Despite numerous forecasts of a strong El Niño arriving this winter, sometimes the actual weather surprises us. For several weeks, the National Weather Service’s has forecast that there is a “… 95 percent chance El Niño will continue through the Northern Hemisphere winter 2015-16, gradually weakening through spring 2016.” Yet chances are not certainties. For…

A capacity crowd turned out on Tuesday, April 25, to hear first responders and disaster-response experts discuss issues surrounding “what to know, what to expect and what to do” when disaster strikes the Hill. Mike Feyder, Mountain Disaster Preparedness president, organized the meeting to familiarize newer residents and remind longer-term residents about evacuation dos and…

The rain season ended June 30, and for the fifth consecutive year, rainfall was below the historical level. The total rainfall recorded at the U.S. Forest Service’s Keenwild Ranger Station was 21.27 inches, which is 82 percent of the long-term average of 25.67 inches. In Idyllwild and Pine Cove, slightly more than 25 inches, or…

On June 6, 2014, deputies from the Hemet Station were dispatched to the unincorporated community of Anza to investigate a male adult in a pickup truck chasing a teen-aged male on dirt bike. Deputies located the teenager who stated the adult who chased him was his previous employer, 51-year-old, Randy Morasch.  During the course of…

Doug Ashcraft, head of school for Idyllwild Arts Academy, stood in the interior of the new William M. Lowman Concert Hall at Idyllwild Arts. He was beaming. The roof of the hall is on, the side structures await a metal exterior that will develop a patina over the years, the stage area and green room…