The Mountain Communities Fire Safe Council will hold a community meeting at 10 a.m, Saturday, Jan. 28, at the Idyllwild Nature Center. Three topics — preparing for a wildland fire, the goldspotted oak borer and fuels reduction projects — will be the topics discussed during the meeting. “We need to update the community on the…

Approves filling staff vacancies Fire abatement inspections began this month. This year, the Idyllwild Fire Protection District commission plans tougher response with property owners who fail to comply with abatement requirements. At the April 23 meeting, Acting Fire Chief Mark LaMont listed the state laws and county ordinances that provide authorization for fire districts to…

The Fern Valley Water District directors agreed to move from water-conservation Stage 3 to Stage 2. General Manager Victor Jimenez told the board, “I wanted to go to Stage 1, but we can’t. The state still mandates for local government to ask restaurants and hotels if users want water. “Our Stage 1 doesn’t have that…

MDP hosts community meeting to discuss options Do you need or have a generator when a power outage occurs again on the Hill? The question does not ask if a power outage will occur, but when. Southern California Edison has already announced that its future policies will lean toward more frequently planned public-safety power shutoffs, independent…

Room full of opposition to increase The directors of the Idyllwild Water District eventually agreed to raise the water and sewer rates for their customers. The public-comment period, which opponents to the rate increases dominated, the public hearing on the proposed increases, and the agenda items to vote on each increase consumed nearly two-and-a-half hours…