

Santa’s mail box at post office, ready for letters
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Santa’s Mail Box is now at the Idyllwild Post Office ready to receive letters from local children. Santa’s postal elves Kelsi Lehman, Christina Edwards, Postmaster Kelly Gates and Sherry Kaufman, present the box all ready for the first letters to Santa. Children may mail their letters to Santa up until noon Monday, Dec. 17, in order to reach the North Pole in time for Christmas. And every year, Santa gives the Town Crier permission to print some of the letters he receives from Idyllwild boys and girls in the newspaper. Photo by James Larkin

Friday, July 1, is when the California tax rate on tobacco products other than cigarettes will increase from the current rate of 27.3 to 65.08 percent of the wholesale cost. The new tobacco products tax rate will stay in effect through June 30, 2018. California voters approved Proposition 56, in November 2016. This proposition increased…
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Aimed at curbing nuisance and noise activity, Ordinance 927 adopted by the Riverside County Board of Supervisors requires owners of short-term rentals in the county’s unincorporated areas to register their properties. Short-term rental owners must pay an annual registration fee, be subject to a 10 percent annual transient occupancy tax, and comply with guidelines to…
Two different medical aids occurred in Garner Valley last week. During a training exercise, a Cal Fire captain was injured. He was evaluated and transported to a hospital. “He is improving and doing well,” said Capt. Fernando Herrera. The second incident involved a hiker on Morris Ranch Road. A rattlesnake bit the hiker. Due to…