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.
COVID safety precautions minimized potential for TB spread
East County News Service
January 3, 2022 (San Diego’s East County) – Tuberculosis has been diagnosed in a person at Sycuan Casino who may have exposed customers and employees, the San Diego County Health and Human Services Agency (HHSA) announced today.
Photo: Terra-Gen’s planned Campo Wind turbines would be twice as tall as those shown at the existing Kumeyaay Wind site in Campo.
January 3, 2022 (San Diego’s East County) – Terra-Gen, the company slated to build a massive wind project on the Campo reservation, has been fined over a half million dollars following an investigation that accused the company of submitting “false or misleading information to the California System Operator (CAISO)” regarding the capabilities and output of a wind power facility owned by Terra-Gen’s subsidiary Cameron Ridge, LLC.
December 31, 2021 (Alpine) -- Trained as a nurse, Diana Pico was a healer, teacher and strong believer in spirituality.
The wife of former Viejas Tribal Chairman Anthony Pico, Diana Pico started her career in the medical field and was an oncology nurse, but she later moved into a more comfortable place to help others through alternative and native healing practices.
Pico was a survivor who beat breast cancer and liver cancer, but she died on June 3, of complications from brain cancer. Pico was 65.
December 31, 2021 (La Mesa) -- Ron Brady was the founder of a high profile construction company, but it was the practice of philanthropy over the course of many decades that helped him develop some of his closest community ties.
A native of Fort Worth, Texas, Brady took over his father's business, the lath and plastering contracting firm E.F. Brady that started in 1946, and turned it into a successful construction business known as the Brady Companies. The Brady companies were instrumental in developing much of San Diego County, Los Angeles County and parts of Northern California. The companies specialize in drywall, plaster and lath that are geared toward major commercial projects.
Over the course of his lifetime, he and his wife, Mary Alice, gave away hundreds of thousands of dollars to different organizations, from Sharp Grossmont Hospital to the East County YMCA to the Boys and Girls Clubs of East County.
UPDATE: Jan. 5 game postponed due to COVID-19 concerns
Source: goaztecs.com
Photo courtesy goaztecs.com
January 1, 2022 (Las Vegas) - Matt Bradley had 17 points and seven rebounds and Keshad Johnson recorded 10 points and 11 rebounds to carry San Diego State to a 62-55 win over UNLV on Saturday in a Mountain West Conference opener. The victory was San Diego State's 15th-straight against Mountain West Conference opponents.
January 29, 2022 (San Diego’s East County) -- If your New Year’s resolution includes eating healthier, you may want to visit some of the many healthy dining restaurants, cafes and take-out places right here in East County.
There are many definitions of healthy dining, so we’ve included a variety of choices including vegan, vegetarian, heart-healthy, organic, natural, superfoods, salad and smoothie bars, farm-to-table and more.
Photo by Kim Bishop, Xo Enquire Photography courtesy of the Victorian Roses Ladies Riding Society
By Rebecca Jefferis Williamson
Dec. 31, 2021 (East County) Start the New Year by watching and celebrating the Victorian Roses Ladies Riding Society’s TV appearance at the 133rd edition of the Tournament of Roses 2022 Parade in Pasadena.
The 23-member equestrian group will participate, for their sixth time, with 15 members participating using three carriages and four horses.
December 31, 2021 (La Mesa) - The La Mesa-El Cajon Branch of the American Association of University Women will open the new year with featured speaker Jessica Gutierrez Masini, a 2021 Fund grant recipient. Jessica will be speaking to the branch via zoom on January 8th beginning at 10:00 a.m. about Indigenous peoples of San Bernardino County.
Many hot news stories are on the horizon in the New Year. Help us cover the stories listed below and more! While other publishers are cutting East County coverage, we’re gearing up to grow our local news reporting in the public interest! To make a year-end, tax deductible donation, click here. Donors who give $50 or more will receive our Beautiful East County calendar as thanks!
Here are the top 2022 issues we aim to cover, with your help:
December 30, 2021 (San Diego) – A 38-year old man has died after being assaulted by a fellow inmate in the San Diego Central Jail. The victim, Dominque James McCoy of San Diego, had been arrested December 23 on drug charges.
December 30, 2021 (San Diego) – COVID-19 cases have spiked in the past 24 hours, with 5,976 cases reported yesterday, up from 3,650 cases one day earlier, County Health and Human Services reports. To reduce the spread, County health officials are urging San Diegans to keep New Year’s celebrations small and limit them to family and close friends who are vaccinated and boosted if eligible to prevent the surge of COVID-19 cases that occurred last winter.
