By Heather Somerville, San Jose Mercury News The next week will be a 24/7, backbreaking, sleep-deprived haul for couriers such as FedEx, the United Parcel Service and the U.S. Postal Service, the last connections to deliver many much-anticipated Christmas gifts. And there is no room for mistakes. Last year’s fiasco — when retailers over-promised on […]
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By Kathryn Reed STATELINE – Mark Twain was on to something when he said, “Whiskey is for drinking, water is for fighting over.” And when it comes to Douglas County, the fighting has been going on for years. “I’m sure that I speak not only for myself when I say that if we are expected […]
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By Kathryn Reed An autopsy of 14-year-old Dejon Smith ruled the cause of death blunt force trauma. The South Tahoe High School freshman died immediately, according to the Dec. 18 forensic autopsy conducted in Sacramento. The results came hours before family and friends gathered Thursday night near the site where he died. A tree struck […]
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By Amy Quinton, NPR Less than an hour west of South Lake Tahoe, trucks carrying burned timber from the Eldorado National Forest roar down the canyon as chain saws buzz in the distance. But U.S. Forest Service ecologist Becky Estes says besides humans, not much else in this forest seems alive. “We’re standing in an […]
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A Placerville man is going to prison for tax fraud. Thomas W. Stringfellow, 55, was sentenced Dec. 18 to 18 months in prison and ordered to pay $687,182 in restitution for willfully making false tax returns. According to court documents, from 2006-10, Stringfellow underreported his business income on tax returns by more than $1.1 million, […]
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By Kristen Wyatt, AP BRECKENRIDGE, Colo. — Business is booming in Colorado’s mountain resorts, and the addition of recreational marijuana stores this year has attracted customers curious about legalized pot. But there’s mounting anxiety that ski towns have embraced stoner culture a little too much, potentially damaging the state’s tourism brand. That worry flared up […]
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By Kyle Roerink, Las Vegas Sun Public employee unions are gearing up for a battle against Republicans in the 2015 legislative session. Conservative lawmakers and activists are rallying to upend some of the state’s collective bargaining laws, the rules that guarantee unions the right to negotiate pay and benefits for their membership. For union workers […]
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By Kathryn Reed STATELINE – Boxes are scattered about, the floor is torn up, one person is putting mail into individual boxes, construction crews are out front. A tree blocks the direct route to the loading dock, the roofline is crumbling from being hit by trucks, concrete is in need of repair. This is the […]
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By Tim Day, News10 STOCKTON — On the very day Stockton business owners were invited to a workshop on how to avoid ADA-related lawsuits, the attorney responsible for filing so many of those lawsuits was across town shopping, and reluctantly, interviewed. Scott Johnson doesn’t deny filing thousands of lawsuits against businesses with disability access issues. […]
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By Mark Berman, Washington Post The historic, horrendous drought in California continues to be historic and horrendous. Even as rain continues to fall over parts of California, the drought is still ravaging much of the state. To give you an idea of just how brutal this three-year drought has been, NASA decided to use its […]
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