San Bernardino National Forest Public Information Officer Zachary Behrens reported prescribed burn activity anticipated for Thursday, Feb. 17: Thomas Mountain The Thomas Mountain prescribed burn area experienced 2 inches of snowfall Tuesday, halting the possibility of new ignitions in the near future. A total of 121 acres were treated this week, with up to 479…
California Highway Patrol and Riverside County Fire Department/Cal Fire have responded to two traffic collisions Wednesday morning on Highway 74 below Mountain Center at mile post marker 56 near the Vista Point. At about 7:50 a.m., a pickup truck towing a trailer slid off the roadway with the trailer causing a road hazard. A gray…
Idyllwild residents have been noticing the activities of contractors working for Southern California Edison (SCE) as they perform activities related to the local power grid. In addition to trimming and cutting down trees, these contractors have been spraying herbicide around power poles as weed abatement. Complaints have been lodged regarding this mysterious green spray we…
The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire) and the Office of Emergency Services (OES) are evaluating a new type of grant to mitigate wildfire damage and destruction to individual homes. Grants for low- and moderate-income homeowners to protect their homes in the case of an approaching or in the midst of a…
Wednesday, Feb. 2, the Riverside County Planning Commission unanimously decided to continue the proposal to expand the former Tahquitz Inn, currently the Pine Woods Resort. The commissioners were confused whether the proposal, which owner Shane Stewart submitted, was intended to expand the existing motel usage or to create more long-term rentals in Idyllwild. The confusion…
Marshall Hawkins, popular and renowned in Idyllwild as jazz bass musician, teacher and human being, received an honorary doctor of music performance degree Friday night from California Baptist University (CBU) in Riverside where, with Director of Jazz Studies and professor Dan St. Marseille, he co-led the CBU Jazz Ensemble together with Hawkin’s own Seahawk Modern…
The Riverside County Board of Supervisors recently took a major step to change and to improve management of the county’s short-term rental system (STR). At its Feb. 1 meeting, the board unanimously approved (4-0 with 4th District Supervisor V. Manuel Perez absent) a contract with Deckard Technologies of San Diego to upgrade and manage STRs…
An Idyllwild woman, traveling with family, was killed in a Friday afternoon solo traffic collision in Anza, according to California Highway Patrol Public Information Officer Jason Montez.Leslie Schotz, 34, was a passenger in a silver 2000 Toyota 4Runner driven by her husband, William Austin, 36, of Idyllwild. At about 1:30 p.m., Austin was traveling westbound…
A 4.0-magnitude earthquake struck at 9:46 a.m. Sunday 3 miles west-southwest of the Palomar Observatory and was felt in Hill communities.Seismologist Dr. Lucy Jones tweeted, “The depth is ~14km. That is the bottom of the brittle part of the [Elsinore] fault. The shallower part of the fault is ‘locked’ — no small quakes but building…
At the Jan. 19 Idyllwild Water District (IWD) Board of Directors meeting, the board and its attorney met in closed session regarding real estate negotiations with property at 26120 Ridgeview Drive which is where The Courtyard Building is located. No action was reported out after closed session.The Town Crier asked President Dr. Charles Schelly if…
