Update January 11, 2021: CHP indicates a Honda Civic crossed the double yellow lines, colliding with a Chrysler Pacific minivan. A 74-year old San Diego woman, a passenger in the minivan, died at the scene. The minivan’s driver, a 46-year old woman, suffered moderate injuries. The Honda driver, a 30-year-old woman, suffered major injuries; she is suspected of driving under the influence of alcohol but has not yet been charged, the San Diego Union-Tribune reports.
Update 4 p.m. Dehesa Road will likely be obstructed for two hours, ECM has learned.
By Miriam Raftery
January 9, 2021 (El Cajon) -- A head -on collision is blocking Dehesa Road in unincorporated El Cajon in both directions, about 500 feet west of Sloan Canyon Road.
Two patients has been transported to Sharp Memorial hospital.
Edwin Mathery, an eyewitness who lives nearby, told ECM that one of the vehicles is a white minivan.
January 9, 2022 (San Diego) -- East County Roundup highlights top stories of interest to East County and San Diego's inland regions, published in other media. This week's round-up stories include:
January 9, 2022 (San Diego’s East County) - East County Magazine's World Watch helps you be an informed citizen on important issues globally and nationally. As part of our commitment to reflect all voices and views, we include links to a variety of news sources representing a broad spectrum of political, religious, and social views. Top world and U.S. headlines include:
January 9, 2021 (Ramona) – Rain or shine, Hawk Watch in the Ramona Grasslands will be held each Saturday in January and February starting at 10 a.m. Hawk Watch is an informative educational Biologists Talk and Q&A with falconry or ambassador raptors for you to see up close and personal.
This year, the events organized by the Wildlife Research Institute will take place at Begent Ranch, 18528 Highland Valley Road in Ramona.
January 9, 2022 (Ramona) – Oasis Camel Dairy in Ramona has three Open Farm Day tour dates in January on Sunday the 16th as well as Saturday January 22 and 29.
The tours run from 12 to 2 p.m. In addition to the outdoor tour of the facility, the admission fee ($15, children 3 and under free) includes treats to feed camels and miniature sheep.
Camel rides are also available for an additional fee. You can also shop for gifts such as camel milk soaps, bath products and more.
January 9, 2022 (San Diego’s East County) – Major colleges, universities and community colleges across the region have temporarily shifted back to virtual instruction due to the COVID-19 surge fueled by the Omicron variant and holiday gatherings.
January 8, 2022 (San Diego) – With hospitals locally and statewide overwhelmed by a surge in patients with the Omicron variant of COVID-19, Governor Gavin Newsom yesterday announced he has activated the National Guard to support local communities with testing.
January 8, 2022 (San Diego) - ECM Sports finally made it to our first men’s basketball contest of the season (and the new year) at SDSU and since Nevada backed out, the Aztecs took on Colorado State.
January 8, 2022 (Mount Helix) -- More than 200 people circled the 3/4-mile winding road from the San Miguel Fire Station on Vivera Drive up to Mount Helix, where a festive atmosphere and the famed 360-degree view of San Diego County awaited them this crisp Saturday morning.
A possible threat of rain never emerged, with clouds making way for partly sunny skies during the Grossmont Mount Helix Improvement Association's 14th annual Walk to the Top of Mount Helix. Live music, fresh-picked lemonsand tangerines from trees of neighbors living in the Mount Helix area also awaited the walkers.
December 28, 2021 (San Diego) – A Draft Environmental Impact Report (DEIR) is now available on the controversial proposed Cottonwood Sand Mining project along the Sweetwater River on the Cottonwood Golf Club site. There are several opportunities for the public to weigh in, including an in-person meeting January 12 at Hillsdale Middle School in Rancho San Diego and an online/phone teleconference January 19. You can also submit comments via mail or email, which must be received by February 14 at 4 p.m.
The project at 2131 Willow Glen Road would extract around 6.4 million tons of sand over 10 years from 214.4 acres. The developer contends the sand is needed for construction and road building in our region, to avoid costly importing of sand.
The project has drawn opposition from thousands of local residents concerned over harm to wildlife in the adjacent national wildlife preserve as well as impacts on residents including traffic, noise, and air quality.
"We will review the DEIR with diligence to see if any of the community concerns have been addressed," said StopCottonwoodSandMine.org Board Chair Elizabeth Urquhart. “Most importantly, although it's been a long wait since the project was proposed in 2018, the community needs to know it is now the right time to speak up and register concerns over the community impacts, despite this being the holiday season. We need our neighbors to understand we cannot sit still as we continue to voice our opposition. We ask residents to inform their friends and neighbors to sign up at our website. We need to all work together to inform the community and to ultimately stop this sand mine.” Their concerns are documented at https://www.stopcottonwoodsandmine.com/
Below are details provided by the County’s Planning and Development Services Department on the DEIR and how you can make your voice heard. Be sure to reference the project name and number in your comments.
