Idyllwild News

By Marshall Smith Correspondent Thursday night’s Idyllwild Summer Concert Series performances will be preceded by a ceremonial acknowledgment honoring first responders who fought the Cranston Fires and maintained public order during the fire. Representatives from the U.S. Forest Service, Cal Fire, Idyllwild Fire Protection District, Riverside County Fire Department, the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department and…

The Anza Electric Cooperative received word from Southern California Edison that the entire system should be restored by Monday, Aug. 6. AEC includes Garner Valley. The import upgrade that SCE and AEC “had already been working on for later this year will be completed during this outage since crews and material are readily available,” according…

The evacuation of Idyllwild created an unintended consequence for the Idyllwild Water District. With many fewer people in town, demand on the wastewater treatment plant plummeted. This can be a problem for nourishing the bacteria that clean the water. “With the evacuation, [there were] no businesses or camps, thus no organic material for the biological…

The Cranston Fire burned up to and across both highways 74 and 243. Currently, Highway 74 from Idyllwild to Mountain Center is closed to through traffic. The only access to Idyllwild is Highway 243 from Banning. The damage to Highway 74 is more extensive. According to Terri Kasinga, chief of Public and Media Affairs for…

Two more weeks until the one-year anniversary of our announcement of the Town Crier Membership Model, and four more weeks until the anniversary of when it went into effect. Meanwhile, early Charter Members already are beginning to renew their Memberships. Of course, they do not lose anything by renewing early because renewals are always tacked…

According to Lt. Zachary Hall of the Riverside County Sheriff’s Hemet Station, four arrests were made during the Cranston Fire evacuation last week. Deputies stopped a suspicious vehicle, which appeared to be casing the Idyllwild area. The driver had a warrant for his arrest. The driver was booked at the Smith Correctional Facility for violation…