At noon Saturday, Dec. 26, Thomas Bennett, 72, of Carlsbad, was driving his blue 2011 Dodge Ram truck east on Highway 74 east of Santa Rosa Truck Trail when he hit an icy patch, ran up onto the embankment and overturned. According to California Highway Patrol Public Information Officer Darren Meyer, Bennett was driving too…
Distribution of food to Idyllwild seniors by Second Harvest Food Bank and Feeding America of Riverside and San Bernardino Counties has been discontinued. The longstanding program, hosted at the Mormon Church in Idyllwild, had two components — a senior food distribution with no economic qualification and a USDA Commodity Program with certain guidelines and restrictions….
As he began his Chief’s Report, Idyllwild Fire Chief Patrick Reitz offered the district’s property owners a Christmas present. The International Organization for Standardization has raised the Idyllwild Fire Protection District rating from 4 to 2, where 1 is the best. The new rating is effective April 1, 2016. “This could lead to [fire insurance]…
As 2015 ended, the Hill received its biggest rainstorm in more than year. During the pre-Christmas storm on Dec. 22, the U.S. Forest Service’s Keenwild Ranger Station recorded 2.15 inches of rain and Pine Cove received 2.9 inches of rain. The Keenwild total was almost twice the amount of rain that came during summer storms…
El Niño conditions or patterns, which have recently become daily conversation on the Hill, are not defined by the amount of precipitation. Rather, the National Weather Service defines them as higher-than-normal sea-surface temperatures along the equator from the coast of South America to the central Pacific Ocean.
The strong winds, Saturday, Dec. 26, blew steadily all morning in Idyllwild. Gusts were between 40 and 50 miles per hour, according to the National Weather Service sites. But about noon, a tree fell in Fern Valley and much of that neighborhood lost electrical power. As of Monday morning, according to Southern California Edison, about…
Southern California Edison acknowledges a power failure in the Idyllwild-Pine Cover area affecting an estimated 425 customers. Edison estimates that most interrupted services will be up and running again by 3:30 p.m. this afternoon, Saturday, December 26, 2015.
Fire log the Idyllwild Fire Station responded to the following calls, Monday to Sunday, Dec. 14 to 20. Idyllwild • Dec. 14 — No responses. • Dec. 15 — Two walk-in medical aids. • Dec. 16 — Medical aid, 53000 block of Tollgate Rd. • Dec. 16 — False alarm or call, N. Circle Dr….
Before recessing for the holidays, the U.S. Congress passed an omnibus appropriations bill to fund the federal government through the end of the fiscal year (Sept. 30, 2016). This includes $5.6 billion for the U.S. Forest Service, almost $600 million more than enacted for 2014-15, but $116 million less than President Barack Obama requested in…
While business at the Dec. 16 Idyllwild Water District board meeting was routine, the meeting itself was distinctive and noteworthy. Not only did the meeting last less than an hour, but Steven Kunkle and June Rockwell, elected in August, attended their first meeting as directors. In fact, Rockwell was the second on several motions, including…
