EAST COUNTY ROUNDUP: LOCAL AND STATEWIDE NEWS

March 2, 2022 (San Diego) -- East County Roundup highlights top stories of interest to East County and San Diego's inland regions, published in other media.  This week's round-up stories include:

LOCAL

• Some school districts in rural San Diego County can’t catch a break with COVID  (San Diego Union-Tribune)
• San Diego restaurants pull Russian vodka and wear flags of solidarity to protest war in Ukraine (San Diego Union-Tribune)
• San Diego passes San Francisco as least affordable city in the United States (KUSI)
• Baber announces he won’t seek reelection in La Mesa (SD Rostra)
• San Diego's Decades-Old Valley Farms Market Closes BBQ Shack & Releases Plans For New Brewery Restaurant (SanDiegoVille)
• Anger surfaces at SDSU over rule requiring faculty to include Kumeyaay acknowledgment in syllabi (San Diego Union-Tribune)
• San Diego firefighter dies of COVID-19 complications (10 News)
• Trial Ordered For Man Accused Of Killing Ex's Twin Daughters (Patch)

STATE

• Will Russia’s attack on Ukraine push gas and food prices even higher? (Los Angeles Times)
• Fast-moving wildfire grows to 500 acres in Cleveland National Forest (Los Angeles Times)
• More college freshmen want to attend University of California schools (San Jose Mercury)
• San Francisco voters recall 3 school board members  (NPR)
• Newsom Rips Into Fox News, OAN, Newsmax, Calling Them “Propaganda Networks”; Announces New State Unit To Combat Misinformation (Yahoo News)

For excerpts and links to full stories, click “read more” and scroll down.

LOCAL

Some school districts in rural San Diego County can’t catch a break with COVID  (San Diego Union-Tribune)

Missing students, staff shortages, bad weather, spotty internet — it all piled up on rural districts like Mountain Empire.

San Diego restaurants pull Russian vodka and wear flags of solidarity to protest war in Ukraine (San Diego Union-Tribune)

Numerous San Diego restaurant owners took steps over the weekend to show their support for the Ukrainian people by pulling Russian vodka from their bar shelves, while one local Russian restaurant is reeling from a wave of public attacks. Ike Gazaryan, owner of seven-year-old Pushkin Russian Restaurant in the Gaslamp Quarter, said that since the Russian invasion on Thursday, Feb. 24, his business has received eight threatening phone calls, numerous critical 1-star reviews on Yelp.com and Google and many canceled reservations…Gazaryan is Armenian by birth and much of his family lives in Odessa, Ukraine. His family emigrated to the U.S. from Russia 24 years ago to escape the dictatorial regime of now-president Vladimir Putin.

San Diego passes San Francisco as least affordable city in the United States (KUSI)

A new study by OJO Labs found that San Diego has surpassed San Francisco & Los Angeles as the least affordable city in the United States. The study used a ratio of home sold price to median household income.

Baber announces he won’t seek reelection in La Mesa (SD Rostra)

With over two decades behind him as a local elected official, La Mesa City Councilman Bill Baber announced during Tuesday night’s council meeting that he will not seek re-election this year. “After 22 years in local government, and with retirement and hopefully grandchildren in my future, it’s time for a new phase of life for me,” said Baber. “Now, without a need to run a re-election campaign, I can focus the next ten months on finishing some important projects in La Mesa.”

San Diego's Decades-Old Valley Farms Market Closes BBQ Shack & Releases Plans For New Brewery Restaurant (SanDiegoVille)

San Diego's more than 60-year-old Valley Farm Market has ditched its famed BBQ Shack at the original Spring Valley location and will be adding a full kitchen and new juice bar, as well as opening a new restaurant, brewery and lodge in East County.

Anger surfaces at SDSU over rule requiring faculty to include Kumeyaay acknowledgment in syllabi (San Diego Union-Tribune)

A message meant to cultivate honor and respect for the Kumeyaay — San Diego County’s first inhabitants — has triggered charges of political tampering at San Diego State University.

San Diego firefighter dies of COVID-19 complications (10 News)

San Diego Fire personnel and co-workers are mourning the loss of a fellow firefighter who has died of complications from COVID-19. Nickolas Ramirez, who was also a paramedic for the San Diego Fire-Rescue Department, died in a hospital Wednesday, February 16, the department said in a Facebook post Friday afternoon. 

Trial Ordered For Man Accused Of Killing Ex's Twin Daughters (Patch)

Dwayne Edward Groves Jr. is accused of fatally shooting 15-year-old Caira Rachel Christopher and Leah Sylvania Christopher in East County.

STATE

Will Russia’s attack on Ukraine push gas and food prices even higher? (Los Angeles Times)

 Russia’s attack on Ukraine comes at a vulnerable time for economies around the world. Inflation is already at a worrisome level, consumers are paying more for basic goods across the board, and the global supply chain is still recovering from pandemic disruptions.

Fast-moving wildfire grows to 500 acres in Cleveland National Forest (Los Angeles Times)

Smoke is visible across Southern California, but no pollution warnings yet….The blaze was first reported at 10 acres around 11:20 a.m. near the Holy Jim Trail in Orange County. Within three hours, the fire had swelled to 400 acres.

More college freshmen want to attend University of California schools (San Jose Mercury)

University of California had more college freshman applicants than ever, fewer transfer applications for fall 2022.

San Francisco voters recall 3 school board members  (NPR)

Voters in San Francisco recalled three members of the school board on Tuesday following a tumultuous period that included fights over remote learning, renaming schools, a First Amendment lawsuit and changes to the admissions process at the city's most elite public high school. Early results showed that voters overwhelmingly supported removing the three members of the board, with people voting yes in each measure by at least 72%.

Newsom Rips Into Fox News, OAN, Newsmax, Calling Them “Propaganda Networks”; Announces New State Unit To Combat Misinformation (Yahoo News)

… The post-pandemic “S.M.A.R.T.E.R” Plan that Newsom put forth today to combat Covid seeks to combat misinformation “through the newly proposed Office of Community Partnerships and Strategic Communications,” funding for which the governor indicated is included in his proposed 2022-23 budget.