November 27, 2014 (San Diego’s East County) – Our October radio shows are now online!  You can listen online now (note sound files may take a minute to load). For links to listen to the shows plus a full list of topics and interviews in October, click here and scroll down.

We spoke with top newsmakers including Congresswoman Susan Davis, many candidates for local offices (note: we invited ALL candidates in races we covered to be interviewed), authors, a theater producer, a mother who started the EP Save-a-Life foundation after losing her own son, the founder of Angels for Haiti, a Water for Children Africa spokeswoman on a new technique to derive drinking water from air, an executive from the East County Boys and Girls Clubs, and a Comic Fest organizer, among others.  We also went on location--covering events from the Jacumba Hot Springs Centennial to a Ramona benefit to save wild cheetahs. Plus we had news stories on many more hot topics.

You can listen to the East County Magazine Radio Show live on KNSJ 89.1 FM on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 5 p.m. and reruns airing Tuesday and Thursday at 9.a.m. and Saturdays at 8 a.m.

November 15, 2014 (Spring Valley) – Our interview with Gretchen Burns-Bergman, founder of A New Path, is now online. Listen now at : https://www.eastcountymagazine.org/sites/eastcountymagazine.org/files/au...  .   Hear from this Spring Valley mother who helped lobby successfully to change drug sentencing laws and put more emphasis on getting help for those battling addiction. 

In the interview, she discusses newly announced reductions in federal drug sentencing laws that can also impact those already behind bars, as well as the impacts of Prop 47, the California ballot initiative recently passed.  This interview originally aired Wednesday on KNSJ 89.1 FM radio.

Listen now! (audio files may take a few moments to load)

Congresswoman Susan Davis:  https://www.eastcountymagazine.org/sites/eastcountymagazine.org/files/au...

Challenger Larry Wilske: https://www.eastcountymagazine.org/sites/eastcountymagazine.org/files/au...

October 23, 2014 (San Diego’s East County) – We sat down for in-depth interviews with Congresswoman Susan Davis, a Democrat, and her opponent, Republican Larry Wilske, a Navy Seal.   Hear their views on jobs, the economy, energy, women’s issues, education, healthcare, Social Security, military actions in the Middle East and the refugee crisis, immigration, border security, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the needs of veterans and military families, the prospects of another government shut-down, and more.

Wilske called for boots on the ground in Syria, reform of NAFTA to encourage manufacturing in the U.S., creation of a cross-border rail line, increased use of oil refineries, nuclear and algae fuels, arming teachers to reduce school violence, stopping employers from hiring illegal immigrants, and allowing veterans to receive private healthcare when VA hospitals are backlogged.  

Davis discussed ideas to increase commerce at the border, boost funding for National Institute of Health research on Ebola, strengthen public education and keep college affordable, boost the economy through immigration reform, protect healthcare , Social Security and women’s rights, address climate change and seek a long-range strategy for addressing the ISIL terrorist threats in Syria and Iraq.

East County News Service

Four candidates are running for two seats on the Helix Water District Board.  We invited all four to be interviewed on our radio show and two of them responded. In our radio interviews, we asked candidates their views on the drought, creating new regional water supplies, the tiered rate structure, budget priorities, the future of Lake Jennings, and transparency, among other issues.

You can listen to their interviews here:

Kathleen Hedberg interview: https://www.eastcountymagazine.org/sites/eastcountymagazine.org/files/au...

Steven Rotsart interview:  https://www.eastcountymagazine.org/sites/eastcountymagazine.org/files/au...

Hedberg is an incumbent and civil engineer who is running as a ratepayers’ advocate. She voted against rate hikes passed by the board majority.  Her opponent is Maria Mariscal, who has worked for the County Water Authority. 

Rotsart says he’s running because rates are too high, having nearly tripled in the past nine years. He He believes his experience in nonprofits will help him bring financial accountability to the board. He is running against incumbent Deana Verbeke, whose website says she is a voice of ratepayers but who voted consistently to raise rates despite objections from the vast majority of ratepayers who submitted public comments.

Hear our interview with La Mesa Mayor Art Madrid, originally broadcast on KNSJ radio:  https://www.eastcountymagazine.org/sites/eastcountymagazine.org/files/au...

