By Miriam Raftery

July 27, 2020 (San Diego’s East County) – The deadline to file to run for local offices is August 7 including school boards, water boards, fire boards, community planning groups, city councils and mayoral races. In some races, multiple candidates have pulled papers announcing intent to run (though none have yet turned in final paperwork to qualify for the ballot).  Other races have only incumbents running unopposed or in some cases, no candidates announced yet at all.

For example, in the controversy-embroiled Cajon Valley School District, where two seats are on the ballot, so far only incumbent Jim Miller has filed to run. No one at all has registered so far in the La Mesa-Spring Valley School District.

In the Helix Water District, so far incumbents Mark Gracyk, Joel Scalzitti and Dan McMillan are running unopposed.

All community planning groups in East County currently have fewer candidates than seats. If not enough people run, vacancies will be filled through appointment by County Supervisors to these positions that advise Supervisors on key land use projects. There are many other races still lacking a full slate of candidates.

Interest appears strongest in city council and mayoral races. Here’s who has announced intent to run so far:

By Miriam Raftery

July 26, 2020 (Jamul) – Jamul resident Gregory Denny, who worked at Taylor Guitars and was a former Little League coach, died July 24 in a hospital of COVID-19. His wife, Kim Kallege Denny, announced his passing on Facebook, calling him her soulmate and best friend, adding, “He is now my guardian angel.”

"An incredibly moving and fitting tribute for John Lewis, a man who carried the baton of justice until the very end."

By Jessica Corbett, staff writer, Common Dreams under a share-alike 3.0 Creative Commons license.

Photo:  A horse-drawn carriage carrying the body Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.) crosses the Edmund Pettus Bridge on July 26, 2020 in Selma, Alabama. (Photo: Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)

July 26, 2020 (Selma, Ala.) - The casket of Congressman John Lewis, who died on July 17 following a battle with pancreatic cancer, was carried across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma on Sunday 55 years after the Georgia Democrat led a civil rights protest march and was beaten by Alabama state troopers in an event that has since been known as Bloody Sunday.

By Miriam Raftery

July 26, 2020 (San Diego) – San Diego County health officials reported 603 new cases of COVID-19 and nine more deaths yesterday. Total cases locally have exceeded 26,000 while total deaths have reached 533.

The county remains on the state watch list.  In an effort to reduce the spread of COVID-19, the county this week announced that a Safe Reopening Compliance Team of county staff will be investigating complaints about “businesses that are flagrantly not complying with the local health order,” according to County News Service.

 Residents are encouraged to report businesses defying public health rules by calling their local police or Sheriff department’s non-emergency line.

By Miriam Raftery

July 25, 2020 (Jamul) - Casi Cielo Farm and Winery in Jamul now offers free, self-guided vineyard and garden walking tours to wine-tasting guests.  

Owners Greg and PJ Maness have nick-named the elevated vegetable, flower and herb garden “Little Eden.”  From heirloom tomatoes to towering giant sunflowers to farm animals, the farm is a haven situated in Jamul just south of Rancho San Diego.

By Miriam Raftery

July 25, 2020 (El Cajon) – After numerous former students alleged sexual abuse by instructors, Christian Youth Theater posted yesterday on its Facebook page, “As of today, CYT San Diego social media will no longer be active since we will not be holding any programming or reopening until further notice. Please visit our website at www.cytsandiego.org to contact us directly if you have any questions or statements. We are here to listen. We are here to learn. We love and support our ENTIRE CYT family.”

By Miriam Raftery

July 24, 2020 (San Diego’s East County) – On July 26, Descanso artist Phebe Burnham will celebrate her 100^th birthday.  A restrospective display of her vibrant oil paintings, pastels and mixed-media creations can be viewed at Sophie’s Gallery in El Cajon from now through September 9^th.  Several can been seen online and many more can be viewed in-person at the gallery at 140 East Main Street in El Cajon.

Born at the dawn of the Roaring ‘20s in the U.S. and the Mexican Revolution in Mexico, Burnham has painted scenes and people in both Mexico and the U.S., including her rural Descanso community. 

