Without additional funds to offset the cost of fighting wildfires, the U.S. Forest Service will again have to use funds originally for other forest management purposes. Last month, Secretary of the Agriculture Tom Vilsack released a report showing the growth of firefighting costs in the past 20 years and plummeting funds available for other Forest…
The Palm Springs Aerial Tramway will close for its annual maintenance period Monday, Sept. 8. The reopening is tentatively scheduled for 8 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 20. Maintenance projects this year include exchanging a tram car’s carriage (done every six years); load testing; emergency system testing; and cleaning, refurbishing and painting various locations throughout the Valley…
Under new legislation the California Legislature passed that is expected to be signed by the governor on Sept. 20, thin plastic carryout bags appear headed for oblivion. The law goes into effect on July 1, 2015 or July 1, 2016, depending on the type of store. “Full-line, self-service retail stores” that sell “a line of…
The state has confirmed that mosquitoes collected from several locations in the Murrieta and Temecula area and one location in the Hemet area tested positive for West Nile virus. The Riverside County Department of Environmental Health received the confirmation after samples were collected Aug. 11 and 12 from locations at Monroe Basin, the northwest corner…
Throughout all of California, dogs may soon dine with their owners on restaurant patios, under certain conditions. Gov. Jerry Brown signed the legislation, which will be effective January 2015. Assembly Bill 1965, sponsored by Assemblymember Mariko Yamada (D-Davis), gives restaurant owners the option to permit canines and humans to chow together, if certain conditions are…
Covered California announced new premiums for 2015. “The vast majority of Covered California consumers will see low increases in their health insurance premiums for 2015, and many consumers will see no increase or even a decrease,” said a recent press release. Consumers will have a choice of 10 health insurers for 2015. Open Season begins…
At the end of July, the Parks Forward Commission, an independent state panel, released a draft report with four major recommendations to protect and to advance the California State Parks in the 21st century. The panel was created two years ago to review the park’s current operations and make recommendations to establish a vibrant and…
California’s Board of Forestry has released a draft report describing the collection and use of the Fire Prevention fee applied to structures within State Responsibility Areas. Since the state began collecting the fees in 2011-12, nearly $150 million has been received. Revenues have averaged nearly $75 million in each of the first two years. Cal…
Raises for top Riverside County officials were on the agenda for the Board of Supervisors Aug. 5 meeting. The board considered increases for themselves as well as the other elected county officials — assessor/county clerk/recorder, auditor-controller, district attorney, sheriff/coroner and treasurer/tax collector. State law authorizes each county’s supervisors to set their own compensation. The Riverside…
The June 3 primary election determined that Republicans Bonnie Garcia and Jeff Stone would be competing against each other to fill the vacant State Sen. District 28 seat. If the primary race was an indication of the level of competition, summer and fall will see a major battle between these two candidates. Entering the campaign,…
