Riverside County has implemented a new early warning notification system. The EWNS is used to alert and warn residents and businesses in the county of emergencies such as wildfires, floods, hazardous materials, severe weather and certain law enforcement incidents. A request for proposal to replace the former EWNS, commonly referred to as “reverse 911,” with…
Marcus Green, 51, of Thermal, the driver of a car that went over the side of Highway 74 in May and resulted in the death of a 5-month-old child, had his request for a bail reduction denied. At the June 29 bail review hearing, Green’s attorney, David Greenberg, brought four witnesses and 17 written statements…
One crash took place on Hill roads over the last week. At 4:30 p.m. Saturday, July 2, Amanda Weilbacher, 26, of Murrieta, was riding her 2015 Kawasaki Ninja motorcycle westbound on Highway 74 about 1,000 feet east of McGaugh Road when she rounded a sweeping right curve, crossed over the double-yellow line and hit the…
Cal Fire investigators made an arson arrest on Wednesday, June 29. Traci Farley, 52, of Pinyon, was arrested for allegedly setting multiple fires in Pinyon, an unincorporated area of Riverside County. She was booked on 13 counts of arson, along with several pending additional arson charges. Her arraignment was June 29 and she pleaded not…
One of two boulders above Highway 243 at Deadman’s Curve in Pine Cove is pulled off the steep slope on Wednesday morning. A Caltrans team is removing these so they do not fall unexpectedly on the highway, as one did last January. The crew used air bags to push the second boulder onto the highway.
Better Wildlife Control owner Tracy Phillipi said he has captured 25 rattlesnakes on residents’ property in the Idyllwild-Pine Cove area this week. He said one was a speckled and the others all Southern Pacifics, one of the most dangerously venomous snakes to humans and other animals in California. Even more frightening is that seven of…
California Highway Patrol Officer Ron Esparza is retiring. Since 1999, Esparza has served the Idyllwild Area Post. He and his wife Karleen have been Hill residents since 1989. When Esparza first came to Idyllwild, he worked as a ranger for Riverside County Parks. For the CHP, he has worked both in Central Los Angeles and…
Better Wildlife Control owner Tracy Phillipi said he has captured 19 rattlesnakes on residents’ property in the Idyllwild-Pine Cove area this week. Five were caught Wednesday. He said one was a speckled and the 18 others all Southern Pacifics, one of the most dangerously venomous snakes to humans and other animals in California. Even more…
The California Department of Transportation will close Highway 243 next Wednesday, July 6, to complete a rock scaling operation. The work was identified earlier this year when on January 10, 2016, an 18 to 20 foot boulder fell onto the highway near Sunrise Drive/Overlook. It took Caltrans crews three days to break down the boulder…
The revived County Service Area 36 Advisory Committee has scheduled its first meeting for 5:30 p.m. Thursday, July 8 at Town Hall. The agenda, which has been distributed, is brief for the first session. 1.0 Administrative action: 1.1 Call to Order 1.2 Roll Call: Ginger Dagnall, David Hunt, John Metroka, Wendy Read, and Kathy Wilson…
