May 31, 2023 (San Diego) – A memorial service has been scheduled for renowned author and radio host Charles Harrington Elster, who died March 1, 2023 of cancer at his home in Kensington. The memorial will be held on Saturday, July 15 at 2 p.m. at the Kensington Community Church, 4773 Marlborough Drive, San Diego.

Best known as the original co-host of  “A Way With Words” on KPBS from 1998 to 2004, Elster was a passionate logophile, or lover of words. The show’s founding cohost, Richard Lederer, remembers Elster as “a real communicator with a great voice.”

Elster also authored a dozen books on pronunciation, vocabulary and style, starting with There is No Zoo in Zoology and Is There a Cow in Moscow?” He penned high school vocabulary-building novels Tooth and Nail: A Novel Approach to the SAT and Test of Time: A Novel Approach to the SAT and ACT.  His last book, How to Tell Fate from Destiny and Other Skillful Word Distinctions, came out in 2018.

By Kathy Carpenter

May 28, 2023 (Poway) - In PowPac Theatre's presentation of Visiting Mr. Green, a dramedy by Jeff Baron, the power of connection takes center stage. The play revolves around Ross Gardiner, a successful executive reluctantly assigned by the court to visit Mr. Green, an elderly and grumpy widower, as part of his community service. What begins as an unfavorable obligation soon evolves into a heartwarming journey of friendship and personal growth.

By Miriam Raftery

Photo by Miriam Raftery: Rooftop solar on People's Market in Ocean Beach

May 29, 2023 (San Diego) – For years, residents in San Diego’s rural and desert areas have argued that it would make more sense to put solar on roofs and parking lots in urban areas where power is used, instead of building massive wind and solar projects in the backcountry that negatively impact communities and require miles of new power lines. On May 25, County Supervisors voted unanimously to approve a proposal by Supervisor Jim Desmond that will include studying capacity for renewable energy projects on infill lots, roofs and parking lots.

The study will be part of the proposed Regional Decarbonization Framework (RDF), which sets a goal of reducing carbon emissions to net-zero levels by 2045. The Chief Administrator has six months to complete the study and report back to the Board of  Supervisors, though the board cannot vote until the vacancy in District four has been filled by a special election.

As ECM reported in early March, the Protect Our Communities Foundation filed a lawsuit in late February against the County over its RDF, contending that the County hired a  biased utility industry consultant to direct the County’s RDF and that its conclusions are skewed toward utilities’ interests over consumers’ interests based on flawed data and that it would actually cost less for infill energy projects than for large-scale energy facilities in remote areas, if costs of transmission is factored in.

May 29,2023 -- Our radio shows from January through April 2023 are now online. 

Highlights included interview with Supervisor Joel Anderson over ICE dropping migrants off at the trolley in winter, human trafficking victim and advocate for survivors Kathi Torres on how to protect young people locally, Bob Gam on how his parents survived the holocaust, Dilkhwaz Ahmed, License to Freedom, and Bob Gam, Co-chair, Welcome Home, on helping refugees and asylum seekers; Bill Powers on the County’s Regional Decarbonization Framework, Clovis Honore, Grid Alternatives and Green New Deal Alliance on the future of solar energy in Calif., Amie Zamudio and Joanne Standlee: Housing 4 the Homeless on hospitals dumping homeless and seniors on streets, plus highlights from a heated hearing in Alpine on closure of Loveland Reservoir after extreme draining and other top local issues.

The East County Magazine Show airs Mondays and Fridays from 5 to 6 p.m. on KNSJ, 89.1 FM.  Our shows rerun on Tuesdays at 9 a.m. and Saturdays at 8 a.m. Pacific Standard Time. Note: Some shows were reruns; original run dates are listed below. Shows also include station IDs and public service announcements.

For links to listen plus an index with topics and interviews in each show, click here or click the "read more" link and scroll down. Audio links are below the index. (Audio files may take a few moments to load.) 

