A quarter-acre brush fire started early Saturday evening near Lake Hemet. In less than two hours after it was reported at 7:08 p.m., the fire was controlled, according to Tawny Cabral, public safety information specialist for Cal Fire and the Riverside County Fire Department. No U.S. Forest Service engines were needed to control this blaze.

Hearings and settlement conferences for Robert Pape, 28, and Cristin Smith, 27, continue to be re-scheduled. Pape’s latest court appearance was Aug. 5 when a new felony settlement conference was set for Aug. 26 and a possible preliminary hearing on Sept. 7. Pape has had several attorneys replaced and issues of conflict declared. The public…

During its March 11 meeting, the Idyllwild Fire Commission discussed the prospects of conducting a strategic planning exercise in the future. Several commissioners, Fire Chief Patrick Reitz, his assistant Sherry Edwards and Ruth Wick, head of Volunteer Company 621, attended a 5-day strategic planning class the previous week. Commissioner Rhonda Andrewson thought the class was…

  Hikers on the Round Valley Hiking Trail discovered an unresponsive 46-year-old man in full cardiac arrest around 4:30 p.m. Friday, Nov. 11. Hikers notified rangers at the mountaintop Tram Station. According to Mark Hudgens, state park superintendent, rangers went to the scene with an automated external defibrillator. Hikers who had found the man had…