ANY AIR-PORT IN A STORM
Published in the March 28, 2026 edition.
If you fly through the Bishop Airport, you’ll interact with them. Transportation Security Administration (TSA) officers in blue uniforms, ushering guests through the metal detectors, scanning luggage, answering questions.
Federal funding for the Homeland Security Department, which includes TSA, has been shut down for nearly five weeks. Now, the eight TSA employees at the Eastern Sierra Regional Airport (BIH) are facing the repercussions.
“A lot of the national news has been about the incredibly long checkpoint lines,” said Ashley Helms, the Inyo County public works deputy director of airports. “That’s not an issue here for a number of reasons, being we only have two flights a day, and we are still fully staffed. We’ve had no impact on operations, despite [TSA] not having a paycheck.”
Some of these local TSA officers have missed four paychecks. This is the second government shutdown of President Donald Trump’s second term, which many local TSA employees are still reeling from.
“The small town has been good to us. Everyone’s understanding as far as our landlords with rent and mortgages and things of that sort,” said Grace Avila, a supervisor of the BIH TSA. “But there’s still bigger things like credit scores and car insurance. You can only ask for so much. People are biking to work to avoid spending money.”
As of Thursday, the Eastside community can help.
A small cardboard box for gift cards is available outside the BIH security checkpoint for locals and visitors alike to make donations to the local TSA employees. The gift cards can only be for named businesses (a blank Visa card is a no-go; Vons or Grocery Outlet is ideal). According to Avila, there is no limit on the amount donated in the form of gift cards, but the TSA cannot accept cash donations.
The initiative came from a call made by Mammoth local Emily McCue last week. She’d seen on ABC World News that gift cards in small denominations could be used as donations for TSA employees when these individuals were not getting paid by the federal government. McCue wondered if such a program would work in Bishop.
“The [TSA employees] have been very professional throughout the whole thing,” McCue said. “They carry on and make our tourist population feel welcome. You wouldn’t even know there was a problem. They don’t want people to feel sorry for them.”
McCue kickstarted the donations by doling out a $5 gift card to each of the BIH TSA employees.
Her phone call spurned a conversation between Avila, Helms, and Joe Polini from the Bishop Chamber of Commerce. Polini then rallied to spread the word about the donation box on behalf of the local TSA employees.
The donation box will be available until the end of the shutdown.
Bluesapalooza
Mammoth Lakes Tourism (MLT) committed $75,000 to Mammoth’s Bluesapalooza festival this year, $50,000 more than the $25,000 the board threw towards the event last year.
The 2026 iteration of the festival marks its 30th anniversary. This year brings an upset in venues.
The concert series will move from “The Woodsite,” on Minaret Road to a new location at Canyon Lodge.
The funding for the festival comes at a time when the music festival industry is in economic flux, as reported by Lunch in the Feb. 26 issue.
Bluesapalooza has lost money over the last few years. This year, with the change in venue, will be no different.
“There is no projection on our side in which we see a profit,” said Rich Sherman of Omega Events, which owns Bluesapalooza, during Wednesday’s MLT meeting.
The festival has not officially released its line-up, though Sherman expects that information will be available the first week of April.
