The current state legislature session ended Friday at midnight and the Senate and Assembly were able to agree on several significant bills that are now awaiting Gov. Jerry Brown’s signature or veto. He has 30 days to sign bills passed during this session. The next legislative session begins in January 2016. Drones Senate Bill 168,…
Last week, the National Weather Service raised the probability that an El Niño event will continue through the winter to 95 percent, up from the August estimate of 90 percent. The event is expected to gradually weaken in the spring. “El Niño is now strong with a 95 percent chance it will last through the…
Idyllwild School continued its impressive performances on statewide testing. Last spring was the first time for the new test — California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress — and last week, the State Department of Education released the results. “We did well when compared to other schools in the Hemet Unified School District,” said Idyllwild…
The Sept. 9 meeting of the Pine Cove Water District was canceled because of lack of a quorum to conduct business. Board President Robert Hewitt and directors Lou Padula and Joel Palmer were absent. An item on the agenda was a resolution opposing any statewide charge or tax on local water district bills. The Association…
The Idyllwild Historic Preservation District’s Local Review Board is holding a meeting on the Mills Act at 6 p.m., Tuesday, Sept. 29, at the Idyllwild Library. The Mills Act provides property tax relief in exchange for an equivalent investment in the historic property. The owners commit to restoring, rehabilitating, repairing and preserving the historic property….
During the Sept. 10 Mountain Emergency Service Committee meeting, Kathleen Henderson, Riverside County emergency services coordinator for the mountain, discussed the work of the new Emergency Management Department that the Board of Supervisors established in May and was effective July 1. The agency has created a website (www.rivcoready.org/) to help county residents prepare and plan…
The dormancy of the Riverside County Fire Code Committee has not prevented County Fire Chief John Hawkins from formulating a plan to improve fire abatement on the Hill. During the Sept. 9 Mountain Area Safety Taskforce meeting, Hawkins announced that after reviewing County Ordinance 695 (requiring the abatement of hazardous vegetation) and the state’s Public…
During the night of Tuesday, Sept. 8, someone broke into the Idyllwild Nature Center office, gaining entrance through a window several feet above ground level, according to Park Interpreter Amanda Allen. The staff was alerted to the break-in because it set off the alarm system. Allen arrived shortly after a Riverside County Sheriff’s deputy. Nothing…
Hours after thieves broke into the Mountain Center Market and took the ATM machine, two men were arrested on Highway 74, just west of the Forest Service’s Cranston Ranger Station. The break-in occurred during the early morning hours of Monday, Sept. 14, and the security cameras, which owner Shane Stewart has in all of his…
The Idyllwild Shuttle Bus has arrived. Funded from a Riverside County Transportation grant and Supervisor Chuck Washington, the local shuttle makes three round-trip runs between Pine Cove and Mountain Center four days a week. Beginning Sept. 29, the bus will operate five days a week, Monday through Friday, for six weeks, then the usage and…
