October 23, 2013 (Washington D.C.) -- If you have a dog or cat that became ill after eating jerky pet treats, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) would like to hear from you or your veterinarian.

The agency has repeatedly issued alerts to consumers about reports it has received concerning jerky pet treat-related illnesses involving 3,600 dogs and 10 cats in the U.S. since 2007. Approximately 580 of those pets have died.

To date, FDA’s Center for Veterinary Medicine (CVM) has conducted more than 1,200 tests, visited jerky pet treat manufacturers in China and collaborated with colleagues in academia, industry, state labs and foreign governments. Yet the exact cause of the illnesses remains elusive.

To gather even more information, FDA is reaching out to licensed veterinarians and pet owners across the country.

Researchers, policymakers, advocates, and students depicted the state of San Diego’s boys and young men of color, sharing information on  to improve their social and economic conditions

October 23, 2013 (San Diego) – Assemblymember Shirley N. Weber’s (D-79) Youth Advisory Council and the California Assembly’s Select Committee on the Status of Boys and Men of Color, chaired by Assemblymember Steven Bradford (D-62), held a joint informational briefing yesterday evening to discuss the status of boys and men of color in the San Diego area and to connect the work of the Select Committee to the local community.

“As one of the state’s fastest growing populations, we should be investing in our boys and men of color, not leaving them behind,” said Assemblymember Weber. “This is a rescue mission to save California.”

October 23, 2013 (Borrego Springs) – Dori Holladay’s 48^th Annual Borrego Days Desert Festival is October 25 from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. and October 26 & 27 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.  This year’s event, renamed in honor of Dori Holladay (1937-2013), fondly called the Grand Dame of Borrego Springs will be anything but dry with a weekend filled with family entertainment.

The free festival features a music festival parade, artists, arts & crafts and food booths, and beer garden.  There will even be a carnival for the little ones. 

By Miriam Raftery

October 22, 2013 (El Cajon ) – By a unanimous vote, El Cajon’s City Council today voted to enter into an exclusive negotiation agreement with Excel Hotel Group to develop a Marriott Courtyard hotel at the northeast corner of Magnolia Avenue and Rea Street in the Civic Center block. 

The proposal hinges on the state selling and to the city of El Cajon at the corner of Magnolia and Rea.  The City would then sell the land to Marriott for a dollar and give up a portion of the transient occupancy tax (TOT) for a few years.  At the end of ten years, the city expects to receive enough revenue from property taxes and TOT to repay the city the cost of the land.

“It sweetens the pot for them to spend several million dollars,” Councilman Gary Kendrick told East County Magazine.  He calls the deal a “win-win” for all parties.

October 22, 2013 (Borrego Springs) – A big-rig truck driver lost control entering a curve on Montezuma Valley Road and overturned, crashing through a guard rail and plunging down an embankment at 6:15 this morning.  The driver, 28, and his 18-month-old son were extricated from the wreckage and airlifted to the Borrego Springs Airport, where Mercy Air flew them to Riverside General Hospital.

The driver, who is from Coachella, sustained minor injuries to his knee and back.  His young son sustained a broken leg.

Photo: Dog Dreaming, by Marc Kitaen

October 22, 2013 (El Cajon) – East County artist Marc Kitaen, El Cajon, won third place in the 10 annual Digital Art Show of St. Mark's United Methodist Church.

The show, which has the theme "Visions of Peace," includes 28 works by 12 San Diego County artists. It will run October 13 to November 10 in the church sanctuary, 3502 Clairemont Drive. The juror was Professor Craig Carlson, SDSU.

The other winners are: first place, Michael Sussna, La Jolla; second place Rachelle Farber, Carlsbad; and Honorable Mention T. Antoinette Fassel, University City, and John Valois, Mission Hills.

October 22, 2013 (San Diego) – In celebration of Disability Awareness Month and as part of its ongoing commitment to cultural diversity and responsible banking, Union Bank, N.A., has joined with KPBS to honor two inspirational individuals as local heroes.  The 2013 Disability Awareness Month honorees are: Linda Bounds, founder of L.E.A.P.S. (Lovingly Energetic Artistic Programs for Seniors) and BOUNDS; and Al Kovach, Jr., national senior vice president of Paralyzed Veterans of America (PVA).  Both will be recognized with other heritage month honorees during a November celebration in San Diego.

October 22, 2013 (Sacramento) – School bus safety is a two-way street, a responsibility shared by professional school bus drivers and the rest of the motoring public.  To help bring awareness to the safe transportation of students throughout the state, the California Highway Patrol (CHP) is proud to observe National School Bus Safety Week, October 21–25, 2013.

Nearly one million California students ride on school buses every day and more than 25,000 certified drivers are dedicated to providing safe transportation for children in the state.  These drivers go through 40 hours of intense training by the Department of Education, in addition to a rigorous certification process by the CHP, physical examinations, and drug tests.  Drivers must also possess a valid first aid and medical card and obtain a background clearance from the California Department of Justice.  Additionally, the CHP inspects and certifies every bus annually.

