RAMONA ROBBERY VICTIM SPOTS SUSPECT AT BANK, LEADING TO ARREST

ALLIGATOR ALCATRAZ: A FLORIDA `CONCENTRATION CAMP’

OWNER IDENTIFIED IN DOG-DRAGGING CASE; ANIMAL CRUELTY CHARGES TO BE FILED

TRUMP SIGNS BUDGET BILL ON JULY 4 THAT INFLATES DEFICIT, CUTS SERVICES FOR LOW-INCOME AMERICANS AND MAKES TAX CUTS FOR WEALTHY PERMANENT

HAUTE WITH HEART FASHION SHOW AUG. 2 BENEFITS ST. MADELEINE SOPHIE’S CENTER

READER’S EDITORIAL: THE FIGHT FOR FREEDOM IS MORE URGENT THAN EVER BEFORE

A LAVENDER AND CAMEL OASIS IN RAMONA

PIZZABILITIES IN ALPINE SERVES UP BUILD-YOUR-OWN PIZZA AND INCLUSIVE OPPORTUNITIES FOR EMPLOYEES

ANIMAL SERVICES SEEKS HELP TO FIND ANIMAL ABUSE SUSPECT WHO DRAGGED DOG BEHIND JEEP CHEROKEE IN SPRING VALLEY

FESTIVE FOURTH OF JULY EVENTS AND FIREWORKS

“ICE OUT” MARCHERS IN EL CAJON TAKE STAND FOR IMMIGRANTS AS CONCERNS OVER ICE RAIDS AND ABUSE OF DETAINEES GROWS

GLORIA CHADWICK RESIGNS FROM GROSSMONT HEALTHCARE DISTRICT BOARD

HOT WEATHER HAZARDS FOR DOGS

County Offers Tips to prevent Fido from Becoming a “Hot Dog”
July 25, 2012 (San Diego County) -- Summertime is here and the Department of Animal Services (DAS) wants to remind everyone that these hot days can pose a danger to your pets.
“Animals can be very sensitive to high heat," said Director of Animal Services Dawn Danielson. "Make sure your pets have plenty of fresh cool water and shade; and cut down or stop any exercise for your dogs when it is hot."
DAS offers eight tips to help your pets:

INTOXICATED HIKER ARRESTED

 
July 25, 2012 (San Diego’s East County) – The San Diego Sheriff’s office responded to a 911 call Monday at 5:17 p.m. regarding a female hiker who reportedly had fallen off a rock while hiking at Three Sisters Falls.  Law Enforcement and Fire/Rescue resources were dispatched to the scene. These resources consisted of a Sheriff's Deputy, a fire/rescue helicopter, A Sheriff's Department law enforcement patrol helicopter, as well as engine companies from the U.S. Forest Service and CAL FIRE.

EAST COUNTY EATER: O’S AMERICAN KITCHEN BLENDS BEST OF OLD AND NEW

Reinvigorated restaurant from founders of Pat & Oscars opens in Parkway Plaza

 375 Parkway Plaza, El Cajon
http://www.osamericankitchen.com/

By Ellinoa Blake

Photos by Miriam Raftery and Ellinoa Blake

 July 24, 2012 (El Cajon)--An abundance of my childhood memories are focused around food. One memory that stands out is sitting at a black and yellow booth, hot breadsticks in hand, at Pat and Oscars. This restaurant held memories of family dinners, or friendly lunches, so I was devastated when these restaurants closed. Now, with great joy I bring good news: the chain has been transformed into a delectable combination of new and old, a twist of familiarity and contemporary design, reopening as O’s American Kitchen.

POWER OUTAGE AT GROSSMONT MEDICAL CENTER

 

July 25, 2012 (La Mesa) – Patients, some in walkers and wheelchairs, were dismayed to learn that a power outage has forced evacuation of the five-story medical office building #3 at 5565 Grossmont Center Drive.  

A spokesperson at the property management company told ECM that power may not be restored until after 5 p.m. tonight.

RAMONA REAL ESTATE AGENT INDICTED BY FEDS, PLEADS GUILTY TO CONSPIRACY

 
FBI seeks additional victims of scheme
 
By Nadin Abbott
 
July 25, 2012 (Ramona)-- The Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) has announced that Terese Rose, a local real estate agent, was charged with “devising and executing a mortgage loan origination fraud and kickback scheme.” The charges, filed in May, were unsealed July 12 and reveal that Rose pled guilty to conspiracy charges.

