The Idyllwild Fire Protection District Commission selected Patrick Reitz, formerly the fire chief and emergency services director for the City of Sheridan, Wyo., as the next Idyllwild fire chief. Reitz will begin service Aug. 1. The vote was 4-0. Commissioner Jerry Buchanan was absent. He was laid off from this position in February 2012. He…

Editor’s note: Each year, the Town Crier reports the information below for the three local water districts — Fern Valley, Idyllwild and Pine Cove — and the Idyllwild Fire Protection. IWD information will appear next week, followed by PCWD and IFPD.  Each district provides the information to the state Controller General who posts it on…

The Idyllwild Fire Protection District’s first-quarter budget ended in a deficit, but this is typical for the first quarter of the fiscal year, according to Monday’s finance committee report. IFPD does not begin to receive property tax revenue from the county until mid-December. Revenues have been slightly more than $400,000 in the first quarter, of…

Late Thursday afternoon, Nov. 30, Riverside County announced that the Mountain Emergency Services Committee, commonly known as MEMSCOMM, has been “disbanded.” This decision would be effective the next day, Friday, Dec. 1. In an email, Jerry Hagen, emergency services coordinator for Riverside County’s Supervisory District 3, reported that Supervisor Chuck Washington’s staff, as well as…