May 18, 2010 (Alpine) -- A committee appointed by the Grossmont Union High School District to come up with naming suggestions for the district's 12th high school will meet Wednesday, May 19 at 5 p.m. at the Alpine Community Center, 1830 Alpine Blvd.
The District has failed to respond to East County Magazine's written request last week for at least 24 hours notification of the naming committee meeting, as is required by law under the Ralph M. Brown Act. The GUHSD has drawn criticism from the Union-Tribune for loading up the naming committee with a majority of Republican politicians and party operatives in an apparent effort to push through a proposed Ronald Reagan High School name.
Diamond Sponsor Viejas also honored with special award
May 16, 2010 (Rancho San Diego) – Huindreds turned out at the Cuyamaca College Foundation dinner last night to honor past presidents and raise money for student scholarships.
“This place has grown up. It’s a wonderful, beautiful campus that is fulfilling its role in our community,” said former Dr. Samuel Ciccati, one of four former presidents present at the event, titled “Shine On.”
May 16, 2010 (Spring Valley) – Shortly after midnight, Sheriff deputies from the Lemon Grove Station responded to a report of multiple gunshots fired during a fight involving up to 20 people outside Rallys Hamburgers at 8667 Jamacha Road in Spring Valley.
May 16, 2010 (Washington, D.C). – U.S. Congressman Bob Filner has announced that San Diego and Imperial Counties will get more than $8.7 million for security preparedness. In San Diego, funds include protection of ports and public transit.
“It takes constant vigilance to be prepared and keep our country safe,” said Filner. “This money will go to keeping our critical infrastructure safe from terrorism, major disasters and other emergencies.”
May 16, 2010 (Alpine) - Attention all dog lovers! The Alpine Stagecoach Lions Club presents the 6th Annual Novelty Dog Show at10:00am, Saturday, June 6th, 2010 at the Viejas Outlet Center , 5005 Willows Road in Alpine.
May 18, 2010 (Campo) – At least ten children have been injured in a collision this morning between a school bus and a light pole in the parking lot at Golden Acorn Casino on the Campo Indian reservation. Patients with injuries ranging from mild to moderate have been transported to Grossmont and Alvarado hospitals.
May 16, 2010 (Alpine) – Football helmet construction hasn’t changed for decades. But now, new helmets contain air bag-type cushions, providing better protection from head injuries.
Majority Vote Budget Initiative qualifies for ballot
How would you balance the budget? Take the Next10 budget challenge
By Miriam Raftery
May 14, 2010 (Sacramento) – Facing a budget deficit of over $20 billion, today Governor Schwarzenegger proposed deep new budget cuts. The Governor proposes the complete elimination of the CAL-Works program (which will impact over 80,000 low-income parents and their children in San Diego County), slash in-home care for seniors and the disabled (including 23,000 seniors and disabled persons in San Diego County), and sharply cut funds for the Healthy Families program, among other drastic measures.
Hoping to end budget gridlock, teachers, firefighters and nurses last week joined together to submit more than 1.1 million signatures and qualify a Majority Vote Budget Initiative for the November 2, 2010 election. “Late budgets hurt all Californians and the budget crisis is continuing to be the top issue in the state,” said Kay McVay, President Emeritus of the California Nurses Association, “This initiative will not end all of the gridlock, but it is a step in the right direction.”
Update May 20: Supervisors approved the Fuerte Ranch Estates project.
May 14, 2010 (Mt. Helix) – County Supervisors will vote Wednesday on whether or not to approve Reynolds Communities proposed Fuerte Ranch Estates development on the site of a former chicken ranch. Reynolds has scaled back initial plans from 76 to 36 homes on the 27-acre parcel adjacent to Damon Lane County Park at Fuerte Drive and Damon Lane.
The plan has ruffled feathers among many area residents, also raising hackles of East County planners.
May 14, 2010 (San Diego’s East County) -- In the alphabet soup that makes up the Federal Government, few people have ever heard of the Minerals Management Service. But the MMS is well known to oil company executives, because for years it has operated as a sleeping watchdog while billions of dollars in taxpayer's money was pumped out the back door.
May 14, 2010 (Ramona) – Cal-Fire is mopping up hot spots from a quarter-acre brush fire at 1837 Pine Street and Washington Street in Ramona. The fire started at 2:45 the spread was stopped at 2:58, Cl-Fire reports. The cause is under investigation.
May 14, 2010 3:55 p.m. (Dulzura) -- A 250-acre fire is burning in Mexico, approximately one and a half miles south of the border near Dulzura. The blaze currently poses no threat to the U.S., according to Cal-Fire Battalion Chief Nick Schuler.
