FIRST-TIME HOMEBUYERS ONLINE WORKSHOP MARCH 22

ECM WORLD WATCH: NATIONAL AND GLOBAL NEWS

DESTINATION EAST COUNTY: EASTER EVENTS, WILDFLOWER WALKS AND MORE SPECIAL SPRING HAPPENINGS

EAST COUNTY EATER: THE BARN HOUSE BBQ BRINGS KANSAS CITY FLAVOR AND FAMILY FUN TO LEMON GROVE

EAST COUNTY MAGAZINE WINS SANTEE CHAMBER FAVORITES AWARD FOR BUSINESS RESOURCES

REFUGE ON THE MOUNTAIN: SURVIVAL AFTER AN APOCALYPTIC DISASTER

WOMAN DIES IN EL CAJON HOUSE FIRE

SHARP-COLLINS SURPASSES VASQUEZ IN 79TH ASSEMBLY DISTRICT

BEAUTIFUL BORREGO BLOOMS: OUR GUIDE TO WILDFLOWER VIEWING

EARTH DAY 2024 FAIR IN LA MESA

COUNTY APPROVES PLAN TO IMPROVE PEDESTRIAN SAFETY IN UNINCORPORATED COMMUNITIES

COUNTY HOLDS HOUSEHOLD HAZARDOUS AND ELECTRONIC WASTE COLLECTION EVENT MARCH 30 IN SPRING VALLEY

READER'S EDITORIAL: PROP 1 WILL HAMSTRING SAN DIEGO COUNTY'S EFFORTS TO PREVENT HOMELESSNESS

By Supervisor Joel Anderson

January 23, 2024 (San Diego's East County) -- This Tuesday, the San Diego County Board of Supervisors will consider whether or not to adopt a support position on a ballot measure that could have irrevocable damage to our behavioral health system if passed. Here’s why I’ll be voting against agenda item 14, a resolution in support of Proposition 1, and what other leaders are not telling you.

Prop. 1 is disguising itself as the solution to California’s homelessness and behavioral health crisis. In reality, it’s a multi-million-dollar state money grab that will hurt the same vulnerable people it claims to help.

NIKKI HALEY MARKS "ROE" ANNIVERSARY BY SAYING SHE'D SIGN NATIONWIDE ABORTION BAN

By Chris Walker, CC BY-NC-ND- 4.0

Photo by Gage Skidmore, CC BY-SA 3.0

This article originally appeared in Truthout

January 23, 2024 (New Hampshire) -- Nikki Haley, a Republican candidate facing uphill odds against Donald Trump to become the GOP’s 2024 presidential nominee, stated on Sunday that she was fully supportive of a nationwide abortion ban.

Haley, a former United Nations ambassador in the Trump administration who previously served as governor of South Carolina, has tried to portray herself in town halls, debates and other appearances as a “moderate” choice for Republicans. However, although she opposes her former boss’s false claims of election fraud in the 2020 election, her record is decidedly much further to the right than she admits.

During an appearance on Sunday on CBS’s “Face the Nation,” Haley admitted her views on abortion differ from most Americans.

Haley at first tried to sidestep the issue, claiming that the question was trying to put “fear and judgment” into the American people.

ECM WORLD WATCH: NATIONAL AND GLOBAL NEWS

January 23, 2024 (San Diego’s East County) - East County Magazine's World Watch helps you be an informed citizen on important issues globally and nationally. As part of our commitment to reflect all voices and views, we include links to a variety of news sources representing a broad spectrum of political, religious, and social views. Top world and U.S. headlines include:

U.S.

General news

Politics

WORLD

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

COUNTY ISSUES EMERGENCY PROCLAMATION AFTER STORM CAUSES FLOODING DAMAGE; RESIDENTS ASKED TO SUBMIT DAMAGES

East Count News Service

Photo courtesy of the City of La Mesa

January 23, 2024 (San Diego)--The County of San Diego is proclaiming a local emergency on behalf of the Board of Supervisors in anticipation that resources and assistance from the state and federal government may be needed because of damage caused by flooding from the storm January 22, 2024.

