September 20, 2022 (San Diego's East County) -- Our Health and Science Highlights provide cutting edge news that could impact your health and our future.
September 20, 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:
September 19, 2022 (Spring Valley) – Mt. Miguel High School Foundation, the nonprofit organization devoted to helping Mt. Miguel High School, is hosting Quartermania on Saturday, October 1 from 10:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Discover the fabulous world of raptors right in East County’s backyard
By Josh Stotler
September 19, 2022 (Alpine) -- As I hike along the dirt trail, the morning fog rolls through the canyon. A hawk swoops from a branch and glides gently by. I am in awe as this amazing creature effortlessly soars by me, heading for the sun-drenched rock just to my left. It is a treat to see this animal up close and I’m lost in the moment, completely enveloped in the East County back country. This is no chance encounter though; I am at Sky Falconry, a 40 acre ranch located in the hills of Alpine.
When I arrived at the property earlier in the morning, the fog was heavy and the diffused sun rays were shining through the oak trees. I was warmly greeted by Kirk Sellinger and Denise Disharoon, the owners of Sky Falconry. Dressed exactly as one would envision a raptor handler to look (think Dr.’s Sadler & Grant from Jurassic Park) they quickly made me feel at home. As the other participants arrived and shuffled toward the circle of benches, we filled out a waiver and it was time to learn about these amazing birds.
Photo: Yu Darvish pitched six innings and struck out eight. Via @padres on Twitter
September 18, 2022 (Phoenix) - The Padres are one win away from winning a long series against the Diamondbacks. Yu Darvish started against Ryne Nelson for Arizona.
September 17, 2022 (La Mesa) – Peyton Pablo Manning Nurse, 21, of La Mesa, died of injuries sustained in a vehicle crash on August 17 in El Cajon. He was not wearing a seatbelt, according to El Cajon Police.
Photo: the Grossmont High alum struck out eight today. Via @padres on Twitter
September 17, 2022 (Phoenix) - The Padres got sweet revenge last night in a 12-3 win against the Diamondbacks. They tried for a two-game series lead tonight with Grossmont High alum Joe Musgrove on the mound against Zac Gallen for the Dbacks.
September 17, 2022 (Lemon Grove) -- Ernest Kelly, 32, has been arrested and charged with a murder that occurred during a deadly fight on September 12 in Lemon Grove.
September 17, 2022 (San Diego’s East County) – An evacuation warning has been issued for the #HauserFire. It applies to residents who live west or north of Buckman Springs Road at Lake Morena Drive, the Sheriff reports. Evacuees can go to Mountain Empire High School, 3305 Buckman Springs Rd., Pine Valley.
According to Cal Fire/San Diego County Fire, the brush fire began around 4:15 p.m. near 2022 Lake Morena Drive and Big Potrero Truck Trail in the Hauser Creek area of Lake Morena. Around 5-10 acres have burned with a moderate rate of spread.
September 16, 2022 (Spring Valley) - We’re finally mostly into conference play and to kick it off, ECM Sports ventured to Spring Valley, where the Matadors of Mount Miguel hosted the Wolf Pack of West Hills. Both teams are gridlocked at 2-2 and hoping to make some headway going into conference matchups.
$5 million remaining in the second round of funding; applications due Oct. 11
Source: Supervisor Joel Anderson
Photo by Robert Gehr: homeless person in downtown El Cajon
September 16, 2022 (San Diego’s East County) — District 2 Supervisor Joel Anderson sent letters out on Friday, September 16, 2022 to the East County cities in his district—El Cajon, Poway and Santee—reminding them of an opportunity for funding from the County to help in their efforts with addressing homelessness. According to Anderson, there is more than $5 million remaining in the second round of funding from the Capital Emergency Housing Solutions Grant Program—a program unanimously approved by the Board of Supervisors this spring.
September 16, 2022 (Alpine) – Shadow Hills Elementary School in Alpine and Creekside Learning Center were briefly locked down today after a report of a gunshot fired near the campuses shortly after 10 a.m.
Out of an abundance of caution, school staff immediately initiated a campus-wide lockdown at both schools.
Deputies searched both schools. “They were unable to locate any evidence of a shooting,” says Captain Michael Rand with the Alpine Sheriff’s station. “The lockdown was lifted just before 11:00 a.m. No children, teachers or staff were hurt.”
Update July 31, 2024: Rendon has withdrawn his lawsuit and issued a joint statement with Rodriguez-Kennedy, who is now cleared of all wrongdoing.
