Water supply for the Pine Cove Water District is satisfactory and unthreatened, according to General Manager Jerry Holldber, who gave his annual water report at the board meeting Wednesday, June 8. “We’ll stay in Stage 2 [emergency water restrictions] but still apply Stage 1 rates to customers,” he announced. “Moisture is almost normal … and…
As a result of a case-management conference hearing on Monday, June 13, Judge Daniel A. Ottolia ordered Cal Fire’s lawsuit against Tarek M.A. Al-Shawaf and James and Donna Nowlin to be the lead 2013 Mountain Fire case, with lawsuits brought by locals Lon and Susan Paul, Martin Prevosto, Alisia Fisher, Doug McKeller, MTS&L Inc., Lawrence…
The Mountain Emergency Services Committee meets monthly in Idyllwild to discuss emergency preparedness on the Hill. Meetings are open to the public and Jerry Hagen, District 3 emergency services coordinator, brings in speakers to discuss topics of interest to the general public, as well as attending local volunteer disaster-aid groups. At the Thursday morning, June…
The board of the new Idyllwild San Jacinto Regional Fire Authority held its first meeting Thursday evening, June 9. Earlier in the week, both agencies agreed to create the Joint Powers Authority and explore its operation. The board is composed of the five-member San Jacinto City Council and the five-member Idyllwild Fire Protection District Commission….
A 5.2-magnitude earthquake occurred about 1:05 a.m. Friday, 13 miles north of Borrego Springs and 18 miles south of Palm Desert. The quake was easily felt on the Hill. A 3.5-magnitude quake in the same area followed about 1:33 a.m. While no damage has been reported, houses in Idyllwild shook for several seconds during the…
An information arraignment for Frank Gutierrez, 66, of Idyllwild, who was arrested in July 2015, is scheduled for Friday, June 24. At a preliminary hearing on Friday, June 10, the District Attorney’s Office amended two charges — possession of a controlled substance and possession of more than 28.5 grams of marijuana — reducing them to…
A Silver Alert is a public notification system in the U.S. to broadcast information about missing persons — especially senior citizens with Alzheimer’s disease, dementia or other mental disabilities. One was issued Thursday, June 9, after 80-year-old Bennie Ruth Bowell left her Los Angeles home around noon Wednesday, June 8, in her gray Cadillac to…
The U.S. Geological Survey reported a 3.6-magnitude tremor at 10:02 a.m. Thursday. The temblor was located 4.3 miles southeast of Yucca Valley. No damage has been reported.
Riverside County Sheriff’s Department Homicide Unit is investigating the circumstances that led to the death of Jerome Salgado, 37 of San Jacinto. Salgado had been reported as missing on Sunday, May 22. He had last been seen on Friday, May 20 in the Hemet area. Salgado’s body was found in a gravesite in a remote…
Northwest winds from the Sherpa Fire on the Los Padres National Forest near Santa Barbara are causing heavy smoke in the San Jacinto Mountains today, according to Riverside County Fire. An earlier report of a fire near Camp Emerson ended in a false alarm. At 7:45 a.m. Thursday, firefighters responded to the area but were…
