Jeff Gonzalez, the Republican candidate, defeated his Democratic opponent, Jose “Joey” Acuna, by 5 % of the vote in the November election. Gonzalez succeeds Eduardo Garcia as the representative for Assembly District 36, which includes southeast Riverside County (including Garner Valley and Anza) and portions of Imperial and San Bernardino counties. Similarly to AD 47,…
“The Riverside County Sheriff’s Office and your deputies have not, are not and will not engage in any type of immigration enforcement,” said Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco on a YouTube video posted on Feb. 6 (www.youtube.com/watch?v=7najc2EBaLo). Bianco spoke out personally after the Board of Supervisors debated and passed a resolution two days earlier. The…
Mountain Disaster Preparedness is a local nonprofit that has a number of working groups within it, including its CERT (Community Emergency Response Team.) This group undergoes training that includes many aspects of emergency response, including first aid. CERT’s regular meetings are the first Thursday of the month and are held in the meeting room of…
During the January Public Safety Power Shutoffs, many locals used public warming and charging centers for the first time. The Idyllwild Community Center made their Town Hall facilities available for Southern California Edison during the longest outage, and ICC operated Town Hall as a center on its own during later outages. The Idyllwild Public Library…
The Board of Directors of Idyllwild Water District held a special meeting on Friday, February 7, to consider applications for the open Board seat. The agenda named four candidates that had submitted letters of interest: Derrick Zimmerman, John Stamper, Jonathon Mills, and Wendy Harsha. All were present at the meeting. Board President Schelly explained that…
The election to represent Assembly District 47, in which incumbent Greg Walls defeated Christy Holstege a second time, may not have been as close as the 2022 election, but it was more expensive. In 2022, the candidates reported spending nearly $5 million total in an election which Wallis won by less than 1%. Two years…
Rain and snow fell on the Hill last weekend and it was needed regardless of the inconveniences. This is the first significant precipitation since summer. Idyllwild and Pine Cove received between 4 and 5 inches of snow, according to the National Weather Service. Two years ago, more than 24 inches of rain and snow had…
At their Jan. 28, the Board of Supervisors had a major discussion about immigration and the role Riverside County can possibly assume in the future for both Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program participants and law-abiding undocumented immigrants. Board Chair V. Manuel Perez (4th District) and Supervisor Yxstian Gutierrez (5th District) submitted the proposal….
For over 20 years, smARTS has been delivering enriching arts education to students of the Idyllwild School. An all-volunteer, grant-funded program, they work with the school’s Parent Teacher Organization to bring professionals from many disciplines within the arts into the classroom. The program is a testament to what parents and others can accomplish locally with…
The January meeting of the Board of Commissioners of the Idyllwild Fire Protection District included the election of officers, the promotions of five firefighters, and the first mention by Chief Mark LaMont of his plans for retirement and succession. At this first meeting of the year two commissioners, Henry Sawicki and Dennis Fogle, who were…
