Earlier this afternoon, Wednesday, Dec. 18, the National Weather Service issued a Winter Weather Advisory for the Southern California Mountains, including the Hill, from Thursday morning, Dec. 19, into Thursday night. The NWS forecasts snow to begin falling late Thursday morning and accumulation between 3 and 5 inches by evening. During Thursday night, additional accumulation…
Warnings were the highlight of the December Mountain Area Safety Taskforce meeting. With help from the diminishing rain in the past several years, bark beetle populations are resurging and beginning to kill more pines on the Hill. As more lumber needs to be ground, the grinding station is seeking a larger and more secure water…
Idyllwild’s own American Idol (season 10 contestant) Casey Abrams entertains students at Idyllwild School on Monday, Dec. 16.
The U.S. Forest Service needs help counting bald eagles in the San Bernardino National Forest. For the 36th season, the annual winter bald eagle counts in and near the San Bernardino and San Jacinto mountains will be on several Saturdays. This season the dates are Dec. 21, Jan. 11, Feb. 8 and March 8. Migrating…
Fire log Hill fire stations responded to the following calls Tuesday, Dec. 3 to Sunday, Dec. 8: Idyllwild Fire Department and Ambulance Dec. 3 — Medical aid, Idyllwild. Dec. 4 — Medical aid, Idyllwild. Dec. 5 — Medical aid call, no incident, Idyllwild. Dec. 5 — Medical aid, Pine Cove. Dec. 6 — Two…
Editor: I have one suggestion that those of you in charge of the Christmas Tree Lighting ceremony might consider. Many of us with small children/grandchildren would greatly appreciate a more condensed version of the program. For example: 1) see Santa arrive, 2) sing a few uplifting Christmas/Hanukkah songs (such as “Jingle Bells,” Rudolph, Dreidel), and…
The Idyllwild Fire Protection District Personnel Committee met with negotiators from the Idyllwild Career Firefighters Association last week. Before entering a closed session during the Dec. 5 committee meeting, Commissioner Jerry Buchanan announced that the subjects were the new California Public Employees Retirement System rules and overtime. The CalPERS issue was a continuation of the…
Fire scientists from Maryland, Colorado and Riverside have collaborated to combine fire modeling with satellite data to develop a new method for predicting wildfire behavior in near real time. The resulting predictions will be more accurate and revised based on the fire’s actual behavior. For years, fire experts have researched and designed models for predicting…
Friday afternoon, December 6th, a vehicle and its driver ended up 50 feet over the side of Highway 74 near Palm Canyon Drive in Anza, according to the Riverside County Fire Department. The driver had to be extricated from the vehicle. Mercy Air transported the individual to a nearby hospital. J.P. Crumrine can be reached…
The Riverside County Department of Public Health has announced the detection of two cases of active tuberculosis in nearby high schools. In late October, one case was diagnosed in Vista Murrieta High School. A second case was diagnosed in an Indio High School student in November. While unusual, the two cases are unrelated, said Barbara…
