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Sky Island Natural Foods stages health and wellness fair

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Last spring’s Sky Island Health and Wellness Fair drew the attention of many residents who came to experience participating healing practitioners’ skills and to learn about optimum health. Pictured here is Andrea Bond, massage therapist, with a relaxed and satisfied customer. Photo by Marshall Smith
Last spring’s Sky Island Health and Wellness Fair drew the attention of many residents who came to experience participating healing practitioners’ skills and to learn about optimum health. Pictured here is Andrea Bond, massage therapist, with a relaxed and satisfied customer. Photo by Marshall Smith

Sky Island Natural Foods, Idyllwild’s organic emporium, is staging its fall health and wellness fair.

The fair features a diverse range of health practitioners from many disciplines, each offering mini-sessions or explanations of their healing art.

“Our fall fair is a great chance to sample local offerings and learn valuable skills to improve your health and well being,” said Sky Island’s Kelly Johnston-Gibson.

Johnston-Gibson highlighted opportunities for attendees to experience networking, bodywork, massage, lifestyle coaching, as well as classes in yoga, movement arts and Japanese healing arts.

Currently scheduled on the back patio are classes in yoga, belly dancing and Jin Shin Jyutsu.

Jin Shin Jyutsu is an ancient practice that harmonizes the energy in the body by application of one’s hands to specific locations on the body. This allows for blocked energy to once again flow freely. It can be practiced on oneself and on others.

Sky Island is still assembling its list of vendors and practitioners. The fall fair promises to provide valuable interactive opportunities to learn about and experience optimum health, wellness and healing practices. Currently scheduled are Tricia Pilkington, Present Essence Mountain Energetics; Between Two Pines wellness retreat; Spirit Mountain Retreat Center; Quantum Energetics Structured Therapy; and Idyllwild Therapeutic Massage.

The fair is free to the public and takes place from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 15, at Sky Island Natural Foods in Strawberry Creek Square, 54423 Village Center Drive.

 

Supervisor candidates spar over Idyllwild issues

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Candidates Shellie Milne, Hemet City Council member, and Chuck Washington, 3rd District supervisor, answer questions from the community at a Candidate’s Forum last week at the Idyllwild Nature Center.	Photo by JP Crumrine
Candidates Shellie Milne, Hemet City Council member, and Chuck Washington, 3rd District supervisor, answer questions from the community at a Candidate’s Forum last week at the Idyllwild Nature Center. Photo by JP Crumrine

Washington and Milne provide clear choices for local voters

On Oct. 6, Sup. Chuck Washington and Hemet City Council member Shellie Mine, candidates for the Riverside County 3rd District Supervisor’s seat, were in Idyllwild to share their views and vision for the Hill and the county at a forum sponsored by the Town Crier.

Members of the audience posed all of the questions to the candidates. Questions were Idyllwild-centric. The candidates were candid and prepared sound-bites were not the tone of the evening.

The questions about the Idyllwild Water District and Idyllwild’s role in the county and the candidates’ responses are below. The remaining questions, including several regarding Town Hall and the future Community Center, will be in next week’s paper. Rather than repeat the questions in the order asked, they have been organized by subject so that the totality of the responses can be together rather than separated and disparate.

The Idyllwild Water District

Q. The Idyllwild Water District is in disarray with the resignation of two directors and the general manager. Would the [supervisor] candidates favor a community election to replace the resigned directors or would you want to appoint the replacement of directors?

Milne: The community has the right to choose its own leaders. It is not our place to make that decision.

Washington: I’d like the board to do its business and understand the challenges placed on the community. But if the board with three directors cannot agree on a path, we’ll [the County Board of Supervisors] appoint someone until the next election. I’ll fulfill our obligation with input from the community.

I wouldn’t expect a costly special election.

[Director John Cook, if he chooses, will be up for re-election in August 2017, as well as whoever replaces former Director Mike Frietas.]

Q. IWD needs a legal answer as to whether two or three votes are sufficient to pass a motion.

CW: I’ve done my homework to be prepared to take action. Three members can take action as a quorum. Two can pass a motion. But if only two attend a meeting, nothing can be done.

