March 17, 2013 (San Diego)--A coalition of local and national organizations will hold four days of action in San Diego to protest the U.S. government’s use of drones, from April 4-7, 2013.  The host group, Drone Diego, has invited participants from across the nation to call attention to the threats from increasing unmanned robotic warfare by the United States.  Drone Diego will host varied events over a half-week-long series of actions.  

March 17, 2013 (San Diego) -- On March 11,  San Diego’s City Council unanimously approved funding for a new Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD) system. The CAD system is used for dispatching emergency 9-1-1 calls and is of critical importance to emergency response times. In an emergency, seconds can make every difference, including that of a life or death situation. The current software was originally written in the mid-1970s and the existing CAD system was installed in 1991.  The council’s action approved $6.9 million in one- time revenue toward the long overdue CAD system replacement.

The new CAD system will improve response times and modernize the tools available for the efficient dispatching of 9-1-1 calls. By committing the necessary funding to upgrade the CAD system, we increase public safety for all San Diegans and give our first responders the tools necessary to serve our residents. It is estimated that the CAD system replacement will take three to five years, depending on the scope of work.

Twice Begun, by Reina Lisa Menasche

Book review by Miriam Raftery

March 17, 2013 (San Diego)--Paris Jablonski has a seemingly idyllic life in San Diego with her charming French husband and young daughter.  But that illusion is shattered on her seventh anniversary, when she finds love letters in her husband’s closet from a woman in France.  

Twice Begun, a novel by San Diego author Reina Menasche, opens  with this line: “Before I stepped into the closet, my life felt like an Impressionist masterpiece—filled with elusive light yet made of simple dabs of color that even a child could paint.”

But  Paris is given no opportunity to absorb the shock, caught in the moment not by her philandering husband, Serge, but by the family dog tailed closely by Paris' 7-year-old daughter, who asks innocently,  “Mommy, why are you in the closet?”

By Miriam Raftery

View videos:   Soldier, sea captain, mountain man’s "Rendevous tale

March 16, 2013 (Vallecitos) -- A soldier, a sailor, and a mountain man—all bringing to life tales from the 1850 and '60s, shared their stories at Vallecitos Days.  The two-day event continues Sunday morning (ending at 2 p.m.)  at the Vallecitos Stage Station in the Anza-Borrego Desert .

 For details see http://www.eastcountymagazine.org/node/12586.  To get there, take I-8 east to S-2 at Ocotillo and continue north until you reach the Vallecitos Stage Station on your left.

As we arrived, a soldier in a Union Army uniform offers visitors bread cooked over a campfire. It resembles s’mores, baked long and narrow to fit on a soldier’s gunstock to be carried on the trail.  Another Army man launches into a story of how he wound up  at this outpost, while nearby, a woman in a hoopskirt shades herself with a parasol.

March 16, 2013 (San Diego)--Mayor Bob Filner has launched the City’s first ever Open Government web pages. The newly created web pages are another step by Mayor Filner to provide easier access to documents the public has a right to and need to know.

“The public has a right to know what their government is doing, and why,” said Mayor Filner. “This information will help make it easier for the public to participate and find documents.”

March 16, 2013 (San Diego) -- Dear EarthTalk: I’d like to have a garden that encourages bees and butterflies. What’s the best approach?                                                              

-- Robert Miller, Bakersfield, CA

Attracting bees and butterflies to a garden is a noble pursuit indeed, given that we all depend on these species and others (beetles, wasps, flies, hummingbirds, etc.) to pollinate the plants that provide us with so much of our food, shelter and other necessities of life. In fact, increased awareness of the essential role pollinators play in ecosystem maintenance—along with news about rapid declines in bee populations—have led to a proliferation of backyard “pollinator gardens” across the U.S. and beyond.

By Janis Mork

“I’m very close to the homeless. They’re people. Not all are troublemakers….. I know several who need help. We need to get tools together for a community committee, so we can get people off the streets and into homes.” – Clifva Budke, Medical Billing Enterprise

“I’ve stated many times that Santee is not a social services business. We’re in potholes, we’re in law enforcement, and we’re in fire fighters. .. I have a problem with the homeless industry.” – Mayor Randy Voepel

March 15, 2013 (Santee)- At Wednesday’s Santee City Council meeting, City Manager Keith Till brought up a report on strategies to reduce  problems related to the transient [homeless] population, sparking a robust discussion on how best to address homelessness in Santee—and whether the solutions should be purely punitive, or include services to help those in need. 

By Janis Mork

March 15, 2013 (Santee) - At Wednesday’s city council meeting, the council was informed of a Santee Public Art Sub-Committee under the Santee Park and Recreation Committee. Community services director Bill Maertz explained that the new sub-committee hopes to have public art projects and paintings among other things to promote works of art, such as depictions of nature. “We’re looking at proceeds from the Bluegrass Festival, volunteer painters, and donations from public” along with anyone else who may offer their skills and expertise, he said.

March 15, 2013 (Alpine) -- An 11--year-old boy has been struck by a vehicle at the intersection of Alpine Boulevard and Tavern Road, Incident Page Network (IPN) reports. Mercy Air is on standby.

According to the CHP website, the vehicle that struck the child is a Honda Odyssey.

Watch for updates on this story soon.

Measure will lead to taxpayer savings, energy efficiency

March 14, 2013 (San Diego)--County Supervisors Dianne Jacob and Dave Roberts want to save taxpayers’ money and quickly bring more energy-saving projects like solar to the region.

