By Alex Riggins

(October 9, 2013 (La Mesa)--The La Mesa City Council voted 5-0 on Wednesday to postpone a decision on whether to place a measure on the November 2014 ballot regarding term limits for the mayor and council members. The item, introduced by Vice Mayor Kristine Alessio, is the first step towards imposing limits on the number of consecutive terms that councilmembers could hold office.

By Nadin Abbott

October 9, 2013 (San Diego) As things go, this is not precisely the best of news. Fidelity has sold a lot of its government debt. So reports the Journal Sentinel.  Money market portfolio managers at Fidelity Investments have been selling off their government debt holdings over the last couple of weeks, said Nancy Prior, president of Fidelity’s Money Market Group. While Fidelity expects the debt ceiling issue to be resolved, the Boston-based asset manager said it is taking steps to protect investors.

Prior said that Fidelity no longer holds any U.S. debt that comes due in late October or early November, the window considered by many investors to be the most exposed if the government runs out of money and defaults on its obligations.

Now this is very dangerous news, since it means Fidelity is getting ready for the other shoe to fall. As we have been speaking here of the effects of this Constitutional Crisis, and how a minority of the minority does not believe this is actually serious. How could this affect you and me? We could see a crash, quite brutally honest. This is not good news. In fact, this is very scary news.

Sports: The Competitive Spirit at Barona is Now Open to the Public

Photo: Vice Chairman Harold Hill, Curator Cheryl Hinton, and Brian VanWanseele, Barona Tribal member and President of the Board of Directors for Inter Tribal Sports

 October 8, 2013 (Lakeside) – To celebrate the history of sports on the Barona Indian Reservation, the Barona Cultural Center & Museum recently opened a new exhibition entitled Sports: The Competitive Spirit at Barona. The exhibit, on display this October through 2014, features Native American sports heroes from around the country as well as from the Barona Indian Reservation. Admission is free.

By Miriam Raftery

October 8, 2013 (San Diego’s East County) – The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) reveals that attacks on the  power grid have occurred, the Arkansas Times reported on October 7.  The FBI is offering a $25,000 reward for information leading to arrest of those responsible for these crimes.

The attacks included setting fire to a substation, rigging a cable in an attempt to cause a train to take down power lines, cutting down power poles, and downing a high voltage transmission line.  A warning painted on a control panel read, “You should have expected U.S.”

National security experts have long voiced concerns over a terrorist cyber-attack on the power grid. But the attacks  in August and September in Arkansas were of the low-tech variety, yet capable of major disruption. 

By Miriam Raftery

October 7, 2013 (Ramona) – A woman accused of murdering her mother has entered a not guilty plea.  The body of Mehria Mansury, 79, an Afghan immigrant, was found  in a field near San Vicente and Wildcat Canyon Road east of Barona Casino last week. 

Mansury was a resident of Serra Mesa. She  was last seen September 23 and was reported missing on September 25. Relatives told authorities that they feared her daughter, who has a criminal record, could be involved, ECM news partner 10 News reported.

The Fourth Annual Spring Valley Tailgate & BBQ Festival will take place on Sunday, October 20 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. at  Troy Street between Bancroft Avenue and Central Avenue,  Initiated by the Spring Valley Chamber of Commerce and Cali Comfort Restaurant, the goal of the festival is to raise money youth sports programs in Spring Valley.

By Miriam Raftery

October 7, 2013 (Sacramento) – Governor Jerry Brown today vetoed Assembly Bill 1401, which would have allowed permanent lawful residents who are not citizens to serve on juries. 

“Jury service, like voting, is quintessentially a prerogative and responsibility of citizenship,” Brown wrote in his veto message. “This bill would permit lawful permanent residents who are not citizens to serve on a jury. I don’t think that’s right.”

Free Community Event with Chili Cook Off, Vendor Booths & Entertainment

October  6, 2013 (Lakeside) – The Lakeside Chamber of Commerce will host its first annual Beans, Beers & Business Fair on Saturday, October 12^th from 10am to 5pm at the Lakeside Rodeo Grounds. This free event will be packed with vendor booths, entertainment from local schools and churches, a craft beer garden and an “amateur” chili cook off complete with awards and cash prizes.   For more information or to reserve a vendor booth, please go to www.lakesidechamber.org.

By Miriam Raftery

Photos  by Deborah Horger, , Jeff Holz. Rebecca Jefferis Williamson and Imed Fehri and Alexis Parmnnoff

Update October 7, 2013 --SDG&E advises that the suspected cause of the outage is a faulted capacitor station.  All power was restored by 1:30 p.m.; the outage began at 10 a.m. affecting 4,501 customers.

