EQUITY TRAINING
The following email was sent to senior staff at the Town of Mammoth Lakes last Friday. Hello All, My name is Michael Jones and I work for Mono County[…]
The following email was sent to senior staff at the Town of Mammoth Lakes last Friday. Hello All, My name is Michael Jones and I work for Mono County[…]
Mono County officials announced earlier this week that they had administered over 5,000 doses of Covid-19 vaccine to county residents since receiving its first allotment. According to the LA Times,[…]
Mammoth Hospital CEO Tom Parker was gracious enough to spend some time with me this week talking about the state of affairs at the health district and what opportunities and[…]
Another contender to the throne presented itself to Mammoth Town Council at its regular meeting via Zoom on Wednesday. The contender is the Little Nell Hotel Group, owned by Aspen[…]
Mono County Supervisors were faced with the age-old dilemma at their regular meeting Tuesday. Pawn off difficult, politically sensitive work on others, or buck up and do the job one[…]
Chuck Kilpatrick, 1935-2020 You would think that a person would revel in a nickname like “Mr. Bishop,” but even though it was a moniker that rolled off the tongue, Chuck[…]
When the late Ronald Reagan so famously switched political parties back in the early 1960s, he said in explanation, “I didn’t leave the Democratic party. The Democratic party left me.”[…]
As the Covid-19 pandemic continues to spread around the country, it has become increasingly clear that the United States’ way out of this pandemic is tied to vaccination. After nearly[…]
She was the most wonderful kind of contradiction. She loved people. And she loved her solitude. Perhaps she needed the bouts of solitude simply because her love for all other[…]
Well, this is unexpected. Had a minor communication error within the office (funny, since there are only two of us here. It’s not like there’s a rabbit warren of offices[…]
You know the part in the silent movies where the damsel in distress is tied to the tracks and the train is bearing down. Well, given current stay-at-home orders and[…]
Rodney Wiley, 1968-2020 The life of the party has moved on to the afterlife. Rodney Wiley, aka DJ Rodney O, died last weekend after a bout with pancreatic cancer. He[…]
California entered its second week of more strict stay-at-home orders on Monday, and the Covid-19 situation around the state has only grown worse. Greater Sacramento and the Bay Area fell[…]
As my favorite bartender in the whole wide world, Roberta Fisher (of Challis, Idaho) would often say, “You do what you have to do to survive.” And we’re all caught[…]
There’s been a lot of national hand-wringing of late over the fate of the republic if Trump refuses to concede the election, the resillience of our institutions, et. al. Maybe[…]
After Mono County recorded 37 new Covid-19 cases over the course of a week, California state officials moved the county into the most restrictive of their four tiers: Purple/Widespread Disease.[…]
Of the many things about my wife I struggle to understand, a principal topic I find confounding is her ability to justify an expense by telling me it’s actually saving[…]
While some local schools have gradually returned to in-person learning, Mammoth Unified School District (MUSD) has, for the most part remained online with the exception of some small, highly[…]
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There was some buzz in Mammoth this week that some restaurants might go “rogue” and defy the state order to limit indoor-seating to 25% occupancy (as dictated by the state’s[…]
High wind conditions on Tuesday helped to rapidly grow a fire sparked in Walker, leading to nearly 100 structures burning down over the course of 24 hours, and one recorded[…]
Earlier this week, Mono County was assigned to Tier 2 (Red) within the California Blueprint for a safer economy. The reassignment (a Covid danger designation) was one of many among[…]
… is that everyone likes an extra six inches. We learned that at a four hour Parcel workshop on Tuesday. A workshop via Zoom that was briefly halted by a[…]
A Covid outbreak at the Marine Warfare Training Center (MWTC) north of Bridgeport could toss Mono County into a sea of purple. Even without the MWTC, Mono may be seeing red.[…]
At The Parcel workshop held Tuesday evening, project developer Andrea Clark of the Pacific Companies guessed The Parcel wouldn’t accommodate its first residents until 2023-2024. Which means, the local housing[…]
