Assemblymember Block Applauds 2 Victories for Students as AB 2402 also signed into law

September 29, 2010 (Jamul) 12:35 p.m. – An Ultralight glider plane has struck a pole and crashed onto the baseball field at Jamul Primary School on Lyons Valley Road, Incident Page Network reports.

Update 12:40 p.m.  “There were no kids around. The pilot is being evaluated and there is an ambulance. However he didn’t seem to be injured--he got up and walked around.” Erin Bach, administrative assistant to the Superintendent, told East County Magazine.

September 28, 2010 (San Diego) -- The Sustainability Alliance of Southern California and the California Center for Sustainable Energy will sponsor a unique sustainability-focused candidates' forum on Saturday, October 2. The event will feature local, state and national candidates addressing their positions on green issues including Proposition 23, climate change and public transportation.

September 27, 2010 (San Diego) – The first of three televised debates between California gubernatorial candidates Jerry Brown and Meg Whitman will be aired Tuesday night at 6 p.m. on Channel 7/39 KNSD locally.

Whitman, former CEO of E-Bay, has spent over $119 million of her own money, breaking the nation’s record for most funds poured into a race by any candidate. Brown, California's former Governor and current Attorney General, has relied on grassroots support but has been outspent by his wealthy opponent.

Now voters will have an opportunity to hear directly from both candidates—without the filtering of political advisors or scripted TV ads. The Sacramento Bee has provided a pre-debate analysis of each candidate’s strengths and weaknesses.

September 29, 2010 (Poway) – Firefighters battling a fire at the home of Valentine Derkach in Poway on September 23rd found his body inside the residence. Following an autopsy, the San Diego County Coroner has concluded that gunshot wounds to Derkach’s head and chest were self-inflicted and ruled the death a suicide.

September 27, 2010 (Poway) – All lanes of Highway 67 are now shut down due to a rollover accident involving a dumptruck and three vehicles. A SigAlert has been issued. According to the SigAlert, CHP is turning traffic around at Mt. Woodson and Archie Moore. Northbound lanes are shut down at Poway Road as of 9:01 a.m. Northbound motorists are advised to use Poway Road as an alternate route. Southbound traffic is being diverted onto Archie Moore to Highland Valley.

September 27, 2010 (Rancho San Diego) – Fire station tours, fire safety demonstrations, and a children’s fun activity dinner are among the activities planned for this year’s Fire Safety Community Fair and open house. This free event will be held from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, October 9th at the San Miguel Fire Station #22, 11501 Via Rancho San Diego in the Rancho San Diego area of El Cajon.

This "hot"event, which is free and open to the public, is sponsored by the San Miguel Regional Firesafe Council, Rancho San Diego-Jamul Chamber of Commerce, and community partners including East County Magazine and the Viejas Wildfire & Emergency Alerts.

By Sylvia Hampton

September 26, 2010 (San Diego) -- As the CEO of Hewlett Packard, Carly Fiorina told the world that giving high-tech jobs to foreign workers using H-1B status nonimmigrant visas was just part of the reality of globalization. Fiorina likes cheap labor. The woman she hopes to unseat, United States Senator Barbara Boxer, understands that preparing our own students to take these jobs is the better way to go. That is because Boxer sees the big picture while Firorina only looked at the bottom line for her company, Hewlett Packard. That is the company whose board of directors had to pay her over $20,000,000 just to get rid of her.

The company stock shot up on the news that Fiorina was ousted. So why would anyone want to vote for Fiorina instead of Boxer?

Update 9 p.m. Cal-Fire is sending five engines into Mexico.

September 26, 2010 (Tecate) 6:20 p.m. – Incident Page Network reports that a firetruck was overtaken by the fire at the U.S.- Mexico border fire shortly after 4 p.m. today. Cal-Fire spokesman Mike Mohler said he also received word that a fire truck may have burned but was unable to confirm.

However he assured, “All the firefighters are fine; a couple of civilians in Mexico were burned or injured and were transported to a medical facility in Mexico.”

Update 4:30 p.m. The Mexico fire has crossed the border into the U.S. and has burned about a half acre. CAL FIRE/San Diego County Fire Authority has moved resources to the Tecate point of entry. Air Attack 330 is now equipped with a camera and downlink system that the ground incident commander can view real time to see how the fire is burning across the border. “This is the first Air Attack to have this system and it has proved itself as a major tool in the firefighting arsenal,” Cal Fire’s Mike Mohler said. Smoke is visible across a broad swath of East County.

September 26, 2010 (San Diego’s East County) 8:30 a.m. – Three fires in Mexico that began yesterday are generating smoke visible from East County. “We are monitoring them and we have a lookout out there.,” Cal Fire spokesman Mike Mohler told East County Magazine this morning. The U.S. Forest Service is also keeping watch, he added.

September 25, 2010 (Santee) -- A brush fire in Santee charred approximately 40 acres late this afternoon, briefly threatening structures before firefights brought the blaze under control. Multiple agencies responded to the fire, which began at Carlton Hills and Lake Canyon.

By Brian Lafferty

September 25, 2010 (San Diego)--Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps opens with Gordon Gekko being released from a federal penitentiary in the year 2001. Among the personal items given back to him is his mobile phone, one of those ugly giant cell phones that are an eyesore today but were trendy in the late 1980s. Gekko exits the penitentiary and sees everybody else being picked up, including one ex-convict in a limousine. But nobody comes for him. His face exudes loneliness. Here was a man who was big and rich twenty-five years ago but now nobody cares about him.

Congressional debate to follow Stop Powerlink events

September 25, 2010 (Lakeside) – A rally for San Diegans who oppose the Sunrise Powerlink will be held Saturday, September 25th in Lakeside. The rally will be held at Lindo Lake Park (by the pavilions near the playground) at 10 a.m., followed by a march through Main Street in downtown Lakeside. 

September 17, 2010 (Julian) -- The first annual Folk Music Festival will be held in historic Julian, paired with the 24th annual Julian Art Guild Show. Both events will be held on the rustic grounds of the Menghini Winery on September 25 and 26 from 11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.