By Bailey Schulz, Las Vegas Review-Journal

According to a 2017 market outlook from Boeing, North American airlines will need to hire 117,000 new pilots by 2036 to keep up with an expanding fleet of aircraft.

“We haven’t felt the effects yet,” said Hilarie Grey, the director of corporate communications at Las Vegas-based Allegiant Air. “But we know it will affect us eventually.”

Smaller, regional airlines have been hit the hardest so far, she said. But in Nevada, the number of pilots is on the upswing.

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By Melissa Siig, Moonshine Ink

There was a time this winter when, on the surface, Tahoe City’s future looked grim. The downtown commercial core was facing a plethora of empty restaurants and storefronts. The old Zia Lina space in the middle of downtown, vacated last year, was still empty, as well as the adjoining space that once housed Subway. Moe’s Original Bar B Que, which had become a bright spot in Tahoe City since it opened in 2014, was leaving its waterfront location that hosted popular music shows. The Burrito Window was preparing to move to Kings Beach in anticipation of the demolition of the Henrikson building, the dilapidated structure at the west gateway to town whose removal seemed forever stalled by bureaucratic red tape and a lawsuit. The Boatworks Mall, which suffered severe water damage last winter, lost its two street-front businesses, making it look almost abandoned, and the Lighthouse Center has been without a major restaurant since Lakeside Pizza closed in 2014. After more than 40 years at the same location, Bank of America shuttered its Tahoe City branch in March.

Yet behind the scenes, a Tahoe City renaissance was in the works, one that is just now bearing fruit. Spurred by the investment of Kila Properties, which purchased the Henrikson building in 2013 to build the much-anticipated Tahoe City Lodge, new energy and businesses are taking root in the small North Shore town that had seen its fortunes wane as those of ski resort villages, like Northstar and Squaw Valley, and Truckee were on the rise. Along with the Highway 89/Fanny Bridge Community Revitalization project, which will improve traffic congestion and create a pedestrian area in town, and the prospects of a new, modern, community-centric building to take the place of the abandoned firehouse in the center of downtown, things have never looked better for Tahoe City.

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By Richard N. Velotta, Las Vegas Review-Journal

With the #MeToo movement raising awareness about workplace sexual harassment, one might think adding more language to existing state gaming regulations to help prevent sexual harassment would be a slam-dunk no-brainer.

But that’s not necessarily the case.

On May 3, the state Gaming Control Board hosted its first workshop meeting on a proposed 2½-page amendment to the state’s Regulation 5, a series of guidelines for the operation of gaming establishments and businesses.

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By Tony Bizjak, Sacramento Bee
 
California became the first state in the country Wednesday to require that new homes have solar panels on their roofs.

The mandate, which takes effect in 2020, won unanimous approval of the California Energy Commission. One commissioner predicted the “green” lifestyle regulation will eventually go national.

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By Wade Tyler Millward, Las Vegas Review-Journal

Michael Flaskey says his industry has matured.

And for the CEO of Las Vegas-based timeshare company Diamond Resorts, that maturity — in the form of more analysts on Wall Street and more attention from regulators — has meant big money. Diamond Resorts owns Lake Tahoe Vacation Resort in South Lake Tahoe.

The industry is changing its offerings to bring in younger customers, rather than retirees who buy into timeshares. New offerings include on-site activities for children and shorter contract terms, like ones for seven or even three years, Welk Resorts CEO Jon Fredricks said. That company operates property at Northstar in Truckee.

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By Bettina Boxall, Los Angeles Times
 
The 2014 water bond included a novel funding approach designed to take at least some of the politicking out of deciding which projects get public money.

This week’s tortured deliberations by the California Water Commission showed just how tough it is to do that.

By applying a complex procedure for grading proposals, the bond restricted state taxpayer spending to the pieces of a project that would provide measurable benefits to the public.

