By Miriam Raftery

May 2, 2016 (Boulevard) – Jacumba Solar, Tule Wind, a county presentation on groundwater monitoring, updates on lawsuits over big energy projects and discussion of Live Oak Springs water rate hikes are among the many important items on the Boulevard Planning Group’s agenda for its meeting Thursday, May 5 at 7 p.m. in the Boulevard Fire Training Room (39923 Ribbonwood Road in Boulevard). For the full agenda, click here. For highlights, scroll down.

By Tom and Colleen Taylor

April 29, 2016 (Alpine) - We are in the beginning stages of forming an art league here in Alpine.  We want to meet with local artists who are interested in becoming active in the community by participating in open studios as well as art shows.  We have already reserved www.alpineartleague.org and will be designing that website shortly through FASO (Fine Art Studios Online).  If you would like more information on us, please visit our current website at www.carefreefineartstudio.com or feel free to contact us at 619-609-8304.     

East County News Service

Photo: Feral pig, U.S. Department of Agricultural

April 25, 2016 (San Diego’s East County) – Efforts to eradicate wild pigs across San Diego’s backcountry have proven effective.

 

Officials report that monitoring through trail cameras and other means indicate there could be just eight feral pigs left in our region.  Professional hunters hired by federal, state and local governments have trapped and killed about 150 of the pigs over the past five years, the Union-Tribune reports. Drought has also taken a toll on the invasive species.

East County News Service

April 24, 2016 (Alpine) -- If you want your business, organization or agency to blossom, sign up for the May 18 Alpine Mountain Empire Chamber of Commerce 2016 Spring Business Festival. There will be marketing opportunities for Chamber members from 5 to 7 p.m. at the Alpine Regional Center’s lobby area at 1620 Alpine Boulevard  in Alpine. The general public is invited to attend free.

Spring Valley foster family hopes to raise awareness about joys of fostering

By Jen Coburn

April 24, 2016 (Spring Valley) -- Not everyone has the energy to care for 16 babies, but Ana and Dale Griffin say they are up to the task. The Spring Valley couple has a secret weapon – pacing. They serve as foster parents for one baby at a time through Angels Foster Family Network, a nonprofit that requires San Diego families devote their full attention to one young child (or sibling set) at a time.

East County News Service

April 21, 2016 (Spring Valley) – If you bought a SuperLotto Plus ticket sold at the Valero gas station on Campo Road in Spring Valley, be sure to check your numbers.  Some lucky customer has won $18,088.

By Miriam Raftery

Photo: Creative commons by Editor Brad

April 19, 2016 (Campo) – A quirky relic of East County’s past is now gone.  Locals called the nest-shaped satellite dish the “Pterodactyl birdbath.”

By Miriam Raftery

Photo: McCain Valley in San Diego’s East County, site of Iberdrola’s planned Tule Wind energy project

April 14, 2016 (Sacramento) – California’s Public Utilities Commission announced yesterday that an administrative law judge for the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has ruled that Iberdrola Renewables LLC and Shell Energy North America defrauded California state officials out of $1.1 billion on the heels of the Enron energy scandal. 

Iberdrola, a Spanish energy corporation, recently won approval from the federal government to build the controversial Tule Wind project in McCain Valley in a federal recreation area.

By Miriam Raftery

April 12, 2016 (Sacramento) – Tomorrow, April 13^th at 1 p.m.,  the Assembly Committee on Utilities and Commerce will hear AB 2395, a measure that aims to eliminate hard-wired land line phones in California communities where cabled fiber optic connections are not available or are too expensive to install, such as rural, mountain and desert regions.  Customers would have no choice but to switch to wireless cell phone service, if the measure being pushed by AT&T is enacted.

In emergencies, 911 callers’ locations cannot easily be verified, unlike calls from land line which can be pinpointed instantly. In case of fire, medical emergency, or a serious crime in progress, prompt 911 responses are critical.  Moreover, during power outages, cell phones run out once batteries are dead and there is no way to recharge batteries in an outage, whereas old-fashioned land lines (though not cable phones) continue to work even when the electricity is off.

"In addition, some of us living near the U.S./Mexico border do not have cell service due to rugged terrain and agreements with Mexico not to have cell towers too close to the border,” says Donna Tisdale, chair of the Boulevard Community Planning Group.  So eliminating land lines would leave border residents in the most remote areas of  San Diego County with no phone service at all.

East County News Service

April 10, 2016 (Jamul) – County Supervisors on Wednesday will consider a staff recommendation to approve an agreement between the County and the Jamul Indian Village (JIV) regarding impacts of the tribe’s casino construction and operation. The agreement, if approved, would also find the proposed action to be exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA).

By Mike Allen

April 4, 2016 (Boulevard) --Customers of tiny Live Oak Springs Water Co. in Boulevard are worried that a pending 44 percent increase to their water bills won’t provide them with better service, and is nothing more than a bailout to the water company that remains in bankruptcy.

When the California Public Utilities Commission convenes April 7 the commission will likely grant Live Oak its rate increase, which is on the consent calendar. That will send average water bills to $107 a month, from the current average $74, according to the proposed resolution). Yet some customers say instead of helping the company, the PUC should replace the woeful management of Live Oak Springs Water.

“If it’s in bankruptcy, why in God’s name are they allowing him to run the water district?,” says Paul Isham, a 27-year resident of the area at the eastern edge of San Diego County. Isham said Live Oak pumped water from a stream near his property several years ago that caused his well to dry up. The action forced Isham to greatly curtail a small ranch business.

By Liz Alper

April 2, 2016 (Alpine) - REACH and the Viejas Fire Department are unveiling their new medically-equipped helicopter in Alpine.  To celebrate, they are holding a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Friday, April 8^th from 11:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m.

East County News Service

March 29, 2016 (San Diego’s East County) – Clementine Scott James, 67, of Spring Valley died of injuries sustained in a two-vehicle crash in Rancho San Diego Sunday afternoon, the Medical Examiner’s office reports.