Archive
June 6th, 2011
By
George Shirk, Times Senior Writer
Imagine a Mammoth deep in debt and unable to collect its fair share of the Transient Occupancy Tax.
People don’t actually have to imagine that much.
It’s the reality.
But on Wednesday night, the Mammoth Lakes Town Council took action, approving a measure that would modify the town’s current TOT ordinance and maybe – maybe – put some teeth in it.
The town can’t do it alone, however, so it teamed up with the Mammoth Lakes Lodging Association, which offered its volunteer assistance in helping identify scofflaws.
But that doesn’t mean the town is powerless.
By
Wendilyn Grasseschi, Times Staff Writer
ANOTHER TWO WEEKS OF COLD
POSSIBLY SNOWY WEATHER AHEAD
While the East coast swelters in record heat, the Midwest ducks for cover, and Arizona is under fire, the West has another problem.
It’s damn cold.
In other words, no, it’s not your imagination that things out there are outright weird, weather wise, for this time of year.
June 3rd
By
George Shirk, Times Senior Writer
Deena is back.
One hundred days after giving birth (by Caesarian section, no less), Mammoth’s star marathoner is back on the roads, training for the June 11 New York Mini 10K.
“I feel great,” she said after a brisk run Thursday under the coaching of Mammoth Track Club’s Terrence Mahon.
“I’m surprised, actually,” she said. “But I know I’m just starting to come back.”
The stakes are big for Kastor, 38, who won a bronze medal in the 2004 Athens Olympics.
May 27th
By
George Shirk - Times Senior Writer
Deena started it all.
A decade ago, the then-Deena Drossin came charging out of the University of Arkansas and scooted up to Mammoth to train.
Overnight, given her dazzling performances around the world, Mammoth in the summer wasn’t just about fishing and camping.
It’s hard to imagine what might have happened around here had Deena chosen a different path. She won in London and Chicago.
No one here will ever forget watching her bronze-medal finish at the Athens Olympics in 2004, tears streaming down her face as she crossed the finish line.
By
George Shirk - Times Senior Writer
It was unprecedented for Mammoth.
More than 100 Hispanic citizens showed up to meet and greet Mammoth’s police Wednesday night at the Village Lodge, creating a bridge between the officers and the community.
They also heard from about a dozen other people, from recreation director Stuart Brown to Alejandro Celorio Alacantara, who made the trip from Sacramento and represented the Mexican Consulate.
It’s almost as big as Opening Day on Mammoth Mountain: Rock Creek Resort Pie in the Sky returns this weekend. Kathy Johnson puts in her vote for Cheddar Pear, but she might be too busy with her mega garage sale to get there. ...
Deena Kastor is prepping for the New York Mini 10K on June 11. It’ll be her first race since her pregnancy. Yes, little Piper is going, too, on her first airplane trip. Andrew Kastor rides along for fatherly support. For Deena, all roads lead to London 2012 and she ain’t kidding. ...
The Buttermilk Fire is now 100% contained and the roads into the area have been re-opened. There is access to all of the bouldering areas and camping is allowed on national forest land. As a reminder, a Campfire Permit is required for all campfires, BBQs and stoves.
Crews are still assigned to the Buttermilk Fire and they are working to put out any hotspots that remain in the burn area as they do a general mop-up from the fire. Over 120 people are still assigned to the fire.
May 26th
Yosemite National Park's waterfalls are expected to peak the first week in June, with the park's snow pack at an average of 199% of normal. Bring your raingear and cameras, preferably water proof cameras.
At the same time, with this huge snowpack the park’s rivers are flowing at a high capacity, meaning dangerous conditions. Every year, people die from water-related accidents, so please be careful.
In more Yosemite news:
Firefighters are still battling a 250-acre fire off U.S. 168 northwest of Bishop near the community of Starlight and the popular Buttermilk bouldering area but the fire is now 50 percent contained.
Full containment is estimated at 6:00 p.m. Thursday.
Seventy people are currently assigned to the Buttermilk Fire including 11 engines, six hand crews, one helicopter, one dozer and miscellaneous overhead.
Some winds are predicted for today, but so far have been light, allowing crews to make good headway in securing a line all around the fire.
May 24th
A benefit concert will be held at the Bridgeport Ranch Barn and Terrace, at 68 Twin Lakes Road, Bridgeport, California, on July 16 from 7 to 10 p.m. The doors will open at 6p.m. Featured performers are Cowboy Entertainer Dave Stamey, the “Charlie Russell of Western Music,” and Professor David Bourne, “The Piano Player at the Gem Saloon” in HBO’s “Deadwood.”
Tickets are $35.00 per person and are available online atBodieFoundation.org or by calling (760) 647-6564. They are also available at the Museum in Bodie.
Dr. Brandon Browne from the Dept. of Geological Sciences, CSU Fullerton, will present a lecture on Mammoth Mountain's "shaky past" tonight at the Green Church, located at the corner of Benton Crossing Road and U.S.395.
It’s Hantavirus season again, and with Mono County one of the country's hotspots, it's time to think ahead about how to prevent the potentially deadly illness from affecting you or your family.
Mono County's health official, Dr. Rick Johnson, had this to say:
May 20th
By
George Shirk - Times Senior Writer
When Marianna Marysheva-Martinez throws a fastball, she doesn’t mess around.
The town’s interim town manager fired one at the Mammoth Lakes Town Council Wednesday night. It was high heat, straight down the middle.
The only thing the council could do was stand at the plate and watch it go by, to the tune of about $2 million.
Marysheva-Martinez said that’s the best scenario – a $2 million shortfall in the coming budget, and that doesn’t even include funds to pay off the $30-plus million judgment as a result of the Hot Creek litigation.
By
Wendilyn Grasseschi - Times Staff Writer
It’s been a long winter up here in the northern Eastern Sierra; eight months of snow, a cold, cold April, flowers frozen on the bud in May.
Even the most ski-crazy winter fanatic is beginning to feel cheated, as May gives way to June with more snow predicted for next week.
But there is hope.
It’s called a car. Yes, cars are gas-guzzling, carbon-spewing monsters that we should feel guilty for driving. But they are also the essence of freedom and adventure and in this case, escape.
Letters to the Editor, June 3, 2011
June 6, 2011
COLDER, WETTER, LONGER WINTERS
I could not help but laugh at “Sierra Could Be Hit Hard by Climate Change,” (Mammoth Times, May 13, 2011) as I looked out my window at still bud-less trees and a snowpack almost four times normal. Science use to be based on definite observation and facts which were either true or false. Now it’s “could, might, maybe, if.” And no wonder. Anyone who pays attention to the weather lately might think winters were getting colder around here, not warmer. And they would be correct.