Archive - Jul 2012
July 27th
By
George Shirk - Times News Editor
The track and field portion of the Olympic Games begin Sunday in London and for Mammoth Track Club athletes and their specialty disciplines, the four-year wait is just about over.
Morgan Uceny, in the womenâs 1,500 meters, Amy Hastings in the 10,000 meters and marathoner Meb Keflezighi all run on different days, most of them live but some on delayed broadcast.
Former Mammoth Track Club members Ryan Hall and Alistair Cragg, running for Ireland, also will run the marathon, on the final day of the Olympics on Aug. 12.
As much as 1.3 inches of rain fell in the Mammoth and Crowley area earlier this week, but it wasnât enoughâand it wasnât widespread enoughâto lessen the fire danger facing the region.
âIt would have to rain for a week, a good steady rain, to really change the situation,â said Mammoth Fire Department Marshall Thom Heller.
âThis rain did moisten the smaller fuels, like small branches, but if you look under any tree, itâs still dry.â
By
Wendilyn Grasseschi - Mammoth Times Staff Writer
When Lee Vining Elementary School teacher Anna Strathman agreed to help some of her students raise money to help June Mountain stay open by selling lemonade, she didnât know what to expect.
But within a few days, the students hand-delivered a $147 check to Rusty Gregory, the CEO of Mammoth Mountain Ski Area.
A few weeks later, they had collected another several hundred dollars, and as of this week, they show no signs of stopping.
July 26th
The mountain biking loop trails, the primary hiking trail, and the parking areas used to access the âPanorama Domeâ will be closed to the public beginning Wednesday, Aug. 1.
July 23rd
The round of thunderstorms yesterday and today brought some much-needed moisture to the areaâ and a few lightning strikes that set off some small fires.
So far, none of the strikes have resulted in fires that are threatening life or property in the Eastern Sierra.
Nancy Upham, the public information specialist with the Inyo National Forest, said the rain helped keep the fires that did start from spreading, and that crews have been working or monitoring all the fires.
July 20th
By
George Shirk - Times News Editor
The big bears are out of the mountains and back in the dumpsters. The second-year bears are scrambling around in their wake.
June Lake community members met with both Mammoth Mountain Ski Area CEO/June Mountain Ski Area owner Rusty Gregory and Inyo National Forest Supervisor Ed Armenta individually in the past week, but there is still no concrete answer as to June Mountainâs fate.
The spectre of a shuttered June Mountain ski area has spurred the June Lake community, but Connie Black, owner of the Double Eagle Resort and Spaâand now a member of the newly formed âKeep June Mountain Open Coalitionââsaid itâs still too soon to conclude what will happen.
By
George Shirk - Times News Editor
Services for Skip Harvey have been set for tomorrow (Saturday) at Canyon Lodge.
The service will begin at 3 p.m.
Harvey, who left an indelible mark on Mammoth as a restaurateur, ski instructor and, most recently, a town council member, died early Monday, according to town public information officer Stuart Brown.
âMayor Harvey had been battling cancer for several years,â Brown wrote in a press release Monday evening.
âFamily members and close friends were with Skip at the time of his passing.â
By
George Shirk - Times News Editor
Veteran bluesman Johnny Winter says he never wanted to be a rocker.
In spite of his 1970 best-selling rock album âJohnny Winter ⊠And,â featuring his brother, Edgar, Winter said he always was and always will be true to his first love: the blues.
âI wasnât really happy crossing over to rock ânâ roll,â he said in a telephone interview from Charlotte, N.C., where he was to perform that night.
âThat was my managerâs idea. Iâd rather not be doing it. At the time, the blues was kind of fading out, and he thought I should do more rock.
The annual White Mountain Research Station (now called White Mountain Research Center) Barcroft station open house held at the 12,500-feet high altitude research site on the flanks of White Mountain has been cancelled. However, the gate about two miles below the station will be open, cutting a few miles off the hike to the third highest peak in California, White Mountain peak, for that day (Mt. Whitney and Mt. Williamson are both higher).
Mono County now has a graffiti ordinance in the preliminary stages, after an incident near Crowley Lake sparked the areaâs county supervisor, Hap Hazard, to push for one.
The ordinance still has to pass through a second and third reading to become law. A few changes were made to an original ordinance proposed by county staff, mostly to protect property owners from too much liability and to protect minors that might be using or carrying a spray paint can for non-graffiti uses.
The final hurdles for the Digital 395 project have been nearly cleared, with one last appeal deadline and some last minute negotiations with Native American tribes still remaining, according to Michael Ort, the CEO for the private developer for the 563-mile long digital cable project that wills stretch from Mojave to Carson City.
âGroundbreaking on the Digital 395 project in Mono County is on schedule for the end of July, if I have to bring a pickaxe and start digging myself,â he said.
By
George Shirk - Times News Editor
âForgive me, Fido, but I really never thought about what you were doing back in there. I know itâs a spot you like, but Iâve never really followed you, except to holler at you for digging around in someoneâs yard.â
Fido made that âpulled-a-fast-oneâ grin on his puss.
âHey hey hey hey! Just look!â
Fido had dug some semi-straight furrows in the dirt. Not really dirt, actually, but Mammoth dirt. That is, some dirt, mostly pumice.
âWhat is this, Fido?â
âIt is my âField of Dreams.ââ
Our View: Skip Harvey
July 20, 2012
For the 52 years before he entered public life, people probably knew Skip Harvey as âthat guy with the smile on his face.â
âHere comes that guy with the smile on his face again,â people would say, and weâd notice they walked with a little more bounce to their steps just for having him pass by.
Matthew Lehman got to know Skip on the night that guy with a smile on his face rode his motorcycle cross-country to a party. âWhat a cool guy,â Lehman says he remembered thinking.