The board can still function if they choose. All can be there and give proper notice, according to the Brown Act. If they can’t, we’ll fulfill our obligation.

SM: With a quorum of three, two is a majority of three. I hope the current board members fulfill their obligation to the community.

Q. What are the candidates’ positions on climate change, and to what extent do they believe climate change will impact the Idyllwild community water supply and the community wildfire threat?

SM: Being a farmer, I am extremely aware of climate change. But I differ because I don’t believe it is entirely man-made. Long-term climatic cycles also influence the current weather.

I absolutely believe that there are things we can do to be good stewards. But conservation over property rights — no!

CW: Climate change is proven. The debate is how we can respond to that.

There are state statutes to help. But we can manage them. As a supervisor and former city council member, the key is to keep them from being onerous.

Idyllwild and Hill community

Q. Can we talk about your view of Idyllwild (its rural nature) and its place within the county? Do you have specific views about recreation on the Hill?

[Both candidates described their initial visit to Idyllwild and how they have been personally drawn here. Washington and his wife camped at Lake Hemet. Milne and her husband have a cabin and spent their honeymoon here.]

CW: We love this community. We wish we had a second home here.

What we love is that everyone is committed to the community. They have different interests; but everyone has a passion to roll up their sleeves and engage in some activity.

SM: Everybody here has a commitment to Idyllwild. People come here for different reasons. But all are here. In your unique way, you’re the heart and soul of the community.

In the 3rd District, Riverside County and Orange County, Idyllwild is special. It’s a diamond and jewel to be treasured. Thus, it is a major economic driver. You have given Riverside County a gift and they should be grateful.

Q. The Idyllwild area has no cohesive voice, which leaves us open to ambitious individuals. What is your opinion on forming a CSD [community service district] to be the voice of mountain residents?

CW: You have a CSA [County Service Area 36] which is an extension of the county, and you pay a tax to it. Your CSA is for recreation.

A CSD is most frequently associated with a city. For example, Murrieta and Temecula have CSDs.

In Temecula, the CSD provided services, even though the expenses exceeded the revenue. We [the Temecula council] funded the CSD out of general fund money. It amounts to several million dollars annually.

If you form a CSD here, and you’re free to form it, realize your decision would look like Valleywide Recreation.

You vote for what you want to pay and your vote decides.

SM: If that is what residents want, you decide to vote for it. If you’d like to do it, I’d have no dog in that fight. If you like to do it, do it.

Once you start, just realize the cost in Temecula. They’re asking for a 1-percent sales tax.

But make the decision as a community.

CW added: When you are seeking a voice for the community, there is a difference between the unincorporated areas and the cities. A CSD has a very singular purpose. It’s not necessarily a town or city. If you want a voice, as supervisor, I’ll listen to you.

State-court Mountain Fire lawsuits set for trial

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At a Trial Setting Conference held on Tuesday, Oct. 4, the consolidated state-court 2013 Mountain Fire lawsuits — now seven in number — were set for an estimated 21-day trial in Riverside starting at 8:30 a.m. Thursday, Nov. 9, 2017, in Department 4, Judge Daniel A. Ottolia presiding.

A Case Management Conference also was set for 8:30 a.m. Tuesday, April 4, 2017, in the same department. The date for a Mandatory Settlement Conference has yet to be set by the clerk’s office.

Most recently, the Southeastern California Conference of Seventh-Day Adventists filed a separate lawsuit against Tarek Al-Shawaf and his employees, James and Donna Nowlin, arising out of the same incident.

Cal Fire investigators have indicated the blaze started Monday, July 15, 2013, on Al-Shawaf’s Mountain Center property due to an improperly installed and/or maintained electrical junction box. The defendants have filed answers denying all liability.

The Seventh-Day Adventists’ lawsuit is required to be consolidated with the previous six state-court lawsuits, headed by Cal Fire’s $8.5 million suit for fire suppression and investigation costs. The other five lawsuits, brought by several private parties and two insurance companies, have already been consolidated with Cal Fire’s suit.

