By Jonathan Goetz

Photo: The project is bordered by existing sand projects to the north and east

May 23, 2017 (Lakeside) -- The Lakeside Community Planning Group  on May 17 approved by a 10-0 vote a major use permit for East County Sand LLC to extract sand from 19.23 of 27.39 acres in the heavy industrial portion of Hwy-67 and Vigilante Road. The project still needs to go before the County Planning Commission. Upon conclusion, it will host 8.8 acres of wetland in Slaughterhouse Creek and San Vicente Creekbed at the north end of Moreno Valley in Lakeside.

By Miriam Raftery

Photo by Bryan Snow, taken from State Route 52 in Santee

May 23, 2017 (San Diego’s East County) – A brush fire yesterday afternoon scorched approximately 13 acres in Mission Trails Regional Park.  The blaze began  at Big Rock and was burning toward Cowles Mountain, Jay Wilson with Mission Trails Regional Park’s Foundation told ECM.

As a result of the wildland fire, three trail heads are temporarily closed:   The trail heads at Big Rock Park, Big Rock Road and Shantaung Drive are temporarily closed.  The trail heads from Mesa Road, Lake Murray Blvd. and Barker Way are open.

Public comments accepted through June 12; three public hearings set this week in San Diego region

By Miriam Raftery

May 22, 2017 (San Diego) – SDG&E and SoCalGas have applied to the California Public Utilities Commission to build a new natural gas pipeline from Rainbow through the Marine Corps Air Station at Miramar to Mission Valley to replace an aging and potentially dangerous line, also boosting capacity and reliability for the region.  (View application.  View all project documents .)

By Rebecca Jefferis-Williamson 

May 20, 2017 (Santee) - Between a rock and a Facebook group public page, anyone visiting Santee may, by design or not, find a rock--painted rocks to be exact.  Here’s how the current rock hunt got started. 

Source: Padre Dam Municipal Water District

May 18, 2017 (Santee) - Padre Dam Municipal Water District received regulatory conceptual approvals for the East County Advanced Water Purification Program from the California State Water Resources Control Board Division of Drinking Water. Additionally, the State Water Resources Control Board awarded Padre Dam $116.2 million as part of the Proposition 1 (Prop 1) Water Recycling Funding Program. 

By Miriam Raftery

Photo: ECM news partner 10 News

May 16, 2017 (Lakeside) – Names of the deputies involved in the fatal shooting May 10^th on the Barona Reservation in Lakeside have been released by the Sheriff’s Department.  Deputy Matthew Addenbrooke fired a shotgun, Deputy Patrick Farber fired a patrol rifle, and deputies David Williams and Aaron Brooke each fired less-lethal shotguns.

Goal of a new library still a long way from fulfillment

By Mike Allen

May 12, 2017 (Santee) -- Santee’s library changes lives, and does it in so many ways.

That was the message of the library branch manager Cheryl Cosart, who made a presentation on its services and programs May 10 to the City Council.

By Miriam Raftery

Photo: Facebook

May 11, 2017 (Santee) — Santee resident Andrea Daves, 33, seemed to have everything to live for.  A married Navy sailor with children ages 2 and 3, she was on maternity leave when her body was found in a burning vehicle on Mast Boulevard in Santee back in February.   But now her death has been determined to be a suicide; cause of death was thermal burns, according to a press release issued by Lt. Kenneth Nelson with the Sheriff’s Homicide Unit.

Source:  City News Service

May 8, 2017 (Lakeside) - A head-on collision on a rain-slick roadway near Lakeside left both drivers severely injured and one facing felony DUI charges, authorities said Monday.

The 29-year-old driver of a Chevy S-10 pickup truck drifted into oncoming traffic on Highway 8 Business and crashed into a Hyundai Accent near Los Coches Road at 11:06 p.m. Sunday, according to Officer M. Bennett of the California Highway Patrol.

Potential 500-megawatt renewable energy project at the San Vicente Reservoir site could help stabilize water rates as a new revenue source

Source:  San Diego County Water Authority

April 27, 2017 (San Diego) - The San Diego County Water Authority Board of Directors today authorized the Water Authority, in conjunction with the City of San Diego, to begin seeking detailed proposals for a potential energy storage facility at San Vicente Reservoir. The project could help ease pressure on electric grids by producing locally generated renewable energy on demand, and also lessen upward pressure on water rates by providing a new source of revenue.

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Story and photos by Liz Alper

April 25, 2017 (La Mesa) - Santana High School baseball paid a visit to Helix to take on the Highlanders.  It promised to be a fun matchup, with the Scottie dogs sporting an incredible 13-7 overall record (3-1 in league) coming into today.  The Sultans were even more impressive, coming into the contest undefeated in league play (4-0) and 14-6 overall.  Junior Keaton Chase took the mound for the Highlanders against senior Tristan Salinas for the Sultans.

By Miriam Raftery

“I will argue that my minority and low income citizens have just as much right to be fairly represented as San Diego and Chula Vista.”—Lemon Grove Councilman Jerry Jones

April 23, 2017 (San Diego’s East County) – Assembly Bill 805  passed the Assembly Local Government Committee on Wednesday by a 5-4 vote.  The measure claims to  reform SANDAG,  but in fact gives virtually all power to the cities of San Diego and Chula Vista, leaving East County cities and other communities in our county powerless to add agenda items to benefit other cities or block objectionable measures at SANDAG, the Metropolitan Transit System (MTS) and North County Transit District.

Now East County cities are fighting back.   On Tuesday, La Mesa’s City Council will consider a proposal from Council members Bill Baber and Kristine Alessio to hire a legislative lobbyist to advocate on La Mesa’s behalf against AB 805, which was authored by Assemblymember Lorena Gonzalez (D-San Diego), according to the agenda.

El Cajon’s City Council has voted to oppose AB 805, as did Lemon Grove and La Mesa.  East County Assemblyman Randy Voepel, former Mayor of Santee, voted against the measure in committee.

By Miriam Raftery

Photos by Jeff Holz at Equestrian Center in Santee

April 21, 2017 (Santee) — San Diego County Fire Chiefs, along with fire agencies across the region, held their annual wildland fire preparedness exercises April 19-21 in Santee and Tierrasanta to prepare for the upcoming fire season.

Photo by Rebecca Jefferis Williamson

April 18, 2017 (Lakeside) – A fire destroyed a free-standing garage on 12285 Rockstream Road in Lakeside Saturday night.

Source: Heartland Fire & Rescue

April 17, 2017 (San Diego’s East County) -- Are you prepared for a disaster? An earthquake or firestorm? Consider attending a Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) academy. Free disaster training will be taught by members of Heartland Fire & Rescue and Santee Fire Department in classes that begin May 6^th.