BOIL WATER ORDER AND PUBLIC NOTIFICATION FOR POTRERO GENERAL STORE AND CAFE WATER SYSTEM

 
July 25, 2012 (Portrero) -- The County of San Diego, Department of Environmental Health (DEH) has issued a Boil Water Order and Public Notification for the Potrero General Store and Café drinking water system located on 25125 Highway 94, Potrero, CA 91963 effective immediately. The water system serves a general store and cafe.

PHOTO OF THE WEEK: SPACE INVADERS?

 

July 25, 2012 (Ocotillo) – No, this isn’t the mother ship that’s landed in Ocotillo. It’s another alien power – the first wind turbine foundation poured at Pattern Energy’s Ocotillo Express project.  Photographer Jim Pelley measured a single turbine foundation hole measures 286 feet.

LARGE FIRE NEAR CA MEXICO BORDER IN THE BOULEVARD AREA

Update, 6:20 p.m.: Smoke south of I-8 is from fire on the Mexican side of the border, per CalFire. A Border Patrol agent told ECM the fire was about two miles south of the international border. 

July 24, 2012 (San Diego Border) -- ECM editor, Miriam Raftery reports seeing a large fire in the area of Boulevard at the California/Mexico Border. The fire is centered south of Jewel Valley Road in Mexico. Smoke and flames can be seen for miles. Please stay advised for further information.

OPEN MIC NIGHT AT THE SPACE BAR JULY 26

 

July 24, 2012 (La Mesa) – The Space Bar Internet Café  presents Open Mic Night with Jihmye on July 26 from 7:30 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. at 7454 University Ave., La Mesa.  Brandon Cesmot is the featured poet and Jim Moreno is hosting.

Cesmot has been among California’s most active poets and has won four San Diego Book Awards.  His poems have appeared in California Quarterly, Prism Review and Homestead Review among others.

IT’S OFFICIAL: GROSSMONT COLLEGE HAS SET A NEW WORLD RECORD

 
July 24, 2012 (El Cajon) -- Officials at Guinness World Records in London have confirmed that Grossmont College in El Cajon was successful in its bid to set a world record for the most signatures on a birthday card in one day. The record was set at the community college’s 50th anniversary open house held on April 14, when a total of 1,821 people signed a four-foot-tall card, including 174 well-wishers who submitted their greetings on Grossmont College’s Facebook page. The previous record was 1,468 signatures on a card in one day.

INTOUCH AT HOME APPOINTS STEVE SCHWEITZER DIRECTOR OF OUTREACH & CLIENT SERVICES

 
Appointment reflects need for quality home care services for San Diego region
 
July 24, 2012 (San Diego) Retired Marine Corps veteran and senior advocate Steve Schweitzer was named Director of Outreach & Client Services for InTouch at Home, a Senior Resource Group, LLC (SRG) company based in Solana Beach, California.

 

EARTHTALK®: EFFICIENT AIR CONDITIONING, E - THE ENVIRONMENTAL MAGAZINE

 
Written and edited by Roddy Scheer and Doug Moss

July 24, 2012 (San Diego's East County) -- Dear EarthTalk: Has an alternative to air conditioning to keep rooms cool been invented that is significantly cheaper and/or that uses significantly less energy than traditional air conditioning?                                        
                                                     -- Ashutosh Saxena, Allahabad, India

DREAM DOGS: LOOKING FOR FOREVER HOMES

 
July 23, 2012 (San Diego's East County) -- Skylar is a stunning pure white beautiful, spayed female husky with bright baby blue eyes.  She is being professionally trained and is spending her training in social situations with dogs and children. The new owners to this beautiful husky will come equipped with training.  Skylar is a pup who wants to be next to her owner, but needs an owner who can be a strong, active  leader.  Skylar is great with anything her master wants, as long as her master has established the dominant role. Strict yet loving rules must be given.

COUNTY PLANNERS APPROVE WIND ORDINANCE, OPEN GATES WIDE FOR INDUSTRIALIZATION OF EAST COUNTY

 

Decision allows industrial-scale wind development across East County and northeast region, including San Diego's scenic mountain, desert and rural areas

By Miriam Raftery

"This is absolutely unneeded and ill advised."--Commissioner Peder Norby

July 23, 2012 (San Diego’s East County) – By a 4-2 vote, San Diego County’s Planning Commission voted Friday to approve a controversial County Wind Energy Ordinance, an amendment to the Boulevard General Plan enabling approval for industrial scale wind turbine projects across vast areas in local mountain, rural and desert areas.  Also approved was an amendment to the Borrego Springs Community Plan to increase flexibility for small turbine projects.   