The County is also asking the public and businesses to continue following the current state and local guidance to slow the spread.
Dr. Cameron Kaiser, the county’s deputy public health officer, says given the record number of cases and rapid emergency of the Omicron variant, “If you have New Year’s celebrations, limit them to people who live with you and make sure everyone present uses the strategies we know work.”
Photo, left: Learjet crash victims Tina Ward, Julian Bugaj, Laurie Gentz and Douglas Grande, clockwise from bottom. Photo via Oceanside Firefighters Association 3736 Facebook
By Rebecca Jefferis Williamson
Dec. 30, 2021 (El Cajon) -- Two flight nurses and two pilots have been identified as those lost in the Learjet 35A plane crash that occurred Dec. 27 in the Bostonia neighborhood of El Cajon.
The plane was owned by Aeromedevac Air Ambulance. Tina Ward, Julian Bugaj, Laurie Gentz, and Douglas Grande, the Aeromedevac flight crew N88OZ, all perished in the crash.
December 30, 2021 (San Diego) -- An extremely contagious disease which is nearly always fatal to wild rabbits and hares as well as pet bunnies has spread throughout San Diego County and the western United States.
Rabbit Hemorrhagic Disease Virus Type 2 (RHDV2) was first seen in a wild rabbit in the county in June 2020. Since then, nearly a dozen more rabbits have tested positive for the disease locally. But there are likely many more cases, since the state and county lack resources to test the growing number of dead rabbits reported.
December 31, 2021 (San Diego’s East County) – Lost but never forgotten, these are the prominent East County individuals who passed away in 2021, as well as two who died amid the pandemic in 2020 but were not memorialized until this year, when media was notified.
They came from all walks of life: journalists, educators, teachers, a priest, a tribal healer, a firefighter, a police officer, athletes, a musician, business leaders, students, philanthropists, an air ambulance crew, a veteran who survived the Pearl Harbor attack, and many more. Each left their own indelible mark on our region.
Click the name/title to view the full obituary for each of these local luminaries.
December 29, 2021 (Tecate) - Miron Golfman, a 28-year-old bicycle mechanic living in Anchorage, Alaska, is in San Diego this week to begin a 1,560-mile, ultra-endurance, solo bicycle ride through the Baja California peninsula to raise money for the ALS Association. Golfman said he already has raised $20,000 in pledges and hopes to exceed $50,000 in donations.
December 29, 2021 (San Diego’s East County) – Turbulent times continued in 2021, marred by a persistent pandemic, vaccine rollouts, political divisiveness including an insurrection at the nation’s capitol, and local controversies such as growing homelessness, a housing shortage, power outages, protests over mask mandates, and SANDAG’s proposed mileage tax, to name a few.
Some national issues, such as pandemic relief, the infrastructure bill, the end of the Afghanistan war, and court rulings on immigration had strong impacts on our region.
There were bright spots. California reopened its economy mid-year, allowing all businesses and event venues to finally reopen. Hometown hero Joe Musgrove pitched the Padres’ first no-hitter. Residents organized to halt sexually violent predators from being placed in a Mt. Helix community. La Mesa named a new police chief committed to rebuilding community trust. Major land acquisitions by the county preserved riverfront land in Lakeside and the former Starr Ranch in Campo for posterity.
Two new Congressional representatives from East County took office and a special election sent a new Assemblywoman to Sacramento, while redistricting at year’s end will bring even more sweeping changes in 2022.
Below is a rundown on the top stories that impacted East County in 2021:
December 29, 2021 (Ramona) – Scott Lagace snapped a series of images of a coyote pouncing on a gopher mound in the Ramona Grasslands Preserve this week, but the prey eluded capture, much to the coyote’s consternation.
The wily coyote earlier camouflaged itself among a herd of cattle – apparently oblivious to the “no trespassing” sign posted.
December 28, 2021 (San Diego) – If you’ve been exposed to COVID-19 but don’t have symptoms, you only have to isolate for five days instead of ten – but you should wear a well-fitting mask for an additional five days when around other people if you are unvaccinated or haven’t had a booster shot.
If you’ve had a booster shot in addition to the vaccine, you don’t have to quarantine at all if you don’t have symptoms, but should wear a mask for 10 days after exposure, when around others.
