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Story and photos by Liz Alper

March 2, 2018 (San Diego) - Steele Canyon.  Eastlake.  Spring Valley.  Chula Vista.  Both making the trek to inner city San Diego to Mission Bay High School for the CIF Open Division Championship.  The Cougars finished the season 12-6-6 overall and 3-2-3 in the Grossmont League.  Compare that to the Titans’ 18-5-3 overall record and impressive undefeated 9-0 record in league, and this was sure to be a wild ride.

Penn Gaming parts ways with tribe; SEC filing cites concerns over unpaid loans

By Miriam Raftery

March 1, 2018 (Jamul) – In a press release issued tonight, the Jamul Indian Village Development Corporation, a wholly owned entity of Jamul Indian Village, announced termination of Penn Gaming and a transition to a new management team at the Hollywood Casino Jamul-San Diego, which will be rebranded as Jamul Casino.

The JIVDC press release describes the transition as a “natural next step toward economic self-sufficiency for JIV.”  Penn Gaming’s filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission on February 27, 018 does affirm that the decision for Penn’s local entity, San Diego Gaming  Ventures LLC, to cease management of the casino effective May 28, 2018 is a “mutually agreed” upon decision. 

But the filing also indicates serious financial difficulties, including outstanding loans that Penn suggests it may be unable to collect.  The filing states:

By Miriam Raftery

Photo: Alex Tardy, National Weather Service San Diego

February 28, 2018 (San Diego) -- Another winter storm is set to swoop in Thursday night through Saturday from the Pacific Northwest, bringing potentially heavy rain and more mountain snow.  Winds could pick up too through mountain passes and desert slopes, too.

By Miriam Raftery

February 27, 2018 (Boulevard) – The Boulevard Planning Group meets Thursday, March 1^st at 7 p.m. in the Boulevard Fire Training Room, 33919 Ribbonwood Road, Boulevard.  The board is expected to take action on proposed release of a sexually violent predator on McCain Valley Road.

The board will also receive updates and hold discussions on issues including Supervisors’ climate action plan, Tule Wind noise complaints, Protect Our Communities’ appeal challenging federal approval of Tule Wind phase II, and revival of two solar projects formerly proposed by Soitec. Rugged Solar has been taken over by Clean Focus and Tierra Del sol Solar has been taken over by Invenergy and renamed Boulevard Solar.

East County News Service

February 27, 2018 (Ramona) --  Indivisible Ramona invites the public to attend an evening of presentations on the “Changing Faces of Agricultures”, including farm labor, and its impact on the economy of San Diego County tonight, Tuesday, February 27, from 7:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at the Ramona Library Community Room, 1275 Main St., Ramona, CA 92065. 

Attendees will hear from two expert speakers and Congressional candidates about San Diego County agriculture productions of more than $1.7 billion and agricultural exports from and through the county at more than $18 billion and how immigration, housing, NAFTA and other key issues could have an impact. Both Republican and Democratic candidates running for Congress in District 50 have been invited to participate and offer comments.

By Jonathan Goetz

February 22, 2018 (Spring Valley) – Approximately 30 community members turned out at a meeting of the Spring Valley Revitalization Steering Committee Thursday, where Supervisor Dianne Jacob received an update from community and law enforcement.

The agenda covered a wide range of topics, from new parks and a community garden to  helping homeless youths and updates on community festivities.

East County News Service

February 18, 2018 (Campo) -- The Easter Bunny will board the train at the Pacific Southwest Railway Museum’s depot in Campo on March 24^th, 25^th and 31^st to visit with passengers as the train travels through San Diego’s beautiful east-county mountains.  

By Miriam Raftery, East County Magazine

February 10, 2018 (San Diego’s East County) -- Legislation introduced by State Senator Ben Hueso aims to expand a successful “promise zone” program originally used to improve inner city areas in the city of San Diego.  If enacted,  Senate Bill 635 would allow blighted rural and tribal communities as well as cities with populations under 200,000 people to also apply for promise zone designation.

By Miriam Raftery

February 7, 2018 (Jamul) – What could be more romantic than a Valentine’s dinner at a French restaurant?  Fabrison’s Country French Cooking in Jamul is offering two dinner packages for you and your sweetheart on February 14. Choose from Country French fancy at $50 a person or Country French Rustic at $35 a person.

Each includes a three-course meal with multiple options.  Bon appetit!

By Miriam Raftery

February 6, 2018 (Alpine) – The California Highway Patrol is warning motorists about a series of accidents caused by 50-pound bricks that authorities believe were left intentionally on Interstate 8 in Alpine, NBC 7 news reports.

By Paul Kruze

February 1, 2018 (Casa de Oro) – The San Diego County Board of voted in principal to approve a blueprint laid out for the eventual revitalizing of the Campo Road area of Casa de Oro at last Thursday’s meeting.

But don’t expect changes to occur overnight.

By Miriam Raftery

January 30, 2018 (Alpine) — You’re invited to get 2018 tax filing tips from Roger Garay, Online Bookkeeping & Tax Service, and hear about the Alpine Honorary Mayor campaign. 

Both are on the agenda for the Alpine-Mountain Empire’s “Hot Topics” breakfast at Janet’s Montana Café, 2506 Alpine Blvd. in Alpine. The event will be on Feb. 13 from 7:15 a.m. to 9 a.m.

By Miriam Raftery

January 28, 2018 (San Diego’s East County) – With a red flag warning in effect due to high fire danger and gusty Santa Ana winds forecast through Monday, San Diego Gas & Electric Company (SDG&E) has once again shut off power to many rural and mountain communities.  An outage map curiously labels these as “unplanned outages” even though clicking on communities shown in the SDG&E outages map reveals a message stating that in most of the current outages, “We’ve shut off the power for safety.” 

Power went off last night (Saturday evening) and is not slated for restoration until mid-to-late afternoon on Monday.

The power is presently out in many areas including the East County communitise Boulevard, Live Oak Springs, Descanso, Pine Valley, Alpine, Pine Hills, Santa Ysabel and surrounding communities, affecting thousands of customers. Portions of North County including Valley Center and the Pauma area are also without power.

By Paul Kruze; Miriam Raftery also contributed to this report

Hear court audio

Read appellate decision

January 21, 2018 (Alpine) -- Just as students returned to school after winter break last week, lawyers for the Alpine Union School District (AUSD), Alpine Taxpayers for Bond Accountability and Grossmont Union High School District returned to court in front of a three-judge tribunal headed by Associate Justice Patricia D. Benke of the 4th District California Superior Court of Appeals.  

But a week later, the court panel upheld an earlier ruling by Judge Pressman against Alpine, agreeing that the GUHSD need not keep millions of dollars set aside for an Alpine High School that now may never be built, despite previous bond measures approved by voters that included funds for the school. Then on Friday, the State Board of Education denied Alpine's unification petition that would have enabled the AUSD to build the high school. The double losses may prove to be knock-out blows for the hard-fought effort to bring a high school to Alpine.

By Miriam Raftery

January 24, 2018 (San Diego’s East County) – County Supervisors on Tuesday approved a proposal to accept bids from outside animal welfare organizations seeking to compete against the County’s Animal Services Department to provide services in the County’s unincorporated areas, including rural, desert and mountain regions in East County as well as neighborhoods such as Spring Valley, Alpine, and Lakeside. In East County, the city of Santee will also be impacted.