Snow covers a Meyers backyard on Nov. 1. Photo/Provided

While the first winter storm of the season did not bring a ton of snow to the area, it was enough to turn much of the basin white — especially at the ski resorts.

Northstar and Heavenly were reporting 3 inches of snow, Sierra-at-Tahoe 6 1/2 inches, Squaw Valley 10 inches, and Alpine Meadows 6 inches.

Meyers reported a couple inches, while Zephyr Cove received a dusting.

It’s going to be a cold one tonight with the expected low 14 degrees in South Lake Tahoe. By Wednesday the highs are expected to return to 65 degrees, the overnight lows will remain below freezing.

— Lake Tahoe News staff report

By Kathryn Reed

El Dorado County CAO Terri Daly this week moved all of her personal belongings out of her office.

Board of Supervisors Chairwoman Norma Santiago on Saturday morning was asked what this means.

“I’m not going to tell you. I’ll talk to you later. By,” Santiago told Lake Tahoe News before hanging up abruptly.

Terri Daly

Daly and Santiago are friends, with Santiago always coming to her defense.

But Daly has come under fire for months base on her handling of financial and contractual dealings within the county. She is responsible for taking a budget surplus and turning it into a $20 million deficit.

Daly earlier this year had a consultant look into how things were functioning. It came out that her office was one of the most dysfunctional. The El Dorado County Grand Jury in its report this year also called the county dysfunctional.

The board on its agendas has an ongoing item of “exposure to litigation” to be able to talk about Daly and Assistant CAO Kim Kerr, a source told Lake Tahoe News. But this could be a violation of the Brown Act because more of a description is required. Plus, any action taken in closed session must be reported out.

County Counsel Robyn Drivon when asked if Daly was fired, said, “No. There are rumors aplenty.” She would not, though, explain why Daly cleaned out her office, or if she quit.

If the board had fired Daly, she would have only gotten paid for three months. She has had a rolling three-month contract.

On Tuesday, county workers saw Kerr helping Daly carry boxes of personal items out of the building.

With Daly evidently gone, this would leave Kerr in charge. Her pedigree is no better than Daly’s. This column by Larry Weitzman spells out Kerr’s past.

By Eyragon Eidam, Auburn Journal

Weather experts have little confidence the winter months will bring the rain and snow needed to improve drought conditions in California.

According to a National Weather Service Seasonal Drought Outlook report, the “forecast confidence for California is low,” despite the potential of an El Nino winter.

Typically, California receives approximately 50 percent of its annual precipitation between November and January, but forecasters are not banking on a drought-ending winter.

Doug Parker, director of the UC Institute for Water Resources, said the state would need approximately 150 percent of normal rainfall to pull out of the state’s current drought conditions.

Read the whole story

A 55-year-old South Lake Tahoe man was found dead in front of a local business.

Edward Cussen died of natural causes. El Dorado County sheriff’s Detective Paul Kuhn said the preliminary autopsy shows Cussen had coronary artery atherosclerosis and alcoholic liver disease.

The final autopsy results will take several weeks.

A passer-by found him Oct. 26 about 8:50am near the northeast corner of the Tahoe Daily Tribune building on Highway 50.

A bicycle was found hear him.

— Lake Tahoe News staff report

A growing tool for scammers and con artists around the nation is the use of pre-paid debit cards, specifically “MoneyPak” or “GreenDot” cards.

This week a Truckee resident was scammed out of $3,000 when she attempted to buy a vehicle from out of state through Craigslist. After making contact with the scammer, she was directed to eBay motors so “the transaction would be insured”. It was determined that the “eBay motors” page she used was created by the scammer to appear legitimate.

The scammer then told the victim he only accepts payment through GreenDot MoneyPak cards. The victim purchased and provided the numbers on the back of six $500 MoneyPak cards as the $3,000 payment for the vehicle. Once the scammer received the payment, he attempted to scam her again by stating he needs $1,500 more to cover insurance costs for shipping that she will get back once the vehicle is delivered. Once the victim realized it was a scam the seller ceased all communication and the vehicle was never delivered.

