East County News Service

November 26, 2015 (San Diego's East County)--A lingering cold air mass, light winds and mostly clear skies will bring frost and freeze conditions for portions of local valleys and deserts from Friday night through Monday morning. The National Weather Service advises bringing pets in overnight to avoid harm and covering or bringing sensitive plants indoors.

Temperatures could dip into the 20s in desert areas and down to 31 degrees in inland valleys.  Below are forecast details:

East County News Service

November 7, 2015 (Jacumba Hot Springa) – The town of Jacumba will host a community-wide yard sale on Saturday, November 14 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. featuring hand-made crafts, art work, household items and other yard sale treasures.  Parking and admittance are free.

In addition, tours will be offered of the Chinese Castle, a historic icon in Jacumba. There is a $5 charge for the castle tour and proceeds benefit the Jacumba-Boulevard Revitalization Alliance, a 501c3.

East County News Service

October 24, 2015 (Jacumba Hot Springs) – Fall is in the air and it’s a great time to take a hike.  The Jacumba Hikers/Walkers have a series of hikes coming up to intriguing locations, with various levels of difficulties from easy to extreme. 

November’s destinations include Tule Canyon, Round Mountain, the Old Butterfield Stage Coach route, and Amadeo’s Straw bale cabin compound. In December, the group will hit the trail for an ancient waterfall and Davies Valley, wind caves in Anza Borrego Desert State Park, an ancient juniper forest, and the Valley of the Moon. 

By Miriam Raftery

October 20, 2015 (San Diego’s East County) –  Increasingly, San Diegans are drawing power from large desert solar facilities built in Imperial County, with similar facilities slated for the farthest east portions of our County in Boulevard and Jacumba.  The projects are being pushed forward to help meet California’s ambitious goal to have 40% of electricity from renewables by 2030 under a new law approved by Governor Jerry Brown.

But now a new study by the University of California, Berkeley finds that reliance on remote solar projects creates environmental problems. 

By Miriam Raftery

September 19, 2015 (Borrego Springs) -- The Borrego Days Desert Festival has a long history of launching the peak season for Southern California’s desert region—welcoming snowbirds and enticing locals to join together after a long summer for a weekend of celebration.

 This year, the festival marks its 50^th anniversary with a theme of “Those Were the Days” Oct. 23-25, aiming to create new memories for young and old alike. Live entertainment on the main stage, artists, a children’s fun zone, outdoor shopping, gourmet food trucks, beer and beverage garden, vendors, as well as a Saturday parade featuring flyover, equestrians, marching bands, floats, clowns, dancers, classic cars and more are all planned.

September 6, 2015 (Jacumba Hot springs) – Jacumba Hot Springs was the scene of a movie production team filming many scenes last month for the new movie “66 & Nowhere” from Soul in the Machine Pictures.

County News Service

August 27, 2015 (San Diego)--County Animal Services seized more than a dozen neglected animals from a property in Jacumba Thursday.

East County News Service

August 23, 2015 (Borrego Springs)--A fire in Borrego Springs over the weekend serves as a remind that in extreme heat, it’s wise not to leave reflective materials around your home.

East County News Service

File photo by Nadin Abbott:  San Felipe wildfire, a prescribed burn  in San Diego's East County that got out of control in 2013.

August 21, 2015 (Anza-Borrego)—East County residents and a fire official have voiced concerns over a prescribed burn scheduled to be conducted by the California State Parks service today in Anza-Borrego Desert State Park.

“My opinion, not wise!” says Fire Chief Sam DiGiovanna at the Verdugo Fire Academy in Los Angeles. DiGiovanna also author’s the “Chief’s Corner” column on East County Magazine. He questions why a burn would be done in mid-summer amid drought conditions. “I don't have all the facts," he acknowledges, "however, fuel moisture content is the lowest ever. We have bone dry drought conditions. We have over 11,000 firefighters on the west fighting multiple major blazes. Aircraft, resources, personnel are stripped thin. We risk it? What if it gets away?”

