Bishop

Yikes. Almost 100lbs of gear each, no water filtration, and more. Please take more care out there, hikers!

The school bonds in Bishop, Independence, and Lone Pine all passed. Steve Elia and Karen Keehn prevailed on the BUSD school board.

For three open seats on the Bishop City Council, incumbents Karren Kong and Mayor Jose Garcia are leading, each with over 500 votes. Dennis Freundt appears poised to take the third seat, having earned 488 votes.

In state-level decisions, several key measures passed:

• Amendment 3 was approved, enshrining the right to same-sex marriage in California’s constitution.

• Proposition 35 was passed, making permanent a health care tax to fund Medi-Cal.

• Proposition 36 also passed, increasing penalties for certain theft and drug-related crimes, with a focus on fentanyl trafficking and abuse.

It's actually a pretty even-handed look at Inyo County's changing demographics.

It's the 395/Gill Station Road intersection (Coso Junction, where the rest area and the Travel Center is).

Looks like Bishop, Mammoth Lakes, and Bridgeport all made the list...

Inyo County, in the Eastern Sierra, has one of the worst access landscapes in the state, with most of its residents living more than 200 miles from the nearest abortion provider.

Yikes. Thankfully, only minor injuries...

Just FYI - only two candidates are normal, sane folks. Steve Elia, and Karen Keehn are both former teachers in Bishop schools. Steve Elia is a former teacher at Bishop High, who pioneered the AVID program (to support first-time college aspiring students). Karen Keehn (a former Olympian) taught for decades at Bishop Elementary, and helped start Playhouse 395, the local theater company. Steve Elia is also an incumbent, and has a ton of experience on school budgets, and how to maximize student achievement. I hope Steve and Karen get elected.

The other two candidates are both MAGA culture warriors, and would only cause more COVID-era chaos, a la Moms for Liberty idiots. I hope they don't get in, as they're more concerned with obsessing over sex education, vaccine nonsense, and book banning.

Didja see it?

Yup, it's definitely Fall Colors season here in Bishop!

Story on the rescue from the LA Times

This is my new boss. She's worked at Mono County Office of Education for 17 years, so I know her well. I think she'll do a good job, so I was happy with the appointment.