Tahoe Latinos confront garbage problem
April 29, 2008
North Lake Tahoe residents were talking trash at the last Nuestro Tahoe community meeting — some even took pictures.
Identified at an earlier meeting as one of the problems confronting Kings Beach and Tahoe Vista, members of the new citizen action group Nuestro Tahoe recently documented the pile up of garbage around Kings Beach through photographs and stories. Read more
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Site set up to encourage Hispanic participation
April 15, 2008
It’s the American dream that brings them here, and it may end up being their downfall, one Kings Beach resident said at a community meeting. An immigrant from Colombia, David Escobar, 38, said he sees Hispanics coming to the United States in pursuit of a better life. To achieve that, they often work long hours with few days off. As a result, he said, their children are left to be raised by the television, not belonging to either the Latino or the Anglo culture. Read more
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Light bulb moment: Turn it off
March 1, 2008
In the pitch blackness of her bathroom in the dead of night, a light bulb came on for Robin Rittenhouse. If she could instinctively use the bathroom in the middle of the night, why then did she routinely turn the light on when she used the bathroom in the middle of the day? Read more
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Tough winters, tough people
November 14, 2007
Mark Lucksinger, a 30-year resident of Lake Tahoe, says it takes commitment to live in an environment that can be challenging, especially in harsh winter conditions.
"They're just tough people," Lucksinger said. "Clearly Tahoe is not for some people. To live here you have to be adaptable."
As a child, Lucksinger's family traveled from San Luis Obispo, Calif., to vacation at Tahoe's North Shore each summer. However Lucksinger had never considered what it would take to endure a Tahoe winter — something year-round residents are used to doing.
Having "never seen a snowflake until the fall of 1974," when he moved to Tahoe, Lucksinger had to learn how to cope with Tahoe's cold and harsh winters.
Recalling the birth of daughter in March of 1975, while he was still a newcomer to the area, Lucksinger said he worried about how he would clear the driveway and keep the road open, in order to get his wife to the hospital in time to have the baby.
"It was a huge adventure," he said "We really weren't Tahoe people yet. You eventually become that."
As Lucksinger and his family became Tahoe people, his family discovered that living in Tahoe has its distinctive advantages.
Lucksinger's daughter, who grew up on skis in Tahoe and still lives in the area, enjoys a way of life possible only for those who are willing to live in Tahoe year round.
"She can do in the course of her lunch break what it takes others an eight hour drive to do-without worrying about the drive, traffic, crowd and huge lift ticket prices."
However, this recreational way of life is only possible for those willing to endure the difficulties brought on by the winter season. Few stay to deal with power and gas outages, snowed-in roads and walkways, and the unavailability of commercial goods because of inclement weather.
Recalling the winter of 1982-83 in which 80 percent of South Lake Tahoe was without heat because of a gas outage, Lucksinger said that people used electric heaters, wood-burning stoves, and "just bundled up" to get by.
"People just dealt with it," Lucksinger said. "It's just the way it was. It's a part of living here."
Lucksinger, who doesn't own snow removal equipment "has learned to shovel snow pretty well."
Lucksinger said there were other Tahoe residents who were are able to adapt to even more extreme winter conditions. During the early 80s as new Tahoe resident, Lucksinger said he would visit Ralph King, who lived in the Echo Summit area since the early 1930s.
"Here is a guy who lived in a remote area in the winter time," Lucksinger said. "They lived up there with a wood stove. They didn't have utilities and all that. They had unreliable power that was out all the time. He lived this way for 50 some years."
During his early days as a Tahoe resident, Lucksinger said he'd visit King to gain a sense of perspective.
"Whenever I'd feel sorry for myself, while we were struggling trying to get by up here, I would drive up and listen to Ralph," Lucksinger said.
During one of his visits, Lucksinger said King told him a story about how he'd get supplies in the winter while snowed in.
"He told that me when he was younger he would ski to Kybers which was the nearest outpost that had anything," Lucksinger said. "He would load up with as many goods as he would carry on his back, and ski back up the hill back to Echo Summit. It's 20 to 25 miles. It's not a short trip."
Upon returning home from his visit to king, Lucksinger said he'd found the sense of perspective he needed about dealing with the realities of life and getting by in Tahoe.
"I'd go up there and listen to him, come back to Tahoe and say to my wife, ‘We've got it made. Life is really good,'" Lucksinger said.
