Story and photos by Rebecca Jefferis Williamson

Photos of the week.

Photos and story by Rebecca Jefferis Williamson

December 2, 2021 --- The  2021 Hotel del Coronado’s Christmas lights have debuted a new look ---  shimmering, color-changing lights that resemble a castle. Their historic Norfolk Island Pines, located on their front Founders Lawn, draped with lights, created that illusion. 

“It looked like an Emerald City,” said visitor Jeff Nelson. “I was shocked to find out the lights were suspended on pine trees that have been there forever.”

According to staff this is the first year with this particular display noting they used a new contractor for the project.

The lights, named “At First Light” lightshow spectacular, feature lights that are draped over the historic pine trees that also include a coordinated music show and snow flurries. 

In addition to the "castle" the hotel is also decorated with thousands of lights on multiple roofs, buildings, fences and more. 

Story and photos by Rebecca Jefferis Williamson

Oct. 19, 2021 (Santee) A candlelight vigil was held late last week in Santee near the site of the October 11 plane crash that killed an on-duty UPS driver, Steve Krueger and the pilot, Dr. Sagata Das, of Yuma. The plane crash destroyed two homes.

The vigil had hundreds of attendees including neighbors, community members, dozens of UPS employees, and city officials. 

 Jeff Krueger, Steve’s brother, spoke during the vigil, “Steve would not want anyone to be upset about his passing." He passed along an anecdote to the residents who knew his brother from his UPS route. “Every Thursday we would meet at Lakeside’s Boll Weevil,” he said. “He would tell stories.  He loved working for all you (Santee) guys.” 

By Miriam Raftery

August 20, 2021 (El Cajon) – A suspect who reportedly shot and injured an employee inside Western Medical Training Center in El Cajon on August 19 later opened fire on an El Cajon Police officer seated in his patrol vehicle. The officer fired back, injuring the suspect who later died at a local hospital.

Officers responded to a report of the initial shooting in the 100 block of East Main Street around 2:13 p.m. yesterday. While some aided the victim, others searched for the suspect.  A person matching the shooting suspect’s description was spotted near the intersection of Ballard and Decker. 

Source: City of El Cajon

February 3, 2021 (El Cajon) -- The City of El Cajon Teen Coalition is accepting nominations for the 2020 “Youth of the Year” award. The award recognizes outstanding students who went above and beyond to serve the El Cajon community over the past year.

The City Council will present two awards - one to a middle school student and one to a high school student.

The award criteria includes leadership, community service, commitment, and the value and impact of the community service completed during the 2020 calendar year. To be eligible, nominees must live in El Cajon and/or attend an El Cajon school.

Story and photos by Henri Migala

Photo, left:  Maskless rally participants called for all businesses to open now, despite pandemic shutdown orders from the county and state.

December 23, 2020 (El Cajon) – A rally titled “All I Want for Christmas is Freedom” was held on Monday, Dec. 21 at El Cajon Centennial Plaza calling for a lifting of pandemic shutdowns.  The timing of the rally coincides with hospital ICU units filled to capacity across Southern California, after 18 million people in the U.S. have contracted COVID-19 and 323,000 Americans have died.

There are legitimate equity questions, such as why big-box retailers have been allowed to stay open while many small businesses have been ordered shut down, particularly after data obtained from San Diego County reveals that many outbreaks have been tied to large stores such as Walmart, Home Depot and Target. Although the event was promoted as an opportunity to support local small businesses adversely affected by restrictions imposed to slow the spread of the coronavirus, any rational discussion of those issues was largely overshadowed at the protest by speakers, including prominent elected officials, who urged attendees to openly and actively defy local and state restrictions. Some used such inflammatory words such as devil, battle, war, evil, Marxist, tyranny, socialism, 2^nd Amendment, and even a reference to “killing babies like Planned Parenthood" that seemed largely out of context to a discussion of economic vs. public health concerns.

Eighteen “vendors” were set up, of which about half were small businesses selling products. The others were related to a political cause or agenda, such as recalling Governor Newsom, or opening San Diego. Approximately 150 people attended the event.

By Rebecca Jefferis Williamson

(Photo by Rebecca Jefferis Williamson)

Nov. 11, 2020 (Santee) Homicide detectives are investigating a death at a home located on Greencastle Street in Santee tonight.

"We found a person deceased of a gunshot," Lt. G. Twyman with the San Diego County Sheriff's communication division told ECM. The initial call came in at 3:55 p.m and they arrived at the scene at 4 p.m. He added that homicide detectives were called to the scene. 

Yellow caution tape is currently blocking off the street near the scene of the investigation.

