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On Saturday, May 19, approximately 40 members of the Mammoth Lakes Noon and Sunrise Rotary clubs plus their families and friends traveled to Sierra Azul, a small Mexican village south of Tecate, to build a house in one day. The clubs worked through Corazon, a Southern California non-profit organization that provides services to people in northern Baja. Services include job-training, scholarships, construction projects, and building houses in one day using volunteers from the United States.

It takes $7,800 for the materials and 30 to 50 volunteers to build a house. Corazon works with non-profit organizations, service clubs, churches and schools. The two Mammoth Lakes Rotary Clubs raised the funds and provided the volunteers who ranged in age from 14 to over 70. The group traveled to El Cajon, Calif. on Friday, May 18 and met at 6 a.m. on Saturday morning. They then traveled across the border to the job site where they met the De la Rocha-Lora family who had donated hundreds of volunteer hours in their community to get on the list for a new home. The volunteers also found a 16 by 20 foot concrete slab and all the materials for the house.

Construction started at about 8 a.m. and was finished by 3:30 p.m. The family provided lunch for all the volunteers.The homes built by Corazon volunteers are humble by US standards. They have no plumbing or electricity, but they are a big step-up for the recipients and very much appreciated.

After a very short but moving ceremony where the keys to the new house were turned over to the family, the Rotary volunteers said farewell and returned to El Cajon where a celebratory dinner was held.

Linda Wright, President of the Noon Rotary Club said, “The motto of Rotary is ‘Service Above Self,’ and we came back tired, but filled with a true sense of community. Not only did we provide a new home to a family, we all captured the spirit of giving and returned with a stronger sense of fellowship among ourselves. This was truly a once-in-a-lifetime experience.”

More information about Corazon can be found at Corazon.org. -Press Release

March 8: The University of California White Mountain Research Station invites the public to a lecture on Thursday, March 8 at 7 p.m. Sue Burak, Avalanche Specialist of Eastern Sierra Avalanche Center will present a talk entitled: “How to Read an Avalanche Advisory: Lessons Learned from Avalanche Incidents.” All lectures are FREE to the public. White Mountain Research Station is located at 3000 East Line Street in Bishop. For more information, call 760.873.4344.

March 9: The Inyo National Forest and Bishop Field Office of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) have submitted preliminary applications for grant funds from the State of California Off-Highway Motor Vehicle Recreation (OHMVR) division for the purpose of enhancing and managing motorized recreation in this area. These and all other grant applications, as well as detailed instructions about the process and how to comment, are viewable from March 6 until April 2 on the OHMVR website at www.ohv.parks.ca.gov/. Comments may be submitted on the division website and/or sent directly to the responsible agency. Comments must be received by April 2.

Photos: Susan Morning

It was a busy night for local emergency service crews. A house fire at 87 Evergreen Street, a two-story, single family home, was reported at 12:16 a.m. on Jan. 10. Mammoth Lakes Fire Department, Mammoth Lakes Police Department and Mono County Paramedics arrived on scene and found the home 25 percent involved with fire, according to MLFD Division Chief Bill Anderson.

Three people were in the home at the time of the fire but were successfully evacuated after the young daughter awoke, most likely to the sound of smoke detectors, and contacted adults. The evacuated individuals (an adult male and an adult female, in addition to the child) were taken to Mammoth Hospital for observation, according to Anderson.

The cause of the fire is currently under investigation but may have started in the chimney, according to one neighbor’s observation of where the most damage had occurred.

While most of the belongings inside of the home were ruined by smoke, the pets were rescued and most of the structure of the home was saved, according to the same neighbor.

Don’t miss the Locals’ Open House Dec. 12 from 5-7 p.m. at Mountain Living. Come celebrate the holidays with the Chamber and find some great gifts at Mountain Living, 501 Old Mammoth Road. Snacks and refreshments will be served, call 760.924.2040 for more information.

Chart House/Footloose run to boost Mammoth Track Project, MHS track team

Runners are racing to support the Mammoth Track Project this Sunday at the 28th annual Chart House/Footloose 5k/10k road run. The run kicks off at 8 a.m. at the Chart House, and will conclude with a Chart House pancake breakfast, raffle and awards.

The proceeds will not only help fund the track, a passion project of sponsor High Sierra Striders four years in the making, but will also help get the newly-formed Mammoth High School track team off to a good start this coming school year.

High Sierra Striders, a non-profit organization whose mission is to support athletic and academic achievement and promote lifelong health and fitness through running, has already donated $1,366 to the growing MHS track and field team to help buy practice equipment.

“We’re looking to offer kids another way to participate, athletically,” said Striders’ Treasurer, Elaine Smith. To that end, the Striders are also granting scholarships to graduating seniors who have been runners. The Striders gave four scholarships out a year ago and one this year.

The Striders also help sponsor several events during the summer, including the Footloose Freedom Mile on July 4, and the upcoming Ultra Marathon at Mammoth Mountain on Sept. 18. All proceeds go to support the new track down by Whitmore Pool.

The kids at MHS are already getting excited about the new track. In anticipation of its arrival, “they’re starting to form groups to compete.” Last year the first ever MHS track team made a strong start: five of the six students qualified in the High Desert League Finals. MHS junior Toby Qualls went on to the Division 4 CIF Prelims, where he came in seventh with a personal best time of 9:58.30 in the 3200m.

This year the school district approved stipends for track coaches, and track coach Brian Pennington hoped that the increased support of the school, and exposure at events like the Chart House/Footloose 5k/10k, would encourage more students to participate in track this coming year.

