Allan Delisle

A South Lake Tahoe man is going to spend the next 14 years in prison for sexually abusing disabled children.

Allan Delisle, 69, was sentenced May 19 by El Dorado County Superior Court Judge Suzanne Kingsbury.

Delisle was arrested arrested Aug. 19 on charges of lewd and lascivious acts with a child, oral copulation of a child under 16 years old, oral copulation of a child by force, and oral copulation of a victim with a mental disability.

— Lake Tahoe News staff report

A lake wind advisory didn’t deter people from kayaking at Lake Tahoe on Thursday, but it did mean they needed rescuing.

North Lake Tahoe Fire and Washoe County Sheriff’s teams pulled a woman from the water near Sand Harbor on May 19 about 10:30am after her kayak overturned.

Her name and hometown have not been released. She was wearing a life jacket.

The man she was kayaking with was able to get to Chimney Beach to call 911.

— Lake Tahoe News staff report

Publisher’s note: This is one of several stories about mental health issues in the Lake Tahoe Basin that will be running through October.

By Kathryn Reed

Mental health is a growing problem on the South Shore that is affecting all ages and has no socio-economic boundaries.

More people are committing suicide. Substance abuse is an issue, which exacerbates mental conditions.

These are some of the findings in Barton Health’s latest Community Needs Assessment. Officials from the Tahoe healthcare conglomerate spoke to the South Lake Tahoe City Council this month – which is Mental Health Awareness Month. A different foursome – three from Barton, one from NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Health) – gave a talk a few days earlier at Lake Tahoe Community College.

“We see worsening trends,” Clint Purvance, CEO of Barton Health, said.

The top three priorities from the 2015 assessment are mental health, substance abuse and access to services. All are interrelated.

South Lake Tahoe has a higher rate of suicides compared to the state and national averages, as well as more drinkers and drug-induced deaths. The access to primary care physicians, though, is less than the state and national averages.

Barton is going after grants to help implement programs to help address these issues.

What worries Purvance is that there are so many outside factors contributing to one’s mental health that are out of the immediate purview of Barton, such as homelessness among school-age youth and adults living in motels.

When Councilman Tom Davis asked Purvance to put a price on dealing with the issue on a communitywide basis, the answer was at least seven figures with no true number having been calculated.

For Barton, the next steps are to maintain and expand mental health services, spearhead community collaboration and engagement to improve the care flow system, and to build awareness through education and prevention campaigns.

At the community talk Tracy Protell – psychiatrist at Barton; Betsy Glass, licensed clinical social worker at Barton Community Health Center; Kate Mosher, licensed clinical social worker with Sierra Child and Family Services; and Jeanne Nelson of NAMI El Dorado gave some insight about they see in the community, particularly regarding depression.

“The key is all levels are treatable. You really can get the brain back to a healthy state,” Protell said.

She said depression is often misdiagnosed in younger people as attitudinal behavior issues.

A clinical diagnosis of depression is when someone has five of the following nine symptoms for more than two weeks:

·       Sadness/irritability

·       Anhedonia

·       Sleep disturbance

·       Decreased energy

·       Appetite disturbance

·       Difficulty with concentration

·       Excessive feelings of guilt-worthlessness

·       Psychomotor agitation/retardation

·       Suicidal thoughts.

The experts are proponents of starting with lifestyle changes – eating, sleeping, exercise, social interaction – before medication.

Therapy, though, is also a viable option for many people. However, there is an extensive wait list for psychiatric and psychotherapy through Barton. The good news is new patients are prioritized, with the most severe cases rising to the top.

A third psychiatrist is coming on board with Barton this summer, which should help.

Money can also be a deterrent for people when it comes to seeking care.

NAMI offers some free group therapy sessions and has a wealth of information. El Dorado County operates a 24-hour crisis line. A therapist will meet patients at Barton Hospital’s emergency room.

By Noam N. Levey, Los Angeles Times

Less than two years after the Ebola epidemic set off a scramble for money to contain that deadly virus, state and local health officials around the country are rushing to prepare for Zika outbreaks this spring and summer.

But after years of declining funds, many are coming up short.

Government investment in public health has been declining for years. So too has the nation’s public health workforce, which is almost 20 percent smaller than it was in 2008, according to health authorities.

Now, with the second threat of a major disease outbreak in three years, America’s public health agencies – and the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention – are again begging for aid.

Read the whole story

By Tony Bizjak, Sacramento Bee

It’s looking like the November ballot will be a big one for transportation in California.

A dozen counties, including Sacramento and Placer, are planning to put sales tax measures on the ballot, asking voters to chip in billions of dollars to help fix rutted roads and relieve at least some of the state’s growing post-recession congestion.

Counties and cities used to rely almost completely on federal and state funds, mainly through gas pump taxes. But those governments have been suffering their own gridlock, of the political sort, for years as transportation funding sources falter.

In Placer County, transportation officials voted unanimously two weeks ago to pitch an initiative that would raise $1.6 billion over 30 years to help pay for road improvements, again via a half-cent sales tax increase. Advocates are visiting local city councils over the next few weeks, asking for support.

Read the whole story

By Scott Mayerowitz, AP

Grab your sunglasses, a giant cup of coffee and prepare to hit the highway: 2016 is shaping up to be the summer of the road trip.

Cheap fuel prices have left many American families flush with spare cash, which they now plan to spend on vacations. And with summertime gas prices predicted to be the lowest in 13 years, the travel industry is looking forward to a blockbuster July and August.

