by Tahoe Daily Tribune | Oct 31, 2025 | Uncategorized
To the South Lake Tahoe Community:
With the successful completion of the first season of a two-year project to repave U.S. Highway 50 between the California/Nevada border at Stateline and Spooner Summit, the Nevada Department of Transportation would like to thank locals, residents and businesses throughout the South Shore area for your patience during construction.
The final day of season one, which started in April, has concluded and drivers now have two lanes open in each direction without construction zone traffic controls until spring of next year.
An effort of this magnitude required the collaboration of numerous agencies supported by the public’s cooperation. More than 5.5 miles was paved along the busiest section of the 13-mile stretch, beginning at the casino corridor through Stateline toward Spooner Summit.
Results to date include a revitalized and enhanced roadway and a smoother, safer drive for the approximately 26,000 drivers who travel the busy stretch of highway daily. Crews removed three inches of aging roadway surface and replaced it with new asphalt.
Other improvements included the installation of 15,000 feet of new roadside curb and gutter helping protect Lake Tahoe clarity by channeling stormwater into designated drainage systems; 13 miles of trenching to place over 228,000 feet of trunkline underground conduits for Intelligent Traffic Systems (ITS) fiber optic cable, which will integrate roadway cameras, road/weather information systems, traffic counters and flow detectors, automated chain/snow tire control signage, and more.
We’ve already heard from drivers who appreciate the smoother roadway surface. And we’ll be back next year to complete the project and will provide advance information for your planning. You can stay informed and receive project newsletters with travel and traffic change reminders. Email: us50tahoepaving@gmail.com or call 775-339-9664.
Thank you once again. We sincerely appreciate your support.
Jeffrey Freeman P.E
Resident Engineer Crew 911
The Nevada Department of Transportation Team
by Tahoe Daily Tribune | Oct 30, 2025 | Uncategorized
February 8, 1949 – October 21, 2025
Peggy Cooper Poindexter, born in Shamokin, PA on February 8, 1949, passed away on October 21, 2025 due to complications from a surgery related to a recent cancer diagnosis. Her husband of 47 years, Jeffry Poindexter, and daughter’s Allison Balin and Kathryn Lager, were by her side.
Peggy’s childhood was spent in Shamokin, PA and Arlington, VA where she was surrounded by a large family of beloved cousins, grandparents, her brother Gene, and her mother and father, Mary and Bill Cooper.
Peggy was a true believer in the power of education. She received her undergraduate degree in social science from Muhlenberg College in 1971. In 1978, she graduated from Cal State Long Beach, where she received her master’s degree in public administration.
She moved to Los Angeles is 1973 and was hired by the Air Force which was taking steps to bring women into professional roles. She entered a three-year financial management training program focused on the acquisition of major weapon systems at the Space and Missile Systems Organization. Throughout her illustrious career she continued to take on increasingly complex positions in the Department of Defense and in the intelligence community. She left the federal government in 1998 to work with NASA on the Earth Observation System. She ended her career at the National Geospatial Intelligence Agency where she retired as a Senior Executive and internationally recognized expert on Earned Value Management for software intensive systems. She was a pioneer in her field and for women in the Department of Defense.
In 1976, she met Jeff Poindexter and they were married on Oct 14, 1978 at the Presidio in San Francisco, CA. Peggy and Jeff lived a life filled with close friends, great food, and travel. Peggy was an accomplished home cook who spread her immense warmth and love through her memorable meals. She was an unbelievably caring and inspiring mom, who, despite a demanding career, was always there for her daughters and engaged in their many extracurricular activities and interests. She instilled in them her passion for cuisine, showing them how great food and beverage can add zest to everyday life. She was a devoted wife to Jeff. Their marriage was one of true partnership and respect.
Upon their retirement, Peggy and Jeff moved from Virginia to Incline Village, NV. Peggy was very active in her community, most recently as President of AAUW where she spearheaded many of their current scholarship initiatives and launched their cooking club.
Peggy can best be described as a kind and generous women, who beyond everything else, cherished her family, supported everything they did, and after the death of her parents, became the matriarch of her extended family.
