At a Wednesday April 24 Mountain Area Safety Taskforce meeting, CAL FIRE Forester Gregg Bratcher said DNA analysis confirmed Goldspotted oak borer infestation of a black oak in Pine Cove. Confirmation of the Pine Cove tree greatly expands the known micro zones of Hill GSOB infestation. Inspections by Mountain Communities Fire Safe Council teams in…

For the fiscal year 2013-14 (beginning July 1), Idyllwild Water District directors unanimously approved a $1.8 million budget, nearly $300,000 more than the fiscal year 2012-13 budget. While water revenue and property taxes will slightly exceed operating costs, the district will need about $440,000 from reserves to carry out the capital improvement program. At the…

A serious injury collision on Saturday, Nov. 19, sent one local woman to the hospital. The California Highway Patrol’s preliminary report stated that at 5:05 p.m., Edwin Hansen, 66, of Idyllwild, was driving his 2006 red Honda CRV eastbound on North Circle Drive in Idyllwild, just east of River Road, when he struck “a pedestrian,”…

The shutdown of the federal government reaches all the way to Idyllwild. The U.S. Forest Service San Jacinto Ranger District office shut down Tuesday afternoon. Fire suppression and law enforcement services are exempt from the federal shutdown. Trails and some campgrounds remain open. Photo by J.P. Crumrine