Communities targeted as prime industrial-scale wind resource areas include Santa Ysabel near Julian, Ranchita, Ocotillo Wells, Boulevard, Campo and Jacumba and other areas under County jurisdiction, as well as many federal recreational and U.S. forest lands as wlell as tribal properties.

UCLA RESEARCHERS CREATE HIGHLY TRANSPARENT SOLAR CELLS FOR WINDOWS THAT GENERATE ELECTRICITY

 
By Jennifer Marcus (UCLA Press Release)
 
July 23, 2012  (Los Angeles) -- UCLA researchers have developed a new transparent solar cell that is an advance toward giving windows in homes and other buildings the ability to generate electricity while still allowing people to see outside. Their study appears in the journal ACS Nano.

SMARTPHONE FITNESS HITS COUNTY PARKS

 

Bring Smartphone, Read QR Code, Work Out, Get Fit

July 23, 2012 (San Diego's East County) -- Hit the trail with your smartphone and you can get more than a little hiking in. How about working out your core, your lower body, upper body and improving your flexibility too? The County Parks and Recreation Department kicked off QR (Quick Response) Fit Trails at 4S Ranch Sports Park this morning.
 
To see a video of the new QR Fit Trails, and an interview with Supervisor Pam Slater-Price click here: http://youtu.be/Lp98dLVN2y4.

 

SIERRA CLUB FILES CLIMATE LAWSUIT: COUNTY OF SAN DIEGO MUST FACE FACTS AND KEEP PROMISES, GROUP SAYS

 

 
Suit alleges County’s Climate Action Plan ignores the science of climate-stabilization criteria
 
July 23, 2012 (San Diego) – The Sierra Club has filed a lawsuit challenging the County of San Diego’s recent approvals related to its Climate Action Plan. The lawsuit alleges that the County did not keep its promises to the people that it made just last year in connection with its General Plan Update – promises to create a “comprehensive and enforceable” Climate Action Plan that actually achieves emissions reductions. The lawsuit also alleges that the County violated the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) by approving standards of review for future development (thresholds of significance) which would contribute to devastating environmental consequences.

 

MOTORIST STRIKES AIRPLANE THAT MADE EMERGENCY LANDING ON I-15



2nd plane to land on freeway in two days

 

July 23, 2012 (Escondido) – A 1968 Piper airplane made an emergency landing on I-15 just north of El Norte Road at 11:25 p.m. last night after running out of fuel. Moments later, it was struck by a pickup truck, the California Highway Patrol reports.

EARTHTALK®: E - THE ENVIRONMENTAL MAGAZINE

 
 
By Roddy Scheer and Doug Moss
 
July 22, 2012 (San Diego’s East County)--This week’s topics include:

        1) Meat consumption, health and the environment
        2) Challenging Canada's Prime Minister's efforts to weaken environmental protections
 
Dear EarthTalk: We’ve been hearing for years how producing red meat is bad for the environment while consuming it is bad for our health. How do other types of meat, fish, dairy and vegetable proteins stack up in terms of environmental and health impacts?     -- Julia Saperstein, via e-mail

ACCOUNTING TECH’S SUNNY OUTLOOK A MORALE-BOOSTER TO CO-WORKERS DURING GRAY DAYS OF STATE’S FINANCIAL CRISIS

 
College district worker earns employee-excellence award

July 22, 2012 (El Cajon) -- Kasi Althaus, a Grossmont-Cuyamaca Community College District accounting  tech  with a dedication to service and  a joie de vivre that lifts the spirits of all around her was lauded at this week’s Governing Board meeting with an award for worker excellence.

READER’S EDITORIAL: SHOCKWAVES-- MASTERS SHOULD BE FIRED IF INVESTIGATION PROVES J.P. MORGAN ENGAGED IN ENRON-STYLE POWER MARKET MANIPULATION

 
by Tyson Slocum, Director of Public Citizen’s Energy Program
 
July 22, 2012 (San Diego’s East County)--J.P. Morgan Ventures Energy Corporation is under investigation for practices that may have resulted in overcharging consumers $73 million or more on their household utility bills. J.P. Morgan Ventures Energy Corp. operates under the oversight of JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s head of global commodities, Blythe Masters.

NEW ONLINE RESOURCE FOR CALIFORNIA STUDENTS

July 22, 2012 (San Diego) – A new online database has been created for California students that is a directory of all online college programs available in the state.  The database will be updated yearly and is a free and open resource.  School districts and high schools throughout the state have added the database as a resource for students and parents to use.

The web address is http://www.onlineschools.org/guides/california/.

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