By Jo Moreland

June 28, 2017 (Alpine) -- Browsing and buying cheap goods, great services and delicious food made the Alpine Flea Market the spot to shop on June 24.

Shoppers and vendors at 45 booths ignored the warm weather in order to make hot sales.at the flea market, located in the parking lot at Joan MacQueen Middle School.

East County News Service

June 27, 2017 (Alpine) – Southern California’s largest outdoor roller skating rink is now open at the Viejas Outlet Center in Alpine and will remain open through September 4, weather permitting.

East County News Service

June 27, 2017 (Spring Valley) - Thelma, Stan & Ollie - the next gathering of the Saps at Sea, the Laurel & Hardy Sons of the Desert association in San Diego, high-lights one of their favorite gals, Thelma Todd. This bubbly blonde was not only a highly respected actress and comedian, but a long time favorite of the Saps.

Update 12:05 p.m. - The fire is now 30% contained, per Cal Fire.

By Miriam Raftery

Photo by Gloria Chadwick

June 27, 2017 (Dehesa) -- Cal Fire's incident commander reports that forward spread has been stopped on a 20-acre brush fire in Dehesa. The Sloane Fire started at Sloane Canyon east of Dehesa Road in East County mid-morning. 

No structures are threatened.

Hunting down the wildest jobs in San Diego’s East County

By Rebecca Jefferis Williamson

June 26, 2017 (La Mesa) -- “I saw Jurassic Park, I know how this ends!” said MAX 105.7 FM DJ Rob Zilla of his fellow DJ, Karen “ChaCha” Harlow.  ChaCha was sitting in a self-styled snake pit with a red-tailed boa, among other reptiles, at La Mesa’s Grossmont Center’s courtyard on Saturday, June 24^th.  It was all part of the job—for a good cause of bringing in food donations for The Jacob & Cushman San Diego Food Bank.  Thankfully, Jurassic Park’s grisly endings went unrealized.

By Miriam Raftery

June 26, 2017 (Ramona) – A water tender truck wound up out on a limb last Friday – literally. 

The driver of the commercial-sized vehicle was heading on Agrarian Road east of Ramona when his vehicle went off the side of the road and hurtled down 30 feet, rolling over.  But the freefall plunge was stopped by a tree branch that snagged the front of the truck, leaving the bulky vehicle dangling.

By Miriam Raftery

June 25, 2017 (Alpine) – The Alpine Community Network (ACN) reports that on the morning of June 21^st,  an Alpine resident found a large “fireworks” placed under a tree beneath a child’s window, where it could have caused major damage, injury or a fire.

Neighbors’ surveillance cameras reveal young men in a sedan got out and planted the lit firecracker intentionally, then sped off in the vehicle with other occupants. View two videos from different angles:  https://www.facebook.com/jill.deprizio/videos/10100949687765259/ https://www.facebook.com/jill.deprizio/videos/10100949687051689/

East County News Service

June 25, 2017 (Borrego) – A private plane owned by Borrego Sun publisher Patrick Meehan broke apart during what the pilot described as a “nice and soft” landing last week.  The incident forced closure of Palomar Airport for several hours.

Meehan was not on board and there were no injuries.

By Rebecca Jefferis Williamson

Photo:  Rebecca Jefferis Williamson and Paul Rios by Anselmo Ruiz-Nevarez

June 25, 2017 (Lakeside) -- “You talk to Martians?”  That’s a question Lakeside Amateur Radio Club chairman KC6QLS said they have been asked. He and the club members were setting up, from antennas to canopies, for Field Day on June 23.   Field day is ham radio’s open house, so to speak, and runs from June 24-25.  KC6QLS followed up with the answer “They’re not answering.” Part and parcel for what they get asked.

Source:  Ramona Valley Vineyard Association

June 23, 2017 (Ramona) - San Diego County winemakers picked up a record number of 22 gold awards, including 5 double gold, for outstanding wine at the Ramona Valley Vineyard Association (RVVA) Awards Dinner for the 2017 Lum Eisenman Wine Competition held on Wednesday, June 21, 2017 at the San Vicente Resort in Ramona, Calif.

East County Wildfire & Emergency Alerts

June 23, 2017 (Julian-Shelter Valley) –  A planned power outage is scheduled  starting at 9 p.m. on Monday night,  June 26 through  6 a.m. on Tuesday morning, June 27 in the Shelter Valley area and the outskirts of Julian; a majority of the customers are in the eastern Julian area surrounding Banner Grade, SDG&E has announced.  Julian’s downtown historic district will not be affected.

The outage is needed to replace older power lines and equipment to make the system more weather- and fire-resilient. 

Below is the notice from SDG&E with full details for customers in the affected areas:

East County News Service

June 22, 2017 (La Mesa) – The La Mesa Village Association invite you to the next Boulevard Stroll, which features a luau theme on July 11 from 5 to 8 p.m.  In addition to leis, music, art and specials at local merchants, participating restaurants are encouraged to serve up Hawaiian drinks or Happy Hour themed specials.

Activities confirmed so far include:

Source:  Ramona Valley Vineyard Association

June 22, 2017 (Ramona) -- The Ramona Valley Vineyard Association (RVVA) announced that a total of thirteen wines from six of its winery members received top awards from the sixth annual The Toast of the Coast Wine Competition. The competition is produced by the 22^nd District Agricultural Association in conjunction with the San Diego County Fair.