December 23, 2010 (San Diego) -- This holiday season American Medical Response (AMR) Paramedics and Emergency Medical Technicians (EMT’s) are extending helping hands by delivering meals and gifts to people in need. Recipients were identified by AMR caregivers in partnership with the YMCA, National City Spirit of the Holidays and the Forget Me Not Foundation.
December 23, 2010 (La Mesa) 8:25 p.m. - Missing teen Sara Rafou, 19, has been found, reports La Mesa Police Captain Ed Aceves. "Sara Rafou was located in San Diego County at 7:45 pm tonight. Sara is safe and as an adult she made a decision to separate herself from her family," a press release issued moments ago by La Mesa Police reveals. "It appears that evidence was staged in her vehicle to make it look like foul play was involved."
UPDATE: She's been found safe. See new story posted.
Evidence found in missing woman's beige Nissan Ultimata parked near Target store
December 23, 2010 (La Mesa)—La Mesa Police, with assistance from the San Diego Sheriff’s crime lab, have processed the vehicle of Sara Rafou, 19, whose vehicle was found in Grossmont Center’s parking lot after she disappeared last night. “Evidence in the vehicle leads us to believe that Sara is missing under suspicious circumstances,” a press release issued by Captain Ed Aceves with La Mesa Police late today states.
Co-workers from Bank America in Grossmont Center saw her exit the front doors at 6:30 last night at the end of her shift. Her unoccupied vehicle was found in the parking lot near the Target Store. A Facebook page has been set up to help find her.
December 23, 2010 (San Diego's East County)-- Videographer Billy Ortiz traveled to Flinn Springs Park yesterday, capturing storm-swelled headwaters of Los Coches Creek. He spliced yesterday's shots together with some October images of areas further downstream, including a spectacular waterfall at the long forgotten Los Coches dam in Lakeside. Then he added a soundtrack to create this one-of-a-kind music video. Enjoy!
December 23, 2010 (La Mesa) – Shortly after midnight at 12:07 a.m., La Mesa Police received a report of a missing 19-year-old woman, Sara Rafou of El Cajon. Her car was found abandoned in the parking lot at Grossmont Center, near the Bank of America where she works. According to La Mesa Patch.com, she left work at 6:30 p.m.last night and has not been seen since.
December 23, 2010 (Valley Center)--The 2.5-mile Heritage Trail alongside Valley Center Road officially opened earlier this month with a celebratory ceremony that included a trailhead plaque dedication to the late Brendan McNabb, a County Public Works project manager who played a key role in the trail’s development.
December 23, 2010 – So much for the “lame duck session” on Capitol Hill. The last winter session after an election, before the new Congress is sworn in, is often an uneventful time of farewells. The 111th Congress, though, seemed determined to end the year with a bang, bringing meaningful legislation to the forefront as exiting members of Congress strived to put their stamp on the future of our nation in a big way.
Major bills passed include repeal of the military’s `don’t ask, don’t tell’ ban and a bill to improve food safety. Bills that fell short, without enough votes, include the Dream Act, which would have allowed children of undocumented immigrants a pathway to citizenship, and a bill that would have paid for healthcare costs of 911 first responders.
Do you know how your representatives voted? Find out here.
Satan’s Playground, By Paul J. Vanderwood (Duke University Press, Durham, NC, 2010, 392 pages.)
Book Review by Dennis Moore
December 23, 2010 (San Diego)--Paul J. Vanderwood’s Satan’s Playground chronicles the rise and fall of the tumultuous, lucrative gambling industry that developed just south of San Diego's border with Mexico in the early 20th century. As prohibitions against liquor, horse racing, gambling, and prostitution swept the United States, the vice industries flourished in and around Tijuana to the extent that reformers came to call the town “Satan’s Playground”-- unintentionally increasing its licentious allure to Hollywood stars and other celebrities of the era.
December 23, 2010 (San Diego’s East County) – One bright spot resulting from the recent storm is the refilling of local reservoirs and aquifers.