East  County News Service

May 28, 2023 (La Mesa) – Former La Mesa City Councilman Guy McWhirter died May 26, 2023 after a long battle with cancer.  A strong voice for La Mesa’s business community, who helped develop the village merchants’ association, McWhirter was also a long-time insurance agent and a Bishop in the Church of  Latter Day Saints for La Mesa's second ward in the 1990s.

A memorial service will be held on  Friday,  June 2 at 3 p.m. at the LDS church at 5555 Aztec Drive in La Mesa.

McWhirter was elected to the La Mesa City Council in November 2014 and served through 2018, after previously serving on the city’s planning commission.  In a 2018 interview with East County Magazine, he said serving on the Council had been “one of the most rewarding experience I’ve ever had,” adding that he enjoyed “working with people who want to make a difference.”

On the Council, he supported programs to boost business in the downtown village, from a farmer’s market to Oktoberfest. He supported efforts to help the homeless and approve the city’s landmark climate action plan.

 In a 2014 ECM interview, McWhirter provided his definition of leadership. “Be an example by being the hardest worker and have the ability of encouraging others by giving them a vision of what we are trying to accomplish.  Always listen and be willing to accept new ideas.”

Source: City of La Mesa 

May 27, 2023 (La Mesa) - May is National Bicycle Safety Month and the La Mesa Police Department is encouraging more people to get active and safely take bike rides. “Bicycling is a great means of transportation and recreation,” Chief Ray Sweeney said. “Let’s look out for one another and make sure everyone arrives safely at their destination. Share the road and share the responsibility.”

East County News Service

May 27, 2023 (San Diego) – Rail service resumes today from San Diego to Orange County, after emergency workers stabilized a hillside north of the San Clemente pier that scattered debris onto the rail right-of-way below last month.

Both Metrolink and Amtrak’s Pacific Surfliner are resuming service today,according to the Orange County Transportation Authority.

Find the latest updated train schedules at  metrolinktrains.com/service-update and  pacificsurfliner.com/alerts. 

The rail line is being reopened at the start of the Memorial Day Weekend, the unofficial start to summer and a popular time for travel by all modes, including rail.

East County News Service

May 27, 2023 (El Cajon) – The Biden-Harris administration has announced over $4.8 million in grants to Southern California to cleanup polluted brown field sites and provide technical assistance. That includes a $500,000 grant to the East County Economic Development Council Foundation to address contamination cleanup in the city of El Cajon.

According to the EPA site, the target area for this grant is the 1.4-square-mile El Cajon Opportunity Zone Corridor. Priority sites include a 1.1-acre former commercial and lumber operation; a 3.06-acre former ice house, lumber operation, and garage; and several sites formerly used for auto repair centers, a dry cleaner, a gas station, and a current restaurant and motel.

Congresswoman Sara Jacobs (D-San Diego) says, “Safely cleaning up and reinvesting in properties with potentially hazardous materials strengthens our local tax base, promotes job growth, and protects public health and the environment. That’s why I’m so glad East County Economic Development Council Foundation will receive a much-needed $500,000 from the EPA to invest in properties and frontline communities that have been ignored and neglected for far too long.”

Warnings issued for beaches from North County to South Bay, impacting beach safety for humans and dogs

East County News Service

File photo by Tony Webster,Friendship Park sewage warning sign in Imperial Beach cc 2.0

Update May 29, 2023: The closure is lifted for the Coronado Lifeguard Tower and North Beach Shorelines. Recent water quality samples meet State health standards.  Warnings at other beaches remain in effect.

May 27, 2023 (San Diego) – Sewage spills in Tijuana have contaminated many local beaches. Some South Bay beaches have been closed for months or more, including Imperial Beach and Tijuana Slough shoreline. Earlier this month, the Coronado shoreline was shutdown by county health officials, after earlier closing the Silver Strand.

This Memorial Day weekend, the county has also issued advisories warning consumers of pollution at the following beaches:

• San Diego River Outlet – Dog Beach, Ocean Beach
• North Cove, Vacation Isle
• Oceanside Pier at Surfrider Way
• Comfort Station at Leisure Lagoon
• Fanuel Park
• Fiesta Island Northwest Shoreline
• San Elijo Lagoon
• Childrens Pool