“A lot of kids just don’t know much about track and field,” he said, “so they don’t participate.” But Pennington thinks the new track would be a great motivator: “That’d certainly get them more interested.”

Qualls is one track team member who may participate in the run Sunday. His MHS cross-country teammates will also be in attendance, helping with registration, handing out water and getting numbers at the end of the race.

Said assistant cross country coach Rob Friedl, “We’re certainly in support of the new track.”

The first three finishers in each age group in the run, and the first five finishers in the walk, will earn a winner’s mug. More importantly, Sunday’s runners will be contributing toward a greater win for the community: a track that will help inspire and train future athletes for years to come.

Race-day registration begins at 6:45 a.m.; entry forms are available online at www.highsierrastriders.org, at Footloose Sports in Mammoth Lakes or on their website at www.footloosesports.com. Entry fee is $30 with T-shirt; $25 without T-shirt.  If registering on race day, add $5.

For more information, email Elaine Smith at Elaine@highsierrastriders.org, or call 760.709.2159.

Cerro Coso Bishop will be hold an Admissions Open House and Federal Student Aid Workshop for prospective and continuing students on Tuesday, Aug. 9 at the Bishop campus (4090 West Line Street).

Cerro Coso counselors, financial aid and registration professionals will be on site to assist with general information, admissions and updates, assessment testing, learning resource center information, counseling and educational plans, registration, bookstore information, veteran’s services, financial aid and scholarships. Financial Aid services will be by appointment only.

Call 760.872.5310 to make an appointment (or for further information). All other services will be on a first come, first served basis.

The Admissions Open House will be from 12-6 p.m. The Financial Aid workshop will run from 6-7 p.m. -Press Release

Mono Supes opt to sell Mental Health Department property

Selling a house in a recessed economy is problematic at best. In troubled times, however, Mono’s Board of Supervisors aren’t turning a blind eye to any way to save money or cut loose property the County can do without. That even goes for noble programs, such as the Davison halfway house.

At its Board meeting Tuesday, Supervisors fielded options for the sale of the house located at 71 Davison Street in Mammoth, which had been used by Mental Health services for some of its clients either battling or on the recovering side of substance abuse.

Mental Health originally acquired the Davison property in 1997, at first using the house as a state-licensed alcohol and drug rehab facility. In 2005, it changed to a support and transitional living house. The cavernous building currently has 2 tenants, and has only had 5-6 in last year or so. (At most, only 8 tenants have ever lived there at one time.)

Cuts in both in the Mental Health and Alcohol/Drug programs have pared staff down to just two hours a day during the week. Weekends, any residents are on their own. State funding sources have either been eliminated or have been diverted and are likely to remain so, according to County Director of Mental Health Services Ann Gimpel. The house costs a minimum of $60,000 annually to operate, and that’s just sitting empty with no one in it. At best, it pulls in $24,000/year in rent from the residents, leaving a minimum $36,000 gap that has never been closed. “We lost money when it was a residential alcohol-drug treatment house, and we lost money when it was a sober living house,” she noted.

The building needs some upgrades, and may require $200,000 in plumbing and electrical upgrades. “That said, compared with some empty housing, and the challenging environment that faces any given building in town, Davison is really in pretty good shape,” noted Gimpel.

Mental Health has weathered several budget storms, but Gimpel is wary of the state’s situation going forward. “So far, this has been the best of the last three years of state budgets,” Gimpel said, “but there’s $200 million in ‘unidentified cuts to Health and Human Services’ out there and $4 billion in assumed revenue that may or may not come through.”

During the Board’s May 10 meeting, Gimpel won approval to keep going ahead with the sale. According to County Counsel Marshall Rudolph, the Board has three options. The property can be sold at auction to the highest bidder, with the caveat that once the sale’s done, there’s no changing of minds or rejecting bids.

Another route calls for sealed bids, based on a minimum bid. After all the bids are opened, oral bids can be called for, but those have to be at least 5% higher than the highest sealed bid. The plus here is that the Board can choose to reject any and all bids and even take the sale of the house off the market, if it so chooses. Any sale would be subject to Board acceptance.

Third is the “surplus” option, under which the Board can issue a 60-day notice of intent to sell it to government and housing agencies [i.e. Mammoth Lakes Housing], perhaps as low- or middle-income housing.

Mono County owns the 8,000 square foot house (for which it initially paid $275,000) free and clear,. Money recovered from any sale would be split between Mental Health (86%) and General Fund (14%) to repay the funds used in the initial purchase.

The building has no appraised value at the moment, but in any case a ballpark figure from the Assessor’s office and a qualified independent appraiser would be necessary. Gimpel cautioned that it’s probably a better time to buy property than it is to sell, but indicated that the County might be able to strike a deal if it’s willing to be flexible and prices the house to sell.

“It’s part of the change that’s happening, one more casualty in a series of government cutbacks,” Gimpel assessed. “I’m just being proactive instead of reactive. I didn’t see the point of waiting until [the County is] broke to get rid of it. And it’s used so little, it’s hard to justify keeping it.”

No one from the public attended the meeting to advocate keeping the house, and the Board opted to try the surplus approach first before putting it on the open market.

Gimpel said she has budgeted for maintenance and standard expenses in the 2011-2012 budget, but that money can be reallocated if a sale happens during the year.

In an effort to save a substantial amount of overtime, there will not be an open house at the Police Station on the Fourth of July. The Police Department will be fully staffed during the parade and the combined Police/Fire Honor Guard will be participating in the parade. Chief Watson and the MLPD apologize for the change in schedule, and hope this does not cause any inconvenience for anyone.