This past July, the United States of America filed a separate lawsuit against the same defendants in the U.S. District Court in Los Angeles seeking more than $20 million for fire suppression costs and damage to government property. There is, as yet, no indication that either the federal or the state actions will be transferred so as to be tried together.

The 2013 Mountain Fire destroyed several Hill homes and structures, and resulted in the evacuation of thousands of residents.

Small fire

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U.S. Forest Service is on scene Monday afternoon of a small fire allegedly started by a transient. Transient was on scene. Law enforcement is to respond. No threat to vegetation. Small fire started in the river bottom of the South Fork of the San Jacinto River about a mile east of Cranston Guard Station.

PHOTOS: This Week in Idyllwild: October 6, 2016

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Dancers from Ballet Folklorico of St. Hyacinth’s Academy in San Jacinto performed in traditional attire as part of the Autumnal Equinox Celebration at Spirit Mountain Retreat in Idyllwild on Sunday, Sept. 26.  The observance honored the Mexican heritage of Southern California, as well as the coming of autumn.Photo by Barry Zander
Dancers from Ballet Folklorico of St. Hyacinth’s Academy in San Jacinto performed in traditional attire as part of the Autumnal Equinox Celebration at Spirit Mountain Retreat in Idyllwild on Sunday, Sept. 26.  The observance honored the Mexican heritage of Southern California, as well as the coming of autumn. Photo by Barry Zander

 

Martha Lumia and friend Mizzi Diamond enjoy the “Corks and Color” exhibition Friday at Middle Ridge Winery and Tasting Gallery.Photo by Chandra Lynn
Martha Lumia and friend Mizzi Diamond enjoy the “Corks and Color” exhibition Friday at Middle Ridge Winery and Tasting Gallery. Photo by Chandra Lynn

 

Throw the Goat performed at the Rustic Theater Friday, Sept. 30. Band members (from left) are Brian “Puke” Parnell, guitar and vocals; Scotty Incognito, drums and vocals; and Michael Schnalzer, bass and lead vocals. Photo by Alan Berlanger
Throw the Goat performed at the Rustic Theater Friday, Sept. 30. Band members (from left) are Brian “Puke” Parnell, guitar and vocals; Scotty Incognito, drums and vocals; and Michael Schnalzer, bass and lead vocals.
Photo by Alan Berlanger

 

Julie Pendray, former journalist and television host in San Diego, delivered a talk to the Idyllwild Rotary Club on Sept. 28 on the Pacific Crest Trail towns that host the hikers between Idyllwild and the Canadian border. Shown with Pendray is Rotary President Marc Kassouf. Photo by Thom Wallace
Julie Pendray, former journalist and television host in San Diego, delivered a talk to the Idyllwild Rotary Club on Sept. 28 on the Pacific Crest Trail towns that host the hikers between Idyllwild and the Canadian border. Shown with Pendray is Rotary President Marc Kassouf.
Photo by Thom Wallace

 

On Friday, Sept. 30, volunteers (from left, Amanda Allen, park interpreter, Carla Mann, Kate Kramer and Paul Jensen) at the Idyllwild Nature Center begin planting Lemon Lily bulbs to help restore the threatened species to its native habitat. Photo by JP Crumrine
On Friday, Sept. 30, volunteers (from left, Amanda Allen, park interpreter, Carla Mann, Kate Kramer and Paul Jensen) at the Idyllwild Nature Center begin planting Lemon Lily bulbs to help restore the threatened species to its native habitat. Photo by JP Crumrine

 

Michael Dwyer performed Sunday afternoon at Ferro. Photo by Alan Berlanger
Michael Dwyer performed Sunday afternoon at Ferro.
Photo by Alan Berlanger

Earthquake alert issued last week: Governor approves bill to speed up early-warning system

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Earthquake

Alarmed at the occurrence of hundreds of earthquakes last week, only three greater than 4.0 in magnitude near the Salton Sea, state and federal geologists and seismologists issued a warning of an increased possibility of a bigger quake on the San Andreas Fault.

