Now hiring for new Director of Sales position

East County News Service

January 24, 2018 (El Cajon) --  Sycuan Casino announced today that the organization is now hiring for a new Director of Sales position. This position is the first of over 700 new jobs for the hotel and resort expansion project. The new positions will be in the hotel, food and beverage and casino divisions. Sycuan will begin hiring for departmental leadership positions during the first half of the year and will host a series of job fairs mid to late 2018.

Like our sports coverage?  Donate to help support ECM’s sports section!  Type in “Sports” as your donation!

Follow @ECMagSports on Twitter for live sports coverage and stories!

Does your son or daughter play a sport at a level other than varsity?  Comment on this story or tweet @ECMagSports to request coverage!

Check out our sports section for more sports stories!

Story and photos by Liz Alper

January 23, 2018 (Spring Valley) - ECM traveled to Granite Hills on Tuesday night for a clash between the lady Eagles and the lady Wolf Pack on the court.  Granite Hills has started their season a little lackluster, going 7-10 overall and 1-1 in league.  The Wolf Pack sport the same 7-10 record, but are undefeated so far in league, going 2-0.

Board also names West Hills Gymnasium for David C. Hunter

By Jonathan Goetz

Photo: Steele Canyon High School 2017 CIF-SDS Football Champions - Division II, 2017 CIF SoCal Regional Football Champions - Division 3-A and 2017 CIF State Champions – Division 3A, January 22, 2018

January 23, 2018 (El Cajon) - At Monday’s Grossmont Union High School District (GUHSD) Board Meeting, recognition was given to top sports teams for their victories and their “sportsmanlike” conduct.

Helix Charter, Monte Vista and Steele Canyon high schools all won CIF-SDS 2017 Champions, and West Hills Gymnasium is named in honor of David C. Hunter after a GUHSD vote, while the Steele Canyon 2017 SoCal Regional Football Champions and “West Hills Way” were accoladed as being “sportsmanlike.”

By Sue Strom, Advocates of Safe Airport Policies (ASAP)

January 21, 2018 (El Cajon) -- We hope your year is off to a happy and healthy start.  However, for those of us concerned about heavy local traffic, safety, noise, toxic air and lead overhead, with protections for homeowners few and far between, the new year is already daunting.

FAA approval for an increase in air traffic... a state of the art flight training center... the lengthening of the 27L training runway...the redesign and enlargement of the Bradley Street interchange off hwy 67... and the development of 9 five acre parcels of land for aviation usage called the Cajon Air Center are all coming together step by step over the next several years to form the perfect storm.

Update January 18, 2018:  Alaya Michelle Jenkins has been arrested and charged with first degree murder in this case.

By Miriam Raftery, East County Magazine

January 17, 2018 (El Cajon) — A woman stabbed near a bus stop in the 100 block of West Madison Avenue in El Cajon by another woman yesterday at 3 p.m. was rushed to a hospital and pronounced dead.  According to Lt. Walt Miller with El Cajon Police, the victim and her pet pit bill dog had exited a vehicle to confront another woman. 

By Paul Kruze and Miriam Raftery

Photo: Screenshot from video on James Elia’s Facebook page

January 14, 2018 (El Cajon)—Defying a city of El Cajon ban on feeding homeless people in public places,  a dozen individuals including a 14-year-old minor were arrested and given misdemeanor citations by El Cajon Police today, then released.

The feeding was one of many held around the country this weekend to carry on the legacy of Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., who in a 1964 lecture to Nobel laureates voiced concerns about those who “have no houses or beds to sleep in.“ Rev. King added, “If we feel this as a profound moral fact, we cannot be content to see men hungry, to see men victimized with starvation and ill health, when we have the means to help them.”

El Cajon’s City Council voted to adopt a temporary ban on feeding the homeless in public places during the countywide hepatitis emergency declaration, since there have been many cases among the homeless in the outbreak, which county health officials believe originated in El Cajon.

By Miriam Raftery

Photo: Samantha Banegas, via Facebook

January 10, 2018 (Ramona) – Bryan Hinkle, the suspect in the shooting death of Samantha Hayes Banegas, has died of self-inflicted injuries. Banegas, an El Cajon resident, had been honored as 2013-14 Barona Powwow Princess.