“We’re pretty excited,” says Steve Joyce, CEO of Choice Hotels, which includes Comfort Inn and Econo Lodge. “Last year was a record summer for us. We’re going to be a lot stronger this year.”

The hotel chain is seeing an increase in bookings. And low gas prices throughout the winter means that Americans had cheaper commutes and more disposable income.

“That’s a raise in our guys’ pockets which means they are going to take another trip,” Joyce says.

The job market is also giving Americans a reason to take a vacation: The economy created about 2.4 million jobs between last Memorial Day and the end of April

Initial data for the Memorial Day holiday weekend, the start of the travel season, is already signaling a strong summer for the tourism industry.

Enterprise Rent-A-Car is seeing a 44 percent spike in reservations for the holiday weekend compared to last year.

And AAA, one of the nation’s largest travel agencies and a car lobbying group, is predicting 38 million people will travel for the holiday, the most since 2005. That’s 700,000 or 1.9 percent more travelers than last year.

The overwhelming majority of Memorial Day travelers — 89 percent — plan to go by car. That’s the highest percent of drivers since AAA began tracking holiday travel in 2000.

“The great American road trip is officially back thanks to low gas prices,” says Marshall Doney, CEO of AAA.

The average price for a gallon of gas is expected to be $2.24 by July and $2.20 in August, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Adjusted for inflation, that would be the lowest summer prices since 2003.

Those who choose to fly this summer will have plenty of company too. The lobbying group for most U.S. carriers, Airlines for America, is predicting that 231.1 million passengers will fly in June, July and August. That’s a 3.8-percent increase over last summer’s record numbers.

Airlines have added more flights and are using larger planes, leading to the most number of seats in the sky since 2008. That, along with low fuel prices, has led to a 4-percent drop in domestic airfares so far this year, according to the airline lobbying group.

The airlines have a message for fliers: Get to the airport early. Long lines at Transportation Security Administration checkpoints have plagued thousands of travelers this spring, causing many of them to miss flights. The situation is expected to get worse in the summer with an average of 2.5 million passengers a day flying.

Last year, 19 of the 25 busiest days for the TSA occurred during the summer. The top five busiest were: July 31, July 2, June 26, May 22 (right before Memorial Day) and July 24.

San Francisco International Airport is already advising fliers that all parking lots are expected to be at or near capacity during peak summer days.

U.S. theme parks are predicting 376 million visitors this year, up 3 percent from last year.

The National Park Service saw a record 307 million visitors last year and expects to match that high level of attendance this year. The bulk of visitors at the 411 parks, recreation areas and national memorials come during the summer months.

That’s great news for Geoff Ballotti, CEO of Wyndham Hotel Group. Half of his company’s Travelodge properties are within 25 miles of a national park.

“We believe it’s going to be a hot summer for us,” Ballotti says.

By J.D. Morris, Las Vegas Sun

Casinos in Nevada and beyond continue to put a lot of emphasis on how to combat money laundering — enough, at least, to fill a ballroom every year.

About 400 people gathered at the South Point on Tuesday for the latest installment of the Bank Secrecy Act conference, an annual gathering of industry lawyers and others. Presented by the gaming law section of the State Bar of Nevada, the conference generally relates to what casinos are and should be doing to prevent their businesses from being used to disguise the flow of illegal money.

The issue has made big headlines over the last year or so, as the government hit Caesars Palace and the former ownership of the Nugget casino in Sparks with big fines regarding weakness in their anti-money laundering efforts. Also, a recently announced state fine against Las Vegas Sands Corp. stemmed in part from millions of dollars it agreed to pay years earlier to conclude a money-laundering investigation.

And as proof that the industry is paying attention to making improvements in anti-money laundering, the American Gaming Association in 2014 released a set of best practices in that area that were updated last year.

Read the whole story

A boat washed ashore at Zephyr Cove on May 19. Photo/Provided

Wind toppled a boat May 19 at Zephyr Cove. Photo/Provided

It wasn’t a good day Thursday for boats at Zephyr Cove Marina.

Several turned up on the beach after becoming dislodged from their moorings in the high winds. The National Weather Service in Reno had issued a lake wind advisory for May 19. Wind gusts hit 55 mph in the basin on Thursday.

Local employees of Aramark, which operates the South Shore marina, deferred comment to corporate. No response still from them, so it is unknown how many boats were damaged or to what extent.

— Lake Tahoe News staff report

By Trevon Milliard, Reno Gazette-Journal

A Las Vegas District Court judge ruled Wednesday that Nevada’s program offering students $5,000 annually for private school is legal and does not violate state law forbidding the use of public funds for religious purposes.

Most private schools in Nevada are run by religious institutions and include religious curriculum.

“This is a huge and important step in getting certainty for the thousands of families waiting to participate in Nevada’s ESA (education savings account) program,” said Nevada Attorney General Adam Laxalt in reaction to the ruling, referring to the 6,000 students who’ve applied to the program.

Read the whole story

By Kurtis Alexander, San Francisco Chronicle

A greener yard and a more leisurely shower just might be in your future.

State officials, in a policy shift that reflects California’s easing drought conditions, decided Wednesday to scrap the emergency conservation mandates that have forced cities and towns to cut water use as much as 36 percent, often by hitting residents with unprecedented restrictions and fines.

Instead, the State Water Resources Control Board will allow urban water providers to set their own water-reduction targets based on their own customers’ wants and needs.

Read the whole story