Tim Lange, elected to the Pine Cove Water District board in August, submitted his resignation at the March 9 meeting. “It is given with mixed feelings,” he said. He and his wife will be moving to Willamette Valley in Oregon, where he resided for about eight years in the 1970s. Lange was consistently upbeat and…
Vector control was the topic at last week’s Mountain Emergency Services Committee meeting. With the expectation of above-normal precipitation this winter, Kathleen Henderson, the Riverside County emergency services coordinator for the mountain, thought a discussion of how to deal with mosquitoes and other disease carriers would be helpful for local residents. Doug Osborn, the supervising…
As Riverside County Fire Chief John Hawkins reminded local fire officials at last week’s Mountain Area Safety Taskforce meeting, the 2016 fire season is approaching quickly. “MAST is about preparation and cooperation,” he stressed. “We do all we can in a systems approach to reduce probable threats ahead.” Confirming Hawkins’ statement, items discussed during the…
Editor’s note: Each year, the Town Crier reports the information below for Fern Valley Water District, Idyllwild Fire Protection District, Idyllwild WD and Pine Cove WD. These will run over the next four weeks. The districts provide the information to the state Controller General who posts it on the agency website at http://publicpay.ca.gov/. The information…
One minor crash happened during the last week on Hill roads. At 10:50 a.m. on Friday, March 11, Lisa Greenfield, 47, from Encinitas, was driving her silver 2015 Toyota Highlander in an eastbound direction at the intersection of highways 74 and 371 when she rear-ended a 2012 silver Honda Civic driven by Amanda Rostrom, 27,…
At last Wednesday’s finance committee meeting, Idyllwild Fire Capt. Mark LaMont described the budget preparation process and how different assumptions affect the budget request. In her introduction of LaMont, committee chair and Commissioner Nancy Layton said, “He is in the thick of it; officer development and the most cognizant of pay and payroll issues.” Beginning…
Riverside County Firefighters assisted in the rescue of a Pacific Crest Trail hiker in a remote area of the trail near Anza. The rescue was reported at 9:49 a.m. on Thursday, March 10. The hiker was transported for non-life threatening injuries, first by Cal Fire Helicopter 301 with subsequent transfer to an awaiting ground ambulance.
The bail hearing for Frank Gutierrez, 66, of Idyllwild, arrested in July 2015, was held Wednesday, March 9. After reading a report and hearing arguments from his public defender, Melissa McConaghay, Judge Bambi Moyer reduced his bail $50,000 to $200,000. Gutierrez remains in custody until the rescheduled Felony Settlement Conference on Friday, March 18. Gutierrez…
Both men — Ryan Mason and Nickolas Melendez — charged with burglary of the Mountain Center Market in September, have pleaded guilty to burglary. Their sentencing has been deferred. Melendez, 27, of Cabazon has his sentencing hearing scheduled for April 28. Mason, 25, of Hemet had undergone an evaluation for possible residential substance abuse treatment…
The Town Crier’s reporting of propane prices and policies of the six companies that serve the Hill began after reader inquiries. Readers said they often did not understand how prices were set and how they varied from company to company. Beginning Jan. 28, and continuing thereafter every two to three weeks, we queried local providers…
