At several of this summer’s larger vegetation fires, the Mountain Communities Fire Safe Council was represented. MCFSC Vice President Norm Walker was assigned as incident commander of So Cal Team 1, one of the Fire Management Teams are activated during major fires. Norm has had a 36-year career with the U.S. Forest Service as a…
As the holiday seasons approach, the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department has issued a warning of continuing phone scams and frauds. A notable and common scheme involves a caller who claims to be a member of law enforcement or an employee of the Riverside County court system. The victim is told he or she has a…
Editor: It has been several years since the county of Riverside took over Town Hall. It is not being managed with much efficiency. The first problem is the staff turnover. So many people have come and gone and I understand one of the biggest problems is the payment of wages. I have heard that the…
Editor: In the Oct. 22 edition of the Town Crier, there was a letter to the editor about the Idyllwild Fire Protection District which ended in the statement, “You get what you pay for.” Well, when it comes to IFPD, you don’t. Pine Cove was finally able to get out from under a contract with…
Sunny and Bob Wilcox married Nov. 7, 1955, in Eugene, Oregon, where both attended high school and the University of Oregon. After one college date, the couple married when Bob returned from U.S. Army duty in Korea. One child, Elizabeth, died of cancer in 2009. They continue to enjoy the social life at Shadow Mountain…
Jack, as you’ve seen, took care of my column a few times while my heart has been healing from an attack on Sept. 25. My staff and family (some of whom also are staff), ensured that I take doctors orders and rest. My heart attack was small — a takotsubo, named for a Japanese clay…
Last Friday, Gov. Jerry Brown declared a state of emergency due to the number of dead and dying trees resulting from the four-year drought. He also wrote U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack seeking help to mitigate this forest crisis. “California is facing the worst epidemic of tree mortality in its modern history,” said Brown…
Terri Kasinga, Caltrans District 8 public information officer, confirmed stops signs have been installed by Caltrans on Southern California Edison’s Highway 243 project in the center of Idyllwild. Kasinga noted stop signs now require northbound motorists exiting the one-way lane on Highway 243 to stop before continuing north or turning right or left. Residents of…
At about 1:55 p.m. Sunday, James Thomas, 57, resident of Pinyon, was riding his mountain bike downhill on a dirt trail near Pinyon. Thomas was two-tenths of a mile southwest of Highway 74 and Pinon Flats Transfer Station Roda when, according to Riverside County Coroner Sgt. Brent Sechrest, he hit a rocky patch and was…
On Thursday, Oct. 26, Richard Latka, 56, of Hemet, was convicted by a federal jury in U.S. District Court of threatening a federal officer. Latka threatened to kill a U.S. Forest Service law enforcement officer who came to the man’s home to ask about trash dumped in the San Bernardino National Forest. In October 2014,…
