By Miriam Raftery

March 3, 2015 (Boulevard) – After winning approval of Supervisors for two controversial industrial-scale projects in Boulevard, Soitec Solar in a surprise announcement has withdrawn one of them.

March 5, 2015 (San Diego's East County) - The County of San Diego opens a new application cycle for the Purchase of Agricultural Conservation Easement (PACE) Program! The program provides financial compensation to eligible property owners in exchange for placing an agricultural conservation easement on their property. Since the inception of the program over 1,150 acres have been preserved to date.

March 4, 2015 (Rancho San Diego)- - For the10th year, golfers will gather to support needs of wounded Army, Navy and Marine Corps  personnel  in the Naval Medical Center San Diego.

By Greg Dunne                                       

March 5, 2015 (San Diego’s East County) The winter months are the peak of the season for California grown Navel Oranges.  With the cold and flu season here, it’s a good time to pick up some navel oranges loaded with vitamin C.

March 5, 2015 (Borrego Springs) - Desert artwork will be on display at the Circle of Art Show in Borrego Springs on March 14th and 15^th.

March 4, 2015 (El Cajon)-College economics professor Anthony “Tony” Zambelli  has won the Roy L. Erickson Civic Education Award from the California Council for the Social Studies, an annual honor given to educators, community leaders or legislators for promoting civic education in California schools. Zambelli will receive the award March 7 in Oakland at the council’s annual conference.

East County News Service

March 4, 2015 (Alpine) – A panel of three appellate court justices have denied a request by the Grossmont Union High School District, which had asked the justices to issue a stay halting an injunction ordered by Superior Court Judge Joel Pressman.

March 5, 2015 (San Diego's East County) - The San Diego chapter of the North American Versatile Hunting Dog Association (NAVHDA) is sponsoring a Rattlesnake Avoidance Training clinic for dogs March 28th at the Jamul Veterinary Hospital in Jamul.

Federal  civil rights investigation finds blatant, systemic racism in Ferguson Police Dept., but criminal probe finds no grounds to prosecute officer who killed Michael Brown

By Miriam Raftery

March 4, 2015 (Washington D.C.) – U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder on Wednesday announced results of two federal probes into the Ferguson, Missouri police department which drew national attention following the shooting of an unarmed African-American teenager. A criminal investigation found no grounds to prosecute Officer Darren Wilson, who killed the teen, Michael Brown. However a separate civil rights investigation found systemic racism in the department and mandates changes.

The Justice Department has ordered corrective action. Holder emphasized in a press statement, “Let me be clear: the United States Department of Justice reserves all its rights and abilities to force compliance and implement basic change.”

March 5, 2015 (La Mesa)--World-renowned Kim Wilson will headline this year’s Spring Harp Fest XVI on Saturday, April 4^th with 12 of California’s top bands at Harry Griffen Park in La Mesa from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.

East County News Service

Photo: 2011 high school yearbook at El Modena High School

March 4, 2015 (San Diego) – The. U.S. Attorney’s office announced today that an Orange County man who tried to travel to Syria last year has been indicted on federal offenses including attempting to provide material support to the terrorist group ISIL, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.

March 4, 2015 (La Mesa) - The Dr. William C. Herrick Community Health Care Library, a consumer health library at 9001 Wakarusa St. in La Mesa, is now hosting its Winter Art Exhibit featuring artwork from Sophie’s Art Gallery, an off-campus art program of St. Madeleine Sophie’s Center (SMSC), a non-profit, non-denominational organization serving adults with developmental disabilities.

East County News Service

March 3, 2015 (El Cajon) - Over 200 guests turned out for the first annual Socialites Fashion Event hosted in partnership with the Chaldean American Chamber of Commerce and  Mercedes Benz of El Cajon on February 27th.

March  2015 (La Mesa) – The San Pasqual Winery announces a series of events in March at its tasting room in La Mesa’s downtown Village.  Events include concerts, painting classes, and a wine, women and wealth event.  Below is a full schedule, provided by the winery. For details, visit http://www.sanpasqualwinery.com.

Fiery crash in 2009 claimed life of CHP officer and family in Santee

By Miriam Raftery

March 4, 2015 (El Cajon) - Days before a trial was set to begin in the wrongful death case of CHP officer Mark Saylor and his family, a settlement has been reached with a former El Cajon Lexus dealership in El Cajon.

Tips for finding a reputable jeweler, quality stones, settings and designs

By Terry Whyte, master goldsmith at www.GoldenArtistry.com in La Mesa

March 4, 2015 (La Mesa)—When it comes time to choose your engagement and wedding rings, start by checking Yelp to find a reputable jeweler.

