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The Reds Meadow Road is now closed for the season due to the amount of snow received in the most recent storm. Logging operations remain in progress, removing down trees from the wind event of Nov. 30, 2011. Due to the tree removal operations the Reds Meadow Road has been plowed, and will continue to be cleared of snow to facilitate the removal of the trees. However, because of hazards associated with hauling the trees out of the valley on potentially slippery roads, for safety reasons the road will be closed to all public use, including bicycle, skier, snowmobile and pedestrian traffic, and  access to Reds Meadow Valley will be prohibited when logging operations are in progress.

Normal road closure procedures state that after Oct. 15, the Reds Meadow Valley Road is closed to the public after the first accumulating snowfall. The most recent storm dropped over a foot of snow at Minaret Vista and on the Reds Meadow Road, thus bringing about the seasonal closure.

The Forest Service will post “Area Closed” signs at the point of closure when restrictions are in place. Generally, the area closure will be in place Monday through Saturday from pre-dawn to sunset, but may also include some Sundays. The closure will be posted at the gate beyond Minaret Vista or at the road to the Vista just beyond Mammoth Mountain Inn, depending on Ski Area Operations. Access to the Minaret Vista and beyond along the San Joaquin Ridge will not be allowed via Hwy 203 when the closure point is near the Mammoth Mountain Inn.

The Forest Service is continuing its clean-up efforts from the November 30 wind event that toppled thousands of trees in the Reds Meadow Valley, surrounding area and throughout the Inyo National Forest. A logging contractor is in the process of removing 3.5 million board feet of timber from the Reds Meadow Valley to help reduce the risk of wildfire and threat of insect or disease infestation.

The Forest Service is asking that the public cooperate and respect this necessary closure to ensure their safety, as well as the safety of the crews working in the area. Anyone entering the closed area may be issued a citation.

For more information, please call the Mammoth Lakes Welcome Center at 760.924.5500 or visit the Welcome Center at 2510 Hwy 203 next to the Mammoth Ranger Station. -FS

A different take on the motherless bear cubs

Dear Editor:

It is sad that the bear cubs mom was hit and killed by a car. It is also sad that our fish and game can not manage the game and fish in the state of california! Every time someone thinks the wildlife should be taken to rehab and put in a cage fed and put in a zoo or try to realease them back into the wild. Mammoth is a prime example of people feeling sorry for the bears! The same bears stay in town every year living off trash and whatever they can steal from people instead of in the wild where they should be. Maybe being a dead bear is better than living in a cage the rest of their life.
Josh Rhodes
Chalfant

Two rock climbers began ascending a climbing route, known as the Muir Wall, on El Capitan on Monday, October 14. The party was due to reach the top of the climb on Sunday night, October 21, just before a large storm, with several inches of snow was predicted. The lead climber, a 24-year old male from Ontario, Canada, reached the summit just before midnight on Sunday night. The second climber, a 40-year old male from British Columbia, Canada, was forced to spend the night approximately 230 feet below the summit due to impending bad weather and a stuck climbing rope. 

At approximately 2 a.m. on Monday, October 22, the 40-year old climber attempted to deploy a rainfly over his portaledge (a hanging tent system designed for rock climbers to spend the night on a rock wall) to provide shelter from the rain/snow. However, during his attempt he slipped out of his portaledge and fell approximately 15 feet down the face of the rock. He was able to ascend his rope and secure himself back to the portaledge, but was unable to properly erect the rainfly. During the night, the area received approximately four to six inches of snow with nighttime temperatures in the mid-twenties.

Yosemite Park Rangers were notified of the possible hypothermic climber midday on Monday, October 22. Due to unfavorable weather, the park could not secure a helicopter to assist in the rescue and instead deployed ground teams to respond. Park Rangers Aaron Smith and Ben Doyle, and Search and Rescue Crew Member Matt Othmer immediately hiked to the summit of El Capitan to rescue the climber. Snow, wind, and ice slowed rescue attempts and personnel reached the summit at approximately 4 p.m. The team rigged anchors and immediately began lowering Park Ranger Smith approximately 230 feet to the climber. Upon arrival, Smith found the climber to be suffering from exhaustion and mild hypothermia. Smith attached ropes to the climber, and then ascended the ropes back to the summit. Using a mechanical advantage system of pulleys, the team was then able to hoist the climber to the summit. 

