Approval of the final Riverside County fiscal 2016-17 budget barely passed last week. The board was divided over approving a lean budget, which still needed reserves to balance, versus more funds to maintain the current level of sheriff’s deputies in the unincorporated area. Since County Executive Office Jay Orr began preparing the budget last winter,…
Sheriff’s log The Riverside County Sheriff’s Department Hemet Station responded to the following calls Sunday to Saturday, Sept. 25 to Oct. 1. Idyllwild • Sept. 25 –– Petty theft, N. Circle Dr. Handled by deputy. • Sept. 26 –– Grand theft, Pine Crest Ave. Report taken. • Sept. 26 –– Civil dispute, Maranatha Dr. Handled…
Two 2016 California ballot initiatives seek to amend the death penalty, with very different outcomes. One, Proposition 62 (Repeal of the Death Penalty), proposes to abolish the death penalty and substitute life sentences without possibility of parole for all first-degree murder convictions. Inmates currently on Death Row would have their sentences changed to life without…
At the Tuesday, Sept. 27, Idyllwild Fire Protection District meeting, the commissioners dealt with several budget and financial issues. While they approved the final fiscal year 2016-17 budget, the commission will have to wait until next month to get the first financial reports for the year. The projected budget is $2.03 million, which is about…
Every year in our country since 1922, Fire Prevention Week has been observed during the month of October. It was established to commemorate the Great Chicago Fire of 1871. Over two days, this fire killed more than 250 people, destroyed more than 17,400 structures and burned more than 2,000 acres. The cause or blame for…
TC Putting up barriers Editor: A public special meeting was suggested to hear and discuss the opinion of district legal counsel. Directors Kunkle and Rockwell refused. A public special meeting was called to interview qualified candidates for interim manager but Rockwell could not attend. Another special public meeting was called and briefly held. It was…
Editor’s note: In honor of National Newspaper Week, this is a guest editorial. By Layne Bruce Several years ago cyberspace was frenzied over many popular websites going dark for 24 hours to protest a federal bill meant to crack down on video piracy. The Stop Online Piracy Act – or SOPA – was a controversial…
Idyllwild local Taylor Dravenstatt, 24, previously sent to state prison for felony burglary in 2013, was again arrested on Tuesday, Sept. 6, at Wood Road in Perris on charges of felony burglary of a dwelling. Arrested with Dravenstatt were Charles Michael Stratton and Geoffrey Eugene Helmick, both of Hemet. Dravenstatt’s felony settlement conference hearing has…
Hundreds of earthquakes — from very small (magnitude less than 1) to minor (magnitude 4.0 to 5.0) occurred near the Salton Sea last week. Again demonstrating his prescience for disaster, Mike Feyder, head of the local Mountain Disaster Preparedness group, had already scheduled a community meeting to hear a speaker from the California Institute of…
One injury crash, requiring medical transport, took place in Idyllwild over the last week along with a fender bender on Highway 74 above Palm Desert. At 10:26 p.m. Monday, Sept. 26, Miguel Pablo Lopez, 23, of Idyllwild, was driving his silver 2008 Ford Focus southbound on Highway 243, 268 feet south of Riverside County Playground…