A swarm of nearly 300 quakes occurred near the southern terminus of the San Andreas Fault, which raised the attention of earthquake officials and first responders at all levels of government.

Swarm-like activity in this region has occurred in the past, so this week’s activity, in and of itself, is not necessarily cause for alarm, according to officials. Nevertheless, state and local officials took actions to respond to a quake if it were to occur.

On Sept. 27, after the three larger quakes, the state’s Office of Emergency Management requested that the California Earthquake Prediction Evaluation Council assess the situation and advise on the possible consequences.

The next day, Sept. 28, the council issued the following statement, “The cluster is located in the southern California geological spreading zone on a small ‘bookend’ fault striking nearly perpendicular to the San Andreas Fault. This cluster is just south of an apparently similar cluster that occurred in March 2009 on an adjacent fault. The close proximity to the San Andreas Fault increases the concern that these earthquakes could trigger a large earthquake (M7.0+) on the San Andreas itself. A major earthquake on this southern portion of the San Andreas Fault has not occurred in over 300 years. CEPEC believes that stresses associated with this earthquake swarm may increase the probability of a major earthquake on the San Andreas Fault to values between 0.03 percent and 1.0 percent for a M7.0 or larger earthquake occurring over the next week (to 09:00 hrs PDT, Tuesday, October 4, 2016).”

In other earthquake news last week, Gov. Jerry Brown signed legislation to strengthen and hasten the development of a statewide earthquake early warning.

“We’ve seen the devastation earthquakes have caused in California,” said Brown in a press release announcing his signing the bill (Senate Bill 438). “This keeps us on track to build a statewide warning system that can potentially save lives.”

Specifically, SB 438 establishes the California Earthquake Early Warning Program and Advisory Board within the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services to advance implementing the program and spur further investment in the early warning system. Under the legislation, an Earthquake Early Warning Program business plan will be developed and submitted to the Legislature by Feb. 1, 2018.

Earlier this year, Brown directed $10 million to Cal OES in the 2016-17 state budget to further expand the state’s earthquake early warning system prototype, called ShakeAlert, according to the press release.

Past Tense: October 6, 2016

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After rallying at Eleanor Park (now Jo’An’s) in November 1975, a group walked to Strawberry Creek to inspect doomed trees. Many carried “Save Our Trees” placards. File photo
After rallying at Eleanor Park (now Jo’An’s) in November 1975, a group walked to Strawberry Creek to inspect doomed trees. Many carried “Save Our Trees” placards.
File photo

60 years ago - 1956

The Riverside County Board of Supervisors denied two liquor license applications from Idyllwild businessmen who sought to break the barrier against sales of alcoholic beverages on the Hill. It was not the first time the supervisors had denied a liquor license to a Hill business.

55 years ago - 1961

Local folk were all shook up at the announcement that a film starring Elvis Presley would be made in Idyllwild. “Kid Galahad” crews would arrive in just a few weeks, using the Idyllwild Inn for their headquarters.

50 years ago - 1966

The Rustic Theatre was showing “Wild Angels” starring Peter Fonda and Nancy Sinatra.

45 years ago - 1971

The California Scenic Highway Advisory Committee approved most of Highway 74 as a state scenic highway. Final approval would still be needed by the state Department of Public Works.

40 years ago - 1976

Dedication services and an open house for the newly completed Kingdom Hall of Jehovah’s Witnesses on Pine Crest Avenue were held.  Members of the congregation built the structure over a four-month period.

35 years ago - 1981

Hillcrest Market in Strawberry Creek Square advertised food at the following prices: A pound of MJB Coffee for $1.89, a pound of carrots for 15 cents, a pound of avocados for 25 cents and 10 pounds of potatoes for 89 cents.

30 years ago - 1986

Construction began on a replacement building for the U.S. Forest Service Keenwild Guard Station that was destroyed by fire in June 1985. It was suspected that the fire was caused by arson, but no final determination was reached.

