Photo: KaBoom! Playground previously built at Wells Park in El Cajon

June 13, 2015 (El Cajon)--Once again, the City of El Cajon plans to build a playground in a day.  Volunteers are needed to help with the assembly of a one-of-a-kind, customized playground at Bill Beck Park on June 18 and June 20.  The existing playground at Bill Beck Park was over 50 years-old.  So, a new playground is planned to provide youths with a better area to play and have fun.  Some of the volunteers who have registered so far include off-duty Heartland Fire & Rescue Firefighters and El Cajon Police officers, along with other City personnel and members of local civic groups.

"I will support this in honor of my sister, and my mother and my father-in-law," -- Councilman Bob McClellan (photo, left), who lost all three family members to smoking-related illnesess.

"The American Revolution was about individual liberty...doesn't freedom to make a decision include freedom to make a poor one?" --Eric Anderson (photo, right), Rock Church and Caucus Chair for the San Diego Republican Party Executive Committee

By Juwan Armstrong and Miriam Raftery

June 12, 2015 (El Cajon) – El Cajon’s City Council voted 3-1 on Wednesday to send a letter asking Assemblyman Brian Jones and Governor Jerry Brown to support Senate Bill 151, which would raise the minimum legal age for buying cigarettes and other tobacco products from 18 to 21.

Jones has taken over $25,000 in campaign contributions from the tobacco industry.  East County’s State Senator, Joel Anderson, took nearly $40,000 and voted against the bill when it passed the Senate.

June 4, 2015 (El Cajon)--The spirit of the Olympic Movement will roll into El Cajon as LionHeart Academy hosts a celebration of Olympic Day for the community. This event is one of over 1,100 in the country being held in June. LionHeart Academy’s celebration will take place from 11:00 am to 1:00 pm on Saturday, June 13, 2015. The location is 1331 N. Cuyamaca Street, El Cajon, CA 92020.

By Miriam Raftery

Photo: Heartland Fire & Rescue Chief Rick Sitta delivers good news at El Cajon Council meeting

June 9, 2015 (San Diego’s East County) – If you live in the cities of El Cajon, La Mesa or Lemon Grove, your fire insurance rates will soon be going down. That’s because Heartland Fire & Rescue, which provides firefighting services for all three cities, has received a class 1 rating from the Insurance Services Office (ISO).   

The  ISO rates 47,000 fire departments across the United States and of those, only 98 have attained a class 1 rating, including only 8 fire districts in the entire state of California.  “Class 1 communities are very rare, and some of these scores are the highest we’ve ever seen,” says Stephanie Ruscansky from the ISO, who notes that only a small fraction of 1% of all agencies rated attain a Class 1 rating.

East County News Service

Photo courtesy ECM news partner 10 News

June 6, 2015 (El Cajon)--An El Cajon mother is mourning the loss of her 20-year-old daughter, Victoria Zubkis, whose body was found in the ocean near the Ocean Beach Pier on May 28^th.   Zubkis’ mother had reported her daughter missing two days earlier, when she went to visit a friend in Ocean Beach.

Source: City of El Cajon

June 4, 2015 (El Cajon )—You’re invited to celebrate Independence Day with numerous games, musical entertainment and fireworks at the City of El Cajon’s Fourth of July Celebration.

By Miriam Raftery

May 27, 2015 (El Cajon) – Parents have filed a class action lawsuit against Ametek Aerospace & Defense in El Cajon, alleging that the company dumped toxic waste into the ground for 20 years, from 1963 to the 1980s.  The site is located next door to Magnolia Elementary School, where children have been suffering mysterious health problems.

East County News Service

May 30, 2015 (El Cajon) – Looking for some fun activities to keep the kids fit and entertained this summer?  The City of El Cajon is announcing some creative week-long camps for kids including Hawaiian Adventure Indoor Soccer Camp, Super Hero Camp, Alien Invasion Dodgeball Camp, Zany Zoo Camp, and Little Kickers Indoor Soccer Camp. For costs and details, click “read more” and scroll down.

May 29, 2015 (EL CAJON) –The recent East County Career Expo at Cuyamaca College has resulted in at least 113 anticipated hires and lined up more than 80 interviews for jobseekers, according to a survey of employers who attended the May 20 event.

May 26, 2015 (El Cajon) - Guitar maestro Robert Wetzel will perform a special concert at the Cuyamaca College Theatre (900 Rancho San Diego Parkway in Rancho San Diego) on Friday, May 29, at 8 p.m.

By Rob Tade, Adjutant, American Legion Post 303, El Cajon

May 24, 2015 (El Cajon)-- Tomorrow is the annual day of remembrance for those that have gone before us and given “all” for our freedom and the liberties that we enjoy.   You are all welcome to join us for a short ceremony at the El Cajon Veteran’s Memorial. 

By Janis Russell and Miriam Raftery

May 21, 2015 (La Mesa)- At the board meeting yesterday, the Helix Water District board voted 4-1 for the drought action plan for increased public education and outreach, increased restrictions with two days/week for outdoor water use in tier 3, and a 10% penalty for using 31 units or more of water, effective starting with July 29^th water bills.  The plan also limits watering to two days a week and cuts warning for water waste fines to just one courtesy letter. View the resolution here.

Tier-3 users will be charged 10% on water over 30 units each two-month billing period, but will not be charged 10% on the first 30 units, Mike Uhrhammer, senior public affairs representative at Helix, told ECM.  A person who exceeds the limit by 1 unit would pay 55 cents; while 50 units would be $11.02, for instance. See chart above left for details.  Average water use is 26 units over two months for the district.

“There is a variance procedure,” Uhrhammer said, citing a need to irrigate for defensible space or erosion control and undue hardships as examples. The penalties will not apply to tier 1, which is considered essential indoor water use level, or tier 2. Tier 3 is targeted because these residents use water mostly outdoors and the state is pushing districts to encourage homeowners to limit ornamental landscaping.

Story and photos by Robert Gehr ©

May 17, 2015 (El Cajon)—The second annual America on Main Street event ( held this year on May 16^th ) was teeming with happy people - from parents with kids in tow, to some of us senior adults mingling with the crowds, all having a good time.

East County News Service

May 17, 2015 (El Cajon) – The 16h annual Royal Tea Party will benefit the Mother Goose Parade and scholarships.  The tea will be held on Saturday, May 23 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Foothills Christian Church, 365 W. Bradley Avenue in El Cajon.

May 14, 2015 (El Cajon)--The City of El Cajon has teamed up with Rady Children’s Hospital for school pedestrian safety improvements.