A Truckee business was contacted repeatedly from a scammer who said they were representing PG&E and stated the business owner had an outstanding balance of more than $1,400. A Truckee police officer called the scammer back and pretended to be the business owner to determine how the scam works.

The scammer directed the officer to go to almost any grocery store or pharmacy. Once at the store, the scammer instructed the officer to buy two $500 and one $400 MoneyPak cards (the cards can only be purchased for a maximum of $500) making the $1,400 total. The officer was then directed to call the scammer back directly — not through the PG&E customer service number — and provide the numbers on the back of the card to the scammer.

At this point, the scammer can use the numbers from the cards to transfer the GreenDot cards into cash, leaving the victim with no way to recover the lost funds.

The scammers often use voice over IP (VoIP) phones or proxy servers for email correspondence from public places (often in foreign countries), making tracing the phone number or IP addresses and identifying the suspect nearly impossible. The FBI is aware of and currently investigating these kinds of cases.

To avoid being scammed, the Truckee Police Department offers these tips:

• Be suspicious of callers who demand immediate payment for any reason. Scammers frequently pressure the victim into believing the payment must be made “right now!”
• Remember that “GreenDot” or “MoneyPak” cards are very commonly used by scammers and con artists to victimize people.
• Never give out your personal or financial information to anyone who calls or emails you unsolicited.
• Never wire money, provide debit or credit card information, or “GreenDot” card number to anyone you do not know.
• Utility companies and government agencies will never contact you demanding immediate payment using “GreenDot MoneyPak” Cards.
• Scam emails will often be written with spelling and grammatical errors or be written in unusually proper English.
• Pay attention to URLs and email addresses. For example the real eBay motors website is www.ebay.com/motors. But, a scammer may direct you to a fraudulent page with the URL of www.ebay-motors.com. Email address may be made to appear legitimate but be fraudulent as well. i.e. PG&E@support1.com.
• If you ever suspect that the person you are dealing with may not be legitimate, terminate the conversation and contact a verified official representative of the company in question.
• Lastly, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
• If you believe you have been the victim of a scam, contact the Truckee Police Department at 530.550.2320.

— Lake Tahoe News staff report

By Dave Marquis, KXTV-TV

A Camino man charged by a black bear beside his home barely managed to slam a door shut in time to escape.

“I’ve seen a bear up close, but this is up close I don’t want to get again,” said Bart Emry, as he recalled the early Monday morning encounter next to his home on Copperton Road.

When his dog Daisy nudged him in bed, Emry assumed she needed to go to the bathroom outside. But when he opened the door, he saw what he estimated to be a 350-pound black bear less than 50 feet away.

“It was out there eating the garbage and my dog was just looking at it for a minute and then she jumped back,” Emry said.

That’s when the bear charged.

Read the whole story

The 30-day jail sentence for one of two women involved with tampering with a bear trap in Incline Village is being appealed.

Incline Village Justice of the Peace E. Alan Tiras sentenced Season Morrison, 35, of Reno earlier this month to 30 days in jail.

Her mother, Cheryl Morrison, 63, of Truckee received a suspended sentence, fine, community service.

They were convicted in May.

Their attorney, Bradley Paul Elley, has filed an appeal in Morrison’s case.

“Obviously I and my clients are upset with the decision and that’s why I’m appealing,” Elley told the Reno Gazette-Journal.

— Lake Tahoe News staff report

By Peter Hecht, Sacramento Bee

Building and real estate interests, led by the developer of the Serrano El Dorado Hills community, have dumped more than $1million into the campaign to defeat growth control ballot measures in El Dorado County.

