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Readers Write: Sales lost because of festival …

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Editor:

This past Fourth of July was a complete disaster for sales for Forest Whispers (in The Fort). A weekend I was counting on turned out to be worse than a normal weekend. We will not list all the things that were not right, just the ones that bugged us the most.

People selling food that hurts our local restaurants just ticks me (Forest Whispers) off. It is tough enough to survive in that business without flatlanders selling food on what should be one of the biggest days of the year for local businesses.

Next, kid zone and carnival food should be held in the park and huge jump houses for the kids have no place right in front of our stores (Forest Whispers and Himalayan Treasures), let alone in the middle of a street. They should be in the park that we are so proud of, not next to a booth selling wine.

If you need four generators to run your booth, then you should not set up in the middle of town.

Lastly, if you are going to ask a merchant in town to lose the entire day of sales so you can have a circus in the street, you should ask permission from the merchants whose stores you are setting up in front of.

I (Forest Whispers) would have closed up and gone to another town if I had any idea that your idea of a fun Fourth of July was a circus in front of my store.

As it was, I lost 91 percent of normal Fourth of July sales. It was my worst sales day of any Fourth of July in the last 10 years.

Matt McDonald
Idyllwild

Readers Write: Sunny threatening our lives?

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Editor:

My wife and I are contributing members of the Nature Center. We enjoy strolling through the museum with our dog Jake, who is always very interested in the various scents from the reptiles, animals and furs.

We enjoyed that friendly cat, Sunny, usually sitting regally on a chair near the cash register. Jake and Sunny had a friendship built on mutual respect. I saw lots of people enjoying Sunny and it never occurred to me that this cat was a problem.

Then, we enjoy walking the Loop Trail and the beauty of the area. Now, it is a shame that Sunny isn’t there anymore because apparently we will all succumb to toxoplasmosis if we are near a cat.

I have had five cats, long-lived cats, in my life and I nor anyone who came into my home ever succumbed to toxoplasmosis.

Help! I just looked outside. There is a squirrel on the deck, a jay in the tree, a lizard on the steps, a fly and moth in the kitchen. I’d better get inside the refrigerator for protection.

It’s ironic that the Nature Center has great info on the Native Americans and pioneering settlers that preceded us in Idyllwild, maybe even braving the dangers of a domestic cat. I guess now in the 21st century we are so weak that a domesticated cat, fully vaccinated, is a threat to our very lives.

Too bad, Sunny. By the way, we have had food prepped at the Nature Center on several occasions and at the time of this writing, we are still alive. Reading on the Centers for Disease Control website, I found that the only way cats can transfer toxoplasmosis is through feces — not through the air, touching, etc.

So unless you happen to clean out Sunny’s litter, there is simply no problem. For Sue Nash to say she “has no agenda” is disingenuous. Obviously, her agenda is to get rid of the cat. What a waste of County Park funds to deal with this. The whole “case” is nonsensical and pathetic.

Peter Davison
Idyllwild

Idyllwild-area property assessments reach all-time high

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Property assessments for 2015 in the Idyllwild area are 3.3 percent greater than last year, according to Riverside County Assessor’s Office. The $765.6 million valuation is the greatest ever recorded for Idyllwild.

Last week, Assessor-County Clerk-Recorder Peter Aldana announced that property values for the whole county were assessed at $242.7 billion, a 5.8-percent increase from last year and the highest total assessment roll since 2008.

“This is the third consecutive year of growth and we are nearing our peak assessment roll of $242.9 billion in 2008, a good indicator of a steadily appreciating real estate market,” Aldana said.

Property owners whose assessment increases under Prop 8 will receive a notice from Aldana in their regular 2015-16 tax bills, which will be sent in October by Treasurer-Tax Collector Don Kent, according to the county’s press release.

Beginning in mid-July, Riverside County property owners will be able to view their 2015-16 roll value online at www.riversideacr.com. Properties can be searched by address or parcel number.

Property owners who disagree with their property’s assessed value may file a free decline-in-value application online. Applications are due by Nov. 2 and are available at www.riversideacr.com.

Property owners disputing the value set by the Assessor’s Office may file an appeal with the Riverside County clerk of the board until Nov. 30. An application to appeal a changed assessment is available on the clerk of the board’s website at www.rivcocob.com.

For more information, visit www.riversideacr.com or call 951-955-6200 or toll-free 1-800-746-1544.

assessments

Readers Write: Happy anniversary to the Clarks …

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Editor:

You have done a magnificent job for the past two years. The paper that I have been reading since 1956 is wonderful and every week I look forward to its arrival. I know that Mr. and Mrs. Maxwell are very proud of all of you.

This is the best paper that I know as it really tells what is happening. You all know what needs to be done and it happens every week. Keep up the good work.

Happy anniversary.

Kitty Kieley Hayes
Palm Springs

Political Letters: Is IWD hiding something?

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I do not know if it is just me since I am a candidate running for one of the seats on the Idyllwild Water District Board, or do they treat all their customers the same way?

They have made it very difficult for me to review the water district documents under the California Public Records Act. I have only been allowed about one hour a week at their prescribed time. I have been told that the board room is “being used” the rest of the time. That means that of the 45 hours per week the IWD office is open, they are using the board room for 44 hours.

This past Friday, July 10, I went to the IWD office about 11:30 a.m. to deliver correspondence (with questions for the board members) to the GM to be included in the agenda for Wednesday’s meeting on the evening of July 15. The staff told me the GM was busy, so I was unable to deliver it to him directly.

Finally, after more than two hours trying to connect with the manager, he informed me that the agenda was full and my request would not be able to be included. I gave him the letters anyway telling him I hoped he would reconsider since the correspondence was delivered to him within the 72-hour window to put on the agenda.

