Tahoe TAP

Tahoe Talk - 10/20/20

From around the globe to out your backdoor, here are the topics to keep you relevant and up-to-date!

Local News: 
- City of SLT Council agenda items overview
- Multiple bank robberies in the area lately
- 4 arrested in major drug bust in SLT
- Tahoe Land podcast wins highest award for any TV/Radio/Digital entity
- New Truckee restaurant offering ‘Mountain Italian’ cuisine

- Earth just experienced the hottest September since records began- Rave: Zoom will start letting people host paid-entry online events with a new service called OnZoom. Beta version available now, worldwide 2021
- Two Bi-Rite locations in the SF are selling brown-paper-wrapped bundles of fall leaves, and for $14.95, you can have around two handfuls' worth of seasonally appropriate plant refuse
- Americans spent $3.4 billion in a single year on cracked screen repairs. 
- Nearly half of all Americans say they’d find it difficult to pay for an unexpected $250 expense right now. 35% of respondents are losing sleep over personal economic concerns.
- The median price of a California home skyrocketed to $712,430 in September — shattering the state record for the fourth month in a row — as sales hit their highest level in more than a decade. It took 11 days on average to sell a single-family home in September — the shortest period ever recorded

 Friday, Oct. 23 = Nat’l Croc Day

Fact Check:
- TahoeMemes causing more fake waves saying that ski resorts will not open until Jan. 15 - FALSE!

Tahoe Talk - 10/12/20

Lakers win the championship Sunday, Judge Amy Coney Barret being confirmed Monday, and Amazon Prime days kicks off Tuesday

- Tuesday, Apple is set to reveal this year’s new iPhones. Delayed a month due to coronavirus disruptions, the lineup is expected to include the first major exterior redesign since 2017, when Apple released the iPhone X with facial recognition.
- Portland rages on… Protest organizers dubbed the event “Indigenous Peoples Day of Rage”, in response to Monday’s federal holiday named after 15th-century Italian explorer Christopher Columbus, a polarizing figure who Native American advocates say spurred centuries of genocide against indigenous populations
- “Air Bridge” on the table for flights from NYC to London

Fact Check: Mike Pence Says Joe Biden and Kamala Harris support abortion “up to the moment of birth.” - False (PolitiFact)

Fri. October 16 = Global Cat Day

Tahoe Talk - 10/5/20

From around the globe to out your backdoor, here are the topics to keep you relevant and up-to-date!

Locals News:
- Small vegetation fire in Crystal Bay, Lake Tahoe!
- Gov. Sisolak to announce Halloween guidelines for Nevada
- Tahoe Transportation Dist. cause multiple waves in Tahoe Basin
- City of SLT proposing pay increases for City Council and Treasurer 
- Forest Service closures this month for popular sites

 

Global & National News:
Just when we thought 2020 couldn’t getting any worse, a brain-eating amoeba was found in a Texas city's water which prompted the Governor to declare a “state of disaster”
- California hit another milestone: 4 million acres burned this year from wildfires, that's roughly the size of Connecticut and the most ever burned in one year. The fires have killed at least 31 people, destroyed over 8,400 structures, and forced about 100,000 people to evacuate their homes. Right now, about 17,000 firefighters are still battling nearly two dozen major fires across the state
- Venice holds back the water for first time in 1,200 years… 78 flood barriers installed in the seabed at the lagoon's three main entrance points.
- SNL is back for it’s 46th season opener with studio fans studio fans - Jim Carrey playing Biden, Chris Rock’s monologue, ridiculous music video by Megan Thee Stallion
- September US jobs report: 661K new jobs means a big slowdown in recovery. The unemployment rate fell to 7.9% from the peak of 14.7% (Still 12.6M Americans without jobs)
- Twitter is testing a new disinformation-reporting feature called “Birdwatch.” If you see a viral lie? Report it to the Birdwatch queue.

Fact Check:
Trump's "boarded Marine One with a portable oxygen concentrator in his pocket with the nasal cannula going up his back, hidden in his hair and tucked under his mask???"

Recognition:
Monday, October 5th = World Teacher Day

Tahoe Talk - 9/28/20

From around the globe to out your backdoor, here are the topics to keep you relevant and up-to-date!