From the post-election issue 2016: “Ever since Wednesday morning, every time I show up at the office there’s [Sarah] Rea, eyes red, spontaneously bawling over Clinton’s electoral defeat. On Thursday[…]
It’s said that all good things must come to an end. While that end isn’t entirely decided at this point for Mono and Inyo counties’ Covid-19 guidelines, the outlook is[…]
Election day has come and gone, and while the dust is settling in the presidential election, the results thus far for Inyo and Mono counties tell some very interesting stories.[…]
After Mammoth Lakes Recreation (MLR) opted to let Executive Director Matt McClain go in September due to budget concerns, the non-profit has been looking at a leaner future moving forward.[…]
A recent spike in Covid cases may return Inyo County to ‘red’ status. The state rates each County’s Covid-risk level on a four-tiered system. Red is the second-highest level, where Covid[…]
Just so we can all appreciate what happens when we sit on our hands and don’t pull the trigger on an investment … I was peeking through archives this week[…]
The trials and tribulations associated with the Tioga Inn hotel and restaurant project, now in its 27th year of planning hell, have been well documented: project proponent Dennis Domaille survived[…]
With apologies to Wallace Shawn … Eighteen years covering the Eastern Sierra and I’ve never seen anything like it. At its September 28 regular meeting, a majority of Bishop City[…]
I figure I’ve written too much of the paper already, so I asked reporters Hite and Page to give their takes on the first Presidential debate between Mssrs. Trump and[…]
Horseman, philanthropist and steadfast friend Roxanne Tallman died September 25 after a long bouth with cancer. She was 73. Tallman was the owner of Hidden Creeks Ranch in Bishop, the[…]
While the Creek Fire continues to burn in the wilderness to the southeast of Mammoth Lakes, mitigation efforts and seasonal changes are turning the tide against it. Conditions related to[…]
One of the prevailing questions of the Covid-19 pandemic was how schools would look come fall. As local school districts came back in session after summer break, all did so[…]
After a week of warnings about incoming strong winds, Mono County awoke on Friday, Sept. 18 to a light but steady rain. For the first time in days or even[…]
In a press release issued last Friday. the Mammoth Lakes Foundation Board of Directors said it will not proceed with a land lease or other agreement for the proposed National[…]
Fires are raging up and down the west coast, raining down ash, forcing evacuations, literally obliterating whole towns and leading to the unprecedented action of the United State Forest Service[…]
I think the above phrase represents the most difficuilt aspect for me regarding the current zeitgeist. Because there is no doubt in my mind that that’s the language President Trump[…]
I had the following email exchange with Allen Brown this week. Brown: News Flash! BLM (Black Lives Matter) takes their community improvement team to Kenosha, Wisconsin. What a great organization![…]
In spite of Proposition 64, which legalized recreational marijuana cultivation and sale in California, the plant remains controversial in some circles. Like amongst Bishop City Council. The question of permitting[…]
Inyo County Supervisors passed an urgency ordinance on Tuesday to “discourage and penalize violations of orders pertaining to the Covid-19 pandemic.” But while the Supervisors agreed to the potential enactment[…]
After yet another story about trash, Friends of the Inyo asked The Sheet to tag along with an employee to see what the non-profit was doing to mitigate the trash[…]
One of the biggest looming question marks on the Eastside is Mammoth Mountain: will it open for skiing this winter and if so, what would that look like? What would[…]
Inyo County reported its ninth Covid-19 death on Wednesday, the 8th death in the county since the beginning of August. Between the period of August 4-17, testing revealed 83 new[…]
COVID-19 affected the Eastern Sierra economy in a variety of ways. Bridgeport, for example, was hit in an entirely different way than other Eastern Sierra town. The economy in Bridgeport[…]
I hope all of you got out this week for the Perseid meteor shower, Mother Nature’s way of making up for the lack of a Crowley Lake fireworks show on[…]
Due to a “lack of low-income students” and the belief that federal funding dollars would serve more people in more densely populated areas, Inyo Mono Advocates for Community Action (IMACA)[…]
