Archive - 2012
October 26th
By
George Shirk - Times News Editor
Public support for Proposition 30, which would funnel $494,734 into Mammothâs schools and $2.4 million into Eastside schools, appears to be running out of gas.
In new findings released Wednesday by the Public Policy Institute of California, with support from The James Irvine Foundation, likely voters in California are sharply divided over Prop. 30, Gov. Jerry Brownâs tax measure to fund education, with just under half now supporting it.
When the ballot for Prop. 30 was first introduced, 48 percent said they would vote yes, 44 percent would vote no, and 8 percent were undecided.
A group of (apparently) non-local labor union organizations appealed an Oct. 11 decision by the Mono County planning commission to allow an expansion of Ormat Pacificâs Casa Diablo geothermal plantâs energy-generating capacity.
The appeal sends the project to the county supervisors for a final decision in November.
The project has been on the countyâs plate for years. It has already passed through the planning commission and through the environmental review process, and was expected to have been implemented by now, according to county officials.
By
George Shirk - Times News Editor
Town Manager Dave Wilbrecht said heâs had it up to here in trying to convince skeptical Mammoth residents that Marianna Marysheva-Martinez is worth her weight in gold.
âWe donât really talk about this very much,â Wilbrecht said near the end of last weekâs four-hour marathon Town Council meeting. âMaybe we should.â
Marysheva-Martinez, the assistant town manager, became the townâs budget analyst in the first round of budget crises that affected Mammothâs crazy-quilt finances in February 2011.
By Mike Gervais
Inyo Register staff writer
Special to the Times
Los Angeles Department of Water and Power officials filed a federal lawsuit Oct. 12 to force the Great Basin Unified Air Pollution Control District to halt what the department is calling Great Basin’s “systematic and unlawful issuance of water-wasting orders to L.A.’s customers,” related to dust mitigation on Owens Lake.
The second snowstorm of the seasonâand the first significant oneâdumped almost two feet of snow on Mammoth Mountain ski area this week and gave a much needed boost to local spirits, even as warmer temperatures backed slowly into the area by Friday.
The storm was a true, old-fashioned winter stormâa three-day spree of icy temperatures that dropped the thermometer into the 20s, sprinklers that froze in mid-summer action, and biting, gusty winds that slammed snow across slick and icy roads and shut down every pass in the region.
Eastside residents couldnât be happier.
With only a week and a half to go before the cliffhanger of this 2012 presidential election finally comes to an end on Nov. 6, Monday marked the last day to register to vote in Mono County.
Many people have already voted.
Early voting ballots are currently trickling in. Mono County officials said the county has received 949 mail-in ballots so farâabout a fifth of the countyâs total of 5,492 registered voters.
âI got the Canât-Waits!â
âFido, move over, will you? I want to get this travel case stored properly, you know?â
âI know weâre going somewhere,â Fido panted. âWhere could it possibly be?â
âThatâs the beauty of this kind of a road trip, Old Man. With really nothing on my mind and nowhere in particular to go, why donât you tell me, for a change?â
âI want to go to the Biscuit Capital of America!â
âWhere the heck is that?â
October 25th
A tiny earthquake, measuring 2.7 on the Richter scale, took a swipe at Mammoth Thursday morning. The normal rule of thumb is that it takes a 3.0 mg quake to feel it.
No damage or injuries were reported.
The mini-quake rolled through at 9:12 a.m., at a depth of 4.9 miles. The epicenter was one mile East-Southeast of Mammoth.
The Mammoth Lakes dining scene will change dramatically this winter with the opening of "Campo Mammoth", the newest offering by acclaimed chef Mark Estee, according to a news release issued by Mammoth Mountain Ski Area Wednesday night.
With Campo Reno named one of Esquireâs best new restaurants in America, the new Mammoth location, in the old Hyde space, will introduce Esteeâs commitment to organic and seasonal ingredients as well as an emphasis on items that lend themselves well to families and to skiers and boarders in search of aprĂšs ski fare.
October 24th
October 23rd
Yosemite National Park Rangers and Search and Rescue Personnel completed a high angle, high risk rescue on El Capitan, in Yosemite Valley, on Monday, October 22, 2012, in which a stranded Canadian climber was at risk for hypothermia. The summit of El Capitan, 7,569 feet above sea level, is the largest granite monolith in the world. This Yosemite icon attracts rock climbers from across the globe.
October 19th
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On Sept. 27, the Inyo National Forest sent a âletter of non-complianceâ to Mammoth Mountain Ski Area, putting the ski area on notice that leaving June Mountain closed indefinitely was not acceptable.
The letter gave MMSA until Oct. 15 to respond. This week, it did, said Jon Reggelbrugge, the district ranger for the Mammoth and Mono Lake districts.
âMMSA met the deadline and submitted an operating plan,â he said. âWe are reviewing that plan. We may request some changes as we have some questions about some aspects.â
As Mammoth struggles to retain control of water rights to Mammoth Creek, yet another lawsuit by the City of Los Angeles Department of Water and Power hit the region late last week. DWP filed a lawsuit against the Bishop-based state air pollution control district over dust control efforts on the Owens Lake.
Now, both agencies share an unwilling kinshipâMammoth is already deeply embroiled in a separate tussle with DWP, after DWP announced it would sue the Mammoth Community Water District for contested water rights to Mammoth Creek late last year.
It was 1 a.m. when we woke up from a rough and restless nap on the hard ground and stumbled to our feet.
The moon had just come up over the sharp and spired ridges of Mt. Tom to the south and it shone through the elegant, black lodgepole pines like silver water.
But we were in no mood for its beauty, even though we had been waiting for it to rise over the ridge since a 10 p.m. break, when black night had descended into the deep gorge of Pine Creek Canyon.
By
By Wendilyn Grasseschi/Mammoth Times Staff Writer
Itâs a scenario most of us living in the Eastern Sierra have thought of at least once.
Itâs a dark winter day, cold and snowy. The ground begins to shake, houses rattle and shudder. This is no 3.5 or 4.2 magnitude earthquakeâthis is serious.
The roads buckle and access to Mammoth is disrupted in both directions.
The lights go outâand stay out. There is no electricity for a few days. No electricity means no cell phones, no Internet, no television, no heat, no restaurants, and no grocery stores with unlimited refrigeration or supplies.
