By Yvette Urrea Moe, County of San Diego Communications Office
Oct. 30, 2025 (San Diego) -- Residents, businesses and community organizations, your feedback is needed to help shape how the region responds to disasters, especially if you want the County to consider specific community needs.
An online survey is available for community members and organizations to share their perspectives and experiences.
The survey will be open until Nov. 21.
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Judge had threatened sanctions over 55 hours of deleted video
By Alexander J Schorr
Photo: The late Hayden Schuck
October 29, 2025—San Diego County Supervisors have voted to approve a historic settlement to resolve the in-custody wrongful death of Hayden Schuck. In the case of Estate of Hayden Schuck v. County of San Diego, et al. (Case 23-cv-00785-DMS-AHG), they approved a record $16 million payout and deputy training reforms to address the ongoing jail death crisis, according to the civil rights law firm McKenzie Scott PC.
Schuck was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence and drug possession back in March 2022, two months after Kelly Martinez was appointed Undersheriff, overseeing the department until she was elected Sheriff and sworn in the following January.
The 22-year-old was taken into custody at San Diego’s Central Jail, where he died six days later in his cell due to dehydration.
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October 29, 2025 (El Cajon) -- On Thursday evening, October 23, a vehicle traveling westbound on Main Street in El Cajon struck a pedestrian who was crossing southbound. After the collision, the driver of the vehicle failed to stop and fled in the vehicle, says Lt. Joe Crawford with El Cajon Police.
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October 29, 2025 (Pala) - The Pala Band of Mission Indians and Pala Veterans Program will honor the service and sacrifice of local veterans with a Veterans Day celebration on Tuesday, November 11, 2025. The event will start at 9:00 a.m. with the Presentation of Colors and remarks from guest speakers, followed by a community breakfast at 10:00 a.m.
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By Gig Conaughton, County of San Diego Communications Office
October 29, 2025 (Cuyamaca) -- A deer mouse collected in routine monitoring Oct. 22 at the Los Vaqueros Group Horse Campground in Cuyamaca Rancho State Park has tested positive for the potentially deadly hantavirus.
Finding hantavirus in wild rodents is not uncommon in San Diego County. And people rarely come into direct contact with infected animals because wild rodents naturally avoid humans.
Even so, County officials are advising people to take precautions, especially when pulling out those holiday decorations from sheds, garages or attics in case there have been infected rodents living in those areas.
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Oct. 29, 2025 (San Diego County) -- Need international document authentication? Now's your chance.
San Diego County residents needing international document authentication will have an opportunity to have a one-stop-shop for it on Wednesday, Nov. 5, as the California Secretary of State’s Apostille pop-up shop returns for a fifth and final 2025 appearance.
Hosted at the San Diego Assessor/Recorder/County Clerk’s Office inside the County Administration Center, this one-day event brings this vital Sacramento-based service directly to locals.
The envent will go from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Nov. 5 at the center at 1600 Pacific Highway, Suite 273, in downtown San Diego.
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Oct. 29, 2025 (La Mesa) -- This past week has marked one of the most challenging stretches of time for the La Mesa Police Department as it mourns the loss of fallen La Mesa Police Officer Lauren Craven.
Candlelight vigil photos by Karen Pearlman
Craven, 25, died the night of Monday, Oct. 20 in San Diego's Grantville area, on Interstate 8 near Fairmount Avenue. She was returning from San Diego's Central Jail and stopped to assist a motorist who had been in an accident on the freeway.
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October 28, 2025— A San Diego County Sheriff deleted 57 hours of video footage that may have shed light on a 22-year-old man’s death in a San Diego County jail. US District Judge Dana Sabraw and Magistrate Judge Allison Goddard have sanctioned San Diego County for erasing this footage, which could have shown whether deputies or medical staff ignored the inmate William Hayden Schuck in the days before he died.
Magistrate Judge Allison Goddard, who has sharply criticized the San Diego County Sheriff’s Office failure to retain the footage, called this “shocking in the height of negligence.”
