Archive - News Article
July 8th, 2011
By
George Shirk - Times Senior Writer
On the very first day of the very first week of the Mammoth Lakes Police Department, 24-year-old Tim Smalley signed up.
It was 1986. Mammoth had just incorporated. It was a brand new job in a brand new town. Heâs still here. âThe first five days were good,â he said. âWe just drove around town to get the lay of the land. We just checked it out.â
By
George Shirk - Times Senior Writer
The cop shop wonât ever be the same.
Sergeant Karen Smart, on the Mammoth Lakes Police Department force for 25 years, said earlier this week she will retire so that the department can save a job for one of the younger officers.
âMy time is done,â she said in a poignant interview early this week. âThe younger guys are the future of the department and the future of the town.â
By
George Shirk - Times Senior Writer
Now that the Fourth of July is over, at least one town councilman is already looking at the next Fourth of July.
Time is short. Matthew Lehman has only a year to figure out what the holiday should look like.
At Wednesdayâs Town Council meeting, Lehman floated the idea of moving the center of attention to the Village rather than Crowley Lake.
He said he knows heâll hear gasps all over town.
âMy primary goal is to help the business community,â he said.
âInstead of being one of the worst nights of the year in Mammoth, Iâd like it to be one of the best.â
By
Wendilyn Grasseschi - Times Staff Writer
Several long-time Eastside residents were the first to respond to the news that a Mexican sport fishing boat, the Erik, with 26 American citizens on board, had capsized off the eastern coast of Baja Mexico on July 3, dumping all 43 passengers into the sea in the midst of a raging storm.
Doug and Peggy Magee have owned a home in Baja for 25 years and have lived there permanently for the past ten. Gloria and Ed Vasquez own a home close to the Mageeâs.
Mammoth Mountain picked up a nice mention on NBC Nightly News a week ago. The bit was about our late ski season, narrated by anchor Kate Snow. âŠ
Itâs true! Tony and Cindy Avena, stalwarts in Mammoth for 30 years, have put the venrable Slocumâs up for sale. âŠ
Weâre sure going to miss Jon Eisert, the estimable Ski Surgeon, who folded up shop Tuesday at 12:59:59 p.m. and is on his way to Paso Robles. For good. âSome decisions are made for you,â he said. âItâs time.â Memories? âBack in the day, our dirtbags were better than the current dirtbags.â âŠ
July 7th
Heavy rain and warm temperatures could mean serious flooding throughout Mono County tonight, according to the National Weather Service. The weather is supposed to dry out after Friday, with warm dry conditions predicted for the weekend. Go to this site for detailed information: http://1.usa.gov/n6r2Iy
July 1st
By
Wendilyn Grasseschi - Times Staff Writer
Long ago, thousands of Sierra Nevada bighorn sheep roamed the high Sierra, scattered along the crest of the range from Olancha Peak and all the way north to the Lee Vining Canyon area.
Agile, swift, secretive, this unique species of bighorn is only found in one place in the world: the Sierra Nevada; The vast majority of them roam on the Eastern Sierra side of the range. They seldom descend below 4,000 feet, spending most of their lives on the knife-edged, wind-swept peaks and ridges, where they find comparative safety from predators.
By
Wendilyn Grasseschi/Times Staff Writer
âDonât go in the water. Donât get anywhere near the water.â
Thatâs the advice of everyone from Mammoth Lakes Police to county sheriffâs deputies to US Forest Service rangers this week, as hot summer temperatures finally hit the massive snowpack still suspended above Mammoth.
âYou can feel the vibration when you are just standing near the river, there is so much water right now,â said Inyo National Forest spokesman Mike Johnson Thursday. âThere are just torrents of water coming down. Whatever you do, donât go in the water. Itâs just very dangerous.â
Reds Meadow and Devils Postpile Roads opened Wednesday and the shuttle buses are running. Yeah! But thereâs a lot of water down there, and the Middle Fork of the San Joaquin River is flooding. Plus, a lot of trails are damaged or under water. So, be careful, be very, very careful. ...
June 28th
A 65-year-old Placerville woman died June 23 after trying to lead her horse across a snow bridge in the Cottonwood Lakes Wilderness area southwest of Lone Pine.
Deborah Behrendt died after a snow bridge gave way as she was trying to lead her horse across it, according to the Inyo County Sheriff's Department. A snow bridge forms across streams or small rivulets durign spring runoff conditions and is hollow underneath a covering of snow. Behrendt's horse reacted when the bridge gave way, causing the horse behind her horse to rear up and come down on Behrendt's chest.
June 27th
Mono Basin Historical Society Vice President David Dore will be coordinating a work party to repair the roof of the Upside Down House, wall of the Old Schoolhouse, and hopefully the handicapped access ramp if time, labor and materials allow this Thursday, June 30.
Meet at the Museum at 9:00 a.m. if you can help. Dore hopes to have a good turnout to accomplish the repairs.
Please direct questions to Dave, 760-647-1055.
June 24th
By
George Shirk - Times Senior Writer
Whitmore Poolâs fate came right down to the wire on Wednesday.
It came as the Mammoth Lakes Town Council struggled to balance its 2011-12 budget.
If it was not a last-second reprieve, it was certainly a last-hour reprieve for advocates of the pool.
They will find the poolâs hours of operation the same; the water comfortable and inviting, just as swimmers there have known for many years.
By
Wendilyn Grasseschi - Times Staff Writer
As a neighborhood, a community, a county, who are we?
That question is at the heart of the work that a group of local residents is doing right now.
Their answers have the potential to redefine the question.
Couched in the term âredistrictingâ, these residents have been working for the past several weeks to come up with ways to re-draw Mono Countyâs five supervisorial districts.
Redistricting is necessary in the county because the 2010 Census revealed that the districts are now lopsided in terms of population. They must be made equal.
Interim Town Manager Marianna Marysheva-Martinezâs contract runs out at the end of June, but donât count on it sticking, say Town Hall insiders. Once the Hot Creek judgment lands, the town staff is going to need a whole lot of help, and thereâs no help like MMMâs ...
Hoidy-toidy Grinnell College in Iowa put Bishopâs Drew Blumberg on the Deanâs List for the spring semester, and thatâs a big darned deal in academic circles. Heâs majoring in Biological Chemistry. Parents Stephen and Sandra Blumberg are proud as punch. ...
A record snowfall and resulting damage has delayed the opening of the Reds Meadow Road to Wednesday, June 29. The target date of June 24 was not met due to the time required to remove hazards and debris, and to make repairs along the roadway as a result of winter avalanches and harsh conditions. The road, with access to the Devils Postpile National Monument, will open at 8:00 am on June 29 with shuttle bus services beginning immediately.
