January 28, 2014 (Alpine)—February 5 is the deadline to submit nominations for the 2014 Alpine Mountain Empire Chamber of Commerce Leadership & Public Service Award. You can phone, e-mail, fax, go online or mail the names of the Alpine and Mountain Empire people, organizations or businesses you think deserve to be recognized for outstanding leadership or public service last year. Hosted by the Chamber, the awards will be presented on Thursday, Feb. 13, at the Viejas DreamCatcher Lounge in Alpine.

Review by Julian Rudd-Falls

La Mesa Bistro and Bakery,  8697 La Mesa Blvd, La Mesa http://www.lamesabistro.com/   

January 25, 2014 (La Mesa) -- La Mesa Bistro and Bakery has a diverse menu of tasty foods.  Serving breakfast and lunch, this Bistro and Bakery is perfect for anyone look for a good dine-in.

 Upon entering La Mesa Bistro and Bakery, I noticed it has an extremely long list of specials near the entrance. I grabbed a menu from next to the register, and stepped into line. Although I had two or three people ahead of me, I wasn’t truly sure I would be able to browse their very large menu in time to choose a food I’d like to eat! Depending on what mood you’re in, their menu offers dishes from burgers and waffles to healthful fruit smoothies.

January 28, 2014 (San Diego's East County) - Bullying amongst pre-teens and teens happens everywhere. Social media has made it really easy for bullies to harass and stalk their victims without suffering any repercussions. 32% of bullying victims engage in “self-harmful” behavior.

By Martin Eder

January 28, 2014 (San Diego)--Legendary folk singer, activist,  environmentalist, leftist, songwriter, and troubadour extraordinaire Pete Seeger passed away on Monday, 27 January, 2014.

This very weekend, KNSJ held a tribute concert to  Pete Seeger thanks to our invitation of George Mann, who joined us in this musical retrospective celebration of his life. We may have been the last sing-along event of Pete's songs, while he was still alive. As part of the audience, we were uplifted by his spirit and words: "If I had a hammer, I'd singing in the morning, I'd sing it in the evening, all over this land... It's a song of justice, it's a song of freedom, it's a song of love between my brother and my sister all over this land, all over this land..."

Tuesday morning, Amy Goodman and Democracy Now spent the bulk of the broadcast celebrating the life and contributions of Pete Seeger and his cultural activism. Listeners were reminded just how important the programming of our new community radio station is to our values and our information, knowing that KNSJ is the only local station to be honoring Pete Seeger today. This tribute is but one of 1,000 reasons why we need a strong and vibrant, and culturally poignant people-powered radio.  Listen to the podcast on DemocracyNow.org at http://www.democracynow.org/2014/1/28/we_shall_overcome_remembering_folk_icon?autostart=true  including interviews with Pete Seeger and video of him in concert.

Elected officials, school district urge student participation at college aid workshops

January 25, 2014 (San Diego)--High school seniors, local elected officials and San Diego Unified School District representatives announce plans to increase the number of San Diego-area high school students applying for free college financial aid. Students are urged to attend one of 13 upcoming “Cash for College” financial aid workshops.

In 2013, San Diego region workshop participants were offered more than $3 million in federal and Cal Grant aid.

Seniors who attend a workshop and apply for a Cal Grant by the March 2 deadline could also qualify for an extra $1,000 Cash for College scholarship offered at each workshop. The workshops, titled “Free Application for Federal Student Aid & Califiornia Dream Act Application Workshops, will be held between January 25 and March 1. Workshop information is available in a pdf document here and also at www.calgrants.org/workshops.

January 17, 2013 (San Diego) – On January 25^th at 7 p.m., George Mann will perform a concert at Church of the Bretrhen, 3850 Westgate Pl., San Diego.  The concert will feature songs from the historic 1941 tour know as the “Almanac Singers” – activists who toured the nation bringing folk music back to the people and spreading a message of unionization.  

Songs featured include music of Pete Seeger, Woody Guthrie, and the Almanac Singers from these classic troubadours.