25 years ago - 1991

A favorite Idyllwild restaurant, Chef in the Forest, closed down when owner Kitty Thomas, 71, put out a sign that said it all — “Gone Fishin’ … Indefinitely!” Thomas’ first restaurant in Idyllwild was the Alpine Pantry, which she purchased in 1963.

20 years ago - 1996

HELP Center volunteers embarked on a project to honor one of the nonprofit organization’s founders, the late Jack Sarvela, by planting a memorial rose garden and making benches for it.

15  years ago - 2001

Construction of the new gymnasium at Idyllwild School was coming along.

10 years ago - 2006

Nearly 80 alums of HiLo, an alternative high school created in the early 1970s, gathered for a reunion at the Rainbow Inn.

5 years ago - 2011

A four-man Riverside Mountain Rescue Unit team headed by locals Lee Arnson and Chad Marler fought their way down steep terrain and rugged brush to rescue a first-time deer hunter who had become stranded in the Rouse Ridge area near Anza on Saturday, Oct. 1.

1 year ago - 2015

Gov. Jerry Brown signed legislation to allow terminally ill Californians to obtain medication to aid in dying, making California the fifth state to permit patients to terminate their lives.

Obituary: Roy Mills 1930-2016

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Roy Mills

Roy Mills, an Idyllwild resident for over four decades, died peacefully at his home on August 23, 2016. He was 86.

His people came from the shtetels and Jewish ghettos of Eastern Europe. During the Russian Civil War and the accompanying ethnic cleansing, his parents immigrated to New York as teenagers, leaving their parents behind.

A child of better times, Roy was born in Brooklyn and in 1943 moved with his family, by train, to Los Angeles.  He was an avid stamp collector, loved chess, college football, rare steak, politics, history, and disbursing wildflower seeds. Thanks to this last avocation, spring brings an ocean of purple lupines by his Strawberry Creek home, each year more expansive than the one before.

He excelled in business and economics at UCLA, graduating Phi Beta Kappa.  He loved philosophy as well, and had the good fortune to be an assistant of Hans Reichenbach, a close colleague of Albert Einstein. A voracious and analytical reader, Roy’s favorite authors included George Orwell, Will and Ariel Durant, Krishnamurti, Buckminster Fuller, and Sri Aurobindu.

He spent his professional life as a Certified Public Accountant in Los Angeles.  He did well, eventually becoming partner in his firm.

On lunch breaks he would spin poetry, and, legend has it, Esther Roe, his mother-in-law to be and future Idyllwilder as well, was passing through his office on an errand one day and, noticing the poems, introduced him to her daughter Carol.  Esther encouraged Roy to decorate his drab office with Carol’s abstract paintings, bursting with color and stimulating forms. After a fateful accident in the early 1950s, Roy pulled Carol from a burning car.  Marriage followed soon thereafter.  Carol was a beloved Idyllwild artist who passed away in 2014.

Roy & Carol’s combined vision led them to settle initially in Laurel Canyon. They arrived 30 years after Houdini and 10 years before Zappa.  Ground broke in 1959 on a midcentury masterpiece designed for them by a protégé of famous architect Richard Neutra. Their two children, Evan and Robin, were born there.

He stopped measuring wealth in dollars and retired early. His new profession was to be master of his own time, and to linger in the country rather than country club. His favorite book during this period was E.F. Schumacher’s Small is Beautiful.

In 1975, Roy and Carol moved the family to the Idyllwild summer home they had designed a few years earlier. Among Roy’s newly found pursuits were tracking the creek, the trees, and the movements of squirrels.  He watched.  Monitored.  Commented.  Mused.  He removed twigs encroaching on his favorite paths and shook the snow off of bent saplings to give them a better chance to see the spring.  He cheered the landscape’s proceedings through the seasons and years. Proper hikes were to be punctuated by a picnic, preferably atop a large boulder with a view.

They both had a yen for good architecture, art, folk music, and travel, which took them from the Arctic to the Amazon, plus Bali, Cambodia, China, Cuba, Egypt, Japan, Peru and Tibet, to name a few.

