Bobbi Brink, founder of the rescue facility in Alpine (photo, left) works to save bears and other exotic animals from canned hunts and cub petting operations in U.S.

By Miriam Raftery

December 5, 2014 (Alpine) – East County Magazine stopped by  Lions, Tigers and Bears this week for a sneak-preview of the brand new bear enclosure that opens this Saturday, December 6^th, at the rescue facility’s annual holiday party and fundraiser from 1 to 4 p.m.. 

We also got some up-close-and-personal looks at some of the big cats and bears who will be celebrating too—with Christmas trees, holiday packages to rip open and special foods for these special rescued animals—including Cherry Bomb, Teddy, Albert and Baloo —grizzly and Himalayan black bears who will be turned loose into their new two-acre home (albeit a temporary home while an even bigger two-acre preserve is built.)

By Miriam Raftery

November 27, 2014 (Alpine) - Phevos will soon be the newest tiger to call Lions, Tigers and Bears home.  The Alpine rescue facility has been approved by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for a permit to import the tiger, who was suffering in abusive conditions in a foreign zoo.

East County News Service

November 22, 2014 Alpine) – Alpine Union School District (AUSD) and the Alpine Taxpayers for Bond Accountability are seeking an injunction to stop the Grossmont Union High School District (GUHSD) from spending money that plaintiffs contend should be set aside to build a high school in Alpine.  The case will be heard on December 5 at 1:30 p.m. in San Diego Superior Court, Dept. C-66 by Judge Joel Pressman.   View the lawsuit here.

The suit contends that the Grossmont district is “unlawfully wasting school bond revenues approved by the voters for an Alpine high school” by spending the money from Prop H or U on other unauthorized projects.  However the Alpine plaintiffs seek only to block bond fund use on any new or future construction projects – not interrupt any pending or contracted for construction projects.

By Miriam Raftery

November 22, 2014 (Alpine) – You’re invited to an afternoon of yuletide fun watching animals open their Christmas presents at Lions, Tigers and Bears. The animal rescue facility hosts is annual Christmas Festival Fundraiser on Saturday, December 6^th from 1-4 p.m.  You can also do holiday shopping at more than 40 vendor booths, enjoy food from Descanso Junction and visit Santa Claus. (To buy tickets, click here.)

“This year we are putting out an extra special request for donated Christmas Trees that we can give to the animals on this special day. Trees are an amazing form of enrichment for the animals,” says founder Bobbi Brink. (Click here to donate a tree.)

In addition, a new bear habitat will be unveiled during the December 6^th event featuring rescued bears Albert, Cherry Bomb, Teddy and Baloo.

November 6, 2014 (Alpine) -- An Alpine resident has posted a video on YouTube showing a close encounter with a bobcat that wandered into her backyard, apparently unaware of the photographer on a porch swing close at hand.

By George Barnett, Alpine

October 27, 2014 (Alpine)--Alpine’s Steve Hunyar has been staking-out positions this week on “dirty politics coming to “little old, sleepy Alpine”, and has been attacking AUSD board members Eric Wray and Glenn Dickey.

By Miriam Raftery

Radio show hosted by Rebecca Williamson and Leon Thompson

October 21, 2014 (San Diego’s East County) --This week’s Destination East County includes some spooky Halloween happenings, a picnic with parrots, and our very own Party with the Press benefit event, all this weekend right here in East County. 

Plus we’ll have previews of coming attractions, including a wine festival at a castle in Ramona and a hot chili cook-off in Lemon Grove.

So stay tuned for all of these events and much, much more, from East County Magazine!

October 15, 2014 (Alpine) - Alpine is southern California’s home to a very small group of didgeridoo players who gather to hear music played by top talents from around the world. http://www.ididge.com – check out past events- very colorful.  Next up is a concert, workshop and potluck on Friday, October 17.

September 22, 2014 (San Diego’s East County)--Saturday, September 27^th is National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day. 

If you are looking to get rid of unwanted and expired prescription drugs, the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department will collect and dispose of these medicines during the Drug Enforcement Agency’s ninth National Prescription Drug Take Back Day.  Old prescription drugs can pose hazards to others if they fall into the wrong hands.

Source: Alpine Community Network

September 17, 2014 (Alpine) – Sheriff’s deputies are searching for a man who reportedly tried to lure a 12-year-old Alpine girl into his grey car as she walked home from the Alpine Youth Center with her little brother in the 2000 block of Arnold Way today, NBC San Diego reports. The girl’s mother told the Alpine Community Network that the man asked, “Where is your mother? Come here,” then sped off when a neighbor confronted him.

By Miriam Raftery

Photo: GUHSD Superintendent Ralf Swenson

September 18, 2014 (Alpine)—The Grossmont Union High School District Board (GUHSD) has passed a resolution opposing the proposed Alpine unification initiative.  Now, Superintendent Ralf Swenson has issued a statement to media voicing disappointment that a County committee has approved the unification measure and sent it on to the State Board of Education to take action. He wants to see all voters in the district have a say on unification, not just voters in Alpine. 

In his letter, Swenson claims a unified Alpine district won’t be able to afford to build and operate a high school offering programs comparable to those in the Grossmont district but insists that the GUHSD can’t afford to build the school, either.  Moreover, he  claims that the GUHSD remains 2,400 students below the “trigger” that the district has set for enrollment and that further declines are projected, making the likelihood that the district would ever build the promised 12th high school for Alpine appear to be virtually zero.

His letter has sparked a heated response, including a rebuttal from education leader Bill Weaver debunking dubious claims made by the Superintendent. Weaver has previously co-chaired education and business commitees for both the East County and Mountain Empire Chambers of Commerce.

September 11, 2014 (Alpine) – Hot cars and spicy chili  are all part of the Alpine Kiwanis 2-14 annual car show and chili cook-off event, which also features a pancake breakfast.  The festivities take place on Saturday, September 20.

September 9, 2014 (Alpine)--This isn’t the kind of “rock art” that hikers in the backcountry want to see.

Vandals have defaced numerous large boulders at Wright’s Field preserve in Alpine with graffiti tags, including pornographic images and swastikas, the Back Country Land Trust reports.

August 23, 2014 (Alpine) – The Back Country Land Trust will  hold its third annual Wine and Cheese Friend-Raiser on Saturday, September 13 from 6 to 9 p.m. at Wright’s Field in Alpine.

July 2, 2014 (Alpine) --Team Alpiners  will celebrate our nation's birth while hosting a  fundraising barbecue and bake sale from 12 to 1:30 p.m. at the Alpine View Lodge, 973 Arnold Way in Alpine.