May 14, 2010 (El Cajon) – Brett Stephen Rose, 23, of El Cajon was arrested at last night after reportedly threatening a neighbor, then barricading himself inside an apartment at 1038 Peach in El Cajon.
Photovoltaic Facility Proposed by LS Power Could Deliver up to 130 Megawatts of Clean Energy to San Diego Across Planned Sunrise Powerlink
May 14, 2010 (San Diego)—San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E) announced yesterday that it has signed a 20-year power-purchase agreement with an LS Power subsidiary to procure up to 130 megawatts (MW) of solar energy from the proposed Centinela Solar Energy facility in the Imperial Valley.
May 14, 2010 (San Diego) -- Robin Hood is the year’s first big disappointment, considering the people involved in making it. Directed by Ridley Scott, it stars Russell Crowe as the title character and fine actress Cate Blanchett as Maid Marian. As always, Scott demonstrates his ability as one of the most visual directors out there today, teeming with expertly crafted shots that nearly give the film an epic feel. Crowe and Blanchett do not disappoint in the acting department. It is not a bad movie by any means but rather aggressively unsatisfying; to paraphrase Sean Connery from the 1976 film Robin and Marian, (a better film than this incarnation) instead of getting red meat I wound up settling for only bread and cheese.
May 13, 2010 (La Mesa) –La Mesa Chamber of Commerce hosted a ribbon-cutting and toasted with champagne this week to celebrate the grand opening of La Mesa’s newest business, Sparrow Bridal Boutique.
But the dazzling wedding gowns, sparkling jewels and pearls aren’t all new. A chic boutique that’s ideal for the bride on a budget, Sparrow carries an array of both new and gently worn gowns, specializing in classic, vintage bridal wear. The shop carriesdesigner-label dresses, traditional and bird cage veils, vintage and costume jewelry, fashionable purses, garters and other accessories.
May 13, 2010 (La Mesa) – This evening at 5:13 p.m., a man and woman robbed Wells Fargo Bank in the Grossmont Center Mall. They used a demand note and threat of a gun during the robbery, obtaining cash before fleeing on foot.
It was the third East County bank robbery in the past two days, though the events are not believed to be related.
"Your comments about American Indians indicate that your knowledge about us, and about the historical relationship between Indian governments and the United States, is lacking to the point of being shameful." -- American Indian Movement of Colorado, in an open letter to President Ronald Reagan, 1988
May 13, 2010 (Alpine) – Alpine's Native American tribal members were not invited to serve on a committee to recommend a name for Alpine’s planned new high school. A Union-Tribune editorial published during debate over whether to build a 12th high school observed, “The Viejas and Sycuan Indian tribes consider Alpine to be their community. The tribes fully understand how important education is…They are important allies to have when taking on a forgetful district bureaucracy.”
May 13, 2010 - A man who threatened a Santee homeowner with a tire iron has been arrested following a search by the Sheriff's Astrea helicopter, East County Magazine has learned.
The had a small white dog with him and had fled through Woodglen Vista Park on Ironwood in Santee.
May 13, 2010 (San Diego’s East County) – Shortly after noon yesterday, a tall man wearing a white, stretchy mask passed a demand note to a teller at Chase Bank on Navajo Road near Lake Murray. He claimed to have a bomb and threatened to detonate it with a hand-held device resembling a cell phone.
May 12, 2010 (Alpine) – The DreamCatcher at Viejas Casino in Alpine announces a concert lineup featuring musical styles ranging from country to jazz, as well as rock, rhythm and blues.
The series includes country legend Merle Haggard and other musical stars such as the Temptations, as well as a two-woman show, Vicki Lawrence and Mama, inspired by characters from the Carol Burnett TV comedy show.
May 12, 2010 (Jamul) – A small brush fire on the 13th hole of Cottonwood Golf Course on Willows Road near Jamul was swiftly extinguished by Cal-Fire and the San Miguel Fire Department.
Update 5 p.m. The fire, which burned approximately five acres, has been halted.
May 12, 2010 (Santee) - A brush fire is burning at Big Rock Park, where evacuations are underway. In addition, Incident Page Network reports that Chet Harritt school is slated for evacuation.
Multiple units and air attacks are on scene, Cal Fire confirms.
Board meets May 13; Critics slam GUHSD for secretly stacking advisory board with conservative political figures
By Miriam Raftery
May 12, 2010 (Alpine) – Why doesn’t the Grossmont Union High School District (GUHSD) want the public to be given the names of people appointed to serve on a committee to name Alpine’s planned new high school?