Wildfires explode Sunday night, Presidential debate Tuesday, NBA Finals Wednesday, MLB playoffs

- Amazon Prime Day announced for Oct. 13 and 14 
- 200+ new emojis will hit your keyboard in 2021
- Since all its resorts abruptly shut on March 17th, Vail's profits for the year plunged 68%. But Vail's stock is up 40% since then on hopes of greener slopes this winter
- Western Joshua tree gets temporary endangered species status: due to the ravages of climate change — The California Fish and Game Commission’s vote marked the first time a species has been granted protections due to climate change under the state’s Endangered Species Act. Ironically this happened on the same day it granted 15 solar energy farms permission to remove Joshua trees in the way of their projects
- The Secretary of State’s Elections Division has set up a service that allows voters to track the status of their mail-in ballot. The electronic service will let voters know when the ballot is mailed to them, when it is received by the county and when it has been counted: nevada.ballottrax.net
- California’s community college system is experiencing a systemwide decline of student enrollment this fall, with some campuses reporting double-digit losses. The fact that fewer students have enrolled for this fall reveals a worrisome decline for the nation’s largest college system — total: 116 institutions serving more than two million students. 

- Fact Check: Viral video claims Bill Gate’s is making $200B from vaccines. 26-second clip has been cut from a longer TV interview, where Gates estimated the global social and economic benefits from his foundation's $10 billion investment

- Sun. Oct. 4 = National Taco Day

Tahoe Talk - 9/21/20

From around the globe to out your backdoor, here are the topics to keep you relevant and up-to-date!

Local News:

- Forest Service opens back up
- Tahoe Film Fest carries on!
- Echo Summit closure remains
- Local sports protests
- BEST OF TAHOE   &  BEST OF NORTH LAKE / TRUCKEE

Quick Hits:
- CALFIRE Recap: 3.5m acres, 7,900 incidents, 26 fatalities, 7k structures destroyed
- RBG tributes owned the screens this weekend, Trump says he’ll name Supreme Court nominee Friday or Saturday - list is down to 5
- California will STOP new unemployment claims for two weeks as officials tackle 600,000 person backlog caused by flood of cases as the pandemic hit (8.4% as of 9/4/20)
- There are 12 propositions on California’s November ballot. But do you know how you’re going to vote on them? Fear not — CalMatters has a fun, interactive game to help you figure out where you stand on these controversial, complex issues. Check it out here at gimmeprops.calmatters.org
- The Big Ten Conference will play football this fall, after the organization’s chancellors and presidents approved a reversal Wednesday of their recent decision to postpone the season because of the coronavirus pandemic
- All Nevada bars to reopen next week as Clark, Elko counties granted permission to open. The decision comes more than two months after state officials shuttered bars in seven counties statewide

Deeper Dives:
- Newsom signs 3 bills into law last week: They include:
 • A bill requiring employers to notify employees of potential COVID-19 exposure at work and to notify county health departments of outbreaks.
 • A bill that presumes essential workers were infected with COVID-19 on the job, making it easier for them to obtain workers’ compensation benefits.
 • A bill guaranteeing more Californians can return to their jobs after taking paid family leave to care for a new baby or sick loved one.


- Fact Check: Instagram screenshot going viral that says RBG tweets “Have information that will lead to the arrest of Hilary Clinton”  Pants on fire FALSE

- Sun. 9/27 = Nat’l Chocolate Milk Day

Tahoe Talk - 9/14/20

Local News:

- Trump’s visit to Minden brings 5-10,000 spectators
- Sugarbowl stops pass sales to fend off too many visitors
- One Tahoe Plan still in the works and picking up regional news
- Woman to swim, bike, and run around Tahoe perimeter
- Best of Tahoe voting open 9/14-9/28

Global News:
- The World Health Organization reported the world's highest single-day increase since the pandemic began at more than 307,000 cases Sunday… total cases approach 30m and 1m deaths
- Trump signs executive order on Sunday called “My Most Favored Nation” that aims to ensure America gets the same low price Big Pharma gives to other countries (also announces he’ll aim to negotiate a 3rd term)
- CAL FIRE Update: 3.1m acres, 7,718 incidents, 20 fatalities, 4,700 structures
- New “Safe Spacer” gadget beeps when people get closer than 6 feet to you… aimed at businesses looking to get workers back inside and on the job… sells for $99
- Software giant Oracle won the bid for TikTok’s U.S. operations
- Hurricane Paulette is rolling toward Bermuda brings heavy rainfall along the east coast Sunday night, meanwhile, Tropical Storm Sally is threatening to grow into a hurricane as it moves toward the Gulf Coast hitting New Orleans Tuesday morning