The irony of this is that one of my questions addressed bringing more “transparency” to those in attendance at the regular board meetings. Recently, there had been a policy change where in the past, those in attendance received their own copy of the board packet to follow along. Now, a binder containing the board packet is passed around making it far more difficult to follow and understand. How can anyone address their concerns if they can’t look at the minutes, financial reports, warrants, operations report and work in progress, etc., while a binder is being passed around?

IWD posted its upcoming agenda and I was able to review it on Saturday, July 11. There was nothing unusual or time-consuming in the agenda, but my correspondence had not been included. This makes me wonder what is going on with this board. Are they concealing things they do not want us, their customers, to know about? I hope they change their agenda. I just wanted to ask our elected officials questions.

Steven Kunkle
Idyllwild

 

Political letters during election season are paid at 10 cents per word. No letters will be accepted the week before the Aug. 25 election. This year’s races include Idyllwild and Pine Cove water districts candidates. 

Political Letters: Time for change in Pine Cove Water …

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Speak with state experts, engineers and other districts as I have done. Rain’s pure as snowmelt, percolating into groundwater. UCLA graduate, honors in science, teacher, resident 13 years. I passionately care about Pine Cove’s water supply. Please vote.

Sharon Kaffen
Pine Cove

 

 

Political letters during election season are paid at 10 cents per word. No letters will be accepted the week before the Aug. 25 election. This year’s races include Idyllwild and Pine Cove water districts candidates. 

Readers Write: Wrong headline …

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Editor:

What? She is being evicted, not retiring. Wrong headline. The county is trying to evict her. Sunny is still at the Nature Center, not at ARF, and the committee to save Sunny collected 75 signatures July 7 being forwarded to Supv. Washington.

Keith Herron at the county has made this decision based on one complainant who has inundated him with emails and complained to county supervisors.

Everyone I have spoken to hates this decision. This is not the Idyllwild way and not democractic. Sunny has no voice to protest. She is loved by everyone and this health issue is bogus.

We have had cats for 40 years and never had any illness; employees and volunteers have never had any illness.

Retiring sounds like she’s going to some island to live off her pension and sip mai tais. In fact, she will become another homeless cat and does not deserve to be treated this way.

That disease, toxoplasmosis, is transmitted chiefly by uncooked meat. Symptoms generally pass unremarked in adults.

Bill Walker
Idyllwild

Readers Write: Mountain Fire investigation?

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Editor:

While at the dump, I stood on a ridge behind the dumpsters and wondered at the puff of smoke that caught my eye. As the smoke grew denser, so did the flames, now leaping and spreading rapidly. I could clearly see the source of the flames as they slowly widened and lengthened as the wind fanned them. Now more than 200 yards long and nearly as wide, the flames jumped the road at the fire station while nobody there had any idea what was rapidly developing.

The mountain was on fire.

As I drove back into town, I thought what better place to inform residents of Idyllwild of the fire than Higher Grounds Coffee Shop. I stuck my head in the door and said, “I just left the dump. The mountain is on fire and it is spreading fast.” Every face had turned to see who was talking and they could clearly see that I was not joking. I went home to Pine Cove and told the wife to start packing.

By the grace of God, we were spared an evacuation order as the fire blew away from us.

We travel 243 past the fire area quite often and each time we see exactly where the fire started, where it crossed the road, and where it just exploded. Anyone driving this part of 243 can clearly see the same.

Can anyone explain to me why nothing has come to light as to why the fire started, who is responsible for starting it and who is going to pay for all the damage? Was it improperly maintained equipment? Was it a repair-person’s mistake? Either way, the property owner is the responsible party.

We are told that an investigation is still in progress and I must ask, “Why?” It would not take half a day to clearly see why and how this fire started and who is responsible. So why the delay?

Cost to fight the fire? $27 million-plus.

Who has a campaign fund that grew suddenly from an anonymous donation?

How much to buy an investigation?

Mark Mitchell
Pine Cove

SPORTS: PHOTOS: Town Hall baseball

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t-ballThe Town Crier Fireball team was up to bat against Jo’An’s Eagles Wednesday, July 8, during Town Hall Minor League Baseball at Idyllwild School. Photo by Jenny Kirchner

Out Loud: Uncanny weather …

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Three of us who braved last Thursday’s summer concert huddled through the entire event, watching chairs fold up and people leaving in swarms as the sun rolled away and temperatures dropped.

Children — who carry that warm, brown fat — never seemed to notice. They ran, whirled through the playground and ate ice cream, including our grandchildren. Evey even pulled off her fleece jacket which I quickly claimed to cover my legs.

Amy brought hula-hoops and the kids grabbed them up, taking to the dance floor, entertaining the scarce audience and even the performers.

The great music of Llew Matthews and band got some folk up dancing and staying warm. If not for a bum knee, I would have been there, too.

Jack arrived in short sleeves and went home to retrieve a jacket. He texted me from home, urging me to pack up because the thermometer read in the low 50s. But Mandy and I toughed it out and Jack returned because we loved the music and the kids showed no sign of freezing. No one else’s kids showed signs of slowing down either.

Historically, the recorded lowest temperature on July 9 read 60 degrees in 1936. (The highest, by the way, was 120 degrees in 1958.)

Last Thursday, then, broke a record with a low of 44 degrees.

I thought many who left early were probably tourists, believing that crazy Idyllwild people enjoyed their outside entertainment every summer in frigid weather. “Why, they even feed their children frozen desserts.”

The weather has been uncanny lately, hasn’t it? We’ll just ensure this week to bring a blanket. I’m not missing the Dorsey band.

Becky Clark,
Editor

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