Originally published in the Lake Tahoe Destination Stewardship Plan

Tahoe is a place of aesthetic, cultural, and environmental contrasts. Spanning two states and five counties, encompassing diverse communities, and embodying a wide range of perspectives, this stewardship plan has been meticulously designed for and by the Tahoe community.

During the summers of 2020 and 2021, along with many special places across the United States, the Lake Tahoe region experienced an influx of visitors seeking release from pandemic restrictions in outdoor spaces. At the same time, a national migration from cities to mountain and resort communities drove Tahoe property values and housing costs well beyond levels that most local salaries could afford. The force of this phenomenon turned housing and labor shortages into crises. Traffic congestion, parking transgressions, environmental impacts and litter on beaches and trails, in addition to long lines for restaurants and disrespectful behaviors, pushed local unhappiness to a tipping point. Demands arose for urgent action.

A new collaboration of land managers, business owners, public agencies and nonprofits from across the region formed to address immediate recreation issues brought on by the COVID-19 Pandemic. This group secured more than $ 1 million to expand Clean Tahoe’s litter program to the East and North Shores, launched an ambassador program to educate users, and launched a regional responsible recreation campaign through Take Care Tahoe.

While the pandemic sparked this initiative, there was widespread recognition that these issues were not entirely new and were in need of a long-term solution. Enter the Destination Stewardship Plan.

READ MORE >

Opening Day: July 1st at the Christmas Tree Village – Next to Crosby’s

On Saturday July 1st, Incline Village’s newest thrift store will be having a big thrift store event to benefit the Village Pet Foundation. VPF thrift store features clothing, jewelry, furniture, pictures, flatware, sports items, purses/bags, games, toys, pet items, silverware, home decor, books and more.

Our pets are our friends, our companions…our family.  Village Pet Foundation was founded because every pet deserves the best care possible to live its best life.  Compassionate, quality pet care for all pets is our primary goal. The Village Pet Foundation helps families and individuals who are struggling financially to pay for veterinary bills for their sick or suffering pets. VPF is a 501 c3 non profit corporation.

Village Pet Foundation is a new organization that is 100% volunteer-run. They are committed to ensuring healthy and happy pets by giving charitable financial grants to pet families whose pets need vital veterinary care.

This organization was created in 2022 to serve pet families in need of financial help in the Lake Tahoe basin.  And our mission is simple yet powerful: to help individuals and families in our community with veterinary care for their domestic pets. 

Join their Thrift Store grand opening on Saturday!

 

Originally published in the Tahoe Daily Tribune 06/22/2023, Staff Reporting

INCLINE VILLAGE, Nev. — Back by popular demand, Hyatt Regency Lake Tahoe Resort, Spa, and Casino has announced a unique lakeside yoga event series hosted by DJ JOOLZ and local yoga instructor Alexandra Farrer. 

The summer events will be open to resort guests and local residents on a suggested $10 donation that will benefit the Incline Elementary School “Step up for Stem” program. 

The lakeside yoga sessions will take place on June 29, July 13, Aug. 3, Aug.17, Sept. 14, and Sept. 28, with registration beginning at 5 p.m. and classes to begin at 5:30 p.m.

READ MORE >

Originally published in the Sierra Sun 06/23/2023, Staff Reporting

Update – As of 7:30 p.m. Friday June 23, the fire has been contained at 1/2 acre. A spokesperson for the Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit confirmed the fire was lightning caused. 

GLENBROOK, Nev. – According to the U.S. Forest Service Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit’s Twitter, a small fire has started on the East Shore of Lake Tahoe in Montreal Canyon south of US Hwy 50. 

LTBMU is reporting the fire, named the Genoa Fire, was reported at 3:26 p.m. on Friday, June 23 and as of 4:15 p.m., it approximately 1/2 acre….

READ MORE >

A message to my fellow menfolk: Shun the fireworks. Everybody knows all the bodies exhumed from Pompeii were men.  When Vesuvius erupted the women fled, while the men gathered together in the courtyard to watch the eruption, and place bets on how long it would last. 

Women, bless their good souls, have never taken an interest in fireworks, nor have dogs. A dog will usually run and hide behind a toilet when the fireworks start. My aunt Mildred sat down on a toilet during the fireworks once, and a weenie dog licked her leg. Her mind was never the same.

I caution the gentle reader with this caveat from Mark Twain, “We call April first, ‘All Fool’s Day.’  Well, that is a misnomer, because statistics show we lose more fools on the 4^th of July than all the other holidays of the year put together.” 

  Thanks to the Declaration of Independence, signed on July 4^th, 1776, we have no monarchs to bow down to in this country, unless we count Beyonce and Taylor Swift, who also tax us, if not in the same manner that royalty used to tax us…

I’ve had the honor of reading the Declaration of Independence on the Fourth at various public forums over the years, with one reading culminating in a Marine Corps flyover that gave me chicken-skin all over. Over the years I have fallen in love with that wonderful olde bulwark, particularly Jefferson’s words, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” I don’t care what you want to tell me about Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings, the guy was a brick!

By the way, as a note of interest, Thomas Jefferson and John Adams died on the same day, July 4^th, exactly fifty years following their signing of the Declaration of Independence.  Not coincidentally, Samuel Clemens died during the perihelial passage of Haley’s Comet, which was his expressed desire.  The point being, if there’s something in the future you’d like to live to see and celebrate, mark that date on your calendar today with a permanent marker.  Chances are, you will live to see that event, and celebrate it.

I try to keep in mind what we are celebrating on this July Fourth, freedom from that egregious old ass, King George, but more importantly, we celebrate our freedoms, and those who sacrificed so dearly to secure and protect those freedoms.

This year, 2023, let us treat ourselves to a spectacular and safe SkyShow starting at 7pm on the evening of the 4^th at the Incline Village Ridgeline Ball Fields. And let us lift our glasses sotto voce in honor of our veterans, those with us, and those having gone to the Great Beyond. Semper Fi! See you at the parade! 

Audio: https://anchor.fm/mcavoy-layne

Originally published in the Tahoe Daily Tribune 06/23/2023, Written by Ashleigh Goodwin

INCLINE VILLAGE, Nev. — One person died on Father’s Day, Sunday, June 18. after a report of a diver in distress. 

After a report of a diver in distress, North Lake Tahoe Fire Protection District responded to Diver’s Cove at Sand Harbor where Public Information Officer Tia Rancourt told the Tribune, “Upon arrival, State Parks lifeguards and rangers were bringing the patient in from the water. We transported the patient to Incline Village Community Hospital where the individual was pronounced deceased.”

The name of the victim and cause of death have not yet been released. 

READ MORE >

---