Twenty-five new police officers completed a rigorous training program at the Ben Clark Training Center and graduated from the Riverside Sheriff’s Department Basic Peace Officer Training Academy. Only one, Cory Zimmerman, will join the Sheriff’s Department and could be part of a new wave of deputies that will increase staffing at Hemet Station. Other graduates…
Crews are on the scene of three separate wildland fires in Lamb’s Canyon, reported at 11:52 a.m. The first was reported at Lamb’s Canyon Road and Gilman Springs Road. Two airtankers, 15 engines and a total of 130 firefighters reported to the scene. The first two were quickly contained to less than one acre,…
Riverside County Sheriff Stan Sniff supports changes to California’s pension laws, but one approved last week, has him and other public safety officials concerned. The state legislature raised the retirement age for public safety employees from 50 years to 57 years. Sniff and the California Police Chiefs Association is concerned that deputies and detectives over…
On Friday, Aug. 31, the state Legislature sent Gov. Jerry Brown legislation (Assembly Bill 340) modifying public sector pensions. Most of the changes will affect new employees beginning Jan. 1, 2013; however, some of the changes will affect current employees. “With strong bipartisan support, the state Legislature today passed the biggest rollback of public pensions…
One final futile legislative effort was made to repeal the state fire prevention fee. During the final week of the legislative session, Assemblyman Brian Nestande (R, Palm Desert) helped introduce legislation which would repeal the $150 fee. Its passage was tied to enactment of Assembly Bill 1500, which would have expanded the corporate income tax….
In May, a Riverside County jury found Angela Shaver guilty of first-degree murder. The victim, Paul Cline, then 60 and a resident of Old Cary Road in Anza, was found dead in March 2006. On Aug. 17, the court sentenced Shaver to 25 years to life in state prison for Cline’s murder. The court added…
Filing for a Hemet Unified School District trustee position in the November election closed Wednesday, Aug. 15. The original Aug. 10 deadline was extended five days because incumbent Charlotte Jones decided not to seek re-election. Jones was first elected a HUSD trustee in 1996. She will finish her fourth term in December. After the new…
Idyllwild students attending Hemet High School entered an almost totally new environment on Monday …
“This is a dangerous time,” Riverside County Fire Chief John Hawkins said at the last Mountain Area Safety Taskforce meeting. The hot dry days, with little nighttime cooling, pose serious risks for fire. Since Jan. 1, there have been 42,488 wildland fires nationally. That is the fewest number of wildland fires in the past 10…
Filing for trustee positions in the November election for the Hemet Unified School District remained open until Thursday, Aug. 16. Incumbent Charlotte Jones decided not to seek re-election. At the Friday deadline, four candidates had submitted papers indicating their intention to seek one of the three trustee seats up for election. Incumbents Marilyn Forst and…
