News Spotting Cont.

Animal Shelters Filling Up

foreclosure=animals homeless

An unresearched story in the works-how many homeless pets are there as a result of California's foreclosures? How many of the pets in our area shelters are given up for lack of a better home? It is true, shelters tend to fill up after the seasonal workers leave, and they can't take Fido with them. In hard times, it appears humans aren't the only ones feeling the pinch.

Indicator Species: Old Cycle Ends/New Begins
Once we just called it messin' around or joking about a kid's parentage. You know the old saying, "You look like the mailman"? Well, thankfully the pharmacologists came up with instant DNA mapping (well, almost instant). For sale at local drugstores are kits that cost a few hundred to a few thousand dollars, and they make use of labs which process DNA swabs. Think of it as the ultimate, "Who's Your Daddy," kit. The kits are also useful, industry experts say, for figuring out if you are lactose intolerant. Not gonna touch that one....
Searles on Indicator Species:
Mammoth's Bear Man, Steve Searles, has been telling me for a decade that bears, ravens, coyotes, bobcats and other critters are "indicator species." These animals tell us about the health of our wildlife habitat, and when critters start doing funky things (out of the ordinary), usually a human being started it.... Mountain lions have been spotted in the Southland recently, including one big cat trying to make its way across a San Gabriel Valley freeway. Searles says we have a healthy population of bobcats around Town, and that is another sign that the wildlife hasn't been totally put out by all of the construction. Keep your trash picked up and don't feed wild animals-Don't be an ED!

PEACE-FILLED MISSION
Ehud Olmert, prime minister of Israel, and Pres. George W. Bush were gabbing recently about "peace" in the holy lands of the Middle East. I personally hope Bush visits some of our "holy lands," like Mt. Whitney, Death Valley, Mammoth Lakes Basin, Mono Lake, and Yosemite, so he'll remember what American treasures look like. It's not an ancient history, but it's absolutely as American as apple pie.

Rumor Has It
Associated Press reports, Barack Obama may be looking at Carolyn Kennedy and others for his idyllic cabinet. Whoa there....First, you get the nomination @ the Denver Convention, and then you begin looking for the Brain's Trust. I guess, "Anything's possible," says my long-time friend.


Construction Notions
With all the historic poor/evil weather going on world-wide, maybe the American builders could unite to build a "fortress engineered" homestead. Make it mobile, able to withstand 100 mph winds, capable of floating, able to withstand a 10-foot snow load, and completely "off-the-grid." Someone build that for around $10-20,000, and you'll retire early....

Mammoth: The Hazy Shades of Winters
Color uniformity lead Syd and Nancee Suave to accidently go knocking on the wrong unit in the Ghetto. Syd is confused about why all of the colors in Town resemble the forest-and hazy shades of winter days. Nancee is annoyed that her new color scheme for a Southwestern adobe facade won't include Utah Canyon Red. What's up, they ask. It's like this I tell them. We do have brightly colored objects in Town, they are called caution signs, and they keep you from careening over the edge on the way down from the Mountain. Yes, brightly colored homes and businesses would lend something to the character and charm of the Town, I say. However, there are ordinances against certain color schemes and bright, floro-tinted paints. I truly miss Blondies on a blizzard day--at least a visual landmark. Yes, I tell them, most of the condos look alike, and there isn't really any way to distinguish one from the other after dark. Yes, being unique in Mammoth can be challenging. And, finally, YES, I know the Town has finally achieved the blended palette of the natural landscape--so much so that you are lost most of the time. I agree, let there be some bolder shades of paint in Town. Yes, we would probably start noticing ourselves again.

THE RANT
Why do they call a politician's bank account a "war chest"? Why not a "hope chest," like an old-fashioned place where future treasures are stored. Instead, it's labeled a potential fortress of arguments, and used to wage verbal wars on all the political fronts. Why not tell us what you really intend to do with the campaign money. The two Democratic candidates have spent the equivalent of 116 Mono County budgets--laid end-to-end....Just kidding.