West Virginia University graduate O’Dell Tucker is the acting ranger for the San Jacinto Ranger District (SJRD). Tucker also is the public services staff officer for the San Bernardino National Forest (SBNF).Tucker’s tenure will end in October, when Marc Stamer, former Mountaintop District Ranger, returns from a temporary assignment. Stamer is headed to Idyllwild as…
Last week, Covered California (CC) announced that its premiums for 2023 may increase 6% in January. About 1.7 million Californians get health insurance through the CC marketplace.A variety of reasons are contributing to the increase, including the possibility that the American Rescue Plan (ARP) may be allowed to expire. If Congress does approve its extension,…
In May, the Riverside County Superior Court issued several grand jury reports. Every July, a new grand jury is convened and over the next 12 months, it may investigate and issue several reports. In fiscal year 2020-2021, it issued three reports, one of which was an assessment of the short-term rental ordinance. This year, the…
As of July 1, seven propositions have qualified for the November ballot. The subjects begin with abortion and include funding for the arts in public schools, taxes for programs to reduce greenhouse gases, kidney dialysis, sale of flavored tobacco products and two on sports betting. Proposition 1In June, after the initial release of the draft…
As part of the final results from the June 30 primary, the Registrar of Voters also provided the votes by each Riverside County precinct. Once again, the Hill demonstrated its attention and participation in the democratic process. June 7 was a relatively low turnout election, only 33% of the state’s registered voters cast a ballot….
On June 30, the Riverside County Registrar of Voters issued the final results of the June 7 primary. And there were no surprises from the ongoing vote counts.Below are the results of the races in the Riverside County June primary. The top two vote getters for each U.S. and state-elected position will be the candidates…
On June 30, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed the legislation enacting the fiscal 2022-2023 budget. The total state budget exceeds $300 billion, of which $234.4 billion is the General Fund. Submitted in January, Newsom’s initial proposed budget was for $286.5 million. With the nation’s economic future still uncertain, the final budget includes $37.1 billion for reserves….
At its June 21 meeting, the Riverside County Board of Supervisors approved a final budget for fiscal year (FY) 2022-2023, which begins July 1.The vote was unanimous and without any comments.The county’s total budget is $7.4 billion and the projected surplus at the end of the fiscal year is $368 million. The discretionary budget is…
On June 14, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) filed a lawsuit on behalf of Inland Empire United (IEU) and six individuals, challenging the legality of the Riverside County redistricting plan. The plan was based on the 2020 Census results. The board of supervisors adopted it Dec. 21, 2021 and it was applied to the…
Several actions at Riverside County’s June 21 and 28 board of supervisors’ meetings focused on Hill organizations. Before the business portion of the June 21 meeting, 3rd District Supervisor Chuck Washington recognized both the Idyllwild Arts Foundation and Living Free Animal Sanctuary at the board’s rostrum. A week later at the June 28 meeting, the…
