JH Underground – news, sports and music blog from Jackson Hole, Wyoming news, sports and music blog from Jackson Hole, Wyoming

This is what happens when you build a fertilizer mine on the bank of a stream.

Cory Hatch of the News&Guide has been pressing executives from agribusiness giant Simplot as they have given tortured denials, first of the photo’s existence and then the impacts of polluting two creeks that flow into the Salt River and ultimately the Snake at Palisades Reservoir.

Remarkably, the photo is from a report Simplot commissioned in which it argues it should be allowed to release higher levels of selenium from its Smoky Canyon Mine on national forest lands west of Afton into Sage and Crow creeks.

On Jan. 30, the company submitted a request to reduce water quality standards to the state of Idaho, whose governor, Butch Otter, worked for Simplot for 30 years. Fortunately, Marv Hoyt of the Greater Yellowstone Coalition has been keeping a close eye on the situation and sharing his findings with Hatch.

Think of this fish the next time you bite into McDonald’s french fries.

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Posted under Business, Environment, Sports

Tags: conservation, fishing, river running, snake river, wildlife

That collective “aaah” heard ’round Jackson Hole this week hasn’t just been about snowfall. Music fans are relieved that the Pink Garter Theater finally has a slate of shows for the winter. The shredding continues, on and off the slopes.

Expect hoots and hollers tonight when the Garter gets rolling with The Infamous Stringdusters, the bluegrass troupe from Nashville, Tenn., who generated a bigger buzz than the beer garden at last summer’s Targhee Bluegrass Festival. Nicki Bluhm and The Gramblers, alt-country and soul rockers from San Francisco, will share the bill.

The show is the first in what should be a quality series at the Pink Garter combining old favorites (Leftover Salmon, Young Dubs) with fresh talent (Monophonics, He’s My Brother, She’s My Sister). Construction crews have been busy building the adjacent bar, The Rose, grand opening of which is set for Presidents’ Weekend, Feb. 17-19. The theater also has gotten a makeover.

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Posted under Business, Music

Tags: bluegrass, pink garter, rock

Jackson Hole residents are using social media to promote their businesses, but the conversation is fractured and could be better utilized to promote the community as a whole.

That’s the finding of consultants from Cactus Communications, the Denver firm hired by the Jackson Hole Travel and Tourism Board to boost visitation to Teton County. Cactus gave two free presentations last week at Spring Creek Resort on harnessing social media for promotion.

“We want to get every business in town supporting other businesses,” consultant Mike Lee said.

Cactus conducted an audit of social media sites — including blogs, Facebook and Twitter — and found Jackson Hole is holding its own compared to other resort communities in the West. Aspen, with its wealth of celebrity sightings and gossip fodder, outpaces most of its rivals in terms of Twitter mentions.

Lest anyone doubt the significance of Tweets and Facebook status updates, Cactus reeled off a dizzying array of statistics showing the impact of social media on travel and tourism. Eighty-five percent of travelers use the Internet to research their trip, and look at an average of 22 sites. Twenty percent use a mobile device to make a booking. Sixty-nine percent of travel-related businesses saw their revenue increase from using Facebook last year.

“Travel is one of the most shareable things we do,” Lee said.

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Posted under Business, County Government, Politics, Town Government

Tags: Media, tourists

Thanks to the JH Late Night Transportation Crusade, New Year’s Eve merrymakers can get a safe, cheap ride home in something other than a police cruiser.

Shuttles will be provided between 12:30 and 3 a.m. connecting Teton Village, the West Bank and town. The town drop-off locations are Albertsons, Town Square and St. John’s Medical Center. Pick-up points on the West Bank are the Mangy Moose, Q Roadhouse and Stagecoach Bar.

Shuttles will run about every 20 minutes. Tickets are for sale in advance at the Town Square Tavern liquor store, Mangy Moose market and The Liquor Store, next to Albertsons.

So go ahead, have that extra extra glass of champagne and kiss the girls at midnight, assuming you can find any.

Aaron Davis has a rundown of all the New Year’s music around Jackson Hole.

Kudos to the organizers behind the transportation campaign. Between their efforts and the recent appointment of April Hankey to the START board, hopefully the community can come up with better bus service at night.

Last week, I met a group of West Bank friends at the ‘Coach to commemorate a special occasion. Because I caught a ride to the bar, I resigned myself to taking a cab home, if needed. After not finding anyone else driving to town, I took the cab — and had to pay $20 for a ride to the Square, which is freaking ridiculous.

Posted under Business, County Government, Entertainment, Holidays, Music, Politics, Town Government

Tags: cops, parties, skids

In what could be hailed as the second coming of LeJay’s, Bubba’s Bar-B-Que will be open 24 hours a day on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays, beginning tomorrow.

The popular eatery will serve from a “graveyard menu,” composed of breakfast, lunch and dinner items, our waitress, Stacy, explained this morning. Half the dining room will be closed off, and there will be no late-night salad bar.

“We’re going to see how it goes,” she said, a little leery.

Jackson has lacked a 24-hour eatery since the closing of LeJay’s Sportsmen’s Cafe, now home to The Garage, in 2003. LeJay’s was a classic hangout known for the Rogues Gallery, a collection of paintings on the wall, and Larry Turner Special, an omelette with just about everything you can imagine, smothered with chili.

Earlier, Jackson had The Elkhorn, which the late Bill Warren operated from roughly 1972 to 1989 on West Broadway.

Posted under Business, Food

Tags: coffee, history, restaurants