Archive - 2013 - News Article
May 9th
By
George Shirk, Times Managing Editor
Sharp reaction to budget shortfall projection
Two members of the Mammoth Town Council last week were sharply critical of Town Manager Marianna Marysheva-Martinez following the revelation that the town would face a budget shortfall of $562,527 in the next fiscal year.
“You can count me in the category of being both frustrated and confused, as some other people have expressed,” said council member John Eastman at the Town Council meeting on May 1.
By
George Shirk, Times Managing Editor
First-ever partnership would begin July 1
The Mammoth Lakes Chamber of Commerce would be absorbed by Mammoth Lakes Tourism under a plan that both entities approved this past week.
The merger, unprecedented in Mammoth, would result in the creation of a $75,000-a-year chamber executive who would report directly to MLT’s director, John Urdi.
Funds for the new position, Urdi said, would come from business license tax money.
By
George Shirk, Times Managing Editor
Collections could begin Aug. 1
The push to establish a so-called “Tourism Business Investment District” (TBID) hit the road in earnest this week, according to John Urdi, the leader of Mammoth Lakes Tourism.
Beginning with an Open House scheduled for Thursday, May 9, at Rafters on Old Mammoth Road, the TBID’s six-step march forward could result in $4.7 million in annual collections beginning as early as Aug. 1.
May 8th
Maverick Signs donates an identity
The Mammoth Lakes Police Department, occupying a former retail store on Old Mammoth Road since 1986, has a new name.
The sign on the building at 568 Old Mammoth Road had a sign identifying it as the “Police Department,” but never which police department.
The oversight has stuck in the craw of Chief Dan Watson.
Haul away your old, working refrigerator or freezer for free with SCE’s trade-in program and get cash back.
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nCut your energy use in half with a new, energy-efficient model—a savings of up to $105 per year
nSave up to $180 per year by disposing of a spare
Mammoth’s Festival of Beers and Bluesapalooza promises an incomparable lineup of musical talent and a grand tasting of craft brews from around the country beginning Aug.1 through Aug. 4 outdoors among the pines at Sam’s Wood Site in Mammoth Lakes.
Reds Meadow plowing started Wednesday, May 1, and is still on track to be open by Memorial Day, weather permitting, according to the U.S. Forest Service.
May 7th
Yosemite National Park Rangers have recovered the body of missing hiker Kenneth Stensby near the base of Vernal Fall. Stensby was fatally injured after falling from a cliff near the top of the waterfall. His body was discovered by Yosemite National Park Search and Rescue Ranger personnel and was extricated at about 1:00 p.m. today.
Tonight's lecture at the Green Church is at 7 p.m. and is about the wild and wonderful Sierra mushrooms. Dr. Jonathan Bourne will share his knowledge of the surprising variety of local mushrooms. Come on time, as the doors to the Green Church, located on the intersection of U.S. 395 and the Bnton Crosiing Road, will close once the room is full.
Also find below a list of the rest of the Tuesday night lecture series:
May 7 Introduction to the Mushrooms of the Eastern Sierra
Dr. Jonathan Bourne M.D., Mammoth Hospital
May 6th
‘Reliable’ levels for summer
Mammoth’s unique status as the area with the biggest snowpack in the Sierra this year may not be enough to stave off water restrictions.
The Mammoth area stands out with a snowpack that came in at about 82 percent of normal, compared to about 52 percent of normal for the Sierra overall, and lower than that in places like the Southern Sierra.
Yosemite road updates: Park spokesperson Kari Cobb says it’s official: The Glacier Point Road in Yosemite National Park will open for the season Friday, May 3, at noon. There will be limited visitor services available at Glacier Point. Vault toilets will be available, but no running water. There is no projected opening datefor the Bridalveil Creek Campground. Meanwhile, the Tioga Roadis officially, tentatively scheduled to open for the season on Saturday, May 11. …
By
George Shirk, Times Managing Editor
A young, motherless bear cub with a taste for apple pie has been getting into trouble around Old Mammoth in the past several weeks, according to Wildlife Specialist Steve Searles.
What's more, the 15-month-old cub has learned to pull at heartstrings to get what he or she wants.
"He or she is 15 months old, in great health and good weight," Searles said at a Town Council meeting on Wednesday, May 1, "but I had abut 50 calls in the last two weeks.
May 3rd
Victoria Ortiz, former AmeriCorps member for the Eastern Sierra Land Trust in Bishop and ski instructor at Mammoth Mountain, is one the shortlist for the "Best Job in the World" competition recently, out of almost 600,000 candidates.
The City of Los Angeles Department of Water and Power’s lawsuit against the Great Basin Unified Air Pollution Control District and other environmental agencies was dismissed by the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California on May 2, according to Ted Schade, the district's director.
"The City’s federal court lawsuit filed in Fresno attempted to prevent the District from enforcing state laws that require the LADWP to control the air pollution caused by its water diversions in the Eastern Sierra," according to a May 2 news release from the district.
State claims raffle will benefit wildlife habitat
In the past, the only thing a hunter could do during the time between the Nevada big game application deadline in April and the day the draw results are posted in June was to sit and wait and hope for the best.
That changed last year with the introduction of the Nevada Dream Tags, and it will continue this year as well, according to the state’s wildlife department.