After warming the climber, the team descended back to Yosemite Valley via hiking and rappelling, and reached the Valley floor at approximately 10 p.m. 

The climber was transported to a local hospital and is in good condition. -NPS

Are the bear cubs that were orphaned at the end of September when their mother was struck and killed by a vehicle, dead? Mammoth’s Wildlife Specialist Steve Searles believes so. The following letter is a reaction from a Mono County resident upon hearing Searles’ opinion:

Way to go DFG

Dear Editor:

Way to go, Department of Fish and Game, way to go!

Hearing today that the 2 bear cubs left to fend for themselves after their mother was killed by a car had (possibly) died, I was so angered by the inept actions taken by DFG! It’s obvious to me the “bear biologists” were VERY WRONG in their assessment of the bear cubs “from a distance.” With all the “professional” opinions regarding the cubs being so conflicted, how about someone from DFG using a brain cell and some honest compassion towards the “baby” bear cubs?!

If a three year old child was lost somewhere in Mammoth, is that child capable of living without assistance?! OF COURSE NOT!!! A baby anything needs nurturing and it’s mother, period!

Another tragic DFG mistake!! Maybe it’s time for this government entity to be held accountable for their mistake …WHAT DO YOU THINK???

Ann Aylesworth
Chalfant 

(Photo: Geisel)

The Mammoth Lakes Trails System Grand Opening on Saturday afternoon, Oct. 20 at the Mammoth Lakes Welcome Center went off without a hitch and with excellent weather. Members of the business community, activist groups, Mono County Board of Supervisors, Town of Mammoth Lakes staff and all five Town Council members, Mammoth Lakes Trials and Public Access staff and the Inyo National Forest staff were on hand. A color guard was provided courtesy of Mammoth Girl Scout Troop 269.

A union scam has made its way to Mono County and is targeting the Environmental Impact Report (EIR) for Ormat’s Mammoth Pacific I Replacement Project.

The scam is a form of “greenmail,” similar to blackmail, but using environmental issues on renewable energy projects as the threat. Some labor unions hire environmental lawyers to exploit California’s environmental protection laws and force private developers to agree to union-only Project Labor Agreements. If the developers don’t give in, their projects are stalled or stopped by appeals and litigation.

On Thursday, Oct. 11, the Mono County Planning Commission held a special meeting to consider final approval of the M-1 Replacement Project’s Final EIR (FEIR), conditional use permit, setback variance and reclamation plan. The M-1 replacement project is the proposed construction of a new geothermal plant within walking distance from the existing geothermal plant that Ormat currently owns and operates off of Hwy 203.

The existing plant is approximately 25 years old, and Ormat is looking to replace it with a new, more efficient, state-of-the art facility. The old plant would then be used as a storage facility.

During last week’s site visit to the plant and subsequent public hearing, the Commission, Mono County staff and Ormat received some unwelcomed guests. Two lawyers attended, Mitchell Tsai, Independent Attorney-at-Law, and Elizabeth Klebaner of Adams Broadwell Joseph and Cardozo. Tsai was there to represent Laborers’ International Union of North America (LiUNA) and Klebaner was there on behalf of California Unions for Reliable Energy (CURE).

Adams Broadwell Joseph and Cardozo is the law firm named in many of the online articles and reports on this topic, which explain that this “greenmail” has made its way all over the state, affecting projects as large as the San Diego Convention Center’s expansion.

In Mono County, the two lawyers picked at three things in the FEIR and presented at least 100 pages of documents to County staff and the Commission on the day of the meeting.

The three items they targeted were a small portion of language in the County’s General Plan regarding setback variances, air quality issues that could result from the plant’s emissions, and biological impacts on the deer population in the area.

