Archive - Aug 2012 - News Article
August 10th
Digital 395 finally broke ground in Mono County this week, as workers began boring underground to form a
tunnel that will carry the 563-mile-long, high-speed digital cable through the Bridgeport area and other sensitive areas, joining a project that will eventually lay cable from Carson City to Mojave.
âIf the weather holds, we hope to get to the California/Nevada border by winter,â project proponent Praxis Associates CEO Michael Ort told the Mono County Board of Supervisors Tuesday.
âWeâre hiring,â he said, words that were music to county supervisor ears.
Members of the Eastern Sierra Land Trust will host a family exploration of the nature in and around the ESLTâs Crowley Hilltop Preserve tomorrow (Saturday).
The event is scheduled for 9 a.m. to 11 a.m.
The property hosts five different species of conifer tree species, great views, and important wildlife habitat for bears, deer, and many other animals.
Learn the plants, play games, look for animal tracks and signs, drink pine needle tea, and make nature art.
Mammoth High School students from the Advanced Culinary Arts class received high school units and college units through Kern Community College district last semester through articulation, school officials said.
Articulation is a way for high school students to earn college credit as they build career and technical education skills. A high school student can receive credit if they earn an A or B in their high school course(s) which have been aligned with a college course.
Mono County Supervisors voted Tuesday to backfill a gap in senior services that will allow Inyo County to continue to offer the current level of services to seniors for the remainder of the fiscal year (June 2013).
Mono County will continue to subcontract with Inyo County, which will continue to administer the contract under the stateâs direction.
Inyo and Mono counties were operating under a joint agreement to provide senior services, but that agreement broke down last year and now, Inyo County, whose senior population dwarfs Monoâs senior population, administers the entire program.
The Mammoth Unified School District issued a press release Thursday stating after months of negotiations with the teachersâ association, it and the Mammoth Education Association have jointly decided to declare impasse in their negotiations.Â
âLike all school districts throughout the state, Mammoth Unified has been forced to make deep budget cuts, which significantly compromises its ability to satisfy the teachersâ requests,â the press release stated. Â
 Thereâs only room for two in the ongoing June Mountain boxing match.
Mono County found neither precedent nor legal language it can use to put pressure on Mammoth Mountain Ski Area to keep June Mountain Ski Area open this winter. The special use permit MMSA operates under gives almost all of the discretionary power with the U.S. Department of Agricultureâs U.S. Forest Service.
In addition, MMSA does not believe it is out of compliance with its special use permit with the Inyo National Forest.
Analysts examining the body of June Mountain Ski Area this week found a faint pulse.
June Mountain is still slated for closure this winter, but the Mono County Board of Supervisors committed to supporting the community with at least $100,000 in âbridgeâ money to help it survive this coming winter.
At the meeting, it was clear that at least some community members and political leaders expect June Mountain to close this winter.
âWe need someone with some serious money to come in and do it very soon, and I havenât seen that yet,â said Juneâs County Supervisor Vikki Bauer Wednesday.
Mammoth Unified School District board officials said Tuesday they laid off several district employees in an attempt to lessen an impending $800,000 or more anticipated budget deficit next year.
Four positions were cut from the âclassifiedâ (non-certificated) employees rosterâa full-time custodian, a full-time bus driver/custodian, a part-time PE teacher and a part-time yard duty aide, district officials said.
These four people have been notified of the decision, triggering a 45-day stay, and will be laid off after that 45 days has passed, later this fall.
August 8th
The Eastern Sierra region of California, along with much of the western United States, is suffering from serious drought conditions. As a result of the lack of water and moisture, plants and shrubs are less productive and local wildlife are finding a shortage of natural forage and food.
The black bear populations of the Sierra Nevada rely upon plants and shrubs to survive. A shortage of native food sources for these animals is forcing bears to seek alternative food sources, including human food and trash.
As part of a National and State parks tour from California to Colorado, Rangeelay Theatre ensemble presents INâTents at 11 a.m. at Mono Lake Scenic Area Visitor Center and 4:30 p.m. at the Mammoth Lake Welcome Center, in the Forest Service Amphitheather.
INâTents is a fun and educational family show. Through hilarious misadventures, park ranger Patricia Pinky and first time camper Chipotle learn how to camp, preserve and enjoy their natural spaces. The show is full of chaplin-esque physical comedy!
August 6th
By
Mike Gervais â Inyo Register Staff
A body found on Norman Clyde Peak this week is believed to belong to the man at the center of the second massive search effort in the Sierra backcountry in as many weeks.
At least three different hikers in three different locations had to be evacuated by Mono County Search and Rescue teams over the past weekend, following accidents that caused minor injuries.
On Friday, August 3, 2012, at approximately 8:00 pm, Mono County Sheriffâs Department Dispatch received a call regarding the report of a missing 11-year old girl from the Mountain View, CA area.
The lack of snow on the Sierra and the hot summer temperatures have significantly impacted surface water availability to the Mammoth Lakes community. Typically, the mountain snowpack functions as a reservoir of fresh water during our dry summers; however, this winterâs snowpack left little water to feed the lakes and creeks during the summer and replenishing summer rains have also been absent.
The Mammoth Lakes watershed is experiencing a roughly 1 in 20 year drought condition due to the meager winter.
On Wednesday, August 1st, and, Thursday, August 2nd, 2012, the Mono County Narcotics Task Force (MONET), with the assistance of the Mono County Sheriffâs Department, the Mammoth Lakes Police Department, and the Inyo County Narcotics Task Force (INET), made seven narcotics related arrests.