Superior Court Judge Stephen Place granted Inyo County a temporary restraining order on Wednesday. The order will prohibit Two Brothers from Italy restaurant from operating until it complies with public[…]
Four months of safety behind closed doors, with no visitors permitted, allowed the Bishop Care Center to remain Covid-19 free while care facilities and retirement homes around the country lost[…]
My curiosity got the best of me this week, so I decided to park a desk and a chair at the path leading from the parking lot to the Mammoth[…]
This week, a new Trails Host program was officially unveiled as part of the solution for the congestion in the Lakes Basin. The program will place two “Trail Hosts” up[…]
As Mono County goes, so too does Inyo it seems. Inyo County saw a spike of 28 new Covid cases over a three day period between August 1 and August[…]
Mammoth Lakes Town Council approved a contract update, worth an estimated $6 million, with Mammoth Lakes Tourism (MLT) on Wednesday, July 15. Last year, MLT and the Town of Mammoth[…]
Coming off a fairly dry winter, the local bear population was active earlier than usual this spring. And Mammoth Lakes has been jammed with tourists ever since travel restrictions were[…]
As of Thursday, the United States stands far and away at the top of the Covid-19 charts. Not exactly a chart one wants to hit. Certainly not Kasey Kasem’s Top[…]
Jurisdictions around California have seen spikes in Covid cases in recent weeks, raising concerns that the state as a whole is beginning to lose ground in the fight against Covid-19. […]
What a difference a few weeks make. Prior to reopening, Stacey Bardfield, Owner/Broker of Mammoth Sierra properties, described the local real estate market as being “dead as a doornail.” And[…]
“Like all hospitals around the country, Mammoth Hospital has not been immune to the financial impact of COVID-19,” said Melanie Van Winkle, CFO for Mammoth Hospital, in an email to[…]
While many summer events and activities have been canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic, there’s one throwback summer activity that’s eminently portable and perfect for social distancing. Reading. And Bishop’s[…]
The Tiger Bar in June Lake was temporarily closed on June 27 due to a lack of compliance regarding COVID-19 protocols. The order came from Mono County Health Officer Thomas[…]
A week ago, Ingrid Braun, the Sheriff- Coroner for Mono County gave a presentation to the Mono County Board of Supervisors regarding possible police reform through the lens of a[…]
In a public ruling late last month, Inyo County was dealt a setback in its attempts to take over three landfills from the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power.[…]
The Northern Inyo Hospital District board met Wednesday evening to discuss the FY 2020-2021 budget. The board continues to work through financial difficulties borne of Covid impacts and the Flanigan[…]
Life in Mammoth has a lot in common with the reality television series, “Survivor.” Maybe it’s the island living theme. Or maybe it’s the scramble for limited jobs and resources.[…]
Mammoth Lakes Recreation’s three-year contract with the Town of Mammoth Lakes expires at the end of June. On Wednesday, MLR Executive Director Matt McClain pleaded for MLR’s very life before[…]
Operating a summer camp can be tough. Factor in the current Covid-19 pandemic and it becomes an exponentially bigger headache. Clay Tyson is 56 years-old and first came to Mammoth[…]
After running out of time during its previous meeting due to prolonged budget deliberation, the Mammoth Lakes Tourism board reconvened on Monday afternoon to finalize the ‘20-’21 budget and vote[…]
Early on in Mono County Finance Director Janet Dutcher’s FY2020-2021 budget presentation during Tuesday’s Mono County Board of Supervisors meeting, she put an ominous slide on the screen. In large[…]
With Scott McGuire departing his position as an at-large member on the Mammoth Lakes Tourism Board, that same board took up the question of who will be McGuire’s replacement at[…]
Strange as it sounds, there can be a benefit to lousy reporting. First, Mammoth Mountain Vice-President Eric Clark’s excerpted remarks at Wednesday’s Mammoth Lakes Tourism board meeting: “I wanted to[…]
Published in 1987, ‘The Art of the Deal’ by Donald J. Trump will likely be a relic studied for years: how did that guy become president? . The book’s authors[…]