Klebaner spoke first and was able to get through her presentation before Commissioner Scott Bush became fed up.

“Who are you and who do you represent that wants to slow this down?” Bush asked her. “This is not a new thing to the County. The plant has been there for almost 30 years and now you’re saying its terrible.”

Klebaner stated that she was there to represent geothermal unions wanting sustainable plants. When Bush asked for a list of union members in Mono County that she represented so that he could go and speak with them about this issue, Klebaner drew a blank and said she would have to get back to the Commission with names. Mono County Associate Planner Courtney Weiche said this week that the County had received word back from Klebaner that her firm was not legally obligated to supply a list of names and therefore would not do so. 

When it was Tsai’s turn to speak, Bush repeatedly interrupted him asking if it was his goal to stop the plant for good.

“It sounds like you want to stop the project, but you’re representing the people who would work on it,” Bush said. “You’re raising issues without any solutions.”

“I was just asked by my clients to take a look at the EIR and suggest ways to mitigate further,” Tsai said.

Commissioner Steve Shipley asked if Tsai’s deer expert had actually made a trip to the location for a field study or if the expert had just used old information and studies. Tsai did not know. It was, however, pointed out several times that during the course of the environmental study on the project, the County had not heard any objections from the Department of Fish and Game, which is the local authority used as a litmus for the significance of biological impacts of a project.

Since the County didn’t hear anything back from DFG regarding the project, it was confident that the agency did not have issues with the deer population in the project’s area. No news is good news when dealing with large agencies such as DFG.

Several local contractors attended the public hearing to support Ormat and ask the Commission to move the project forward.

Ultimately the Commission voted 4-0 to approve the project. What will happen next will depend on whether or not the unions and their lawyers file an appeal to the Commission’s decision.

If an appeal is not filed, the only item that will go before the Mono County Board of Supervisors will be a General Plan Amendment to clarify the language regarding setback variances.

If, however, an appeal is filed, which is what County staff was expecting, then a review of the entire project would need to go before the Board of Supervisors.

Any parties wanting to file an appeal would need to do so within 10 days of the Commission’s decision, which would give them until Oct. 22.

Preparations for annual audit lead to changes for some student clubs

As Mammoth Unified School District prepares for its audit at the end of November, compiling a list of ASB (Associated Student Body) sanctioned and non-sanctioned clubs has risen to the top of the to-do list.

“We’re getting our books in order,” explained MUSD Superintendent Rich Boccia.

One club that was notified it was not ASB sanctioned and would therefore either have to become sanctioned or begin to operate differently is the Interact Club — the youth arm of Rotary.

Interact Club advisors Tara McKenzie and Joanne Hunt were made aware of the change when some of the funding from Bluesapalooza was placed in an ASB fund rather than given to Interact. The Interact Club runs the parking fundraiser during the Bluesapalooza event.

“There was $1,000 in funds and $500 went into the ASB fund,” Boccia, a Rotary member himself, said.

Noon Rotary’s President Rick Phelps explained that the $500 was put into the ASB fund because it was donated directly by Bluesapalooza to the school. Boccia explained that the $500 would eventually end up in Rotary’s pocket. The situation, however, left Interact with the decision to conform or make some changes.

“If you want to raise money at the school [or in association with the school] you have to go through the process,” Boccia explained of the reasoning behind becoming an ASB sanctioned club.

The sanction provides a way for the school district to have a system of checks and balances. One part of the system is that ASB clubs must use a preapproval process for expenditures.

“It helps the District keep track of what the clubs are doing,” explained MUSD’s Business Manager [and former auditor] Donnie Salamanca. “It provides transparency and monitoring. Interact is not following the process it should be.”

Salamanca also explained that every year there are hot topics in school district audits.

“The ASB sanction is a hot topic on a bigger scale and is not unique to our district,” he said. With that in mind both Salamanca and Boccia said they are working on getting a list together of clubs that are not currently compliant in order to give them the same opportunity as Interact to choose whether to come into compliance or not.