If you do have symptoms, isolate until a negative test confirms that you don’t have COVID. Anyone exposed to COVID should get tested five days after exposure.
Those are the new guidelines issued by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, which the state and county have announced they will follow. The rules do not apply to healthcare workers, however.
December 28, 2021 (San Diego) – Hours before this evening’s 5 p.m. kickoff at Petco Park, the UCLA Bruins pulled out, forcing cancellation of the Holiday Bowl. A statement from UCLA at 12:30 p.m. indicated the team was withdrawing “due to COVID-19 protocols within the Bruins’ program.”
No details were provided, though UCLA Athletic Director Martin Jarmond voiced disappointment for team members. “My heart goes out to them,” he said, but added that health and safety of our students will always be a priority.
UCLA was slated to compete against North Carolina State, which tweeted, “Heartbroken to not be able to compete one more time this season.”
December 28, 2021 (San Diego) -- Hundreds of kids who might have spent Christmas day feeling sad, neglected or lonely were instead uplifted with love, food, lots of wrapped presents and tons of snow imported into southeastern San Diego.
More than 500 people, most of them foster kids, homeless youths and struggling families in San Diego County, spent part of the morning on Christmas Day at the National Black Contractors Association on Imperial Avenue feeling connected.
The event was the annual Shane Harris Community Christmas Day Breakfast and Gift Giveaway, organized by local civil rights champion Shane Harris. Gifts given away included more than 70 free laptops, Chromebooks and tablets.
December 28, 2021 (San Diego) – The County Planning Commission will host a special meeting on January 7 at 9 a.m. to hear an update on Vehicle Miles Traveled (VMT) as well as 13 items that Supervisors directed staff to evaluate related to transportation impacts of future development projects. Below are details in a letter sent to stakeholders from the County’s Planning and Development Services Department.
Photo: Screenshot from video posted by 10 News, an ECM news partner
Update December 28, 2021: The FAA reports that four people were on board the plane.
December 27, 2021 (El Cajon) -- A Lear jet owned by Med Jet LLC, an air ambulance company, crashed at 7:15 p.m. tonight at Pepper Drive and North Mollison Avenue in the Bostonia area of El Cajon. The pilot and any passengers aboard the 10-seat plane are presumed dead following multiple explosions. There are no reports of fatalities on the ground, ECM news partner Times of San Diego reports.
The crash spewed fiery wreckage across the neighborhood, damaged a vehicle and knocked out power to around 2,500 customers of SDG&E, the utility website indicates. Power is expected to be restored by 6 a.m. tomorrow. Traffic signals are also out in the vicinity.
Dec. 26, 2021 (East County) Ahh, that all holiday gifts were the perfect size, color, wanted, or worked as well as advertised. Thankfully, grace periods are offered by some retailers.
Below are posted holiday return policies, excerpts, for select retailers, according to an article published by DealNews, on 12/22/21, by Allison Martin and contributions by Julie Ramhold.
-Amazon – Deadline is 1/31/22 for almost all items purchased from 10/1/-12/31/21.
December 26, 2021 (San Diego’s East County) – Heavy snowfall is forecast Monday, along with wind gusts up to 70 miles per hour in San Diego’s mountain areas. Snow is forecast to blanket local mountain communities including Pine Valley and Julian. Above 4,500 feet, four to eight inches of snow are forecast, with up to 16 inches above 6,500 feet at the highest peaks in San Bernadino and Riverside counties.
December 23, 2021 (San Diego) – The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has issued emergency use authorizations for two new oral anti-viral medications – the first COVID-19 oral medications for home use. However, the County warns in a press release today, “Supplies of these medications will initially be very limited and San Diegans should continue to mask up this holiday season to prevent infection.
The County expects its first shipment of Pfizer’s Paxlovid in the coming days. A second oral antiviral, Merck’s molnupiravir, is expected to start arriving in the region soon after.
East County News Service
COVID safety precautions minimized potential for TB spread
Story and photos by Miriam Raftery
By Miriam Raftery
Photo by Kim Bishop, Xo Enquire Photography courtesy of the Victorian Roses Ladies Riding Society
East County News Service
East County News Service
Photo, left: Learjet crash victims Tina Ward, Julian Bugaj, Laurie Gentz and Douglas Grande, clockwise from bottom. Photo via Oceanside Firefighters Association 3736 Facebook
East County News Service
East County News Service
By Miriam Raftery
By Miriam Raftery
East County News Service
By Rebecca Jefferis Williamson
By Miriam Raftery
By 
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