The uncertainty of the COVID-19 pandemic has made any sort of planning and forward thinking difficult. While the state has been walking back restrictions on its reopening plans, the changes[…]
Mammoth Lakes Tourism Business Improvement District (TBID) was established in 2013. At the time, MMSA (now Alterra) CEO Rusty Gregory had a grandiose plan to generate more air travel to[…]
The Mammoth Lakes Foundation Board recently determined it needed to slash its permanent staff from four members to two in the wake of the Covid crisis. “In order to preserve[…]
Like everyone else, I suppose, I am watching the corona drama unfold with a mixture of horror and fascination. All the while looking at my own books and trying to[…]
We all respond to pandemic hysteria a little bit differently. My response has been low-grade pyromania. I live next to LADWP property in Bishop. And there are tumbleweeds everywhere –[…]
He was the type of guy who still wrote thank you letters. A guy who made it a point to remember people’s names. And if he were in line at[…]
With COVID-19 aka coronavirus causing major shutdowns in cities across the globe, it was only a matter of time before the Eastern Sierra saw large-scale shutdowns of its own. Life[…]
The Bad News Bears (1976) was one of the seminal movies from my childhood, and I think of it this week during the worldwide coronavirus meltdown because it really does[…]
Finger-pointing, accusations from former employees, threats to The Sheet over supposed personnel documents which Lunch has never seen, and at the center of it all, veterans who’d prefer more service[…]
Over the course of the past week, concern about COVID-19 (coronavirus) has reached fever pitch around the globe. On March 11, a number of major points in the evolution of[…]
Voters in Inyo and Mono Counties turned out on Tuesday, March 3, to cast their ballots in a number of races both local and national. The Inyo County results were[…]
For the first time, maybe ever, Mammoth Lakes will have a Rabbi living here supporting the Jewish community and spreading kindness to anyone who needs it. Rabbi Yisroel Gordon recently[…]
Mammoth-Yosemite Airport’s commercial service is scheduled to be shifted to the Bishop Airport by late October. This would mean a daily, year-round flight from Los Angeles and two[…]
There’s a reason why the name stuck. In 1998, newsman Tom Brokaw published a book called “The Greatest Generation” to describe Americans who came of age during the Great Depression[…]
Just when you’d think you’re fully out of the weeds, you can get pulled right back in. The conversation around the proposed Colitas Farms project in Walker came before the[…]
So a few things that have crystallized (and not) for me this week. On Measure F … I see an argument on both sides. On the Fire District’s side, how[…]
Bishop City Council held a special meeting on Monday, February 10 to hear a presentation on plans for a new court building in downtown Bishop. Court Executive Officer Pam Foster[…]
“Think where man’s glory most begins and ends, and say my glory was I had such friends.” -William Butler Yeats Dave McCoy, founder[…]
The Mammoth Grand Prix wrapped up last week and a local Mammoth Snowboarder named Dusty Henricksen managed to capture a first-place finish in the Slopestyle event in February. The 17-year[…]
In 2016, California voters passed Proposition 64, known as the Adult Use of Marijuana act, to allow for the growth, sale and usage of recreational cannabis in California. The question[…]
“A party without cake is just a meeting,” said the famous American culinary icon, Julia Child. It is also said that “Where there is cake, there is hope.” So, notwithstanding[…]
Inyo County hosted two public scoping meetings, in Bishop and Mammoth, as part of the environmental review and initial study which need to occur this year before Bishop Airport can[…]
The Sierra Nevada can be an intimidating place to settle. The combination of altitude, isolation, and extreme weather remove any possibility that that it might be easy, creating an environment[…]
If you talk to folks about the Ikon Pass and its blackout dates, you’ll certainly attract a wide range of opinion. The second series of this season’s pass blackout[…]
The Mammoth Grand Prix begins Wednesday January 29 and finishes up on Saturday February 1. Skiers and snowboarders from all over will be competing in the event, looking to get[…]