- T-Mobile has a plan to offer free internet to 10m low-income households… 
Last year, T-Mobile announced this plan to close “the homework gap,” pitching it as one of the reasons that the company should be allowed to merge with Sprint. The company has now revealed that it has allocated $10.7 billion for that “Project 10Million” program over the next decade, with the goal of making it available to K-12 students who participate in the national school lunch program for low-income families

Face Check:
- Viral FB photo: “some of the firefighters in California fighting fires 24/7 to save people's lives and property”   FALSE - resting firefighters pic happened in Tennessee in 2016, not California in 2020

Take your pick: 
Wed = Nat’l Guacamole Day
Fri = Nat’l Cheeseburger Day

Tahoe Talk - 9/9/20

Quick Hits:
- 2.2m acres burned, 7,563 total incidents, 8 fatalities, 4k structures destroyed
- CA gets approval for 2 more weeks of the $300 supplemental payment to unemployment bringing the total to $1,500 additional funding to those that qualify
- Los Angeles Co. bans trick or treating this Halloween due to C19
- Carol Baskin part of the Dancing with the Stars lineup
- Walmart Plus: Walmart's new membership program to launch Sept. 15 with same-day delivery, fuel discount
- The New York City subway is having a very bad year. Ridership has dropped by over 90% since the pandemic’s onset. The agency that runs the service expects to lose more than $14 billion through 2021
- Amazon Prime Air: Amazon's drone delivery service receives Federal Aviation approval paving the way for it to start offering commercial deliveries on a trial basis
- Whole Foods is trying out a "dark store" as part of its vision for the future of grocery shopping… Online only purchases and then pickup (Brooklyn, NY)

 

Deeper Dives:

- A coalition of 160 human rights and advocacy groups have sent a joint letter to the International Olympic Committee, calling on the body to move the 2022 Winter Olympics from Beijing due to China's record on human rights
- Federal wildlife officials aim to remove endangered species protections for gray wolves across the USA  this year. An official at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said they have “biologically recovered,” …. its removal from the list would demonstrate the effectiveness of the Endangered Species Act
- The unemployment rate dropped to 8.4 percent in August, the Labor Department reported on Friday, marking the fourth month of declines even as the pace of job growth is slowing. The August rate is down from its April peak of 14.7 percent, but still remains far above the 3.5 percent recorded in February, before coronavirus shutdowns took hold.

Fact Check: “Kamala Harris can’t be VP, she’s a felon” - FALSE

Sunday, 9/13 = National Grandparents Day

Tahoe Talk - 8/31/20

Final day of August, 63 days until the election, and.... just 10 days until the first NFL game!

Quick Hits:
- “Finger Lickin' Good"? Not so much in a pandemic -- KFC has suspended its use of the catchphrase in advertising campaigns.
- I could use a drink: "Booze Fairies" are leaving baskets of alcohol on doorsteps all over New Jersey.
- A 3,000-pound triceratops skull dubbed "Shady" was unearthed in South Dakota.
- Airbnb employees will be working from home until August 2021 -- longer than any other tech company so far.
- 2020 hurricane season on a record pace so far with 13 named storms already
- C19 global case total surpasses 25m - USA at 6.1m (more on those numbers in the fact check)

Local News:
- Indoor dining in South Lake Tahoe permitted to 25% capacity
- Friday: Governor Newsom released revised criteria for loosening and tightening restrictions on activities.  The new blueprint replaces the current watch list approach and can be found at. There are 4 tiers, from purple to yellow, with purple being the most restrictive.
  El Dorado: Substantial
  Placer: Widespread
  Nevada Co: Substantia
- Wildfire survivors can now apply for federal assitance
- Glider aircraft crashes into Lake Tahoe
- Bonanza Ranch real estate sells for $38m and pivots to 'Luxury Vacation Rental' for 10-15k per night

Deeper Dives:
- Nearly 25% of licensed child-care providers in California have shut down amid the pandemic — and more than 1,200 of the 9,300 closures are permanent, eradicating roughly 19,000 child-care slots in a state already starved for adequate spots, the Los Angeles Times report. In SLT alone we’ve lost 3 so far
- California will begin issuing $300 a week in supplemental unemployment benefits on September 7 now that the state's application for $4.5 billion in aid from FEMA has been approved (includes back pay to Aug. 1)
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Fact Check:
- False: “CDC has adjusted numbers to show that only 6% of 187k C19 deaths are related to the virus”

International Day:
Sat. Sept. 5th = International Bacon Day!

