Last week’s COVID story related several European countries and the U.S. have reported finding new COVID variants, originally referred to as Deltacron, but designated by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) as Omicron variants with several subvariant “lineages.” Omicron currently consists of five lineages sweeping Europe and, potentially, the U.S., but appear no more serious…
While we’re bracing for yet another COVID surge, our community’s essential workers press on, serving the public and meeting our needs while risking their own health in the process. These folk staff our health centers, law enforcement agencies, fire stations, ambulances, help center, food distribution projects, post offices, markets, pharmacy, library, water districts, restaurants, filling…
The U.S. Forest Service responded to a vegetation at 9:30 p.m. Saturday, March 19, off Highway 74 in the Bee Canyon shooting area, according to San Bernardino National Forest Public Information Officer Zachary Behrens.Though this was in the Forest Service’s response area, Cal Fire and Idyllwild Fire also responded under a mutual aid agreement.“It burned…
Editor’s note: Riverside County’s Planning Department has proposed major changes to Ordinance 927, “Regulating Short Term Rentals” (STRs). The draft is available for public comment. The March 10 edition of the Town Crier describes the significant differences between the current ordinance and the revised draft. The March 17 issue has a story discussing the draft…
Tuesday, March 15, the U.S. Senate approved “The Sunshine Protection Act of 2021” Florida Sen. Marco Rubio introduced last year. The bill would make daylight saving time (DST) permanent. Beginning in 2023, we would no longer have to remember which Sunday in March is “spring forward” or when we “fall back” in November. While we…
France, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and the U.S. have all reported finding a new COVID variant, sometimes referred to as the Deltacron variant. The good news is that is this new variant is rare and appears not highly transmissible while being vulnerable to existing vaccines. It may also be less likely to cause severe disease…
Associates of Idyllwild Arts Foundation (IAF) President Michael Slocum has shared a message from IAF President Pamela Jordan regarding Idyllwild Arts Academy (IAA) students from Ukraine and Russia. In it she thanks the many who have reached out and offered to help students and families whose lives have been upended by the conflict and international…
Leaks due to frozen pipes was an important topic at the Pine Cove Water District (PCWD) Board of Directors meeting Wednesday morning, March 9.PCWD reported about a 30,000-gallon increase in usage over the prior two years: 2,148,720 gallons in February 2022 compared to 2,118,250 in February 2021 and 2,120,410 gallons in February 2020.“Production was up…
California Highway Patrol Public (CHP) Information Officer Jason Montez reported three recent crashes on Hill highways, the first in Idyllwild and the other two in Mountain Center.At about noon Thursday, March 3, William Austin, 36, of Idyllwild, was driving a blue 1999 Toyota Avalon eastbound on Double View Drive at about 5 to 15 mph…
Officials with San Bernardino National Forest are seeking comments from the public on two preliminary grants submitted to the state of California to help fund the forest’s off-highway vehicle (OHV) operations. The draft applications, based on public and staff feedback given in February, seek to enhance ground operations and law enforcement functions:• Ground operations requests…
