East County News Service

March 15, 2022 (San Diego) --  Legislation by Senator Brian W. Jones (R-Santee) to assist law enforcement agencies with addressing the homeless problem was approved today on a bipartisan vote by the Senate Public Safety Committee.

Source:  San Diego Public Affairs

March 15, 2022 (Rancho Bernardo) - The San Diego FBI’s Violent Crimes Task Force and the San Diego Police Department are seeking the public’s assistance to identify the individual wanted in connection with an attempted bank robbery in Rancho Bernardo.

On Monday, March 14, 2022 at approximately 4:29 p.m., an unknown male entered the California Bank & Trust located at 16796 Bernardo Center Drive and presented a note to the victim teller demanding money from the bank. The robber did not receive any money and fled the bank.

By Miriam Raftery

Photo, left to right:  Leonard Trinh, Nadia Keilani and Sherry Thompson-Taylor

March 15, 2022 (San Diego) – Governor Gavin Newsom has appointed three San Diego Superior Court judges to fill vacancies created by retirements. 

East County News Service

March 15, 2022 (Spring Valley) – The Sheriff’s Rancho San Diego station will host a coffee with the community on Wednesday, March 16 from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. in the Spring Valley Community Center at 8735 Jamacha Blvd., Spring Valley.

By David R. Shorey, East County Program Manager, Institute for Public Strategies

Photo courtesy Marijuana Prevention Initiative

March 14, 2022 (San Diego) -- When Proposition 215 was passed in 1996 legalizing “Medical Use of Marijuana” and Proposition 64 was passed in 2016 legalizing recreational use, medical professionals provided arguments in support. The California Medical Association endorsed Proposition 215 “…because it incorporates best practices.” Such endorsements presented the image that the positive medical impacts of cannabis outweighed any negative ones. Unfortunately, seven years after full legalization, we are seeing an impact that wasn’t discussed either in the ballot arguments in favor of legalization nor in the anecdotal stories used to advance each measure.

By Miriam Raftery

Photo: Creative Commons image by SA-NC via Bing

March 14, 2022 (San Diego) – The Biden administration has announced a 120-day pilot program in Houston and Baltimore to test placing migrants into house arrest as an alternative to detention facilities while they await immigration hearings. The home curfew program would cost only $6 to $8 a day per person, far less than the $142 per day for detention in a facility, Reuters reports.

By Bob Flax

March 14, 2022 (San Diego) - The current crisis in Eastern Europe underscores the need to strengthen the international security system. This approach to building a more peaceful world goes back decades and continues to demand our attention today.

By Matthew Manosh

Photo:  Actor Pepe Serna, center, with other film festival luminaries on opening night

March 14, 2022 (San Diego)-- The Latino Film Festival officially kicked off with an opening event on March 10, with several producers and directors of films present.  Among them was Luis Reyes, who directed the film Pepe Serna Life is Art, a documentary film which premiered at the festival.