For the final Idyllwild Conversation of the 2013-14 season, UC Riverside Professor of Fire Ecology Richard Minnich will talk about forest conditions that exacerbate wildfire risk. Showing photos of the Idyllwild area’s old-growth forests from 130 years ago, as well as from Baja Mexico’s mountains where fire suppression was not practiced until very recently, Minnich…

By Caltrans The California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) is pleased to announce that Highway 243 will reopen today [Nov. 1] by 6 p.m. between Interstate 10 [Banning] and Idyllwild. The route has been closed since Feb. 14 due to catastrophic damage during a historical storm. Highway 243 was repaved during the emergency closure with a…

The Pine Cove Water District board approved a resolution agreeing to the financial assistance — loan and grant — from the federal Rural Utilities Service. Last month, the U.S. Department of Agriculture agency notified the water district that its loan request for $292,000 and a separate grant for $40,500 had both been approved. PCWD expects…