In January, when President Barack Obama submitted his budget requests for fiscal year 2015-16, he included a recommendation to change the funding mechanism for federal firefighting costs. In conjunction with the budget package, Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack said, “The budget again proposes a new approach to wildland fire suppression. It will treat severe wildfires…
Steve Erler, general manager of Fern Valley Water District, announced his intention to retire at the end of June 2016. The board was surprised, shocked, and saddened to learn of Erler’s plans, which he shared at the end of the Dec. 18 meeting. Erler has served as general manager a little more than 18 years,…
Last Saturday, the U.S. Forest Service held the first bald eagle count of the winter and spotted bald eagles, but none at Lake Hemet. Local federal and state biologists, in partnership with many volunteers, numbered 38 observers who spotted seven eagles Saturday morning. At both Lake Arrowhead and Big Bear Lake, two adults and an…
The Pine Cove Water District Board of Directors unanimously re-elected its current officers to another one-year term in 2016. Director Robert Hewitt remains board president, Diana Eskew, who was elected to a full term as director this fall, is vice president and Lou Padula is treasurer/secretary. Before the officers’ elections, the board accepted its 2014-15…
Idyllwild has free shuttle service that began in September of this year. It is funded by a grant from the Riverside County Transportation Commission, renewable each fiscal year for a total of three years. For the grant to renew in July 2016 and 2017, the shuttle service must show ongoing and regular use. Idyllwild is…
Riverside County Sheriff’s Investigator Sgt. Robert Duckett, Hemet Station, reported early Tuesday that a gray 2015 Ford F-150 truck belonging to local residient Shane Stewart has been located, along with several other stolen vehicles, in Anza. Investigators were on the scene as this was being written. The theft was reported on Tuesday, Dec. 8, but…
California Highway Patrol Public Information Officer Darren Meyer reported snow and icy conditions on Hill roads over the weekend created hazardous conditions that led to many minor fender benders. Because of the number of incidents to which CHP deputies responded beginning with snow and ice on Friday, Dec. 11, not all incidents were logged in….
Fire officials expressed their concerns last week about the limited hours at Riverside County’s Grinding Station and policies at the Idyllwild Transfer Station that might discourage abatement. Officials from CR&R of Stanton, who have assumed the waste management lease for the county’s Area 8, which includes Idyllwild, attended the Dec. 9 Mountain Area Safety Taskforce…
Not only was this a rainy weekend, but snow fell and accumulated on the Hill. The U.S. Forest Service’s Keenwild Ranger Station in Mountain Center recorded 1.5 inches of rain from Friday through late Sunday night. Pine Cove also received 1.5 inches of rain and recorded a total of 1.5 inches of snow during this…
The approaching El Niño weather has drawn attention from the federal down to the local level. In September, the local Mountain Disaster Preparedness group held a meeting that attracted more than 100 people to hear about the forecast of a wet winter. Riverside County has initiated plans. All fall, Cal Trans and the county Transportation…
