By Devoreo Bell

Photo: NIFC.gov

August 13, 2015 (Ramona)--Last week, East County Magazine reported on the United States Forest Service’s announcement that it will not allow its new air tanker firefighting planes to land at the Ramona Air Base. The USFS says the runway is not long enough. However Cal Fire provided a video showing a Cal Fire pilot landing the same type of plane in Ramona.

Now, all  five of San Diego’s Congressional representatives (Duncan Hunter, Darrell Issa, Scott Peters, Juan Vargas and Susan Davis) have signed a letter sent to Chief Thomas Tidwell of the USFS asking him to take action.

August 10, 2015 (San Diego’s East County) - The 8^th annual HeART of Mt. Helix will be held on August 15^th from 5:30 to 10 p.m. at the amphitheatre atop Mt. Helix. This festive event includes live music on two stages, dancing under the stars, and food samples from local restaurants, and artists creating works live.

August 11, 2015 (La Mesa) -- Get Back-To-School healthy with a free food demonstration! This free workshop begins at 6:00 pm on Thursday, September 10, in the La Mesa Community Center, 4975 Memorial Drive. This is the fifth in our series of healthy community interactive workshops and features presenter Kristie Holt, MPH, CHES, CLE who will demonstrate some healthy lunch and back-to-school snacking ideas. School aged kids are welcome to attend with a parent or guardian and will have an opportunity to decorate a lunch bag to show off their healthy choices to classmates.  Kristie will lead you in hands-on preparation of some delicious and nutritious examples that you and your kids can make and sample on the spot.

By Miriam Raftery

Photos: Supervisor Dianne Jacob proposed preservation of lands adjacent to those that Michael Beck, El Monte Nature Preserve LLC, seeks to turn into a sand mining operation.

August 7, 2015 (Lakeside) – The San Diego River Conservancy’s board voted unanimously on Thursday to support a motion made by Supervisor Dianne Jacob to lead a consortium of environmental groups in an effort to seek funding to buy parcels of surplus land that Helix Water District is planning to sell.  If successful, the acquisition would preserve the land for the public as open space with trails for hiking, horseback riding, jogging and dog walking. View full video of the hearing.

August 7, 2015 (Jacumba Hot Springs) – De Anza Springs Resort in Jacumba Hot Springs will present Nudestock ,  an annual outdoor music festival on August 14-16. No need for bellbottoms or love beads  at this music fest–since clothing is optional at De Anza Springs, located in the high desert region of San Diego’s East County.

East County News Service

August 6, 2015 (Alpine) – For Childhood Cancer Awareness month, the Kylie Rowland Foundation is hosting “Wine and Bunco Under the Stars” on  Sept. 9 at 6 pm.. to raise funds for promising less-toxic cancer treatments for children. The foundation was started in memory of Kylie Rowland, who lost her battle to neuroblastoma at age two in February 2015.

August 6, 2015 (Lakeside) –Michael Paul Gharring, 48, of El Cajon died August 2^nd in a vehicle accident in Lakeside.

By Leon Thompson

August 3^rd, 2015 (Jamul, California) - CalTrans is holding a public meeting on the State Route 94 Improvement Project including traffic safety issues related to the Hollywood Casino Jamul on Wednesday, August 5^th from 5 to 8 p.m.at the Cottonwood Golf Course, 3121 Willow Glen Dr. El Cajon.

Caltrans, the State’s highway engineers, have proposed road improvement to portions of State highway 94 to handle the increased traffic including major road widening, turn lanes, lane painting, guard rails, signage, traffic signals and exit lanes.   The Jamul tribe has expended substantial sums to help fund improvements as mitigation for the new casino.

However some residents think the mitigation doesn’t adequately address all the problems, particularly near Steele Canyon High School and on Otay Road.  Steele Canyon road is especially important because of all the foot-traffic and teen drivers; Otay Road is the shortest distance to the casino from the Otay border crossing.

August 5, 2015 (La Mesa) -- On Saturday, September 19th and Sunday, September 20th the La Mesa Chamber of Commerce is proud to host a FREE electronic recycle waste activity between the hours of 9:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.

Congresswoman Davis wants to speak with family members of detained Chaldeans

By Miriam Raftery

August 3, 2015 (Otay) –After our story  yesterday on efforts by local Chaldeans to free more than 20 Iraqi Chaldean Christians detained for months at the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)/Homeland Security facility in Otay Mesa, we received a response from Lauren Mack, public affairs officer for ICE in San Diego. 

Mack advised us via e-mail, “There are currently 28 Iraqi nationals in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody at the Otay Detention Facility in San Diego. One of those individuals was criminally charged this week in federal court with providing false information on an immigration application. Five others in the group have now been ordered removed (i.e., deported) by an immigration judge.”

Asked if these six individuals are Chaldean Christians or not, Mack declined to reveal the religion of these detainees. However she did provide a copy of the criminal complaint filed against Reta Morrogi (a.k.a. Zina Hormes Oraha Delli. It states that Morrogo communicated through an interpreter in the Chaldean dialect. She is charged with failing to disclose time spent in Germany on her flight from Iraq to the U.S.

August 3, 2015 (San Diego's East County) - Saturday August 8 marks the first annual "Sip of Julian."  Eight participants are included in this event, highlighting Julian-area wineries and other tasting rooms.  Joining the traditional wine producers are a craft brewery, hard cider, and a mead producer.

East County News Service

August 2, 2015 (Santee) – Nathan Smoltz, 31, has been arrested for felony drunk driving after the Ford Explorer he was driving plunged off a steep embankment and rolled over several times, ending up in a ravine in harsh terrain northwest of Summit Avenue in Santee.  Four people were injured, including two in serious condition and one who sustained critical injuries.

East County News Service

Photos: Hannah Anderson, James DiMaggio

July 31, 2015 (Lakeside) –According to law enforcement, James DiMaggio kidnapped Lakeside teen Hannah Anderson after first  torturing and murdering her mother and brother, then setting fire to his home in Boulevard with their bodies inside.  The crimes triggered a multi-state manhunt that ended when FBI agents killed DiMaggio in the Idaho wilderness where he had taken Anderson, after he fired a shot first. 

But now DiMaggio’s sister, Lora DiMaggio Robinson, has filed a claim with the FBI and also plans to file a lawsuit in Idaho federal court next week, 10 News reports. She seeks over $20 million damages from the FBI for what she claims was a wrongful death, plus personal injury and property damage.

Her lawyer, C. Keith Greer, told NBC 7 TV that "Robinson knows that her brother was a very kind man, certainly not one to shoot at an FBI agent.”