Idyllwild local Taylor Dravenstatt, 24, previously sent to state prison for felony burglary in 2013, was again arrested on Tuesday, Sept. 6, at Wood Road in Perris on charges of felony burglary of a dwelling. Arrested with Dravenstatt were Charles Michael Stratton and Geoffrey Eugene Helmick, both of Hemet. Dravenstatt’s felony settlement conference hearing has…
Hundreds of earthquakes — from very small (magnitude less than 1) to minor (magnitude 4.0 to 5.0) occurred near the Salton Sea last week. Again demonstrating his prescience for disaster, Mike Feyder, head of the local Mountain Disaster Preparedness group, had already scheduled a community meeting to hear a speaker from the California Institute of…
One injury crash, requiring medical transport, took place in Idyllwild over the last week along with a fender bender on Highway 74 above Palm Desert. At 10:26 p.m. Monday, Sept. 26, Miguel Pablo Lopez, 23, of Idyllwild, was driving his silver 2008 Ford Focus southbound on Highway 243, 268 feet south of Riverside County Playground…
At about noon Saturday, Oct. 1, Cal Fire/Riverside County firefighters responded to the report of an ill hiker in a remote area of the San Jacinto Wilderness at the top of the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway. Cal Fire Copter 301 crew safely transported an adult male from a remote area about 9 miles into the…
The California Department of Transportation will continue work this week to complete the Highway 371 left-turn lane project located from just west of Bahrman Road to just west of Bailiff Road in Anza. Caltrans announced that the project scope has been altered to accommodate the extension of a two-way continuous left-turn lane from the center…
On Wednesday, Sept. 28, the Idyllwild Fire Commission held two public meetings to explain the purpose of Measure W and to answer questions about it. Measure W was approved at IFPD’s July 26 meeting. The commissioners unanimously passed a resolution to double the current $65 per parcel or unit fee to $130. Because the current…
Last June, the Idyllwild Fire Protection District and the City of San Jacinto voted to form a joint power authority to supply the city with fire and medical emergency services. It was originally scheduled to go into effect July 1, but a last-minute uncertainty involving dispatch service resulted in the city voting to put off…
After months of little to no rain, the Hill received several inches of rain last week. Both Keenwild Ranger Station and Pine Cove recorded about 2 inches of rain. For this storm, the National Weather Service reported that Pine Cove (2.2 inches) and Keenwild (2.1 inches) received the second- and third-greatest rainfall throughout Southern California….
Aimed at curbing nuisance and noise activity, Ordinance 927 adopted by the Riverside County Board of Supervisors requires owners of short-term rentals in the county’s unincorporated areas to register their properties. Short-term rental owners must pay an annual registration fee, be subject to a 10 percent annual transient occupancy tax, and comply with guidelines to…
Mark Hudgens is the new Mt. San Jacinto State Park superintendent. He took over his new position in August of this year. Having spent the last 14 years in the Perris district, Hudgens inherits a far larger state park to supervise with his move to the Mt. San Jacinto District. “Perris was roughly 8,800 acres…
