By Jason Mueller

March 18, 2017 (San Diego’s East County) -- Car shows are for enthusiasts, collectors and anyone that just enjoys looking at some of the most fascinating cars out there. East County is full of car shows throughout the year that are fun for all ages. With both classic and new cars, there is a little bit of everyone in the vehicles shown. If you love cars and thrive on the excitement of a good show, these three-great car shows throughout East County are for you.

East County News Service

March 31, 2017 (El Cajon) – The grand opening of BevMo’s new store at 3777 Willow Glen Drive in El Cajon was heralded in with the “sabering” of a ceremonial champagne bottle.   Doug Ratto, EVP and Chief Merchant, wielded a sword to cut off the neck of the bottle to signfy store’s christening.

East County News Service

Photo:  Sleek Siamese (c) Mark Rimland 1997

March 31, 2017 (San Diego) - "Secret Worlds:  Celebrating National Autism Awareness Month" will feature the 1st public viewing of the original illustrations by Mark Rimland from the book The Secret Night World of Cats and the whimsical sculptures of the prolific ceramic artist Colby Jackson.

By Miriam Raftery

March 31, 2017 (El Cajon) –“This is truly our day. We’re here to celebrate,” Sycuan Tribal Chairman Cody Martinez told a packed house during a groundbreaking on the Sycuan reservation for the tribe’s casino expansion.

The ambitious project will include a 12-story hotel resort with 300 rooms,  adult pool with swim-up bar, kids pool,  gardens including a 420-foot-long “lazy river,” new restaurants , spa,  60,000 in additional gaming space, and a spacious 11,401 square foot ballroom that can double as concert hall seating 1,200 or banquet room  with capacity for 700. The $226 million, 500,000 square foot project is slated to open in 2019.

Source: State Board of Equalization

March 30, 2017 (Sacramento) -- California voters approved Proposition 56, which increased the excise tax rate on cigarettes and expanded the definition of “tobacco products” to include any type of tobacco, nicotine, little cigars, and electronic cigarettes sold in combination with nicotine.

By Miriam Raftery and Rebecca Jefferis Williamson

March 31, 2017 (El Cajon )—El Cajon Mayor Bill Wells is leading efforts among local officials opposed to Senate Bill 54, which would declare California a sanctuary state.  Officials from several local cities joined  Wells in a press conference March 29th at the El Cajon Police Department, where about 25 protesters who support the sanctuary measure also turned out.

Opponents of SB 54 claim it would make communities less safe and put federal funds at risk.  They have launched their own website, www.mayorsforsafecities.org. 

Critics disagree, and one local official contends that backers of the Safe Cities website have disseminated "alternative facts"  that mislead the public on SB 54.

East County News Service

March 30, 2017 (La Mesa) -- La Mesa Conversations is partnering with Circulate San Diego to host a panel discussion on the Future of Transportation on April 12 from 6-8 p.m. at La Mesa Wine Works, 8167 Center St, La Mesa.

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Story and photos by Liz Alper

March 29, 2017 (El Cajon) - Grossmont High varsity boys lacrosse faced the Saints of St. Augustine High tonight.

March 29, 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

• Justice Dept. action signals serious legal concerns for Hunter (San Diego Union-Tribune)
• State reps want to change county elections: County reps not so much (Voice of San Diego)
• Facebook pioneer donates $75 million to UCSD (San Diego Union-Tribune)
• Unemployment rate in San Diego drops to only 4.2 percent (Times of San Diego)
• Border Patrol agents assaulted, threatened in three separate incidents (SD Union-Tribune)
• San Diego Emergency Officials, Geologist Sound Alarm on Tsunami Risk (KPBS)
• Chamber heads to Mexico City to protect cross-border ties in Trump era (Times of SD)

STATE

• Exclusive: Lead poisoning plagues California (Reuters)
• David Daleiden, activist from secret Planned Parenthood videos, charged with 15 felonies (Sacramento Bee)
• New parole rules released as California prisons near court-ordered cap (Sacramento Bee)
• California Cops and the FBI Want to Keep Their Facial Recognition Tech Secret (Reason)

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

By Miriam Raftery

March 29, 2017 (San Diego’s East County) -- The California State Parks Foundation invites you to volunteer to help a local state park get ready for the summer season this Earth Day,  April 22^nd from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. 

Spring flowers have brought splashes of color across the sunny slopes and green pastures of parks around California. After a record-breaking season of winter rains, California’s state parks are flush with wildflowers and wildlife. Winter has transitioned to spring and that means it’s also time for some spring cleaning.  This year marks the 19^th year of Earth Day spring cleaning in our state parks.

East County News Service

March 29, 2017 (San Diego) – Trial begins this week in a case filed against Petco for selling a pet rat with rat bite fever that killed Aidan Pankey, a 10-year-old Santee boy in 2013.

By Shaun Mullen, originally published at The Moderate Voice, a member of the San Diego Online News Association

Shaun Mullen was an award-winning editor and reporter who covered the Vietnam War, O.J. Simpson trials, Clinton impeachment, Osama bin Laden and more before turning to blogging and social commentary. He was a five-time Pulitzer Prize nominee, covered 12 presidential campaigns and authored several books. Much of his work is archived and accessible online in the Shaun D. Mullen Journalism Papers in Special Collections at the University of Delaware Library. ​

March 29, 2017 (Washington D.C.) -- Just because people with connections to Donald Trump’s Russia scandal keep dying or disappearing unexpectedly does not necessarily mean that their heart attacks, assassinations in broad daylight, mysterious exits and other premature departures are any more than an uncanny number of coincidences. (Cough, cough.) But the guy authorities claim was critically injured when his bathtub fell on him on the eve of a court appearance that would have been deeply embarrassing to the Vladimir Putin regime who also happens to be a key witness in a U.S. fraud case took my conspiracy-averse, never-leap-to-conclusions investigative self over the top.