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Photo, left: Vince Kattoula displays hookahs, advocating for more space to display them in retail stores
October 28, 2025 (El Cajon) – The El Cajon City Council voted Tuesday to deny a proposal that would have increased the allowable display space for tobacco products such as hookahs in retail stores that are not designated smoke shops.
The 3-1 vote leaves intact the city code requirement that licensed tobacco retailers are limited to 16 cubic feet of display area. The El Cajon Planning Commission recommended earlier this month to allow stores to double the permissible display area to 32 cubic feet. Councilmember
Phil Ortiz, who asked that the issue be brought forth to the Council, was the lone no vote. He advocated for the increased allowable space. Mayor Bill Wells was absent.
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Source: Grossmont-Cuyamaca Community College District
October 29, 2025 (El Cajon) - The Grossmont-Cuyamaca Community College District has officially launched its fall surplus property auction, now live. The auction is open to the public, and both businesses and individuals are encouraged to bid on the inventory. The District conducts regular surplus sales as part of its sustainability efforts in an effort to reduce its carbon footprint, repurposing equipment and technology that would otherwise remain unused or go to a landfill.
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“The massive reporting effort on this piece is evident...The two reporters on this story are truly an asset to their community.” – Judge’s comments on ECM’s first-place Education article
October 28, 2025 (San Diego) – East County Magazine received six journalism awards, including three first place winners, in San Diego Press Club’s 2025 Excellent in Journalism competition. The awards were presented tonight at the Encore Events Center in San Diego. Five of ECM’s awards were in the daily and online news category, while the sixth was in the radio division. ECM has won 156 major journalism awards since its inception in 2008.
Scroll down for details and links to read our award-winning entries.
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Little Black Dress (LBD) Event featuring a custom gown by top designer Evan Hirsch
East County News Service
October 28, 2025 (San Diego) – Goodwill San Diego is proud to host its annual Little Black Dress Event, just in time for the holiday season. All Goodwill retail stores will showcase a wide selection of LBDs, shoes, and accessories at competitive prices.
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October 28, 2025 (Lemon Grove) – The Lemon Grove City Council reopened the process for filling a vacancy, after efforts to appoint a candidate failed the first time. The vacancy will fill the seat held by Councilmember Steve Faiai, who passed away in July. The difference in the next selection process will rely on ranked choice voting, in which councilmembers will list their top three choices for appointment in an effort to avoid another deadlock.
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All available officers deployed statewide to keep roads safe during 12-hour operation
Source: CHP
October 26, 2025 (Sacramento) - The California Highway Patrol (CHP) will launch a 12-hour Maximum Enforcement Period (MEP) from 6 p.m. Friday, October 31, through 6 a.m. Saturday, November 1, to protect motorists and prevent impaired driving. During the operation, all available CHP officers will be on patrol statewide, focusing on identifying and arresting impaired drivers before they cause harm.
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Photo by Susan Massey: Bighorn rams on Bureau of Land Management property in Ocotillo, adjacent to Anza-Borrego Desert State Park.
Oct. 28, 2025 (East County) – The Trump administration is proposing to repeal the Bureau of Land Management’s Public Lands Rule in order to fast-track oil and gas exploration.
The rule protects habitat conservation and restoration. Repeal could threaten wildlife populations including bighorn sheep.
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October 28, 2025 (San Diego’s East County) – The National Weather Service has issued an extreme heat advisory for San Diego County’s valleys and inland areas. Temperatures up to 94 degrees are forecast today and up to 96 degrees tomorrow.
Hot temperatures may cause heat illnesses. Drink plenty of fluids, stay in an air-conditioned room, stay out of the sun, and check up on relatives and neighbors. The County of San Diego's Health and Human Services Agency (HHSA) has opened cool zones (free air-conditioned spaces). Click here for all cool zone locations countywide and scroll down for cool zone sites in East County and San Diego County’s inland region:
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By Tracy DeFore, County of San Diego Communications Office
October 27, 2025 (San Diego) - You don’t have to wait until Election Day to vote in person. Voters can take advantage of early voting at nearly three dozen select vote centers starting Saturday, Oct. 25. The centers are located around the county and will be open daily from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
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Oct. 27, 2025 (Lemon Grove) -- An early-morning, multi-vehicle crash Sunday, Oct. 26 on state Route 125 claimed the life of a San Diego man and left several others injured, the California Highway Patrol said.
