By Michelle Mowad, County of San Diego Communications Office

October 5, 2017 (San Diego) - It’s frightening how much fun you can have at parks this month. The San Diego County Department of Parks and Recreation will host a dozen chilling and thrilling Halloween events including haunted hikes, pumpkin parties and a day of the dead.

Don’t be a scaredy cat. All events are family-friendly, for all ages and some are even in the daytime. Most are free, though some have parking fees. Inclement weather may cancel some of the outdoor events.

 Residents Eligible for Mental Health Treatment, Medical Expenses, Funeral and Burial and More

 The California Victim Compensation Board (CalVCB) is encouraging residents impacted by the mass shooting at the Route 91 Harvest Music Festival on Sunday, October 1 in Las Vegas to contact them at 1-800-777- 9229 for assistance, guidance and aid.  

The massacre killed 58 people and injured over 500 victims.  San Diego attorney Jennifer Irvine was among those killed; several other San Diego County residents were injured, NBC 7 reports.

Help is available for survivors of those who were killed, anyone who was injured and those in attendance at the concert, as well as their immediate family members.

October 4, 2017 (San Diego's East County) -- East County Roundup highlights top stories of interest to East County and San Diego’s inland regions, published in other media. This week’s top “Roundup” headlines include:

LOCAL

• Home from Vegas, San Diegans Bear Witness to Horror (Times of San Diego)
• San Diego victims in Las Vegas shooting (KNSD)
• Local San Diegan recognized for courage during deadly Las Vegas mass shooting (KUSI)
• Rep. Duncan Hunter says he’d support declaration of war on N. Korea (10 News)
• SANDAG Staff Says 2004 Promises Can Only be Met with Two More Gas Tax Hikes (Voice of San Diego)
• 3 Sexually Spread Diseases Rise in SD County Amid Nationwide Spike (KNSD)
• Sempra Services Video Leaves Out Key Facts on Community Choice (KPBS)
• These Are the Incredibly Narrow Circumstances in Which You Can View Police Body Camera Footage (Voice of San Diego)
• Malware Attacks San Ysidro School District, Demands $19K Ransom (KPBS)
• As Hepatitis A outbreak grows, county refuses to release zip codes where cases reported (NBC)

STATE

• Yosemite hit by ‘substantially bigger’ rock fall one day after deadly slide (CBS)
• Feds Ease Rules Clearing Way for More Water to Be Drawn from Delta (KPBS)
• Cities Facing Fiscal Mess Plead with CalPERS as Pensions Consume Budgets (Reason)
• California strengthens law against audit interference after UCOP dispute (Daily Bruin)

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

October 4, 2017 (San Diego's East County) -- Our Health and Science Highlights provide cutting edge news that could impact your health and our future.

HEALTH

• First global pledge to end cholera by 2030 (BBC)
• 2017 Nobel Prize in medicine goes to three Americans for body clock studies (New York Times)
• Zika was a mild bug. A new discovery shows how it became monstrous. (Washington Post)
• FDA Not Doing Enough to Fix Serious Food Safety Violations, Report Finds (NPR)
• Anthem Says No to Many Scans Done by Hospital-Owned Clinics (NPR)
• 'Hypoallergenic' and 'Fragrance-Free' Moisturizer Claims Are Often False (NPR)
• Brain's Link to Immune System Might Help Explain Alzheimer's (NPR)

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

• App helps you find ATM skimmers so you don’t get scammed (CNET)
• Security firm finds some Macs vulnerable to 'firmware' attacks (Reuters)
• Facebook says 10 million U.S. users saw Russia-linked ads (Reuters)
• Equifax failed to patch security vulnerability in March: former CEO (Reuters)
• Facebook, Google Spread Misinformation About Las Vegas Shooting. What Went Wrong? (NPR)
• Global corn surplus stems from rapid scientific advancements (CS Monitor)
• Tsunami drives species 'army' across Pacific to US coast (BBC)
• Happy 350,000th birthday: Study pushes back Homo sapiens origins (Reuters)
• AncestryDNA angers privacy campaigners (BBC)

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

By Miriam Raftery

October 4, 2017 (La Mesa) -- The FBI has classified the San Diego area as a high intensity child prostitution area. San Diego ranks among the worst 13 cities for child prostitution, an 810-million-dollar criminal enterprise locally.