East County News Service
Photo by Miriam Raftery: Will Rodriguez-Kennedy, March 2020 primary night
September 16, 2022 (San Diego) – The San Diego District Attorney’s office has closed its investigation into alleged sexual assault by County Democratic Party Chairman William Rodriguez-Kennedy.
Rodriguez-Kennedy today issued a statement saying he’d been “cleared of wrongdoing.” He has been on leave since May, pending the outcome of the investigation.
DA spokeswoman Tanya Sierra on Friday told Times of San Diego, an ECM news partner, “After a thorough review, we determined that no charges could be filed in this case. We do not discuss our charging decisions except to say that we can only file charges when we believe we can prove them beyond a reasonable doubt.”
September 16, 2022 (Lakeside) – After the Willows Fire burned out homeless camps along the San Diego Riverbed in Lakeside on August 31, I went back to speak with those who suffered losses. I found a couple, two men, who openly talked about their lives, how they got here, and shared some alarming thoughts on the fire.
They want housing and do not desire to live in the riverbed. But they said they have been unable to secure clean living arrangements as a couple and would “have to have children” to enter a shelter together.
September 16, 2022 (Lakeside) – On September 12, Hope for the Homeless Lakeside (www.hope4homelesslakeside.org) organized an outreach event held in the parking lot next to the Parks and Recreation Building in Lakeside. Also present was a mobile unit from the county, HHSA-Health and Human Service Agency and several deputies from the HART -Homeless Assistance Resource Team of the San Diego Sheriff Department.
Judy Scheuer (photo, right) is the executive director, spoke with East County Magazine about how she came to establish the organization to help homeless people in the community – help needed now more than ever, after the August 31 Willow Fire destroyed homeless encampments in the riverbed and one homeless man was found dead in a pond days earlier.
“Three years ago, it started as a grassroots effort; then I hired a homeless woman and then began taking water, food, blankets tents and also hauled out trash weekly in the riverbed,” she said. “Showers were offered weekly and Otay Mesa Detention Facility fixed broken bicycles for us.” Now bicycles are going to be repaired by a resident she knows.
September 16, 2022 (La Mesa) – Helix High School in La Mesa has been honored as a 2022 National Blue Ribbon School by the U.S. Department of Education, one of just 29 California schools to make the grade.
These are among the state’s highest performing schools based on all student scores, subgroup student scores, and graduation rates. Helix is a charter high school within the Grossmont Union High School District.
The prestigious award honors public and private elementary, middle and high schools that made significant progress in closing achievement and opportunity gaps among student subgroups, and where students achieve high learning standards.
September 16, 2022 (La Mesa) -- A new trustee to the La Mesa-Spring Valley School Board is needed. At the Board’s September 6 meeting, Sarah Rhiley, District 4 Trustee, announced her immediate resignation. This left the Board with two ways to fill the vacancy. It could hold a special election, or it could appoint a new School Board member.
In a special meeting held on September 12, the board voted unanimously that an appointment will be made to fill out the remainder of Rhiley’s term through December 2024.
The process for applying to be appointed as trustee is posted on the LMSV website at https://www.lmsvschools.org/board/#board-vacancy. The application is available online and must be submitted no later than October 14 at 4:45 p.m to be considered.
“This is an emergency, as far as I’m concerned.” – El Cajon Mayor Bill Wells
By Miriam Raftery and Shiloh Ireland
Photos by Shiloh Ireland
September 16, 2022 (El Cajon) – El Cajon Mayor Bill Wells held a press conference Wednesday in front of the Travelodge Motel at 426 West Main Street, one of six El Cajon motels where the County of San Diego has placed homeless people temporarily under a voucher program.
“It’s very frustrating that the County never bothered to let us know about using of El Cajon’s motels as homeless shelters,” said Wells. The city learned of the program only noticing changes in calls for public safety around some of the motels. “This is an emergency situation,” Wells says.
City Manager Graham Mitchell states in a news release,“Not only did we notice an increase in crime and need for medical responses around some of these motels, our police officers started noticing new homeless individuals, along with drug dealers who prey on them, and open drug use.”
19 structures including homes, mobile homes and recreational vehicles were destroyed in the fire
Source: Supervisors Fletcher and Anderson
September 15, 2022 (San Diego) -- Chair Nathan Fletcher, Supervisor Joel Anderson and the San Diego County Board of Supervisors have voted to waive fees for people affected by the Border 32 Fire when they apply for a permit to rebuild a structure, or acquire replacement copies of important documents lost in the fire, such as birth certificates.
