Funds to help create more defensible space around local homes At the Oct. 23, Riverside County Board of Supervisors meeting, 3rd District Supervisor Chuck Washington recommended his colleagues concur with a $4,000 grant to the Mountain Communities Fire Safe Council. These monies will be used in conjunction with the $600,000 state fire prevention grant, which…
Last Saturday, Allan Tiso stood on his ranch talking to Team Rubicon USA volunteers who had arrived bright and early to help clear his property of the wreckage left behind by the Cranston Wildfire. First, they cleaned around the burned tractor and put piles of metal in the dumpster. Then they took down the charred…
The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire) has settled its state-court lawsuit against Tarek Al-Shawaff and his local employees, James and Donna Nowlin. The settlement was entered into and the lawsuit then dismissed as to those parties on Sept. 4, 2018. Although the Town Crier requested information from Ross Hirsch, deputy attorney…
Cannabis activities, from growing to selling, will likely become legal in Riverside County in 2019. Despite opposition, the Board of Supervisors narrowly approved a revision to its current land-use ordinance, which would permit cannabis business throughout the unincorporated area of the county. The vote was 3-2. Supervisors John Tavaglione (2nd District) and Marion Ashley (4th…
At last week’s meeting for the Lake Hemet Municipal Water District, the directors approved the issuance of Proposition 218 notices for all ratepayers and scheduled a public hearing on Dec. 20 for the proposed new rate structures. While these actions apply to customers in the district’s Hemet, San Jacinto and Garner Valley areas, the proposed…
The Idyllwild Water District directors held a marathon meeting Wednesday, Oct. 17. While only eight audience members attended and their comments contributed to the four-and-a-half-hour meeting, the board itself carefully and patiently covered a variety of issues. Familiar topics such as water quality and the Consolidation Committee, new topics such a public hearing for entering…
The Fern Valley Water District directors were encouraged to join efforts to build greater cooperation and collaboration among the three Hill water districts at the board’s meeting Friday. Representatives of Idyllwild Water District’s new Committee to Improve Cooperation among the water districts of the Hill and the San Jacinto Watershed Watchdogs attended the meeting. Although…
Editor’s note: An interview with Dr. Raul Ruiz’s opponent, Kimberlin Brown Pelzer, appeared in the Oct. 11 issue of the Town Crier. Congressman Dr. Raul Ruiz is seeking his fourth term representing California’s 36th House District. He was first elected in 2012, when he upset incumbent Mary Bono Mack and was reelected in 2014 and…
Sheriff’s log The Riverside County Sheriff’s Department Hemet Station responded to the following calls Sunday to Saturday, Oct. 14 to 20. Idyllwild • Oct. 14 — Alarm call, 12:48 a.m., 26000 block of Hwy. 243. Handled by deputy. • Oct. 14 — Alarm call, 3:52 a.m., Bicknell Ln. Handled by deputy. • Oct. 14 —…
At 2:05 a.m. Sunday Oct. 21, Kyle Travis Krengel-Owen, 29, of Idyllwild, was driving a white 2011 Mercedes Benz E63 AMG sedan northbound on South Circle Drive approaching Village Center Drive in Idyllwild at a high rate of speed. According to the report from responding California Highway Patrol Officer Graham Aanestad, because of the vehicle’s…