January 8, 2021 (San Diego) – “It’s not everyday you see a sea lion on the freeway,” the California Highway Patrol tweeted after receiving a call shortly before 10 a.m. yesterday reporting a sea lion crossing State Route 94 just west of Interstate 805 in the Fairmount area.
Spring Valley resident Josefine Jandinger was driving east on 94 when she saw two good Samaritans stop their vehicles in the middle of the freeway to direct traffic and protect the wayward pinniped. ‘I see the two amazing humans stopping traffic…trying to save the seal, trying to have the seal walk to the other side of the road,” Jandinger said, ECM news partner 10 News reports.
CHP officers arrived and ran several traffic breaks to assure that the sea lion would not be struck by passing vehicles until Sea World’s rescue team arrived, says Salvador Castro, public information officer for the CHP in San Diego.
January 8, 2022 (Lake Morena) – For more than two years, Lake Morena Village area water users have been drinking bottled water because of formidable nitrate levels in the region’s wells, the main source of water for drinking in the rural San Diego county burg.
In September 2019, the county issued a do-not-drink order for about 125 customers of the Lake Morena Views Mutual Water Company, one of the two main water suppliers in the area. The state recently approved grant funds to eliminate the contamination, but the process moves slowly – meaning frustrated residents may be without potable tap water for another two to three years.
“I am wondering what the effects will be on all of us in time to come. How can it take over two years to fix the issue?” asks Claudia Millerbragg, a Lake Morena Village residents in rural Campo. She says shareholders are not given enough information, adding, “Because we are in an underserved community no one really seems to care. Can you imagine this happening in La Jolla?"
January 6, 2022 (Butte County) – Cal Fire investigators have determined that the Dixie Fire, which burned nearly a million acres and destroyed 1,329 structures in northern California, was caused by a tree contacting electrical distribution lines owned by Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E). The blaze was the second largest in the state’s history and also caused at least one death.
Exhibition of Norris’ photography will be displayed in February at the Parsonage Museum
By Helen Ofield
Photo credit: Mike Norris, by Ife Babatund
January 6, 2022 (Lemon Grove) -- The Lemon Grove Historical Society (LGHS) increased its talent pool, effective Jan. 1, 2022, by appointing Mike Norris Photographer-in Residence.Norris joins Kathleen Strzelecki, Artist-in-Residence, and Robert Stuckey, Videographer-in-Residence, both well-known for their work in portraying and documenting American history.
East County News Service; Times of San Diego contributed to this report
Photo by Miriam Raftery
January 6, 2022 (San Diego) – Staunch labor advocate Lorena Gonzalez on Monday announced her resignation from the California state Assembly to accept a job as leader of the California Labor Federation. Her resignation took effect yesterday; her new position begins in July.
January 8, 2022 (Alpine) -- Jeff Marcus, an Alpine resident, was one of thousands who died from COVID-19 related issues in 2021.
An entertainer for more than four decades, Marcus's career as a magician, clown and hypnotist was stalled starting in the spring of 2020 when he was unable to perform in front crowds during the pandemic.
January 5, 2022 (City Heights) - Registration is now open for an amazing semester of in-person, online and outdoor music classes the City Heights Music School (CHMS). Open to all ages and all levels, CHMS houses multiple performance groups that reflect the cultural diversity present here in San Diego.
January 5, 2022 (El Cajon) - The City of El Cajon has become the first City in California to be accredited by the American Camp Association. The accreditation process involved applying 300 peer-reviewed standards against the City’s recreation camp operating procedures.
January 5, 2022 (San Diego’s East County) – Jay Steiger took a New Year’s morning hike to the top of Cuyamaca Peak, the second highest peak in East County. He sent in this beautiful image, with patches of snow still clinging to trees along the trail.
By David R. Shorey, East County Program Manager, Institute for Public Strategies
Update: The Point-in-Time Homeless Count has been postponed until February 24.
January 5, 2022 (San Diego's East County) - More than 1,000 people were homeless in the East County in 2019, making up 13% of the county’s total. Only the city of San Diego had more. That’s according to the 2019 Regional Task Force on the Homeless (RTFH)Annual Report on Homelessness. El Cajon accounted for 10% of that total with 787 counted during the We All Count Point-in-Time Count. The PITC is a federally mandated requirement designated by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) that counting unsheltered people experiencing homelessness be conducted every other year. While San Diego County has usually chosen to conduct the count annually, it was canceled in 2020 due to the pandemic. It’s back on for this year.
Jan. 5, 2022 (Washington, D.C.) -- January 6, 2021 will be commemorated in the nation’s history books as the date when thousands stormed the U.S. Capitol while the US Senate was preparing to certify the electoral count from the November 3, 2020, election. Five people died during the violent insurrection and 140 police officers were injured, ABC News reported.
In a speech today, U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland stated, “The actions we have taken thus far will not be our last.” He added, “"Those involved must be held accountable, and there is no higher priority for us at the Department of Justice."
