In other races of local interest, incumbent Democrat Rep. Dr. Raul Ruiz retained his Congressional District 36 seat despite the Republican wave throughout the country. He defeated Republican challenger Assemblyman Brian Nestande by about 9,500 votes out of the 126,000 cast in this race. From the initial vote-by-mail posted results Tuesday evening through Saturday’s totals,…

Over the weekend, two rescue efforts were successfully accomplished, including a helicopter airlift Monday morning. On Saturday afternoon, July 18, California Department of Parks and Recreation staff at the Mt. San Jacinto State Park received a 911 call of two hikers (father and son) suffering hypothermia and exhaustion at the peak shelter, about 6 miles…

After a year in which two natural disasters — fire and floods — have threatened the hill and disrupted living patterns, the Fourth of July and the evening of July 5 raised concerns of a third disaster, earthquakes. While Idyllwild only experienced the tremors from two distance quakes to the north, Ridgecrest — near the…