Hear a podcast of our radio interview on KNSJ with Tad Parzen, City Heights Partnership:

https://www.eastcountymagazine.org/sites/eastcountymagazine.org/files/au...

By Janis Russell

May 22, 2014 (City Heights)- The mission of the City Heights Partnership for Children, which has been in existence since 2011, is for young people to emerge as adults with the skills to succeed in college or a career and enter adulthood as productive members of the community. From preparing children to kindergarten to saving youngster's vision and even lives, the Partnership is attracting national attention for its successes.

Hear a podcast of our interview with Carla Keehn (photo, left), Superior Court judicial candidate: https://www.eastcountymagazine.org/sites/eastcountymagazine.org/files/au... .  The interview aired on KNSJ 89.1 FM.

By Miriam Raftery

May 7, 2014 (San Diego) – How fair are ratings for judicial candidates meted out by the San Diego County Bar Association?

Last week, the Bar’s Judicial Election Evaluation Committee (JEEC)came out with rankings in five contested Superior Court judicial races.  The Bar ranked three candidates as “lacking qualifications” including one with extensive experience and no disciplinary actions. The professional lawyers’ group also gave a “highly qualified” rating to an incumbent judge who  pled guilty to reckless driving  with alcohol involved and has faced multiple legal disciplinary actions.

Now some candidates are speaking out to criticize the Bar’s ratings system—calling for its abolishment or dramatic changes to make the system more transparent and fair.

One of those candidates, Carla Keehn, has erected billboards starting today to reveal her opponent’s criminal conviction.  “Vote for Carla Keehn, the only candidate without a criminal conviction. No one is above the law—not even judges,” the billboards read.

Our February 2014 shows are now online—including special reports on East County issues, holiday specials, interviews with top newsmakers and people making a positive difference in our community.  Click here to listen now online and to read a list of our interviews and guest.

Our guests in February included many local leaders, including Assemblywoman Shirley Weber, La Mesa Mayor Art Madrid, local authors, the Bayou Brothers, plus hear our latest investigative reports on issues ranging from wind farms to wildfires.

You can also hear our one-hour show live when it airs on KNSJ 89.1 FM on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 5 p.m. and reruns Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays at 9 a.m.  Or listen live online during those hours at www.KNSJ.org.

By Miriam Raftery

San Diego State University Professor Emeritus Phil Pryde, editor/author of Environmental Resources and Constraints in the Former Soviet Republics, shared insights into the unfolding crises in the Crimea and Ukraine.  What are the implications of the upheaval and impending eleciton for the region and the world?  

ECM editor Miriam Raftery and intern Jessica Redmond interviewed Professor Pryde for KNSJ radio. Listen to the interview:

An East County Magazine/KNSJ Radio special report

By Miriam Raftery

February 13, 2014 (San Diego’s East County) – In the wake of a Grand Jury probe into the Grossmont Union High School District’s(GUHSD)  response to a Grand Jury probe, concerns have been raised over the level of oversight provided by the Citizens Bond Oversight Committee. (CBOC)  Listen to our radio interview on this explosive topic with Nick Marinovich, the San Diego Taxpayer Association’s representative on CBOC, Priscilla Schreiber, GUHSD board member, and Michael Waterman, an attorney/journalist who has been seeking answers to pointed questions from CBOC.  (Note: The District and CBOC chair Nancy Herbst declined our interview requests.)

Hear our interview on KNSJ 89.1 FM here, which originally aired February 12, 2014:

Our November shows are now online—including special reports on East County issues, interviews with top newsmakers, local musicians, authors, colorful characters and people making a positive difference in our community. Click here for a list of our November shows and guests with links to listen online.

You can also hear our show live when it airs on KNSJ 89.1 FM on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 5 p.m. and reruns Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays at 9 a.m.  Or listen live online during those hours at www.KNSJ.org.

East County Magazine's special report on the Cedar Fire, originally aired on KNSJ, is now online. Listen here:

https://www.eastcountymagazine.org/sites/eastcountymagazine.org/files/au...

Our editor, Miriam Raftery, covered the Cedar Fire back in 2003 for several publications and our own publisher, Mark Hanson, lost his home in Lakeside's Wildcat Canyon. Thus we were able to reconnect with a broad network of contacts to create our special report, which includes some never before told stories and interviews with fire survivors, firefighters and elected officials including Cal Fire Captain Mike Mohler,   Lakeside resident Mark Hanson,  Lakeside Fire Chief Andy Parr,  burn survivor Rudy Reyes,  Supervisor Dianne Jacob, San Diego Councilman Mark Kersey, Santee Councilman Brian Jones, retired Cal Fire Battalion Chief Mark Ostrander, Kathy Kassell, cofounder of the Cedar Fire Rebuild Resource Group, and other eyewitness stories from California’s worst wildfire ever. 

We conclude with reflections on what’s changed since then, as well as a reading from The Fire Outside My Window by Lindra Millers Younger.

September 14, 2013 (San Diego's East County) -- Looking for a job?  Seeking business and economic updates on our region? Check out tapes of our recent "Job Talks" broadcasts from our East County Magazine radio show, now available to hear online. 

Recent guests include Tom Lemon with the San Diego Building Trades Council, Johnny Simpson with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, East County Chamber leader Eric Lund, job hunting experts Reina Menasche and Antonio Villana, Cindy Gomper Graves with the South Coast Economic Development Council, and La Mesa Chamber of Commerce president Mary England.  Click "read more" and scroll down for links.

Podcasts of all shows in July are now posted -- so you can listen to shows you  missed.   Links to listen are at the bottom of this page, below the index of guests and other content each day.

Our show schedule has changed. It now runs Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m., and repeats Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 10 a.m. on KNSJ 89.1 FM.  If you can’t hear the signal, you can listen live at www.knsj.org  or click “read more” below to view an index with contents of our July shows and scroll down to hear podcasts whenever you wish!

Sky Of Red Poppies, By Zohreh Ghahremani (Turquoise Books, San Diego, CA, 2010, 305 Pages.)

Hear our interview with author Zohreh Gharemani, aired on KNSJ 89.1 FM: https://www.eastcountymagazine.org/sites/eastcountymagazine.org/files/au...

Book Review by Dennis Moore

August 16, 2014 (San Diego)--Zohreh Ghahremani, an artist, writer and gardener residing in the San Diego area, has written a stunning and poetic tale about two girls coming of age in Iran during the 1960s. The theme of the book questions how much can a friendship change your life? Set against the backdrop of a nation forced to mute its profound identity, Sky of Red Poppies is a novel about culture, politics and the redeeming power of friendships.