East County News Service

May 5, 2017 (Sacramento) - The California Senate this week passed Senate Bill 230, legislation by Sen. Toni Atkins (D-San Diego) that will help prosecutors convict predators who traffic in sex slavery. The bill passed by a vote of 36-0.

By Miriam Raftery

May 4, 2017 (Washington D.C.) – President Donald Trump is expected to sign an executive order today that would order the IRS to take a hands-off approach to churches that endorse political candidates. It also orders federal agencies to exempt some religious groups from a requirement to provide birth control to employees.  

But a third provision has been scrapped, which would have allowed businesses to discriminate based on sexual orientation and other moral grounds.

By Miriam Raftery

View video:  https://www.c-span.org/video/?c4667910/rep-hunter-ti-hearing

May 3, 2017 (San Diego) – During a Congressional hearing yesterday, Congressman Duncan Hunter (R-Alpine) grilled airline executives over monopolistic practices and lack of competition in hub markets. Hunter noted that he flies regularly from San Diego to Washington D.C. but that United is the only airline offering direct flights.

Part II of our special investigative report on the East County Mayors Prayer Breakfast speaker.

By Miriam Raftery

May 4, 2017 (El Cajon) – On Monday, an East County Magazine special report  revealed objections raised by some local residents to the controversial “Christian nation” advocate David Barton chosen to speak at the annual East County Mayors prayer luncheon this Thursday, May 4th at the Crystal Palace in El Cajon.  

Now the controversy has intensified, with a First Amendment watchdog group sending a letter to mayors of  El Cajon, La Mesa, Lemon Grove and Santee objecting to their participation and asking them to disassociate themselves from the event. The letter was signed by Andrew Seidel , staff attorney with the Freedom from Religion Foundation. At least two of those mayors have since cancelled their plans to attend the prayer luncheon.

 In addition,  local residents are asking why alternate versions of the flyer were circulated to religious and secular groups – the latter omitting all mention of Barton and presenting the event as "progressive" oriented.

East County News Service

May 2, 2017 (Fresno) -- Attorneys for seven individual gun owners and four gun rights advocacy organizations have filed a federal lawsuit challenging the State of California’s ban on so-called “large-capacity” firearm magazines that hold more than 10 rounds “on their own behalves, and as representatives on behalf of the class of individuals who are or would be affected by the Large-Capacity Magazine Ban.”

Update May 4, 2017:  Two of East County's four mayors have pulled out of the East County Mayors Prayer Lunch, after the Freedom from Religion Foundation sent a letter to the mayors asking them to cancel their planned attendance. The First Amendment watchdog group, which learned of the prayer lunch from our report, contends that the event violates the Constitional requirement for separation of church and state. The foundation's letter hints at legal action. View part II of our investigation here. 

By Miriam Raftery

May 1, 2017 (El Cajon) – Multiple East County leaders are speaking out to voice opposition to David Barton, a debunked “Christian Nation” advocate, speaking May 4^th at an East County Mayors Prayer  Lunch at the Crystal Palace in El Cajon.   Barton has  long claimed that the Founding Fathers did not  support a separation of church and state. His book, The Jefferson Lies, was pulled off the market by its publisher after conservative Christian scholars exposed many falsehoods. 

Barton  is listed as an extremist on the Southern Poverty Law Center’s watch list for his virulent anti-gay views.  He has also drawn fire for anti-Muslim remarks and some stances views as racist. He has advocated to remove civil rights leader Martin Luther King and farmworkers organizer Cesar Chavez from school text books.

In a recent interview with Christian Broadcasting Network, he urged Christian Evangelicals that they have a Biblical “duty” to vote for candidates who will support anti-abortion judges and who oppose equal rights for LGTBQ individuals.  “It’s not your vote. It’s God’s vote,” he stated. On his  Wallbuilders Live radio show,  he claimed that the same “evil” responsible for the Holocaust is today responsible for the “homosexual lifestyle.”

Just who is behind inviting Barton to speak at a function with local governmental leaders is unclear.  But his appearance has prompted a backlash.