East County News Service

January 4, 2018 (El Cajon) -- The El Cajon Library (201 E. Douglas Ave.), will host its third Local Author Expo on Sunday, January 28, at 2:00 p.m. This free event will feature presentations by three local authors followed by a reception where attendees may meet the authors and enjoy refreshments provided by the Friends of the El Cajon Library.

By Jonathan Goetz

Photo: License to Freedom's Executive Director Dilkhwaz Ahmed and Pacific Consulting Group's Pavel Consuegra serve up a meal for the homeless and El Cajon’s Mayor

December 30, 2017 (El Cajon) – Local immigrants and refugees are giving back to the community, serving up dinner to the homeless with License to Freedom at Meridian Baptist Church in El Cajon.

License to Freedom members have been helping the homeless for two years, including an event held on December 27^th, two days after Christmas. The events will continue in 2018.  Meridian Baptist feeds the homeless every Wednesday night and License to Freedom hosts the 4th Wednesday of each month.

By Miriam Raftery

December 28, 2017 (El Cajon)—El Cajon Mayor Bill Wells was our guest for an in-depth interview on our radio show last week.  You can hear the full interview, originally aired on KNSJ, by clicking on the “audio” link.  Our topics included the performing arts center, a major new goal for helping the homeless, and economic revitalization in the community.

Mayor Wells shared details about the city’s exciting new partnership with Live Nation to reopen the East County Performing Arts Center.  The Mayor, who plays several musical instruments, recalled how music made a big difference in his own life.  “It was the first thing I was really good at,” he reflected, also sharing a humorous anecdote about how he talked his way into the school band as a youngster growing up.

Source: City of El Cajon

December 24, 2017 (El Cajon) -- The El Cajon City Council is now accepting applications for Personnel Commission, Planning Commission, and Veterans’ Commission. The filing period is December 13, 2017, through January 11, 2018, at 5:30 p.m.  Applicants will be interviewed and appointed on January 23, 2018, at 7:00 p.m. in the Council Chamber, 200 Civic Center Way, El Cajon, CA 92020.

Landmark vote sets path to reopen theatre in 2019 for headline acts, though community groups’ use of theatre may be limited

By Paul Kruze

Photo by Miriam Raftery, left: Arich Berghammer, Live Nation, addresses Council prior to historic vote

December 20, 2017 (El Cajon) -- After many community discussions, public meetings and  frustrations over the East County Performing Arts Center (ECPAC) remaining closed for nearly the past decade, the El Cajon City Council last Tuesday unanimously approved a preliminary draft agreement for City Manager Doug Williford to ink worldwide concert producer Live Nation as the new manager of the theatre. (Councilman Ben Kalasho was absent, citing an emergency.)

Prior to the landmark vote which longtime councilmember Gary Kendrick has characterized as “the most important vote and the biggest thing to happen to El Cajon. Everybody wins.” He added that Live Nation “has the Midas touch. Every performing arts center they touch turns to gold.”

By Miriam Raftery

December 19, 2017 (El Cajon) – El Cajon Police have arrested two adults and a juvenile in connection with the December 12^th stabbing death of Kyle Khamphan and the attempted murder of a juvenile victim, says Lt. Rob Rainsweier, public information officer for ECPC.

Update December 19, 2017:  The plane had taken off from Gillespie Field when the pilot reported engine trouble. He was trying to return to the airport when the crash occurred. Two of the three men aboard were officers with the Huntington Beach Police Department. The two officers have been released from the hospital, according to the Orange County Register, but the third man remains hospitalized.

East County WIldfire & Emergency Service

Photos by John Sulser

December 17, 2017 (El Cajon) -- A single engine plane has crashed near Gillespie Way and Weld in El Cajon, close to Gillespie Field, El Cajon Police report.

Witnesses report a pilot, copilot and passenger escaped before the plane caught fire and have been transported to a hospital.

East County News Service

December 13, 2017 (El Cajon) – A 20-year-old man is dead and a 17-year-old has been treated for stab wounds following an altercation in the 700 block of East Park Avenue in El Cajon around 7:30 last night.