Updated with City of San Diego response and a wildlife biologist's reaction

By Miriam Raftery

Photos: Grebe and chicks; grebe nest at risk

June 4, 2019 (Escondido) – A coalition of environmental groups has sent an urgent request to the San Diego County Water Authority asking for an emergency directive to halt pumping of water from Lake Hodges which has left grebe nests with eggs “high and dry” for the third time this season. The lake is in the city of San Diego, which has advised ECM today that it is taking steps to address the problem.

Grebes are famed for “dancing” across the water during mating system, drawing visitors for the spectacle. (View video of dancing grebes and a new video titled “Save the Grebe Chicks of Lake Hodges.”) 

The letter, signed by the Sierra Club, San Diego Audubon Society and four other environmental organizations, states that an estimated 300 eggs have been lost recently at Lake Hodges, from Western and Clark’s Grebes nests, some just days from hatching. 

East County News Service

May 10, 2019 (Escondido) - Música En La Plaza is a free community series that will take place from 7- 10 p.m. the last Friday of each month. The series will bring live music, dancing, tacos and tequila to the California Center for the Arts.

East County News Service

May 6, 2019 (Sacramento) -- In the wake of Saturday’s shooting in Poway, Senator Brian Jones (R-Santee) adjourned the Senate floor session on April 28th in memory of Lori Gilbert-Kaye, a Chabad of Poway synagogue congregator who died during the synagogue shooting on Passover. The occasion was also the State Capitol’s Holocaust Remembrance Day.

Thousands turn out at vigil to commemorate victims of Chabad synagogue 

By Miriam Raftery

May 1, 2019 (Poway) – District Attorney Summer Stephan has said she may pursue the death penalty against John T. Earnest, 19, who is accused of one count of murder with special circumstances for a hate crime and three counts of attempted murder when he opened fire inside the Chabad of Poway synagogue Saturday during a Passover celebration. He is also charged with arson at a house of worship for setting fire to the Islamic Center of Escondido.

By Chris Jennewein

Reprinted with permission from Times of San Diego, a member of the San Diego Online News Association

Photo:  John T. Earnest via 10 News

April 29, 2019 (Poway) - The family of John T. Earnest, the suspect in the fatal attack on a Poway synagogue, issued a statement Monday expressing “shock,” “grief” and “anguish” while lamenting  their son “is now part of the history of evil.”

Updated 3:45 p.m. with information from the Sheriff's press conference and comments from Poway Mayor Steve Vaus

By Miriam Raftery

April 27, 2019 (Poway, CA)--An older woman has died and three others were injured in a shooting  today at the Chabad of Poway synagogue, Sheriff Gore confirmed in a news conference this afternoon.  The attack occurred during a Passover celebration.

ECM news partner 10 News reports that  Rabbi Yisroel Goldstein, suffered a hand injury. Two men and a 10-year-old girl were also injured with shrapnel wounds; all are in stable condition and expected to recover. 

A white male, 19, from San Diego is in custody after he called authorities to surrender. He used an AR-type assault weapon, according to Sheriff Gore. He was arrested in nearby Rancho San Diego.  No motive has yet been disclosed.

NBC 7 reports that multiple sources confirm the suspect is John T. Earnest, who published a manifesto at 10 a.m. on Reddit threatening to live-stream the shooting in Poway. In a rant filled with racist remarks and Bible quotes, he also claimed credit for arson at an Escondido mosque a month ago. The killer stated that he was inspired by the recent deadly attack on a New Zeland mosque and by shootings at a Pittsburgh synagogue last year.

Source:  Rincon Band of Luiseño Indians

April 5, 2019 (Valley Center) - The Rincon Band of Luiseño Indians announced today that they presented a $10,000 gift to Escondido’s 2019 Cruisin’ Grand today in downtown Escondido. This $10,000 donation will support the music venue which will highlight local musicians and talent.

By Miriam Raftery

Image: Funds are being raised through LaunchGood to restore damage at the mosque.

March 26, 2019 (Escondido) – An arson fire at the Dar-ul-Arqam Mosque in Escondido on Sunday has prompted heightened security at mosques throughout San Diego County, the Escondido Grapevine reports.

“Graffiti left behind by the suspect made reference to the shooting incident in New Zealand,” said Lt. Chris Lick with Escondido Police. The mass shooting at a Christchurch New Zealand mosque earlier this month killed 50 people.

By Miriam Raftery

February 22, 2019 (Fallbrook) – Farmworker families in De Luz/Fallbrook are in “desperate need of emergency supplies” according to a press release sent by California State University San Marcos and human rights groups.

East County News Service

February 2, 2019 (Poway) -- The Episcopal Diocese of San Diego elected the Rev. Canon Susan Brown Snook as its fifth diocesan bishop today at St. Bartholomew’s Episcopal Church in Poway. She was elected on the first ballot during an election that involved 212 voting delegates.  She is the first woman to be elected bishop since the diocese was formed in 1973. Others on the ballot were the Rev. Roy Hoffman, DMin and the Rev. Michael Tinnon, DMin, both priests serving in this diocese.

East County News Service

December 3, 2018 (Poway) — The San Diego Academy of Horsemanship is announcing availability of its after school program. The program provides safe, educational and physically challenging activities for school-aged children in grades K-12 between the hours of 1:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m. By providing a variety of ranch and equestrian activities and academic mentoring, the program offers enriched, relaxing, fun experiences. 

Source:  Indi Squared

Photo:  Indi Squared Canvass Kickoff, Escondido CA  9/2/18

November 16, 2018 (Escondido) -- Just as Texas Senate candidate Beto O’Rourke is being credited with the “Beto Effect” – a massive voter turnout that lifted down-ballot Democrats to victory in Congress and the Texas legislature – a similar, if smaller, dynamic may be taking place in CA50.

Extraordinary voter outreach on behalf of congressional candidate Ammar Campa-Najjar exceeded any effort on behalf of a Democratic campaign in CA50 history. While ballots are still being counted at the San Diego County Registrar of Voters, with 92,873 votes, Campa-Najjar has more than doubled the vote for Duncan Hunter’s last midterm challenger, James Kimber, who received 45,302 votes in 2014, according to Ballotpedia.