At about 4:28 a.m. on Sunday, a Nissan Sentra driven by an unidentified individual, was traveling northbound just south of Spring Street with a 26-year-old male passenger from San Diego. At the same time, a 35-year-old man from Maryland had parked his 2007 Mercedes E350 on the right shoulder of stare Route 125 near Spring Street, accompanied by two female passengers.
For reasons still being investigated, the Nissan veered onto the shoulder and struck the rear of the Mercedes, pushing it forward. The Nissan then came to a stop in the northbound lanes, obstructing traffic. A 33-year-old San Diego woman driving a 2022 Ford Edge northbound was unable to avoid the disabled Nissan and collided with it. The impact forced both vehicles into the center median.
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By Rich Riel, business owner, former candidate for mayor of San Diego
October 27, 2025 (El Cajon) - Parkway Plaza is more than a mall—it’s a mirror. Once a bustling commercial hub, it now reflects the stagnation and missed opportunities that plague East County’s civic landscape. Crime, decay, and mediocrity have replaced ambition. And yet, the site sits at a strategic crossroads—adjacent to Highway 8, surrounded by transit corridors, and ripe for reinvention.
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By Karen Pearlman, with additional reporting by Miriam Raftery
Oct. 26, 2025 (East County) -- One of the original champions for First Nation independence through gaming on Native American reservations in California, Daniel "Danny" Tucker, longtime leader and tribal member of the Sycuan Band of the Kumeyaay Nation, has passed away.
Tucker, born Feb. 5, 1952 at Mercy Hospital, died Friday, Oct. 24 due to complications from diabetes, at the home he shared with his wife, Lori, in El Cajon.
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By Taina Fonseca, Times of San Diego, a member of the San Diego Online News Association
Photo: Mildred Falls. Photo by Alexander S. Kunz
October 26, 2025 (San Diego) - The San Diego River Park Foundation has successfully purchased a 58-acre parcel from a private owner, the organization announced this week.
Why is that important?
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By Chris Fite, Trustee, Grossmont Union High School District board
October 26, 2025 (El Cajon) -- When the dust settles after all of the lawsuits and media stories and packed and contentious board meetings, these facts will remain: the GUHSD board majority repeatedly if not exclusively tried to make vital decisions regarding hiring, firing and curriculum choices on the basis of their ideological and personal biases, instead of based on what was good for the students and the district. Instead of meeting the needs of all students, parents, and community members, they exclusively catered to the wishes and desires of a tiny fraction (of which they belong): a far right religious faction who are fundamentally opposed to the mission of public education: educating all Americans, newly arrived and native born alike, to prepare them with the academic and vocational tools to thrive economically to achieve their American Dream however they define it and to civically educate students to get along with others who have different ideas or cultures than they do and to think critically because they are exposed to ideas that may be difficult or complicated or contrary to their established views. In short, to learn how to be a democratic citizen. Make no mistake, this reactionary sect is not based on love and forgiveness but on punishment and power.
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By Sir Milo Loftin, County of San Diego Communications Office
October 26, 2025 (San Diego) - County Animal Services is asking for the public’s help to learn more about a puppy found with a severe neck injury caused by a collar that had become embedded in his skin.
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Goodwill San Diego's Little Black Dress (LBD) event is when stores in the region will showcase a wide selection of LBDs, shoes and accessories at competitive prices.
Support community news in the public interest! As nonprofit news, we rely on donations from the public to fund our reporting -- not special interests. Please donate to sustain East County Magazine's local reporting and/or wildfire alerts at https://www.eastcountymedia.org/donate to help us keep people safe and informed across our region.
The Women in Leadership Luncheon, with more than 450 attendees at Sycuan Casino, honored seven women who excel professionally and as community leaders -- women who demonstrate exemplary character, integrity and leadership.
