By Miriam Raftery

Photo:  Students from Meridian Elementary arriving at East County Transitional Living Center in El Cajon are surprised and delighted to see a playground that they envisioned has come to life at the center, funded by Allstate through the company’s Good Starts Young program.

December 14, 2018 (El Cajon)  --  Fourth grade students in Mrs. Lee’s class at Meridian Elementary were asked how they would like to improve their community. The children dreamed up the idea of a playground for families at the East County Transitional Living Center in El Cajon, which helps homeless people transition off the streets, then created the design.  But they had no idea that Allstate Insurance had provided funding through its Good Starts Young program to make the playground become a reality.  

By Miriam Raftery

December 14, 2018 (San Diego) – A bomb hoax targeted numerous of businesses, schools, newspapers, government facilities and individuals nationwide yesterday including at least a dozen locations in San Diego County.  The targets locally ranged from a trucking business in Lakeside to an attorney’s office in Kensington.

Attorney Julie Hamilton told ECM she received an email that included a demand for $20,000 in bitcoins or a hidden bomb would be exploded, similar to a threat reported across the nation.  “The email was very similar to other emails shown by other businesses. I didn't have to tell the investigator much, by the time they got to me they were well aware of the emails going to multiple businesses in the area,” Hamilton said.

By Miriam Raftery

Photo via American Friends Service Committee



December 13, 2018 (San Diego)—On Monday, 32 people, mostly faith-based leaders from across the nation, were arrested in a peaceful protest in support of migrants seeking asylum at the international border in San Diego.

While most were charged with not following officers' orders and quickly released, Matthew Leber from the American Friends Service Committee representing Quakers was arrested on suspicion of assaulting a Border Patrol agent and kept overnight. But he was released without charges after a video posted by the AFSC shows agents knocking down Leber and taking his backpack, countering officials’ version of what occurred.  View video:  https://www.facebook.com/CAIRNational/videos/338520756967150/

East County resident Jack Shu, president of Cleveland National Forest Foundation, witnessed the incident. “I was standing only 15 feet from Matt when he was arrested,” Shu told East County Magazine. “The media reported that he was arrested for assault when the truth is, it was the Border Patrol that escalated the situation and used physical force when it was not needed.”

Source:  City of El Cajon

December 13, 2018 (El Cajon) - The City of El Cajon City Council is accepting applications for several Commissions and Committees.  The filing period is open through January 14, 2019 at 5:30 p.m.

East County News Service

December 13, 2018 (El Cajon) – The Olaf Wieghorst Museum at the Wieghorst Western Heritage Center, 131 Rea Ave., El Cajon, is presenting an exhibit of 25 quilts created by East County residents, including Cheryl Minshew, Daniela Stout and Sylvia Thomas. “Visitors to the Wieghorst will be impressed by the variety and creativity of patterns designed by East County residents,” said Minshew, the show’s curator. The exhibit runs through Saturday, Dec. 29.  Admission to the museum is free. Museum hours are 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Saturdays. For more information, phone (619) 590-3431, or visit www.wieghorstmuseum.org.

By Miriam Raftery

December 13, 2018 (San Diego) - “At the urging of ER doctors, first-responders and others, the county has started installing bleeding control kits at its facilities,” Supervisor Dianne Jacob announced on Facebook. “Medical experts say the kits are critical in boosting survival rates after a traumatic event. I want to thank my colleagues on the Board of Supervisors for supporting this initiative.”

December 13, 2018 (San Diego's East County) -- Our Health and Science Highlights provide cutting edge news that could impact your health and our future.

HEALTH

• Investigation of generic ‘cartel’ expands to 300 drugs (Washington Post)
• U.S. top court, Kavanaugh spurn Planned Parenthood defunding case (Reuters)
• Emergency allergy shots less effective after heat exposure (Reuters Health)
• Treatment for Epstein-Barr Virus May Help People With Multiple Sclerosis    (Healthline)
• Careful use of neti pot advised after woman contracts rare but fatal brain infection (NBC News)

SCIENCE AND TECH

• NASA’s Voyager 2 Enters Interstellar Space  (NASA on YouTube)
• Trump plan to reclassify nuke waste alarms environmentalists (Associated Press)
• Google reveals new security bug affecting over 52 million users (Wash. Post)
• Facebook offered advertisers special access to users’ data, documents show (Wash. Post)
• Top U.S. general urges Google to work with military (Reuters)

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

Update December 26, 2018 -- Patient data was not on the missing hard drive, long-time Julian-Cuyamaca Fire Protection District Chief Mike Van Bibber has informed EMC. Patients' information was on a county server instead.

