Now that we leave the holiday season behind with all the kind greetings and promises of a new year, I follow through with my promise to readers to address inadequacies among our local government agencies. Those of you new to Idyllwild, or those who neglected in the past to follow the goings on of your…
Back when newspaper advertising dropped in 2009 all over the country after the real-estate bubble burst, we put staff on furlough and slashed costs. I retired in November of that year. After working 23 1/2 years at the Town Crier, striving as publisher-editor to meet financial goals and then having all that work go down…
The last time I wrote this column was for the Aug. 10, 2017, issue. Last week, when JP was out and I ran the news meeting, an attendee asked if I was ever going to write it again. He wanted it back. A couple of other people supported that request so here it is. I…
I want to comment after this column’s silence for many weeks now, about the responses we’ve received from you, our readers, as we continue our membership drive. Many members don’t just put a check and a form in the mail. They often write comments, such as how many generations have been coming to the family…
Just a note: I worked diligently last week to get all people up or back up who were both members and subscribers. Subscribers from the old system who had time left on their subscriptions should be back up. Unless you want to be only online, locals should be getting their papers mailed to them this…
As you’ve seen in the last few Town Crier issues, changes are coming to the Town Crier with the issue of Sept. 7, 2017. First, the paper will be located in only in a few locations for $1 each. (See our column below.) Distribution, therefore, will drop from about 5,500 to 3,800, still much more…
Each week, certain subjects are the talk of the town — sometimes the conversations go on for more than a week or even continue for months, such as the sudden appearance of a California black bear who has livened up the mountains with surprise appearances here and there. First we witnessed and suffered through snow-play…
I received numerous responses to my editorial last week, some very good suggestions, too. The primary reaction — and none of the responders said otherwise — was that they need and rely on the Town Crier. So, with that in mind, we’re going to try to figure this out. It may be a new model…
Editor: I enjoyed Marshall Smith’s article “Laser show on Tahquitz.” He managed to list every point of view regarding the event — talk about fair and balanced. I will limit my comments. Perhaps Mr. Fojtik is not aware that Native Americans did not fare well in the several hundred years of Western expansion in the…
Last week, I received an email from a woman who lives here full-time but soon will be part-time. The letter is well-written and thoughtful. I asked if I could reprint it in “Readers Write.” She said yes, so it is on this page (from Violeta Villacorta). It is an appeal to stop placing Town Criers…
