By Mike Allen

June 13, 2022 (Santee) -- After the Santee City Council voted last week to remove the Fanita Ranch project initiative from the November ballot, environmental activist Van Collinsworth called the move not only a slap in the face of local voters, but a clear message that the 3,000-unit development will never go to a vote.

The Council voted unanimously June 8 to take an earlier approved referendum on the project off the ballot because all pf the project’s legal approvals were already rescinded last month. The Council removed those approvals made in 2020 to comply with a judge’s recent ruling, which found the project’s environmental impact report deficient.

That report did not include impacts of a last-minute change by the Council to eliminate a key exit route in case of a wildfire evacuation, a lapse which the court found violated the California Environmental Quality Act requirements.

Source:  Santee Lakes

June 9, 2022 (Santee) - Santee Lakes Recreation Preserve is proud to announce our new Campground shade structure has been the perfect addition to our Campground! We would like to thank the American Melanoma Foundation (AMF) for partially funding this 30’x40’ structure to cover our playground in the campground and protect our camping kiddos.

By Mike Allen

Photo, left to right:  Allen Carlisle, Outgoing General Manager, Padre Dam Municipal Water District, Jeremy Bauer, Acting Deputy Director, Tribal, Intergovernmental and Policy Division, U.S. EPA Region 9, Deven Upadhyay, Chief Operating Officer and Assistant General Manager, Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, David Gibson, Executive Officer at San Diego Regional Water Quality Control Board, Joel A. Scalzitti, Board Member, Helix Water District, Bill Pommering, Board President, Padre Dam Municipal Water District, Steve Goble, Joint Powers Authority Chair, East County Advanced Water Purification Program, San Diego County Supervisor Joel Anderson, Sandra Kerl, General Manager, San Diego County Water Authority, Jack Simes, Planning Officer, Bureau of Reclamation, Kyle Swanson, Incoming General Manager, Padre Dam Municipal Water District, Melissa McChesney, Communications Manager, Padre Dam Municipal Water District.  Photo courtesy East County Advanced Water Purification Program

June 1, 2022 (Santee) -- East County took a huge step toward greater water reliability and affordability today when regional officials broke ground on the $950 million Advanced Water Purification (AWP) project in Santee.

Source: Santee Summer Concerts

May 31, 2022 (Santee) -- The Santee Summer Concerts are back. After 38 years, concerts in Santee have become a tradition that draw crowds to a local park for free live music.

By Elijah McKee

May 8, 2022 (Lakeside) — Lakeside residents concerned with the Sheriff’s handling of the recent hate crime stabbing investigation still await clarity, while the 16 year-old boy charged in the attack on a teen girl has his next court appearance on June 6. He has pleaded not guilty on attempted murder and hate crime charges. His 15 year-old girlfriend was also recently rearrested for further involvement in the attack than previously thought. 

The boy’s father, who was present for the attack, has not been arrested. The District Attorney’s office has said the investigation is ongoing. 

The stabbing, which took place on April 16 around 11 p.m. at the Woodglen Apartments on Mapleview Street in Lakeside, was related to previous verbal altercations between the parties, who live near each other. Racial hate speech was present during these verbal incidents as well as during the physically violent escalation.

By Mike Allen

May 1, 2022 (San Diego’s East County) -- A new estimated cost for the Advanced Water Purification project, a system of recapturing sewage and transforming it to drinkable water for about 500,000 East County residents, escalated to about $850 million, an increase of more than $300 million above the estimate three years ago.

By Rebecca Jefferis Williamson

April 20, 2022 (Santee) “All of a sudden I hear this loud rumbling,” said Jill Perry, house manager for Home for Guiding Hands in Santee. “We were just sitting down to lunch.” That rumbling was the sound, and aftereffects, when a Cessna small plane, which killed the pilot, Dr. Sugata Das, and a UPS driver, Steve Krueger, crashed in a Santee neighborhood on October 11, 2021, according to a video published by the San Diego Union Tribune.

By Mike Allen

April 12, 2022 (Santee) -- Fanita Ranch, the 3,000 unit housing project that was approved by the city of Santee two years ago, received another setback last week when a San Diego judge ruled the City must rescind all the legal permits for the construction.

The judgement by Superior Court Judge Katherine Bacal made last month and filed April 6, calls on the city to vacate a series of resolutions that gave Fanita Ranch the green light in September 2020. Bacal faulted the city and its contracted experts for creating an inadequate environmental report about all the impacts from the project, particularly the lack of safe evacuation routes in the wake of an emergency such as a major wildfire.

East County News Service

April 5, 2022 (Santee) – The Santee Chamber of Commerce will host its Santee Heroes Celebration on Tuesday, April 26 at 6 p.m. at Carlton Oaks Golf Club.

By Miriam Raftery

Photo by Rebecca Jefferis Williamson, who contributed to this report.

April 2, 2022 (Santee) -- A body was found in the parking lot of the Santee Walmart yesterday afternoon.  A spokesperson for the Sheriff's media communications told ECM that the death appears to be a suicide, though an investigation continues.

No other details were provided by law enforcement.

Supervisor Fletcher pledged in his State of the County speech Tuesday to finally acquire a night-flying helicopter for San Diego County

By Miriam Raftery

Photo: Screenshot off Malik Earnest’s Twitter post

March 31, 2022 (Santee) – A brush fire reported shortly before midnight behind the Santee Walmart at 170 Town Center Parkway took over three hours to fully extinguish.

By Mike Allen 

March 27, 2022 (Santee) -- One of the more controversial powers government agencies wield is eminent domain, the ability to acquire private property even without the owner’s consent for a project determined to be the public’s best interest.

Suspected killer, a neighbor, later died in a fire

East County News Service

Source: San Diego Sheriff’s Department 

Photos:  Diane Lynn Dahn was brutally murdered in 1988.  After 33 years, investigators believe the killer was her neighbor, Warren Robertson, who later died in a fire.

March 16, 2022 (Santee) -- On May 2, 1988, Diane Lynn Dahn did not arrive at work for her shift at the San Diego Transit Corporation. A coworker went to Diane's apartment in the 8700 block of Graves Avenue in Santee and discovered her body inside her bedroom at around 1:30 p.m. Her 2-year-old son was found wandering in the apartment complex.