By Suzanne Potter, Public News Service

Photo: Boole Tree in Sequoia National Monument is the sixth largest tree in the world, but could be lost under Trump’s order.

April 30, 2017 (San Diego) -- Ten of California's national monuments could be reduced in size or even eliminated as part of a review of all such properties, in an executive order signed last week by President Trump.

East County News Service

Photo:  Fearless Girl, Wall Street, N.Y.

April 28, 2017 (Julian) – Seeking to reverse “damage to our country using our American values of inclusion, tolerance, fairness and respect,” residents in Julian are organizing an Indivisible group, part of the nationwide effort to resist the agendas of Donald Trump and the Republican Party.

East County News Service

By Miriam Raftery

April 24, 2017 (Washington D.C.) – If Congress does not approve a budget by close of business on this Friday, April 29^th, the federal government will shut down.  That would cause disruptions in federal services, payments to federal workers, and the economy.   The deadline to pass a budget or shut down the government Friday is also Trump’s 100^th day in office, a milestone when presidents traditionally seek to hail their accomplishments, not preside over a fiasco.

By Miriam Raftery

Hear our complete interview by clicking the audio link,  and scroll down for highlights

April 22, 2017 (Ramona) – In an exclusive interview with East County Magazine aired on KNSJ Radio April 3^rd,  Pierre “Pete” Beauregard talked about his candidacy challenging Republican Duncan Hunter in the 50th Congressional district.

“My motto is `country over politics,’” says Beauregard, a Ramona rancher,  and formerMarine Corp medic who later helped start a medical clinic to help low-income people.  He’s worked as a cowboy, enjoys hunting and fishing,  and  is  ex-rodeo bull rider who believes  he’s tough enough to take on Hunter and stand up against Washington lobbyists if elected.  ““Once you ride a 2,000 pound bull,” he reflects, “Why in the hell should I be afraid of you?”

Photo:  top left to right:  Ammar Campa-Najjar, Patrick Malloy, Hannah Gbeh, Josh Butner, Gloria Chadwick, Glenn Jensen, Pierre “Pete” Beauregard

By Miriam Raftery

View our videos and post your comments!  Which candidate(s) are strongest and why?  Which might you be most apt to consider voting for, and why?

Part 1: https://youtu.be/pOOQxhTDj5Q

Part 2:  https://youtu.be/kk4H7dNWTPQ

April 21, 2017 (San Diego’s East County)—Seven Democratic candidates running  for the seat currently held by Republican Duncan Hunter participated in a lively forum last night hosted by the East County Democratic Club.   After opening statements, by each candidate they fielded questions on women’s rights,  healthcare, public education, protecting minorities, digital privacy, as well as their backgrounds, financing and organizing strengths. Many other issues were also addressed by this diverse and articulate array of candidates seeking to represent the 50th Congressional district.

The field includes a former Navy Seal, a farmer, a nurse, an ex-Navy medic, rural planning board members,   a Hispanic and Arab-American activist in the Obama administration, a realtor, a computer data expert, an environmnetalist, and more -- with several candidates having background in multiple fields.

Watch for our detailed analysis of the forum coming later. 

By Miriam Raftery

Photo: Clip art; the actual "Duncan Thumpin'" costume has not yet been revealed

April 18, 2017 (San Diego’s East County) – Hopping down the bunny trail—and the campaign trail—Duncan Thumper will soon be popping up at Congressman Duncan Hunter’s events to draw attention to his campaign finance controversies that have sparked a criminal investigation by the Justice Department.

East County News Service

April 17, 2017 (Spring Valley) – The Otay Water District today voted 4-1 to formally censure director Hector Gastelum for official misconduct over racist remarks that he made to media, on social media, and in the March 1^st board meeting.  Gastelum opposed the measure.  The resolution called his actions “reprehensible and intolerable.”

By Miriam Raftery

April 17, 2017 (San Diego)  –  The University of California has announced that it will halt its investments in private prison companies, removing $25 million in investments from Corrections Corporation of America, G4S, and GEO Group Inc., the Los Angeles Times reports.