While not a social butterfly, Roy was staunchly community minded. He was elected to the Idyllwild Water Board for two terms, volunteering untold time over those years and sometimes asking unpopular questions.  Can we be more water efficient?  Should we keep building when our resources are finite? In the early 1980s, he helped craft a “Carrying Capacity” study focusing on the limits of resources in Idyllwild, years before the idea of “sustainable development” was popularized. He also volunteered as a financial advisor to ISOMATA (now Idyllwild Arts) and underwrote rents for the Courtyard Gallery for several decades.

When asked why he bought gas in Idyllwild, when it was so much cheaper in the flatlands, he would simply say “It’s very important to leave money on the Hill.”  He lived by that principal to the point of risking running out of gas in the desert so as to make it back to the familiar Idyllwild Chevron for a fill-up. Supporting what you believe in … and depend on … in this case the local economy, was always more than worth a few extra bucks.  For all the same reasons, in 40 years they never bought a washer-dryer.  The family helped the local laundromat buy several instead, 25 cents at a time.

Roy referred to himself as a Secular Humanist, which, according to Wikipedia “embraces human reason, ethics, and philosophical naturalism while specifically rejecting religious dogma, supernaturalism, pseudoscienc and superstition as the basis of morality and decision making.” Among his core principals were to be self-determined and not governed by possessions and material things. Time spent trimming a beard was a squandered opportunity to do something more edifying.

Roy found satisfaction and fulfillment in life. They say that one’s true self is particularly visible at the end. Indeed, his close caregivers in the last years spoke often of his kindness and capacity for love.

Creature Corner: October 6, 2016

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Last week in The Days of Our Nine Lives, the ARF dogs and cats

celebrated Steve’s adoption.

Leia
Leia

Leia: So, I was listening in on the Cats 101 class last Saturday. It was good!

Traveler:  I hope the humans were able to figure you out. You cats are a mystery!

Traveler
Traveler

Girlie Girl: And that’s the truth! Traveler, I think you and I are pretty easy to understand.

Bobbie:  Yeah. You’re slobbery, goofy dogs!

Traveler:  Hey! No slobberingd here! Girlie and I keep our drooling under control.

Leia:  Enough! We cats might be a little mysterious, but ARF is offering these classes to help our humans understand us.

Girlie Girl
Girlie Girl

Binky: All of us cats here at ARF seem to know how to use a litter box just fine.

Leia: And there don’t seem to be any spraying issues. Whew!

Bobbie
Bobbie

George: I agree. I’ve known you all for only, maybe two weeks, and from what I’ve seen, you’re all perfect little ladies and gentlemen.

Leia:  Well thank you, George!

Leia: George, you’re a true gentleman yourself!

Traveler: And what about the ARF dogs? We’re pretty awesome, too!

Girlie Girl:  I’m a real lady, if I must say so myself.

Binky:  You are very charming, Girlie.

George:  If we’re all so wonderful (and I think we are) why are we still here?

George
George

Leia: You see, George, the humans need to make an effort to stop by the ARF House to meet us.

Binky:  And when they do, if they spend some time with us, they’ll see just how loving we are.

Leia:  And how much happiness we’d bring into any forever family.

Binky
Binky

George:  You guys are bringing tears to my eyes.

Bobbie:  Me too, darnit!

Stay tuned to see if the humans will stop by to give the ARF pets a chance. Be sure to keep up with the animal antics of Days of our Nine Lives each week.  And please stop in to say hello to the entire adoptable cast at the ARF House, 26890 Hwy 243 on Saturdays 10-4 and Sundays 10-2, or by appointment  M – F by calling  951-659-1122.

Check us out online at: www.IdyllwildArf.com

Creature Corner is Sponsored by Coyote Reds & Chena.

Washington, Milne face off in Idyllwild debate

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debate-qph
Incumbent 3rd District Supervisor Chuck Washington faces challenger Shellie Milne in a public debate Thursday evening in Idyllwild. The event is sponsored by the Idyllwild Town Crier.

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