Archive - 2013
April 3rd
“My sniffer is working again!” Fido yelled.
“Pray tell, my big fine fellow,” said I.
“It’s like someone just flipped the ‘on’ switch! Don’t you sense all these fine whiffs?”
“Human aren’t that tuned in to sniffs, like dogs.”
“That’s too bad. Let’s go over here! No! Over here! No! Over there!”
April 1st
A below average snowpack and unseasonably warm temperatures are rapidly changing the mix of recreation opportunities on the Mammoth and Mono Lake Ranger Districts. Excellent skiing conditions remain above 8500 feet, including skiing opportunities at Mammoth Mountain and Tamarack Cross Country Ski Areas. However, lower elevations and areas further from the Sierra Crest are seeing signs of an early spring. Recreation opportunities usually pursued in the summer months, such as, hiking, off-highway vehicle riding and mountain biking are quickly becoming available.
It doesn’t sound appetizing to us humans, but the Mammoth Community Water District wastewater treatment plant has proven irresistible to local critters—and that has created a problem for the water district.
The wastewater treatment plant contains large, open pit water treatment pools—and a banquet of alluring smells and a steady supply of fats and grease.
It is thus a popular spot for local animals, particularly bears and ravens, presenting a unique challenge for the district.
By
George Shirk, Times Managing Editor
Searles cautions motorists in Mammoth area
The Round Valley deer herd is on the move near the Mammoth-Yosemite Airport, signaling the start of the spring migration, according to wildlife specialist Steve Searles.
While the migration is far from full speed, Searles told the Mammoth Town Council on March 20 that conditions are starting to be more conducive for the herd, which numbers up to 3,000 animals.
As Vice President, he will oversee Human Resources
Mammoth Mountain Ski Area CEO Rusty Gregory announced this week Ron Cohen has been promoted to the position of Vice President, Human Resources and Administration.
This newly created job adds the critical function of Human Resources to Cohen’s existing portfolio of responsibilities, Gregory said in a news release.
The lineup for next August’s Bluesapaloozais in, with Joan Osborneand John Hammondheadlining, along with a spate of other wowsers. Festival is Aug 1-4in case you forgot. ...
New at Mammoth Mountain is brand-man Neil Sogard, a veteran ski industry insider, whose brother, Eric, just so happens to be a second baseman for the Oakland Athletics. …
March 29th
The Inyo National Forest surrounds the entire town of Mammoth Lakes and contains almost all of the Eastern Sierra within its borders, including most of the trails, roads, ski resorts and other recreational facilities locals and visitors use.
That is why revising an old management plan for the forest, which is underway as of this month, is such a big undertaking—and that is why forest officials are asking for public input about how to do it, with a public meeting on April 4 in Bishop.
By
George Shirk, Times Managing Editor
Ross wins at Squaw, Mancuso third
Mammoth Olympic ski racer Stacey Cook ran a great race last week at Squaw Valley, but came up short by the merest of margins.
Racing on Friday, March 22, Cook crossed the line just one one-hundreth of a second behind winner Laurenne Ross.
Veterans show up big in penultimate race
Some might say winter disappears with the vernal equinox, others may pinpoint Easter.
But in Mammoth, spring doesn’t happen until the racers in the Village Championships are through with their business, and that means April 10 this year.
April 6 barbeque marks seven years since Mammoth tragedy
It has been seven years, but for those who were in Mammoth on that day, April 6 will always be indelibly—and tragically—marked.
By
George Shirk, Times Managing Editor
Perfect conditions for Sixth Annual race
While Eastern Sierra and California athletes filled the Mammoth Biathlon racing rosters, a pair of elite athletes from New Hampshire and Washington dominated the top tier of the competition last weekend.
Katrina Howe, a New England biathlete, and Casey Smith, from Winthrop, Wash., took the top elite spots on Sunday, March 24, at the sixth annual Mammoth Winter Biathlon.
A large high-pressure ridge is breaking down
Just in time for spring, winter weather could come back.
For the past three months, almost every storm heading to the Eastern Sierra didn’t.
Instead, blocked by a persistent and massive high-pressure ridge, the storms have funneled east, keeping California high and dry and giving the Great Plains and eastern United States a winter to remember.
Last Friday’s terrible air quality was due to a huge dust storm that arose in China’s Gobi Desert
Last Friday, the Mammoth Times stated on its website that the poor air that day was due to a prescribed burn near Tom’s Place.
It seemed the logical explanation, since we had just received a press release about the burn that morning.
MMSA now says land trade is on backburner, residents push back
Some June Lake residents are still frustrated over June Mountain Ski Area’s uncertain future and they were not assuaged this past week when they discovered that a proposed land trade had been assigned to a Congressional committee for review—without their knowing.
Hoop dreams
April 3, 2013
There is a timeworn basketball strategy that is as simple to understand as it is hard to execute:
Play to your strengths, cover your weaknesses.
Reduced to that formula, basketball is easy to grasp, except when it’s not.
We’ve been thinking about that during the past few weeks, and not just because of the NCAA Basketball Tournament. Rather, we’ve been thinking about it in terms of Mammoth, and Town Manager Marianna Marysheva-Martinez’s push for economic development.