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CONTACT US
 
If you have questions, comments, news tips, contact editor@eastcountymagazine.org. For sponsorship information, contact ads@eastcountymagazine.org. For event listings, contact editor@eastcountymagazine.org. If you have a community group that would like a speaker or presentation, contact leon@eastcountymagazine.org.
 
ABOUT US
 
East County Magazine (www.EastCountyMagazine.org)  is a nonpartisan community publication published by the Heartland Foundation, a dba of the nonprofit 501c3 Heartland Coalition. Our mission is to provide in-depth news, views and events coverage for all areas east of I-15 in San Diego County, reflecting the broad diversity of people and issues in our region.
Launched in September 2008, our site now receives nearly two million hits a month, making us the most widely read publication in East County.  According to Alexa.com, which tracks website traffic, we now have more online readers than Voice of San Diego, CityBeat, KOGO, and all East County newspapers.
San Diego Press Club named East County Magazine the best general interest website in San Diego County for 2009. Our website was also named second best news site after the San Diego Union-Tribune, winning a total of 18 journalism prizes for investigative reporting, news, features and more. We also received an investigative reporting award from Society for Professional Journalists.
We update news on our website daily and also send a weekly e-newsletter to subscribers with each week’s top news and events. In addition, we send out the Viejas Wildfire & Emergency Alerts to our subscribers for regional emergencies countywide. Subscriptions to our e-newsletter and wildfire/emergency alerts are free.
In our first year, we have received broad community support, drawing praise and testimonials from a wide range of community leaders. We have also attracted major sponsors including Aamco, Antique Row Café, Blumenthal Jewelers, Cali Comfort Restaurant & Sports Bar, Candy Island, Cuyamaca College Heritage of the Americans Museum, Dube Vineyards, Gateway Recycling, Gio Bistro Wine Bar, Glad Earth Foundation, Gloriosa Vineyards, Golden Artistry, Heartland Lions, Hooleys Irish Pub, La Dulce Belladonna Spa & Salon, La Serenissima Winery, Lemon Grove Transmission, MAACO, Olaf Wieghorst Museum, O’Dunn Fine Art Orfila Vineyards, Perform Wall, Press Box Sports Lounge, Rancho San Diego-Jamul Chamber of Commerce, San Diego Festival Strings, San Diego Foundation for Change, San Diego Padres, San Diego Youth & Community Services, Silver Creek Fine Art & Framing, Spinners Fresh Mediterranean Salads & Grills, Sports Authority, St. Madeline Sophie’s Gallery, Taste of Italy, Water Conservation Garden at Cuyamaca College, Viejas Fire, Viejas Outlet Center, Yellow Book Road bookstore, Yellow Cab, Yogurt World, and the YMCA.


OUR STAFF
 
Our award-winning team of journalists, feature writers, and editors includes:
 
Miriam Raftery, Editor and Founder – A 25-year journalist and editor, Miriam has received the American Society of Journalists & Authors’ national Arlene Award for community journalism. She has also received awards from the Society of Professional Journalists, National Women’s Press Club, and top honors from San Diego Press Club including best of show, best investigative journalism, and best series for “Changing Face of East County” prior to founding ECM. She has covered major stories on topics including the California wildfires, Congressional and presidential elections, Hurricane Katrina, election integrity, health, real estate, and political corruption. She received nine more awards in 2009, all for stories published in ECM. Her works have appeared in many other national and regional news publications including Woman’s Day, Women’s e-News, RawStory,com, California Real Estate Journal, San Diego Union-Tribune, San Diego Home/Garden, Décor & Style, Home Magazine, Arizona Highways, Nutrition Business Journal, Environmental Business Journal, In Business, and Writer’s Digest. A former columnist and freelance writer for the San Diego Union-Tribune, she has also worked as an editor of a national nutrition journal and a literary magazine. An East County Magazine, she takes pride in exploring East County’s back roads and byways, leaving no stone unturned in the quest for news and feature stories.
 