Residents and businessowners can submit their damages to https://crisistrack.juvare.com/public/sandiegoCA/request.html

A local proclamation communicates to the state that the County is anticipating significant impacts to both public and private property.

The San Diego National Weather Service office reported that Monday was the 5th wettest day in San Diego since 1850.

RED CROSS OPENS SHELTERS FROM STORM,SOME SCHOOLS CLOSE, COUNTY TO AID WITH DAMAGES, SUPERVISOR ANDERSON SAYS

East County News Service

January 23, 2024 (San Diego's East County)--If you or someone you know is experiencing unsafe living conditionsin EastCounty due to flooding, the Red Cross has opened a shelter.  The shelter is in the Bostonia Recreation Room,1049 Bostonia St.,El Cajon. Additional shelters have been opened at Lincoln High School and the Coronado Community Center.

"The County of San Diego Office of Emergency Services is actively monitoring the storm and its impacts," says Supervisor Joel Anderson, who notes that the winter storm ha affected many parts of the County, with multiple communities and highways experiencing flooding, "especially communities I represent in the unincorporated area of the County."

"The County of San Diego will be assisting with damages caused by the winter storm. More details on that will be shared in the coming days," Supervisor Anderson adds. "For now, if there's any way my office can be of assistance to you during this time, please do not hesitate to reach out to us using the contact form on my website."

The safety of students and school staff is of the upmost importance to San Diego County School Districts. The following schools have early dismissals or closures planned for this week. Please contact your school's administration for more details:

GROOVIN IN THE GROVE BAND OPEN MIC EVENT

By: Jessyka Heredia

 

January 22, 2024 (Lemon Grove) — Lemon Grove Happenings in collaboration with Elevated Coffee, and the Musicians Club of San Diego are hosting ‘Groovin’ in the Grove’, a band open mic event at Elevated Coffee Sunday January 28, 2024, from 2:30 p.m. until 5:30 p.m.

CITY OF LEMON GROVE LOOKING FOR COMMUNITY INPUT ON REVITALIZING DOWNTOWN

 

By: Jessyka Heredia

 

January 22, 2024 (Lemon Grove) -- The City of Lemon Grove announced last week that it received a planning grant for the Lemon Grove Rezoning & Downtown Specific Plan Expansion (DSPE) Project. under SANDAG’s Housing Acceleration Program for Projects. The amount awarded was $300,000 in grant funds with a $33,500 (10%) in-kind match for a total project cost of $333,500.

EAST COUNTY ROUNDUP: LOCAL AND STATEWIDE NEWS

January 22, 2024 (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 round-up stories include:

LOCAL

STATE

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

READER’S EDITORIAL: LEASE REVENUE BOND IS NEEDED TO ADDRESS SAN DIEGO'S DEFERRED MAINTENANCE QUICKLY BEFORE NEXT MAJOR STORM

By Shane Harris, president,  People’s Association of Justic Advocates

Photo via National Weather Service:  flooding today in Mission Valley

January 22, 2024 (San Diego,CA ) -- The imagery of our city under water is deeply troubling but the out of sight out of mind approach by the Mayor is even more appalling. This is a time when leaders should be out helping the most vulnerable such as our seniors and unsheltered. I wanted to call attention to the reason that so many across San Diego are experiencing flooding today and the reason this happens every time San Diego experiences heavy rain.

Perhaps many have all heard about the City of San Diego’s substantial deferral of major infrastructure upgrades, such as street repairs, but this is yet another example that impacts most of us in a dramatic way every time it rains and requires both immediate and long term commitment from our Mayor and City Council to rectify.

