By Miriam Raftery

June 25, 2015 (Ramona) – It’s summertime and the living is easy – especially at Grant James Vineyard in Ramona, where dinners are served al fresco every Friday night from 6 to 7:30 p.m.  Something Delicious will serve up pasta, salad and bread on the patio with vineyard views.

The winery also hosts Gourmet Foodie Potluck parties. The next one is on June 27^th  at 6 p.m.  “This is a great way to share your favorite homemade dish and meet new friends,” the invitation sent to winery customers entices.

By Miriam Raftery

Photo: Glendale Police

June 25, 2015 (El Cajon) – A rap music artist suspected of breaking into a home and exposing himself to a 30-year-old woman, as well as stalking a 17-year-old girl is now in custody. El Cajon Police arrested 32-year-old Von Ryan Manago, said Lt. Frank La Haye.

Manago has been charged with indecent exposure and burglary. He had previously been arrested for burglarizing a woman's home in Glendale while she was sleeping in 2012.  According to a Glendale News-Press article, Manago is a rap musician who goes by the rapper name Nem-Iz. Born in New Jersey, he has also lived in Raleigh, North Carolina and is the CEO of Writer's Blokk Media, an Indie music label.

For crime buffs out there, here are the bare facts of how police tracked down the prowler flasher suspect.

June 25, 2015 (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:

LOCAL 

• A more representative county democracy? (U-T) 
• Planners’ Density Dreams Are About to Come True on El Cajon Boulevard (Voice of San Diego) 
• Fact Check: Where San Diego’s Poorest Live (Voice of SD) 
• 3 water districts, 154 customers (UT San Diego) 
• San Diego: The Eighth Largest City — But Still Mostly a Suburb (Voice of SD) 
• FAA eyes changes to flight paths around SD airports (U-T) 
• Nearly 40K SD homeowners 'underwater'
• There’s Still Not Much Transparency Surrounding Those Transparency-Boosting Body Cameras (Voice of SD)  
• Mission Valley Needs More of What It Doesn’t Have, No More of What it Does (Voice of SD) 
• San Diego County Supervisors OK $5.4 Billion Budget (KPBS) 
• Krav Maga Another Non-Lethal Tool For San Diego County Law Enforcement (KPBS) 
• San Diego County's Taxable Property Is Valued At $439B (City News Service) 
• Renters pay up as homeownership drops (UT San Diego) 
• Entrepreneurs founded 446 San Diego startups last year (UT San Diego) 

STATE

• Debate over California’s renewable energy expansion goes through the roof (Sacramento Bee)
• Report calls for CPUC reforms (UT San Diego) 
• The secret life of Michael Peevey (SF Guardian) 
• Reverse "rape of the ratepayer" (SD Reader) 
• CPUC reform brings fairness, transparency (UT San Diego)
• Dispute flares over city charges on utility bills (U-T)
• Audit says state bar too lax on bad lawyers (U-T)

For excerpts and links to full stories, click “read more” and scroll down.

June 25, 2015 (Lemon Grove) – At a “Black Lives Matter” rally held last Monday in Lemon Grove, approximately 30 activists including representatives of religious, civil liberties, and immigrant rights groups called for a halt to the Sheriff’s “Operation Lemon Drop” and other similar law enforcement sweeps.

East County News Service

Photo: Protest at Senator Feinstein's office, from the Citizens Trade Campaign Facebook page

June 25, 2015 (Washington D.C.) – The controversial fast-tracking of the Trans Pacific Partnership international trade pact passed the Senate by a slim one-vote margin. California’s Senator Dianne Feinstein voted for the fast-tracking, while Senator Barbara Boxer voted no.

Fast-tracking gives President Obama broad latitude to negotiate the trade pact, after which Congress will have only an up or down vote, with no opportunity to make changes.  Opponents have voiced concerns over secrecy of the proceedings. The proposed pact has not been made public, nor have members of Congress been allowed to have copies. 

Nicole “Kali” Gochmanosky,  southern California organizer for the Citizens Trade Campaign, a group opposed to fast-tracking the TPP, had this to say regarding the extensive media coverage of the vote and protests targeting Feinstein.

