Health Alert for All Lake Tahoe Residents

    The Air Quality Index for Tahoma:  378-Hazardous for ALL.  Time to leave.  If you want good health, you must go out of the Basin now.   It's unhealthy.  If you have immune problems, chronic conditions, require mechanical assistance of any sort, leave now.

       The Caldor fire is moving eastward, toward the Lake.  Control and containment is a long way off.  Make no mistake:  get you "GO" bag and hit the road.   Sad to say but those pols in Sacramento have not been able to assure anyone about when this blaze might be brought under control.  There are not enough firfighters and hardly enough equipment pieces and aircraft to assist in their efforts.

       No thanks to Gov. Gruesome who is desperately trying to stave off a recall that is a few weeks away.  No doubt, he does not like the fire situation on top of a serious pandemic that has surge again across the state.  How will he handle this situation?  Nobody is talking.

     Plenty of hotel rooms down the hill in Sacramento and other valley communities.  A late summer vacation?

Tahoma Must Take the Long Way Around

       Well, so you want to go to the county seat and take care of some business.  Well, Bunky, make sure you have lots of gas in the old jalopy.  How do we get from here in Tahoma to there in Placerville?  Forget the usual route: South on the 89 to Myers, then over the Echo Pass on Highway 50, and continue on for another 55 miles to the city of Placerville.  Whoopsy: Caldor Fire on both sides of highway.  50 now closed in both directions Until further notified.  Hmmmm.  Now what.

       Highway 89 to Truckee; then I-80 to Auburn; exit south bound on Highway 49, follow to Placerville.   Return the same way.  Hmmmmm. Sounds like a long day to me.  85 miles to Auburn, then another 27mi./45 mins to Placerville.  An alternate route goes over Folsom Dam at Granite Bay and adds about another 10 mins.   Trapped, really, by geography.  Time for a change.

      For years the locals on the west shore of Tahoe have been grumbling about the isolation of the location from county services.  The West Shore does not provide many government services due in part to the lack of incorporated municipalities and low population.   Trying to get things done is difficult.  How about during the winter when Cal trans closes 89 around Emerald Bay.  Then one must decide: is it worth the risk during the snowy winter to circle the Lake to get to Placerville? It's time we joined in with Placer county to the north(the boundary lies astride Pine St.)   This would simplify everything; Placer county maintains offices in Tahoe City.  Thank you very much.   A LAFCO meeting could easily  make it happen.  The boundary would include all El Dorado land north of the gate on highway 89 at Cascade Property.

Caldor Fire: Close

      So, we have smoke coming from 3 directions: the Tamarack Fire south of the lake in Sierra county; the catastrophic Dixie Fire, now over 600,000 acres, on the north side; and now the Caldor Fire, vic. Highway 50 over the hill near Kyburz, Pollock Pines, and Ice House, at 53, 000 acres.   Hmmmm,  Cal Fire has just dispatched 30 engines from Reno which were destined for the Dixie Fire to Polluck Pines and its fire.  One community of 1,200 lost its school, a church, and the post office,  plus many single family homes.  Sad state of affairs.

      Fire season as it is called now, is just beginning.  It will be a long season, that is for sure.   Some crews are being relieved.  The Mayor's office has a volunteer/BLM firefighter involved in the Tamarack Fire.  he has been relieved and will come home after 16 days of 16 hour days.  He said by cell phone that it was a tough assignment but he and his crew did good work the whole time.  he's grateful to be home for awhile.

Dixie Fire

        So, as the fire ground approached 600,000 acres, the Dixie fire continues to rage eastward.  Smoky conditions have existed in the TAhoe Basin now for over 4 weeks.  Air quality has been in the Unhealthy range for almost as long with a few days when clearing winds cleaned things up.  Sadly, the air quality message keeps day trippers and vacationers down the hill.  Local businesses, generally busy in mid- August, have seen a sharp drop in visitors.   Cal Fire has been aggressive in their response but the massive blaze is only 30% contained and no time frame has been mentioned for full containment.

      The Tamarack Fire south of the lake has been fully contained and fire crews have been removed for the most part.  The Bootleg Fire in Oregon has been closely watched and the Forest Service expects containment by October.

