January 10, 2015 (La Mesa)--Spencer McCall, a senior at Helix Charter High School and son of Drs. Michael and Madhavi McCall of La Mesa, earned a top composite score of 36 on a recent ACT test. Nationally, while the actual number of students earning a composite score of 36 varies from year to year, on average, less than one-tenth of 1 percent of students who take the ACT earns the top score. Among test takers in the high school graduating class of 2014, only 1,407 of nearly 1.85 million students earned a composite score of 36.

January 9, 2015 (El Cajon) – A man wearing dark clothing was struck by two vehicles after trying to jaywalk between signals in the 800 block of Avocado Avenue in El Cajon.

By Jane Hartley, U.S. Ambassador to France

Photo: Je Suis Charlie rally in support of slain French journalists, by Claude Truong NGOC, creative commons

Editorial originally published in Le Monde January 8, 2015 and on the U.S. Embassy website in Paris

January 9, 2015 (Paris)--Wednesday’s barbaric attack on the journalists and staff of Charlie Hebdo, as well as on policemen guarding them, shocked and saddened the entire world.  As we pause to mourn the loss of life, I am reminded of how the people of France showed their support to us in the aftermath of 9/11.  On September 11, Americans were in a state of shock as we tried to come to grips with that terrible loss and our own grief and a growing sense that our world would be different from that moment on.  I remember seeing Le Monde’s headline that day: “We are all Americans”, and how much those words meant to me that day as an American, a New Yorker and a friend of France.

East County News Service

January 8, 2015 (Washington D.C.)--The House of Representatives voted today to strike down a portion of the Affordable Care Act’s healthcare mandate.  The law requires that employers must provide healthcare for all employees working 30 hours a week or more.

Ruling protects priests across U.S., overrules patriarch’s decision

East County News Service

Photo:  Father Noel with Congressman Juan Vargas late last year; photo by Miriam Raftery

(January 8, 2015)- In a landmark decision, Pope Francis has ruled in favor of St. Peter's Chaldean Church in El Cajon in its battle to keep Father Noel Gorgis safely here.

January 8, 2015 (San Diego's East County)-- East County Magazine's World Watch helps you be an informed citizen about important issues globally and nationally. As part of our commitment to reflect all voices and views, we include links to a wide variety of news sources representing a broad spectrum of political, religious, and social views. Top world and U.S. headlines include:

U.S.

• Big threats for Obama’s climate efforts from GOP-led Congress (AP)
• Millions caught in icy grip as arctic front pushes south (CBS)
• Who’s most likely to be killed by police? (CNN)
• Net Neutrality Debate Forces FCC Chairman Into The Spotlight (NPR)

WORLD

• At least 12 dead in shooting at satirical publication’s office in Paris (KPBS)
• Palestinian statehood resolution fails at U.N council, U.S. votes against (Reuters)
• New Year's Eve stampede kills 36 on Shanghai waterfront (Reuters)
• US mission in Havana to become embassy amid thaw (UT San Diego)
• Islamic State executed nearly 2,000 people in six months: monitor (Reuters)
• U.S.-led forces launch 13 air strikes in Iraq, three in Syria (Reuters)
• Despite Its Beauty, Cuba Isn't Quite Ready For Tourists (NPR)
• ISIS published female sex slave handbook (Post)

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

By Miriam Raftery

January 7, 2015 (Spring Valley) – The State Controller’s Office has issued its final review report on the San Miguel Consolidated Fire Protection District’s administrative and internal accounting controls.

“Our review did not identify any significant deficiencies with the District’s administrative and internal accounting controls,” the report states. None-the-less, the report indicates the state plans to charge the district for the cost of the investigation. report indicates the state launched the investigation  because it had “reason to believe that the Annual Report of Financial Transactions submitted by the District is misstated, incomplete, or incorrect.”

"I prefer to die standing up than live kneeling." -- Stefane Charbonnier, Editor, Charlie Hedbo

Photo: #JesSuisCharlie on Twitter

By Miriam Raftery

January 7, 2015 (Paris)--Crowds around the world are standing up and journalists are speaking out to show solidarity with journalists slain at a French satirical magazine in Paris on Wednesday by  Islamic fundamentalist terrorists. The dead include the publication’s editor, other journalists including  prominent cartoonists, and two police officers.

Disneyland visitors also exposed in December

January 7, 2015 (El Cajon)--Two San Diego siblings may have exposed others to measles at Parkway Plaza Mall in El Cajon on Dec. 29, 2014 the County of San Diego Health and Human Services Agency (HHSA) announced today.

East County News Service

January 7, 2015 (San Diego) – San Diego-based Petco, the nation’s largest pet product retailer, announced this week that it has removed all dog treats and cat treats made in China off its store shelves nationwide, as well as from its website.

Updated January 8, 2015 with more details from Haggen.

January 7, 2015 (San Diego’s East County) – Over two dozen Albertsons and Vons grocery stores in our region are being bought by Haggen Food & Pharmacy, a small grocery chain headquartered in Washington State and focused on healthy, natural and gourmet foods.

By Chris Jennewein

Photo: Aethlon Medical’s Hemopurifier blood filtration system.

Reprinted with permission from Times of San Diego, a member of the San Diego Online News Association.

January 6, 2015 (San Diego)--San Diego-based Aethlon Medical Inc. announced Friday the Food and Drug Administration has approved a clinical protocol to treat Ebola-infected individuals in the United States with the Aethlon’s Hemopurifier blood filter.

East County News Service

January 6, 2015 (San Diego) -- In an effort to protect newborn babies from being abandoned in unsafe places or facing an even worse fate, California has a Safe Surrender Law.  Parents can bring their infant, up to three days old, to any fire station or hospital in California, as well as other designated sites. Parents are protected against prosecution as long as the child has no signs of abuse.

January 5, 2015 (San Diego)--Safeway Inc. will pay nearly $10 million to settle  charges that more than 500 of its California stores, including 64 in San Diego County, violated hazardous waste storage and disposal laws, the San Diego County District Attorney’s Office announced Monday.