By Miriam Raftery

March 31, 2018 (Spring Valley) – Two young men robbed a Valero gas station at 2835 Sweetwater Road in Spring Valley shortly after noon today.  One of the suspects, described as a black male juvenile, pointed a silver .357 magnum at the store clerk and demanded cash. The other suspect was described as a Hispanic juvenile.

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Story and photos by Liz Alper

March 30, 2018 (El Cajon) - It was a Good Friday indeed as ECM Sports traveled to Granite Hills to watch the Lady Eagles, who sit at an impeccable undefeated 11-0 record (5-0 in league) take the field against the Sundevils of Mt. Carmel, who are 5-2 on the season.

East County News Service

March 30, 2018 (Jamul) -- The Jamul Kiwanis are revving up for their 10^thAnnual Hot Rod and Chili Cook off. The event will be held on April14 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Pio Pico/Thousand Trails, 14615 Otay Lakes Road, Jamul. 

Updated with revised start date of May 5th for the Farmer's Market

 By Jonathan Goetz

Miriam Raftery also contributed to this report

 March 30, 2018 (La Mesa) – La Mesa residents will soon be able to stroll the heart of the downtown village to shop for fresh produce, crafts and other items on Friday afternoons and evenings.  The  La Mesa City Council voted 4-1 at Tuesday’s meeting to move the Farmer’s Market to the downtown village on a six-month trial basis.  It will be run by the La Mesa Village Association instead of the city as a special event each Friday  from 3 to 7 p.m. starting May 5th, with street closures from 1 to 8 .p.m.

 The change has drawn support from many shoppers and some businesses, but has also engendered opposition from restaurants concerned about losing regular patrons on their busiest night of the week and neighbors with noise and parking concerns.

 The new market is projected to be approximately double in size of the current Friday night farmer’s market near the civic center, which must  ultimately move due to redevelopment plans.

By Miriam Raftery

Photo:  Herman Smith, San Diego County Sheriff’s Dept.

March 30, 2018 (Jacumba Hot Springs) — A hearing is set for April 27 on proposed release of Herman Smith at 42920 Desert Rose Ranch Road in Jacumba Hot Springs.  Smith has been convicted of sexually violent crimes including rape by force in 1993, oral copulation with a minor under age 14 by force or fear, and sodomizing a victim under age 14 with force. He has also been convicted of raping a drugged victim.

By John Fox,  Pala Rez Radio Station Manager

March 29, 2018 (Pala) -- Effective March 23, 2018, the North County FM station at 91.3 owned and operated by the Pala Band of Mission Indians has adopted the new FCC-authorized call sign “KPRI,” with the initials standing for Kupa Pala Rez Indians.  The station will continue to be known as Rez Radio 91.3.  We maintain our commitment to local programming including a wide variety of rock, reggae, blues, country, native and other local music as well as maintaining North County’s only local broadcast news presence.  But now we have a legal ID that actually says what we stand for.

March 28, 2018 (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 news sources representing a broad spectrum of political, religious, and social views. Top world and U.S. headlines include:

U.S.

• Senate passes massive spending bill to keep government open (CBS)
• Trump’s new national security advisor, John Bolton, could upend foreign policy (Time)
• ‘Lone DNC Hacker’ Guccifer 2.0 Slipped Up and Revealed He Was a Russian Intelligence Officer (Daily Beast)
• Comedian Byron Allen buys the Weather Channel for $300 million (Bloomberg News)
• Congress blocks DeVos agenda in spending bill (CNN)
• Stormy Daniels describes her alleged affair with Donald Trump (CBS 60 Minutes)
• Trump cutting Obama-era refugee admissions 77% (Washington Examiner)
• Trump signs new transgender military ban (BBC)
• Congress Takes a Brush to the Budget, Barring Federal Funds For Portraits (NPR)

WORLD

• Mexico Pledges $4.3 Million Effort to Stop Tijuana Spills (KPBS)
• Congo crisis worsening, EU says, as government shuns aid conference (Reuters)
• Skyline farms in Hong Kong reap happiness along with food (CS Monitor)
• French police charge suspects in murder of Holocaust survivor Mireille Knoll (DW)
• French officer who swapped places with a hostage in terror attack dies (CNN)
• Famous Turkish singer sentenced to 10 months in jail for insulting Erdogan (Jerusalem Post)

For excerpts and links to full stories, click “read more” and scroll down.

