Court Executive Officer Tammy Grimm addresses about a dozen Big Pine residents Thursday during a public meeting regarding placement of a new court facility. Residents were able to speak candidly with court staff about their ideas and concerns in regards to the proposed project. Photo by Charles James

By Mike Gervais
Register Staff
8-21-2010

Residents continue to resist the idea of building a new court facility in Bishop as opposed to Independence, as local judges continue meeting with community members to discuss the pros and cons of both prospects.
Superior Court Judges Brian Lamb and Dean Stout, along with representatives from the Administrative Offices of the Courts, met with residents in Independence, Bishop and Big Pine this week to gather input on where the $33 million courthouse should be built.
There are additional meetings scheduled in Lone Pine and Cartago next week.
Majority opinion so far favors the county seat over Inyo’s population center, Bishop – where Lamb announced earlier this year he wanted to build the court facility because current space leased from the City of Bishop is not meeting the public’s needs.
Lamb reiterated his feelings on the subject Thursday night in Big Pine, noting that if the new facility is built in Independence instead, the court has no plan for addressing the problems with court facilities in Bishop.
Initially, the plan was to use the $33 million state bond money to build on a piece of property adjacent to Inyo County Jail in Independence.
Lamb’s announcement not only caught residents off guard, but was met with widespread protest, particularly from Independence residents and business owners, and even residents from as far away as Tecopa.

By Mike Gervais
Register Staff

In his response to the 2009-2010 Grand Jury Report, Inyo County Probation Director Jeff Thomson argued that, with the completion of recent hires to replace retired personnel, the Juvenile Detention Center is fully staffed.
The Grand Jury said in its report that the juvenile facility is short-staffed, with only 12 of the 16 positions filled.
Thomson said he would “disagree wholly” with that section of the report.
“With the exception of one recent retirement (July 1, 2010), the Juvenile Center is fully staffed with 13 full-time group counselors, one full-time cook, one full-time account technician, 10 part-time group counselors and one part-time cook,” Thomson said, adding that there is one part-time group counselor candidate who is completing the recruitment process.
The Grand Jury Report also states that “the length of the county process to actually hire a new employee is impeding” the hiring process.
Thomson said the county’s hiring process may appear to be lengthy, “however, these are the processes, which help ensure those hired by the county will be successful.”
The Grand Jury also expressed concerns about security at the Juvenile Detention Facility, saying that there is not a secure area for visitors to meet with prisoners. The jury’s report further pointed out that there is limited lighting in the staff parking area, which is open to the public.

Inyo County Probation Chief Jeff Thomson addressed several Juvenile Detention Center security concerns, brought up in the Grand Jury Report, at last week’s Board of Supervisors meeting. Thomson was receptive to some suggestions and argued that other concerns raised by the Grand Jury were unfounded. Photo courtesy Owens Valley Unified School District

Register Staff
8-21-2010

Inyo County Forest Supervisor Jim Upchurch will be relocating to Coronado National Forest in Arizona in October.
Forest Service officials have yet to name a successor to Upchurch, who took the post in the Eastern Sierra in 2007, but Public Information Officer Nancy Upham said either a permanent replacement or interim manager will be named before he departs in October.
According to Regional Forester of the Pacific Southwest Region Randy Moore, Upchurch has been promoted to the forest supervisor position of the Coronado National Forest headquartered in Tucson, Ariz.  
Upchurch arrived on the Inyo National Forest in October of  2007, after previously serving in Washington,  D.C. During his three years on the Inyo he has overseen the completion of the controversial Forest Motorized Travel Management project, the expansion of collaborative efforts with a variety of stakeholders, the implementation of new congressionally designated wilderness areas and an increase in capacity for the forest through further development of partnerships and cooperative work with other agencies, such as Bureau of Land Management and the National Park Service.
“Although I am excited to take on new responsibilities and opportunities, it will be difficult to leave such a beautiful area that has so many people who care about the stewardship of their public lands,” Upchurch said. “I have thoroughly enjoyed my time here in the Eastern Sierra and will always value the friendships and great memories of  leading such an innovative and productive national forest.”
Upchurch will report to the Coronado National Forest on Oct. 11. 

By Mike Bodine
Register Staff
8-21-2010

With its hand on the pulse of the latest and greatest in funding and grants available for students and schools, the Inyo County Office of Education has applied for a $500,000 grant intended to improve the educational and social outcomes of those falling behind.
The Promise Neighborhoods program, modeled after the acclaimed Harlem Children’s Zone founded by Geoffery Canada, is designed to help out a particular group in a community in need of a boost. The idea is to start with a single neighborhood or geographic area most in need of help – in Inyo’s case, the Bishop Paiute Reservation has been chosen – and to improve services and then spread out of the neighborhood to the greater community at large.
Those grants sound pretty small, but that’s because they aren’t meant to finance an entire new Promise Neighborhood Community, according to the Office of Education. They are one-year “planning” grants to help applicants pinpoint their communities’ needs and figure out how to address them.