On Friday, March 14 State Insurance Commission Ricardo Lara provisionally approved several emergency rate requests sought by State Farm Insurance. These interim increases must be justified and approved at a public hearing on April 8. The pending provisional rate increases are 21.8 % for non-tenant homeowners, 15 % for tenants (renters), 15 % for tenants…

Early Saturday morning, a fire broke out along Highway 74 between Hemet and Mountain Center, about a quarter of a mile west of the Strawberry Creek bridge. The Forest Service initial attack and follow up controlled the fire by about noon Saturday when this photo of the burn area was taken. The fire was estimated to be 10 acres.

By JP Crumrine Correspondent Riverside County Registrar of Voters Rebecca Spencer has been placed on paid administrative leave from her position. At the Tuesday, Sept. 12 board meeting, the supervisors met in closed session for a “Public Employee Performance Evaluation/Title: Registrar of Voters.” On Wednesday, Spencer’s administrative leave was revealed in a story from the…