Jamie Reno, Consulting Editor – Jamie Reno is the long-time San Diego correspondent for Newsweek. He covered the 9/11 investigation, the war in Iraq, the last five presidential campaigns, California wildfires, and hundreds of other major news stories. Jamie has also written for the New York Times, Rolling Stone, Sports Illustrated, Men’s Journal, TV Guide, People, Entertainment Weekly, Los Angeles Times Syndicate, and USA Today. He has won over 70 Society of Professional Journalist and Press Club awards, including the prestigious Best of Show award four times. Also an acclaimed singer-songwriter-guitarist with a national record deal, Jamie released “Survivors’ Songs,” a lymphoma cancer awareness and all-star music project featuring music legends including Peter Frampton, Charlie Daniels, the Beach Boys Family, members of the Eagles, Chicago, the Allman Brothers and Steely Dan. A 12-year survivor of stage IV, non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma cancer, Jamie has become a national advocate for cancer patients and their families. In 2008, he released “Hope begins in the Dark: 50 Lymphoma Survivors Tell Their Exclusive Life Stories,” including celebrities who never spoke publicly before about their cancer. (See www.hopebeginsinthedark.com.)
 
Gayle Early, Reporter – Gayle won breaking news, general news and series reporting awards from San Diego Press Club in 2009 for articles that appeared in East County Magazine. A former senior production editor at Harcourt publishing, she is currently a freelance journalist who also publishes essays and short stories. She has worked as senior grant writer for UCSD Medical Center, where she won a $300,000 award for a pilot breast cancer research program, and as senior technical writer for Liposome Technology. She has a masters degree in English from San Diego State University and also attended a German university on a McArthur Scholarship for study abroad. At East County Magazine, she has reported on major news topics including border issues, wind farms, education, and hunger in our region.
 
E.A. Barrera, Reporter – Owner of the San Diego Journal Review, an online source for politics, arts and cultural news, E. A. Barrera is also a freelance reporter for San Diego News Network. His works have been published in many local publications including CityBeat, La Prensa, the Espresso, and the Ramona Journal. He has won numerous writing honors from San Diego Press Club for the past five years, winning awards for news, arts and entertainment, science and technology, essay, and health and medicine categories. Most recently, he received a first place general news award for “Firestorm of Controversy,” an East County Magazine article on a proposed fire tax. He holds bachelor of arts degrees from San Diego State University and California State University in both English and political science.
 
John Samuel, Sales Manager – John’s 28-year sales career includes executive donation and fundraising, corporate national sales, regional and district sales, and sales training. He has served as sales manager of AM 1240 “The Soul of San Diego Radio”, territory sales manager of Kraft Foods North America, and district sales manager of Continental Baking/Ralston Purina in Los Angeles. John holds a B.A. in business administration from Cal State College and an AA degree in business administration from East Los Angeles College. He also has certificates in management training and sales from Harold Washington College in Chicago as well as sales-related certificates from the College of Dupage and the University of Illinois, both in Chicago.
 
 
Additional acknowledgments: Our team includes many other talented freelance writers, journalists, columnists, interns, and community volunteers. We are also grateful to the many professional photographers, citizens, community groups and emergency workers who provide photos to help make East County Magazine the most comprehensive media start-up in San Diego’s eastern region. In addition, we thank our talented webmaster, Rick Wagner at Green Bird Media Design, as well as our many subscribers, donors, and community sponsors. Finally, we extend our heartfelt gratitude to Viejas Fire, Cal Fire, Heartland Fire, Incident Page Network, San Diego Sheriff’s Department, El Cajon Fire Department, La Mesa Fire Department, San Miguel Fire, and the many emergency responders and emergency reporting services that help support and provide content for our Viejas Wildfire & Emergency Alert Service.


ABOUT THE VIEJAS WILDFIRE & EMERGENCY ALERTS: 
 
Many people are not aware that during a wildfire, phone lines and cell phone towers may burn down, but e-mail service may continue to be available. Our founder, Miriam Raftery, wrote a grant to establish ECM after receiving e-mails in the middle of the night from panic-stricken backcountry residents who had lost phone service during the Harris Fire and needed information on safe evacuation routes.
If you are not yet a subscriber, we invite you to sign up for our free service at www.eastcountymagazine.org-- before the next emergency strikes. Please also subscribe to receive our free weekly newsletter, the most comprehensive and timely source of news and events in our region. Finally, rest assured that we value your privacy, so we never share your contact information with anyone else.