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2008 YEAR IN REVIEW |
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Friday, 02 January 2009 |
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Coming in for a landing |
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Friday, 02 January 2009 |
Commercial air service returns to Mammoth
The excitement of the crowd gathered on the tarmac of the Mammoth Yosemite Airport on Oct. 14 was palpable as the first Horizon Air commercial flight, a Bombardier Q440, could be seen approaching from the east. The plane came in over Long Valley before making a wide U-turn in the vicinity of Hot Creek to come in from the west for landing. Having departed LAX on schedule at 9 a.m., the flight arrived on time at 10:04 a.m.
“Beautiful conditions for flying today,” said Captain Steve Bush, who piloted the flight for the media who were passengers on the test flight.
The 74-seat high-speed twin-engine turboprop is one of the most technologically advanced regional aircraft in the world. It is also one of the most environmentally friendly aircraft, burning 30 percent less fuel and producing 30 percent lower emissions than comparable jets with a cruising speed of 414 miles per hour.
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No bones about it |
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Friday, 02 January 2009 |
Even a declaration by Inyo County Sheriff Bill Lutze that there were no bones found in the May 20, 2008 dig at Barker Ranch couldn’t squelch the belief by many that victims of Charles Manson and his tribe lie below ground on both Barker Ranch in Death Valley and Spahn Ranch in Simi Valley, Calif.
Back in February 2007, Mammoth Police Sergeant Paul Dostie began using his Human Remains Detection dog, Buster, to look for possible burial sites out in the Manson Family’s hideout in the Panamint Mountains of Death Valley. His searching was based on rumors that Manson had killed and buried additional members behind the Barker Ranch.
On a foray to the ranch on Feb. 22 of 2008 Dostie was accompanied by Arpad Vass of the Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Vass’s halogen sensors detected human remains at three sites.
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Wildlife Management: A case of passion running ahead of logic |
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Friday, 02 January 2009 |
2008 was a tumultuous year for Mammoth’s wildlife management program and the bears themselves had little to do with it.
Early in the year, the town lost its Code Compliance Officer, Rick Ramirez, who performed the majority of enforcement on improperly disposed trash and damaged dumpsters. Unable to refill the position because of a budget deficit, the task essentially fell into the lap of Human Resource and Risk Control Management Director Michael Grossblatt.
In March, the town’s Wildlife Committee elected to replace the town’s Wildlife Management position with a community-based wildlife program.
In April, the organization known as Bear-With-Us (BWU), which had created a Web site and been circulating flyers and wildlife alerts since October of 2007, attended a meeting with Mammoth Lakes Police Department (MLPD) Sergeant Karen Smart.
BWU officially adopted the role of the community-based wildlife program though the exact nature of their purpose and responsibilities immediately became a point of contention.
As early as June 3, BWU was uncomfortable with MLPD responding to wildlife calls. As a compromise, councilman and wildlife committee member Skip Harvey is noted as saying that BWU would have a Monitoring Component to their role whereby they would join the MLPD on wildlife incidents in the capacity of a community observer.
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Mammoth Lakes 2008 Development Round-up |
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Friday, 02 January 2009 |
Holiday Haus: The one major development project approved in 2008
Holiday Haus was the only major development approved by the town in 2008, and the last in the town’s line-up falling under the 1987 General Plan.
No projects have yet been approved under the 2007 General Plan.
The planning commission unanimously granted discretionary density and building height increases for Holiday Haus, a condo/hotel project with 77 market rate units and 14 affordable housing units on Main Street below Minaret Boulevard, on Oct. 22.
As with any proposal that includes double density, the hearings on the matter were fraught with opposition. But there were many who believed it was the right project in the right place.
The commissioners were convinced that the applicant, M. Ward Jones, offered something Mammoth needs right now if it is to pursue its vision as a premier destination resort, such as a highly energy efficient building near transit lines and within walking distance of the gondola.
Planning Chair Elizabeth Tenney went so far as to say that because the applicant operated within the letter of the 1987 General Plan, “we’re not only legally obligated, but morally obligated to approve this.”
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