The Idyllwild Fire Protection District Finance Committee will begin investigating the possibility of consolidating existing debt and new loans for acquiring new ambulances and water tenders. At the Aug. 4 meeting, Fire Chief Patrick Reitz asked the committee to begin examining the district’s options for paying off existing loans for two brush trucks and heart…

The Gorgonio Fire, which started near noon Saturday, May 4, scorched nearly 510 acres in the Twin Pines area before being contained Sunday evening. This fire, south of Banning, followed soon after firefighters had contained the Summit Fire, which started Wednesday, May 1, north of Banning. Eventually the Summit Fire burned nearly 3,200 acres. On…

Before recessing for the holidays, the U.S. Congress passed an omnibus appropriations bill to fund the federal government through the end of the fiscal year (Sept. 30, 2016). This includes $5.6 billion for the U.S. Forest Service, almost $600 million more than enacted for 2014-15, but $116 million less than President Barack Obama requested in…