The third quarter groundwater monitoring report of the underground plume of hydrocarbons along Highway 243 southwest of the Shell and Chevron gasoline stations indicates continued declining levels. The October 2011 monitoring of ground water of the Village Market (Shell station) site of a former leaking underground fuel tank (LUFT) again detected virtually no contaminants. In…

At about 10 p.m. Easter night, a 75-foot-by-75-foot vegetation fire in heavy brush broke out on Saunders Meadow Road, south of the Idyllwild Transfer Station. The Idyllwild Fire Department quickly contained it, said Chief Patrick Reitz. The U.S. Forest Service responded to the scene and the two agencies controlled the Saunders Fire. The Forest Service is investigating the cause of the fire.