By Miriam Raftery

March 7, 2016 (Jamul)—60 guests hoisted glasses last month to toast the grand opening of East County’s newest wine tasting room: Casi Cielo Winery, located at their historical adobe ranch house at Maness Vineyards atop a sunny hilltop in Jamul just off highway 94.  It’s a dream that has been a long-time coming to fruition –a dream that began with two Italian immigrants back in the last century. As the afternoon sun bathes the adobe bricks and vineyards beyond in golden rays, it's not hard to see how Casi Cielo (Almost Heaven) got its name.

The winery offers a selection of  hand-crafted wines made with 25% grapes grown at the estate and 75% grapes grown in San Diego County.  With a motto “from juice to jelly,” Casi Cielo Farm & Vineyard also has a charming gift shop licensed under GregoArt.com featuring  a new line of delicious vineyard jellies (served up over chocolate cheesecake—pure bliss) as well as colorful hand-crafted quilts by Kathy, vineyard lifestyle attire and more.

East County News Service

March 1, 2016 (San Diego) – Here’s some memorable news: researchers in Australia have been able to fully restore memory loss in 75% of mice with Alzheimer’s, using a pioneering new treatment.

Viejas announces funding for EMF measurements at school

By Miriam Raftery

February 29, 2016 (Alpine) -- The San Diego County Office of Education on Friday released a draft Survey and Exposure Assessment  or electrmagnetic fields (EMF) for Alpine Elementary School.  The study concludes that  the Sunrise Powerlink transmisison line buried on Alpine Blvd.does not pose a significant safety or health risk to the school site." The study further finds that readings in and around buildings at Alpine Elementary "while not representative of a pristine EMF environment, were within a normal range of exposures one could expect in a society with electric power."

The County study examines 94 measurements taken inside and outside the school and  cites several reasons for concluding the site is safe.

By Leon Thompson

February 29. 2016 (La Mesa) – Aaron Dean, owner of the Depot Springs Beer Company, in an exclusive interview with East County Magazine, spoke exuberantly about the brewery/restaurant/music/event venue now under construction in a neighborhood shopping center on Fletcher Parkway at Dallas Street—and his vision for the facility’s contribution to revitalizing the community.

By Steve Lauria

Photo:  Normal brain (left); brain with Alzheimer’s (right)

February 29, 2016 (San Diego’s East County) -- Over 29 million Americans now have diabetes, according to the Center for Disease Control (CDC). Eight million have it and don’t know it. The CDC has estimated that diabetes could triple by 2050. 

Photo: Facebook

February 28, 2016 (Boulevard) --  The victim in yesterday’s fatal stabbing in Boulevard has been identified as Christalina Leona Louise Indish.  Four people have been arrested in connection with her death. In addition, 17 undocumented immigrants found at the residence have been detained.

East County News Service

February 27, 2016 (Boulevard) – Sheriff’s deputies from the Sheriff’s rural command received a call at 11:28 p.m. reporting a stabbing at 36380 Tusil Road in Boulevard on the Campo Indian reservation.  Deputies arrived at the residence to find a woman, approximately 35 years old, with obvious signs of trauma to her upper body, said Lieutenant Greg Rylaarsdam with the Sheriff’s Homicide Detail.

Deputies called for medical aid but paramedics confirmed the woman had died of her injuries.

By Miriam Raftery

February 27, 2016 (Washington D.C.) – In a case that pits privacy rights against security concerns, Apple has asked U.S. District judge to dismiss a court order requiring Apple to assist the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in hacking an iPhone owned by the terrorists who massacred 14 people in San Bernadino. 

Hear our interview, which originally aired on the East County Magazine Radio Show on KNSJ  89.1 FM on December 14, 2015: https://www.eastcountymagazine.org/sites/eastcountymagazine.org/files/au...