She is survived by Jeff, Kathryn, and Allison, as well as her son-in-law’s Aaron Lager and Nikita Balin, and her grandchildren, Forest and Nico Lager, and Billie and Vinny Balin (due on Dec 9th). Her family will host a celebration of her life in Incline Village at Burnt Cedar Beach on Sunday, November 2nd at 11AM.
by Tahoe Daily Tribune | Oct 30, 2025 | Uncategorized
Open Letter to District Attorney Vern Pierson: Demand for Justice in the Tamara Wallace Scandal
Dear District Attorney Pierson,
We, the undersigned residents of the Lake Tahoe Community, write as a region battered by betrayal, our trust in local institutions shattered by a judiciary that has shielded corruption for more than two decades. The Tamara Wallace scandal—now national news in the Los Angeles Times, San Francisco Chronicle, Sacramento Bee, New York Post and others—is not a singular failing but the rotten fruit of a judicial system that all too often protects the criminal while leaving regular citizens unprotected. More than $360,000 was stolen from Lake Tahoe Community Presbyterian Church, funds meant for local and global ministries, by the same woman who confessed to a $122,000 theft in 2006 yet faced only a civil footnote and unpaid debt. This is not justice deferred; it is justice denied, and it demands your uncompromising action.
The Lake Tahoe Community suffers when council member scandals ripple across tourism, environmental boards, and other agencies of “public trust”, while citizen concerns and voices are dismissed as outsiders by regional political insiders and stakeholders.
The facts are stark and shameful. In 2006, Wallace admitted in writing to grand theft exceeding California’s felony threshold (Penal Code §487) by a hundredfold, yet El Dorado County’s legal and judicial system allowed it to languish as a promissory note and a 2021 small claims case (SC20210079). No charges, no conviction—nothing to bar her from public office under Government Code §1021. Had Tamara Wallace been prosecuted for criminal theft, she would not have joined South Lake Tahoe’s City Council in 2018, become mayor, and embezzled over $360,000 from the church from 2018 to 2025.
Adding fuel to the fire, on October 21, 2025, the council appointed Cody Bass interim mayor despite his September arrest for misdemeanor trespassing, harassment, prior nonpayment of taxes, and refusing public calls for censure. This perpetuates the cycle of impunity that has enabled Wallace, fueled by California’s lax laws (Elections Code §348) and your office’s failure to pursue felonies, allowing serious crimes to be downgraded to mere civil matters for more than 20 years.
Decades of corruption and a failed judiciary have left the community scarred, trust shattered, businesses struggling, and hundreds of thousands of dollars missing.
This pattern—Wallace’s unpunished 2006 theft, her persistent non-compliance with required restoration of funds, her 2025 embezzlement and grand theft, Bass’s unchecked rise despite repeated legal troubles—exposes systemic rot and demands immediate vetting reform. Local alliances and insider deals breed conflicts that erode public trust and strong-arm overdevelopment. Wallace’s retention of Steven C. Bailey, an ex-judge censured in 2019 for ethics deepens the stench of cronyism.
How can our community trust a system where the same players evade accountability repeatedly while citizens pay the price? Will your office finally rise to the occasion and do what is right here by charging Tamara Wallace with the maximum embezzlement count possible and demanding solid jail time? We demand justice that serves the entire Lake Tahoe Community.
We call for immediate action:
· File Felony Charges Without Delay: Prosecute the 2025 embezzlement (PC §503/§487) and aggregate it with the 2006 theft as a pattern of fraud, securing full restitution ($470,000+) and a five-year office ban. No plea deals—let a jury decide.
· Appoint an Independent Special Prosecutor: Recuse your office under Government Code §12550 to eliminate bias. We call on Attorney General Rob Bonta to oversee if conflicts persist.
· Advocate Systemic Reform: Push for mandatory criminal background checks and felony disclosures for candidates handling finances, amending Elections Code §348. Support victims like the church through expedited restitution funds.
The Lake Tahoe Community deserves a DA who enforces the law, not one who turns a blind eye to corruption. Mr. Pierson, we ask today for your prompt and unequivocal public commitment to these urgently needed actions; the nation watches, and history will record your response.
Sincerely, On Behalf of Concerned Citizens of the Lake Tahoe Community
J. Brett Tibbitts, Lake Tahoe resident
Dana Tibbitts, Lake Tahoe resident
Mark Mohr, Lake Tahoe resident
Linda Mohr, Lake Tahoe resident
Alan Miller, PE, Lake Tahoe resident
Robyn Johnson, Lake Tahoe resident
Kent Johnson, Lake Tahoe resident
Marlenda Bryant, Lake Tahoe resident
Patricia Morgan, Lake Tahoe resident
Andy Huckbody, Lake Tahoe resident
Greg Hansen, California Civil Defense Institute
Robert Aaron, Lake Tahoe resident, small business owner
Elisabeth Lernhardt, Lake Tahoe resident
Diane Becker, Lake Tahoe resident
Stebbin Rinehart, Lake Tahoe resident
