When Gov. Gavin Newsom released his proposed $300 billion fiscal year(FY) 2024-25 budget in Jan. , he acknowledged that there would likely bea deficit. Twice since then the Legislative Analysts’ Office (LAO) has advised theLegislature of the deficit potential and the likelihood of it increasingby May. On March 14, the state’s Senate Democrats agreed with…
Elections, including referenda on propositions and constitutionalamendments, can be won overwhelmingly or they can be close and undecidedfor several weeks. Surprisingly, Proposition 1, for mental health services on the March 5ballot, has taken three weeks to reach a consensus on its finaldisposition. As of Saturday morning, March 23, “Yes” is leading by28,000 votes, less than…
Financial questions, plans and a notable local official were the majortopics of discussion during the March 21 meeting of the Fern ValleyWater District (FVWD) Board of Directors. Idyllwild Fire Chief Mark LaMont visited the FVWD meeting to leave acopy of the latest International Organization for Standardization (ISO)report for the fire district. He was both proud…
At its Feb.13 meeting, the Hemet Unified School District (HUSD) Board ofTrustees approved two resolutions to reduce staffing levels in the nextschool year although enrollment is expected to increase slightly. The proposals would have affected 37 classified positions. Eventually,42 district employees were given notice of potential action. Many of thepositions were initially funded with one-time…
Michael Sattley of the Hemet Unified School District (HUSD) was namedthe 2024 Riverside County Classified Administrator of the Year. “We are profoundly proud of Mike Sattley’s recognition as the RiversideCounty Classified Administrator of the Year,” said Christi Barrett, HUSDsuperintendent, after the Riverside County Office of Education (RCOE)announced his recognition. “His leadership in our facilities departmenthas…
The Hill’s three water districts — Fern Valley (FVWD), Idyllwild (IWD)and Pine Cove (PCWD) — and some Idyllwild Fire Department (IFD)firefighters combined forces last week to perform some fire hydrantrepair. All who participated thought it went well and bodes well forfuture cooperation among the four local districts. “It was great training and good to get…
A review of the value to separate the Riverside County Coroner’s Officefrom the Sheriff’s Department concluded that the change would notaddress the concerns and issues the public raised last fall and wouldadd to the county’s cost. The board of supervisors unanimously concurredand approved the report. The report determined, “If the duties of the Sheriff, Coroner,…
As of Friday night, March 15, the Riverside County’s Registrar of Voters(ROV) had counted nearly 404,200 ballots, or about 30.5% of registeredvoters. But the counting will continue into this week. About 2,000Vote-by-Mail ballots remaining to be counted. These were either damagedor require further review before being counted. Another 3,200Conditional Voter Registration ballots remain to be…
At its March 5 session, the Riverside County Board of Supervisorsunanimously approved a zoning change and conditional use permit (CUP)for developing a wellness ranch on a 36-acre parcel on Apple Canyon Roadwithin the Riverside Extended Mountain Area Plan. In her presentation to the Board, Kathleen Mitchell, county projectplanner, described the project as “an eco-conscious guest…
As of Saturday night, March 9, the Riverside County Registrar of Votershad counted nearly 346,400 ballots, or about 26% of registered voters.But the counting continued through the weekend. “An estimated 50,000Vote-by-Mail and 3,200 Conditional Voter Registration (CVR) ballotsstill must be processed,” according to the registrar’s Friday eveningposting. The remaining vote-by-mail ballots are postmarked on or…