October 6, 2013 (San Diego's East County) -- An SDG&E sky crane loaded with 2,500 gallons of water helped firefighters halt a brush fire in Lakeside at 28 acres. No structures were lost; mop-up activiites will continue through the night.  The blaze began shortly after power went out to more than 4,500 customers for reasons that SDG&E's website indicated were unkown at the time of the outage; power has been fully restored. 

Below are our earlier updates on this fire, which began at Aquilla Drive in Lakeside and sent smoke billowing forth that was visible across much of East County as well as Poway and San Diego.

October 5, 2013 (San Diego's East County) -- Supervisor Jacob is looking for civic-minded District 2 residents to serve on a wide variety of citizen boards and advisory panels across East County. To apply and for additional information see the links at the bottom.

Update 9 p.m.  Sam DiGiovanna, our  "Chief's Corner" columnist, sent us this report and photo:  The fire has scorched 1,000 acres and is 15% contained.  Approximately 230 residents were forced to evacuate a housing unit near Lake O'Neil base, officials said. Naval Hospital Camp Pendleton was not threatened by the fire, but a power outage prompted officials to evacuate about 30 patients to other hospitals in the area and stop accepting new patients.

Update 4:20 p.m. - Winds have subsided and SDG&E has restored power to all but two customers in the Descanso/Green Valley area.

By Miriam Raftery

October 5, 2013 (San Diego’s East County) – San Diego Gas & Electric Company (SDG&E) has shut down power to 87 customers.  The company’s website states, “An outage has been initiated to protect public safety.”  A red flag alert and high wind warning are in effect.

"I remain extremely concerned that shutting off power jeopardizes the safety of communities and the availability of water for residents and firefighters. SDG&E has the statutory authority to cut off power only if there is an imminent threat to public safety," Supervisor Dianne Jacob posted on her Facebook page.

Supervisors to hear proposal Tuesday urging fast transfer of planes for firefighting from Department of Defense to U.S. Forest Service

By Miriam Raftery

October 5, 2013 (San Diego’s East County) – Shut-down of the federal government over the spending bill impasse has caused furlough of 2,000 California National Guard technicians who maintain helicopters and cargo planes that respond to major wildfires statewide. Major General David Baldwin has said that “lives are at stake” because of these “inane cuts and work stoppages,” the SF Gate reported. 

“The federal government needs to grow up, settle its budget mess and remember one of its primary obligations – public safety,” Supervisor Dianne Jacob  told East County Magazine.  “Any furloughs or other cutbacks that undermine aerial firefighting would be a major concern, especially as our region approaches the most dangerous stretch of the wildfire season.”

On Tuesday, Supervisors will hear a proposal by Supervisors Jacob and Greg Cox asking the U.S. Department of Defense to transfer seven surplus C-27 aircraft to the U.S. Forest Service to bolster firefighting resources in San Diego County and other areas.

October 4, 2013 (San Diego’s East County) – SDG&E has notified East County Magazine’s Viejas Alerts that proactive power outages are possible due to high fire danger conditions.  A Red Flag Alert is in effect today through Sunday and a high wind watch has also been issued. 

Make sure you have flashlights and portable radio with batteries to stay informed during a power outage.  This is also a good time to sign up to follow ViejasAlerts at www.twitter.com so you can get text message alerts on your mobile phone.  If you have internet access you can also check our website for reports on fires at www.eastcountymagazine.org .

“We expect the highest winds between 4 a.m. and noon Saturday,” Stephanie Donovan, spokesperson for SDG&E, informed ECM.   Gusts of 50 to 70 miles an hour are expected in some places.

The utility has made outbound calls to 5600 customers warning of possible power shut-offs in the following areas:  Descanso, Mt Laguna, Viejas, Barrett Lake, East Jamul, Potrero, East Ramona, San Diego Country Estates, some portions of Santa Ysabel and North Wynola and Wynola, Japatul, Boulevard, Valley Center and Lake Wohlford. Click "read more" and scroll down for details.

By David Ross

A special joint investigation by East County Magazine and Valley Center Press into the county takeover of rural fire districts

PART II in a series

October 3, 2013 (San Diego's East County) -- Recently a volunteer fire chief in the Backcountry wrote this (pun intended) inflammatory conclusion about the level of preparedness at his rural department: “The _____ currently is at a dangerously low staffing level that is putting current firefighters, residents and visitors in danger.”

The name of the organization is left out (it is revealed later below), because it is a generic statement that might very easily apply to several communities in San Diego County’s rural unincorporated area.