A torrential rainstorm passed over the Hill Thursday, July 30. The U.S. Forest Service’s Keenwild Ranger Station recorded 1.13 inches of rain between 1:30 and about 6 p.m. This is 50 percent more than the long-term average of 0.7 inches of rain during the entire month of July. The Town Crier, a CoCoRaHS moisture collector,…

Riverside County Sheriff’s Department deputies and a helicopter crew responded about 6:53 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 6, to reports of three hikers lost in the Fuller Ridge area north of Idyllwild. The hikers used a cell phone to summon help. The helicopter crew conducted a search, located and then airlifted the hikers to safety. The hikers…

Although the Metropolitan Water District recently declared a “Regional Drought Emergency for all of Southern California,” Hill residents and visitors do not have to worry. While still in Stage 2 or 3 (conserve water usage), all three local water district — Fern Valley, Idyllwild (IWD) and Pine Cove — managers are comfortable with local resources…

Editor’s note: Four directors for the Pine Cove Water District are on the August mail-in ballot. The terms for three — Board President Robert Hewitt, Joel Palmer and Lou Padula — expire in December. They and challenger Jeffery Kleefisch are on the ballot for four-year terms. The fourth director, Vicki Jakubac, replaced Tim Lange, who…