Archive - News Article
April 19th, 2013
Proceeds go toward new animal shelter
The biggest dog-and-cat party of the season went off last weekend in Bishop, and just about everyone was a winner.
About 700 animal lovers crowded into the Charles Brown Auditorium at the Tri-Valley Fairgrounds for a fund-raising dinner and auction, putting $30,000 into the coffers of the Inyo/Mono County Animal Resources & Education (ICARE).
Wide range of subjects at Green Church
The 2013 lecture series produced by the Sierra Nevada Aquatic Research Lab is nothing if not wide ranging.
Lecturers will cover topics on everything from ground source heat pumps to mushrooms, the 2011 Devils Windstorm to Lahonton Cuthroat trout recovery in the context of climate change.
Efforts to protect Mono County creeks and rivers and still allow ranchers and farmers to lease excess water rights to Nevada to be used in a lake that is threatened with falling water levels and salinity issues is moving forward, according to county staff Tuesday. Assistant County Counsel Stacey Simon got approval from the county’s supervisors for a letter that lays out methods to protect the county, such as only removing water from Bridgeport and Topaz Lake when water levels are sufficient to protect recreation and wildlife.
A proposal to change all of the county’s landfill hours to be the same — from 7:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. was warmly recieved by the Mono County Board of Supervisors Tuesday. The change would eliminate confusion and still allow residents to get to the landfills before work, according to county staff. The supervisors will take the issue up as an action item at a future meeting.
Frustration with a state fire prevention tax that costs property owners as much as $150 a year continues to grow in the Eastern Sierra, but there is some hope for a legislative solution, even as a bill to repeal the tax died last week, according to county officials.
April 18th
By
George Shirk, Times Managing Editor
Would help officers in fights, brawls, Chief says
Members of the Mammoth Lakes Police Department will get top-of-the-line TASER devices soon, according to Police Chief Dan Watson.
Citing a cut in the force because of austerity budget cuts earlier this year, Watson said the new devices would be particularly effective when just one officer is at the scene of a crime, fight or any other instance in which the officer feels threatened.
25,000 comments so far
Yosemite National Park this past week announced the extension of the public comment period for the Merced Wild and Scenic River Draft Comprehensive Management and Environmental Impact Statement (MRP) through Tuesday, April 30.
Previously, the public comment period was slated to close on Thursday, April 18.
Copeland, MLPD civilians get nod
The Mammoth Town Council this past week gave a few appreciative gestures to some of Mammoth’s citizens.
First, the council on Wednesday night, April 17, handed out a certificate of appreciation to Kathy Copeland, the founder and leader of Disabled Sports of the Eastern Sierra.
Members of a citizen’s committee continue to oppose land swap
Some June Lake residents were not charmed—or convinced—last week by Mammoth Mountain Ski Area CEO Rusty Gregory’s assurances that he was a changed man and that MMSA would finally invest enough in June Mountain Ski Area to make it thrive.
By
George Shirk, Times Managing Editor
Council plows ahead anyway
A proposal to change the name of Minaret Boulevard to McCoy Boulevard in honor of the founder of Mammoth Mountain Ski Area, came to a screeching pause on Monday, April 15.
Just hours before Mammoth Lakes Tourism Chief John Urdi and others were set to meet in order to hammer out details on the proposal, Mammoth Lakes Foundation CEO Evan Russell sent an email on McCoy’s behalf to stop the effort.
April 16th
By
Mike Gervais, Special to the Times
Last week’s arrest of a Bishop resident on charges of embezzling more than $1.5 million in public funds has raised just as many questions for taxpayers as investigators.
At the top of the list of questions seems to be how a county employee could have gotten away with the ongoing theft – as alleged – for as long as she did.
Dawndee Rossy, 46, and her husband, Ken Rossy, 43, were arrested by District Attorney’s Office investigators on Thursday for a total of 44 felonies related to their alleged embezzlement of taxpayer money from Dawndee’s work.
Yosemite National Park announces the extension of the public comment period for the Merced Wild and Scenic River Draft Comprehensive Management and Environmental Impact Statement (MRP) through Tuesday, April 30, 2013. Previously, the public comment period was slated to close on Thursday, April 18, 2013.
“The MRP is an expansive document which guides park management actions for many years. We want to make sure the public has a thorough opportunity to review the draft plan and submit comments,” stated Kathleen Morse, Yosemite National Park’s Chief of Planning.
High temperatures combined with a light snowpack will allow for an early start to plowing area roads this spring, the Inyo National Forest announced in a news release on Tuesday, April 16.
The Town of Mammoth Lakes was to begin plowing roads in the Mammoth Lakes Basin on Wednesday, April 17, while Caltrans will begin plowing to the Minaret Vista at the end of April.
Town crews will begin plowing into Reds Meadow Valley soon after that, according to Marty Hornick, the Inyo’s acting pubic affairs officer.