Support community news in the public interest! As nonprofit news, we rely on donations from the public to fund our reporting -- not special interests. Please donate to sustain East County Magazine's local reporting and/or wildfire alerts at https://www.eastcountymedia.org/donate to help us keep people safe and informed across our region.
La Mesa officials say to expect major traffic delays
East County News Service
Oct. 25, 2025 (La Mesa) -- A funeral procession is planned for fallen La Mesa Police Officer Lauren Craven starting at 7:30 a.m., Tuesday, Oct. 28, according to the La Mesa Police Department.
Craven, 25, was killed in the line of duty on October 20, 2025, after being struck by a drunk driver while assisting at another crash scene on Interstate 8. She was returning from the San Diego Central Jail when she came upon a collision involving several vehicles.
Craven stopped to render aid to the drivers involved in the initial crash, but while assisting, a 38-year-old man, who has been arrested on suspicion of DUI, struck Craven with his car. She died at the scene, along with 19-year-old De'Veonte Morris, one of the drivers from the first crash.
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October 25, 2025 (San Diego) - Robert F. Kennedy Jr is an antivaxxer; but to the best of my knowledge has NEVER indicated he understands even the basics of the human immune system. Simply the first time we are infected with a bacteria or a virus, we have defensives cells that sometimes can stop them cold or slow them down, Neutrophils and Macrophages. We also have from birth ca. 1 million different B-cells which are capable of recognizing any invader; but it takes them a week or so to do so, then they produce antibodies that deal with the invader. During this time we can suffer, end up hospitalized, possibly die and/or suffer long term effects; e.g. disabilities. And they produce memory cells that can immediately recognize the same invader and quickly mass produce antibodies to stop it cold. All a vaccine does is produce the same memory cells.
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October 24, 2025 (San Diego) - Each November, a global movement takes root, one mustache at a time. Movember isn’t just about facial hair; it’s about facing the facts. Men’s health is in crisis, and silence is no longer an option.
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Oct. 24, 2025 (El Cajon) -- Local public safety officials have arrested the person who is believed to have been the driver of a car linked to a hit-and-run collision on Wednesday night, Oct. 22 in El Cajon that put a 12-year-old boy in the hospital.
Dani Korkis, 35, of Lakeside was arrested by authorities and booked into San Diego County Jail on felony hit-and-run charges, according to a Friday news release from the El Cajon Police Department.
The 12-year-old boy, who was hit around 8 p.m. in the 300 block of Ballantyne Street, remains hospitalized and is in stable condition.
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Oct. 24, 2025 (La Mesa) -- Lunch service has begun at one of downtown La Mesa's newest eating establishments.
Tour de Tapas, which opened last December with dinner service only, is now featuring its “Euro Small Plates & Sips” in La Mesa Village at lunch.
Dinner service is available 4 to 10 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday at the restaurant at 8323 La Mesa Blvd., but lunch is also now available from 11 a.m. until 2:30 p.m. Tuesday through Friday.
Support community news in the public interest! As nonprofit news, we rely on donations from the public to fund our reporting -- not special interests. Please donate to sustain East County Magazine's local reporting and/or wildfire alerts at https://www.eastcountymedia.org/donate to help us keep people safe and informed across our region.
By Yvette Urrea Moe, County of San Diego Communications Office 
By Alexander J Schorr
East County News Service
Source: Pala Band of Mission Indians
East County News Service
Candlelight vigil photos by Karen Pearlman
By Alexander J. Schorr
Source: Grossmont-Cuyamaca Community College District
Little Black Dress (LBD) Event featuring a custom gown by top designer Evan Hirsch
By Paul Levikow
All available officers deployed statewide to keep roads safe during 12-hour operation
East County News Service
By 
East County News Service
By Rich Riel, business owner, former candidate for mayor of San Diego 
By Karen Pearlman, with additional reporting by Miriam Raftery
By Taina Fonseca, Times of San Diego, a member of the San Diego Online News Association
By Chris Fite, Trustee, Grossmont Union High School District board
By 
East County News Service
East County News Service
La Mesa officials say to expect major traffic delays
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Growing Conversations, Saving Lives
East County News Service 
East County News Service
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