Archive - News Article
July 15th, 2011
By
Wendilyn Grasseschi â Mammoth Times Staff Writer
A wind energy project proposed for an area north of Benton will be a hard sell, if recent public outcry is any indication.
Two public meetings and a field trip to the proposed test tower sites this past week and a half has done little to calm a skeptical public, even after one of the two proposed projects, the one with the largest potential footprint, was pulled July 5.
OMG the End of the World is at hand: They're re-paving and re-striping the Minaret Village Mall (including Vons!) just in time for Jazz Jubilee. You don't want one of those folks weaving around the parking lot, without stripes, that's for sure. ...
Reinforcing the End of the World concept is that Public Works is doing its duty on Minaret Boulevard, fixing this, smoothing that, and praying that it will hold up for another year. Good luck with that, we say. ...
July 13th
Forest officials are managing the Lion Fire in the Golden Trout Wilderness on the Sequoia National Forest. This lightning-caused fire was found July 8 at 1:30 p.m., one half mile to the west of Lion Meadow and east of the Little Kern River. Since then it has grown to approximately 200 acres. There are currently no threats to life or property. The Sequoia National Forest is in command of the fire.
July 11th
One of the wind farm proposals for the Glass Mountains and Benton area was withdrawn last week on July 5, according to Bureau of Land Management officials. EWind Farms Inc. withdrew their wind
energy monitoring and project area (24,000 acre) proposal as of July 5, Larry Primosch, the agency's realty specialist, wrote in an email.
The agency held a field trip to the proposed wind energy sites this weekend and two public meetings are still scheduled to occur this week.
Outdoor education director for the Valentine Reserve Leslie Dawson said there is still room on the wildflower walk this Wednesday and Friday (July 13 and 15) and on the Forest talk on Thursday, July 14 and on the history talk on July 16.
The Black Bear talk on Tuesday, July 13 is completely full, she said.
Here's more details.
Wildflowers of Valentine Reserve
July 13 and 15: (same talk each day)
Sherryl Taylor 10:00-12:30 pm; moderately strenuous hike
July 8th
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.
