Archive - May 2011
May 18th
On Saturday, May 14, the Mono County Sheriff volunteer Search and Rescue (SAR) Team was called out in aid of an injured backcountry skier. James McHugh, 38, of Lake Tahoe, was skiing with friends near the third pillar of Mt. Dana, a popular backcountry spring ski descent three miles northeast of Tioga Pass.
May 16th
By
Wendilyn Grasseschi - Times Staff Writer
When Jim O’Meally and Mario Aguilar open the doors to the Mono Inn for the first time in several years next Friday, it will be a dream come true.
O’Meally has loved the Mono Inn since he first played there as pianist while Sarah Adams ran the restaurant (the Ansel Adams family still owns the inn and its acreage).
Although he’s run and/or opened several restaurants and wine bars across the West, and played piano for the Awahnee hotel in Yosemite, it’s been the Eastern Sierra that has held his heart.
May 13th
One of Mono County’s fiercest defenders of the environment, Andrea Mead Lawrence, will likely have a nearby mountain named after her.
U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer and U.S. Rep. Howard P. “Buck” McKeon introduced on Monday the Mt. Andrea Lawrence Designation Act of 2011, which would name a mountain peak in Mono County “Mt. Andrea Lawrence” in honor and memory of Andrea Lawrence – a conservationist, three-time Olympian and former member of the Mono County Board of Supervisors who passed away in 2009.
Who wants to pick up dog poop in a blizzard? As it turns out, there was Suzanne Nottingham and just a very few others. The Great Dog Poop Pickup was rescheduled for 11 a.m. this coming Sunday (May 15) along Sherwin Creek Road. …
Speaking of cleanups, the Annual Town Cleanup Day has been moved up to June 11, sez Town Rec Manager Stuart Brown. ...
How many of us are here Up Here? New census figures show 8,237 Mammothites say this is their home, up six percent from the 7,093 measured in 2000. ...
By
George Shirk, Mammoth Times Senior Writer
As it turns out, we’re too high for our own good up here.
Not really, but when it comes to World Cup biathlon, Mammoth is way over the limit in terms of elevation regulations, according to Mammoth Winter Biathlon Director Mike Karch.
That does not take Mammoth out of the winter biathlon universe, by any stretch, he said.
But it might make it difficult if Mammoth has any designs on conducting a World Cup event.
May 10th
At approximately 2:00pm, on Tuesday, May 10, 2011, Mono County Sheriff’s Deputies received a call of a female, identified as Gwynneth Brimelow, age 48, of Lee Vining, CA, had possibly committed suicide. The reporting party stated they were missing a .45 caliber handgun and believed Ms. Brimelow had taken the weapon.
A woman who triggered a Code Red alert in Mono City this afternoon after she entered a home and was thought to be possibly armed has been removed from the home, according to Mono City resident Liz Holt.
The MT first heard about the incident at about 4:30 p.m. Tuesday.
One of Mono County's fiercest defenders of the environment, Andrea Mead Lawrence, will likely have a nearby mountain named after her.
U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer today introduced the Mt. Andrea Lawrence Designation Act of 2011, which would name a mountain peak in Mono County “Mt. Andrea Lawrence” in honor and memory of Andrea Lawrence – a conservationist, three-time Olympian and former member of the Mono County Board of Supervisors who passed away in 2009.
May 6th
By
Wendilyn Grasseschi - Times Staff Writer
There are times when a hike is just not a hike. It’s something else, maybe many things else; an adventure, a discovery, a meditation, a love song.
So it is with the hike up Hilton Creek in early May after the biggest winter on record; a winter when the Long Valley area received 195 percent of its normal snowfall.
The fact that most people don’t even know there is a Hilton Creek hereabouts only adds to this hike being a bit more of a mystery.
By
Diane Eagle, Times Editor
Christian Fuller has been in town for only a year.
Yet, he has made a lasting impression on many.
He’s a runner. He has coached young runners and entered races.
He has also introduced chess to people who never had thought of the game before.
He enjoys talking about the similarities between chess and running, and how chess, because it teaches concentration, can improve running.
“It can also improve one’s math understanding and performance, as well as reading,” Fuller said.
And, it might be said to improve life skills.
By
Wendilyn Grasseschi - Times Staff Writer
Jim Arken, Mono County’s human resources director for the past year, will serve as the county’s interim administrative officer (CAO) until a new CAO can be found, following the departure of Mono County CAO Dave Wilbrecht in early June.
Arken, 58, was chosen by the county board of supervisors over the past week and a half and his contract to serve as both the interim CAO and the human resources director was approved unanimously Tuesday.
He will serve alongside current CAO Dave Wilbrecht until Wilbrecht takes his new job as the Town manager for the Town of Mammoth Lakes.
By
George Shirk - Times Senior Writer
If there’s one thing that drives Mayor Skip Harvey nuts, it’s inefficiency.
He says he doesn’t allow it in his restaurant business (Base Camp Café), which operates – like most small businesses around here – with a razor-thin margin.
But when he looks over the landscape of the way the Town of Mammoth Lakes goes about its business, he said he sees unproductive, time-wasting practices everywhere.
“It’s part of being efficient, part of being a better town,” he said last week.
“You have to look at everything your town does in operations.
By
George Shirk - Times Senior Writer
It’s Mother’s Day on Sunday, and all over town you can hear it, feel it, and most of all, smell it.
It’s the sound of champagne corks popping out of bottles, soon to be mixed with ice-cold orange juice – the Mother’s Day Mimosa.
Sometimes in Mammoth, the decks become crowded with celebrants; sometimes not. This year might be a bit on the cool side.
Practically all the local restaurants have special brunches for the Moms. Eggs Benedict abound and the scent of hollandaise and poached eggs, Canadian bacon and fruit dishes permeate the air.
By
Wendilyn Grasseschi - Times Staff Writer
When retired Mammoth Lakes police officer Paul Dostie first picked up a wriggling black Labrador retriever puppy several years ago, he had no idea how much his life was about to change.
But this week, he’s in Washington, D.C. talking top names in the nation’s military and in Congress; he is working to bring attention to what has become a personal mission to help bring home America’s soldiers still “MIA,” or, missing in action.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR, May 13, 2011
May 13, 2011
GREAT SEASON FOR MAMMOTH REP
On behalf of the Mammoth Lakes Foundation and the Mammoth Lakes Repertory Theatre, I’d like to thank our guests and sponsors who made the 2010/2011 season at Edison Theatre a huge success! I am truly honored by the number of sold out nights and cannot express enough thanks to all of you.
All of our patrons were so gracious to our guest artists and made them feel at home in Mammoth. From Beau Bridges and his family to Gail Matthius and her improv group, everyone who performed at Edison Theatre is excited to return.