By Pastor Rolland Slade, Meridian Baptist Church

June 26, 2015 (El Cajon)--For some time now, alcohol retailers in the City of El Cajon have been under pressure to conduct their businesses more responsibly. But despite all their efforts, irresponsible business practices such as selling to minors and already intoxicated homeless people have continued to be a problem.

By Robert Gehr

Photo: U.S. Health & Human Services

June 13, 2015 (El Cajon)  In response to your article, Smoking hot debate: El Cajon Council votes to support raising age for tobacco use, I ask: 

• Why are tobacco companies seemingly allowed by our government to produce a highly adulterated, toxic product which is very addictive that can maim and kill people?

• Why do they contribute heavily to political campaigns?

• Why are they allowed to be in business at all?
  

"Why did San Diego County YMCA's board vote in 2013 to have all branches in our region stop issuing affordable youth memberships? Under the new policy, instead of paying just $80 to $100 a year for a child 12 or younger to use the Y’s facilities, users must purchase a family membership at a cost of about $1,000 per year. Are they really saying that if kids' parents aren't interested or can't afford to join, then the Y isn't interested in the kids?" -- Joel Harrison, PhD, MPH

By Joel A. Harrison, PhD, MPH

June 4, 2015 (San Diego) — The following can be found on the website of the U.S. National YMCA Headquarters:

By Leon Thompson

May 14, 2015 (Washington D.C.) – A group that wants to kick Andrew Jackson off the $20 bill and replace him with a woman has, after months of collecting votes, chosen a successor: Harriet Tubman.

Tubman was the choice of hundreds of thousands of voters in an online poll by Women on 20s  that started with 15 worthy candidates.  Any of the final four would have been wonderful choices. The other three finalists were former first lady Eleanor Roosevelt, civil rights activist Rosa Parks, and Wilma Mankiller, Chief of the Cherokee Nation.

Tubman is certainly an excellent choice and risked her life many times for others.  Tubman is an especially good choice because with every $20 dollar bill with her likeness on it, we will be reminded about the good that came out of the Civil War. 

By Kim Hamilton, Editor, Deerhorn Valley Antler

Editor’s note: A similar version of this letter was also sent to Supervisor Dianne Jacob’s office.

April 12, 2015 (Deerhorn Valley) -- In the outer rural areas we are spread out over a very large area. We have only two paved roads (Honey Springs and Deerhorn Valley Rd.), and from that intersection it is 15 miles and 20 minutes to reach the fire station in Jamul. Most of us live off of secondary roads like Mother Grundy Truck Trail, Bratton Valley, and Sierra Cielo. These are dirt roads that are privately maintained (or not).  The additional distance on rutted roads can add another 20-plus minutes of drive.  And that's when you know where you're going. Some roads are almost impassable for a large vehicle.

By Grey Feathers

March 12^th, 2015 (Viejas) - A huge throng of people from all over came to say goodbye to Roy Cook in the gym at the heart of the Viejas Reservation on Saturday.  Roy died suddenly and we are overwhelmed with a sense of loss.  It was comforting to hear from so many friends how they were touched by his magic.  The prayers, the songs, the Honor Guard, the Soaring Eagles, the drums building up to heaven and the wailing releasing our anguish.  We cried in each other's arms.

The first day I met Roy Cook was at the groundbreaking ceremony for the Jamul Casino in 2005.  I was proud and happy for the Jamul Indian Village and perplexed by the angry faces marching with signs on the street.  Roy sensed the vicious opposition would eventually delay the project and he was right.  He told me some of the history of the Jamul Band.  He said they were the poorest of the poor.  Their little village had dirt roads, their homes had dirt floors.

That encounter changed my life because Roy spoke with such certainty and compassion I began reading everything he wrote.  The words lifted off the pages like they were written in my heart.  Being indigenous became more than a card I carried in my wallet.