June 25, 2015 (Santee) -- With the slogan "changing lives one goal at a time" the One World Soccer Fest will kick off at the Sportsplex USA Santee (9851 Riverwalk Drive, Santee) on Saturday, July 11 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Proceeds will benefit the Chisomo Idea and the Homeless World Cup.  Soccer carnival games and a mini soccer clinic are all part of the day's fun, as well as viewing a round-robin soccer tournament.

By Mimi Pollack

June 25, 2015 (San Diego)--There are two camps in the world: dog lovers and cat lovers. However, there are many, who like me, love and appreciate both. The popularity of cats has grown and today more households have cats, and they have questions about their cats.

Cats can be such mysterious creatures! We wonder what they are thinking when they stare at us. To help clear up this mystery, Gary Weitzman, president of the San Diego Humane Society, and Aline Alexander Newman have co-authored an informative book  called How to Speak Cat.

Author to appear in Memoir Writers’ Showcase June 30^th  in San Diego;

Update: Hear our radio interview with Cherie Kephart , originally aired on KNSJ: https://www.eastcountymagazine.org/sites/eastcountymagazine.org/files/au...

June 25, 2015 (San Diego) – Cherie Kephart, the girl next door who longed for adventure, traveled the world from the remote villages of Central Africa to the majestic coastlines of New Zealand until a mysterious illness thrust her to the precipice of death. She spent seven frantic and comical years seeking support from both medical specialists and eccentric New Age healers to find her life saving answers.

A Few Minor Adjustments will move you with its fiercely inspirational and humorous account of one woman's incredible journey to answer the age old question—is life worth living?

Kephart will among the authors featured at San Diego’s First Annual Memoir Writers’ Showcase at the Horton Grand Theater in downtown San Diego on Tuesday, June 30th at 7 pm.. Tickets are $10;all proceeds benefit the theater and funding the event.  You can purchase tickets at http://www.ewriterscoach.com/in-person-workshops/

By Miriam Raftery

East County News Service

Photos of rally by Peter Mansour

June 24, 2015 (San Diego) – Clergy members and Iraqi community leaders held a prayer vigil on June 18^th, calling for release Iraqi Chaldean Christians held in the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention center.

Since the rise of ISIS, many Iraqi Chaldean Christian have fled to neighboring countries. Some have been fortunate enough to make it across the Mexico-US border. But many of these Christians have now been imprisoned in the detention center for up to four months without any indication of imminent release, despite testimony from Christian family members in San Diego that can vouch for their identity.

By Juwan Armstrong

Photos: Confederate stars and bars flag, Smithsonian Institute;  Captured Confederate flag from South Caroline, by Daderot (Own work) [CC0], via Wikimedia Commons

June 24, 2015 (San Diego)--In the wake of a massacre at an African-American church in Charleston , South Carolina last week, a conversation about rejecting the confederate flag has risen to the national level.

By Miriam Raftery

Photo: California Department of Forestry & Fire (CAL FIRE)

June 24, 2015 (San Diego’s East County) – As firefighters battle wildfires across four states, CAL FIRE officials have warned that in this fourth year of drought, 2015 has the worst fire conditions in record. As of today, CAL-FIRE is fighting seven major wildfires in our state.

June 24, 2015 (San Diego’s East County)--A welcome sight will soon be rolling out to some outlying areas of the County.

By Mimi Pollack

June 23, 2015 (San Diego)--As a fourth generation Californian with a keen sense of curiosity and adventure, Ken Kramer was a natural as the host and producer of  “Ken Kramer’s About San Diego”, a local, long-time half show that explored the places and people of San Diego until his retirement earlier this year.

Originally Published on the ECOreport

By Roy L Hales

June 23, 2015 (San Diego’s East County) - There was a new source of inspiration at the 45th Annual Los Angeles Architectural Awards. Some of the winners were architectural responses to California’s drought.

By Miriam Raftery

June 23, 2015 (Vatican City)—Pope Francis has issued a rare encyclical urging a global “revolution” to address climate change.  An encyclical is one of the church’s most authoritative teaching documents traditionally addressed to the 1 billion Catholics worldwide. But this time, the Pope says his message is aimed at “every person living on this planet” to save our “common home.”