News

Mono Basin open but Reds Meadow, Lakes Basin, will open late due to snow

April 26, 2011

Although the Mono Basin Visitor Center will open this week, Reds Meadow and the Lakes Basin are still under heavy snow and will open later than usual, according to the Inyo National Forest. The Lakes Basin is projected to be open by Memorial Day and Reds is projected to be open in late June, although conditions could change those dates.

Here's a summary of the conditions and opening dates, as projected by the forest service today:

MONO BASIN SCENIC AREA VISITOR CENTER OPEN

Councilman Rick Wood to Mammoth: 'Never Again'

April 23, 2011

Rick Wood is not exactly carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders, but he certainly is carrying a very heavy heart.

The veteran town councilman and former mayor delivered an emotional speech to the town at Wednesday’s Town Council meeting, trying to put into harsh perspective the effects the $30 million judgment against the town in the Hot Creek litigation case.

“Never again,” he intoned.

“Never again should we put ourselves in a situation where we don’t explore all the opportunities.”

Dire report is released on the town''s finances

April 23, 2011

Incoming Town Manager Dave Wilbrecht has a new best friend, and her name is Marianna Marysheva-Martinez.

A numbers wonk and a high-ranking city administrator in Oakland before she became the Mammoth Lakes Interim Town Manager, the first thing Marysheva-Martinez did was look at the town’s financials.
Her conclusion was dire.

“We’re in stable shape right now,” she said, “and the reason is that our revenues will be up by the end of June but our expenditures will be up by almost the same amount.

“While we’re stable, we’re not in good shape.

“Next year is going to be bad.”

Work begins on Tioga Pass but opening day is still uncertain

April 23, 2011

The big winter has Mammoth celebrating, but Lee Vining residents are getting worried.

The record-breaking winter raises a worrisome question – when will Tioga Pass open?

More snow means more snow to plow, and the cool April so far isn’t helping much, either.

But all is not lost. On Tuesday, April 12, Mono County found out that Mammoth Mountain will be donating some plow equipment to the cause, said county officials.

What's Up, Up Here? News and gossip for April 22-28

April 23, 2011

Not much action at Police Chief Dan Watson’s Hispanic Outreach meeting this past week. No community members at all and just three committee members, out of more than 20 who signed up. “This meeting gets smaller all the time,” Watson said. ...

In the “Er, what?” Department, Councilman John Eastman described his presence at the reception for our new Assemblywoman (Modesto) in Suite Z on Tuesday. “I was able to attend a reception for Kristin (pause) what’s Kristin’s last name?” (Olsen, for those wondering) ...

100 m.p.h. winds pound Mammoth Mountain early Monday; spring runoff begins in earnest

April 18, 2011

Winds of nearly 100 miles an hour slammed into Mammoth Mountain early Monday morning, while rain and snow in the Sierra put water watchers on alert.

The winds, which preceded Monday morning’s rain and snow, reached 99.8 miles an hour at 4 a.m., according to ski patrol data.

It didn’t let up for more than an hour. At 5 a.m., ski patrol measured a wind gust at 99.6 miles an hour.

The average wind speed for the two hours was 70.3 miles an hour.

Garbage disposal fees likely to increase soon

April 16, 2011

It’s probably inevitable.

Garbage disposal rates are going to go up sometime soon and some hours or days are going to get cut at most of the county’s landfills, in an attempt to plug a funding hole that is leaking as much as $2,000-$3,000 a day from the county’s coffers.

The proposed increase, which goes to the public for a hearing on April 19, will increase residents’ garbage disposal fees by about 11 percent, if the plan laid out by county staff and approved in theory by the county supervisors passes a final vote on April 19 at a meeting in Mammoth Lakes.

Welcome home to incoming Town Manager Dave Wilbrecht

April 16, 2011

It was a love fest.

When The Town Council named Dave Wilbrecht as the new Town Manager this week, Mammoth residents universally approved the decision.

From Tom Cage, of Kittredge Sports and P3 and Nordic advocate Brian Knox, to recreation commissioner Bill Sauser, former town planner Bill Taylor and former National Forest Service administrator Sandy Hogan, all were crazy nuts about the decision.

“He’s a natural leader,” Hogan said, echoing county tourism director Alicia Vennos. “The town is very, very lucky. He’s an incredible leader,” Vennos said.

What's Up, Up Here? News and gossip for April 15-21

April 16, 2011

Is there ever such a thing as too much ice cream? Pita Vasquez, a Cerro Coso College student, took full advantage of the Ben and Jerry’s free cone day, eating 13 cones in an afternoon. “I never want to eat ice cream again. I had seriously all of them,” she said. Her friend, Bailey Morley, a Mammoth High School senior, had even more — 17 — and was of the same mind. “I feel so bad,” she said late Wednesday night. ...