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

January 10,  2023 (Lemon Grove) -- Since the passage of Proposition 64 legalizing cannabis for recreational use, cities and counties across California have been attempting to meet the desires of the electorate while also balancing public health and safety. Local Control, the ability for cities and counties to regulate whether or how cannabis operations exist in their jurisdictions, was included in the original proposition. It often brings the fight for or against cannabis to city hall steps.

Chrysler and Dodge vehicles are latest on recall list

Suzanne Potter, California News Service

January 8, 2023 (San Diego) -- It's a brand-new year, and consumer auto safety groups are hoping to avoid further deaths from faulty Takata air bags by raising awareness about the ongoing recall.

East County News Service

December 23, 2022 (San Diego) -- An incarcerated person has used a lifesaving medication available in the common housing areas of all county jails to assist another incarcerated person in medical distress. This is the eighth time an incarcerated individual has administered Naloxone since the San Diego County Sheriff's Department made the nasal spray accessible to the incarcerated population at county jails in June 2022. 

By Gig Conaughton, County of San Diego Communications Office

December 17, 2022 (San Diego) - Bivalent COVID-19 vaccination boosters are now approved and available in San Diego County for children as young as six months of age. The County Health and Human Services Agency is urging parents to protect their children, and themselves, by getting vaccinated with the new booster.

December 4, 2022 (San Diego's East County) -- Our Health and Science Highlights provide cutting edge news that could impact your health and our future.

HEALTH

• Marine veterans sue over alleged toxic water exposure at Camp Lejeune: "Poisoned as a result of their service" (CBS)
• RSV straining children’s hospitals across California (Los Angeles Times)
• Almost Twice as Many Republicans Died From COVID Before the Midterms Than Democrats (Vice)
• Covid Killed Half as Many San Diegans During Year Two of the Pandemic, But More Young People (Voice of San Diego)
• States differ on how best to spend $26B from settlement in opioid cases (NPR)
• The pandemic isn't over yet, but thousands of public health workers lost their jobs  (NPR)

SCIENCE AND TECH

• Lava, vog and "Pele's hair": The hazards posed by Hawaii's volcano eruption  (CBS)
• Notpla: UK plastic-alternative developer among £1m Earthshot Prize winners (BBC)
• Teenagers led a group of hackers who breached some of the world's biggest tech companies. The government wants to know how they did it. (CBS)
• Elon Musk suspends Kanye West from Twitter, unveils plan to incentivize advertisers to return (CBS)

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

Seasonal Affective Disorder Effects Over 3 million People in the U.S.

By Fire Chief Sam DiGiovanna

November 28, 2022 (San Diego) -- Feeling an onset of sadness? Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) is a type of mood disorder associated with seasonal changes. Commonly seen as depression arising during the winter months, it happens due to a disturbance in the circadian system of the body.

November 22, 2022 (San Diego's East County) -- Our Health and Science Highlights provide cutting edge news that could impact your health and our future.

HEALTH

• Energy bills: patients prescribed heating as part of health trial (BBC)
• Omicron variants BQ.1 and BQ.1.1 now dominant in U.S. (NPR) 
• Devices, loud venues could cause hearing loss in 1 billion young people  (NPR)

SCIENCE AND TECH

• Is this really the end of Twitter? (BBC)
• After crypto exchange FTX collapsed, Washington policymakers debate how to respond  (NPR)
• To save water, Arizona farmers are growing guayule for sustainable tires (Pop Science)
• Google settles location-tracking case for $392 million   (NPR)
• James Webb images thrill and surprise scientists  (NPR)

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

November 12, 2022 (San Diego's East County) -- Our Health and Science Highlights provide cutting edge news that could impact your health and our future.

HEALTH

• Fighting food poisoning: Sweeping poultry changes proposed (AP)
• There's a spike in respiratory illness among children — and it's not just COVID (NPR)
• Filthy floodwaters from Hurricane Ian drove wave of flesh-eating infections (Ars Technica)
• Iraqi minister admits gas flaring cancer link  (BBC)
• NEJM colonoscopy study's findings questioned by U.S. physicians (NPR)
• The World Health Organization releases list of deadly fungi  (NPR)

SCIENCE AND TECH

• FTX investigating a possible $473 million hack (CNN)
• FTX crypto exchange, billions of dollars low and under DOJ scrutiny, seeks bankruptcy (NPR)
• Meta confirms 11,000 layoffs, amounting to 13% of its workforce (Tech Crunch)
• Elon Musk named sole director of Twitter, dissolves board (The Hill)
• Mars Rover tech helps unravel an art mystery (NPR)
• Musk’s Twitter Roils With Hate Speech as Trolls Test New Limits (Bloomberg News)
• Pro-Russian hackers take credit for cyberattacks on U.S. airport websites  (NPR)
• Climate change: Can an enormous seaweed farm help curb it?  (BBC)
• They made a material that doesn't exist on Earth. That's only the start of the story.  (NPR)

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

By Katie Cadiao, County of San Diego Communications Office

Video by James Kecskes

November 3, 2022 (San Diego) - The County, with local and federal partners, hosted a joint press conference today to remind San Diegans they can take charge of protecting themselves and their families against a trio of respiratory illnesses that are circulating in the community this season.

By Katie Cadiao, County of San Diego Communications Office

Photo:  a flu shot is recommended for everyone 6 months and older.

October 28, 2022 (San Diego) - A 55-year-old man from the North Central region of the county is the first influenza death reported in San Diego this season, the County Health and Human Services Agency announced today.

By Fire Chief Sam DiGiovanna

By Kristen Hwang and Ana B. Ibarra, CalMatters

CalMatters is a public interest journalism venture committed to explaining how California’s state Capitol works and why it matters

October 21, 2022 (Sacramento) - California’s COVID-19 state of emergency will end Feb. 28, 2023, nearly three years from its initiation, officials from Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office announced today. 

By Katie Cadiao, County of San Diego Communications Office

Photo via Shutterstock

October 12, 2022 (San Diego) - San Diego County Public Health Services is investigating a large, suspected outbreak of respiratory and flu-like symptoms reported among students at Patrick Henry High School.

Source:  U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

October 7, 2022 (San Diego) - A  new report from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) shows that the Biden Administration’s historic vaccination program, which has gotten over 90 percent of seniors fully vaccinated and over 70 percent of seniors a booster shot, is linked to more than 650,000 fewer COVID-19 hospitalizations and more than 300,000 fewer deaths among seniors and other Americans enrolled in Medicare. The study, which was conducted by researchers with HHS's Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE), underscores the importance of Americans – particularly seniors and others at high-risk of serious outcomes – getting an updated COVID-19 vaccine this fall.

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

October 4, 2022 (San Diego’s East County) -- There is an opioid epidemic in the United States that stretches into California and San Diego County. People who use drugs are dying from overdoses in record numbers, including 12 kids under the age of 18 who died in San Diego County from opioid overdoses in 2021. A proven strategy to address the rising opioid overdose deaths is through widespread naloxone distribution in our communities which should include local school campuses for grades 6-12. Even one child using drugs and putting their life in jeopardy is one too many.