Tahoe Talk - 8/24/20

Local News:
- Details of red flag warning for the Tahoe Basin
- High speed chase ending on Kingsbury Grade
- Northstar California (Vail) lawsuit settled
- Local woman swims lake’s distance
- Washoe Co. to hear from Incline Village about STRs this week

Quick Hits:
- 2nd & 3rd largest wildfires in CA state history burning approx. 1M acres total so far
- North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un has fallen into a coma, a former South Korean official is claiming on the heels of reports that the northern leader has ceded over some of his power to his younger sister.
- Greenland lost a record amount of ice during 2019; the melt is massive enough to cover California in more than 4 feet of water, a new study said.
- Get excited, Mariah Carey fans – new music is on the way.
- Mei Xiang, a 22-year-old giant panda at the Smithsonian zoo in Washington, D.C., is the oldest panda to give birth in the United States, officials said.

Deeper Dives:
- After falling two weeks in a row, the number of laid-off workers seeking unemployment benefits rose to 1.1 million last week; American employers are still cutting record numbers of jobs. According to the jobs site Indeed.com, listings are down by about 20% compared to this time last year. Data released today says the IRS expects there to be almost 40 million fewer employee-classified jobs in 2021 — a condition that might persist to at least 2027 — based on W-2 forms.
- A coronavirus loophole:  Capital Christian High School opens, saying it’s day care. Capital Christian in Sacramento County is offering on-campus study areas for students grades 6-12 to learn online in spatially distant “pod” groups as a way to slow the spread of coronavirus
- Political contributions toward the presidential race so far are closing in on $3 billion. The Republican National Committee reports that it raised $55 million in the month of July. That is a new record, which kind of seems to be the case almost every time we talk about campaign fundraising during this election cycle

Fact Check:
-  Michelle Obama: “In one of the states that determined the outcome” of the 2016 presidential race, “the winning margin averaged out to just two votes per precinct, two votes.” -TRUE!

National Day:
-  Wed. 8/26 National Dog Day

Tahoe Talk - 8/17/20

Quick Hits:
- Death Valley records highest temperature reading in over a century on Sunday… 130 degrees!
- Burning Man goes digital this year
- NBA playoffs start today
- New Zealand delays general elections due to another C19 outbreak
- California: “Take a Friend Fishing Month” and Sat. Sept. 5th is Free Fishing Day
- Stephenie Meyer says more books are coming in the "Twilight" saga
- AMC will throwback pricing for a day at more than 100 cinemas on Aug. 20 — about a sixth of its locations nationwide… 15 cents per movie!
- Amazon will spend $10B on a constellation of internet-beaming satellites — it just got the federal 'OK' to launch.
- Airbnb's quarterly sales plunged 67% but showed signs of recovery — bookings were down just 30% in June compared to 70% in May.

Local Links:
- Loyalton fire update
- Echo bridge construction road closure coming up
- Invasive species turned into dog treats?
- Road Rage leads to stabbing in SLT
- City Council candidate summary for Truckee and SLT
- Heat wave throughout the region

Deeper Dives:
- The U.S. on Wednesday last week reported the most COVID-19-related deaths in one day since May, but the nation's most populous state, California, showed signs of improvement Thursday
- Three consecutive months of increased spending at retailers and restaurants. Purchases notched up by 1.2% in the past month, having increased in June (by 7.5%) and in May (by nearly 18%). How?? We’re asking the same question. People have cut back on their visits to restaurants and bars. They’re spending less on clothing. But, yes, they’re still shopping. Sales at home and garden stores are up by almost 15% compared to last year, while sales at stores that sell musical instruments, books and sporting goods are up almost 18%. Online shopping, overall, is up a whopping 25%.
- According to a study from the nonpartisan Legislative Analyst’s Office, Rising seas are likely to swallow as much as $10 billion of California property in the next 30 years and could erase up to two-thirds of Southern California’s shoreline by 2100
- Chinese company Xiaomi recently revealed a transparent TV! 55” for $7,200 which, when turned off, looks like a piece of glass. Check out photos online… (only available in China right now)

Fact Check:
- “Kamala Harris refused to be sworn in with the Bible” - False

Natl Day:
- Wed. 8/19 = National Bacon Lovers Day