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Community organizer dedicates life to social justice
November 2, 2007
Every week day Emilio Vaca kisses his wife and 3-month-old daughter good-bye and leaves his in-laws home in Kings Beach to go to work as an educator, organizer and community volunteer. More often than not, he doesn’t make it home until sometime after dinner.
Finding strength, energy and support in his family and the feeling of reward that he gets from helping the Tahoe community, Vaca dedicates himself to causes ranging from domestic violence to affordable housing. In his struggle to make the Tahoe community better, Vaca is also struggling to simply create a place for himself and his family.
Vaca, 28, has lived at Tahoe since transferring to Sierra Nevada College in 2003 and becoming the first Latino male to attend the school. After a slow transition to the Incline Village culture, Vaca’s work in the Tahoe community began in earnest when he became student body president.
“I went from helping to organize the largest community college student protest in Sacramento,” Vaca said, “to taking kind of a back seat (at Sierra Nevada College). Once I was elected student body president, I began feeling more satisfied with my political involvement and that’s when things really started working up again.”
He volunteers as a facilitator for a youth organization, sitting on the boards of various planning agencies and organizing community meetings about affordable housing.
Vaca spends his days and evenings working at Tahoe Women’s Services as the prevention project manager.
“We do all the education at the community schools about domestic violence, sexual assault and child abuse,” Vaca said.
Out of a staff of 24, Vaca is the only male working for the nonprofit organization.
“Sometimes it can be just a little overwhelming,” Vaca said with a laugh. “But it’s great. I consider it a blessing and a humbling experience to work with 23 women.”
In addition to working in local schools, Vaca volunteers with an organization called Creciendos Unidos (Growing Together) and Creating Alternatives, a group that works to educate Tahoe youth about drugs and alcohol.
“We’ve sponsored several events that are alcohol free for our youth to come and hang out at. We’re trying to promote a healthy environment,” Vaca said.
Vaca also represents Tahoe Women’s Services in the struggle to create affordable housing for Tahoe’s working class.
“I sit on the board of the Workforce Housing Association of Truckee Tahoe,” Vaca said. “But Tahoe Women’s Services is also involved in the push for affordable housing. We have a safe house, and a lot of our clients are there for two months. In those two months they’re required to look for a job and get their feet back on the ground. But after two months they have nowhere to live because there’s nothing affordable.
“How do you even define affordable when the median house price is $500,000?” Vaca asked. “I’m truly fortunate that my wife’s parents have room for us to stay in their home while we search for a place to live.”
Vaca also sits on the North Lake Tahoe Resort Association board, another position that allows him to work to create low-cost housing.
“The NLTRA paid for the publication of a scientific survey we just conducted in Kings Beach to see how the community feels about affordable housing,” Vaca said.
“We’re really trying to make it a community effort. We got the county to give money too because they’re going to use a lot of that study for future housing developments too.”
Though he represents the Latino community by sitting on the boards of many different associations, including the community planning committee for the TRPA, Vaca maintains that he is not a spokesman for all Latinos.
“I was invited to a stakeholders meeting and I (wanted them to) define stakeholder,” Vaca said. “I don’t own a home, I don’t own a business, I’m a stakeholder in protecting my family but nothing else. I don’t want to be the token Latino that (agencies) use to check the Latino community off their list (of people to talk to). Just because I’m Latino doesn’t mean I speak for all Latinos.
“One of my big goals is to create a Latino Chamber of Commerce (for Tahoe). If I’m able to do that then we could bring a section of the community to the table to provide input. (That way) maybe in a year or two it won’t be me sitting at the table representing the community but it will actually be community member(s) representing (themselves). That’s the ultimate goal.”
Despite all of his efforts and all of the time that he contributes to the community, Vaca said, he doesn’t get weighed down by it all.
“My wife asks me every day, ‘Do you feel overwhelmed, overworked?’ No, I don’t because it’s really rewarding to know that I’m able to help shape policies and projects that are going to benefit the long-term welfare of our children and community.”
In his endeavor to create a place for himself and his family, Vaca is also striving to start his own consulting business, which would serve to help members of the community organize their own causes.
In the end, it’s Vaca’s family that matters most to him and keeps him going.
“I’m really glad that I have a supportive wife and family, otherwise I don’t know how I could still be involved in all the things that I am doing,” Vaca said. “My wife and my family are supportive of what I’m doing, of what we believe in.”
