Archive
May 13th, 2013
By
George Shirk, Times Managing Editor
Motherless youngster gets into Mammoth house
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.
Mono County will soon have a new County Administrative Officer, according to Mono County Supervisor Byng Hunt.
Hunt said the county has identified “three to four very viable candidates” as of this week. He said he expects the board to make a decision either at the end of this week, or next week.
None of the candidates are local, he said.
The first transient rental request for the June Lake area got the Mono County Board of Supervisors approval Tuesday, May 7.
The request, which came on the heels of an ordinance passed last year, was made by Ralph Lockhart, co-owner of the Double Eagle Resort and Spa for four parcels with homes on them in the Down Canyon area of June Lake.
There were no objections to the request made at the meeting.
An ambitious project to link Lee Vining to Yosemite National Park via a trail system went before Lee Vining community members Wednesday, May 8.
The pre-planning effort, supported by the county in cooperation with the National Park Service and under the direction of a moderator with skills in such issues, was partially funded by a grant, according to county officials.
A 55-unit housing subdivision project overlooking Lower Rock Creek canyon that was put on hold during the recession went before the Mono County supervisors Tuesday, May 7.
Developer Matthew Lehman asked the supervisors to approve minor changes made to the subdivision’s “specific plan;” changes that had to do with affordable housing mitigation requirements.
The supervisors agreed to allow Lehman to waive affordable housing mitigation actions that would have been triggered by the county’s 2006 Housing Mitigation Ordinance.
The Inyo National Forest announced a special opportunity for personal use fuelwood collection in the Reds Meadow Valley on the weekend of May 17-19, prior to the area opening for the general public.
Mono County Supervisors discuss at length whether to fix historic clock in Bridgeport courthouse
It took the county supervisors almost as long to decide whether to fix—well, sort of decide—an antique clock in the supervisor’s chambers as it did to agree to an historic cooperative agreement between the county and the Town of Mammoth Lakes Tuesday (see story on P. 13)
May 10th
High-speed broadband project will be operational by July 31 deadline, developer says
It’s really going to happen.
The huge infrastructure project called Digital 395 that will connect the Eastern Sierra to the rest of the world—with enough of the fastest broadband speeds available to last the region a decade—will be finished on time, according to its developer, Praxis Associate CEO Michael Ort.
Agreement to share IT survives county criticism, complaints
Agreeing to share IT services between the Town of Mammoth Lakes and Mono County might not seem like a big deal.
Counties and communities do it all the time.
But those counties and communities aren’t Mono County and Mammoth, with their checkered history of fighting over just about everything, from airports to garbage.
California judge dismisses case regarding dust control on Owens Dry Lake
The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California dismissed the City of Los Angeles Department of Water and Power’s high-profile lawsuit against the Great Basin Unified Air Pollution Control District and other environmental agencies last week on May 2.
The city’s federal court lawsuit, filed in Fresno last year, attempted to prevent Great Basin from issuing more dust control measures on Owens Lake.
County agrees to help fund the project
The power lines along a section of Main Street will get buried beginning in 2015 after Mono County agreed Tuesday, May 7, to help the Town of Mammoth Lakes take on the unsightly—and dangerous—overhead power lines.
The power lines—old and deteriorating—are vulnerable to the next storm or blizzard, according to town public works officials.
May 9th
State’s counties call fees unfair to the average family, individual
A bill that could cost anyone who refinances their property hundreds of dollars more in recording fees goes before the state legislature next week, but it is meeting strong resistance from counties across the state, including both Mono and Inyo counties.
Top officials at both counties state that the bill will unfairly target the average family or individual trying to refinance a home.
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.
