Gov. Edmund Brown last Friday signed legislation sponsored by a state senate Republican to increase penalties for committing arson in California. Assembly Bill 930 extends the current sunset provisions until January 2019. They expired on Jan. 1, 2014. It will also increase the value of property damage from $6.5 million to $7 million. Re-instating the…

The proposed playground on the Idyllwild Community Center site is moving forward without any foreseeable problems, according to Dawn Sonnier, acting chair of the Idyllwild Community Recreation Council (ICRC). Before the final permit approvals, Sonnier is awaiting completion of engineering drawings for the playground’s pavilion. Architect Jim Marsh, of Hemet, is preparing these in cooperation…

According to Lt. Zachary Hall of the Riverside County Sheriff’s Hemet Station, four arrests were made during the Cranston Fire evacuation last week. Deputies stopped a suspicious vehicle, which appeared to be casing the Idyllwild area. The driver had a warrant for his arrest. The driver was booked at the Smith Correctional Facility for violation…

(Editor’s note: On Tuesday, Sept. 3, Hemet Unified School District Superintendent Dr. Barry Kayrell and Trustee Vic Scavarda of Idyllwild met with the Town Crier to discuss the “State of the District” and trends in the next few years. This is the first of three parts of the interview.) What is the state of the…