By Miriam Raftery

October 16, 2014 (La Mesa)—La Mesa Mayor Art Madrid has been serving the city for the past 33 years, as Mayor since 1990 and on the Council before that since 1981. He led the city through its centennial celebration and has held numerous other leadership positions including chair of the San Diego Association of Governments, president of the League of California Cities San Diego Division, and as a member of 125 different boards and commissions.

In an in-depth radio interview on the East County Magazine Show on KSNJ, Mayor Madrid discussed his history of accomplishments, his views on leaderships, and his vision for La Mesa for the future if reelected.  To read highlights of our interview, click "read more" and scroll down.

Hear our interview before last year’s tournament with organizer/jousting competitor Jeffrey Hedgecock: https://www.eastcountymagazine.org/sites/eastcountymagazine.org/files/au...  (note: dates mentioned in interview were for last year’s event)

October 9, 2014 (Poway) – An international jousting competition founded by Ramona resident and armor maker Jeffrey Hedgecock, will be held during the October 17-19 Tournament of the Phoenix and Festival of History. This fascinating event also features period camps from Rome to the Renaissance, all at the Poway Rodeo Grounds.

Listen online now to hear the interview: https://www.eastcountymagazine.org/sites/eastcountymagazine.org/files/au...

October 9, 2014 (San Diego's East County) -- On our "Green Scene" report aired originally on our East County Magazine Show on KNSJ 89.1 FM radio, we interviewed Kelly Fuller with Protect Our Communities about the local nonprofit's lawsuit filed against federal agencies over the Tule Wind project planned in McCain Valley. The suit alleges that the U.S. Department of the Interior and the Bureau of Indian Affairs ignored advice from wildlife officials at state and federal wildlife agencies, who warned that the wind turbines pose threats to eagles.

For details, click "read more" and scroll down.

By Miriam Raftery

Hear audio of the complete debate at the links below. (Note, these may take a few moments to load.)  Or click "read more" and scroll down for details and highlights.

• Part 1:  https://www.eastcountymagazine.org/sites/eastcountymagazine.org/files/au...
• Part 2: https://www.eastcountymagazine.org/sites/eastcountymagazine.org/files/au...

October 2, 2014 (Rancho San Diego)—Republican Congressman Duncan D. Hunter, a Marine Corps veteran,  and challenger James Kimber, a former Navy corspman and current physician assistant in neurosurgery, took the stage September 26th at Cuyamaca College in a contentious yet civil debate.  Voters have a clear choice in this race, in which the candidates clashed on nearly every issue. While finding common ground on the importance of fighting terrorism and protecting the backcountry against massive energy projects that threaten rural communities and public safety, the two contenders offered contrasting views on nearly everything else, from budget priorities to climate change to the role of government itself.

Hear our radio show interview with Boys to Men co-founders Joe Sigurdson and Craig McClain. 

Listen here:  https://www.eastcountymagazine.org/sites/eastcountymagazine.org/files/au... for details on how this nonprofit that started in La Mesa has  gone national to  mentor fatherless teen boys. Plus hear details about a September 20th Surf-a-Thon here in San Diego to benefit Boys to Men.  

For more information, click "read more" and scroll down. 

Our East County Magazine Show's July radio broadcasts are now online, covering hot issues from the Banner Fire to immigrant children to local rallies to save Iraqi Christians. We also interviewed local authors, musicians, a new winery owner, and a representative of the Lions Clubs’ Camp Jack in Descanso for disadvantaged children. Plus we had coverage and analysis of local and national issues, from the minimum wage to  some controversial Supreme Court rulings.

We also rebroadcast of our interview with Sycuan Chairman Daniel Tucker on the tribe’s Emmy Award winning documentary on Kumeyaay history, plus on the 4th of July weekend, we re-aired our “Spirits of 1776” dramatic presentation featuring `interviews’ with our nation’s founding fathers and mothers. Plus we brought you on-the-scene coverage of Descanso Days.

For a full list of interviews and issues on each of our July shows, click here, or click “read more” and scroll down. To listen to future shows, tune in to KNSJ 89.1 FM Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 9 a.m. or listen online live during our broadcasts at www.KNSJ.org.

By Miriam Raftery

September 3, 2014 (San Diego’s East County) – I first discovered the enchanting music of the mbira while visiting Milagro Winery in Ramona.  It turns out the mbira, inspired by the African kalimba but much bigger, is a unique musical instrument invented by a local entrepreneur and crafted by musician Patrick Hadley.