“It’s a secret that East county’s high school district evidently would prefer you didn’t know,” stated a San Diego Union-Tribune editorial. The GUHSD board forced the newspaper to file an official public records act request to obtain committee members' names.
The list suggests the GUHSD trustees hand-picked political figures, a large majority of whom support naming the new school after former president Ronald Reagan.
May 18, 2010 (Alpine) -- A committee appointed by the Grossmont Union High School District to come up with naming suggestions for the district's 12th high school will meet Wednesday, May 19 at 5 p.m. at the Alpine Community Center, 1830 Alpine Blvd. 
May 16, 2010 (Rancho San Diego) – Huindreds turned out at the Cuyamaca College Foundation dinner last night to honor past presidents and raise money for student scholarships.
May 16, 2010 (Barrett Lake) -- Highway 94 is closed at Barrett Lake due to a collision between a car and a motorcycle, CHP reports.
May 16, 2010 (Spring Valley) – Shortly after midnight, Sheriff deputies from the Lemon Grove Station responded to a report of multiple gunshots fired during a fight involving up to 20 people outside Rallys Hamburgers at 8667 Jamacha Road in Spring Valley.
May 16, 2010 (Washington, D.C). – U.S. Congressman Bob Filner has announced that San Diego and Imperial Counties will get more than $8.7 million for security preparedness. In San Diego, funds include protection of ports and public transit.
May 16, 2010 (Alpine) - Attention all dog lovers! The Alpine Stagecoach Lions Club presents the 6th Annual Novelty Dog Show at10:00am, Saturday, June 6th, 2010 at the Viejas Outlet Center , 5005 Willows Road in Alpine..jpg)
May 18, 2010 (Campo) – At least ten children have been injured in a collision this morning between a school bus and a light pole in the parking lot at Golden Acorn Casino on the Campo Indian reservation. Patients with injuries ranging from mild to moderate have been transported to Grossmont and Alvarado hospitals.
May 16, 2010 (Alpine) – Football helmet construction hasn’t changed for decades. But now, new helmets contain air bag-type cushions, providing better protection from head injuries.
The City of Santee’s annual Santee Summer Concert Series is set to bring high-energy performances for all ages.
May 14, 2010 (Sacramento) – Facing a budget deficit of over $20 billion, today Governor Schwarzenegger 
Update May 20: Supervisors approved the Fuerte Ranch Estates project.
Nothing but the truth!
May 14, 2010 (Ramona) – Cal-Fire is mopping up hot spots from a quarter-acre brush fire at 1837 Pine Street and Washington Street in Ramona. The fire started at 2:45 the spread was stopped at 2:58, Cl-Fire reports. The cause is under investigation.
May 14, 2010 3:55 p.m. (Dulzura) -- A 250-acre fire is burning in Mexico, approximately one and a half miles south of the border near Dulzura. The blaze currently poses no threat to the U.S., according to Cal-Fire Battalion Chief Nick Schuler.
May 14, 2010 (El Cajon) – Brett Stephen Rose, 23, of El Cajon was arrested at last night after reportedly threatening a neighbor, then barricading himself inside an apartment at 1038 Peach in El Cajon.
Photovoltaic Facility Proposed by LS Power Could Deliver up to 130 Megawatts of Clean Energy to San Diego Across Planned Sunrise Powerlink
May 13, 2010 (La Mesa) –La Mesa Chamber of Commerce hosted a ribbon-cutting and toasted with champagne this week to celebrate the grand opening of La Mesa’s newest business, Sparrow Bridal Boutique. 
Share creative ideas to assist people of all ages with tips to save money and improve their lifestyle!
Local stores pitch in to help with hair-raising project to make oil-soaking mats and booms
By Phyllis Mutta and Takayuki Higuchi
May 13, 2010 (San Diego’s East County) – Shortly after noon yesterday, a tall man wearing a white, stretchy mask passed a demand note to a teller at Chase Bank on Navajo Road near Lake Murray. He claimed to have a bomb and threatened to detonate it with a hand-held device resembling a cell phone.
May 12, 2010 (Alpine) – The DreamCatcher at Viejas Casino in Alpine announces a concert lineup featuring musical styles ranging from country to jazz, as well as rock, rhythm and blues. 
May 12, 2010 (Jamul) – A small brush fire on the 13th hole of Cottonwood Golf Course on Willows Road near Jamul was swiftly extinguished by Cal-Fire and the San Miguel Fire Department. 
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