A previously reported head-on fatal collision in Anza has now been reclassified as “attempted murder and assault with a deadly weapon” by the California Highway Patrol and is under further investigation. The Monday, June 8, incident involved two men from Anza, William Gibson, 56, and Steven Rusing, 51. According to the initial CHP report, Gibson…
The Riverside County Department of Waste Resources will host a free backyard composting workshop in Idyllwild on Saturday June 20. The free “how-to” backyard composting workshop begins at 10 a.m. at the Idyllwild Town Hall, 25925 Cedar St., Idyllwild. Attend this “how-to” workshop to learn how to recycle organic resources such as yard trimmings, fruit…
As the Town Crier earlier reported, CBS shot a video a few weeks back with PGA Tour golfer Brendan Steele showing off his Idyllwild hometown. Footage shot by CBS was used on Sunday, June 7, in the nationally televised show “Coming Home,” which featured Brendan and a few other PGA Tour professionals in their hometown…
The potential danger of the coming fire season, exacerbated by the number of dead and dying pines, was the main topic at the June 10 Mountain Area Safety Taskforce meeting. “Everyone can see what’s going on with the trees,” said Cal Fire Unit Forester Gregg Bratcher. “Garner Valley has been hit very hard.” The current…
On Tuesday, June 16, Riverside County 3rd District Supervisor Chuck Washington asked his board colleagues to approve the use of Community Improvement funds for several Idyllwild agencies. The Idyllwild HELP Center is the beneficiary of $3,500. Washington’s memo said the funds would be used for the Summer Safety Net Program, which provides summer utility assistance…
Monitoring of underground leakage of petroleum products is continuing near and around the Chevron Station in Idyllwild. RM Environmental Inc. of Calimesa continues to monitor the site semi-annually for the presence of various hydrocarbons. The latest results, reported last month, detected total petroleum hydrocarbons, including methyl-tertiary-butyl ether, benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylenes on the site…
The proposed 2015-16 budget, along with the Local Control Accountability Plan, were presented at the Hemet Unified School District board meeting Tuesday, June 2. The proposed budget for next fiscal year (beginning July 1) is about $22 million more than the current-year budget. Total projected expenditures will be about $226.7 million compared to $204.8 million…
“Water consumption is down. People here are environmentally sensitive,” General Manager Tom Lynch last week told John Cook and Warren Monroe, the directors who serve as members of the Rules and Regulations Committee of the Idyllwild Water District. However, as water consumption declines, so do the district’s revenues, lamented the directors and particularly Chief Finance…
Fuel abatement in historical burn areas is an ongoing responsibility of firefighting management and crews. Wednesday, June 3, Cal Fire and Riverside County Fire personnel thinned vegetation on 4.4 miles of the Poppet Flat Truck Trail. Part of ongoing projects throughout the county to thin fire fuel and create shaded fuelbreaks, the work is…
On Sunday, a brush fire in Garner Valley was reported about 1:45 p.m. The U.S. Forest Service, along with units from Cal Fire, Riverside County and the Idyllwild Fire Department, responded and the Ranch Fire was contained shortly after 4 p.m. The fire was located near Fobes Ranch Road and the burn was limited to…
