By Ben Botkin, Las Vegas Review-Journal
 
CARSON CITY — A retired FBI agent will be Nevada’s first statewide opioid coordinator.

Attorney General Aam Laxalt announced on Monday the appointment of Terry Kerns, whose job will be to bridge the gap between law enforcement agencies and victims’ service providers as Nevada responds to the opioid epidemic.

“As a former federal law enforcement officer and registered nurse, Kerns is a perfect fit to assist law enforcement and victim services coordinate responses to the opioid crisis,” Laxalt said in a statement. “As the chair of Nevada’s Substance Abuse Working Group, I understand that prevention goes hand-in-hand with law enforcement efforts.”

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By Sacramento Bee

An online post threatening the safety of an El Dorado County high school campus has been traced to a 19-year-old Texas man.

Over the weekend, the Union Mine High School Yearbook’s Instagram page received a threatening post, according to an El Dorado County Sheriff’s Office news release.

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By Stephen Saturno, Moonshine Ink

How can it be that one of the biggest health concerns in our area goes mostly unnoticed? While most people have barely heard of radon, testing in our area is nearly nonexistent. Even when you buy a home, there’s a one-page disclosures section that’s buried in a 200-page document somewhere after your final closing cost summary.

Local and federal governments spend little money on education and outreach while radon continues to be one of the leading causes of lung cancer.

Radon is a colorless, odorless, and tasteless gas that comes from the natural breakdown of uranium in rocks and soil. Inhaling radon can lead to DNA damage, which can cause cancer. In fact, the EPA states that it is the No. 2 cause of lung cancer in the United States after cigarette smoking.

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A 38-year-old Gardnerville man died in a two-car accident on Highway 88 on Monday.

The driver, whose name has not been released, was going east on the highway near Red Lake Road when he drifted into oncoming traffic.

The impact of the Oct. 16, 9:25am collision inflicted fatal injuries.

The other driver was in a Freightliner truck. The 55-year-old driver from Mokelumne Hill was not injured.

The cause of the accident is under investigation.

— Lake Tahoe News staff report

By Mina Corpuz, Los Angeles Times
 
California will be the first state to require pet stores to sell rescue animals under legislation signed by Gov. Jerry Brown on Friday.

Starting in 2019, pet stores will transition to selling dogs, cats and rabbits from shelters or adoption centers. Stores can be fined $500 for each animal for sale that is not a rescue. 

“This is a big win for our four-legged friends, of course,” said bill author Assemblyman Patrick O’Donnell, D-Long Beach, in a statement. 

South Lake Tahoe was ahead of the game when it banned theses sales several years ago.

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By Ryan Sabalow, Dale Kasler And Ellen Garrison, Sacramento Bee

The sun was shining, the temperatures were pleasant and, by all rights, the tasting room at Buena Vista Winery should have been packed Sunday.

Instead, California’s oldest winery was surrounded by a phalanx of exhausted, soot-covered firefighters. Wine barrels were dusted in ash, and the fountain in front of the 19th-century stone-and-mortar building was filled with muddy gray water. A nearby oak tree still smoldered, and the hillside was charred to within 20 feet of the winery.

“Doesn’t get much closer,” said Scott Fraser, a weary battalion chief from a Lake Tahoe-area strike team.

After a week of misery and death, Northern California’s devastating wildfires showed signs of easing off Sunday.

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South Lake Tahoe firefighters on mop-up detail in Sonoma County. Photo/SLTFD

By Bettina Boxall, Los Angeles Times
 
Block after block of tidy housing tracts reduced to heaps of ash. Death counts in the double digits. Homeowners numbly poking through the ruins of domestic life.

California has seen this before.

But the harrowing images of loss and destruction usually come out of the south.

“These kinds of fires and the losses are very uncharacteristic of that part of the world,” University of California fire specialist Max Moritz said of the firestorm that ignited in Northern California last week, killing dozens of people and torching thousands of homes.

Until last week, 13 of the 20 most destructive — and 16 of the 20 deadliest — wildfires in modern state history occurred in Southern California.

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A South Lake Tahoe woman continues to fight for her life after her vehicle was struck by a driver going the wrong direction on Interstate 80.

The collision occurred Oct. 12 about 11:54pm on westbound I-80 near Verdi.

According to the Nevada Highway Patrol, James Liston, 39, of Reno entered the freeway in the wrong direction somewhere between West McCarran and Mogul. His vehicle struck the front of a 2008 silver Toyota 4Runner causing his Mitsubishi to overturn and catch fire. Liston was not able to get out of the vehicle and died at the scene.

The local woman, whose name has not been released, was taken to Renown Medical Center in Reno with life threatening injuries.

Impairment may have been a contributing factor in this crash, according to officers.

Anyone who may have information related to this crash, is asked to call 775.687.9631 or email jdlitchie@dps.state.nv.us.

— Lake Tahoe News staff report

South Lake Tahoe Public Utility District customers were without water this morning when a water line was severed.

A contractor early Oct. 16 struck a 14-inch line at Cedar Avenue and La Salle Street near the state line.

It is not known how many customers were without water. Some just experience low pressure. Service was restore by 10:15am.

“Up to 60 percent of the district’s customers from Stateline to the Y may have experienced low water pressure for about an hour between 9-10am this morning as a result of the broken water main,” Shelly Thomsen with STPUD told Lake Tahoe News.

Thousands of gallons of water was lost.

— Lake Tahoe News staff report

By Alexandra Spychalsky, Moonshine Ink

When General Manager Jeff Hill walked into Jake’s on the Lake on the morning of Jan. 8, the sound of falling raindrops echoed through the restaurant. But it wasn’t pitter-patter from a storm outside. It was the sound of rushing water coming from inside the restaurant, a literal indoor torrential rainstorm in the middle of the almost 40-year-old restaurant that has long been one of Tahoe City’s favorites.

Snowpocalypse. Januburied. Snowmageddon. These were some of the nicknames given to last winter. The severity of it shocked even the most seasoned locals.

But some businesses were dealt a lot worse than an increased shoveling load and the occasional power outage. At Boatworks Mall on the lake in Tahoe City, a number of businesses sustained substantial flooding, shuttering them for months. It was a hard-fought battle to renovate and reopen, but after months in the dark, these businesses are now thriving once again.

Thanks to the tenacity of the owners, managers, and employees, as well as the unwavering support of the community, they are ready to take on another Tahoe winter.

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