Maintenance staff worked to clean up such images at the elementary school.
In the Sierra Wave newsroom Tuesday morning, parents’ Facebook anger showed up in our email accounts. It was all about graffiti or tagging at the elementary school in Bishop.
One mother said, “We are lucky to live in a fairly safe community in a beautiful area. People come here for vacation, but I get to raise my kids here.” She went on to say that when she found out that her kids got to school only to find “Owens Valley posse b.s.” tagged all over their school, it infuriated her. She was not alone. Facebook displayed plenty of angry comments. A number of tags said “OVP” and other words or letters such as “Vega” and “Boi”.
Reports said that dozens of tags showed up on windows, doors, trees and one car. Maintenance staff went to work cleaning it up but could not get it all done before students arrived. We talked to School District Superintendent Barry Simpson. He said the tags in blue spray paint were isolated to areas around Bishop Elementary School.
Simpson said he took pictures and notified the authorities – Bishop Police and Tribal Police. He said this kind of thing does not happen often.
This image was posted on Facebook.
Maybe once a year. Is there any issue on campus that might have sparked the tagging? Simpson said not that he knows of – no expulsion or fights.
The letters OVP could be seen in many of the tags that showed up on multiple doors and windows of two or three buildings. Katie Coffman, Public Information Officer for Bishop Police, said that there was a large amount of graffiti writing everywhere on the first and second grade buildings and the main building. Coffman said, “Paint tagging was visible on doors, windows, trees, a vehicle, and other areas down West Pine St. There was quite a bit of damage,” she said. “The school has a lot of work to do to clean it up.”
The incident remains under investigation by Bishop Police and the Tribal Police.
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I lost the story and post someone made about the ORV riders and the facebook site someone made about the Kern County people objecting to the things they do….so I’ll post yet ANOTHER story here on this story… right here in little ole’ Lone Pine and their recent irresponsible behavior….On Lakeview Ave…taking down the no tresspassing sign and fence and getting into an area they’re not supposed to be…only with this one,when they got into that area with their motorcycles to chase around the grazing cattle they left the fence down that they decided to go past…next morning the cattle had made it onto Lakeview Ave. and into some yards and onto the street….breaking some sprinklers that I had to repair at a doctor’s home…..once again,making extra work and problems for others to deal with and fix…thanks a lot,off-road guys…
Mark, guess you don’t mind the gangs smuggling from Canada. Well at least they are more Caucasian, right? British Columbia is one of the major drug centers in the world, but none of it ends up here I’m sure.
Hey Trouble-by the comments you leave at this site I believe you are all mouth, no brain. Who do you think is behind the pot grows in our local mountains? It is the mexican drug cartells also known as the mexican mafia. The ovp tag is nothing new, and yes it is an owens valley paiute punk gang, not middle school students. Yes plenty of gang and drug activity on 395 and yes they actually stop in Bishop to supply their associates with product for local distribution. You need to get involved with what is really going on in our hometowns, talk to the various law enforcement agencies in regards to local hispanic drug and gang activity, I think you would be shocked and need to wake up and see what is going on in our local communities.
The cartels and the illegals are here because our southern boarder is wide open to invasion.
Undocumented workers are here because there is an abundance of illegal employers that are eager to hire them. No border, (not boarder) is going to stop these workers from trying to seek a better life for their families. And I don’t blame them, I would do the same thing if wore their shoes. If you want to address the issue of illegal immigration then go to the source – those who willingly and knowingly provide illegal employment. Blaming our immigration problems on the border or the workers is like blaming the rooster for the sun coming up.
No cartels and illegals are here because our drug laws allow them to become such a prime commodity in the drug trade, they are here to feed the need, whether the US comes to grip with it or not its a fact, and illegal immigrants don’t get enough credit, if your not full blooded indigenous blood, somebody somewhere in your ancestry was a cold and hungry immigrant, tryin to find a better life for themselves and family, just like over 90% of illegals…
and if we weren’t so brain washed into thinking that there is not enough to go around, we might not be so threatened by illegals, capitalism breeds scarcity, it needs scarcity, scary thought is in this socio economic model, we will need 27 more earths by 2050 to meet human demand at today’s consumption rate… buit people don’t talk about those things… they talk about stuff they heard on FOX NEWS or fantasy football or something..
Tinner….Gangs in the Owens Valley,or at least in my part of the Owens Valley,mostly consist of wannabes,as you say,that think being part of a “gang” is driving around town real slow with their music blaring in their vehicles and hoping to annoy people….or thinking they are intimidating people by doing it…good thing is,once those types realize they are seen as a joke,they either grow up and stop doing it…or end up with some traffic stops that usually change their “ways of intimidation”…….
Tagging is some kind of juvenile expression, very much coming from somebody who wants attention or desperate for a identity..
I remember when the LP high school was tagged with swastikas and white power/pride ideas, they were fellow classmate’s who had too much to drink that night, along with the deprivation of proper “mature” adult supervision (obviously)…
I think the common approach to our troubled youth is counter productive to actually helping them in this society…
Gangs in this area are a bunch of wannabes, but the dangers of gangs are right around the corner, I know because I was one of them 15 yrs ago… yep, baggy pants, bandannas, rap music and a bad attitude was a culture I embraced as a developing teen…
If the culprits are caught hundreds of hours of community service is in order.
Taggers need attenetion.
Gangs are a sorry excuse for weak individuals who are too afraid to face the challanges of the world on their own.
Gangs in the Owens Valley are nothing but a bunch of wannabe’s.
I think gangs are a reflection of how we all are social creatures (naturally), and our social environments give a good indication of those that are more susceptible to gangs or drugs… also those that are misguided and deprived of a good home life will find a family/gangs to rely on and have a loyalty to..and that is a human need we all have, finding something to be grounded with and loyalty to. I think the issue goes deeper then we think..
took me a while but “Owens Valley Posers” is more like it.
More recent spray-paint writting in Lone Pine too…..next to the face-rock on Whitney Portal Road……hope they get a handle on that so it doesn’t turn into what it did a few years ago up in the Alabama Hills…hoping LADWP and BLM get rid of it soon before it turns into accepted behavior up there.
If you dont think there are any gangs or gang activity in Bishop you live a very sheltered life and need to wake up.
Bone, you clearly are just mouthing off. Name one thing you have heard of up here that classifies as gang activity. Driving thru don’t count. Name the gang?
Probably middle school kids in need of better roll models.
Gangs I’ve encountered in Bishop on a limited scale but residing in/around Bishop: OVP, Bulldogs (outta Fresno), Rez Dogs; La Raza.
Maybe there are a few gang members here. I did meet a guy once with a Bulldog tattoo. But I really do believe we live in one of the safest counties in this state. That’s a complement to all our legal beagle folks.
At least we don’t have gangs!
OVP does not mean Owens Valley Posse, it means Owens Valley Paiute. Vega is a last name of a family here too.