Four changes to the Mammoth Times staff were announced this week by publisher and editor-in-chief Aleksandra Gajewski.
George Shirk, currently news editor of the Times and Managing Editor of Mammoth Sierra Magazine, was named Managing Editor across the suite of the newspaper company’s publications.
Concurrently, Tiffany Tyree was named business manager, while Lesley-Anne Hoxie was named business assistant/classified sales representative. Finally, Alex Garcia assumes the duties of editorial assistant.
As soon as the Thanksgiving leftovers have been put away, a parade of Christmastime entertainment steps into center stage.
Twirling the golden baton are the holiday-themed movies more heartwarming than hot cocoa, and Christmas carols endlessly streaming on the radio. Oh, and that’s just the beginning!
A majority of yuletide stories are based on Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol.” The protagonist doesn’t believe in the Christmas spirit until he is confronted with his own cynicism, and has to inspire Christmas joy in others.
A “no shooting” ordinance covering the Conway Ranch property has been amended and shooting, camping, snowmobiling and night time use will soon be allowed on the property after raising little resistance at a Tuesday Mono County Board of Supervisors meeting.
Mono County owns the Conway Ranch, a scenic swathe of open space at the base of Conway Summit, and had put in place rules prohibiting these activities when it bought the property more than a decade ago.
The fate of Dog Sled Adventures is still in limbo after an emotional exchange between the county supervisors Tuesday that ended—once again and after years of waffling—in no action.
Stuart Brown, the affable Aussie who for four years has served as the regional commissioner of AYSO youth soccer, announced this week he is leaving his post.
“Hopefully, you’re leaving something in better shape than when you started,” he said.
Brown, 46, served two terms and earned respect and kudos from the players as well as the AYSO Board of Directors.
A private aquaculture group that had hoped to create a commercial fish hatchery on Mono County property on the Conway Ranch has filed a claim for more than $4 million in past and future damages against the county, according to the county.
Inland Aquaculture Group, headed by John Frederickson, has been trying to make a viable fishery at the site, with the county’s blessing, for the past several years.
But in the past few years, the relationship between the county and IAG has soured.
Holidays, Santa arrive Saturday
June Lake joins the holiday festivities tomorrow (Saturday) with its annual “Tree & Village Lighting Celebration.”
The tree lighting is at 5 p.m in the Village, but holiday partyers can come early for appetizers at Sierra Crest Realty, beginning at 3 p.m., and stay late for music and dancing at the Sierra Inn, along with a bit of Christmas caroling, too.
Ken and Flossie ‘surprised and very honored
The Mammoth Lakes Rotary Club this week named Ken and Flossie Coulter as the first-ever recipients of the “Service Above Self” award.
The award is presented to an individual or couple who model the motto through their actions in providing outstanding service to our community, said Rick Phelps, president of the noon Rotary.
The Mammoth Ice Rink is scheduled to open today (Friday) at 11:30 a.m., the town’s recreation department announced.
An outdoor facility located at 416 Sierra Park Road adjacent to the Mammoth Lakes Library, the rink once again will offer public skating sessions, hockey clinics, pick-up hockey, Friday night lessons, and is available for rental.
A “Skate with Santa” goes off on Thursday, Dec. 20, between 5:30 p.m. and 8 p.m.
Yes, Virginia Lakes, there is a Santa Claus. That would be Greg Newbry. Not that you’d know it, but that was Newbry out there in the beard and the red suit in the cold night at the Town Christmas Tree Lightinglast week, for the 37th straight year. …
By
George Shirk - Times Managing Editor
Faced with few hot-button issues more searing than single-family home rentals, the Mammoth Lakes Planning Commission on Wednesday took a giant leap ⊠sideways.
Splitting their votes in a rare display of discord, the commission voted, 3-2, to push the issue directly to the Town Council, but only after the overburdened town staff can complete more research into the ages-old issue.
In addition, the five-member commission decided that any work on the issue should not begin until after the current winter ski and snowboard season.
By
George Shirk - Times Managing Editor
A new medical marijuana dispensary is in the pipeline for Mammoth.
It is called âThe Eastern Sierra Life Cooperative,â owned by Mammoth resident Don Wright.
It is to open in the space formerly occupied by âGreen Mammoth Medical Marijuana Dispensaryâ in the KMMT building on Laurel Mountain Road.
The Mammoth Lakes Planning Commission on Wednesday unanimously passed the application, giving Mammoth its second medical marijuana operation.
By
Wendilyn Grasseschi â Mammoth Times Staff Writer
Undersheriff Ralph Obenberger was unanimously appointed as Mono County Sheriff by the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday, Dec. 11, and sworn in on the same day by Superior Court Judge Stan Eller.
Obenbergerâs term will end in two years, at which point the seat will be up for an election.
He will begin serving on the evening of Dec. 20, after Sheriff Richard âRickâ Scholl officially retires.
The Mammoth Times interviewed Obenberger prior to his swearing in.
MT: What do you think are the top three law enforcement challenges facing Mono County in the next two years?
By
Wendilyn Grasseschi â Mammoth Times Staff Writer
Garbage dumping fees are about to go up next year after the countyâs supervisors voted Tuesday to raise rates a few dollars, or eight percent, a month per ton of garbageâfrom $68.50 a ton to $74 a ton for municipal wasteâbeginning in January. Rates for construction debris will also go upâfrom $50 a ton to $74 a tonâa 48 percent increase. Dumping fees for organic waste, such as tree branches, lawn clippings, etc., will no longer be free and will now cost $5 per load.
By
george Shirk - Times News Editor
Mammothâs foray into heating its streets got its first test late last month.
A thermal sheet under Lakeview Boulevard at Lake Mary Roadâthe notorious âVoodoo Chuteââclicked into action, with mixed results.
The snowfall, from a wet storm that began on Thursday, Nov. 29, and stretched into the following Sunday, dropped several inches of glop onto the steep, one-block incline.
