It’s spring. Flowers are blooming and the leaves of trees are starting to form and uncurl. It’s time for a community meeting to hear about the Goldspotted oak borer. The Mountain Communities Fire Safe Council is holding just such a meeting at 10 a.m. Saturday, April 18, at the Idyllwild Nature Center. This is the…

Idyllwild Fire Protection District employee expenses reported to the State Controller. The total salaries, wages and benefit costs for 2011 were $1,380,845.

The closures of Highway 74 from Mountain Center to Hemet and Highway 243 north to Banning have created burdens for Idyllwild residents. Local high school students and school personnel have shuttles to and from Hemet available, but these leave at 5 a.m. Local businesses have multiple problems. First, much fewer visitors and tourists are coming…

An AMS commercial paving truck towing a trailer with a pavement grinder overturned on Highway 243 about 5 p.m. Friday, April 26, as it was heading southbound. The incident happened about 1 to 1.2 miles north of Mountain Center (past the U.S. Forest Service’s Keenwild Ranger Station toward Idyllwild). The fuel tank spilled about 60…