

Living Free holds community meeting
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Ed O’Rourke (back to camera), chair of the Living Free Board of Directors, addresses a gathering of volunteers, staff and residents at a “Town Hall” gathering Saturday morning to discuss the new efforts to rebuild and rebrand the sanctuary. The new leadership reports that more pets were adopted out in 2014 than in the entire 30-year history of the organization. At the current rate of adoptions, this may reach 300 pets for 2015.

The Idyllwild Christmas Tree is still struggling to survive. The drought has made the tree vulnerable to a fungus. But the Christmas Tree has many supporters and admirers in town. Phyllis Mueller, John Huddleston, arborist, and Mayor Max are doing all they can to restore the tree’s health. “The [Christmas] Tree looks a little worse…
The Directors of Pine Cove Water District met on Wednesday, February 12. They heard from General Manager Jeremy Potter that he is ready to start a pilot program to address poor data transmission from the recently installed “smart” meters. Board president Robert Hewitt appointed Vicki Jakubac and Becky Smith to an ad-hoc committee to review…
A 4.0-magnitude earthquake struck at 9:46 a.m. Sunday 3 miles west-southwest of the Palomar Observatory and was felt in Hill communities.Seismologist Dr. Lucy Jones tweeted, “The depth is ~14km. That is the bottom of the brittle part of the [Elsinore] fault. The shallower part of the fault is ‘locked’ — no small quakes but building…
Letter urges quick change The Idyllwild Fire Protection District’s commission has thrown down the gauntlet over Riverside County’s failure or unwillingness to implement the policy of dispatching the closest-available unit to medical emergencies on the Hill. Following through on their promise to take some action in response to Riverside County’s policy, which states, “For purposes…
The Mountain Community Fire Safe Council’s Town Hall Homeowners’Insurance Workshop on Thursday September 12 was well attended, with over60 local homeowners seeking information and help with rising insurancerates and cancelled policies. The featured speakers were CaliforniaDepartment of Insurance representative Sharon Smith and Hemet insuranceBroker Bob Severns. MCFSC Executive Director Callie Squires introducedthe speakers and briefed…
The Idyllwild Fire Protection District (IFPD) Commission unanimously approved the Acting Fire Chief Mark LaMont’s contract officially making him fire chief at the July 23 meeting. However, the Town Crier was told by Henry Sawicki by phone that the vote happened during open session. The item is not listed in the open session portion of…