“By the end of this current storm, we expect about 1600 acre feet of net local water for this water year,” said Helix Water General Manager Mark Weston. “We budgeted 2200 acre feet from the local watershed, so with this series of storms, we ahe accumulated a great start on the water year.”
December 22, 2010 (La Mesa) – La Mesa Police are seeking a suspect who attacked a woman, 30, this evening in Aztec Park at 5400 Aztec Drive. The attack was reported at 6:19 p.m. The woman was walking her dog in the southeast area of the park when she was grabbed from behind and hit on the right side of her head.
Story and photos by Miriam Raftery December 22, 2010 (San Diego’s East County)4:30 p.m.-- In Blossom Valley, one property owner found a creative place to shelter her horses during the storm.
“My horses were up to their knees this morning, so the net came down and the hay went in,” said Catherine Sacks in an e-mail sent to East County Magazine, along with the photo at left. “Tennis anyone?”
On Fletcher Parkway, a mud slide is currently blocking two lanes on the hill heading east down to El Cajon. Meanwhile in Alpine, Via Viejas Road is flooding as Viejas Creek has over-flowed a small dam at the Little Lake in Palo Verde Ranch, reports resident George Barnett.
December 22, 2010 (San Diego) – San Diego River Park Foundation program coordinator Shannon Quigley-Raymond has provided this astonishing video of the floodwaters rushing into Mission Valley today. Amazed to see small islands of reeds, plants and debris being pushed along by flood waters from the San Diego River, she stopped to take a video on San Diego Mission Road, where two cars had just been pulled into the river by floodwaters.
December 22, 2010 (San Diego) 2 pm.--Over 1,000 people are being evacuated by life guards from the Handlery Hotel and the Archstone Apartments in Mission Valley after the San Diego River overflowed its banks, Incident Page Network reports. Qualcomm Stadium’s field and parking lot are also flooded, though organizers say tomorrow’s Poinsettia Bowl will be played.
“San Diego is steadily establishing itself as a leader in the emerging clean technology industry. With our entrepreneurial business culture, an educated workforce and plenty of skilled labor, our region is ideal for supporting this vibrant new sector.”--Mayor Jerry Sanders
December 22, 2010 (San Diegio) --San Diego County stands out as an established leader in California in transforming the business environment to leverage the growing clean, green-tech economy, according to research released last week by The San Diego Foundation.
Update 6 p.m. The sinkhole is now 20-30 feet across and around 30 homes are without water. Santee Patch has details.
December 22, 2010 (Santee) -- ECM news partner 10 News reports that a large sinkhole measuring 15 feet wide by six feet deep has opened up in the 10000 block of Pebble Beach Drive in Santee early this morning.
December 22, 2010 (San Diego) – More than 8,000 people in San Diego County are without power this morning due to storm damage, including inland communities in Crest, Ramona and Poway as well as a large outage in Oceanside and other scattered outages.
December 21, 2010 – CHP’s website reports that a “mountain side came down” completely blocking Rainbow Valley Blvd. at I-15, including a boulder the size of a vehicle. Many other area motorists faced obstacles in the following areas:
December 21, 2010 (La Mesa)—La Mesa Police Department responded to a robbery near the Jack in the Box restaurant located at 6987 University Av., La Mesa around 5:20 p.m. today. According to police, three juveniles approached a 16-year-old and demanded his cell phone. One suspect grabbed the victim’s phone while the other two kicked and punched him. The victim had abrasions and some bruising from the incident.
KRC Rock Partners with Lakeside’s River Park Conservancy
San Diego, CA, (December 15, 2010) – KRC Rock, a San Diego natural stone and boulder provider, has partnered with the Lakeside’s River Park Conservancy to help them in their mission to preserve and restore the biological integrity and beauty of the San Diego River.
Some toys can be worse than annoying, causing hearing loss
December 21, 2010 (San Diego) -- Toys with all the gizmos that produce lights and sounds might keep children interested and occupied. But along with theentertainment could come hearing loss if toys children are playing with are extremely loud. Yesterday, San Diego County Health and Human Services Agency and First 5 San Diego officials warned parents about dangerously loud toys and how they could damage children’s hearing, as well as their physical and psychological health.