By Miriam Raftery

Photo: Ice core sample, Creative Commons image from AntarcticGlaciers.org

February 27, 2016 (San Diego’s East County) – Jeffrey Severinghaus, PhD, is one of the world’s top climate scientists.   A professor of geosciences at Scripps Institute of Oceanography at the University of California, San Diego, he was recently appointed to the prestigious National Academy of Sciences.   Dr. Severinghaus has pioneered research efforts measuring trapped gas bubbles in ice cores in Antarctica and Greenland to detect past ocean temperature changes – with astonishing results.

Asked about climate skeptics who claim climate change is merely cyclical, he quickly dispels the theory that recent warming is part of an age-old trend.  That’s because molecules from burning fossil fuels are chemically different from carbon naturally seeping from the ocean floor.  The differences are obvious, measurable, and provide clear evidence that man’s actions are rapidly accelerating climate change.

By Miriam Raftery

February 27, 2016 (Boulevard) --The Boulevard Planning Group has a packed agenda for its meeting on Thursday, March 3 at 7 p.m. in the Boulevard Fire Training Room (39923 Ribbonwood Rd., Boulevard).  The agenda includes three action items and 14 discussion items ranging from major energy projects impacting the region to a water rate hike, parks and land use issues.

The action items include:

• a county presentation on a proposal to divide the Mountain Empire Parkland Dedication area into 41 separate units,
• a discussion and vote on whether to submit comments on local concerns over a new multli-agency renewable energy land ues and transmissions plan to meet state renewable energy mandates,and
• a discussion and vote related to Live Oak Springs Water company's proposed rate hike and authorization for bulk water sales.
  

Zika virus photo courtesy of the CDC.

County News Service

February 27, 2016 (San Diego) -- A San Diego resident who traveled to Colombia and returned in January 2016 is the first Zika virus case reported in the region this year, the County Health and Human Services Agency announced today.

East County News Service

February 27, 2016 (San Diego) -- A free accordion concert will be presented at Mission Trails Regional Park’s visitor center on Sunday, February 28 at 3 p.m.  Diana Abed studied the accordion in multi-cultural Los Angeles as a child in the 1960s and ‘70s, including Hollywood entertainment industry standards, pop tunes and compositions of famous accordionists at that time.  As the daughter of immigrant parents, somehow she was "elected" as the family musician, leading many sing a-longs and dances at celebrations of family and friends from varying ethnicities. 

Annualized Dividend Raised 8 Percent to $3.02 Per Share; Company Sets 2016 Adjusted Earnings-Per-Share Guidance Range at $4.80 to $5.20

East County News Service

February 27, 2016 (San Diego) – Sempra Energy on Friday reported 2015 earnings of $1.35 billion, or $5.37 per diluted share, up from $1.16 billion, or $4.63 per diluted share, in 2014.

East County News Service

February 26, 2016 (San Diego's East County) - State Senator Ben Hueso (D-San Diego) has introduced Senate Bill 1216, which would establish a business tax credit for employers who hire high-risk youth.  The credit applies only to jobs for young people ages 18-25, who have been convicted of a crime and completed a work readiness program through a qualified job training provider.    

Hear our radio interview with Rebecca Grant, originally aired on KNSJ: http://www.eastcountymagazine.org/hear-our-interview-sticky-web-vengeanc...

A Sticky Web Of Vengeance: Memoirs Of A Coach’s Wife – The Story Of James And Rebecca Grant, by Rebecca Grant (RG7 Book Publishing, Dallas, Texas, 2014, 319 pages).

Book Review by Dennis Moore

February 26, 2016 (San Diego’s East County) - A Sticky Web Of Vengeance, a memoir by Rebecca Grant chronicles her life and times with James Grant, a Jamaican Pan American Games representative and head coach of the women’s team at the University of Iowa. This book by Grant, a devout Christian and mother of four small children and a recovering victim of domestic abuse before she met James Grant, is full of intrigue and jealousy, as well as greed and institutional malfeasance at the highest levels.