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Dear Readers,

We are the only regional publication dedicated to reporting news that matters here in East County.  Please support our mid-year fundraising drive to help us keep you safe and informed. With several major wildfires already this season, the need for a real-time, online news source in East County is clear. Funds are also needed to sustain our community news reporting, which has won 142 journalism awards.  Give now.

In just the past few weeks, community donations have enabled us to report on many important stories, including:

• Brush fires in Campo, Jamul, Lakeside,  El Cajon and more
• A livestock virus prompting quarantines across East County
• A parole center proposed in La Mesa
• Supreme Court decisions impacting student loans, affirmative action, tribal adoptions, the LGBTQ community and businesses
• A fugitive murder suspect holding elected office in Campo
• Efforts to reopen Loveland Reservoir
• New laws impacting the homeless
• Candidates running for supervisor
• City Council meetings in Lemon Grove, El Cajon, La Mesa and Santee
• Budget priorities in  East County cities and the County
• Tribal members’ cross-country run for clean water
• The MTS bus strike
• Festivals and events, theater and restaurant reviews in East County
• Lamar Odom opening treatment centers in Lemon Grove and El Cajon
• Good works of local service clubs and nonprofits

Many of those were stories that we broke, as well as stories we covered in depth while other media focused on coastal and downtown issues.

We’re your community media – dedicated to telling the stories that matter here in East County! We reflect your interests—the public interests—not special interests.

By Miriam Raftery

Photos by Bob Scheid, shortly after the West Fire began, helped us provide critical early warning to our readers

July 9, 2018 (Alpine) – In the critical first few hours of the West Fire in Alpine, our East County Wildfire & Emergency Alerts provided the earliest news that a fire had begun and was threatening homes in Alpine. In the first 12 hours, we posted 38 updates including Twitter, email, articles and social media.

During the fire’s first day, our first alert was sent at 11:44 a.m (simultaneous to the Forest Service's first Tweet five minutes after the fire was reported at 11:39 a.m., per Cal Fire's incident report). That was nearly an hour and a half before the first Cal Fire and County Fire Authority Tweet at 1:04 p.m.  and a full four hours before the first Cal-Fire e-mail alert went out at 3:43 p.m. announcing “numerous structures destroyed.”

Cal Fire/County Fire Chief Tony Mecham has said homes were burning within eight minutes after the fire started, Patch.com reports.

Alpine Fire Department, battling the inferno amid power outages and grappling with a seriously injured fire captain, didn’t get their first Twitter alert out until the next day.  Cleveland National Forest did send timely alerts via Twitter only, but stopped after the fire burned outside of federal lands and into neighborhoods with homes.

During the first 12 hours of the fire, we sent frequent updates via Twitter and email, as well as posting numerous updates on our webpage plus photos and video link. We even went the extra mile to post some information on our Facebook page and on some community forum Facebook pages in or near the Alpine area, where many were without power but could access those sites on cell phones.