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A fault line beneath Lake Tahoe could rupture at any time and unleash a massive earthquake that triggers an underwater landslide and sends 30-foot waves crashing into nearby parks, campgrounds, homes and marinas, researchers said. Such an event along the West Tahoe Fault, the biggest of Lake Tahoe's three geologic faults, could also send waves over a dam that regulates water flow into the Truckee River, according to research presented last week at a meeting of the American Geophysical Union in San Francisco. The West Tahoe Fault, which skirts the lake's western shore and runs through Fallen Leaf Lake and...

INCLINE VILLAGE, Nev. - A bear with better taste than his, or her cousins, dined last week on salmon, tri-tip and cherry ice cream - all in the deserted food court at the Lake Tahoe Shakespeare Festival at Sand Harbor. The choices of surf and turf - and the bard - were more discriminating than the bear that settled last month for cold pizza and an even colder beer it found in a convertible near the south shore casino area. The foray also was more successful than the bear that wandered into a delivery area last week at MontBleu Casino...

There is truth in advertising. On Saturday, MontBleu Resort Casino and Spa, whose advertisements promote it as a "habitat for everything wild," found itself hosting a wandering bear that made its entrance through the loading dock. The bear, about a year old and weighing about 150 pounds, walked around the employee hallways, finding a dead end near the laundry, and eventually headed toward the cafeteria, but was likely frightened by several workers and quickly scurried out of the Stateline casino the way it came in, warehouse employee Earl Zeller said. The bear didn't make it to the employee cafeteria. Zeller...

Homewood Mountain Resort's ski area occupies the largest piece of developable property remaining in the Lake Tahoe basin. With elevations reaching 1,600 feet above the lake's famed blue waters, the views from its slopes are spectacular. The property includes two lakes and crosses three watersheds. And it's for sale. If owner Jeff Yurosek has his way, 1,086 acres will be sold to the U.S. Forest Service under a deal that will keep the struggling ski business open. The estimated $60 million to $65 million the property is likely to fetch will be used to build an expanded commercial center on...

A California business executive has agreed to pay a $50,000 fine for poisoning trees to enhance the view from his Lake Tahoe home...

Sacramento area TV news is reporting that I-80 between Truckee and the CA/NV border is closed due to a massive mudslide. Caltrans estimates closure for several days until cleaned up.

RENO, Nev. (AP) - A California man with a criminal history was identified Sunday as the gunman killed in a shootout at a Lake Tahoe casino that also injured a pair of sheriff's deputies. Harvey Ex, 53, of Sunset Beach, Calif., was shot multiple times and pronounced dead at the scene shortly after the Saturday afternoon incident, Douglas County Sheriff Ron Pierini said. A female acquaintance of Ex's reported to Harrah's Tahoe security that she was concerned about Ex's behavior, Pierini said. Security guards found Ex uncooperative and called the sheriff's department. Soon after the two deputies arrived, shooting erupted...

South Lake Tahoe Two sheriff's deputies are in the hospital with gunshot wounds tonight... After a showdown inside the Harrah's hotel and casino in South Lake Tahoe. The gunman -- who has not yet been identified -- is dead. The Douglas County Sheriff's Department tells us that several rounds of gunfire were exchanged between the suspect and the deputies. Officials say the two victims -- Dan Nelson and Eric Essinger -- were wearing bullet proof vests...and that's what could have saved their lives. At this time, the Department does not know what could have sparked gunman's violence.

RENO, Nev. - A judge has sided with conservationists trying to block construction of thousands of homes north of Lake Tahoe, saying a local development plan "builds in opportunities to create environmental mischief" and violates California law. The judge ordered Placer County to suspend all activities under the 2003 Martis Valley Community Plan and set aside the environmental reviews used to approve plans for construction of at least 6,000 homes in the valley southeast of Truckee, Calif. "Of particular concern is the impact which the project will have upon traffic and air quality impacts within the Tahoe Basin," California Superior...

The deep, cobalt-blue waters of Lake Tahoe can mean different things to different people. For residents and tourists of the popular resort destination in the western United States, the lake’s waters are a primary component of the area’s serenity and beauty. For scientists, the lake’s depth and rich color are an impediment to studying several important geological characteristics beneath the lake’s basin. Now, a team led by researchers at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California, San Diego, has used a novel combination of scientific instruments to produce the first estimates for earthquake activity of several faults in...

"Rock Climbers" Ban At Tahoe Promotes Religion Reno, NV Associated Press A U.S. Forest Service climbing ban on a Lake Tahoe landmark is unconstitutional because it promotes religion, a rock climbing group contends. In papers filed Thursday in support of its federal lawsuit against the agency, The Access Fund claims the ban at Cave Rock gives control over public property to the Washoe Tribe of Nevada and California. The Boulder, Colo.-based group maintains the tribe has always said Cave Rock is a religious, sacred site. The Washoe tribe has opposed climbing on Cave Rock, located on U.S. 50 between...

John Kleppe likes having the moon in his back yard. His astronaut is a small remote control vehicle equipped to explore the floor of Fallen Leaf Lake. In the four years he's been studying the lake, Kleppe said he has found trees that could challenge traditional thinking regarding global warming. "This is stuff no humans have seen," said Kleppe of the video images of the deep lake produced by the rover. "That to me is like having the moon in your back yard ... every time we go out, it seems we find another mystery." Kleppe, chairman of the...

A Few of FR's Finest....Every Day Free Republic made its debut in September, 1996, and the forum was added in early 1997.   Over 100,000 people have registered for posting privileges on Free Republic, and the forum is read daily by tens of thousands of concerned citizens and patriots from all around the country and the world. A Few of FR's Finest....Every Day was introduced on June 24, 2002. It's only a small room in JimRob's house where we can get to know one another a little better; salute and support our military and our leaders; pray for those in...

<p>Lake Tahoe sank so low before recent storms that many boat docks were left high and dry. Scientists say that historical droughts have caused Tahoe's vast shoreline to drop 20 feet, allowing forests to grow where there is now water.</p>

<p>A San Francisco court approved a settlement Monday under which oil companies will pay $28 million to end a case involving pollution of Lake Tahoe groundwater with the gasoline additive MTBE.</p> <p>Shell Oil Co., Shell Products Co., Equilon Enterprises LLC and Texaco Inc. agreed to settle with the South Tahoe Public Utilities District and formalized their deal Monday in San Francisco Superior Court.</p>