Chair Fletcher and Supervisor Anderson, the authors of the policy presented on Wednesday, issued the following statements after today’s vote:
SDSU will play seven of its 12 non-conference games in Viejas Arena
Source: goaztecs.com
Photo courtesy goaztecs.com
September 15, 2022 (San Diego) - Having posted a 25-4 record in non-conference contests since the start of the 2019-20 season, San Diego State men’s basketball program revealed its 2022-23 out-of-conference slate on Tuesday. It has a total of 12 regular-season games and one exhibition and features five opponents which played in the postseason last year, including three that competed in the NCAA tournament, and could include as many as two more NCAA tournament teams.
Photo: view of Fanita Ranch site, looking south from State Route 67
September 15, 2022 (Santee) -- Fanita Ranch, the 3,000-unit residential development that has gone through multiple iterations and designs since the city was founded, was approved once again by the Santee City Council after a four and a half-hour meeting Sept. 14.
This approval, on a 4-0 vote with Councilman Rob McNelis recused due to his property benefiting from the project, comes on the heels of the Council’s 2020 approval of the same project. That was followed by a lawsuit from environmental groups, a referendum that put the issue on this November’s ballot, and a court-order rescinding the 2020 approvals due to wildfire evacuation concerns. The Council used the court’s decision to negate its earlier approval and remove the initiative from the upcoming ballot.
Because Fanita Ranch complied with Santee’s Essential Housing Program, a law the city adopted in August 2021, city officials said last night that approval of the new plan presented last night did not entail amending the city’s General Plan, and hence, there is no requirement to hold a public vote.
12 local food businesses will compete to win three months of free rent in Parkway Plaza’s food court plus a $20,000 business investment
September 15, 2022 (El Cajon) — Parkway Plaza regional shopping mall has announced that 12 local food businesses selected to participate in the mall’s first-ever Taste for the Space competition on October 15. They are competing for a prize package valued at over $50,000, including a $20,000 business investment and three months of free rent.
“We are excited to have such a diverse group of businesses competing in our first-ever Taste for the Space,” said Petra Rich, Marketing and Business Development Manager. “They’re diverse in many aspects including cuisines, business models as well as ownership backgrounds. We have everything from French and vegan cuisines to Hungarian and Haitian; there are competitors that have a food truck or storefront and others who are mobile caterers. We’re also proud to say that the majority of businesses participating are minority-owned. The competition is going to be tight, so I hope everyone is ready to put their taste buds to the test.”
September 13, 2022 (Spring Valley) - The Rancho San Diego Sheriff's Station wants your help in finding a missing person from Spring Valley.
72-year-old Eddie Joe Taylor was reported missing on Friday, August 5. He was last seen on Thursday, August 4 when he left his girlfriend's home in Lemon Grove. As he was driving home to Spring Valley, he called his girlfriend saying he mistakenly continued on SR-125 south towards Mexico and crossed the border into Baja California, Mexico.
September 13, 2022 (Potrero/Dulzura) - County Emergency Services opened a Local Assistance Center Monday to support those affected by the Border 32 Fire. The fire burned 4,400 acres and destroyed more than a dozen homes and buildings in the area between Dulzura and Potrero.
September 13, 2022 (Spring Valley) - The Saps at Sea, the San Diego chapter of the Sons of the Desert, the official Laurel & Hardy fan organization, present their Halloween program, "Howl-O-Scream," October 15 at Williams Hall at Trinity Presbytarian Church in Spring Valley.
September 12, 2022 (La Mesa) – Bicycle need fixing? Pedal into downtown La Mesa, where you’ll now find a do-it-yourself bike repair station complete with tools and how-to tips.
September 12, 2022 (Lakeside) - Families, neighbors and their supporters gathered in Lakeside on Blossom Valley Road to protest five sex offenders secretly placed in their neighborhood in the past couple of weeks.
In a story that happens all too frequently in East County, approximately 100 residents and community members expressed their surprise, fear and outrage at finding out that their quiet, family-friendly community was housing convicted sex offenders. Not one, or two, but five – all in one home.
September 20
September 20, 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:
By J.W. August, Times of San Diego, a member of the San Diego Online News Association
East County News Service
By Josh Stotler
By Liz Alper
By Liz Alper 
By Miriam Raftery
By Liz Alper
East County News Service
East County Wildfire & Emergency Alerts
Story and photos by Liz Alper
$5 million remaining 
By Miriam Raftery and Shiloh Ireland
19 structures including homes, mobile homes and recreational vehicles were destroyed in the fire 
SDSU will play seven of its 12 non-conference games in Viejas Arena
By Mike Allen
12 local food businesses will compete to win three months of free rent in Parkway Plaza’s food court plus a $20,000 business investment 
Source: San Diego Sheriff's Department
By 
East County News Service
East County News Service
East County News Service
By Henri Migala
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