In a brief meeting last Thursday, the Fern Valley Water District’s (FVWD) board of directors reviewed the end of fiscal year 2022-23 financial results and appointed a committee to review conservation incentives. Last year’s budget surplus topped half a million dollars. For the fiscal year ending June 30, 2023, FVWD’s income was a pleasant surprise….
Hurricane Hilary promised rare weather. She arrived Sunday as a tropical storm and has departed. Some of her highlights include 11.7 inches of rain falling on Mt. San Jacinto’s Peak. This was the largest amount of rain fall recorded in Southern California as of 5 a.m., Monday, Aug. 21. Closer to Idyllwild, 7.8 inches were…
Caps and density limits added Last week, Riverside County announced a special meeting for its Planning Commission to review revisions to its short-term rental (STR) ordinance (927.1). Following a winter and spring of public meetings and small group sessions, the Planning Department has prepared a revision to the STR ordinance. This can be found online…
The Mountain Communities Fire Safe Council (MCFSC) is the recipient of a new and generous state grant to help improve and create defensible space on the Hill, and also to remove more dead and dying trees from within the Hill neighborhoods. The grant’s amount is $3.62 million and the funding will be available for five…
Driving through Idyllwild for the rest of the summer will be different, if not difficult at times. As many know from the recent postal box fliers, Riverside County is planning extensive road work, mostly resurfacing, which will begin this month and continue into the last of October. Motorists can expect lane closures during construction with…
Last week, Peter Aldana, Riverside County’s assessor-county clerk-recorder, announced that the county’s total real estate assessment valuation has exceeded $400 billion for the first time. The 2023 assessment of $404 billion is $35 billion more than the 2022 total. Real estate assessments’ growth on the Hill was greater but below the countywide increase of 9.6%….
Hot, hot weather was coming to California, many forecast in the middle of July. And that has proven true. While some cooler temperatures are expected this week, Sunday, July 30, the National Weather Service (NWS) forecast was, “Heat is likely to return again by next weekend.” In the past two weeks, Idyllwild has suffered five…
Last week, the Riverside County Board of Supervisors approved its response to the April grand jury (GJ) report titled, “You Call 9-1-1: Then What? Riverside County Emergency Department Delays May Impact Your Care.” Without any discussion, the board approved the response unanimously. The report had four findings and three recommendations to address its findings. The…
The U.S. Forest Service (USFS) has announced fee increases for recreational sites in the San Bernardino National Forest (SBNF). Comments on the proposal should be submitted by Oct. 1. Seven of the sites are in the San Jacinto Ranger District. Six campgrounds — Black Mountain group, Boulder Basin, Dark Canyon, Fern Basin, Marion Mountain and…
With extremely hot weather arriving in California last week, the critical and obvious tips are to stay cool, stay hydrated and look after friends and family. In anticipation, both the county and the state posted warnings and suggestions for dealing with the temperatures. The state created a website: heatreadyca.com/. The county announced the availability of…