Parker Development Co., builder of the 4,700-home Serrano community, has donated $866,750 through its affiliates, Serrano Associates and Marble Valley Co., to campaign committees opposing local November ballot initiatives M, N and O. The money has helped bankroll a blitz of mailers as well as anti-initiative television commercials during the World Series.

Parker Development is seeking county zoning changes to build 3,236 homes and townhouses and retail and event centers in a development called the Village of Marble Valley, planned for oak-studded hills south of Highway 50 in El Dorado Hills. In addition, the company is hoping to win approval to build 1,028 homes and townhouses on the site of the former El Dorado Hills golf course and a second location in the community.

A ballot measure backed by growth control advocates – Measure M – could challenge Parker Development’s plans. Measure M would ban any new residential subdivisions in the county if the California Department of Transportation determines that any stretch of Highway 50 west of Placerville is at or is forecast to reach gridlock traffic levels. The measure also would prevent the county from rezoning rural residential properties for higher-density housing construction.

Another growth restricting initiative, Measure O, qualified for the ballot thanks to a grass-roots movement of residents fighting a proposed 1,045-home subdivision, San Stino, near Shingle Springs communities of mostly 5-acre parcels. Measure O seeks to amend the general plan to effectively stop San Stino and similar building plans by restricting higher-density residential construction in Shingle Springs, Camino, Pollock Pines and parts of El Dorado Hills and Cameron Park.

A third initiative, Measure N, was put on the ballot by a Sacramento commercial builders alliance, Region Builders. Measure N would extend for 25 years the provisions of a 1998 voter-approved measure that imposed steep traffic impact fees on subdivision developers. But Measure N also proposes allowing local county road funds to be used for improvements to Highway 50, a move seen by opponents as a potential boon for commercial building in the freeway corridor.

Read the whole story

Two people were seriously injured when two vehicles collided on Luther Pass on Sunday.

Dustyn Isenberger-Farrell, 27, of Prunedale was headed north on Highway 89 about 11:25am Oct. 26 when his vehicle drifted into the southbound lane for unknown reasons. His Cavalier struck a Chevy Tahoe head-on about 2¼ miles north of the Alpine County line. The speed limit there is 55 mph, but it is unknown how fast either driver was going.

John Vanlarr, 31, of Ripon was driving the SUV and was not injured. However, his passenger – 30-year-old Lauren Vanlarr of Ripon – sustained major injuries. She was flown to Renown Medical Center in Reno.

Isenberger-Farrell also had major injuries. He was airlifted to Mercy San Juan Medical Center in Carmichael.

“Alcohol was not an issue, but (Isenberger-Farrell) was possibly under the influence of some type of drug. Charges are pending,” California Highway Patrol Officer Jeff Gartner told Lake Tahoe News.

— Lake Tahoe News staff report

Nathan Daniel Jones, 29, of Las Vegas was arrested Oct. 28 in Truckee on multiple felony and misdemeanor charges, including two counts of attempted carjacking, felony battery, battery on a peace officer, resisting arrest, possession of an illegal weapon and possession of a pound of suspected marijuana.

A Truckee police officer was flagged down by a citizen Tuesday about 3:40pm who said someone was jumping on cars and breaking windows in the area of Bridge Street and Donner Pass Road. The officer drove to the area and interrupted an attempted carjacking in progress at the Beacon gas station. The officer said an adult male was trying to pull a female out of her car by her neck.

Nathan Daniel Jones

The officer got the suspect off of the victim and placed him into custody.

Officers said Jones appeared to be under the influence of a controlled substance and continued to act out violently after he was taken into custody.

Prior to this attempted carjacking, Jones allegedly attempted to enter another vehicle at the gas station occupied by a female adult. Officers said Jones broke out the driver’s side window before that victim was able to drive off. The victim female victim was not injured. Additionally, several parked cars nearby had windows broken and other vandalism.

The 29-year-old female victim from Truckee was treated for a minor neck injury and later released from Tahoe Forest Hospital.

— Lake Tahoe News staff report