Getting around in South Lake Tahoe is getting easier. Rides on "BlueGo," along bus routes 50 and 53 in South Lake Tahoe will be free for all riders till New Years Day. Just park and get through town on a bus.

Sparks Police have identified the suspect in an officer-involved shooting as Raymond Salaiz. Turns out Salaiz is one of two suspects in numerous hotel room thefts, and a case of first-degree arson at the Nugget Casino.

The arrest of a suspected burglar led to a three-hour standoff in Sparks last night. Police say a homeowner in the Express Street area west of Sparks Boulevard came home shortly before 6:00 Thursday evening and called police after he heard what sounded like voices in his home. Arriving officers spotted a man leaving the area through a side fence. Police chased him down and he claimed there were other armed suspects in the house. Police called out special weapons and tactics and the gang unit and tried to talk the suspects out of the home. Eventually, they went inside, searched it and found no one.

Schedulers for VA mental health services in the Las Vegas area altered wait time data in 2013, months before a national scandal erupted over similar practices at a VA hospital in Arizona, according to a long-delayed report by the agency’s inspector general. A report summary in the Las Vegas Review Journal, by the V-A’s Office of the Inspector General, published this week, did not conclude that the practices were a deliberate attempt to fool a tracking system of wait times. Workers at the clinic told investigators that patients who requested a mental health appointment on a day when none were available, were offered the next available appointment. In that case, the patient’s “desired appointment date” entered in the VA tracking system was listed as the date of the available appointment — even if it was months after the initial request – making it appear that the wait time was zero days.

The arrest of a suspected burglar led to a three-hour standoff in Sparks last night. Police say a homeowner in the Express Street area west of Sparks Boulevard came home shortly before 6:00 Thursday evening and called police after he heard what sounded like voices in his home. Arriving officers spotted a man leaving the area through a side fence. Police chased him down and he claimed there were other armed suspects in the house. Police called out special weapons and tactics and the gang unit and tried to talk the suspects out of the home. Eventually, they went inside, searched it and found no one.

Schedulers for VA mental health services in the Las Vegas area altered wait time data in 20-13, months before a national scandal erupted over similar practices at a VA hospital in Arizona, according to a long-delayed report by the agency’s inspector general. A report summary in the Las Vegas Review Journal, by the V-A’s Office of the Inspector General, published this week, did not conclude that the practices were a deliberate attempt to fool a tracking system of wait times. Workers at the clinic told investigators that patients who requested a mental health appointment on a day when none were available, were offered the next available appointment. In that case, the patient’s “desired appointment date” entered in the VA tracking system was listed as the date of the available appointment — even if it was months after the initial request – making it appear that the wait time was zero days.

The arrest of a suspected burglar led to a three-hour standoff for Sparks Police this evening. Sparks police say a homeowner in the Express Street area west of Sparks Boulevard came home shortly before 6:00 this evening and called police after he heard what sounded like multiple voices in his home, which should have been unoccupied. Arriving officers spotted a man leaving the area through a side fence. Police chased the man down and he told them there were other armed suspects in the house. Police called out special weapons and tactics and the gang unit and tried to talk the suspects out of the home. Eventually, they went inside, searched it and found no one. The suspect was carrying a backpack belonging to the homeowner when he ran, with a handgun of the homeowner inside. Police say the suspect will be charged with burglary and possibly with being an ex-felon in possession of a firearm.