October 22, 2013 (San Diego) – Voters in the City of San Diego began casting their ballots for a new mayor Monday.

The Special Municipal Election will fill the vacancy left after Bob Filner resigned.

The Registrar of Voters (ROV) office opened its doors for the first ballots at 8 a.m. Monday morning and will be open for voting from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday until Election Day, Nov. 19, when the hours will change to 7 a.m. through 8 p.m. As expected for a first day, the turnout has been light.

By Cindy Buxton, Chair, Forest Committee of the San Diego Sierra Club

“This is the general “neck of the woods” of the famous Cedar Creek Falls and Three Sisters Waterfall… We are hoping for universal outcry to insist that all parties, SDG&E, the CPUC, and the USFS will embrace this as the golden opportunity to evolve community safety and environmental integrity forward.” – Cindy Buxton

October 21, 2013 (San Diego’s East County) -- The U.S. Forest Service (USFS) sent out its request for scoping on SDG&E’s Master Permit renewal.  The comment period is through November 7th.   Document links are provided at the end of this editorial.

The Forest Service, in an attempt to consistently and effectively manage wilderness and wilderness-like portions of their Forest, recommends moving the 626 69kV line that runs up Boulder Creek Road out of these fragile areas and makes this suggestion along with a mile or so wide corridor for study where portions of the line could be moved. But there more to this proposal than meets the eye.

Highlights of El Cajon, La Mesa, Santee and San Diego agenda items for this week

Update October 24, 2013:  Supervisors unanimously approved the feasibility study on bringing veterans' services to libraries countywide.

By Miriam Raftery

County Supervisors and local city councils have several significant measures on their agendad impacting East County this week.

On Tuesday at 10 a.m., Supervisors will hear a proposal by Supervisor Dianne Jacob to extend the county’s outreach to veterans. This proposal is being introduced in response to an East County Magazine investigation that found a lack of County veterans’ services in rural East County. 

Supervisor Jacob’s proposal asks the County’s Chief Executive Office to report back in 120 days on the feasibility of using county libraries for veterans services, which would add 34 additional locations for  County Veterans Services representatives to meet with veterans.

By Dave Patterson, Ramona

This is a wakeup call for everyone that assumes that our jobs and pensions are secure, and that we will be taken care of in our elder years.  The fact is that our leadership has bankrupted the nation and we are mostly to blame because of our apathy.

Starting in 1990 I was waving the red flag regarding the National Debt, then $2,000 per capita.  No one was worried because it was such a small percentage of gross domestic product (GDP), and besides Ronald Reagan had said, “Deficits don’t matter.”

The crooks and liars gave the green light to the banks and investment firms that proceeded to gamble our wealth and lose it.  Now the debt is almost as large as the debt accumulated after WWII, and we have a government that is so big no one wants to deal with it.  Our politicians have failed us and now they are saying that Social Security is on the chopping block.  Like our other pensions, they have spent it all into oblivion.

By Nadin Abbott

October 20, 2013 (San Diego) The 12^th District Judge for Civil Matters in Mexico City has ordered no further commercial distribution of genetically modified (GMO) corn for the moment. The Judicial order temporarily prohibits “the suspension of permits, release and pilot field studies and commercialization of transgenic corn.”  

The judge cited “risk of imminent harm to the environment” as the basis for his ruling, which bans multinational corporations such as Monsanto from releasing GMO corn into the Mexican countryside as long as lawsuits filed by citizens, farmers, scientists and other groups are working their way through the court system.

Health Impact News reports that Mexico has over 100 varieties of corn threatened by GMO crops from the U.S.  Since 2001, studies have found Mexico’s native corn has been contaminated by GMO strains such as Monsanto’s Round-up Ready corn, which contains an herbicide spliced into the seed, Food First has reported.

October 20, 2013 (San Diego’s East County) – On October 17, a shoulder-tap operation was conducted by the Sheriff’s Department and other agencies to see if retail outlets are illegally selling alcohol to minors in Santee, Alpine, Lakeside, Spring Valley, Lemon Grove, and unincorporated El Cajon.

Deputies from the San Diego County Sheriff's Department, Agents from Alcohol Beverage Control, and three minor decoys conducted a "Minor Decoy" and "Shoulder Tap" Operation at various locations in the East County. The operation involved minors who tested "on-sale" and "off-sale" establishments. The minor decoys tested retailers and servers at a number of locations in an attempt to purchase alcoholic beverages inside their establishments. Three employees sold alcohol to the decoys.

October 20, 2013 (San Diego) – On October 15 at 8:54 p.m., two suspects robbed a victim of a backpack, cell phone and wallet at Pontiac Street and Rockford Drive near San Diego State University’s campus. 

According to campus police, one suspect approached the victim from the front while the second suspect approached from behind and demanded the victim’s property.  The suspects then fled west on foot towards Rockford Drive.  A small black sedan was seen leaving the area and may have been involved.