The Town Crier recently joined a new association for small newspapers, the California Independent News Alliance. It is the brainchild of Laura Rearwin Ward, Publisher of the Ojai Valley News and Ventura County Sun, as well as Editor of Ojai Magazine, and Director of the Ojai Valley News Foundation. The group held their second annual conference…...
USFS thanks Idyllwild Fire for removing boulder, reopening other access roads The access road from Tahquitz View Drive to the South Ridge Trail has been reopened, according to the USFS. The Town Crier was notified of the closure of the road by USFS on Tuesday January 13. A boulder approximately 5 feet tall and 10-12…...
Brandon Riker, who is running for congress in the 48th district – including Idyllwild – will be speaking at the Idyllwild Community Center on Saturday February 7, at 1:00 p.m. Riker, a Palm Springs resident, has spoken in Idyllwild several times, including a Town Hall campaign launch meeting in April . He spoke briefly at…...
The highway 243 mill and overlay project will be replacing drainage culverts near Mt Edna Road during the week of February 2. Caltrans warns: “Week of February 2nd, several daytime work activities with lane closures and flagging /pilot car operations will continue SR-243 throughout the week between the hours 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday (02/02) through…...
Last week The Town Crier published a brief history of Garner Ranch, starting with its early years as Thomas Ranch. We recently visited the Ranch to meet Ted Johnson, who along with wife Meg are the stewards of one of the longest operating cattle ranches in the San Jacinto Mountains. They manage it themselves with…...
It has been years, but California, the entire state, is drought free. See the accompanying map from the Drought Monitoring Center. The state is totally white. This is the result of plentiful precipitation since summer. Since October 1, 2025 (the beginning of the water year), the Forest Service’s Keenwild Ranger Station has recorded 9.6 inches…...
Another earthquake was felt on the Hill. Last Monday evening, January 19, a 4.9 quake occurred about 12 miles north-northeast of Indio. This was the strongest shake from a series of nearly 475 tremors from Monday through Thursday. The U.S. Geological Survey reported that the shaking reached a 6 on its scale, which signifies strong…....
Locals, and friends living in the valleys to the west, noticed smoke last week from a prescribed burn. Lee Beyer, USFS Forestry Technician detailed to this district for the project, wrote in answer to an inquiry from the Town Crier that the smoke was from a “prescribed low-intensity burn of the Pine Cove Fuelbreak.” …...
Mara Schoner of Idyllwild Forest Health Project and Mountain Communities Mutual Aid shared news of a visit MCMA members to Supervisor V Manuel Perez at his office in La Quinta. Robert and Karin Greenwood, members of MCMA’s Steering Committee, and volunteer Steve McElfresh, presented the supervisor with a piece of art by local artist Audrey…...
Larry Kawano will provide an overview of the science of our warming globe during a talk at Spirit Mountain Retreat on February 4. Kawano has shared his notes for the presentation with the Town Crier, allowing our readers a preview. Kawano majored in physics at Cornell University, and received a doctorate from the University of…...