July 24, 2020 (San Diego) -- East County Roundup highlights top stories of interest to East County and San Diego's inland regions, published in other media.  This week's round-up stories include: 

LOCAL

• Pandemic accelerates San Diego’s efforts to create ‘city of the future’ using technology (San Diego Union-Tribune)
• El Cajon takes new look at its homeless population (San Diego Union-Tribune)
• Officials Want to Dig Deeper on What’s Driving Black Homelessness (Voice of San Diego)
• COVID-19 cases, deaths surpass flu numbers for the entire 2019-20 season in San Diego (San Diego Union-Tribune)
• Community Planning Groups Skew Richer, Whiter and Older (Voice of San Diego)
• Padres Ready for 2020 But Miss the Friar Faithful (NBC San Diego)

STATE

• California was impatient. Now it tops New York for most coronavirus cases (Los Angeles Times)
• Through the looking-glass: Family members fight restricted access to loved ones in long-term care (Cal Matters)
• This is not a solution.’ Sacramento nail salon owners rebel against operating outdoors (Sacramento Bee)
• How Vietnamese Americans rallied behind nail salons during the California shutdown (Politico)
• California Legislature will let some lawmakers vote remotely amid COVID-19 pandemic (Associated Press)

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

July 24,  2020 (San Diego's East County) -- Our Health and Science Highlights provide cutting edge news that could impact your health and our future.

HEALTH

• White House Strips CDC Of Data Collection Role For COVID-19 Hospitalizations  (NPR)
• Rise in canine parvovirus cases could be indirectly caused by pandemic (10 News)
• Fauci Says We Aren't Winning Against Coronavirus  (Newsweek)
• Early Oxford-AstraZeneca Coronavirus Vaccine Data 'Encouraging,' Scientists Say (NPR)
• Wearing masks could help you avoid major illness even if you get coronavirus, experts say (Los Angeles Times)
• During Coronavirus Lockdowns, Some Doctors Wondered: Where Are the Preemies? (NY Times)
• A Covid-19 Lesson: Some Seriously Ill Patients Can Be Treated at Home (NY Times)
• Gene Therapy Shows Promise For Hemophilia, But Could Be Most Expensive U.S. Drug Ever (NPR)

SCIENCE AND TECH

• AI Tool Could Hunt Chinese, Russian Trolls Ahead of 2020 Election (Newsweek)
• The Pandemic Is Straining Airbnb (NY Times)
• Hackers Tell the Story of the Twitter Attack From the Inside (NY Times)

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

By Francie Murphy

July 23, 2020 (San Diego) --It is easy to bring beautiful Monarch butterflies into your San Diego backyard this summer by simply offering them the perfect meal – milkweed plants.

Anyone can learn how to start their own butterfly garden thanks to a new video out now from the University of California Master Gardener Program of San Diego County.  It only takes two and a half minutes to watch. You will get up close to caterpillars as they devour the milkweed on their way to becoming butterflies.

These beautiful creatures make the perfect house guest –you will welcome them back again and again!

By Ken Stone, Times of San Diego, a member of the San Diego News Association

Photo:  Jaylen Fleer, shown pitching for Santana High School in a March 2011 game against Helix Charter High School, also played football for the Sultans. Photo by Chris Stone

July 23, 2020 (Santee) - A San Diego County sheriff's deputy who once starred for Santana High School in baseball and football was behind bars Thursday on suspicion of a series of child molestation charges in Chula Vista.

By Rebecca Jefferis Williamson

July 23, 2020 (Santee) -- Santee’s Off Broadway Live will start performances again ----outside of their theater on 9490 Cuyamaca Street.  The theatrical company is adapting to the COVID-19 pandemic by constructing a performance area and seating section in the parking lot.

Arts organizations have been hard-hit by the pandemic, which has caused statewide shutdowns of theaters and concert halls since mid-March, with no opening date yet in sight for indoor live performance venues.  So like more and more businesses in other sectors, Off Broadway Live has opted to move musical theater productions outdoors.

By David Leonhardi

President, Deputy Sheriffs Association of San Diego County (DSASD.org)

July 23, 2020 (San Diego) -- The past six weeks have brought a major change in public safety discussions across the country. The rise of the “defund the police” movement has dominated national attention, sparking a debate over the nature of law enforcement and the scope of their duties. Criminal justice activists throughout the nation have pressured their local cities and counties to cut funding from their respective law enforcement departments due to perceived systemic problems, most notably, that of alleged racial bias in policing.¹ Supporters of this movement seek to reallocate this funding to social services surrounding issues related to substance abuse, domestic violence, and homelessness, to name a few.² 

By Miriam Raftery

File photo: A section of the old border fence being torn down in San Diego’s East County as work continues on new wall despite lawsuit and pandemic

July 23, 2020 (Washington D.C.) -- The American Civil Liberties Union yesterday asked the U.S. Supreme Court to halt construction of President Trump’s border wall. In a motion filed on behalf of the Sierra Club and Southern Border Communities Coalition, the ACLU is urging the court to lift an earlier stay that allowed the Trump administration to divert $2.5 billion from military pay and pension funds for border wall construction that Congress had specifically denied.