Beginning shortly after the Mountain Fire, concerned citizens began asking the Town Crier for information as to the origin and cause of the blaze that cost an estimated $24 million of taxpayers’ money and caused thousands to evacuate their homes — and some even to lose them. People wanted to know who was at fault…
As a former president of the Mountain Communities Fire Safe Council, I find Norm Cassen’s recent critical letters a bit hard to stomach. He smears the hard-working volunteers and staff with innuendos of financial conflicts of interest and corruption without making a direct accusation, which would amount to slander. Having been one of the founding…
Cal Fire/Riverside County Fire Department/County Office of Emergency Services is committed to providing the best public protection possible and to always work to improve community life and property safety. We will analyze what is best to reduce risks for a community, report what is best, and work hard to implement what is best for life and property risk reduction. This is just what we have always done and will continue to do for the San Jacinto/Santa Rosa mountains area.
The annual nationwide Sunshine Week is celebrated this year from March 15 to 21. USA newspapers publish stories about public records and the difficulty in obtaining some of them. “Public records” are generally defined as records regardless of their physical form (so email would be included), made or received in connection with the transaction of official business by any government agency.
By Rick Barker Idyllwild Editor’s note: With permission from Rick, this is a letter he addressed to Bryan Asch regarding Bryan’s recent series on mental health in the Town Crier. Bryan: Suffering raises awareness, especially self-awareness. I was introduced to this concept decades ago by Dostoyevsky: “Pain and suffering are always inevitable for a…
By Jeff Smith Pine Cove During the morning commute of Oct. 26, 2006, I came upon fleeing people towing horse trailers, one on a bicycle and, yes, on foot. No smoke or flame was immediately visible. Within minutes that all changed. Driver situational awareness was critical. The Esperanza Fire was making a run at Poppet…
By Kelly Visel Idyllwild An Instagram search of #idyllwild will reveal many of the local attractions tourists and locals love about our town; hikers on trails, Tahquitz Rock under an alpine glow, diners at local restaurants and motorcyclists on the winding roads. With so many devastating motorcycle fatalities this year, I am drawn to those…
Three people came forward to speak at the Idyllwild Fire Protection District meeting on Aug. 12. All three had testified before the recent grand jury about problems within the Idyllwild Fire Department. With the end of the grand jury’s term, they were free to discuss their issues. Frank Altamirano, a former reserve with the department,…
By John R. Hawkins Fire Chief Editor: I write to you as the Cal Fire Riverside County fire chief, president of the Riverside County Fire Chief’s Association and as the fire and rescue mutual aid coordinator for Riverside County. Wednesday, April 23, we held a large-scale, multiagency fire, law enforcement and animal services field training…
Editor: Olympics. I have been enjoying the games and the excitement and am amazed at how close winning a run or a slide or any one of the events can be. And I think of Lauren Salter who is an Olympic hopeful right here in our midst. She’s one of us, a home-town girl and…