By Ken Stone

Reprinted with permission by Times of San Diego, a member of the San Diego Online News Association

Photo:  photo taken Tuesday after backup hard drive was discovered missing. Photo via Brian Kramer

December 12, 2018 (Julian) - Julian fire district officials and local authorities are looking into the possible theft of private medical information and employee records from a backup hard drive.

According to Julian-Cuyamaca fire board member Brian Kramer, the external hard drive with possibly years of data went missing Dec. 1 from a locked room at the Julian fire station on state Route 79.

By Miriam Raftery

December 12, 2018 (Washington D.C) – President Donald Trump’s former attorney, Michael Cohen, was sentenced today to three years in prison after pleading guilty to crimes and admitting to prosecutors that Trump ordered him to commit felony crimes regarding payoffs to hide affairs. Cohen further provided evidence that the President was actively negotiating with Russia on business dealings during the campaign, contrary to what the president told voters at the time, the New York Times reports.

Cohen pled guilty to crimes filed under two separate cases, one filed by U.S. Justice Department prosecutors in New York and the other by Special Prosecutor Robert Mueller.

While Mueller recommended leniency for Cohen due to his cooperation with the probe into illegal election interference,  federal prosecutors in New York indicated Cohen was uncooperative in their investigations. Investigators also seized computer and other records of Cohen.

In court, Cohen said of Trump, “I felt it was my duty to cover up his dirty deeds.” He apologized to the American people and said his loyalty to Trump “led me to choose a path of darkness over light.”

Judge William H. Pauley III stated that Cohen’s crimes were serious and implicated “insiduous harm to our democratic institutions.”

By Miriam Raftery

December 12, 2018 (La Mesa)--  Following the swearing in of newly elected Councilwoman Akilah Weber and reelected Councilman Bill Baber, the La Mesa City Council heard public comments last night from numerous area residents concerned about a state parole office proposed in a new building on Grossmont Summit Drive next to the Brigantine restaurant, other businesses and home.

By Ana Nita

December 11, 2018 (Santee) -- The battle over the Fanita Ranch urban development proposal in Santee entered a new phase once the City of Santee scheduled the scooping meeting at the end of November to gather public input on a revamped proposal. 

By Kathy Carpenter

By Gig Conaughton, County of San Diego Communications Office

December 10, 2018 (San Diego) - It could be mealy bugs in that homemade fruit basket, gypsy moth eggs hidden in the wreath you got from grandma’s house, whiteflies in those hand-picked poinsettias, or a dangerous plant virus in citrus picked from the backyard.

Freshman Sophia Ramos had 28 points 

Source:  goaztecs.com

Photo courtesy goaztecs.com

December 9, 2018 (Northridge) - The Aztec women’s basketball team (5-4) fell at CSUN 77-74 Sunday evening.  After trailing by 23 points early in the fourth quarter, the Aztecs came roaring back behind the hot shooting from freshman Sophia Ramos and pulled within a point with 28 seconds left and had two chances in the closing seconds, but ultimately fell just short.

By Tracy DeFore, County of San Diego Communications Office

Video by James Kecskes

December 9, 2018 (Borrego Springs) - It’s official, the new County Library, park and Sheriff’s office are open for business in Borrego Springs. A formal ribbon-cutting ceremony took place this afternoon, kicking off a community celebration with music, artists, animals and tours of the new library and Sheriff’s office. The two buildings and park all share a 19-acre property.

The library branch is the larger of the two buildings and sits on 2.6 acres. The facility measures three times the size of the previous one and includes 2,215 square feet of community meeting space, a 330 square foot conference room, separate areas for children and teens, a technology center with a 3D printer, and a Friends of the Library Book Nook and Conversation Café.