By Chris Kudialis, Las Vegas Sun

The Nevada Division of Public and Behavioral Health, which regulated medical marijuana when the first dispensary in Nevada opened in July 2015 to the end of 2016, is now only in charge of registering and issuing medical cards to patients.

Though recreational buyers are charged 10 percent more for the same product at dispensaries as registered medical patients, Nevada’s medical cardholders decreased from a peak of 27,000 in May 2016 to less than 20,000 per most recent tallies.

State Sen. Tick Seger-blom, who championed state legalization of the plant as a state senator, said the drop in medical patients is likely spurred by the anonymity of buying the plant recreationally. Medical cardholders must be registered with state authorities, while recreational buyers are not required to submit any personal information to the state.

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A shooting in South Lake Tahoe late Saturday afternoon left one person dead and another in jail.

The incident started after 5pm June 30 in the Tahoe Verde mobile home park on Julie Lane. Residents were told to shelter in place for more than two hours.

South Lake Tahoe police officers have not provided many details other than to confirm one dead, one in custody. The suspected shooter is from South Lake Tahoe.

Details about the victim have not been released. What led to the exchange of gunfire has also not been released.

Police brought out the heavy military style equipment as they tried to get the man to surrender. He had been holed up in a house outside the park.

— Lake Tahoe News staff report

By Wade Tyler Millward, Las Vegas Review-Journal

Days before the first anniversary of recreational marijuana sales in Nevada, the industry has given the state a present.

Data from the state Department of Taxation show the amount of tax revenue from marijuana has exceeded state projections for the first year — two months ahead of time.

The state collected $6.55 million in marijuana tax revenues in April, bringing the total since recreational sales become legal to $55.53 million, according to the department Thursday.

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A South Lake Tahoe man on Friday night turned himself into law enforcement in the hit-and-run death of a cyclist earlier in the week.

Joseph Chesler, 33, faces charges of involuntary manslaughter and hit-and-run death. Bail was set at $125,000. The sport utility vehicle Chesler is believed to have been driving at the time has been impounded.

The body of Trevor Martin Bright, 33, of South Lake Tahoe was found by construction workers June 27 when they arrived to work on Highway 50. It is believed he was killed on June 26.

— Lake Tahoe News staff report

May was a good month for most Nevada casinos, with the statewide win up 5.3 percent over 2017 to $1.04 billion.

Four out of the last five months Nevada casinos have collectively topped $1 billion.

Stateline casinos were up a modest 1.14 percent, while the North Shore posted a 25.1 percent increase.

Slot machines and baccarat were what helped the casinos, according the state Gaming Control Board.

— Lake Tahoe News staff report

The California Highway Patrol will be conducing a sobriety checkpoint on the South Shore on June 30 from 8pm-2am.

The sobriety checkpoint will be staffed by a team of CHP officers who will be controlling traffic, evaluating driver’s sobriety, and hand out literature warning of the dangers of drinking and driving. Driver’s license checks will be conducted and appropriate enforcement action will be taken.

Approximately two hours prior to the implementation of the checkpoint, officers will reveal the exact location.

By Elaine Glusac, New York Times

Once the LGBT Memorial in New York City opens, which is expected this month, its designer, the multimedia artist Anthony Goicolea, plans to offer personal tours of the site in Hudson River Park through Airbnb’s Experience tours, exploring its composition of nine stones, some bisected by prismatic glass that radiate the colors of the LGBT flag.

“I’ll go over aspects of it that are not readily visible,” said Goicolea, including the fact that is it oriented toward the Statue of Liberty in a salute to equal justice.

This month is Pride month, a celebration of the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender communities, and a time when the travel industry rolls out the rainbow carpet in special hotel and travel-related packages.

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Larry Werner

Douglas County Manager Larry Werner is resigning effective Aug. 31.

Last September the board on a 3-2 vote extended his contract to Dec. 31, 2019.

Werner has been at the helm of the county since February 2016 when Jim Nichols and the commissioners parted company. Werner’s stint was originally supposed to be an interim appointment, but evolved into something more. He also served as interim in spring 2014.

In a statement he said, “I know that it is time for me to pursue retirement and family, but I will miss working with the great people in this community in this capacity.”

Commissioners on July 5 are expected to discuss what to do next. 

— Lake Tahoe News staff report

More children have come forward alleging they were sexually assaulted at a South Lake Tahoe child care facility.

Since David Rodriguez-Flores’ arrest on June 20 police officers said more victims have been identified. How many has not been released. Nor have their ages or genders. Police said the new information points to “a pattern of abuse dating back at least two years.”

The initial charge pertained to what police described as an “on-going possible child sexual assault that had occurred at the Pequenos Rascals Learning Center located at 3336 Sandy Way.”

The California Department of Social Services’ Community Care Licensing Division has closed the facility.

The SLTPD is requesting anyone who has concerns that their child may be a victim to contact SLTPD at 530.542.6100.

— Lake Tahoe News staff report

By Kathryn Reed

Precautionary signs are up at Fallen Leaf Lake after 10 gallons of raw sewage entered the lake early Friday morning.

“The signs will be removed once the water quality at the spill site is at the same baseline level as water found at other points around the lake,” South Tahoe Public Utility District lab director Dan Arce told Lake Tahoe News.

Fallen Leaf Mutual Water Co., which supplies the drinking water to the South Shore enclave, did not return calls. Lahontan Regional Water Quality Control Board, which oversees water issues, also could not be reached.

At 4:40am June 29, the district’s lab took water samples at the point of entry, 60 feet into the lake, and 60 feet east and west along the shore of the spill. All four samples resulted in no detectable levels of ammonia.

STPUD confirmed a sewer blockage at 369 Fallen Leaf Lake Road after getting a call from a customer at 7:44pm June 28. District personnel found a sewer blockage on the private sewer lateral with some spilled sewage pooling around the private manhole.

The plan was to work until the block was cleared in order to minimize damage. At midnight, the blockage was cleared and the backed up sewage gushed downhill through the sewer lateral. The rupture overloaded the district’s vactor truck, which was at the downhill manhole to suction out the overflow. This is when the 10 gallons reached the lake.

“Our crew realized that once the line was unplugged, a freight train of sewage would flow downhill and surcharge the district’s manhole at the bottom of the hill. This particular manhole sits only 10 feet from the edge of Fallen Leaf Lake,” district General Manager Richard Solbrig said in a statement. “The crew’s foresight to station the district’s vactor truck at the downhill manhole, resulted in 99 percent of the sewage overflow to be captured.”

The district predicts if a private plumber had unblocked the clog, that the manhole cover would have been blown off and 1,800 gallons of sewage would have inundated the lake.

“When a sewage blockage is cleared, a rake is put into a downstream manhole to try and catch whatever was causing the blockage and prevent further issues. In this case, a chunk of asphalt the size of a golf ball was removed,” Shelly Thomsen with STPUD told LTN. “There may have been more that got past the rake. We don’t know how the asphalt got into the private sewer lateral. It could have been vandalism, as most manhole covers aren’t locked.”