By Jennifer Mendoza, Mayor Pro Tem, City of Lemon Grove

August 18, 2017 (Lemon Grove) -- Less than a year ago, the voters of Lemon Grove narrowly approved an ordinance to allow Medical Marijuana Dispensaries (MMD) to operate in our city. This ordinance was written by a coalition of MMD businesses and proponents. This same coalition is now unhappy with some of the language and restrictions they wrote into the ordinance. They wish to force the city to hold a special election in 2017, so that they can change the language.

Government, not a corporate cartel, should control the Internet

By Joel A. Harrison, PhD, MPH

August 3,  2017 (San Diego) -- I think the print edition title of a recent article in the San Diego Union-Tribune by Jennifer Van Grove says it all: “Lack of Choice” (July 30, 2017).   

An analogy can be drawn between the Internet, our online superhighway, and our highway system.

By Jerry Fisher, Santa Ysabel

Photo: Power poles stacked in Pauma Valley

July 20, 2017 (Pauma Valley) -- Living in the peace and quiet of San Diego County rural lands has been a great joy since our retirement in 1997. It certainly is a different world from Point Loma. It is like being in heaven having 3-4 deer, within a flock of 20 wild turkeys, greet my wife, myself, our cat and dog in our yard.

In my first summer after high school, my introduction to our forest lands was with the Laguna Hotshots, fighting forest fires in the 1950's. We were re-introduced to fire in the 2003 and 2007 fires near our home.

Seeing the SDG&E steel poles, stacked in a field in Pauma Valley, caused me to reflect. Those wires are potentially dangerous and lethal; similar wires have caused ignition in other places including the 2007 firestorms.

By Pat Landis

June 21, 2017 (Julian) -- Julian-Cuyamaca Fire Protection District is at risk. Choices appear to be (1) Do nothing and persevere until finances force it to dissolve; (2) Voluntarily dissolve and allow the Fire Authority to take over; (3) Increase the Benefit Fee to cover the rising costs and remain viable as an independent/volunteer fire department.

By Dr. James Veltmeyer

Dr. Veltmeyer is Chief of the Department of Family Medicine at Sharp Grossmont Hospital, La Mesa.  In 2016 he was a Republican candidate in the 53^rd Congressional District.

June 8, 2017 (La Mesa) -- Have you or a loved one ever been refused medical treatment because your insurance company refused to pay? Would you feel better if it was a government bureaucrat refusing to pay for your treatment, instead of an insurance company commissar? Of course not. Yet, this is the alternative that the misguided advocates of “single-payer” health care are offering Americans.

By Councilman Steve Goble

May 27, 2017 (El Cajon) -- Renewal (noun). The act of making new again or state of being renewed.  It’s what is happening in El Cajon right now.

For the past few years, the City has been diligently working on creating a new atmosphere, a new vibe, a welcoming spirit for businesses, visitors, and our residents.

By Ryan J. Smith, Executive Director of the Education Trust-West

May 17, 2017 (Washington D.C.) -- Today we rightly celebrate the milestone Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court decision issued on May 17^th, 1954 striking down school segregation. Yet today also marks another anniversary – the annual issuing of statements reminding us that, decades later, we still have not closed the gaps in access and opportunity that segregate our students and limit their ability to learn.

When asked about William Faulkner’s essay urging the nation to “go slow” on integration, Brown v. Board attorney and future Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall pointed out “They don’t mean go slow. They mean don’t go.”

Editor’s note:  We first wrote about Kathleen Hayden’s efforts to restore the Coyote Canyon heritage herd of wild horses locally in January 2013. Read article. But in July 2013, she was served with an eviction notice and forced to  give up the last descendants of San Diego’s wild horses. Despite a 2012  support  letter from Congressman Darrell Issa and a 2014 letter from a genetics expert confirming that the horses are rare and of historic significance as descendants of Spanish Colonial horses,  the U.S. Bureau of Land Management has done nothing to protect or return them--and now is not turning over the deed of transfer, Hayden says  Now she has penned an open letter to  the House Committee on Natural Resources Chairman Rob Bishop questioning the legality of the transfer.

Dear Chairman Bishop,

Please investigate the transfer of the BLM Federal CA Coyote Canyon Wild Horse Herd area (20,000 acres)  to CA Anza Borrego Desert State Park.  In response to Ca State Senator Joel Anderson's request for the deed, Parks claim it doesn't exist.

By Joseph Glidden

How the City Games the System to Keep Its Residents Uninformed, Unengaged, and Uninspired.

April 11, 2017 (La Mesa)--The Strategic Planning Workshop is arguably the city council’s most important public meeting of the year. Police, Fire and city employees are always well represented, but few residents are in attendance. The city does little to promote civic engagement. If anything, it actively discourages community involvement in the following ways:

By Barry A. Treahy, Lakeside

Dear Mayor Faulconer:

March 25, 2017 (Lakeside) -- I am a native San Diego senior, who began my sport exposures at "Lane Field."  I know you were never there and probably can't even relate to that ball field.

By Barbara Cummings, El Cajon

By Joel A. Harrison, PhD, MPH

But Jesus called them to him, saying, “Let the children come to me, and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God. (Luke 18:16, English Standard Version)

February 20, 2017 (San Diego) -- As most people are aware, President Trump issued a ban on immigration from seven Middle-Eastern nations, ostensibly to protect us against possible acts of terrorism. Yet, his ban does not include Saudi Arabia and Egypt, the two nations that the 9/11 terrorists came from. The assumption is that terrorism is mainly a Middle-Eastern, Muslim phenomenon. It isn’t!

By Van Collinsworth

After San Diego Supervisors voted this week to reject a community choice energy alternative to SDG&E, Preserve Wild Santee founder Van Collinsworth posted this open letter to Supervisors on his Facebook page.

February 18, 2017 (San Diego) -- SDG&E and its allies in office are standing in the way of cleaner power at lower rates. My message to the Supervisors advocating energy choice follows...

By Patricia Brower, San Diego

February 8, 2017 (San Diego) - I am reaching out to you today on behalf of the millions of patients with celiac disease, non-celiac wheat/gluten sensitivity, and other autoimmune diseases. I am deeply concerned about the possible removal of key protections in current law that guarantee access to comprehensive and affordable insurance coverage for patients with pre-existing health conditions. As Congress begins work to replace the Affordable Care Act, we are encouraged by the recognition that affordable protection for patients should be retained.  

By Ben Locke, Alpine resident

January 31, 2017 (Alpine) -- Located at http://www.sandiegocounty.gov/pds/generalplan.html is the County website for the General Plan (GP).  As you may have heard, a GP update will be taking place for Alpine over the next 18 months.  The preamble to the GP states that it is:  “…a framework for the future growth and development of the unincorporated areas of the County.”  And that it “…is based on a set of guiding principles designed to protect the County’s unique and diverse natural resources and maintain the character of its rural and semi-rural communities. It reflects an environmentally sustainable approach to planning that balances the need for adequate infrastructure, housing, and economic vitality, while maintaining and preserving each unique community within the County, agricultural areas, and extensive open space.”  Finally, it states that it:  “…reflects the County’s commitment to  a sustainable growth model that facilitates efficient development near infrastructure and services, while respecting sensitive natural resources and protection of existing community character in its extensive rural and semi-rural communities. The General Plan provides a renewed basis for the County’s diverse communities to develop Community Plans that are specific to and reflective of their unique character and environment consistent with the County’s vision for its future."