Black woman-owned business won 3 months free rent and  $20,000 business investment in mall’s Taste for the Space Competition

Source: Parkway Plaza

July 20, 2023 (El Cajon)--   Parkway Plaza held its first-ever Taste for the Space competition in June, offering one local food business the opportunity to win three months of free rent at Parkway Plaza’s food court, plus a $20,000 business investment.  Chef Char’s Seafood N Soul is the lucky recipient of the prize package and will be moving into the shopping center’s food court latet this month.

Over 600 people came out to taste food from 12 selected local businesses to vote on whose cuisine was the best. The winner was chosen by a combination of votes from the community and a panel of tastemaker judges that included El Cajon Mayor Bill Wells, Chef Phillip Esteban (Open Gym, White Rice and Weapon Ramen), Christina Ng (local culinary personality and Foundation Cultivator for Berry Good Food Food), and Sabrina Medora (freelance writer and novelist). The judges helped decide the winner based on taste as well as overall fit for the center.

Winner Charlene Plummer launched Chef Char Seafood N Soul (formerly known as ChefChar2020) amidst the Covid-19 pandemic when her then 16 year-old was unable to find employment. Creating the business not only helped provide her child with work, but also an opportunity to play a large role in the company which she could help cultivate and design.

By Miriam Raftery

Photo:  A Yellow-Naped Amazon Parrot, by Charles J. Sharp, Sharp Photography, CC by SA 4.0

June 15, 2023 (Jamul) – Chirping at a Miami airport alerted authorities to a smuggler with 29 parrot eggs inside—including one that had just hatched. Two dozen of the eggs later hatched out, including 21 critically endangered Yellow-Naped Amazon parrots and three Red-Lored Amazons.

By Shiloh  Ireland

May 21, 2023 (Lakeside) – Ginger Rich, owner of Reflections Salon and Day Spa in Lakeside was once homeless in San Diego.  Because of those who believed in her, she is now a successful businesses woman owning the salon for over seven years.

Each year, she’s held Haircuts for the Homeless, an outreach event to help those in need, offering not only haircuts, but also clothing, food, and personal essentials. In addition,  several organizations from county to private offered services and resources.

Source:A Positive Choice

May 21, 2023 (San Diego) -- A Positive Choice Resource & Referral Services LLC is hosting a Walking in Confidence Shoe and Sock Drive in collaboration with Serene Health, We Support U and Monarch School to donate as many shoes and socks in all sizes to the homeless community. New shoes and socks will be accepted until June 22 at the drop off locations around San Diego County, including A Positive Choice’s office at 7614 Lemon Avenue Lemon Grove, CA 91945.

Jeannine Nash,  Director of Referrals for A Positive Choice,  says, “There are many individuals who are homeless and shoeless. These individuals suffer from a lack of confidence. Shoes will assist in providing individuals with the protection they need from the environment, the shoes will give them a sense of pride and dignity.”

East County News Service

Photos courtesy of San Diego Humane Society

April 17, 2023 Jamul)-- An 8 year-old horse named Dobby is safe this afternoon, after falling 100 ft off a trail in Jamul Sunday. San Diego Humane Society’s Emergency Response Team (ERT) was called to assist Cal Fire and the San Diego County Department of Animal Services (DAS) near Honey Springs Ranch Truck trail yesterday afternoon.

“Eight members of our ERT hiked 4-5 miles down to reach the horse, who was standing on an incline,” says Nina Thompson,  San Diego Humane Society’s Director of Public Relations. “They got him across a stream, to get him on flat ground. At approximately 1 a.m., they returned a second time to provide food, water and a blanket, to keep him as comfortable as possible overnight.”

Hear the audio of ECM’s inhterview with Bob Gans on KNSJ.

View the slideshow, The Life Saving Kindness and Courage of Strangers, the story of Greta and Ruby.

By Miriam Raftery

April 14, 2023 (San Diego) -- In honor of Holocaust Remembrance Day on April 16,  ECM interviewed Bob Gans,the son of Holocaust survivors. He has created an educational project titled, “The Life Saving Kindness and Courage of Strangers, the story of Greta and Ruby.”

The 55-minute slide show that he presents to local groups relates the story of how his parents survived the Holocaust and  it’s relevance today.  He believes the most important aspect is “the lessons that can be learned” and applied today, encouraging people to speak out if they see wrongdoing and to offer help to those in need.

By Don Harrison, Editor Emeritus, San Diego Jewish World, a member of the San Diego Online News Association

April 1, 2023 (San Diego) - Teralta Neighborhood Park is remarkable in several ways: 1) It is built right over the Interstate 15 freeway between Orange and Polk Avenues in the City Heights neighborhood.  2) It now boasts a 270-foot long, 7 ½-foot high mural titled “Unity in the Community,” which features faces, activities, and landmarks of the diverse City Heights neighborhood.  3) It serves a largely immigrant community in which over 30 languages are spoken, with the mural title in English, Spanish, Vietnamese, and Somali.

