By Jim CrandallContributed After closing down for months because of the pandemic, Grandfathers for Golf (GFG) is starting up its free golf program for children in the Hemet/San Jacinto area at the end of August. The call is out for parents to sign up their kids and for volunteer instructors of any golf ability to…

The 25th-annual Jazz in the Pines festival is only weeks away — the weekend of Aug. 10 to 12. For several years, Marshall Hawkins, the creator of the festival, had an idea to spotlight jazz, America’s music, and feature Idyllwild Arts Academy students at the same time. He wanted more than an evening recital or…

Nine students from high schools across the country were selected as winners of Bennington College’s 2018/2019 Young Writers Awards, including Kali Puhnaty of Idyllwild Arts Academy, who won second place in fiction for “Moon Fever.” This annual competition, which accepts entries in poetry, fiction, and nonfiction, is free to enter and open to high school…

This Thursday’s Idyllwild Summer Concert Series will continue as planned with the Lauren Koval Sextet at 7 p.m., and Robbie and Bill at 6:15 p.m. ISCS organizer Ken Dahleen said this will be a celebratory concert with all emergency personnel involved in the Cranston Fire being invited up on stage. The concert originally scheduled for…