I attended the Saturday, Oct. 15, private screening of Marcia Waldorf and Jim Crawford’s infomercial, primarily filmed in Idyllwild. Most of those who attended appeared on screen. Three things impressed me about the infomercial that will air nationwide around January. One, it highly promoted our beautiful village, showcasing several local businesses, as well as our…
The U.S. Forest Service has announced a draft decision for its May Valley non-motorized trails project. A draft environmental assessment was released for comment and review in June. San Jacinto District Ranger Arturo Delgado decided to implement Alternative 2, with modifications, from the “May Valley Non-motorized Trails Environmental Assessment.” In choosing Alternative 2, Delgado made…
The Idyllwild Fire Protection District’s first-quarter budget ended in a deficit, but this is typical for the first quarter of the fiscal year, according to Monday’s finance committee report. IFPD does not begin to receive property tax revenue from the county until mid-December. Revenues have been slightly more than $400,000 in the first quarter, of…
Today at noon, family and friends gathered at the site in the Twin Pines area to mark the 10th anniversary of the Oct. 26, 2006, Esperanza Fire that took the lives of five of the crew of the Alandale Guard Station: Capt. Mark Loutzenhiser, Jess McLean, Jason McKay, Pablo Cerda and Daniel Hoover Najera. Here…
What is it about Halloween that attracts us to the night? How, as children, did we summon up our courage to cross through unlit areas and onto the front porches of homes reputed to have ghosts or evil residents lurking within, seeking a treat and boastfully promising a trick if we did not get…
“Light is everything; everything that is seen anyway,” said Michael McEwen, designer and principal of McEwen Lighting Studio in Berkeley. McEwen mounts a month-long show of his work at the Parks Exhibition Center on the Idyllwild Arts Academy campus that opened Friday, Oct. 21. And, in some way, even given his extraordinarily different career track,…
The Riverside County Planning Commission has scheduled a public hearing next week on the conditional use permit for the Idyllwild Community Center planned for the parcel between Highway 243 and Strawberry Creek. It is now known as the Butterfield Commons on Strawberry Creek, named for the family who donated the land and funds to begin…
Last week, Community Service Area 36 member Kathy Wilson released the results of the public-opinion survey about the future of Town Hall. Wilson and others solicited comments from local residents earlier this month, while seated outside the Post Office in Strawberry Creek Plaza. Of the 150 surveys completed, Wilson said 42 were willing to help…
Fire is a constant threat in the San Jacinto Mountains. But 10 years ago, on Oct. 26, 2006, it became very personal to the town and people of Idyllwild. The Esperanza Fire was a wind-driven, arson-caused wildfire that started at 1:11 a.m. in a river wash near Cabazon. Raymond Lee Oyler set the blaze which…
U.S. Forest Service firefighters are on scene of a small 5-foot-by-5-foot vegetation fire in the Alvin Meadows area behind Idyllwild Arts. The location is on Forest Service land. The fire possibly was caused by lightning. At this time, it is actively raining in the area. Non-Forest Service firefighters were dispatched, then held in place and…