STORM WREAKS HAVOC ACROSS REGION

By Miriam Raftery

Updated January 23, 2024 to include city and county of San Diego declaring an emergency

January 22, 2024 (San Diego’s East County) – Heavy rains during today’s storm caused widespread flooding, road closures, power outages, and inundation of vehicles and structures including an East County school. Flooding also prompted numerous rescues including motorists trapped in vehicles in Spring Valley and Lemon Grove, as well as homeless people stranded by rising waters along the San Diego River in Santee.

Richard Attaway took dramatic  photos  (left) of Mission Gorge Road in Santee just east of  Carlton Hills Boulevard, where he said “there are homeless clinging on trees for their lives in the river bed.” One video showed a woman stranded on an island surrounded by swift-flowing currents. Numerous emergency crews were on hand and at least one person was rescued from the floodwaters.

HOUSE PANEL TO TAKE UP BACKDOOR ATTACK ON SOCIAL SECURITY

"This commission is a poison pill designed to slash Social Security and Medicare behind closed doors."

By Jake Johnson, senior editor and staff writer for Common Dreams, CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 Deed

Photo: House Budget Committee Chairman Rep. Jodey Arrington (R-Texas), Library of Congress

January 22, 2024 (Washington, D.C.) -- Social Security defenders sounded the alarm ahead of a Thursday House Budget Committee hearing and vote on the Fiscal Commission Act, bipartisan legislation that opponents say is a ploy to fast-track cuts to the popular New Deal program without political accountability.

"This commission is a poison pill designed to slash Social Security and Medicare behind closed doors," Nancy Altman, president of Social Security Works, said in a statement ahead of Thursday's markup. "The White House has accurately stated that such a commission is a 'death panel for Medicare and Social Security.'"

FLORIDA GOVERNOR RON DESANTIS SUSPENDS 'FAILING' PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN

"Ron DeSantis should be forced to carry his Presidential campaign to term."

By Olivia Rosane, staff writer for Common Dreams, CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 Deed

Photo: Facebook

January 22, 2024 (New Hampshire) -- Florida Governor Ron DeSantis announced on Sunday that he was suspending his presidential campaign ahead of Tuesday's New Hampshire primary and endorsing former President Donald Trump.

DeSantis broke the news in a video posted on social media nearly a week after he finished 30 percentage points behind Trump in the Iowa caucuses.

"Ron DeSantis, a man who built his entire campaign on attacking and demonizing already marginalized communities, has finally suspended his failing Presidential campaign," Florida Representative Anna V. Eskamani, a Democrat, posted on social media in response to the news. "As Floridians we will be stuck with him until 2026, so continue to hold him accountable and demand better for Florida."

CHP SEEKS HIT-AND-RUN VEHICLES THAT FLED FATAL PEDESTRIAN CRASH IN SPRING VALLEY ON SUNDAY

East County News Service

January 22, 2024 (Spring Valley, CA) --- Yesterday at 5:11 a.m., California Highway Patrol received reports of a pedestrian possibly hit by a vehicle at Sweetwater Road near Blossom Lane.  Preliminary investigation determined the pedestrian had been struck by an unknown vehicle while in the southbound lanes of Sweetwater Road before being struck by additional vehicles, several of which fled the scene prior to the arrival of emergency personnel. 

The pedestrian was pronounced deceased at the scene, says Officer Jared Grieshaber.

The California Highway Patrol is currently looking for additional involved vehicles, one of which is believed to be a 2013-2018 Ram 1500 with damage to its left side and/or front, to include a missing driver’s side mirror.

ASYLUM SEEKERS FACE NEW REQUIREMENT TO FIND THEIR OWN INTERPRETERS

 

by Adriana Gonzalez-Chavez • Cronkite News

A record 2.47 million migrants were encountered at the United States’ southern border in fiscal year 2023, according to data from U.S. Customs and Border Protection. (File photo by Alexia Faith/Cronkite News)

January 22, 2024 -- Asylum seekers who don’t speak English are once again required to bring their own interpreters to interviews for U.S. immigration services, and some worry it will be a hindrance for those fleeing persecution in their home countries.

