July 1, 2011 (Washington D.C.) - The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, in cooperation with Hamilton Beach Brands, Inc. yesterday announced a voluntary recall of about 300,000 Hamilton Beach classic chrome 2-slice toasters. The heating element in these toasters can remain energized indefinitely when an item is placed in the toaster which may ignite the contents, posing a fire hazard if the toaster is near flammable items.
July 1, 2011 (San Diego County) -- This 4th of July CAL FIRE’S Volunteers In Prevention will be conducting Red Flag/Holiday Patrols throughout the County of San Diego serving as our “eyes and ears”.
Private Citizen Volunteers will be patrolling the backcountry, from 10 am to 4 pm, in marked private vehicles looking for fires or other dangers that may start a fire.
"The Boston Forty-Nine Flamingo" to be read Saturday
July 1, 2011 (Jamul) -- The Jamul Haven holds play readings on the first Saturday of each month. On Saturday July 2, the reading will be "The Boston Forty-Nine Flamingo" by K Biadaszkiewicz. The play is a romantic comedy about a tie.
The program begins at 4:30 p.m. for a light dinner. The readings begin at 5:15 p.m. Following the reading there will be a talkback session with dessert.
July 1, 2011 (Alpine) --East Count Magazine editor Miriam Raftery will be a guest this evening on Billie Jo Jannen's "TGIF" radio news show from 6-7 p.m.
Livestream at www.my1079.com wherever you are, or listen live at 107.9 on your FM radio dial (heard in parts of East County).
Hot topics to be discussed include today's court ruling on the Sunrise Powerlink, the new state budget and how it may impact your, smart meters, Senator Joel Anderson's bill to eliminate Cal-Trans, and where to find fireworks and family fun this 4th of July weekend.
July 1, 2011 (San Diego’s East County)—Six rodents trapped in locations around San Diego County have tested positive for the potentially deadly hantavirus, including two deer mice from Campo.
June 29, 2011 (San Diego’s East County)--Nestled in between slopes in the Cleveland National Forest lies a gem known as Cedar Creek Falls, often referred to as The Devil’s Punch Bowl. A wondrous waterfall is the picturesque background to the swimming hole at the end of this approximately four-mile hike. The location used to be accessed mainly from Julian. But due to a newly revamped trail out of Ramona, it’s now more accessible than ever before--and more populated, especially on weekends and holidays.
Fire parcel fee, redevelopment cuts, tuition hikes, freeze on teacher lay-offs, and "crippling" cuts in border crimes enforcement among the budget impacts on our region
By Miriam Raftery
June 30, 2011 (Sacramento) –Governor Jerry Brown and Democrats in the state Legislature have approved a majority-vote budget without a single Republican vote. The move ends a months-long impasse in which Republicans held out for an all-cuts budget, while Democrats sought revenue increases to prevent slashing programs ranging from healthcare to law enforcement. The budget includes $7.9 billion in cuts which aim to reduce the state’s $26 billion deficit to $5 billion.
June 30, 2011 (Spring Valley) -- The Mount Miguel Covenant Village has come to the rescue, helping to save the San Miguel Fire District's Tactical Paramedic program. The continuing budget crisis has impacted District funding for this critical program.
June 30, 2011 (San Pasqual)--A talented troupe of Tanzanian acrobats is the newest attraction at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park, performing Saturdays starting this weekend through late August.
“We started in East Africa. We are all from the same village,” Konde Kalema, a member of the troupe, told East County Magazine. “We started when we were little, in school, watching Chinese acrobats and combining the Chinese arts with African traditions.”
June 30, 2011 (La Mesa) -- On Saturday, July 9, La Mesa Live Well and Grow is holding a free Summer Fruit Tree Pruning Workshop from 12:00 to 2:00pm. The Workshop will be held in the La Mesa Police Department Community Room at 8085 University Avenue.
Learn about new garden volunteer and educational programs in and around La Mesa including gardening classes, backyard garden builds and fruit tree harvesting for donation to nonprofits serving neighbors with limited incomes.
June 30, 2011 (La Mesa) -- On June 24, 2011 a woman was walking in the parking lot of the Bank of America at 512 Fletcher Parkway to go inside the bank and deposit receipts from her employer. The suspect approached her from behind, grabbed the bank bag from her hands, and fled on foot.
July 1, 2011 (San Diego) -- San Diego Sheriff Bill Gore will speak at the San Diego East County Chamber of Commerce breakfast on Friday, July 8 from 7-9 a.m. This month's breakfast will be held at the Mission Trails Regional Park Visitors Center.
The Visitors Center is located at One Father Junipero Serra Trail in San Diego, amid the 6,200 acre Mission Trails Regional Park.
June 30, 2011 (San Diego’s East County)--ECM World Watch helps you be an informed citizen about important issues globally and nationally. As part of our commitment to reflecting all voices and views, we include links to a wide variety of news sources representing a broad spectrum of political, religious, and social views.
