Jackson Hole, Wyo.-Does this spell the end for the Jackson Hole Music Festival?

Last summer’s inaugural music fest featuring an eclectic mix of some of the top touring acts in the industry – The Black Crowes, Robert Randolph & the Family Band, Ben Harper, Wilco, Son Volt, Brian Wilson – was resounding success, but it may be in jeopardy of being a one-off.

The festival is the brain-child of former Jackson resident Jay Sweet, who is editor-at-large for Paste magazine. Sweet included Wilco’s “Remember the Mountain Bed” as one of the year’s best in his recent Top Ten Live Songs 2008. He wrote: “Set on the side of the Tetons with the Snake River and Sleeping Indian Mountain as a backdrop, the environs for the inaugural Jackson Hole Music Festival were simply awesome.”

But the future of the festival was placed in serious doubt last weekend when the concert’s promoter, Festival Network LLC, was accused of being in “financial straits” by TicketNews. According to the trade publication, Festival Network lost an estimated $5 million to $6 million in 2008 and may shut down several of its signature festivals due in part to difficulty in raising new capital.

The promoter is responsible for the Playboy Jazz Festival in Los Angeles, CA (June 13-14); JVC Jazz Festival New York in New York City (June 15-27); the Hampton Jazz Festival in Hampton, VA (June 26-28) and the Newport Folk Festival in Newport, RI (July 31-August 2), among others. The Jackson Hole Music Festival was not on its 2009 schedule as of last weekend.

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Protection for the Snake River and Wyoming Range jumped its first hurdle in a rare Sunday Senate session. By a 66-to-12 vote, the Senate advanced a bill that combines the Craig Thomas Snake Headwaters Legacy Act that would protect 387 miles of Snake River drainage, and the Wyoming Range Legacy Act that would prohibit further energy leasing on 1.2 million acres between the Salt and Wyoming ranges.

“We are that much closer to realizing Craig’s original idea – to boost Wyoming’s tourism economy and benefit all Wyoming sportsmen by recognizing these special rivers,” Thomas’ widow, Susan Thomas, said in a statement. “This is the right time to get it done for Wyoming.”

The vote was also considered a symbolic victory for the newly Democratic-leaning Congress in their first showdown with filibustering tactics of the GOP led by Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., who said the bill was “loaded with pet projects and prevented development of oil and gas on federal lands, which they said would deepen the nation’s dependence on foreign oil.”

The story appeared in several regional publications, including Southern Idaho Business.

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With the resignation of Teton County Sheriff Bob Zimmer, our ears perked at the news tease for ABC affiliate Idaho’s Local News 8, when reporter Megan Boatwright announced, “Sheriff Ralph Davis Headed for Teton County.” Who is Ralph Davis?

Davis is stepping down as Fremont County’s sheriff to join the Teton County, Idaho S.O. as a full-time detective.

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During a travel piece on JH, St. Louis Today called Jackson a “spunky” town. We threw up a little bit in our mouth.

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San Francisco cops owe us one. Wyoming State Police nabbed a notorious Bay Area bank robber known as the “Zombie Bandit” near Laramie last week. Alan David Hurwitz, 67, was taken into custody without incident after state troopers received information on the car he was driving. 

Hurwitz was dubbed the Zombie Bandit because of his pockmarked face, deadpan expression and robotic demeanor during his armed robberies in the Midwest. He is a former educator in Michigan. We saw the story on MSNBC.

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The Bozeman Watch Co. got called to the mat on their latest ad, which appears in Adventure magazine. An employee for the outdoor lifestyle glossy had no trouble noticing that the photo, which accompanied the headline “From the Mountains of Montana comes a collection like no other,” was actually of the Grand Tetons.

“I hope their timepieces are more accurate than their ads,” the magazine staffer told the Great Falls Tribune. PJH