The September rule change reverted to a pre-pandemic requirement that put the onus on non-English-speaking migrants to find and pay for an interpreter.

MEDICAL FUND SET UP TO AID FORMER ALPINE WOMAN WITH BRAIN HEMORRHAGE

By Miriam Raftery

January 21, 2024 (Alpine, CA) – Tamara Newton, a Granite Hills High School alumni and daughter of Alpine resident Carlette Anderson, is hospitalized after suffering a brain hemorrhage from a suspected tumor. She is paralyzed on her left side, cannot walk, and requires full-time care.

“The family has been very generous, but now we need some extra help with her expenses and recovery,” Anderson, founder of CPR PROS,  told  East County Magazine. A GoFundMe account has been setup to help pay for surgery and other medical needs.

The family posted on the site, “There is no doubt that it will be SO much easier for her if you join us in showering her with blessings and support in this time of need. She cannot work at this time, has limited savings and many new expenses. AND all this happened within days of moving from New Jersey to California with her youngest son.”

FLOOD WATCH ISSUED FOR MONDAY

East County Wildfire & Emergency Alerts

January 21, 2024 (San Diego’s East County) -The National Weather Service has issued a flood watch for all areas of San Diego County tomorrow, Monday January 22, from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Widespread moderate to heavy rain is forecast, with scattered thunderstorms.

The heavy rain may occur during morning and evening commutes, with a risk of flash flooding.

FULL MOON DESERT WALK SET FOR JANUARY 24

January 21, 2024 (Borrego Springs) -- The Anza Borrego Desert Natural History Association’s Education Director Mike McElhatton will lead a full moon nighttime walk in South Palm Wash on January 24 from 5 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.  The moonlight walk is a tradition of the organization, now in its 13th year.

Experience the unique and serene beauty of moonlight on the canyon walls along this a free 1.5- mile walk through South Palm Wash. Meet at ABDNHA to carpool. A flashlight, water, and good hiking shoes are required. Activity cancels with cloud cover or high wind. Call the Nature Center at 760-767-3098 to reserve. This walk is fairly easy with short moderate sections.

LAMPLIGHTERS THEATRE IN LA MESA PRESENTS THE CRUCIBLE JAN.12-FEB.4 -- WITH A MODERN TWIST

East County News Service

January 21, 2024 (La Mesa)-- Lamplighters Theatre in La Mesa will present playwright Arthur Miller’s classic, The Crucible January 12 through February 4. 

Written in 1953, it is a dramatized and fictionalized retelling of the Salem witch trials in Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1692-93. Most of the characters are real historical figures.  Miller wrote the play as an allegory for McCarthyism.  It is regarded as a central work in the canon of American drama.  It’s a story of one man’s struggle toward grace.  It depicts human struggles both internal and external:  a community galvanized by fear and suspicion, a wife betrayed by lust, an orphan girl blind with passion and obsessed with revenge, ruthless prosecutors, deluded holy men, and covetous neighbors. 

Lamplighter’s director has updated once again, this time to 2020, where it appears the country is again seemingly divided and moving in two extreme directions.

STAGEHOUSE THEATRE PRESENTS INSIDE THE ACTOR’S PROCESS: IDENTITY FEB. 2-3

 

January 21, 2024 (El Cajon) -- The Stagehouse Theatre at Grossmont College will present “Inside the Actor’s Identity” on February 2 and 3.

Conceived and directed by Benjamin Cole, the play portrays the strength, determination, and resilience of myriad characters struggling for fairness. Whether it be social tolerance, civil liberties, recognition of identity, or personal equilibrium, these scenes test our actors in often emotional, sometimes comedic scenes to push boundaries.

