East County News Service

By Miriam Raftery

January 10, 2024 (El Cajon) – Wal Mart has announced that it will not renew its lease for the Walmart store in the Parkway Plaza shopping mall in El Cajon. The company plans to close the store on February 9.

East County News Service

January 7, 2023 (El Cajon)—The parents of three children are dead of in an apparent murder-suicide at their home in the 1600 block of Hilton Head Court in unincorporated El Cajon. The deceased have been identified as Jose Benjamin Lopez Valle, 41, and his wife, Brenda Valle, 38.

Sheriff’s deputies responded to a call reporting an assault with a deadly weapon and gunshots. Inside the residence, they found the victims with a firearm nearby. Deputies and paramedics provided medical care but could not save the couple. 

“It appears that Jose’s injuries were self-inflicted,” says Lieutenant Joseph Jarjura with the Sheriff’s homicide unit.

They were parents to three children, ages 18, 16 and 11.

By Miriam Raftery

January 2, 2024 (El Cajon) – Tow truck driver Dale Alan Pumphrey, 63, of El Cajon was struck and  killed on New Year’s Eve while working to remove a stranded vehicle on State Route 125 north of Jamacha Road.

Pumphrey was the owner of DAP & Sons Towing, according to his son, Nicholas Ordille, who has set up a fundraiser at GoFundMe to help Pumphrey’s wife, Shelley. According to the post, Pumphrey was the sole provider for his family; his widow is a cancer survivor currently in the hospital to have a toe removed due to complications of diabetes.

“My dad was one that really put everything he had into his family, “ his son says.”He would give you the last couple dollars he had, shirt off his back, couch to sleep on when needed. .. He is My Hero and role model that was taken from us too soon.”

East County News Service

December 4, 2023 (El Cajon) – The a cappella group Straight No Chaser, whose fall tour has become a holiday tradition for families around the country, will be performing Dec. 28 at  Sycuan Casino and Resort in El Cajon  The renown singers also just released  “Stocking Stuffer,” an EP with their newest holiday repertoire here, and will also be available for purchase at the concert. 

By Shiloh Ireland

File photo:  Dr. David Jeremiah at a previous event

November 25, 2023 (El Cajon) -- After a long absence of  recovery from illness, Dr. David Jeremiah returned to his church, Shadow Mountain Community Church in El Cajon on November 19^th..  The pastor was assisted with a walker and staff guided him to the pulpit. His congregation gave him a warm welcome back and the sanctuary was full. 

By Jessyka Heredia

November 21, 2023 (El Cajon)—Outside El Cajon’s city hall  on Nov. 16, youth activists gathered with the local outreach group Home Start to show the need for more housing for homeless youths, as well as funding to get kids off the streets and stop a cycle of lifelong homelessness.

Parade site claims event will return in 2024, but city manager says foundation is “defunct” ; tax records reveal financial troubles

Story and photos by Miriam Raftery

November 16, 2023 (El Cajon) – For the fourth year in a row, there will be no Mother Goose Parade in El Cajon. An ECM investigation into the El Cajon Valley Mother Goose Parade Association reveals troubling findings, including financial losses, consulting fees paid out with no tangible results, the association's donation page taken down, and no apparent fundraising events. The parade association’s officers have refused  to respond to media questions.

The El Cajon Valley Mother Goose Parade Association website claims, “This beloved event shall be re-imagined as a new classic in 2024.”  If true, why wouldn't they respond to media inquiries to publicize ways that the public could support the parade?

The parade, a tradition since 1947, has long been billed as the largest parade of its type west of the Mississippi. It went virtual during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and 2021.  In 2022, the website announced cancellation of a live parade due to “unprecedented staffing, logistics and supply chain challenges” but promised that the annual tradition” will be back bigger and better than ever in 2023.” 

That didn’t happen, and the lack of transparency raises serious questions over whether there will be a parade in 2024, or ever again--unless the public steps forward to save the parade and provide a fairy-tale resolution.

East County News Service

November 12, 2023 (Crest) – Ho ho!  Santa will be visiting at the Crest Christmas Craft  Show on Sunday,  December 10.

The event will be held at the Crest Clubhouse, 113North Park Blvd., El Cajon, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Story and photo courtesy of the San Diego Watercolor Society

November 7, 2023 (El Cajon) - Michael Garberick, an artist and resident of El Cajon, California, has won the Second-Place award in the November 2023 San Diego Watercolor Society (SDWS) Member’s exhibition “What’s the Story?”, an in-gallery show of the SDWS at 2825 Dewey Road in Liberty Station, San Diego, CA. Garberick’s painting titled “Margaret’s Needlepoint” was selected by prominent local artist Jesse Miller for this honor, out of 220 paintings. (Photo, left)

By Miriam Raftery

November 1, 2023 (El Cajon) – East County Arts Association announces the grand opening of Surje Coffee Shop at the Gallery, sharing space with the Association at 124  East Main Street. 

“We invite you to immerse yourself in the rich aroma and artistic inspiration that coffee brings,” the association’s website states. “Our theme for November special month is Coffee in Art, where we welcome any artwork related to coffee or inspired by the captivating world of caffeine.”

Artists are encouraged to drop off their works on Wednesday, Nov. 15 between 11 a.m. and 4 p.m.  All artworks must be wired (no sawtooth hangers).

East County News Service

October 29, 2023 (El Cajon) – Two teens have died after being shot by an assailant outside a house party in El Cajon last night.

Shortly before midnight,  El Cajon Police officers responded to a series of 9-1-1 calls reporting a loud house party and multiple gunshots in the 700 block of Mahogany Drive.

“Upon arrival, officers saw numerous people fleeing from the area.  Tragically, two victims, a 16-year-old male, and an 18-year-old male were found critically wounded, one in the street and the other in the front yard of a residence,” says Lieutenant Will Guerin.  “Despite swift medical attention, both victims succumbed to their injuries after being transported to local trauma hospitals.”

By Miriam Raftery

October 19, 2023 (El Cajon) – Mark Lewis, who served El Cajon as mayor and city councilman for 25 years overseeing major changes the community, has died of complications from a stroke suffered last year.  His family members were with him  at a hospice center, where he passed away on October 12, 2023 at age 75.

“He loved El Cajon and everyone in it,” his wife, Sarah Christine “Chris” Lewis, told East County Magazine.

He led the city through a recession and a centennial, leading efforts to revitalize downtown, bring "fun" to city residents and create a cleaner, greener community for future generations.

The affable mayor, known for his sense of humor and commitment to a clean environment,  also served as the County of San Diego’s waste management coordinator, chaired SANDAG’s public safety board, was foreman of the San Diego and Imperial Counties Grand Jury, served on the Draft Board and on the Indian Gaming Commission.

A complex, larger-than-life figure, Lewis also wrote poetry and authored a book of Haiku dedicated to mankind "in the hope that those who read it,will act in some way,as to improve the existence of man." In his younger days,he enjoyed  stints as a stand-up comedian.

But he was most proud of leading efforts to revitalize downtown El Cajon and implement green programs that cleaned up the city’s air pollution.

By Jessyka Heredia

Watch full video here

October 15, 2023 (El Cajon)-- A group of community members came to address the Cajon Valley School District at their monthly board meeting Tuesday due to policy changes on the agenda that would shift Superintendent  David Miyashiro’s evaluation to private session without the public in attendance, leaving the public unable to comment on or express criticism.