On Tuesday, Feb. 11, a criminal grand jury indictment was unsealed and a Banning man arraigned on 13 felony counts connected to nine arson fires in Riverside and San Bernardino counties between 2011 and 2013, the Riverside County District Attorney’s office announced. Six of the fires were in the San Jacinto Mountains. Steven Taylor Rutherford,…
Wildlife Biologist Tom Paulek and avid birder Rosedith Marx will lead the public on a search of the San Jacinto Wildlife Area for “Birds of Prey,” from 9 a.m. to noon Saturday, Feb. 22. The Friends of the San Jacinto Valley are sponsoring the free event that hopes to spot some of the 22 species…
Saturday morning, during the U.S. Forest Service’s third bald eagle count of the 2013-14 season, the pair of adult bald eagles was again seen at Lake Hemet. During this count, a grand total of 15 eagles (nine adults and six juveniles) were counted at the lake areas in and near the San Bernardino National Forest….
As part of the ongoing Idyllwild Orchard Project, the next Idyllwild Conversation will focus on how the drought is affecting the Hill’s water supply, and how residents can help make up for the shortfall (gray water, rainbarrels, etc.). Representatives from the three local water districts have been invited to share their views. Tuesday Feb 18,…
The number of Californians dying from influenza this flu season has passed 200. Last week, another 56 influenza-related deaths were confirmed for a total of 202, of which four have been children. For California, another 41 deaths are under investigation. For the entire 2012-13 flu season, 106 people died from confirmed flu virus. And nationwide,…
The Chess Club debuted Sunday afternoon at Nature’s Wisdom to local 10th- and 12th-graders. Four teenagers and four adults showed up by word-of-mouth. Richard Mozeleski was “amazed at the ‘brain power’ in one Idyllwild room on a beautiful afternoon. After one match with one of the teenagers to a draw, I was exhausted and decided…
The Mountain Communities Fire Safe Council is beginning to revise the 2006 Community Wildfire Protection Plan. More than 25 firefighters and land managers met at the FSC’s offices on Franklin Drive Wednesday to begin work on updating the eight-year-old plan. CWPPs were originally authorized by the Healthy Forests Restoration Act of 2003. One of the…
The report on the cause of last year’s destructive Mountain Fire is progressing, according to Cal Fire Information Officer Daniel Berlant. In an email last week, he said the investigation has not yet been completed. Ten days after the fire’s start in Mountain Center, on July 25, 2013, Cal Fire Investigators determined the Mountain Fire…
Her heart is full of love for that special someone. She loves to be groomed and held, as she purrs her delight. Easy going, loves cat naps and the sun, is Heidi, an 8-year-old female tortoiseshell. Unfortunately, she lost her owner in a tragedy. As if that wasn’t enough, she also is a special-needs cat….
65 years ago – 1949: There were 30 to 40 inches of snow on the ground in town …
