Letters to the Editor
MUF in the business district?
Dear Editor:
I note with interest the ongoing debate over the ice skating rink. What I find missing from the discussion is what is best for our town, its economy, and its small business owners. If the current dead-end street/commercial location is purportedly unattractive to tourists, is the proposed new location really any better? If the rink is supposed to be a tourist attraction why not put it where the tourists and our small businesses are. Across the street from the Village. Next to the Rafters. On the empty lot where Grumpy’s was many years ago (next to the lower Shell). In the vacant Turner Gas spot, or use that for parking and put the ring in the Perry’s pizza parking lot. I’m sure Black Velvet coffee, the realtors, Base Camp, and Schats would love the steady flow of tourists. It might even resurrect Swenson’s Ice Cream. I am sure the Town would enjoy the sales tax revenue of a little extra shopping in the outlet mall. With any luck a smaller ring for the tourists and those wishing to just free skate will pay for itself and pay for a roof on the other rink. Do our kids really care if they play hockey on a dead end street?
Our town suffers miserably from urban sprawl. Rather than spreading out even more how about spending our money for a high visibility ice/roller rink in town. Does the town own the site? Maybe not. Is it obtainable? Quite likely some great site exists within our business district with the owner begging for a buyer. (Seems the Grumpy’s lot has been vacant for 25 or 30 years). Every single tourist (some 3 million a year) passes down Main Street and what kid or kid-at-heart is not going to clamor to stop by a festively lit rink? Now exactly how many tourists make it to the bend in Old Mammoth Road? Or want to drive down there to find that the rink is closed due to hockey or scheduled events? Would a rink bring a central magnet to the middle of town and enhance Main Street, the attractiveness of the town, the quaintness, and the tourist dollars in the coffee shops, pastry shops and fun shop? Clearly. How about we give some consideration to putting our town dollars to work for our own.
Andy Ulich
Mammoth Lakes
Hook up responsibly
In response to the article of Oct. 23 entitled Hookup Stories, I would like to remind all youth, young adults and other applicable persons that the Mono County Health Department (760-924-1830) offers free condoms, and low cost HIV and STD testing. Also, a November 2015 report from the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) identifies prenatal exposure to alcohol as the leading preventable cause of birth defects and intellectual and neuro-developmental disabilities in children. The report stresses that no amount of alcohol should be considered safe to drink during any trimester of pregnancy. Women who drink alcoholic beverages should be on birth control to prevent the consequences of alcohol exposure in the case of unplanned pregnancy. There may be other health and mental health issues to be addressed from the article, but I will leave that to others.
Nancy Mahannah
Mono County Health Dept