Update, August 21, 2015:  Donna Tisdale notified us that the backcountry "celebration over the death of Soitec's Boulevard projects was a bit premature. Today, County staff informed me that Soitec is going to remove the 160 cargo containers full of potentially toxic batteries from their Rugged Solar project and will resubmit the revised EIR for certification by the Board of Supervisors. (Back in February, Soitec self-terminated their Tierra Del Sol Solar project just 1 month after receiving Board approval due to a lack of buyers.) Staff is trying to docket the revised EIR for the Board agenda by October so they can meet the Court's order to report back by November 2nd on how they plan to comply," adds Tisdale, who concludes, "The battle to save the backcountry continues."

By Miriam Raftery

Photo: A Soitec solar panel in Newbury Springs, California

August 20, 2015 (Boulevard) – The last of four massive solar projects proposed by Soitec Solar in Boulevard may now be officially dead.

On August 7^th, Superior Court Judge Joel R. Wohlfeil  overturned County Supervisors’ approvals of Soitec’s Rugged Acres and Tierra del Sol projects,  because the approvals violated the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA)  Soitec and the County failed to file an appeal by the August 14^th deadline, says Donna Tisdale, chair of the Boulevard Planning Group and founder of Backcountry Against Dumps, which filed the lawsuit aiming to halt the project. View the court's judgment.

“Soitec’s Boulevard projects, approved for 1,200 acres, are now dead and buried!” Tisdale wrote in an email to project opponents. Any new projects proposed for those sites would need to start all over at step one,” requiring a new environmental impacts review, a lengthy and costly process. “I have asked the County for details on when they will set aside their voided approvals, as mandated by the court,” Tisdale added.

August 8, 2015 (Anza-Borrego Desert)—I'm always up for a new outdoor adventure--especially something I haven't done in my own back yard (our East County). I was treated to one yesterday when Kyle (his third trip there) took me spelunking (Caving) at the Mud Caves in Anza-Borrego desert. WOW, what a cool (no pun intended) adventure; it was only 103 degrees yesterday in our desert, but was a whopping 106 the day before. I was a bit apprehensive about going, (Kyle's been threatening to take me for some time now) not liking the fact of a tight crawling space in a dark, unfamiliar place. But once I got started it was awesome--and about 30 degrees cooler!

July 22, 2015 (San Diego's East County) -- Stay safe and informed!  East County Magazine's free wildfire and emergency alert service has been busy lately warning people here about flash floods, wildfires, roadway hazards and severe weather.

Our regional emergency alerts come via email, so you can get them even if phone lines burn down. You can also get alerts on your cell phone. Plus you can receive our free weekly newsletter with top news stories in our region.

Sign up today! It's FREE.  Click here.

County News Service

Photo: County crews work to clean up mud flow on Rutherford Road in Ramona, where over 3 inches of rain fell on Sunday.

July 20, 2015 (San Diego) -- The remnants of Hurricane Dolores created record rainfall in San Diego County, taking residents by surprise over the weekend. If your property or small business sustained damage from the weekend’s heavy rains and flooding, the County would like your help to estimate rain damages in our region.

The County Office of Emergency Services is asking storm-affected residents to complete a short damage survey form that will assist the County in collecting damage information and associated costs from the weekend’s heavy rains and flooding.

The information gathered from the surveys will be used to estimate total damages countywide and will determine if enough damages occurred to qualify the region for federal disaster assistance, such as low interest disaster loans from the Small Business Administration for those who are uninsured or underinsured.

July 18, 2014 (La Mesa) -- There are numerous power outages right now around the county, including San Carlos, El Cajon City Heights and Poway.

Information about service interruptions and estimates when power will be restored can be found on

SDGE's Outage Map.

By Mark and Miriam Raftery

Photo, left:  Milky Way galazy and dragon sculpture in Anza Borrego Desert; © Dennis Mammana/dennismammana.com

July 4, 2015 (Borrego Springs) – Stargazing guru Dennis Mammana has been photographing the night sky for nearly a half century and leading night sky tours for nearly thirty years.  He also teaches workshops that provide in-depth tips on how you can photograph everything from the Milky Way to constellations – and  as we discovered last weekend in Borrego, you don’t have to have a backpack full of professional camera gear to come up with some gorgeous images.

Borrego Springs in 2009 became the first designated International Dark Sky Community in California--thanks in part to the efforts of our helpful host, teacher and guide.  That means there are no bright lights at night to interview with your night-sky viewing pleasure.