East County News Service

November 2, 2022 (San Diego’s East County) -- During November and December, the Rock Church will host eight food distributions throughout the San Diego region, including El Cajon in East County.  The distributions are free and open to the community and will include frozen ground turkey, food, diaper and supplies distribution. Additionally, there will be 400 gallons of Hollandia milk distributed at the San Marcos location.

By Kathy Carpenter

"Oh, it's hard to give in! But it is worse to risk everything for stubborn pride." --Creon quote from Antigone by Sophocles. 

September 29, 2022 (Poway) - PowPac is presenting Another Antigone. A wry, witty, drama written by AR. Gurney, the play portrays the battle of wills between a college professor and his student. The play compares collegiate life to a Greek tragedy.  Four tremendous acting jobs, touches of humor, and thought-provoking moments guide us through this look at the repercussions of choice. Does anyone win when pride becomes involved?

By Miriam Raftery

August 23, 2022 (Fallbrook) – Jacob Daniel Oberg, 29, is under arrest after San Diego County Sheriff’s deputies found Molotov cocktails, or handheld firebombs, in his vehicle this morning.

As the Entertainment Capital of Southern California, Pala Casino offers the best in live events.

East County News Service

June 27, 2022 (Pala) -- Pala Casino Spa Resort in San Diego’s North County  will present award-winning musician, singer, and songwriter, Kenny Loggins, on Friday, November 11, performing live indoors at the Events Center. Kenny Loggins’ remarkable four-decade-plus career has brought him from the top of the charts to the toast of the Grammys. He’s had smash hits on Hollywood’s favorite soundtracks, rocked worldwide stages, and brought his soulful, beautiful voice to platinum albums of a variety of genres. His gift for crafting deeply emotional music is unparalleled, and it’s been a part of his life as long as he can remember.

By Kathy Carpenter

Source: San Diego Zoo Safari Park

Photo © by Andrew James, courtesy of San Diego Zoo Safari Park

May 12, 2022 (San Pasqual) -- A three-month-old giraffe calf at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park has received a new lease on life, thanks to swift intervention by the conservation organization’s wildlife health and wildlife care teams to correct abnormalities that threatened the calf’s survival. The female youngster—named Msituni (pronounced see tune neee), which means “in the forest” in Swahili— received a pair of specialized giraffe-patterned orthotic braces that attached to her front legs to help correct a hyperextension of the carpi, bones that are equivalent to those in the human wrist. This disorder had caused the giraffe’s front legs to bend improperly, and made it difficult for her to stand and walk. Wildlife care staff said Msituni’s chances of survival would have been very low without the treatment provided by the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance team in collaboration with orthotists from Hanger Clinic.

Man seen setting multiple fires in Vista.

Source:  San Diego County Sheriff

May 1, 2022 (Vista) - The Sheriff's Bomb/Arson Unit is investigating a series of suspicious fires in the North County. 

On April 28 just before 4:00 p.m., deputies from the Vista Sheriff's Station responded to a report of a brush fire near the intersection of La Tortuga Drive and Hacienda Drive in the City of Vista. 

By Kathy Carpenter 

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

Photo:  Poway Mayor Steve Vaus spoke to the media after Chabad of Poway fatal shooting in April 2019. Photo by Chris Stone

February 18, 2022 (Poway) - Poway Mayor Steve Vaus won’t face a recall election over alleged violations of political laws and supposed nondisclosures about his annual Christmas charity concert.

By Miriam Raftery

January 30, 2022 (Palomar) -- A 4.0 earthquake at 9:46 this morning struck approximately 5 kilometers west-southwest of Palomar Observatory in north San Diego County, the U.S. Geological Service reports.  That's about 18 miles northeast of Escondido.

The shaking was felt as far away as Mexico to the south, Santa Maria to the north, and Yuma, Arizona to the east.

By José A. Álvarez, County of San Diego Communications Office

January 12, 2021 (Escondido) - The County today broke ground on a new 50-unit apartment complex for low-income seniors and older people who are homeless and have a serious mental illness.

By Miriam Raftery

November 25, 2021 (San Diego’s East County) – SDG&E has shut off power to 5,311 customers as of 10 a.m. Thanksgiving morning.  Another 47,934 are at risk of outages amid a red flag warning for extreme fire danger and high winds. 

So far, these are the communities without power:  Alpine, Boulevard, Descanso, Jamul, Pala, Pauma Valley, and Potrero as well as the Campo, Cuyapaipe, La Jolla, Pauma, and Viejas reservations.Many more areas are on a list of potential outages to come.

View an outage map and click on your community for estimated power restoration times:  https://www.sdge.com/residential/customer-service/outage-center/outage-map   Some areas are listed as likely to be without power until Saturday.

SDG&E has opened several community resource centers where residents can get water, ice, snacks, and preparedness supplies, car power inverters, solar-powered batteries, radios, and update on outages.  View map at https://www.sdge.com/resource-centers.

Source: Superior Court of San Diego County

November 8, 2021 (Vista) – The ceiling collapsed in Department 12 of the Vista Courthouse at 6 a.m. Fortunately, no one was present in the courtroom at the time of the collapse. 

The single-story (North) building was evacuated and will remain closed indefinitely until the officials determine what caused the collapse and deem it is safe to reopen. The closure impacts 18 courtrooms, the criminal business office, juvenile court business office, Family Court Services, Family Law Facilitator, and the children’s waiting room.

The South building and annex are not affected and remain open.

These large snails can potentially transmit rat lung worm disease

By Miriam Raftery

Photo:  Channeled apple snail laying a mass of pink eggs  by Katasha Cornwell, Fl. Dept. of Transportation:

October 28, 2021 (San Diego) – What are those pink clusters on rocks at Lake Murray and Lake Miramar?  After an East County Magazine inquiry, an official with the city of San Diego confirmed that they are eggs laid by Channeled Apple Snails. Also known as the “golden snail,” the crustacean is an invasive species from South America with potential to become a serious agricultural pest—and also potential to transmit rat lung disease. 

They are listed as a restricted species prohibited in California – but they are now found in several California counties and a handful of other states including Florida, Alabama, Arizona, and Idaho.

East County News Service

October 5, 2021 (Rancho Bernardo) - The owners of the property where sexually violent predator Douglas Badger was proposed to be housed in Rancho Bernardo has decided they want to terminate the controversial agreement.