“I’m not going to say all the clubs are in compliance,” Salamanca said. “We are gathering information to work toward compliance.” While the penalty for being out of compliance would most likely only lead to a slap on the wrist, according to Salamanca, it is part of the larger process of looking at the structure of the District as a whole.

According to Boccia, the only thing a club has to do to become ASB sanctioned is adopt a constitution. He said that he drafted a constitution for Interact, but the club chose not to go down the path of sanction.

By choosing to stay independent Interact will have to deal with a few things — most importantly it will not be able to fundraise on school district property or use the school district’s name in connection with fundraisers.

“Money raised in house has to stay in house,” Boccia said, which would negate Interact’s ability to give money it raises to Rotary if it became sanctioned.

The Club’s refusal to come into compliance, however, lets the school district off the hook, legally.

“Since Interact chose not to become an ASB sanctioned club, the school district is protected,” Salamanca said.

According to McKenzie, the entire 23-member club took a vote and came to the unanimous decision to stay independent.

Boccia stressed that the entire process was simply about oversight.

“I was asked why we had to change things when we’ve been doing them this way for 10 years,” Boccia said. “Because we have to be legal and follow policies.”

Mammoth Unified School District’s first “State of the Schools” Town Hall meeting from Superintendent Rich Boccia was a mix of “challenges and celebration.” The Oct. 18 meeting was sparsely attended, likely due to the rescheduled Town Council meeting a block or so away, Boccia nonetheless said the intent for the annual meetings is to take stock, share information and ask questions.

Boccia reviewed the District’s Strategic Aspirations and Priorities, which focused principally on fiscal health. Major concern was placed on passage of at least Prop 30 or Prop 38 (both tax initiatives on the November ballot in part to shore up funding to schools). Boccia read from a recent LA Times story which said in part, “If Props 30 and 38 fail, the situtation will be dire.”

Also mentioned: developing a performance-based culture,” and programs that focus in part on pathway options for graduating students.

Boccia praised resource leveraging, particularly community-generated programs, such as STEM, which fosters Math, Engineering and Science students through hands-on afterschool projects.

“These are tangible things we can accomplish,” he opined. Boccia also reiterated a stated goal of an Olympic-certified training center for cycling, triathlon and biathlon, and snow sports via a partnership with Mammoth Mountain Ski Area. “If we’re going to build the best damn school district west of the Mississippi, we gotta have a world-class facility,” he said.

In terms of School Data, Boccia reviewed the latest Academic Performance Indicator trends, which he said “showed growth across the board, shows we’re moving on the right path.” The scores (perfect is 1,000) showed that both Mammoth Middle and Elementary schools are progressing above 800, and Mammoth High is improving into the upper 700s, but still trailing a bit behind its counterparts.

As Shana Stapp pointed out, academic progress of the hispanic community in should be lauded, with the District having nearly doubled the number of Hispanic students from 33% to 65% during the past 13 years, and still advancing. “We haven’t fallen back 50%, quite the opposite,” she observed.

Survey Results from earlier this year yielded a mixed bag of results.The Parent survey only yielded 73 respondents. While the vast majority (96%) found the school “caring and nuturing,” one-third disagreed that it provided individual instruction that allowed students to be challenged.

The Staff survey only pulled 24 respondents out of the 130 employees. There was disgreement with the statement that MUSD participates in instructional planning with the instructional team. But most agreed that the schools support an environment focused on improved student achievement.

Finally, regarding the Budget, MUSD Business Manager Donnie Salamanca reported that he’s very concerned with the District’s cash reserves dropping so dramatically to 5% by Fiscal Year 2014-2015 if the November tax initiatives fail at the ballot box. Good news: federal special education dollars will escape possible sequestration cuts until at least March. Bad news: the state is looking for new ways to pull from any excess property tax revenue. “It’s chipping away, and basically whittling Basic Aid districts (which get their general purpose funding from property tax revenues) down to Revenue Limit districts,” he advised.