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South Lake Tahoe man shares journey around world
October 20, 2007
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In Rick Gunn’s latest e-mail home, he boasted, “been there done that.”"I did it!” he exclaimed, with more exclamation points than would be prudent to print.The South Lake Tahoe man was celebrating having cycled across 1,900 miles of Australian desert, but the sentiment could have referenced a larger accomplishment.Since Gunn left from the Golden Gate Bridge in July 2005, he has ridden his bike through 31 countries, taking photos and writing stories along the way to share his experience.”It’s been important to me to tell these stories because it is all too easy to forget that each decision we make in our personal lives is capable of having a profound effect outside of our lives, outside of our communities, outside of our borders. To offer a gentle (or not so gentle) reminder that the way we eat, shop, consume and vote can have a severe effect on many we may never see,” he wrote in an e-mail. “I’ve always hoped that by the telling my stories of these deeply personal encounters in the world, it may motivate some to switch off that TV set, and switch on their motivation to help find sustainable solutions to these problems.”His stories and photos have been printed in several publications including the Nevada Appeal, Tahoe Daily Tribune and on his Web site rickgunnphotography.com. Calling his trip the Wish Tour, he’s encouraged readers to donate to the Make-A-Wish Foundation. The 43-year-old moved to South Lake Tahoe from Castro Valley, Calif., 15 years ago to attend a junior college. He never left, citing a “severe, unending bout of outdoor enthusiasm.”
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Defensible space advocate helps her community
October 20, 2007
For Particia Owens, 65, community service is a way of life. She said she learned from her family to give back to the community, and has always been involved in community affairs.
"I am involved in the community with defensible space and other issues because I want to be the best citizen I can," Owens said. "And I want to leave kids with values."
Owens' latest project is as a board member in Woddminster, a condo complex in Incline Village. She is the defensible-space chairwoman and has volunteered her time to the condo community for about eight years.
"I try to stay informed so I can update others," Owens said. "That way we know how to preserve the beauty of the lake, but also be fire safe. We have to respect the wildlife."
Owens has lived at Tahoe for 18 years. She is a substitute schoolteacher with a background in political science, works part-time for the Census Bureau and volunteers at several community activities in Incline Village. She said she cherishes the beauty of the lake and thinks people living in the area should be aware of the policies and requirements imposed by Tahoe Regional Planning Agency and the fire district regarding defensible space, a voluntary constructed clear area surrounding homes and businesses created for fire protection.
"I probably pull out hundreds of little pine trees for defensible space," Owens said. "You need to manicure your area for the trees to grow healthy."
Owens regularly reads the North Lake Tahoe Bonanza, stays in contact with officials responsible for defensible space implementation, like forester Jeff Cutler from North Lake Tahoe Fire Protection District, and goes to public meetings focused on landscaping in Tahoe. She educates herself and stays updated on changes in policies, which, as a result of the Angora fire, are to be made soon.
"I'd like to see mandatory defensible space with clear rules," Owens said. "I want to know when agencies will come in terms on what the new rules will be."
Owens got involved in defensible-space management because, she said, she sees getting others to understand the importance of defensible space can be challenging. She also is trying to convince the rest of condo owners that defensible space and Best Management Practices can work together well.
For Owens, lack of awareness is the biggest environmental problem in Lake Tahoe. She said she tries to find the perfect medium between the policies of TRPA concerning BMPs and North Lake Tahoe Fire Protection District's about defensible space.
"We want to see the lake still beautiful, and in my community we are looking how to balance defensible space requirements and BMPs," Owens concluded.
Owens said second-home owners and people who want to keep the forest untouched are the most difficult opponents stopping the Woodminster's landscaping improvements.
"People, who don't live here on a daily basis don't understand the pressing importance of defensible space," she said. "But I understand that for the forest health we need to thin some of the trees out, even if they are naturally beautiful."
Owens enjoys being active. Her future plans include finishing the defensible project in her condo area, which is now 25 percent complete, and being involved in other neighborhood projects.
"Helping people is very satisfactory, and it is important to be proactive," Owens declared.
