The Idyllwild Water District (IWD) directors held a special meetingWednesday May 1, to discuss the status of the waste water treatmentplant (WWTP) replacement project. The firm doing the initial engineeringwas expected to join the meeting by Zoom, but did not, instead providinga six-page memo which did little to answer the board’s question. Thememo projected that…
At the end of April, the American Lung Association (ALA) released itslatest air quality report, “State of the Air 2024.” The results analyzedata through 2022. “We have seen impressive progress in cleaning up air pollution over thelast 25 years, thanks in large part to the Clean Air Act. However, whenwe started this report, our team…
At its Dec. 12, 2023, meeting, the county board of supervisors asked thechief executive and Cal Fire to develop a strategy to alleviate theshortage of firefighter II/paramedics vacancies in the Riverside CountyFire Department (RCFD). This was approved without any discussion and the board expected a reportwith recommendations for a solution to be given to its…
Cal Fire’s Southern Operations Unit issued its latest Wildfire Outlooklast week. From now through early summer, wildfire conditions are likelyto remain lower than normal. However, as the Pacific weather conditionscontinue to shift from El Niño toward a La Niña pattern, the chances oflarge wildfires begin to increase. Both live fuel moisture and dead fuel moisture…
On Saturday, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a proclamation designating May 5through May 11 as Wildfire Preparedness Week. The theme of preparednessweek is partnership. In the proclamation, Newsom said, “CAL FIRE has also made significantprogress on fuels reduction and mitigation, with more than 105,500 acresof fuels treatment last year. Fuels reduction projects are vital toslowing and…
The Girl Scouts of San Gorgonio Council were beneficiaries of a grant tohelp renovate their 190-acre Skyland Ranch Camp, north of Pine Covealong Highway 243. California Congressman Peter Aguilar (D-33) secured the $875,424 federalgrant this year. In his letter to the House Appropriations Committee, he wrote, “Thefunding would be used for improvements to their Skyland…
Thursday, March 28, the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC)issued a proposed decision on how large investor-owned utilities maybill for electricity in California. A hearing for this proposed decisionis scheduled for the CPUC’s May 9 business meeting. If approved, the newrate structure will go into effect in late 2025 and early 2026. But in the past…
Locals noticed a film crew at work the week of April 22 at severaldowntown localtions. The Gastrognome was taken over Tuesday andWednesday, with small “drifts” of fake snow scattered around the deck,and FERRO was next on the schedule. The Crier spoke with co-producer and director Jake Hilgren at the Gnome.“We’re filming a movie called ‘Christmas…
The Crier sat down with Julia Graham at her new teaching studio, HilltopMusic Lab, in the Collective. Graham moved into the space just a fewweeks ago, but tells us that already, 45 students are taking lessons andlearning about music at Hilltop. Graham spent about a year giving lessons out of her home in Idyllwild,and taught…