Southern California Edison representatives were in town earlier this week for a presentation on a subject that refreshingly had nothing to do with Public Safety Power Shutoffs, although it may[…]
Bob Todd was a drinker, a toker, a gambler, a slob, a Deadhead, an avid sports fan. He was loud, outspoken, caustic and funny. He didn’t broker dummies and fools.[…]
I want to relate a story told by Major Gen. Ted Banta at the Operation Mountain Freedom (Wounded Warrior) luncheon Thursday. He was talking about a Marine Gunnery Sergeant named[…]
The new year is only three weeks old and Mono County’s financial headaches are already getting started. At Tuesday’s Board of Supervisors meeting, Public Health Director Sandra Pearce, Public Health[…]
On January 5, 2019, the Wall Street Journal published an article titled, “High Cost of Wildfire Insurance Hurts California Home Sales.” The article discussed rising insurance premiums associated with houses[…]
While businesses in town may have seen an uptick in customers and sales during the holiday season, dismal passenger enplanement numbers served as a reminder to Mammoth Lakes Tourism, the[…]
In no particular order … I’ve been catching up with some reading this week. One headline from the Dec. 18 Wall Street Journal that caught my attention: “Pittsburgh Airport Ramps[…]
The Multi-use-facility (or MUF) appears to be gaining traction. This week, on Tuesday January 7, both Mammoth Lakes Recreation and the Recreation Commission received an update on the progress made[…]
Every developer that has ever built in Mammoth Lakes has to face the question: “What about snow storage?” Mammoth Lakes is fresh off of a winter that dropped 492 inches[…]
BUSD Supt. Katie Kolker talks goals, building trust Katie Kolker took over as Bishop Unified School District (BUSD) interim Superintendent on November 4, 2019, following the conclusion of former Superintendent[…]
Tony Colarsardo: 1950-2019 To call Tony Colasardo a pillar of the Mammoth community would be an understatement. He was more of a steel column. And now he is gone. Colasardo.[…]
Gus Kreiger is just a single person but starting this coming weekend, he’ll transform into a full ensemble of more than twenty distinct characters over the course of his performance[…]
You can really make a game of it. Think of all the businesses that have come and gone in the Village at Mammoth since it opened in May, 2003. Hennessey’s,[…]
This season the Bishop Broncos football team cruised to an 8-2 regular season record and entered the playoffs as the #1 overall seed in the division 6 central playoffs. After[…]
The initial findings of a nine-month Workforce Health and Well-Being Project for Mono County employees revealed exhaustion, frustration, and anxiety within the ranks, painting a picture of a workforce struggling[…]
In response to last week’s editorial, I heard through the grapevine something along these lines, “There he goes again – suggesting that Mammoth Lakes Tourism (MLT) should operate with less[…]
Mammoth’s Town Council and Planning and Economic Development Commission (PEDC) held a special joint meeting on Wednesday to discuss the preferred draft plan for The Parcel workforce housing development. Public[…]
A crowd gathered at Cerro Coso Community College in Bishop on the night of Thursday, November 14, to hear a talk by Dr. Katie Bouman, an assistant professor of computing[…]
“We were hoping as we got more detailed studies maybe this wouldn’t be as bad as we thought. But I’m not going to sugarcoat this. This isn’t good news.” Inyo[…]
Marty Burgenbauch: 1948-2019 It’s fairly ironic that the last band (of many bands over the years) Marty Burgenbauch was a part of was called “The Jaded Haters,” as Marty was[…]
There was a great essay in November 2 issue of The Economist on credulity and politics, pretty much asking “Why isn’t lying more damaging [to politicians]?” I could quote the[…]
Mammoth Town Council met Wednesday night, November 6, in front of a completely packed Suite Z. Some people left after the town announced its new hires and handed out awards[…]
On November 1, a new tobacco ban goes into effect county-wide, removing flavored tobacco products such as menthol cigarettes from the shelves of local retailers. The institution of this ban,[…]
For the first time since 2017, grazing will be allowed at Conway Ranch, a continuation of a ranching history in the area that stretches back more than a century. On[…]
It was one of those weeks. I really don’t remember what I did. I think that when a bunch of letters come in (content!), one has a tendency to take[…]