May 4, 2013 (San Diego) -- The 11th Annual Explore Mission Trails Day is May 18 from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. (most of the events will occur between 9 a.m. and 2 p.m.) at Mission Trails Regional Park, 1 Junipero Serra Trail, San Diego.  The celebration highlights everything Mission Trails has to offer and features events throughout the park, including free guided nature walks, talks and programs.  There will even be live animals and special programs for children. 

“She had an attitude of gratitude,” La Mesa resident Ethel Rudolph says of her mother, Titanic survivor Anna Sofia Turja

By Ellinoa Blake

July 1, 2012 (La Mesa)--In the heart of La Mesa lives a hidden historical gem: Ethel Rudolph, whose mother, Anna Sofia Turja survived the Titanic tragedy. In her cozy home, Ethel sat down with East County Magazine editor Miriam Raftery and I to share her mother’s moving tale.

In honor of this year’s 100^th anniversary of the Titanic sinking after striking an iceberg, Rudolph recently visited Titanic: The Artifact Exhibition at the San Diego Natural History Museum, which runs through September 9.  

She reflected, “It brought back a lot of nostalgia, things Mother had said.”

Scroll down to read her dramatic story, including a video interview describing an eyewitness account of one of history's greatest tragedies.

September 24, 2011 (San Diego’s East County) – Photographer Greg Turok snapped these images of a Nutmeg Mannakin, or Spice Finch, and its mate in the Mission Trails Regional Park area Sept. 5. 

 “This bird is a recent resident to San Diego County,” said Turok, who has had the bird identified by the Ornithology Department at the San Diego Natural History Museum.