By Shiloh Ireland

Photo: Kate Richardson, Miss Bulls Only Rodeo Queen and Talia Klotzkin, Junior Miss Bulls Only Rodeo Queen

March 26, 2023 (Lakeside) – The journey to be crowned a queen in Lakeside’s Bulls Only Rodeo begins with horsemanship trials and interviews with equestrian judges to the evening of the pageant held at the Lakeside Rodeo Grounds. Ten young women vied for the title, include five contestants for Junior Miss Bulls and five competing for Miss Bulls Only Rodeo Queen.

ECM photographed the selection of Miss Bulls Only Rodeo Queen and Junior Miss Bulls Only Rodeo Queen and later interviewed these two 2023 Queens. The Bulls Only Rodeo event is sponsored by the Optimist Club of  Lakeside.

San Diego Humane Society’s Project Wildlife team in Ramona treated coyote’s damaged leg and teeth

Source: San Diego Humane Society

March 10, 2023 (Ramona) - — A coyote, caught in an illegal jaw trap on a residential property in the City of San Diego, returned to the wild this afternoon after three weeks in care with San Diego Humane Society’s Project Wildlife team. The adult female was rescued by San Diego Humane Society’s Humane Law Enforcement on Feb. 17, 2023, after she was found in the Skyline neighborhood dangling on a chain link fence from a jaw trap attached to her left front leg.

Humane Officers rushed her to San Diego Humane Society’s Ramona Wildlife Center, where Project Wildlife’s medical team provided pain medication, took X-rays and tended to her wounds.

By Miriam Raftery

Photo, left via Calico Ranch on Facebook: Fred Coleman discovered gold, starting the Julian Gold Rush in 1869.

February 21, 2023 (Julian) - Many San Diego County residents have visited Julian, a historic gold rush town in the Cuyamaca Mountains. Some may know that is was founded by former Confederate soldiers after the Civil War. But many are likely unaware of the black settlers who also played key roles in the town’s history.

It was Fred Coleman from Kentucky, a freed slave and rancher who discovered gold in a stream on what is now Calico Rancho; his find started Julian’s gold rush in 1869. Coleman married a member of the Santa Ysabel tribe. He had previously been a miner in Northern California. The Coleman Mining District in what is now known as Julian was named for him, and he served as its first recorder.

America Newton, a widow and formerly enslaved black woman, and her daughter, Clara, came to Julian from Kansas and started a laundry business that served war veterans, European immigrants, Native Americans, and newly freed African-Americans. She used her work ethic to build a new life of freedom.

San Diego Humane Society’s Project Wildlife Team rehabilitates bobcat before release

February 9, 2023 (Ramona) --  A bobcat, who spent three weeks in care with San Diego Humane Society’s Project Wildlife team, returned to the wild this week. The adult male was released by Project Wildlife staff in Mission Trails Regional Park, not far from where he was initially found on Jan. 18 by a good Samaritan who called San Diego Humane Society’s Humane Law Enforcement for help.

Humane Officers  transported the injured cat to the Veterinary Emergency Group in Encinitas, where he was triaged and given supportive care overnight. The bobcat arrived to San Diego Humane Society on Jan. 19 with injuries indicating he had likely been hit by a car. Project Wildlife’s veterinary team at the Pilar & Chuck Bahde Wildlife Center in San Diego immediately administered pain medication, performed radiographs and treated the bobcat for abrasions and minor contusions.

Once stabilized, the bobcat was moved the next day to the organization’s Ramona Wildlife Center, where Project Wildlife’s staff specialize in caring for native apex predators such as bobcats, coyotes and bears.

By Chuck Westerheide, County of San Diego Communications Office

January 17, 2023 (Ramona) - County Animal Services officers rescued an 11-year-old dog from an oil-filled mechanic’s well inside a private garage in Ramona.  The owner of the shop called the County Department of Animal Services the morning of Jan. 17 saying a dog was trapped.

Source:  Assemblymember Dr. Akilah Weber

December 12, 2022 (San Diego) -  Assemblymember Akilah Weber, M.D. (D-79) held a community recognitions ceremony on Sunday afternoon from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. at the George Stevens Senior Center in Encanto. The purpose of the year-end event is to honor community leaders and small business owners in District 79 who were recognized for their hard work and public service during the year. Each honoree was nominated by their fellow community members and invited to attend the in-person ceremony with their family. Students who completed Asm. Weber’s Young Legislator’s Program were also invited to the celebration.