Organizations looking to involve public more in future evacuation planning On Monday morning public safety officials gathered at the U.S. Forest Service’s Keenwild Ranger station for one of their meetings throughout the year. These meetings are specific to emergency situations. The officials discussed several topics related to the current fire season and future planning. One of…
Town Crier to request documents from Cal Fire Still no call-backs from any public officials with information as to nature of the “new evidence” that was cited by the DOJ/U.S. Attorney’s office as the reason for dismissing the federal civil lawsuit stemming from the 2013 Mountain Fire. James Nowlin, one of the defendants in the dismissed…
Riverside County’s property assessments continue to grow. The 2019-20 total county assessed property value is $302.8 billion, a 5.9% increase from FY 2018/19’s total value of $286 billion. This is the seventh consecutive year that property values have increased since they bottomed in 2012-13 at $204.9 billion following the recession. That year was the fourth…
Ken’s Big Band Staff returns to Idyllwild Thursday, Aug. 15. Led by Ken Dahleen, the creator and producer of the Idyllwild Summer Concert Series, the Big Band Staff will sweep you off your feet with luxurious harmonies and rhythms beyond 3/4. The heyday of big bands was the 1930s and 1940s. But they are neither…
Idyllwild Arts young talent say goodbye to their long-time conductor Larry Livingston The talented students of the Idyllwild Arts High School Summer Chamber Festival Orchestra and Festival Choir didn’t just perform on the home stage of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, they owned it! Staff and students spent many hours preparing for what sounded like…
With less locations and more bands, this year’s Idyllwild StrongBenefit Music Festival event promises to deliver. The event is organized to make sure that patrons are able to travel easily between venues. The popular fire engine will be back this year with stops at or very near venue locations. This year’s main stage will be…
Last week the Town Crier reported that the federal lawsuit stemming from the 2013 Mountain Fire, by which court action the United States sought to recover some $24 million in fire suppression costs and damage to federal wildlands, had been dismissed by the DOJ/U.S. Attorney’s Office without any monetary recovery to U.S. taxpayers. The DOJ/U.S….
The Local Review Board (LRB) of the Idyllwild Historic Preservation District (IHPD) spent some time discussing how to elevate its presence and help local businesses. While reviewing a draft logo, created by member Ron Kammeyer, board member Nancy Borchers asked, “How do we get some teeth?” She added that the review board exists simply to…
Questions about first responders’ preparation for evacuations, which may be mandated during disasters, such as wildfires, were raised in two public meetings this week. Both the Riverside County Board of Supervisors and the Idyllwild Fire Protection District (IFPD) Commission addressed their agencies’ planning for potential evacuations. Idyllwild couple, Sue Nash and Tom Paulek, were at…
Editor: I recently took a drive up to Idyllwild. I parked my car and walked around to see the sights. After a while, I realized I wasn’t seeing something. There were no chargers for electric cars. I am an electric car driver, so I am usually on the lookout for chargers. I did not see…
