Editor: We — myself, my husband and two dogs — are part-timers who love Idyllwild. We continue to be impressed with the way residents help each other in times of emergency, and inspire us to make the most of life in times of peace. Local friends who share our combined interests in art — ARF,…
Editor: I recently looked on in horror as the Strong Fire erupted a short distance from my Fern Valley home. I’m extremely grateful to live in a first-world country where we pay taxes to support firefighting organizations that make a valiant effort to protect structures. I am very thankful that, so far, our home and…
A few weeks ago, as guests of the Garner Valley Women’s Club, Jack and I covered a tour of vineyards in — would you guess? Garner Valley (tecnically, Pine Meadows) and Anza. Garner Valley surrounds Thomas Mountain Vineyards, where our tour began, that Jim and Timmie Martens, retired trucking owners, began a few years ago….
Hiking up the steep slope of a mountain can be hot and sweaty. The refreshingly cool feeling of raindrops merrily pelting off your head in a sudden downpour is a welcome relief. Getting rained on can be fun, but it’s easy to get chilled to the bone if you’re not properly prepared. As we’ve seen…
Editor: Thoughts on JP’s “Many refused to vote …” article: I was intrigued by two back-to-back full-page ads on the back page of the Town Crier asking folks to write in “Cal Fire” in the recent election. What puzzled me was reading the election returns and seeing that 100 percent of the votes were dispersed…
Editor: “Many refused to vote for candidates,” read the damning headline. Refused? How about, “Didn’t vote for three candidates, only voted for two, or only voted for one?” Well, 37.10 percent of the Idyllwild Fire Protection District registered voters at least voted, which is pretty much in line with the turnout in both 2001 and…
Meanwhile, there’s a college kid behind me with a slack look on his face and ear buds dangling from his supposedly getting-educated face. He props his Vans against the back of my seat, already cramped with 6 feet, 3 inches of height and about that much girth, and regularly pushes to the beat of a silent alternative rock song. His shirt reads “Atomic Shrimp Peelings” with a picture of a tasty crustacean whaling on a lemon-and-butter keyboard.
It’s not all complaints from people who don’t like the facts you print or that you print both sides of their controversy. There really are many feel-good times in the running a small-town newspaper. For example, every day we get to see the good things that people are doing for our community — sometimes as…
If anything good comes out of the two major fires on the Hill this summer, I hope it’s a renewed interest and commitment in making our communities fire safe. The Mountain and the Silver fires should serve as reminders of our vulnerability. So I hope we again ask the question, “What can we do to…
In June, California Secretary of Natural Resources John Laird and California State Parks Director Major Gen. Anthony L. Jackson, USMC (Ret.), unveiled “Parks Forward,” a collaborative initiative to undertake a top-to-bottom evaluation to improve and sustain California’s state parks system. The effort responds to several issues involving misappropriation of the agency’s funding and a March…