Call and ask if they have a goldsmith on staff.  Ask if they make their own original jewelry.  (Do you really want one of 10,000 made in Bangkok?)  Clerks at a store that only sell jewelry, not design the products,  may have limited knowledge of how they are made.  If possible, purchase American-made jewelry.

March 4, 2015 (San Diego’s East County) -- Our Health and Science Highlights provide cutting edge news that could impact your health and our future.

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

• In ongoing war with Islamic State, Twitter suspends 2,000 accounts (CS Monitor)
• DNA documents ancient mass migration (BBC)
• Can You Dig It? More Evidence Suggests Humans From The Ice Age (NPR)
• How do you solve a problem like the 'Beefalo'? (BBC)
• Yahoo and NSA clash over encryption (BBC Tech)
• Hacking Life's Code and Creating New Organisms with 3-D Printed DNA (Reason)
• VIDEO: Brain-controlled drone shown off (BBC)
• Lenovo Sued Over Superfish Adware (NPR)

HEALTH

• 3D holograms help Israeli heart surgeons (CBS News)
• 3 Men Receive World's First Mind-Controlled Bionic Hands (Jewish World Review)
• UCSD Study Finds Root Cause of Type 2 Diabetes (NBC 7 News)
• Water Fluoridation May Trigger Depression And Weight Gain (JWR)
• The Olive Oil Compound That Kills Cancer Cells (MWR)
• Study links common food additives to Crohn's disease, colitis (Reuters)
• Man sees wife after 10 years of blindness: How new tech provides hope (+video)
• Study: Salt fights infection (U-T)
• States move to toughen vaccination laws in wake of measles outbreak (CS Monitor)
• Parents Choose A Simple Device To Reshape A Baby's Ear (NPR)

March 4, 2015 (San Diego's East County)-- East County Magazine's World Watch helps you be an informed citizen about important issues globally and nationally. As part of our commitment to reflect all voices and views, we include links to a wide variety of news sources representing a broad spectrum of political, religious, and social views. Top world and U.S. headlines include:

U.S.

• United Airlines warns pilots after four safety incidents (Reuters)
• Among CEOs, women are outnumbered by men named John (APM Marketplace)
• Engineer pleads guilty in U.S. to trying to take jet materials to Iran (Reuters)
• U.S. charges three with conspiring to support Islamic State (Reuters)
• Ohio man accused of providing support for Middle East terror (Reuters)
• Ex-CIA chief David Petraeus pleads guilty to mishandling classified materials (CS Monitor)
• Education Department Terminates Contracts With Debt Collectors Accused Of Wrongdoing (Huffington Post)
• Dare to Dream: IRS Subject of Criminal Probe Over Missing Emails (Reason)

WORLD

• Nemtsov killing follows slaying of other Kremlin critics (AP)
• Police capture Mexico's most-wanted drug lord 'La Tuta' Gomez (CS Monitor)
• Islamist militants shell two Libyan oilfields, port pipeline damaged (Reuters)
• Brickbat: The Swedish Way of Life (Reason)
•   Sanctioned North Korea shipping firm still active, renamed ships - U.N. panel (Reuters)
• UNICEF: Hundreds of South Sudanese boys believed abducted (AP)
• Why are mysterious drones flying around Paris landmarks? (CS Monitor)
• With wary eye on Russia, Lithuania to reintroduce the draft (CS Monitor)
• Exclusive: Iran smuggles in $1 billion of bank notes to skirt sanctions (Reuters)
• What is intellectual privacy, and how yours is being violated (CS Monitor)
• FBI Hangs Whistleblowers Out to Dry, Says Government Watchdog (Reason)
• Opposition Grows To Nicaragua Canal Connecting Atlantic And Pacific (NPR)
• Unidentified attackers hack US blogger to death in Dhaka (AP)
• Pew Study On Religion Finds Increased Harassment Of Jews (NPR)

For excerpts and links to full stories, click "read more" and scroll down.