He and Boccia seem to think the state is slowly working toward converting all of the state’s 100 or so Basic Aid districts to Revenue Limit, which would mean, among other things, funding based on enrollment. “Revenue Limit funding is a moving target, but it would mean about a 25% or $3 million hit to the District,” Salamanca estimated.

IPublic schools, Boccia added, continue to take hits, lamenting that California is one of the 10 largest world economies, yet ranks 47th in the nation when it comes to per-student funding. “I really think there’s a conspiracy to dismantle public education, and this country was built on public education,” Boccia stated.

(Photo courtesy AC Education)

As education costs continue to rise, school districts across the country face state budgeting cuts, and teachers have to do “more with less.” Parents of public school children are concerned about how their kids can receive competent, affordable schooling.

Salman “Sal” Khan, a self-styled educator and founder of the Khan Academy, a free online education platform and nonprofit organization, is revamping the educational model of the schoolhouse from “one room” to “one world,” and for a change letting teachers do more … with more.

According to his bio, Khan, a Louisiana-born Bangladeshi American, has already authored and posted on the Internet some 3,000 short academic videos, mainly focusing on math and science. In late 2004, Khan began tutoring his cousin, Nadia, in mathematics online using the Yahoo! Doodle notepad. Other relatives and friends sought his tutoring, and soon he concluded it would be more practical and beneficial to distribute the tutorials on the YouTube channel, as the Khan Academy, starting in November 2006.

The Academy’s increasing popularity, along with appreciative testimonials prompted Khan to quit his job as a hedge fund analyst in late 2009 to focus on full-time development of his YouTube channel.

As of September this year, the Khan Academy channel on YouTube boasts nearly 400,000 subscribers and millions of monthly users worldwide, leading Time magazine to put Khan on its 2012 World’s 100 Most Influential People list.

Khan appeared earlier this month on a segment of National Public Radio’s “The Diane Rehm Show” to talk about the “One World Schoolhouse” concept.

Originally setup as a non-profit, he said the mission should be to reach and empower as many people as possible here. “There’s a high social return, almost an infinite return on social investment,” Khan told Rehm.

The first donation was from philanthropist Ann Doerr, for $10,000. “Before that I was getting these $5 and $10 donations from people all over the world, which was tremendous, it was helping,” Khan recalled. “I told Ann if we were a physical school, you’d have a building named after you. When she found out we were living off our savings, she stepped up and gave a larger donation, so I could support myself with a salary.”

Not long after, the academy jumped to the next level. “A few months later I got a text message from Ann, who was at a conference with Bill Gates, and she said he was up on stage telling everyone in the audience he uses the Khan Academy for his kids.”

The Gates Foundation is now the Academy’s largest supporter, along with other tech companies.

As if that weren’t enough, Education Secretary Arne Duncan also reportedly uses Khan Academy, and recently visited the offices with officials from the Department of Education. “I think he really understands things at the holistic level, and I hope we can tackle things alongside them,” Khan added.

“You read news stories and you become cynical about the system, and I never thought we’d be part of it,” he acknowledged. But then he was contacted by a Los Altos school system in California curious to find out how the Academy would fit into, say, a fifth grade math class. “The tools, the software, the videos allow every student to learn at their own pace. In our mind it frees up the classroom to do more interactive things. Teachers get real time information about where they all are, and then they could use that information to do focus interventions, lead projects and have students tutor each other.”

His pilot program expanded to four classrooms, then every classroom in that school district, and now is in use in 20,000 classrooms across the country. The long-term goal is to broaden use of the basic elements of the teaching program from math and computer science, adding more content that could be used in just about any major school subject from grade school to college level, including some graduate level topics, including medical school [starting with a partnership with Stanford University] and law school applications.

“This isn’t about virtual replacing physical; this is about virtual being used as a tool to make physical more powerful,” he maintains.

Mammoth “Khan” do it!

Of those 20,000 classrooms, a few of them are in Mammoth Lakes.  Mammoth Elementary School 4th Grade teacher Marci Jefferson, for example, has brought Khan into her classroom. “I love it,” she enthused. “It really helps with independent study and lets me differentiate the students’ needs.” Jefferson likes the informal nature of Khan’s videos, which she thinks keeps students engaged. “I love his explanations, and his humor isn’t too dry!”