"The Justice Department remains committed to holding all January 6 perpetrators --at any level--accountable under law, whether they were present that day, or were otherwise criminally responsible for the assault on our democracy. We will follow the facts wherever they lead."
January 5, 2022 (El Cajon) – Robert Roger Marchand, 71, of El Cajon died at a local hospital of injuries sustained in a vehicle accident December 28 on Interstate 805.
Marchand was driving northbound on I-805 at Telegraph Canyon Road in Chula Vista around 7:02 p.m. when for unknown reasons, his vehicle veered onto the shoulder and down an embanking, landing on the roof.
January 5, 2022 (Santee) – Martin Andara, 68, of Santee was killed on Saturday after he was pushed into the path of a train at the Old Town Transit Center. According to San Diego Police, Andara had just gotten off a southbound trolley when another passenger shoved him off the platform without provocation, then fled on foot.
Andara was struck by the train and died at the scene.
Photo: Ding Manyang, South Sudanese refugee studying at George Washington University, via Presidents’ Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration
January 5, 2022 (Sacramento) -- By next fall, refugee students may be able to apply to attend American colleges and universities. The State Department said it plans to pilot a new category for refugee admissions, known as P4.
January 4, 2022 (Washington D.C.) – As the anniversary of the violent capitol insurrection last January 6 approaches, federal authorities seek public help to find a suspect who planted two pipe bombs near the Democratic and Republican national committee headquarters in Washington D.C. the night before. A $100,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of the person(s) responsible for planting the bombs is being offered by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF).
Between 7:30 and 8:30 p.m. Eastern Standard Time on January 5, surveillance cameras indicate the suspect planted the bombs while wearing a grey hooded sweatshirt, face mask, gloves, and a pair of black and light grey Nike Air Max Speed Turf shoes with a yellow logo.
January 4, 2022 (La Mesa) – La Mesa Police have arrested a suspect accused of robbing Bank of the West at Grossmont Center this morning, following a pursuit through the mall. Officers also recovered the money taken during the robbery.
Asim Daniels, 36, of Brawley is accused of demanding money from several bank tellers at 10 a.m., simulating that he had a firearm. The suspect left the bank on foot, heading toward the shopping mall.
La Mesa Police responded to a 9-1-1 call and began searching the area.
Legislation sponsored by Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara takes effect this year
Source: California Insurance Commissioner
Image: Creative Commons by NC-ND
January 4, 2022 (Sacramento) -- California consumers and hard-working families will have additional insurance protections under new laws now in effect in 2022. These include laws that provide new health coverage options for older adults being cared for by their adult children, expand requirements for medically necessary basic health care services including women’s reproductive services and increase insurance oversight to protect the safety of people recovering from substance use disorders and prevent child abuse by youth volunteers.
The California Department of Insurance will also implement new insurance requirements to protect those held in for-profit detention facilities and prisons – the first law of its kind nationwide.
January 4, 2022 (San Diego) – Sullivan Solar Power’s license has been suspended by the State Contractors Licensing Board after many complaints. Sullivan closed its operations and stopped responding to customers’ inquiries, as ECM previously reported. Fortunately, help is available. If you are a current or past Sullivan Solar customer, the California Solar Storage Association (CALSSA) recommends several resources, including a state-run solar recovery fund to help homeowners harmed by a solar contractor, as well as informational sites and access to contractors to complete unfinished work.
January 4, 2022 (Alpine) – The driver of a blue Peterbuilt truck towing a double-axle flatbed Fontaine trailer was killed in an accident this afternoon on I-8 east of Dunbar Lane in Alpine. All but one lane remains closed and a SIG Alert has been issued due to traffic delays of an hour or more.
According to Officer Travis Garrow with the California Highway Patrol, the as yet unidentified man applied the brakes and a load of steel sheet pile beams shifted forward, penetrating the back of the truck and impaling the driver.
January 9, 2022 (San Diego) -- East County Roundup highlights top stories of interest to East County and San Diego's inland regions, published in other media. This week's round-up stories include:
January 9, 2022 (San Diego’s East County) - East County Magazine's World Watch helps you be an informed citizen on important issues globally and nationally. As part of our commitment to reflect all voices and views, we include links to a variety of news sources representing a broad spectrum of political, religious, and social views. Top world and U.S. headlines include:
January 9, 2022 (San Diego's East County) -- Our Health and Science Highlights provide cutting edge news that could impact your health and our future.
By Miriam Raftery
Story and photos by Liz Alper
By Miriam Raftery
East County News Service
Exhibition of Norris’ photography will be displayed in February at the Parsonage Museum
East County News Service; Times of San Diego contributed to this report
By David Casteñeda
Source: City of El Cajon
East County News Service
By David R.
East County News Service
By Miriam Raftery
By Suzanne Potter, California News Service
East County News Service
East County News Service
Legislation sponsored by Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara takes effect this year
East County News Service
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