Palomar Mountain doused with nearly a foot of rain
“We are moving into the last, most dangerous stage of the event…Thunderstorms, tornadoes, waterspouts possible later tonight into Wednesday.” – National Weather Service
December 21, 2010 (San Diego’s East County) – Dangerous conditions are forecast for tonight and tomorrow, as heavy thunderstorms are slated to move into our already water-soaked region, dropping 1-2 inches of rain per hour. Flash flood watches and warnings remain in effect across San Diego County.
December 21, 2010 (Santee) – David Dickinson, 47, was driving a motorcycle Saturday, December 18 on Cuyamaca Street at Prospect in the unincorporated area of Santee when he was struck from behind by another vehicle traveling approximately 80-90 miles per hour. He was taken by ambulance to Sharp Memorial Hospital, where he died the next day, December 19.
December 21, 2010 (Alpine)—Anthony Pico has been elected chairman of the Viejas Band of Kumeyaay Indians, replacing Bobby Barrett, who served five terms and chose not to run for reelection. Pico previously served as chairman for three terms and vice chairman for two terms, a total of more than two decades of leadership.
“Under his stewardship and vision, the Viejas Band achieved national and state recognition for its economic and social progress,” California Indian Education’s website states. During his prior tenure as Chairman, Viejas proved a leader in promoting inter-tribal business ventures as well as economic development for the tribe locally.
December 21, 2010 (San Diego)—Tristen Roberts, a 12-year-old homeless boy reported missing this afternoon, has been found this evening by his mother near 5th and C Street downtown, San Diego Police report.
December 21, 2010 (2:30 p.m. update) – Here are updates new since our earlier story today, with the latest hazards and casualties of the storm. Incidents include evacuation of a flooded apartment building, another swift water rescue, traffic accidents, and a sinkhole.
![](/sites/eastcountymagazine.org/files/resize/catesdogs-momma-sm-200x186.JPG ""Momma" is a dachshund/spaniel mix")
By Cate Sacks
Landscaped 2.5-mile Trail Welcomes Pedestrians, Cyclists, Equestrians
December 23, 2010 – So much for the “lame duck session” on Capitol Hill. The last winter session after an election, before the new Congress is sworn in, is often an uneventful time of farewells. The 111th Congress, though, seemed determined to end the year with a bang, bringing meaningful legislation to the forefront as exiting members of Congress strived to put their stamp on the future of our nation in a big way.
Satan’s Playground, By Paul J. Vanderwood (Duke University Press, Durham, NC, 2010, 392 pages.)
December 23, 2010 (San Diego’s East County) – One bright spot resulting from the recent storm is the refilling of local reservoirs and aquifers.
December 22, 2010 (San Diego’s East County)4:30 p.m.-- In Blossom Valley, one property owner found a creative place to shelter her horses during the storm. 
December 22, 2010 (San Diego) 2 pm.--Over 1,000 people are being evacuated by life guards from the Handlery Hotel and the Archstone Apartments in Mission Valley after the San Diego River overflowed its banks, Incident Page Network reports. Qualcomm Stadium’s field and parking lot are also flooded, though organizers say tomorrow’s Poinsettia Bowl will be played.
December 22, 2010 (San Diego) – More than 8,000 people in San Diego County are without power this morning due to storm damage, including inland communities in Crest, Ramona and Poway as well as a large outage in Oceanside and other scattered outages. 
December 21, 2010 (La Mesa)—La Mesa Police Department responded to a robbery near the Jack in the Box restaurant located at 6987 University Av., La Mesa around 5:20 p.m. today. According to police, three juveniles approached a 16-year-old and demanded his cell phone. One suspect grabbed the victim’s phone while the other two kicked and punched him. The victim had abrasions and some bruising from the incident. 
KRC Rock Partners with Lakeside’s River Park Conservancy 
Some toys can be worse than annoying, causing hearing loss
![](/sites/eastcountymagazine.org/files/resize/Welch%2C-Cita--sm-140x210.jpg "Vice Chairman-elect Robert "Cita" Welch")
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