We joked at the news meeting last week that this edition would be the Idyllwild Arts issue and we appear to have succeeded in that endeavor. Jack and I babysat grandkids Saturday night so we sadly missed our friend Marshall Hawkins’ Alumni Jazz Concert in the new William M. Lowman Concert Hall on the Idyllwild…
A Cold Warning is being issued for Idyllwild. The Idyllwild Town Hall Warm Center will be open to the public from 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday, March 7, through Tuesday, March 8, 2016. Temperatures are expected to reach 40° and below. Individuals susceptible to cold, such as the elderly, disabled and families with young…
“If you think everything seems to be going well, you obviously don’t understand the situation.” “The light at the end of the tunnel is the head lamp of an oncoming train.” A couple of weekends ago, Jack and I joined Mandy at the Scotsfest on the Queen Mary in Long Beach. Mandy and I left…
Sometimes when I sit here early Tuesday afternoon, ruminating on a topic to write about, I read some of the Post-it® notes stuck on the edges of my computer screen. These notes help me access online research sites, list the numbers of each Xerox tray and jog my memory about things I might write about…
Back in early 2006, we started a news meeting in a local cafe, outside the confines of the office, to plan our weekly news budget. It became a habit and now we hold our news meetings most Wednesday mornings — publicly. The idea was to improve our news coverage through the give-and-take public interchange that…
I attended last week’s Governmental Affairs Day in Sacramento, speaking out to four elected officials on the propane issues we face on the Hill. The first was at the open mic following Santa Barbara Sen. Hannah-Beth Jackson’s address. I spoke up then because she serves on the Natural Resources and Water Committee. She expressed interest,…
Last week’s Idyllwild Water District story and editorial about the board deciding to postpone a meeting illicited a rant from one IWD director. He took it so personally that he said unless we publish an apology to him in the paper, he will never answer a question JP or I ask him again. I asked…
“Inadequate quroum.” “Didn’t have necessary quorum.” Either way you say it, it’s stacking the deck, arranging a situation so its outcome fits you. That’s what Idyllwild Water District Prez Jim Billman and GM Tom Lynch did by canceling last week’s board meeting. Why? Because electing officers was on the menu, along with other matters. And…
In early February, I take my annual trip to Sacramento for Government Affairs Day. This year I hope to meet with Sen. Jeff Stone or a staff member to discuss the propane issue I wrote about in this column a few weeks back. A short recap: Our propane bill for December delivery totaled more than…
Local business mogul Shane Stewart recently bought up property from the southwest corner of Cedar Street and N. Circle Drive west to include the Village Centre complex, excluding the Middle Ridge Winery building. In Phase I, Stewart said he plans to install a 76-space parking lot without removing any buildings. In Phase II, which may…