By Rebecca Jefferis Williamson

(Photos by Rebecca Jefferis Williamson)

Sept. 24, 2020 (Lakeside) The AGC East County Headquarters and Apprenticeship Training Facility (AGC) is under construction and slated to open this year. The facility will serve as the headquarters and training center for carpentry, cement masonry, drywall finisher, drywall lather, heavy equipment operator, painter, laborer, and more trades.

For those trying to retrain or hone skills because of COVID-19 economic losses, job seekers may consider enrolling.

Additionally, the state-of-art 43,600 sq. ft facility will provide construction services to the 1,100 plus AGC member firms in the County. 

Training services include continuing construction education, safety services, government affairs, labor relations, business development, and many more.

By Paul Kruze, Contributing Editor

May 31, 2020

In a bold move to avoid a repeat of the devastation and violence in connection with Saturday night’s riots which took place in East County San Diego, several cities and the county issue curfews for tonight. Below is the full schedule.

All law enforcement, fire, medical personnel, and members of the news media are exempt from the curfew. Individuals traveling directly to and from work, seeking emergency medical care, fleeing dangerous circumstances, or the homeless as exempted from the order.

By Rebecca Jefferis Williamson

February 15, 2020 (San Diego) - Petco Foundation provided a $250,000 grant valentine surprise to staff at the San Diego Humane Society on Gaines Street on Feb. 13.

“As part of our mission we have committed $10 million to making a difference to shelters and pets during the valentine day week,” said regional field program manager Bill Gialenes with the Petco Foundation.  The $10 million will go to animal welfare organizations across the country.

Two hundred staff, guests, and volunteers gathered for lunch followed by the presentation of an oversized check for $250,000 to Dr. Gary Weitzman, president/ceo of the San Diego Humane Society from Gialenes.

By Miriam Raftery

December 19, 2019  (San Diego’s East County) – Although personal use of cannabis is legal in California, each city and county has the right to ban or restrict sales.  But closing down illegal pot shops has become a challenge for law enforcement and a headache for neighbors, since the process often takes months and once closed, illegal dispensaries often pop up again nearby or even in the same building repeatedly.

How concerned should residents be about an illegal marijuana operation in their neighborhood?

Unlike licensed dispensaries that are subject to inspections, state and local regulations, illegal dispensaries may sell marijuana that is adulterated with contaminants and is dangerous to customers. Some illicit dispensaries locally have also been caught selling other drugs, such as cocaine and methamphetamines.  They may sell drugs to minors. The operators may create hazards to neighbors by tapping illegally into electricity, overloading circuits, and if manufacturing hash oil extracted from marijuana, utilize drums filled with flammable chemicals that can and have exploded, causing fires locally.

At times, illegal dispensaries  have engendered other crimes. Robberies and shootings have occurred; illegal operators tend not to report these crimes to police.  Corruption has also allegedly happened locally. Former Rancho San Diego Sheriff Captain Marco Garmo has been indicted for allegedly tipping off his cousin, an illegal dispensary owner, on raids by law enforcement, among other federal charges that he faces.

East County News Service

October 19, 2018 (Alpine)--Come for a wild and ghoulish night under the stars with the rescued exotic animals of Lions Tigers & Bears in Alpine on Friday night, October 26^th through Saturday morning, October 27th.

The annual Spooky Campover at this world renown non-profit animal sanctuary is a family favorite. Enjoy pumpkin carving, s’mores, campfire songs, special animal feedings and more.  A costume contest will be held Saturday morning, followed by a special feeding visit to watch the big cats and bears enjoy their pumpkin treats.

Lane claims he and other users are still being blocked and cannot leave comments on Kalasho’s Facebook page

By Paul Kruze, Contributing Editor

October 5, 2018 (El Cajon) -- The peaceful strains of Kumbaya between San Diego activist Mark Lane and El Cajon Councilman Ben Kalasho could be over.

East County Magazine has exclusively learned that Lane’s attorney, Cory M. Briggs, is planning to inform Southern California U.S. District Federal Court Judge Jeffrey T. Miller that Kalasho is continuing to block Lane and others from his Facebook page in spite of a settlement agreement signed last week between Lane and Kalasho that he would stop the practice.

By Briana Gomez

August 1, 2018 (El Cajon) – Houda Al Sidnawi arrived in the United States in 2016 with both of her parents and her two younger sisters, now 16 and 10. The family left Syria in 2012 at the brink of the civil war and immigrated to Egypt where they obtained appropriate documentation to enter the United States on refugee visas.  

By Miriam Raftery

November 18, 2017 (Rancho San Diego)--San Miguel Fire District along with Heartland Fire Rescue and Santee Fire Department will be conducting fire and rescue training this weekend at Vahalla High School, located at 1725 Hillsdale Road in the Rancho San Diego area of unincorporated El Cajon.

The fire rescue drill will be Saturday November 18 and Sunday November 19 from 9am to 3pm.  Smoke machines will be used during training - neighbors might see smoke coming from the school during these training events.