A LOVELY GIRL: LOCAL AUTHOR PROVIDES INSIGHTS IN CASE OF NOTORIOUS KILLER

Reviewed by Pennell Paugh

 

January 21, 2024 (San Diego) -- A Lovely Girl, the Tragedy of Olga Duncan and the Trial of One of California’s Most Notorious Killers tells of a 1958 murder as the evidence was collected. The story ends with the last woman to ever be executed in California.

 

Local author Deborah Holt Larkin tells her personal story. Larkin was 10 years old when Olga Duncan disappeared from her apartment in Santa Barbara, California. Larkin’s father, a reporter for the Ventura County Star Free-Press, covered the case and followed the story through all its court cases and final judgments.

MAN CHARGED WITH MURDER AFTER MOTHER DIES OF INJURIES

By Miriam Raftery

This story has been updated after the victim died.

January 21, 2024 (Jamul) – Sheriff’s deputies have charged Travis Bodle, 53, for the murder of his mother, 77-year-old Vickie Bodle.

The Fire Department called Sheriff’s deputies after responding to the 14400 block of Hillside Estates Drive in Jamul, where the victim showed signs of a physical assault.  She was transported to a hospital with life-threatening injuries in critical condition, and has since succumbed to her injuries, says Lieutenant Joseph Janjura with the Sheriff’s homicide unit.

NEW U.S. BORDER PATROL STATION TO OPEN 2025 IN DULZURA


Facility will house migrants,  serve as control center for enforcement  


By Michael Howard

 

An artist rendering of the new Dulzura Border Patrol facility slated to open in September 2024. Photo courtesy of the U.S. Border Patrol

 

January 20, 2024 (Dulzura, CA) –  A new $74 million U.S. Border Patrol station has begun construction and is slated to open in Dulzura next year, spokesperson Michael Scappechio said in an emailed statement this week.

 

“This new station will provide CBP law enforcement personnel with much-needed facilities, technologies, and other infrastructure carefully designed to meet the demands and challenges of an ever-evolving border environment,” Scappechio wrote.

 

The station will be used to process and house migrants short-term, as well as serve as a control center for border patrol enforcement activities. The facility sits on an approximately 9-acre plot of land and will include a helipad for air support, fuel stations, and dog kennels.

SANTEE DISCOVERY DAY: JANUARY 27 AT WALKER PRESERVE

By Jonathan Goetz

Photos courtesy: City of Santee

January 20, 2024 (Santee) -- You're invited to Walker Preserve Saturday, January 27th from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. for Santee Discovery Day, part of Santee Discovery Month, encouraging people to visit Santee's beautiful and plentiful family friendly trails (click for Citywide trail map). In addition to food available for purchase, there will be a rock wall, nature exploration booths, opportunity drawing and more, making this the signature event of January's public awareness campaign.

SUPREME COURT TO DECIDE ON HOMELESS CAMPING BANS

By Jeanne Kuang, CalMatters

CalMatters is a public interest journalism venture committed to explaining how California’s state Capitol works and why it matters

January 20, 2024 (Sacramento) -- The U.S. Supreme Court will weigh in on whether cities can legally ban or limit unhoused people camping in public spaces — a case that could grant California officials more power to sweep homeless camps.

The case, originating from the Oregon city of Grants Pass, could overturn or narrow a five-year-old precedent from a federal appeals court that limited how much cities in Western states could criminalize those who sleep on the streets when there aren’t enough shelter spaces available.

CA TRIBES PRESS TO PROTECT MORE LAND AT WHITE HOUSE TRIBAL NATIONS SUMMIT

Suzanne Potter, California News Service

Photo courtesy of CNS

January 23, 2024 (Washington D.C.)--California tribes headed to the White House Tribal Nations Summit in December, where they asked Congress and the Biden administration to create or expand several national monuments.

The Torres Martinez Desert Cahuilla tribe in the Coachella Valley would like the president to establish a new Chuckwalla National Monument and expand Joshua Tree National Park.

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