Several days after meeting with San Diego Mayor Bob Filner to discuss energy issues, Roberts and Jacob on Tuesday pushed for more green energy and less reliance on fossil-fuels in the county’s unincorporated area. Roberts called for a working partnership with the city of San Diego “on all things green”.

March14, 2013 (San Diego’s East County)--ECM World Watch helps you be an informed citizen about important issues globally and nationally. As part of our commitment to reflect all voices and views, we include links to a wide variety of news sources representing a broad spectrum of political, religious, and social views. Top world and U.S. headlines include:

U.S. 

• Ryan budget plan combines old cuts, new tax revenues (Washington Post) 
• Paul Ryan’s budget: Social engineering and a side of deficit reduction (Washington Post) 
• The hot air in wind power (Wall Street Journal)
• A Lasting Legacy of the Fukushima Rescue Mission: Part 1 Radioactive Contamination of American Sailors (Energy Matters)
• Journalism schools try out drones—and test legal boundaries (U.S. News)
• House Democrats demand President release full legal basis for drone strikes (RawStory)
• Rand Paul's Filibuster: The Latest Example of Why We Need "President's Questions"  (Reason)
• State of Ore. backs Klamath Tribes water rights (Sacramento Bee)
• The fire sale at the White House (Jewish World Review)
• Justice issues order supporting photojournalist taking pictures of police  (Media Law)
• How more than $8 billion in US taxpayers' money went to waste in Iraq (Christian Science Monitor)
• Dow's 'Record Highs' Misleading Without Including Inflation (NPR)
• Dianne Feinstein ignites debate over veterans with PTSD and guns  (Daily Beast)
• Judge: DHS Must Release Body Scanner Safety Reports (Reason)

WORLD

• Jorge Mario Bergoglio: Who is the new pope? (Global Post)
• Francis is first Pope from Americas: Austere Jesuit who modernized Argentine church (Fox News)
• Mexico's lower house passes bill to remove lawmaker immunity  (Reuters)
• Chinese Farmers Revolt Against Government Land Grab  (NPR)
• U.N. Security Council Hits North Korea With More Sanctions After Nuclear Test (NPR)
• Bomber kills at least nine people in Kabul during Hagel’s visit to Afghanistan  (The Hill)
• U.S. envoy walks out of nuclear meeting over Iran's Israel remark (Reuters)
• Syrian rebels seize U.N. peacekeepers near Golan Heights  (Reuters)
• Christian homes torched by Pakistani mob (Christian Science Monitor)
• Khmer Rouge genocide: justice delayed may be justice denied (Reuters)

HEALTH/SCIENCE

• Microsoft fined $730 million over browser choice (Christian Science Monitor)
• Flights from NY airport fueled by cooking oil (UT San Diego)
• National Security Letters Target Thousands of Google Accounts (Reason)
• Newly discovered cell could heal damaged tissue, organs, researchers say  (Jewish World Review)
• Can Milk Sweetened With Aspartame Still Be Called Milk? (NPR)

Read more for excerpts and links to full stories.

March 14, 2013 (San Diego’s East County) – East El Capitan ridge, a habitat of the threatened California coastal gnatcatcher and home to a golden eagle nesting site, has been preserved and protected thanks to San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E) and the United States Forest Service. 

March 14, 2013--(San Diego’s East County)--East County Roundup highlights top stories of interest to East County and San Diego’s inland regions, published in other media. This week’s top “Roundup” headlines include:

STATE

• Forest Service may let more fires burn (Sacramento Bee)
• California pushes - some say too hard - to recover money for fighting wildfires  (Sacramento Bee)
• Editorial: Public’s right to know is too basic to risk (Sacramento Bee)
• Lawsuit balks at PUC 'stakeholder' meeting (UT San Diego)
• Capitol Alert: Lawmakers scold California PUC for erroneous budget forecasts (Sacramento Bee)
• New Study Shows California's Local Road System In Crisis (KPBS)

LOCAL/REGIONAL

• ER wait times at Sharp Grossmont three times longer than national average (La Mesa Patch)
• Filner, Supervisors Announce New Solar Initiative (KPBS)
• Sex Offender Email Alert System Launching In San Diego County (KPBS)
• Uh, We Don't Have to Vote on Taxes Anymore (Voice of San Diego)
• Feds release confidential report on San Onofre nuclear plant (KPBS)
• Lakeside’s Mile of Trees hopes to create urban forest (EC Californian)
• Sprinter to shut down for up to 4 months (U-T San Diego)
• Say Shalom to La Mesa's Newest Holy Man: Rabbi Rafi Andrusier (La Mesa Patch)
• California Coastal Commission rejects Navy explosives training plan (10 News)

Read more for excerpts and links to full stories.

March 8, 2013 (Borrego Springs) -- "California's Secret Desert" will host the Circle of Art Show and Sale the third weekend in March. This FREE outdoor juried art show includes the quality work of over 60 artists.  Media include fine arts, oils and watercolors, photography, sculpture, pottery, ceramics, jewelry, and fabric art.  The artists will create and display their work beginning Saturday, March 16 at 9:00 a.m., and continue on Sunday, March 17 until 4:00 p.m.   

March 6, 2013 (Alpine) -- Ready for some revelry?  Don your best masquerade wear for a Mardi Gras Ball presented by the Alpine Mountain Empire Chamber of Commerce on March 16 in the Alpine Community Center from 6:30 to 10:30 p.m. 

Festivities will include the New Orleans Band, a costume parade ($100 prize for the best), and the crowning of a Mardi Gras king and queen.  A live auction, tarot card readings and a no-host bar will also be available, along with hand-painted "never empty" signature Mardi Gras glasses for sale.