      The fire season is upon us; be careful, and be watchful.  Have a plan for evacuation.

El Dorado County: EXTREMELY High Risk of Covid

       The Mayor is sad to report that our county has been designated to be at extremely high risk for civid infections among the population.  Now we know that the majority of the population lives down the western slope of the county.  The West Shore, where Tahoma is located, contains only a slight percentage of the total.  However, we must accept the fact that the health department is reporting 61 new cases per day in the county.  How many from the West Shore has not been determined in the reporting.

      So, here we are, again.  The pandemic haunts all of us, and most of the country as the Delta variant rampages across the continent.  The vaccines are protecting those who are vaccinated.  The extreme high risk category include the un-vaccinated.  If you are among those folks, you could be in mortal danger.  This virus does not respect personal choice; it does not care about your attitude about vaccines.  All Tahomans are vulnerable, especially the anti-vaxxers.

      

Afghanistan: The End is Nigh

       So, 20 years have passed and now we watch the last days of America's Longest War in living color.  Many so-called Allies will watch in amusement as the most powerful country on the globe extracts itself from the swamp of Afghanistan which consumed almost a trillion dollars over those 20 years of occupation.  Reminds historians of Vietnam; and a few will recall Korea(but we are still in Korea).

         Pundits will have lots to scribble about.  The Pentagon thinkers will have to find another "worthwhile" situation to send in the troops.  Where next time?   Hmmmmm.  Could it be in the Western Hemisphere?  Latin America?  Cuba?  Venezuela?  The Middle East is currently verbotim.  Who in their right mind wouod even mention the Middle East.  Enough, already.

      Sentiment will run strongly for the members of the American military who served in Afghanistan: they did their American best as they were trained to do.  The pols and the ranking leaders in the Pentagon failed them miserably.  Just imagine: you are ordered into a foreign country with some type of mission, maybe a bit ill defined.   You are rotated out in 7 months, sent home for a year and then sent back again.  Repeat.  Is this a strategy or a nightmare without end?  Will someone take over the leadership of the vast military/industrial complex so that we don't waste the lives of our young men and women on misadventures across the globe?  What can we learn this time?

Russya: A Sad Case

    Well, now we know:  Russya is providing the world with a genuine cyber attack that invades systems around the world, and demands ransom to unlock files that a business needs to operate.  US President Joe Biden, told Mr. Putin that the fact that criminal gangs operating inside Russya are a threat to the stability of the international order.  Hmmmmm.  Can the President influence the dictator?  Hardly seems likely.  Vladimir doesn't follow anybody's rules, only his own.

       So, we have exposure of the source of ransomware attacks: criminal gangs operating within the borders of the largest country in the world.  Enough, says Mr. Biden.  We will respond-period.  Can Russya save itself after 100 years of dictatorship?  Doubtful.  It will probably take another 2-300 years before the culture can change.  Fortunately, Mr, Putin has only a few years left-he's old.  Maybe he'll retire early.  Ha.   Fat chance.  So, make sure your laptop is secure.  Your passwords are changed often.  Don't open that email- it's probably a phishing expedition.

Southern Governors: Not Your Friends

        ell, now.  The latest maps of coronavirus infections and vaccinations indicate that many Southerners are left wanting by political posturing of state governors.  Two come to mind: Gov. Ron DeSantis in Florida and Gov. Greg Abbott in Texas.  Both are Republicans, both aspire to be party leaders and to higher office, somewhere.   As to their leadership, they play to the voters who expect them to lead in a conservative style, focusing on mainline Republlican issues: less government, lower taxes, and of course, fewer gun controls. 

        It has become readily apparent that the fallout between them includes higher corona virus infection, higher deaths, and soaring hospitalizations.   These two elected leaders do not see their roles as understood by constituents.  They believe they must follow the party leadership(Trump/McConnell/ McCarthy).   So, the sad situation is being played out as thousands of Texans and thousands of Floridians prepare to die, unvaccinated, unloved, and untreated by health service providers.

   This in America, a place we hardly recognize.