Archive - Jun 2012 - News Article
June 29th
There is no shortage of gloom in June Lake.
When Mammoth Mountain Ski Area announced last week (June 21) that it would close down the June Mountain ski area at least until the end of the 2012-13 ski season, the reaction was swift and tense.
“I think it’s been pretty clear the entire eight years since I was elected that this is exactly what I have been working to avoid,” said June Lake’s county supervisor, Vikki Bauer.
Rusty Gregory knows people are not happy with him for closing June Mountain.
In the end, facing a loss of an average of $1.5 million a year, that wasn’t enough to stop him.
“Personally, I’m incredibly disappointed as well,” he said. ” I realize that the people in June are shocked and very disappointed, and angry with me. But the idea of subsidizing June without a view of an end result is not sustainable.”
He also said skier visits have gone from an average of 80,000 per season to 45,000 last season.
After a massive effort to remove the downed trees felled by the giant windstorm last year, the Reds Meadow Shuttle Service is scheduled to begin this week on Friday, June 29.
By
George Shirk - Times News Editor
One of the more interesting bear seasons in years has begun in Mammoth, and Wildlife Specialist Steve Searles said their habitat is remaining intact, more or less.
They’re scrawny, however, and hungry.
“The drought this year means it’s going to be busier,” he said in his monthly bear report. “The bears are going to run out of natural foods and will be more likely to try to get into human food.”
He said people in Mammoth are going to notice some skinnier bears, but “The Bear Whisperer” said he is urging that people “can’t give in to feeding them.”
Mammoth police as of Thursday afternoon were still looking for the perpetrator of four burglaries that happened in the course of two days.
They identified 27-year-old Cameron Jeffrey Puckett, a transient, as the leading suspect, and distributed photos of him. One of the photos, in black and white, shows Puckett during the commission of the burglary, police said.
They also said he dropped his mobile phone at one of the sites.
By
George Shirk - Times News Editor
The Town of Mammoth Lakes Airport Commission still has a heartbeat.
So, too, does the Mobility Commission.
In spite of a cost-saving effort to combine the two governmental bodies, neither commission, nor the Town Council, found how to do it in advance of July 31, when new commissioners are to be seated.
In the whirlwind rush by the Town Council to complete a balanced budget, that small sub-drama took place one rung lower on the town government ladder.
Joel St. Marie (Mammoth Gallery), is the featured shutterbug at the Mono Inn all July, and we say check it out. He’s close to joining the front ranks of local photographers, some say, but we say he’s already there. …
At least some of the barriers put up last year to close illegal roads and routes on the Inyo National Forest have been torn out since the snow melted.
“Forest-wide, we think about 10 to 20 percent of the barriers have been damaged or removed,” said Marty Hornick, the forest’s travel management plan coordinator.
The Eastern Sierra was already bracing for a dry summer but the last few weeks of near constant wind has made things even worse.
It’s been windy almost every day for the past three weeks, stretching a pattern that usually occurs for one to two weeks in late May and early June to almost a month long event.
And the pattern responsible for creating the wind—two large high pressure systems to the far west over the Pacific Ocean and another one over the Midwest—shows no signs of weakening anytime soon, according to Dawn Fishler, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Reno.
A new magazine introducing readers to the wonders and activities of Mammoth and the Eastern Sierra appeared on the streets Friday.
Tucked into the June 29 issue of the Mammoth Times newspaper, the 72-page, tabloid-sized publication contains a comprehensive calendar for Fourth of July activities up and down the Eastside, from Independence in the south to Walker and Coleville in the north.
June 22nd
Effective today, June 25, the Bureau of Land Management is implementing fire restrictions on all BLM-managed public lands within the Bishop Field Office boundary. At the same time, the U.S. Forest Service is implementing fire restrictions on the Inyo National Forest. The restrictions are in effect on all Inyo National Forest lands, including wilderness areas, and all Bureau of Land Management public lands managed by the Bishop Field Office.
Yosemite’s Tenaya Lake, once called “Lake of the Shining Rocks,” will sparkle even more brightly following major restoration efforts this summer to its east beach and surrounding wetlands and trails with funding provided by Yosemite Conservancy.
“Tenaya Lake has a captivating natural beauty that charms park visitors young and old alike,” said Mike Tollefson, president of the Yosemite Conservancy.
Value Sports is adding to their Bishop location with a new store in Mammoth Lakes at the Mammoth Luxury Outlet Mall. The new store will open June 28 at 3399 Main Street. As background on the owners behind the new store, Steve Hertzog opened his first sports shop, “Mammoth Sporting Goods” in 1976.
The first shop was on Main Street, but later moved to its current location at 452 Old Mammoth Rd. across from Vons. As the store was modernized and expanded, the name was recently changed to “Mammoth Outdoor Sports.”
A rattlesnake aversion training for dogs held in Swall Meadows earlier this month was successful, according to the area’s County Supervisor Duane “Hap” Hazard.
About 35 dogs, including two of Hazard’s, were trained to avoid rattlesnakes and Hazard said the private company that did the training, Natural Solutions, indicated an interest in coming back to the Eastern Sierra for more such clinics, if there is enough interest.
A local resident organized the event. The cost was $35 per dog. For more information, visit: www.rattle- snakeaversion.com.
Negotiations over the fate of the Whitmore Animal Shelter continue between the Town of Mammoth Lakes and Mono County, after the Town pulled out of the a joint agreement with the county to run the shelter in the face of its recently adopted budget (which cut its share of the funding).
The potential for Mammoth to declare bankruptcy is very real, said county supervisor Byng Hunt, but even if that were to happen, he believes the county and Town will find a way to keep the shelter open.