By Ben Kalasho, Founder and President, San Diego East County Chaldean American Chamber of Commerce

March 1, 2015 (El Cajon)--When news broke six days ago of more than 200 Assyrians kidnapped by (Da’ash) ISIS, I was on a telephone conference with my high profile contacts on the ground in Kurdish Controlled Areas of Northern Iraq discussing the destruction of Iraqi antiquities dating from the 9th Century BC by ISIS thugs. The report came to me that over 200 Assyrians were kidnapped in the town of Tal Tamr in the Hasaka Province, and other villages in Syria including Tal Hurmoz, Tal Shamiram, Tal Rumman, Tal Nasra which are home to many Assyrians and Syriacs.

Another stinging defeat for Grossmont.  Court orders $42M to be set aside for Alpine High School.

By Sal Casamassima, Chair – Alpine High School Citizens Committee

February 17, 2015 (San Diego’s East County) - On January 22 Judge Joel Pressman of the California Superior Court, delivered a huge victory to the supporters of a high school in Alpine.  Judge Pressman issued a preliminary injunction that requires the Grossmont Union School District (GUHSD) to set aside $42 Million of Prop U bond money that would be used toward the construction of the long-overdue Alpine High School.  GUHSD must set aside $14 Million immediately and another $28 Million on January 15, 2016.  Although the $42M is less than the $70M needed to build a school on the Lazy A site it nevertheless represents a major victory for Alpine.  This article will discuss why the court issued this injunction and its importance in preserving our ability to fund construction of the high school.

By Dave Roberts

February 10, 2015 (San Diego)--The directive from Sacramento to policy-makers across California is unambiguous: to meet strict state mandates, we must allow for more renewable energy projects within our county.

By Robert Gehr © 2015

January 21, 2015 (El Cajon)--I’m the pedestrian you nearly hit with your vehicle. - I’m the person you injured with your vehicle. - I’m the one you killed with your vehicle.

By Jeffrey Meyer, San Diego 350 Volunteer,  #HighWaterLine#ChalkSD

“In 2050, if current trends continue, sea level will be 12-18 inches higher. Beaches will shrink and some will disappear completely. Fragile sea cliffs will collapse. Coastal properties will be flooded with increasing regularity. More frequent high waves and rough surf will increase the potential for significant damage…The military, port and airport may also be affected.” – San Diego’s Changing Climate: A Regional Wakeup Call (San Diego Foundation report)

January 17, 2015 (San Diego)--A few weeks ago, San Diego coastal cities were given a stark reminder of the threat to public safety and our $15 billion a year tourism industry by increasing tides and coastal flooding.  With this problem becoming more severe, year after year, the lack of substantive coastal infrastructure planning can become a countdown to disaster.

By Jane Hartley, U.S. Ambassador to France

Photo: Je Suis Charlie rally in support of slain French journalists, by Claude Truong NGOC, creative commons

Editorial originally published in Le Monde January 8, 2015 and on the U.S. Embassy website in Paris

January 9, 2015 (Paris)--Wednesday’s barbaric attack on the journalists and staff of Charlie Hebdo, as well as on policemen guarding them, shocked and saddened the entire world.  As we pause to mourn the loss of life, I am reminded of how the people of France showed their support to us in the aftermath of 9/11.  On September 11, Americans were in a state of shock as we tried to come to grips with that terrible loss and our own grief and a growing sense that our world would be different from that moment on.  I remember seeing Le Monde’s headline that day: “We are all Americans”, and how much those words meant to me that day as an American, a New Yorker and a friend of France.

By Sylvia Sullivan, Santee

November 26, 2014 (Santee) -- An explosion shook the country when Obama unconstitutionally decreed amnesty for millions of illegals. Untold millions more await to join the invasion since Obama refuses to secure the borders. Obama also claims our immigration system is broken. It is now. He has broken it by his lawlessness in refusing to enforce the immigration laws. As generations of legal immigrants can attest the system did work. It still could within the legal process of securing the borders and updating the regulations where needed.