We in the Bureaucrat Beat newsroom find ourselves in an unusual position. We feel like defending Inyo County! Generally, we find reasons to pick on Inyo government, but we just have to take up for Inyo in the face of attacks from Mono.

Supervisor Byng Hunt said something like Mono had to bail out Inyo again with funding for bus service. This after talk about funds for senior services, too. It is true Inyo refused to help Eastern Sierra Transit Authority, even as the other local governments agreed to. Now, we don’t know all of the financial facts, but we do know this – Inyo County government does not have as much money as Mammoth and Mono and possibly Bishop.

Let’s face it, Inyo towns have no growth. None. Zip. Zero! LADWP owns all the land around the towns and so far hasn’t given up enough for comfortable growth here. That means very paltry local revenue. That’s why Inyo cries poor mouth. They are poor!

We will add that in the past 25 years, not one Inyo official has worked in a real way to get land. It takes creative ideas, courage and hard work, really hard work. The situation also calls for honest self-assessment by officials. If they don’t have what it takes to help their county grow, they should admit it and hire someone who can do the job.

Hey, Mono, if you find an open ear in Inyo, help them! End of defense.

DWP General Manager David Nahai has his head on straight. When he comes up here for meetings, he makes it a point to meet privately with rank and file DWP workers. He knowsdavidnahai.jpg they’re important, and he’s apparently trying to let them know he knows.

On to Mammoth Lakes. For a fun read, go to www.mammoth-real-estate.blogspot.com It’s real estate man, Paul Oster’s blog. His latest, called “I want My Screaming Deal” notes the strong tourism in the past two months. As for real estate, Oster says the most common thing he hears these days is, “Paul, where there’s a screaming deal, call me.” He says we still have people with bucks who can seriously buy when they see the screaming deal.

Says Oster, “These are crazy financial times. People are no longer comfortable with their money in the bank. Stocks and gold and oil make them nervous too. There remains something real about real estate.” Okay. Good point. Later, Oster concludes that living in our area is where it’s at. Says Oster, “Let’s face it, just being here is a screaming deal.” We’ll toast to that.

Back to Inyo. We received a query about how much Inyo County government (the ones who earlier cried major poor mouth) spent on a kooky lawsuit about obscure roads in Death Valley. A federal judge dismissed their suit as saying it was way too late. The Inyo County Counsel’s office estimated that the hard costs and attorney time added up to almost $22,000. Not exorbitant, but in the eyes of many – wasted.

When you’re poor, waste is not an option.

Some say DNA tests should not be your option. These days some companies try to hawk at-home genetic tests to find out what diseases you’re likely to acquire, etc.

Dr. Andrew Weil, alternative health guru, writes in his latest newsletter that he can not recommend these at-home tests. He says their accuracy remains a mystery. He writes, ” The entire human genome was sequenced in 2003, but it may take decades to untangle the complex relationship between individual genes and associated health conditions.”

The Doc adds that “In my opinion, responsible genetic counseling is essential for making sense of what we do know about DNA – and that’s not something found on the Internet.”

Finally, he says the Federal Trade Commission has published a fact sheet that advises consumers to have a “healthy dose of skepticism” when it comes to at-home genetic tests.

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