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By Jeff German, Las Vegas Review-Journal

A state task force Friday moved closer to overhauling how Nevada tracks casino emergency response plans in the wake of the Oct. 1 mass shooting outside Mandalay Bay.

The 14-member panel met and approved several recommendations in a report seeking to change an outdated state law requiring casinos to submit emergency plans. The recommendations would strengthen the law to allow Nevada gaming regulators to discipline resorts that do not submit or update plans and modernize the filing system.

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By Tara Lohan, Water Deeply

Imagine a California where springtime temperatures are 7 degrees warmer than they are today, where snowmelt runoff comes 50 days earlier and the average snowpack is just 36 percent of the 1981–2000 average.

That may be the reality by the end of the century if we don’t curb greenhouse gas emissions, say researchers from UCLA. A recent report from the UCLA Center for Climate Science analyzes how climate change will impact the Sierra Nevada and what that will mean for water resources.

In particular the research examines changes to temperature, the amount of snowpack and the timing of runoff and which elevations and watersheds will be most affected as the climate warms. It also compares how these factors may change with “business as usual” and do little to curb greenhouse gas emissions, versus a scenario in which greenhouse gas emissions begin to level off around 2050.

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By Kathryn Reed

STATELINE – Public outcry is forcing the Tahoe Transportation District board of directors to take more time before deciding how to reconfigure public transit on the South Shore.

George Fink, who manages the bus system, painted a financially bleak picture for the board at the May 11 meeting. Part of the funding the agency receives from California is dependent on fare revenue. TTD isn’t close to meeting those numbers.

In order to do so staff is proposing reducing hours, eliminating routes, and altering on-demand access. A 50 percent cut across the transit spectrum is being considered.

TTD is dealing with not having enough workers, an inefficient fleet, lack of funding and the inability to meet performance measures.

Fink explained two-thirds of the riders on Route 50 are paying a reduced fare, while half of those on Route 53 are not paying full fare. Fink said that is out of whack and not sustainable. He said it’s time to reduce the number of discounts available.

The board on Friday agreed to raise the senior discount from age 60 to 65, with those ages 5-64 considered general public who will pay full price. The Emerald Bay shuttle prices are going from $2 one way to $4, with the discounted rate doubling to $2.

Many who attended the Friday meeting spoke about how changing the on-demand service would detrimentally impact the lives of those who are dependent on the service and have no alternative to get where they need to go. Many who use the service can’t drive.

One person called the bus service a “stabilizer” and another said it is her son’s “life line.” Two people in the health care profession spoke of how patients rely on the service to get to appointments.

Taxis were said to be unreliable and for some cost-prohibitive.

TTD staff had recommended drastically cutting the service, which included no longer going to the Meyers area. The board delayed making any decision on changing accessibility.

“Until we know where the transit routes will be we can’t really apply changes to demand response areas,” Steve Teshara, chair of the TTD board, told Lake Tahoe News.

He said the compelling testimony and the possibility of partnering with others like Barton Health were reasons to not take action Friday.

As for changing the routes used by the masses, public comment was extended a month to July 13. Cutting service hours per day in half is being talked about. Potential changes include eliminating the ski shuttles. While those are well-used, they are subsidized by Heavenly Mountain Resort so riders don’t have to pay. What the ski resort might do in the future remains to be seen.

Board member Marsha Berkbigler, who represents Washoe County, said, “I’m concerned we are taking transit away from the people using it.”

By John Myers and Liam Dillon, Los Angeles Times

Even in the wake of previous tax windfalls, Gov. Jerry Brown’s announcement on Friday was breathtaking: The state has collected an unexpected $9 billion in tax revenue in recent months, $3 billion more in cash than projected in January.

The money is the latest installment in a fiscal winning streak of historic proportions in California. And, as in previous years, the governor’s newly revised budget seeks to divvy it up on either short-term spending or long-term savings by putting it into government reserves.

“This is a time to save for our future, not to make pricey promises we can’t keep,” Brown said. “I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: Let’s not blow it now.”

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