On our East County Magazine radio show on KNSJ, we interviewed Hadley, who shared news about the crafting of this amazing instrument--and some famous musical stars now including the mbira in their performances. Hadley also gave an improve performance on our show.

Hear a podcast of his interview and music here:  https://www.eastcountymagazine.org/sites/eastcountymagazine.org/files/au...

For more info and links, click "read more" or scroll down.

 Hear our interview with  a local Kurdish-American woman whose family is caught up in the tragic actions unfolding in Kurdistan under the ISIS assault. Listen online now: (This interview originally aired on the East County Magazine Show on KNSJ  radio 89.1 FM)   https://www.eastcountymagazine.org/sites/eastcountymagazine.org/files/au...

Anguish hits home for local Kurdish residents

By Miriam Raftery

August 15, 2014 (San Diego) – “This is a great humanitarian tragedy, and another genocide against the Kurdish nation,” Kurdish-American Amina (who asked that her last name be withheld) told East County Magazine.  She is horrified at news reports of beheadings, mass graves and the kidnapping of young girls as sex slaves by ISIS terrorists who have laid siege to the city of Shingal and trapped 100,000 refugees atop the Shingal Mountain. She is also frightened by what she is hearing from relatives in the region.

"No one feels safe there. People are hopeless,” she says.

Now the crisis has impacted her own family, like many of the 4,000 to 5,000 Kurdish people in the San Diego region and 15,000 Kurds in the U.S. overall. 

“The Kurdish people know that their dear Peshmarga do not have weapons to defend them from these barbarians, and this makes them live and die in fear. We hear that the Kurdish government is asking people (one of them being my brother) to find themselves weapons and join the Peshmarga,” she wrote in an e-mail to East County Magazine. “Sadly, most people do not have weapons, so if they go to war, they will go with bare hands.”

Hear our interview with GUHSD member Priscilla Schreiber and Nick Marinovich, who says he was pressured to resign off the district's Citizens Bond Oversight Committee, on why they want to see new candidates step forward to run for the board:

https://www.eastcountymagazine.org/sites/eastcountymagazine.org/files/au...

By Miriam Raftery

August 7, 2014 (San Diego's East County) -- Tomorrow, August 8 at 5 p.m. is the deadline to file for running for most local offices in East County--though if an incumbent opts not to file for reelection, that deadline can be extended for several more days. 

Some local districts don't have enough people running to fill the seats--including the Grossmont Union High School District, where at last check only two challengers have filed for three seats, despite controversy including a Grand Jury admonishment.  One of those challengers, Dr. Gary Woods, opposes a high school for Alpine and was previously voted out; his election would solidify the anti-Alpine high school majority on the board.  (Note: incumbent Dick Hoy has said he won't seek reelection, thus this filing deadline will likely be extended.)

Alpine's Community Planning Group has just 5 candidates so for to fill 7 seats.

These are just two examples of a race where the balance of power could shift--or not--depending on which candidates if any step forward to run.

Local seats on the November ballot include school boards, planning groups, water boards, fire boards, mayor and city councils across East County.  Currently a numberof these positions have no candidates filed to run, or only one candidate, leaving voters without a choice.  

July 26, 2014 (San Diego’s East County)—The East County Magazine Show sat down with Anat Tour, whose passion is illustrating and writing children’s books produced in multi-media format with CD/DVD audio to delight youngsters.

Hear our interview here, which originally aired on KNSJ 89.1 FM: 

https://www.eastcountymagazine.org/sites/eastcountymagazine.org/files/au...

 Her works include Mama’s Shoe, The Rainbow Animals and her latest work, I Dream of Puffy Clouds.  East County Magazine book reviewer Dennis Moore has called Anat Tour  East County’s “own Renaissance woman.”  Originally from Canada, Tour is a master of mathematics, art, music, writing and more. By day, she is a mother of four and a math teacher at a local high school By night she is a lead singer in a local band.  In between, she is a writer and illustrator of children’s books as well as an animator.  She has also been an international model.  Stay tuned for more works by this intriguing author!

By Miriam Raftery

July 20, 2014 (San Diego’s East County) – Santee resident Simonetta Carr’s book, Anselm of Canterbury, was named Best Biography in the San Diego Book Awards.  East County Magazine recently interview Carr on the Bookshelf segment of our East County Magazine Radio show on KNSJ.

You can now hear our interview here:  https://www.eastcountymagazine.org/sites/eastcountymagazine.org/files/au...

For more information on the author and her works, scroll down.