Higher fees approved: ambulance, mitigation and permitting In a meeting highlighted with the announcement that the fire chief has resigned (see accompanying story), the Idyllwild Fire Protection District commission also attended to many other business issues and decisions at its March 26 meeting. Besides the usual financial and incident report statistics, Caltrans briefed the commission…
Caltrans maintenance crews will be making repairs to damaged pavement on Highway 79 between Horizon View Street and Pauba Road, both in Temecula. The work will take place from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Wednesday, April 3, and Thursday, April 4, with flagging in both directions. Motorists are advised that delays could be lengthy. Detours are…
Caltrans announced today that it expects to access to Lake Fulmor within two to three weeks on Highway 243 from Idyllwild, according to Shane Massound, public information officer for Caltrans. The estimate for use of Highway 74, west to Hemet, is currently six weeks. When this is available, escorts vehicles will lead traffic between 4…
The U.S. Forest Service confirmed that it is proceeding with its scheduled prescribed burn on Thomas Mountain in Garner Valley this week. The project’s goal is creating community-scale defensible space and enhanced forest health. “After a successful test burn of 10 acres on Monday, March 25, crews plan to continue work on the 1,074-acre burn…
Employee benefits have recently been an important issue for Idyllwild Water District directors. A major reason, according to President Dr. Charles “Chip” Schelly, is the desire to have employees reside within close proximity of the district and its customers. At the March 20 board meeting, the directors took two actions to encourage this decision. Following…
For the second year in a row, Pampered By Sam Mobile Office and Tax Solutions, is providing the Idyllwild community with a tax pop-up shop during tax season. Each Saturday, a part of the Town Crier office is used as a tax office to accommodate the residents and businesses of the Hill for their tax…
At 9:50 p.m. on Friday, March 22, Dustin Kinser, 29, of Aguanga, was driving a white 1990 Dodge Ram truck westbound on Highway 74, 1 mile east of Ribbonwood Drive, when, for unknown reasons, he made an unsafe turning movement. The vehicle careened into a guardrail, damaging 10 feet of the structure and causing moderate…
Cal Fire/Riverside County Here are some of the calls Cal Fire/Riverside County responded to recently. • March 21 — Residential fire, 11:39 a.m., 52000 block of Hwy. 74, Mountain Center. Interior destroyed. • March 22 — Medical aid, 9:43 a.m. Lake Hemet Campground. • March 24 — Medical aid, 3:07 p.m. Lake Hemet Campground. •…
The Valentine’s Day torrential rainstorm on Feb. 14, caused the closure of Highway 74 from Hemet to the west and Highway 243 from Banning to the south. Based on past closures, Hill residents were expecting the closures to last a week or more. However, the damage was much more extensive. The volume of water was…
The weekend was warm and sunny. The National Weather Service is forecasting more warming to the middle of the week. Light showers may come Wednesday night and early Thursday, but then significantly warmer temperatures next weekend should usher in April. In the longer-term, the NWS forecasts a higher-than-normal probability of precipitation for Southern California over…