The Academy, she added, teaches what needs should be met, and allows her to spend more class time introducing concepts. “And there’s no status quo … you can look at each student’s individual progress and go from there.”

In Mammoth Middle School, math teacher Ruth Hensley (6th grade) and Emilie Weightman (7th grade) also use Khan’s program. Both are fans, pointing to how it allows them to track student data, and bring up to speed students who are stuck while others can keep moving forward. “We can start basic concepts and the students can backfill using the videos,” Hensley said, adding the teacher can then work on filling in any gaps.

“We start mini lessons, and then the kids work independently,” Weightman said. “The students and teachers can get more one on one … it’s really valuable when it comes to maximizing a classroom hour.”

Hensley and Weightman like Khan’s video lectures, but say, more importantly, so do the students. “They have a chance to watch someone other than us,” Hensley quipped. “A side benefit is that parents can sit in math lessons with their children, and we encourage parents to get involved.”

One of MUSD’s stated objectives is to integrate more technology into education. With more iPads now in the hands of students, Hensley and Weightman expressed confidence that these tools put MUSD’s students on par with those in the rest of the world.

“The kids can create their own avatars, and earn points … they’re really into it,” Weightman illustrated.

The teachers also use another free application, this one called Edmodo, a discreet social learning network for teachers, students, and parents that is similar to Facebook. It uses the social network environment as an inter-student tutoring tool. Students can “take ownership” of lessons and share experiences with their peers, and even create their own lessons. Edmodo is soon to become part of the District’s common core standards.

Meanwhile, the teachers say the Khan Academy’s lectures can be used on an a la carte basis, and challenges students, which they hope will be reflected in test scores.

“Considering the number of pay programs out there, I’m surprised he still isn’t charging for it,” Jefferson said of Khan Academy’s “a free, world-class education for everyone, everywhere free of charge” mission statement. Khan said he’s exploring how to license a certain amount of content for other users to help augment foundation/philanthropic funding, while still keeping his “free” mission statement sacred.

Flipping the classroom 

Khan acknowledges that none of the Academy’s ideas are new, and to a large degree came from teachers, parents and students. “I started getting letters from teachers talking about flipping the classroom. [They said] you’ve already given a lecture on photosynthesis or factoring a polynomial. [Students] can watch your stuff at their own pace, and then in class time we can get into true problem solving, true interactivity,” he said.

Is he worried about the state of education in this country? “One should never be complacent about something as important as education. That said, I think some of the concern is misguided,” he opined. “People always site where we are on these test scores relative to other countries. How can we be more like Singapore, be more like Finland, or be more like South Korea? I take a different view on it. Now, all the innovators — Google, Apple, Twitter — are all being concentrated on the U.S., in this culture.

“The task is not how do we get our schools to implement the Prussian model as implemented in Singapore or Finland, it’s how do we break the Prussian model and make it more American, so that we can have creativity in class time, so that all these things that make America a great engine of innovation are actually happening in the classroom as well.”

Khan, who went to public school in Louisiana, holds BS degrees in mathematics, electrical engineering and computer science, as well as an MS in electrical engineering and computer science from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and a MBA form Harvard Business School.

Khan has compiled his story and observations in a new book, “The One World Schoolhouse: Education Reimagined,” issued o the Twelve/Hatchette Book Group imprimatur.

(Photo: Geisel)

On Friday, Oct. 19, Mammoth local Leigh Gaasch said goodbye to Jaymin, the Guide Dog for the Blind she has raised from a puppy. Jaymin next heads to Guide Dog “college,” where she’ll get formal training and then be assigned to her new master, a needy, vision-challenged owner. Gaasch said she wasn’t sad and actually very proud of what she and Jaymin accomplished, and that a person’s life somewhere will be changed for the better as a result. Gaasch headed to Mojave to hand her off to the Guide Dogs organization … and at the same time pick up a new puppy to start training.