March 4, 2015 (San Diego’s East County)-- East County Roundup highlights top stories of interest to East County and San Diego’s inland regions, published in other media. This week’s top “Roundup” headlines include:

LOCAL           

• Sexual harassment claim within El Cajon Police Department (ABC 10)
• San Diego schools seek relief (U-T) 
• Settlement Victory Over San Diego Sheriff's Facebook Page Censorship (Reason)
• Felony Arrests Up, Misdemeanor DUI Arrests Down  (SANDAG)
• Car dealer settles Lexus deaths lawsuit (U-T)
• Economist: Chargers Leaving San Diego Would Make Minimal Impact (KPBS)
• San Diego Attorney Briggs Responds To Questions About His Business Practices (KPBS)
• Graffiti at La Jolla High called hate crime (U-T) 
• SDG&E Gets $5M Grant To Expand Borrego Springs Microgrid (KPBS)
• Peevey rallied Pio Pico approval(UT San Diego)
• Today’s Debt Is Tomorrow’s Burden In Some School Districts (KPBS)
•  Sempra earnings rise, with help from overseas (U-T)

STATE

• Cal Fire scandal widens to prostitution, sexual advances (Sacramento Bee)
• California halts 12 injection wells over water concerns (Reuters)
• University of California to cap out-of-state enrollment at Berkeley, UCLA ,(Reuters)
• Sex photos on state cellphones surface in Cal Fire discipline cases (SacBee)
• Cal Fire scandal widens to prostitution, unwanted sexual advances (SacBee)
• Lawmakers question PUC lawyer costs (U-T)
• California Committee Explores Road Usage Charge In Place Of Gas Tax (KPBS)
• Lawsuit Could Change How Californians Pay For Water  (KPBS)
• Feds: Zero water for Central Valley farms (Sacramento Bee)
• UCLA student told she could not serve—because she is Jewish (The College Fix)
• Metrolink collision: Why was a pickup truck on the tracks? (CS Monitor)

For excerpts and links to full stories, click "read more" and scroll down.

March 4, 2015 (El Cajon) - The El Cajon legal clinic is back—with new hours, open Wednesdays from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. Free legal assistance is available in the areas of  family law, immigration, consumer law, employment law, business law, wills and trusts, civil litigation and more.

San Diego delegation splits on vote

March 4, 2015 (Washington DC)--The Department of Homeland Security won’t be shutting down.  Both houses of Congress have now passed legislation to fund the agency through September.

Driven: When Obstacles Take Center Stage , by Magetta Chantiloupe (Austin Macauley Ltd., London, England, 2014, 379 pages).

“Keep guard over your eyes and ears as the inlets of your heart, and over your lips as the outlet, lest they betray you in a moment of unawareness.”

Anne Bronte, The Tenant of Wildfell Hall

Book Review by Dennis Moore

March 4, 2015 (San Diego) - Looking from the outside at Magetta Chantiloupe and all that she has accomplished in life, one would think that this San Diego resident and author of Driven: When Obstacles Take Center Stage, has always had it together. But looks would be deceiving, as this Certified Financial Planner with the Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards – retired General Stock Broker and native of Jamaica West Indies, and mother of four adult children has fought and struggled to attain all that she has accomplished. Also the author of Iraq: The War That Shouldn’t Be – You Decide, Chantiloupe has been a world traveler – she has cruised the world, 41 of which were on the CUNARD Line. Her actual achievements and overall story could fill several books.

East County News Service

March 4, 2015 (El Cajon) – A 10 News report cites multiple unnamed sources who claim that an El Cajon sergeant sent sexually explicit text message images of himself to several women working in the department. Sources claimed the sergeant was demoted but not prosecuted.

By Miriam Raftery

Photo: Michael Picker, CPUC Chairman

March 4, 2015 (Sacramento)--The California Public Utilities Commission needs criminal defense lawyers amid state and federal investigations of corruption allegations, the Commissions new chairman, Michael Picker told a legislative panel this week.

February 28, 2015 (San Diego) – Nearly 100 artists and craftsmen, and international cuisine chefs, will participate in the Latin American Art Festival on March 21 and 22 at the NTC Arts & Culture District in  Liberty Station.

East County News Service

Photo: Courtesy of ECM news partner 10 News

March 3, 2015 (Lakeside) – Sheriff’s deputies trying to serve an eviction notice at an apartment in the Riverview Villa Apartments on Woodside Avenue in Lakeside this morning made a gruesome discovery.

New clues found near Tule Spring

By Miriam Raftery

March 3, 2015 (San Diego’s East County)—The San Diego Sheriff’s office has called off a search for Chris Sylvia, a hiker who has been missing for over two weeks.

East County News Service

Photo: Laguna Mountain Lodge

March 3, 2015 (San Diego’s East County)--A storm that swept into our region over the weekend dropped over 8 inches of snow on Mt. Laguna and more than a foot on Palomar Mountain.

East County News Service

March 2, 2015 (San Diego)--Storm run-off contaminated with sewage in the Tijuana River Estuary has led to closure of beaches in the southern portion of San Diego County.