View video of groundbreaking

January 27, 2014 (Boulevard)--Drive 60 miles east of San Diego out Interstate 8 and you’ll reach Boulevard, a sparsely populated rural community of about 1,750 people. Your view will encompass manzanita trees and granite boulders, but no shopping malls or gleaming high rises. In fact, you won’t see a lot of newer buildings at all, and you won’t be surprised to learn the town’s fire station is a converted court office.

That last part won’t be true for long though. On Thursday, County Board of Supervisors Chairwoman Dianne Jacob joined County officials and community members to break ground on a new $3.5 million fire station, which will serve a 78-square-mile area.

Editor's note: A local clinic has disputed portions of this editorial .  For details, click here.

By Sylvia Hampton

January 24, 2014 (San Diego)--Since the January 22, 1973 Roe v. Wade Supreme Court Decision striking down all state laws prohibiting doctors from performing abortions, the anti-abortion forces have done everything in their power to make abortion as difficult to obtain as possible. Hundreds of state laws have been passed and then struck down by the courts because they placed an undue burden on women or were simply medically unsound.  So the crusaders resort to trickery and bearing false witness.

E - The Environmental Magazine

Photo by Frank D. Lospalluto/Flickr: Clark's Nuthatch on whitebark pine

Dear EarthTalk: How is it that climate change is responsible for killing whitebark pine trees and thus impacting mountain ecosystems?   -- Dale Livingstone, Salem, OR

January 24, 2014 (San Diego’s East County)--Whitebark pine trees are a “keystone” species in high-altitude ecosystems across the American West, meaning they play an important role in maintaining the natural structure of many of our most iconic mountain regions. Wildlife from grizzly bears to songbirds are dependent on whitebark pine seeds for nourishment, while forest stands of the trees stabilize and shade the snowpack in winter, which helps reducing avalanches and helps extend snowmelt flows into the dry summer months.

January 24, 2014 (El Cajon)—Travis Scott Kelley, 23, of San Diego has been arrested for assaulting the 75-year-old owner of Hamlin Jewelers in El Cajon with the blunt end of a hatchet.  He is charged with attempted homicide, armed robbery, elder abuse and more.

A La Mesa man, Ali Armeen Toombs, 21, is also in custody for driving the getaway car.  Toombs faces charges of conspiracy to commit a felony and robbery.

Photos courtesy of Boeing, Brad Gibson and Jim Pelley

January 24, 2014 (San Diego)--A new website is dedicated to exploring how lifestyle choices and technologies impact the environment.  Reviving Gaia (www.revivinggaia.com) has considerable San Diego content, including some of Miriam Raftery’s articles reprinted from East County Magazine on regional energy and environmental issues, news stories from Jo Communications and features by San Diego biologist Renee Owens.  

The site’s owner/editor, Roy L Hales, was the editor of San Diego Loves Green last year and frequently wrote about net-metering, the biofuel industry and the industrialization of East County. (Some of these articles were reprinted by East County magazine.) He continues to cover these topics in Reviving Gaia.

January 23, 2014 (Santee)--Home to many special and endangered plants and animals, Mast Park, like many open spaces in California that are surrounded by urbanization, faces threats from invasive  nonnative plant species and trash. The San Diego River Park Foundation,  supported by SANDAG’s TransNet Environmental Mitigation Program and in  partnership of the City of Santee, will  holid a kick-off celebration of the  $145,000 two-year restoration grant to help address those issues along the San Diego River Trail in Santee on  Saturday, January 25, 2014 from 9 am to noon. 

By Greg Dunne

January 24, 2014 (Mission Trails) -- Instead of being  glued to the sofa and TV watching championship football games to see who will be going to the Super Bowl, I got a big pay-off with a photo of a cute little bird on Sunday.  I passed a few hikers along the way to the top of Mt. Fortuna out at Mission Trails Regional Park on Sunday afternoon.  How can you beat the great weather we have for hiking here in the East County, especially considering the hard winter the East Coast is getting right now?

The big pay-off for me was my first photo of this warm and fuzzy Wrentit.