Fire crews for the San Bernardino National Forest (SBNF) will continue prescribed burning this week in Idyllwild to the south of town on the Westridge Fuel Break (100 piles/20 acres) should air quality and weather allow, the agency wrote in a press release Tuesday. The agency started burning at the Westridge Fuel Break Thursday. SBNF…

According to California Hwy. Patrol Officer Mike Murawski, at about 1 p.m. Sunday, Charles Marquis, 69, and Bertha Marquis, 68 (on backboard), of Hemet were riding their 1998 Honda Valkyrie northbound on Hwy. 243 near South Circle when the back tire began to fishtail causing the them to lose control and T-bone a 2005 Dodge Ram driven by Jackie Louise Nichols, 58 of Spring Valley, as she was pulling to the side of the road. Idyllwild Fire transported Bertha Marquis to Hemet Valley Medical Center with facial swelling. No other injuries were reported. Oil from a leaking vehicle may have contributed to the crash. Idyllwild Volunteer Fire Company 621 and Cal Trans mopped up the excess oil and the Riverside County Sheriff conducted traffic control during the incident.

Except for the facial hair, the differences between the four candidates for the Idyllwild Fire Protection District Commission were subtle and often difficult to detect. At the Aug. 6 forum, candidates Commission President Jeannine Charles-Stigall, Rhonda Andrewson (former administrative assistant), Steve Kunkle (former fire chief from 2005 to 2010) and Nancy Layton (former financial consultant),…