January 5, 2011 (Alpine) Responding to an alarming teen fatality trend in San Diego County,  Alpine Sheriff’s Station will host “Start Smart” on Thursday, January 12 at 7 pm. at the Viejas Training Center, 5000 Willow Road in Alpine (first driveway on the left after the casino).

November 25, 2011 (Alpine) -- Gretchen Rossi of Bravo's hit reality series "The Real Housewives of Orange County" will join 11 other local celebrities at Viejas Casino on Monday, November 28 in a Celebrity Slot Tournament at Viejas Casino.  100 percent of the winnings from the tournament, which begins at 10:30 a.m., will be donated to the local Salvation Army.

November 17, 2011 (Alpine)—The San Diego Coroner's office has identified Patrick Strobel, 52 of El Cajon as the driver who was killed yesterday in Alpine.

Strobel was driving a Honda Accord when for unknown reasons, he rear-ended a semi-truck on I-8 eastbound just west of Willows Road.

By Miriam Raftery

“How many more children are going to have to die before we get a high school in Alpine?” – Rose Urdahl, Alpine resident
 

Update November 11, 2011:  Mother discharged from hospital

November 8, 2011 (Alpine) – Sue Roff, director of the Alpine Community Center, will once again be cooking up a Thanksgiving meal for seniors who are alone or can’t travel to be with family for the holidays. Volunteers will deliver the meals to home-bound seniors, along with gift bags filled with items donated by local merchants.

By Miriam Raftery
 

November 6, 2011 (San Diego’s East County) – On Friday, the County Department of Planning and Land Use announced a new amendment to noise variances granted to SDG&E for Sunrise Powerlink construction.

Community meetings planned in Boulevard, Lakeside and Alpine

By Miriam Raftery

 October 18, 2011 (San Diego) -- Want to find out firsthand how the Sheriff’s Department works? Hear how Sheriff’s Detectives and Deputies work with Crime Analysts to catch the bad guys? See the Sheriff’s K‐9 Unit in action. Learn about the split‐ second and life-‐or‐death decisions deputies make on the job every day.

Save the date for the:

By Paul Gonya

Editor’s note: In an article on Alpine Planning Group Member George Barnett’s resignation, Mr. Barnett stated that he considered his greatest accomplishment to be getting two developers off the planning group's board: http://www.eastcountymagazine.org/node/7330 . He did not identify those planners by name.(Mr. Barnett later rescinded his resignation: http://www.eastcountymagazine.org/node/7362). Now one of the individuals he referenced, Paul Gonya, claims that his circumstances were portrayed inaccurately by Mr. Barnett. Mr. Gonya states that it's not true that he was found guilty in a civil trial. While true, he did plead guilty in a criminal (not civil) trial to grand theft embezzlement charges, as the Alpine Sun and Union-Tribune reported: http://www.thealpinesun.com/archive%202009/May%207/as%20inside.html and http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2009/may/01/bn01plea18624/?metro. A settlement was reached in a civil trial: 

October 9, 2011 (Alpine)--Mr. Barnett’s statement regarding “two former Alpine Planning Group members being found guilty in a civil trial involving fraud and embezzlement” is emphatically untrue. More important, Mr. Barnett fails to mention that the defendants in the case filed a cross complaint for fraud and misappropriation of funds against the plaintiffs when the business partnership fell apart in 2006.

September 24, 2011 (Alpine) – Alpine Community Planning Group member George Barnett resigned following last night’s meeting, Barnett has informed ECM. “It’s time for me to move on towards other community service activities I wish to pursue, and for others to pick up the baton at the Alpine Community Planning Group,” he said.

By Miriam Raftery

September 23, 2011 (Alpine) – A proposed 150-room hotel adjacent to the Viejas Casino would be “great for our guests and great for the community,” said Viejas public affairs director Robert Scheid at last night’s Alpine Community Planning Group meeting. The $36 million project would generate 450 construction jobs and upon completion, 45 employees at the hotel, said Scheid.

ACPG meeting Thursday includes Powerlink issues as well as proposals for a solar farm, a hotel, zoning changes, and a new park for Alpine

By Miriam Raftery

September 21, 2011 (Alpine) – An already hot agenda for tomorrow night’s Alpine Community Planning Group meeting (set for 6 p.m. at the Alpine Community Center) just got hotter.

On September 19, Aspen, environmental consultant to the California Public Utilities Commission on the Sunrise Powerlink project, released a report on construction and compliance activites for the high-voltage power line.  The report reveals over 30 cases of non-compliance and serious incidents including fires, diesel spills, accidents, ignoring monitoring requirements, and heavy objects falling from helicopters--again. 

By Miriam Raftery