Archive - News Article
June 14th, 2011
By
Mike Gervais/Register Staff
With summer here, Big Pine School is hoping to harness the sun to power the campus.
Last year, voters approved two bond measures that the school will be using to construct a solar array in the school parking lot.
According to Superintendent Pamela Jones, the project is expected to produce 200 kilowatts of energy per day and will cover approximately 80 percent of the schoolâs energy use.
In addition to the savings on energy costs, the school will also be eligible for rebates through the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power. Jones said the rebates could total $500,000.
June 11th
By
Mike Bodine/Register Staff
Questions about the involvement of alleged embezzler Daniel Casteel in a recent high-profile murder case, and exactly what Casteel got in return for his disputed testimony, continue to go unanswered as the Bishop man prepares for a court appearance next week.
Casteel is scheduled to appear in Inyo County Superior Court Tuesday, according to the Court Clerkâs Office, for a settlement conference â related to what, exactly, is unclear.
County leaders decided earlier this week that in order to maintain services at the Eastern Sierra Regional Airport, airport users will have to pay higher fees.
But those airport users, many of whom were at the Board of Supervisors meeting Tuesday, say theyâll be paying higher fees for services they donât even need.
The county currently charges fees for a variety of services, including fuel, hangers and tie-downs. The last time the fees at the airport were raised was in 2005.
June 9th
By
Mike Gervais/Register Staff
Residents are being offered an up-close and personal view this weekend of what one group is calling irresponsible land management practices.
Members of the California Native Plant Society will be leading a field trip in the Eight-Mile Ranch and Blackrock Springs area between Independence and Big Pine this weekend to visit a âdegraded alkali meadow habitat.â
The degradation, according to the Bristlecone Chapter of the CNPS, is the direct result of too much groundwater pumping on the part of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power and complicity on the part of the County of Inyo.
By
Mike Bodine/Register Staff
âIt keeps us out of trouble,â Lefty Irwin said Tuesday after completing yet another set of handicapped-accessible stairs for an Inyo County resident.
Irwin and his band of fellow Lions Club members have been installing ramps and stairs for local handicapped or otherwise mobility challenged residents for more than 20 years.
The one built on Tuesday was the milestone 100th such creation that helps those with walkers and wheelchairs get out of their homes and get mobile.
By
Mike Gervais/Register Staff
Inyo County Agricultural Commissioner George Milovich says the Eastern Sierraâs agricultural ventures are on the upswing.
During his annual Ag. Report to the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday, Milovich said that livestock, field crops and apiary industries generated more money in 2010 than they did in 2009.
In total, Inyoâs agricultural industry brought in $2,419,420 more than the previous year.
June 7th
By
Mike Bodine/Register Staff
Nearly two years to the day after being arrested, 20-year-old Louis LePlat has been sentenced to 15 years to life in prison for the murder of 23-year-old Bishop resident James Eric Rambeau, Jr.
A Ventura County jury found LePlat guilty of second-degree murder on April 29.
LePlat was arrested for Rambeauâs death June 19, 2009 following a report of a stabbing on Winuba Lane, west of Bishop.
June 6th
By
Mike Gervais/Register Staff
Inyo County will be the first area in the state to get an Adventure Trails System that allows off-highway vehicles to travel a limited distance on surface roads to reach recreational areas or amenities such as food and fuel.
The California State Assembly approved AB 628, which was sponsored by Assembly Republican Leader Connie Conway, of Tulare, last week.
By
Mike Bodine/Register Staff
A local man has been caught digging for Native American artifacts near Lone Pine and, through a plea agreement, is now banned for life from entering certain lands in that area. However, this is reportedly just one of 30-40 acts of looting allegedly committed by Norman E. Starks of Lone Pine.
Lone Pine Paiute Shoshone Reservation Tribal Preservation Officer Kathy Bancroft said that Starks has been seen digging in other areas since the January 2011 court decision. Starks could not be reached for comment.
By
Mike Gervais/Register Staff
At 60 years old, and having lived with Multiple Sclerosis for 16 years, Mike Barker of Ahwahnee knows that it is too late to die young, so he is making the best of the time he has left.
Not only is Barker living his life to the fullest, but he hopes that he can lead others by example and encourage them to do the same.
âI follow my dreams, and if Iâm going to give advice, Iâd say follow your dreams, life is too short,â said Barker on Thursday on the tarmac of the Eastern Sierra Regional Airport, as he set next to a plane that he just flew, without the use of his legs or right arm.