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Organization cares for community’s needy
October 13, 2007
To illustrate the importance of Project MANA, director George LeBard often uses the analogy of a plant.He explains that it needs a variety of things to stay alive: fresh air, sunshine, nutrients and water are some of the things he lists. If one or more of those things is missing, he says, the plant can’t survive.”It’s like a community,” he concludes, “if part of it is not doing well, it affects the whole community.”That’s why, he argues, the poorest residents at Lake Tahoe should not be ignored. His organization, founded in 1991 by a Sierra Nevada College student, provides food to those in need in Incline, Kings Beach and Truckee. LeBard joined the organization in 1998.”The health of a community depends on everybody in the community having access to essential needs,” he said. “Food is an essential need. If you don’t have that, you think differently. You think only of survival. You’re not thinking about the community.”LeBard hopes to change that. For years, the organization provided food for the hungry - more than 25,000 visits last year. However, LeBard said, organization leaders were unhappy with the relationship they had with their clients.”We didn’t know them,” he said. So, in February, they created the Service Integration Team, a collaboration of social-service and other agencies. Now, each client meets with a family advocate to assess other issues, such as substance abuse, domestic violence or school struggles. People needing to learn English are set up with classes.In addition to signing up for services, clients are also encouraged to sign up to volunteer with agencies like the Tahoe Rim Trail. Inspired by donations from the local Safeway, a points system was established where recipients earn points for each program or volunteer service they sign up for. Points can be redeemed at a warehouse storing community donations.”At the end of the day, they’re accomplishing something,” LeBard said. “At the same time, it gets them involved in things they wouldn’t have normally done.”This time of year between seasons, known as the shoulder season, is particularly difficult for low-income families. “Most of our clients work in the service industry that supports the tourism economy,” he said.To learn more about Project MANA or to donate, go to projectmana.org.
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Delicia Spees talks about the Angora fire
October 10, 2007
Delicia Spees, director of the Family Resource Center in South Lake Tahoe, and Angora fire survivor talks about the community and its relationship after the fire.
See the slideshow of Delicia Spees.
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Sitting on a park bench
October 7, 2007
On a crisp Saturday afternoon Leopoldo Perez Garcia and Avelino de la Torre Gonzalez sat together on a bench overlooking Lake Tahoe.
The two were taking advantage of what could be one of the last days before it becomes too cold to spend an afternoon outside in Kings Beach. And when the cold weather sets in, de la Torre leaves his seasonal job as a landscaper and returns to his home in Mexico where he works in the country.Work he describes as being harder and paying less than his job “atendiendo yardas” in Lake Tahoe.Amid the multimillion-dollar mansions and a billion-dollar tourism empire at the lake are also those who live paycheck to paycheck, or job to job.Still, Perez said, he prefers living in the United States.”With money, we eat food that makes us strong,” Perez, 68, said in Spanish. “And here, there’s always money. Sometimes in Mexico, there isn’t any.”He’s lived in the United States for 32 years, returning as often as he can to Mexico to spend time with his wife and four children. Of all the places he’s lived, he said, he enjoys Kings Beach best.”It’s so beautiful,” he said. “The lake is precious - that’s why we come out here to spend an afternoon.”Plus, he says, he makes more money in Lake Tahoe than anywhere else.Both men entered the United States illegally at first but have since, they said, received the necessary paperwork.De la Torre, 55, simply has a work permit, while Perez has his green card, they said. 
Neither worries about the increase in immigration security.”I keep all my papers right here all the time,” Perez says, patting his pocket. “We tow the line and don’t make any problems.”And for the most part, they agree, life in Tahoe is good. People are usually nice to them - they have each encountered some racial hostility, but said they like most of the people they’ve met and worked with.They sometimes miss aspects of their lives in Mexico, but conclude there is more opportunity and more money to he had in America.Although Perez has spent the bulk of three decades in the United States, and de la Torre has spent four summers in Tahoe, the men speak little English.”Somos burros,” Perez offers, and they both laugh.Each has a son living in Kings Beach working seasonally and returning to their wives in Mexico in the winter.Their dream would be to have their families living with them at Lake Tahoe, but getting the paperwork and money to do so has proved to be too difficult.Still, they have hopes for their children.”We want them to have a good future,” Perez said. “We hope they always have enough to eat - always have a fish in the house.”
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Latest Headlines
- Hearing planned in Incline tree-felling case - The federal trial for an Incline Village woman charged with hiring a tree-cutting company to chop three Ponderosa Pines from her Lake Tahoe property has been canceled and a change-of-plea hearing scheduled May 1.
- Truckee man takes torch to North Pole - A Truckee man who reached the North Pole this week carrying an unlit torch for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games plans to discuss his experience and environmental issues Saturday by audio and video transmissions with participants at a Lake Tahoe festival.
- Quake pattern watched closely - As earthquakes continue to shake Reno, two reports released this month give new insight into the likely characteristics of a temblor at Lake Tahoe.
Winds are Calm. The pressure is 30.31" and the humidity is 93%. Last Updated on Nov 21, 9:45 am PST.
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