East County News Service

April 11, 2021 (Alpine) – Serving Good, a nonprofit organization that provides food and basic necessities to families in need, needs additional warehouse space for inventory.

By Miriam Raftery

(Photo courtesy of San Miguel Fire District) 

April 3, 2021 (Spring Valley ) --  Crews from San Miguel Fire Department, Heartland Fire and San Diego Fire & Rescue successfully controlled a fast moving commercial fire on Jamacha Road in Spring Valley on Thursday.

According to Heartland Fire in a post on Instragram, Initial arriving units encountered heavy fire and smoke from behind an auto wrecking and recycling facility. The smoke column was pushed by a strong west wind which produced an immediate threat to exposures including businesses and an apartment complex.

Community activists have long underscored the impacts of the gaps of access to high speed, reliable internet to non-White and poorer communities and they’ve critiqued public leaders for not taking quicker action to bridge the divide.

By Kayla Jimenez, Voice of San Diego

This post has been updated.

Image via Pixabay

March 23, 2021 (San Diego) - A year after the pandemic made having a reliable internet connection a requisite for countless families, professionals, school children and others, the number of people without it has not changed and cities across the San Diego region have either no plan to address it or no money to fund their plans.

By Gig Conaughton, County of San Diego Communications Office

March 20, 2021 (Campo) -- San Diego County supervisors voted Wednesday to buy the 2,151-acre, historic Star Ranch area in Campo, its largest acquisition of sensitive habitat, wetlands, potential passive park land and hiking trails in a decade.

County officials said the land will provide a permanent home for sensitive species and conserve important habitat including 200 acres of wetlands, and it could eventually provide a large park and connections for hikers to nearby trails such as the Pacific Crest Trail.

Refund Received from San Diego County Water Authority will help offset future rate

East County News Service

Image: CC by SA-NC

March 18, 2021 (Santee) – Padre Dam Municipal Water District’s Board of Directors has unanimously approved using the recently received $1,157,552 rebate from the San Diego County Water Authority (CWA) to offset the District’s next pass-through rate increase from the CWA. This action will result in a direct benefit to customers by the reduction or potential elimination of a water pass through rate hike in 2022. 

CWA’s Board of Directors announced a plan on February 25, 2021 to distribute a $44.4 million rebate received from Metropolitan Water District (MWD), to its 24 member agencies. Padre Dam’s portion of the rebate is $1,157,552. 

By Miriam Raftery

Photos by Allen Doran, near Carveacre

March 11, 2021 (Alpine) – Three weeks after a suspected mountain lion attack killed 10 sheep and goats on Peutz Valley Road in Alpine, residents of Carveacre in the Japatul/Alpine area report more livestock killings that they believe were the result of a mountain lion and at least one cub. 

By Ken Stone, Times of San Diego, a member of the San Diego Online News Association

Photo:  Christopher Paul Parkhurst. Photo via @SDSheriff Twitter

February 27, 2021 (Dulzura) - County authorities on Friday said they have found the remains of Christopher Paul Parkhurst, 47, who was reported missing in early January, sparking an intensive search.

By Miriam Raftery

February 20, 2021(Alpine) – The Sheriff’s department seeks help from the public to solve a felony animal cruelty case. Deputies responded to a call reporting suspicious circumstances in the 400 block of Peutz Valley Road in Alpine shortly after 8 a.m. on Feb. 19 found ten animals dead in a pen including lambs, goats and a ram.

According to Lt. Anthony O’Boyle, the property owners are victims who are out of state when the deaths occurred.  “A relative was coming by to check up on and feed the animals. When the relative arrived yesterday morning, she found the animals deceased,” he said.

By Miriam Raftery

(Photo by Rebecca Jefferis Williamson) 

February 16, 2021 (Jamul) – A 64-year-old man shot and killed himself after a stand-off with a SWAT team and crisis negotiators in Jamul, according to the Sheriff’s department.  He is suspected of shooting and wounding another man yesterday.

The confrontation began after deputies responded to a report of a shooting in the 15700 block of Lyons Valley road in Jamul yesterday shortly before noon. They found a gunshot victim outside the home. Paramedics transported him to a hospital, where he underwent surgery and is in stable condition with injuries considered non-life threatening.

“Deputies surrounded the residence, believing the shooting suspect, a 64-year-old male, was still located inside and armed with a gun,” says Lt Joel Stranger with the Rancho San Diego Sheriff’s station.  “Deputies made multiple loudspeaker announcements advising the suspect to exit the residence and surrender to deputies, which he refused to do.”

East County News Service

February 9, 2021 (Alpine) -- A man is under arrest following a three-hour SWAT standoff in Alpine this morning.

Around 7:30 a.m., deputies from the Sheriff's Special Enforcement Detail (SED)/SWAT tried to serve a search warrant at a home in the 4600 block of Park Lane.  The warrant was issued after deputies received reports of a man firing a gun at that address on January 25.

The Alpine Sheriff's Station's Crime Suppression Team investigated and learned Joshua Havins, 30, lived at that location.  He is a felon currently on probation and is prohibited from owning or possessing firearms under California law, according to the Sheriff’s department.

By Miriam Raftery

Photos, left:  Campo Wind's turbines hae been fire-prone, causing multiple fires in the past. Residents worry that more turbines raise the risk of a catastrophic fire, if a blaze should begin during Santa Ana gusty winds.

February 5, 2021 (San Diego’s East County) – A vote by County Supervisors on a Renewable Energy Overlay plan has been postponed until Wednesday, Feb. 10. If approved, the measure would designate vast swaths of rural East County for industrial-scale wind and solar energy projects.

The aim is to make it easier to get approval of projects that provide clean energy to meet state renewable energy mandates amid a climate crisis.  But the measure has also drawn strong opposition from some rural residents, including Donna Tisdale, who advise East County residents to contact Supervisors to voice opposition so that “Supervisors know how East County really feels about being thrown under the bus as a renewable energy sacrifice zone.”

Click on this link to register your  opinion with Supervisors on the Renewable Energy Overlay before the Feb. 10 hearing, which begins at 9 a.m.  The item is the second item on the agenda.

Tisdale is Chair of the Boulevard Planning Group and founder of Backcountry Against Dumps, a nonprofit that has sued the County over several major energy projects in the region. Residents living near existing wind turbines have complained of noise, sleep disruption and other health problems, flashing lights, visual blight from towers hundreds of feet tall, killing of birds, safety concerns from blades whirling off,loss of rural character and loss of property value for homes nearby. Solar projects have generated concerns over glare, loss of wildlife habitat and potential depletion of scarce groundwater for construction and cleaning of panels.

By Miriam Raftery

Photo: Creative Commons by SA-NC via Bing

February 3, 2021 (La Mesa) – The La Mesa-Spring Valley School District is establishing a Citizens’ Bond Oversight Committee, as required by state law. The application form is available here and must be submitted by Feb. 19.