By Miriam Raftery

Roger Coppock contributed to this story

September 8, 2019 (San Diego’s East County) -- Extreme heat is poised to rise steeply in frequency and severity over the coming decades, bringing unprecedented health risks for people and communities across the country. That’s the disturbing finding of the Union of Concerned Scientists in a just-issued report titled Killer Heat in the United States: Climate Choices and the Future of Dangerously Hot Days.

By Liz Alper

Photos by P.J. Panebianco

September 7, 2019 (San Diego) - Week three of ECM Friday Night Lights takes us to Patrick Henry High’s brand new field.  So far, it’s been the site of a big 30-point loss to Morse last week. But the Patriots are faring well at 1-1. Last night, they finally got to host their annual matchup against Monte Vista.  These two met last year, where now-UCLA Bruin Jahmon McClendon ran circles around the Patriots, resulting in a 42-9 Monte Vista win. The Monarchs are coming in at 1-1 as well, winning 28-14 last week against Rancho Buena Vista.

East County News Service

September 3, 2019 (Spring Valley) – Mt. Miguel High School Foundation will present “QUARTERMANIA” on Saturday, Oct. 5 from 10:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Mt. Miguel High School Multicultural Event Center (8568 Blossom Lane, Spring Valley).

“Bring a roll of quarters and have some fun,” the invitation states. Quartermania is a cross between an auction, a raffle and Bingo. Vendors put an item up for auction; if you are interested in it you bid 1 to 4 quarters, then raise your paddle. If the Vendor draws your paddle number, you win. 

By Donald H. Harrison

Reprinted with permission from San Diego Jewish World, a member of the San Diego Online News Association

September 2, 2019 (Spring Valley) - Speculation was popular from the 17th through 19th centuries that Native Americans might have been descended from the Lost Tribes of Israel. In this community off State Route 94, there once lived a famous historian who was among those who investigated the Lost Tribe theory and then dismissed it as being fanciful.

East County News Service

August 22, 2019 (Spring Valley) – As a direct result of numerous complaints from concerned citizens, three illegal marijuana dispensaries in Spring Valley and Casa de Oro were searched and shut down by law enforcement and one arrest was made.

Board President Dan McMillan votes against the measure

By Paul Kruze, Contributing Editor

August 17, 2019 (La Mesa) -- Water from the Helix Water District (HWD), which serves some 276,000 residents throughout East County San Diego, is going to get a little more expensive in spite of ample water supply in storage.

By Miriam Raftery

Photo: SDG&E webcam

Other photos:  Steve Wingfield of Jamul

Update August 16:  The fire in Mexico has been renamed  #Border8Fire. It is now over 1,500 acres and is 30% contained. Cal Fire is preparing to send a strike team to assist firefighters in Mexico.

Update August 15:  The fire is now 1,100 acres but still confined to Mexico. Cal Fire is monitoring the situation.

August 14, 2019 (Tecate) – A fire burning in Mexico has scored over 250 acres in the Tecate area and has potential to cross the border near Potero.  Cal Fire has pre-treated fuels on the U.S. side of the border and will have crews remain on scene overnight at the fire, dubbed #BorderFire.  The blaze is within 1/8 of a mile from the international border Cal Fire reports.

East County News Service

By Miriam Raftery

Listen to the full interview, originally aired on KNSJ radio: click the audio link.

Learn more about Ammar Campa-Najjar's town hall at the Alpine Community Center on August 18 from 1-4 p.m. by clicking here.

August 9, 2019 (San Diego’s East County) – “We need an economy and a government that works for working people,” says Ammar Campa-Najjar, who is running for the 50^th Congressional district seat currently held by indicted Congressman Duncan Hunter. So we sat down with Campa-Najjar on our radio show to discuss those plans in detail.

Headlines tout a strong GDP as well as low unemployment. But  those numbers don’t tell the full story,  Campa-Najjar points out. “That’s great if you own stock.  But it’s not great if unemployment is low because one person is working three jobs, barely making a living and living paycheck to paycheck, having to choose whether to buy a gallon of gas or a gallon of milk.”  He says that in talking with people across the district, he’s hearing from people who are having to cut prescription pills in half or who can’t pay for insulin, choosing which bills to skip paying to cover basic survival needs. “These are real issues in the district, especially in rural areas."

Unlike most candidates who have run for this seat through the years, Campa-Najjar says he is uniquely positioned to bring good jobs to East County and elsewhere in the district because “I worked at the Department of Labor to create good-paying jobs, not just in San Diego County, but throughout the country.”

At the Department of Labor, he worked on creating apprenticeship jobs to train workers in high-paying fields, as well as setting up summer youth jobs and opportunities for veterans.  He later worked for the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce as communications and marketing director, which included promoting opportunities for small businesses to secure contracts with the federal government and corporations. He’s also worked as an educator teaching at UCSD, USD and SDSU.

He’s also a small business owner and Jamul resident who was born in La Mesa and raised by a working class Catholic mother. His first job was as a janitor at his church, where he became a youth leader before graduating from San Diego State and later working in the White House and at the U.S. Department of Labor.

So what kinds of jobs would he bring to the district, including rural areas, small towns and Native American reservations?

East County News Service

August 4, 2019 (Pine Valley) – “Wireless Radiation: Keeping Safer in a Wireless World” will be the topic of a free lecture by attorney Dafna Tachover on Tuesday, August 27 at 6:30 p.m. in the Pine Valley Clubhouse (28890 Old Highway 80, Pine Valley).