The Kyburz Fire burning in the American River canyon is 98 percent contained. Full containment is expected within days.

The fire, which started last Thursday reportedly from a car axle causing a spark on the pavement, has burned 75 acres. It is  located in the canyon of the South Fork of the American River, west of Kyburz. The fire is east of Whitehall on both sides of the American River. The fire does have a line around it.

Three firefighters sustained knee injuries.

— Lake Tahoe News staff report

Mary Karst uses a guide company in South Dakota’s Custer State Park to see bison. Photo/LTN

By Katie Rogers, New York Times

Officials at Yellowstone National Park are warning visitors not to fraternize with wildlife after a woman was injured while trying to take a selfie near a bison — but that hasn’t stopped some visitors from posting their close encounters on social media.

A notice released by the National Park Service on Wednesday detailed the episode, which began when a 43-year-old and her child turned their backs to a bison while trying to take a selfie. The animal was about six yards away. (It is illegal to be closer than 25 yards to the animals, park officials said.)

The visitors tried to get away when they heard the bison approach, but the animal lifted the woman up and tossed her with its head. She is the fifth person to be injured in an encounter with one of the park’s bison this summer.

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By Tom Philpott, Mother Jones

In normal years, California residents get about 30 percent of their drinking water from underground aquifers. And in droughts like the current one — with sources like snowmelt from the Sierra Nevada mountains virtually non-existent — groundwatersupplies two-thirds of our most populous state’s water needs.

So it’s sobering news that about 20 percent of the groundwater that Californians rely on to keep their taps flowing carries high concentrations of contaminants like arsenic, uranium, and nitrate.

When farms sprouted up, they mobilized the once-stable uranium naturally present in the soil, and the toxic element leached into groundwater.

That’s the conclusion of a 10-year US Geological Survey study of 11,000 public-water wells across the state.

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By Associated Press

The Nevada Department of Motor Vehicles and its vendor are at odds over whether a feature that allowed customers to get in a DMV line from home via smartphone attributed to longer wait times.

The agency last week cut off customers’ ability to check-in remotely at the busiest DMV offices in Las Vegas and Reno and show up only when a technician was ready for them. DMV officials say no-shows were increasing overall wait times, and the waits are down now that customers must check-in at the DMV office.

But the maker of the system called Dash Pass disagrees, attributing long waits to understaffing and the improvement to DMV reducing customers’ access.

DMV now wants some of its money back on a four-year, half-million-dollar contract with Dash Pass vendor QLess.

South Lake Tahoe police’s dispatch has been busy the last two Saturdays with calls of gunshots.

What sounded like two gunshots were fired, then a pause before two more rounds went off just before 10pm July 25 in the Y area. Not much later and two more suspected gunshots went off.

“Someone said it was like a high-powered rifle,” Sgt. Travis Cabral told Lake Tahoe News.

The shooter was not located.

On July 18 about 6am dispatch received about 30 calls saying nine to 10 gunshots had been fired.

Officers located evidence of fireworks having been shot off from a driveway of an unoccupied residence on California Street as well as in the Sky Meadows area. Three juveniles ran from the scene, but could not be located.

People are urged to call SLTPD at 530.542.6100 if they see or hear suspicious activity. Fireworks of any kind are illegal in the Lake Tahoe Basin. It is also not legal to fire a gun in the basin unless for self-defense or with a hunting permit.

— Lake Tahoe News staff report

With the use of infrared mapping, the size of the Kyburz Fire has been recalculated to be 98 acres. It is 80 percent contained.

There are no road closures.

The fire has charred both sides of Highway 50. The south side of the fire is still in progress as there are hotspots and tree torching in the old Cleveland Fire scar. The fire does have a line around it.

The fire is expected to be fully contained this week.

Unofficial reports are that a vehicle’s axle sparked the blaze.

— Lake Tahoe News staff report

A Bay Area man who last seen on the West Slope of El Dorado County has been missing since July 17.

Edward Cavanaugh, 46, was riding his blue Yamaha YZ 250 in the Rock Creek trail system. He was riding with someone else at the time. Cavanaugh was reportedly going to use the trail system to return to a residence he owns in the area. This trail is in the Georgetown Divide area between the towns of Mosquito and Garden Valley.

Search efforts began Friday, and include more than 50 search and rescue volunteers from El Dorado, Placer, Yolo, Alpine and Stanislaus counties. Search crews are using off road vehicles, foot teams, and a CHP helicopter.

He was last seen wearing Fox brand dirt bike riding clothing and a black helmet.

Anyone with information is asked to El Dorado County Sheriff’s Office at 530.621.6600.

— Lake Tahoe News staff report

Two bears trapped in Lake Tahoe on Friday have since been released.

A 3-year-old, 175-pound bear was caught in Stateline. He was released in the Kingsbury Grade area on July 25. The 8-year-old Incline Village bear weighing 300 pounds was relocated to the Sweetwater Mountains southeast of Gardnerville.

Nevada Division of Wildlife is expecting a busy summer and fall with bear activity as the animals search for food — which in populated areas comes in the form of trash.

— Lake Tahoe News staff report

Updated 8:37pm:

Highway 50 is expected to reopen Saturday night at 9:30 to unrestricted traffic.

The Kyburz Fire is 75 percent contained and remains at 200 acres.

PG&E re-energized the power lines this evening.

Boating may resume at Ice House Reservoir.

Two small fires at Blue Lakes and at Cody Lake are being handled by crews originally assigned to the Kyburz Fire.

The Lowell Fire is a new fire that started Saturday afternoon near Colfax, Alta and Gold Run north of Interstate 80. The National Weather Service is predicting that the smoke will reach Truckee tonight.

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Officials anticipate the Kyburz Fire burning in the American River canyon will be fully contained by July 30.

The wildland fire that started July 23, reportedly when a vehicle’s axle hit the pavement and sparked, continues to burn on both sides of Highway 50.

There has been no change in acres burned — 200 — or containment — 30 percent.

More than 600 people are working the fire, which is burning in steep terrain.

Highway 50 is open with restrictions.

Sand Flat campground east to Strawberry has a voluntary evacuation order.

— Lake Tahoe News staff report

By Melissa Healy, Los Angeles Times

If it seems like mass shootings are becoming more common, researchers say there’s a good reason: They are.

Between a 2011 shooting at an IHOP restaurant in Carson City that left four people dead and the 2013 attack on the Washington Navy Yard where 12 people were killed, a mass shooting occurred somewhere in America once every 64 days, on average.

In the preceding 29 years, such shootings occurred on average every 200 days, according to an analysis by researchers from Harvard University’s School of Public Health and Northeastern University.

The study defined a mass shooting as an outbreak of firearms violence in which four or more victims were killed and the shooter was unknown to most of his victims.

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