Archive - Aug 2012
August 10th
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.
By
George Shirk - Times News Editor
It would be natural to think Bogidar Avramov might feel a poignant tinge of melancholy this weekend.
Not so.
The creator and artistic director of the Sierra Summer Festival Orchestra, who will leave his post this season, bounced into the Mammoth Times offices the other day with his wife, Ilka, and their little poodle, Piccolo, showing nothing less than joy.
âMammoth has been a part of our lives for over 40 years,â he said in his charming Austrian accent.
âWe have seen it in its heyday and in its economic woes, but we believe in its future and we want to participate in it.
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.
Beer "tips" at Bluesapalooza go a long way
August 10, 2012
This past weekend, organizers of Bluesapalooza, HarvestMoon Presents and Mammoth Brewing Company allowed local charitable organizations to promote their cause by collecting âtipsâ during beer sales at the ever-popular Bluesapalooza event.
For the first time, the Healthcare Trust of Mammoth Lakes participated, raising money for local eligible women who cannot afford life-saving annual mammography screenings.
Here is my letter of thanks:
Dear friends (new and old), hospital employees, volunteers extraordinaire, and partners of the aforementioned who came along for a delightful ride: