping Kindertown open is a dangerous situation. However, no one from the state has explained why it hasn’t automatically shut down the facility if it is so horrible.

On Wednesday, Ray told the court, “Children could get seriously injured or killed. There is a substantial or likely outcome of that if you leave this facility open.”

Gasps were heard in the courtroom at that statement.

McLaughlin countered with, “The bottom line is whether children are at-risk at Kindertown and clearly they are not. Parents wouldn’t keep their kids there if there were.”

The judge then went through the allegations outlined in the 28-page document the state sent to Barrows-Crist explaining why it is trying to close her down after operating for nearly 30 years.

Bailey questioned the lack of medical records which rendered one incident inconclusive, questioned due process, and where the supporting evidence was to prove Barrows-Crist’s daughter was under the influence of drugs or alcohol while on the job.

After the hearing, Barrows-Crist was visibly relieved and emotional as parent after parent hugged her. About 50 people attended the hearing.

Roseanne Brant came from Fremont to hear what might happen to her grandson’s day care.

“It’s insulting to imply parents would allow their children to stay there when they could die,” Brant said. She thought the state’s argument was absurd and out of line.

Rich Williamson, whose 5-year-old daughter attends Kindertown, was glad to see locals could rally to effect change.

“It’s not the state watching our kids. It’s nice to hear a judge side with locals,” Williamson said.

By Sam Stanton, Sacramento Bee

State parole agents failed completely to properly supervise accused rapist and kidnapper Phillip Garrido for 10 years, and after his alleged victim, Jaycee Lee Dugard, was discovered alive in August top corrections officials praised parole despite the fact that agents missed numerous opportunities to discover her presence, a new state audit has found.

Phillip Garrido

A four-page executive summary of the audit by Calfornia Inspector General David R. Shaw, posted online at 11 a.m., lists numerous failings by corrections officials and suggests needed improvements in the system. A detailed report on Shaw’s two-month investigation is expected to be released after a news conference this afternoon, but Shaw found “systemic problems that transcend parolee Garrido’s case and jeopardize public safety.”

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By Kathryn Reed

Do It Center is ready to begin a remodel on the old South Shore Motors building in anticipation of opening the general merchandise store in 2010.

Do It Center will be moving into the South Shore Motors building.

The Southern California-based chain had expected to be open in South Lake for a few months by now. Appeals by hardware stores in town delayed the process.

On Tuesday, the City Council voted 3-2 to deny the latest appeal, therefore allowing the store to move in. Councilmembers Bill Crawford and Bruce Grego were on the losing end of the vote.

Both of their wives, Jonnie Crawford and Geraldine Grego, are on the Planning Commission, which heard the appeal in October. This Crawford-Grego team also voted to uphold the appeal.

Mike Mauck, vice president of DIY, told Lake Tahoe News he did not know when the store would open, but knows winter could interfere with the start of construction.

What has kept people coming out to protest the Do It Center is the belief it will compete with stores in South Lake Tahoe and throughout the South Shore that carry similar products.

General merchandise is an allowed use along this section of Lake Tahoe Boulevard and encompasses a broad array of goods. Ace Hardware, which is nearby, is considered a general merchandise store.

A key element that allows the Do It Center to conform and not need a special use permit as it had originally requested is that it won’t sell lumber. Unintentionally the city gave Meeks Lumber a monopoly on that product when it denied the special use permit.

Councilman Bruce Grego sounded like he wanted to ignore the rules on the books when he said, “I think we need to look at the meaning of the language.”

Earlier, Councilman Hal Cole had said, “(The) spirit of the zoning laws need to be upheld.” He further stated zoning regulations have nothing to do with competition and how many of the same number of businesses are next to one another.

Councilwoman Kathay Lovell said survival of any business is going to be dependent on service and price.

Scotty’s and Nel’s hardware stores have the service components locked in. Do It Center says it will be competing with the big box stores off the hill when it comes to price and product.

By Kathryn Reed

El Dorado County’s next sheriff is still unknown, but the Board of Supervisors did decide Tuesday not to appointment one of the seven people running for the position.

Sheriff Jeff Neves late last month tendered his resignation effective Dec. 26 — a year before his term expires.

Supervisors said by not picking a candidate — as Neves had wanted — it keeps the election on the up and up. The primary is not until June.

Supervisors said they will make their decision in January.

Undersheriff Fred Kollar has said he is willing to do the job in the interim. He had planned to retire when Neves’ term ended.