In response to Historic Preservation Committee Declines Hotel Avery Project
Not In Our Mutual Backyard
The Lake Tahoe area doesn’t really need more development. It needs to take care of and support what it already has. The more you “develop,” the more you will destroy the area. Most land developers and real estate agencies are not your “friends” [and don’t] have the “best interests” of the existing community.
I’m glad the Historic Preservation Committee declined it. Just check out other areas and you will find one story after another how projects were approved only for land developers to just run with it and do whatever they wanted. They go beyond what may have been okayed in the first place. Their mentality is, once it’s done, it’s too late to stop them. You’ll also find those doing the development coming from somewhere else and not really a part of your community. So they don’t really care. All they care about is who is paying them to do it and then they will be long gone. And the community will be left holding the bag with any other future problems.
~ Katt Rudd, San Francisco resident and frequent Tahoe visitor, via Facebook
They Say It Is Good For Us
Too big, too tall. Won’t see mountains, trees, sky, at all.
Stars will be gone. Moon shadows disappear.
Sky is not clear. Mostly this I do fear.
Cut more trees.
Less birds, deer, and bees.
More lights, cars, and traffic. Let’s not back it.
Good for the town, I doubt it.
People pay more and our costs go up, but they say it will not empty our cups.
In the name of progress, they say it is good for us.
Even though it’s always a bust.
Something has to go there but not for lust.
For people who don’t live here to pad their trusts.
~ Glenn Polochko, Truckee resident, via Facebook
In response to Publisher’s Note, Appetite for Destruction
No NIMBYism
I think that stiff fines for littering (and actual enforcement of those fines) would go a long way. Especially during busy weekends and holidays, adopting a leave no trace policy for the most sensitive areas, such as beaches, would also help with the trash problem. Additional suggestions involve having paid staff to collect trash off the streets (right now that is done solely by volunteers), banning plastic bags entirely, and mandating compostable or reusable takeout containers at all cafes and restaurants. There is a lot that we can do without NIMBYism and the “I’ve got mine, but you can’t come here” attitude expressed in this article.
~ Zina Semenovskaya, Truckee resident, via Facebook
In response to Shine On, Assholes with Wings
Yellow Jacket Horror Story
Last week, I stepped on a yellow jacket nest on the ground under pine needles. I had no idea until I felt an intense pain on my ankle, looked down, and was covered with the nasty buggers. Got over a dozen stings which hurt for several hours and are still itching like crazy. They are horrible! It was a scary experience, not to mention painful as all get out. Feeling a sudden intense pain and looking down at my bare legs, seeing dozens of them swirling about and stinging. The pain lasted for several hours, the itch for another couple weeks. We’ve lived in the same house in Prosser Heights for 28 years and I’d never had anything close to that happen. I had NO idea that they had nests in the ground under pine needles until this happened. I was looking for our missing cat, up in the trees when I inadvertently stepped on the nest. I looked them up online and they were definitely yellow jackets. The kind that fly around and pester us in the summer but we mostly don’t think that much about them. I sure do now! And would love to spare anyone else having similar misfortune.
~ Mina Shoop, Truckee resident, via Facebook