Source: Grossmont-Cuyamaca Community College District

March 28, 2018 (Rancho San Diego) -- From his own experience as a community college student to his time as president of Cuyamaca College, Sam Ciccati knows firsthand the transformative value of education. 

By Miriam Raftery

March 27, 2018 (Lemon Grove) – Christopher Williams, the medical marijuana dispensary advocate who has filed a claim against Lemon Grove detailed an alleged assault by Councilman David Arambula, is speaking out to dispute Arambula’s self-defense claim.

Williams also contends that city staff stalled his applications for multiple dispensaries by claiming not to have received results of a Department of Justice screening of all applicants, when e-mails from the DOJ indicate the results were sent to the city earlier.

Arambula is also drawing criticism from current and former councilmembers for failing to disclose the scuffle that sent Williams to a hospital for treatment of significant injuries including a fractured rib, gash on his face and bite marks on his arm. Mayor Racquel Vasquez is named as a potential witness in Williams claim, along with Taisha Brown, a Democratic Party activist, but both have declined to speak with media.  Some members of the council contend they were kept in the dark by Arambula and Vasquez about the violent altercation even when voting on dispensary applications submitted by Williams for Pick Axe Holdings, LLC.

By Miriam Raftery

March 28, 2018 (San Diego) – The U.S. Commerce Department has announced that it will ask a question on citizenship status during the 2020 Census. The question was removed from the Census back in 1950, but Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross claims that the change will permit “more effective enforcement” of the Voting Rights Act. But critics contend the move will instead diminish minority representation in Congress.

The Constitution, in fact, requires that every resident be counted in the census every 10 years, whether or not they are citizens.  The results are used not only to determine how many Congressional districts each state will have, but also the amount of federal grants and subsidies that will be provided.  If minorities fail to participate for fear of answering a citizenship question, California and areas such as San Diego County with high minority populations and areas with high poverty rates could lose billions of dollars in federal funds.

By Miriam Raftery

March 28, 2018 (San Diego) –  Did the recent rains produce a “miracle March” to ease drought conditions?  No, says Alex Tardy, meteorologist with the National Weather Service in San Diego.  The good news is that the March rains did bring our region up to 37 percent of normal, better than the parched conditions earlier in the winter season.  But the forecast through mid-April predicts warmer and dryer conditions than on average – and already, much of Southern California is listed a D-1 or D-2, that’s moderate to severe drought levels.

East County News Service

March 28, 2018 (Santee) – The Sheriff’s Santee station will conduct a DUI and driver’s license checkpoint on Friday, March 30^th from 8:30 p.m. to 2:30 a.m. at an undisclosed location.

Checkpoints aim to reduce the number of deaths and injuries from alcohol-involved accidents by getting offenders off the streets and by educating the public on dangers of impaired driving, as well as the importance of designating a sober driver. Checkpoints also assure that each motorist has a valid driver’s license.

By José A. Álvarez, County of San Diego Communications Office

March 28, 2018 (San Diego) - Thousands more San Diegans will have access to substance abuse treatment thanks to a new delivery system approved today by the County Board of Supervisors.

The decision will triple spending on substance use disorders from $54.6 million to $179.6 million over the next three years to address opioid and other substance abuse that often exacerbate homelessness, mental illness and criminal behavior.

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Does your son or daughter play a sport at a level other than varsity?  Comment on this story or tweet @ECMagSports to request coverage!

Check out our sports section for more sports stories!

Story and photos by Liz Alper

March 27, 2018 (La Mesa) - Ramona readers, rejoice.  ECM Sports was finally able to cover Ramona sports for the second time ever tonight as Bulldogs girls lacrosse traveled to La Mesa to face the Highlanders of Helix.  The Bulldogs sport a decent 4-3 overall record and are 1-0 in league play. Compare that to the Highlanders, who sport a 5-1 overall (1-1 in league) record and these two are pretty evenly matched.