East County News Service

October 4, 2017 (San Diego’s East County) -- Agriculture values in San Diego County returned to their growing ways in the latest annual County Crop Report, increasing by 2.63 percent to nearly 1.75 billion dollars last year.  That’s a big shift, after two years of decline during the drought.

Meanwhile, Congress weighs bill to ban abortions after 20 weeks, but robs babies of healthcare at birth

By Miriam Raftery

October 3, 2017 (Washington D.C. ) – Nine million children in low-income families and poor  pregnant mothers are losing healthcare nationwide due to the Republican-led Congress failing to allow a vote on renewing the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), letting  it expire on September 30^th, the Washington Post reports.

East County News Service

October 3, 2017 (Ramona) -- The Oasis Camel Dairy in Ramona joins in celebrating Julian’s apple season, inviting visitors to treat camels to sweet, tart, crisp apples.  On October 7, 8 and 9, from 1 to 4 p.m. the celebration also include an open farm tour with friendly farm animals and curious camels. Plus, at 1:30 p.m. each day, you can enjoy a humorous and entertaining animal show.

SDSU alumnus becomes fourth member of the 2011 high school class to win rookie honors

Source:  goaztecs.com

Photo courtesy goaztecs.com

October 3, 2017 (San Diego) - Former San Diego State men’s golf All-American Xander Schauffele was named PGA Tour Rookie of the Year on Tuesday, as voted on by the Tour’s membership for the 2016-17 season.

By Miriam Raftery

October 3, 2017 (La Mesa) – Our second East County Dining Club event once again filled a local restaurant to capacity. Guests savored special Italian dishes, homemade pasta,Italian and local wines, and  live Italian vocal music  at Tiramisu Trattoria in La Mesa--also winning a wealth of prizes, meeting neighbors and making new friends.

Our July and August 2017 radio shows are now online. For links to listen to the shows plus a full list of topics an interviews,  click here, or click "read more" and scroll down. (Sound files may take a few moments to load).

Our newsmaker interviews included Eric Lund with the East County Homeless Task Force, 50^th Congressional district candidates Josh Butner (ex- Navy Seal) and Andrew Velt  (Sheriff sergeant), La Mesa Interfaith Council’s Nancy Ryan and Suellen Treadwell on an International Day of Peace, and Mission Trails Regional Park ranger Rebecca Smart on dog safety for local trails. Plus we covered hot issues locally and nationally that impact people in our region.

 The East County Magazine Show airs Mondays and Fridays from 5 to 6 p.m. on KNSJ, 89.1 FM.  Our shows rerun on Tuesdays at 9 a.m. and Saturdays at 8 a.m. Pacific Standard Time.  Read more and listen to our July and August shows:

Residents in La Mesa, Mount Helix, and other local neighborhoods complain of swarms biting during daylight hours

By Miriam Raftery

October 2, 2017 (Mt. Helix) – After numerous residents on the Mt. Helix Next Door forum complained of swarms of small, aggressive mosquitoes biting during daylight hours and often, indoors, East County Magazine contacted County Vector Control. We learned that the invasive Aedes mosquitoes have been found in 273 traps at 23 different locations between January 1^st and September 21^st this year.  View map.

East County News Service

October 2, 2017 (El Cajon) — Scotty’s Scare Trail, located at the Marshall Scotty’s abandoned amusement park, is rumored to be haunted to old employees and children who never left.  Left in a “scary decrepit state,” the site is “the perfect destination to let our monsters out of their cages to roam free,” the Halloween venue’s webpage states.

East County News Service

October 2, 2017 (Flinn Springs) — The Pumpkin Patch at Summers Past Farms in Flinn Springs invites you to Pumpkin Patch Weekends complete with corn maze, jumpy for kids, popcorn and more. There are also special dates for petting and meeting a variety of animals from alpacas to pigs, as well as a dog show, costume contest and more.