June 30, 2011 (San Diego County) -- On June 29th between the hours 8:30 a.m., and 10:00 a.m., the Sheriff's Bomb Disposal people held its annual fireworks disposal day. Local fire marshals, Burn Institute personnel, and news media were invited to the event. The yearly event reminds all of the dangers posed by using fireworks. In the East County area, the vegetation is especially dry. So that in addition to causing injuries from using fireworks, there is an additional danger due to the dryness of the vegetation.
“Californians can no longer afford to build roads and infrastructure with golden shovels. We need to send the money where the rubber meets the road. Literally.” – Senator Joel Anderson
“Eliminating Caltrans would result in an ineffective and scattered patchwork of local projects, hamper the movement of goods and people, and ultimately hurt our economic competitiveness… During the 2007 wildfires, we partnered with first responders and helped with emergency road repairs and evacuations.” --Matt Rocco, Caltrans
June 27, 2011- State Senator Joel Anderson (R-El Cajon) is revved up over his new bill to cut state spending by eliminating the California Transportation Department (Caltrans). SB 851 would shift responsibilities for highway building and maintenance onto local cities and counties, also allowing local governments to outsource to private companies.
Can local communities afford those cost? How will motorists and taxpayers be impacted?
Supporters say the bill would save money and cut waste. Opponents question whether public safety could be jeopardized, particularly in San Diego--where a Grand Jury investigation found roadway conditions "appalling" and where local agencies have relied on Caltrans for quick highway repairs during major wildfires and other disasters.
June 29, 2011 (San Diego’s East County) – Expect traffic delays if you are traveling on I-8 through east County this afternoon. A two-car rollover on I-8 east at Pine Valley Road sparked a brush fire, forcing 150 cars to be turned around at Sunrise Highway and diverted onto Old Highway 80. The U.S. Forest Service is currently mopping up that blaze.
In addition, on I-8 near Crestwood Drive, further east, a vehicle has rolled three times and is on its side in the center divider, according to the San Diego SIG Alerts website.
June 29, 2011 (San Diego)--The US Supreme Court made two important health care rulings last week.
The first ruling was that consumers harmed by the use of a generic drug cannot sue the drug manufacturer. Generic drugs are copies of drugs which are out of patent. This means anybody can manufacture these copycat drugs, and often quality control can become a problem. Another problem is because many of these drugs are made in India or China, issues of counterfeit drugs become an issue.
June 29, 2011 (Sacramento) -- Last week, the Senate Education Committee approved three bills authored by Assembly Higher Education Chair Marty Block (AD-78) aimed at improving the student experience at California’s public colleges and universities. This series of bills includes AB 620 aimed at creating safe college campus environments for LGBT students,AB 670 to establish clear appeals procedures for California State University (CSU) admissions decisions, and AB 743that creates a system-wide assessment tool to better place community college students.
June 29, 2011 (San Diego) -- Last week, 150 elementary school children in San Diego County were attending a new kind of summer camp -- the “Summer Engineering Experience for Kids” (SEEK) Camp, a concept designed by the National Society for Black Engineers (NSBE) in 2007 to build a pipeline to careers in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) for African-American and other under-represented minority children.
June 28, 2011 (El Cajon) -- Every summer the Heritage of the Americas Museum, located on the campus of Cuyamaca College in Rancho San Diego, has week-long classes for students going into fifth through ninth grade. All of the classes are taught by retired school teachers. The cost for each five-day class is only $50.00. For more information, you can call the Museum at 619-670-5194 or visit the web site at www.cuyamaca.edu/museum.
June 29, 2011 (El Cajon) – An injured man who called 911 after falling down an embankment last night has been found following an intensive search and will be transported to a hospital, Melissa Aquino, public affairs officer with the San Diego Sheriff’s Office, advises.
Poll shows strong public support for plan; Rep. Hunter visits Afghanistan to meet with military officers
By Miriam Raftery
June 29, 2011 (San Diego) – A Gallup Poll shows 72% of Americans support President Barack Obama’s plan announced last week to withdraw thousands of U.S. troops from Afghanistan this year. Just 23% opposed the troop drawdown plan, and some want to see an even faster troop withdrawal.
Congressman Duncan Hunter (R-El Cajon), a veteran of the Afghanistan and Iraq Wars and member of the House Armed Services Committee, visited Afghanistan this week and met with General David Petraeus. He has voiced support for troop withdrawals, citing erosion of public support. But he called for a shift in focus toward counter-terrorism utilizing special operations forces, intelligence gathering capability and air assets.
June 29, 2011 (San Diego)—The California Citizens Redistricting Commission heard input from area residents this month, including some residents of East County and Imperial County who objected to the redrawing of Congressional and state leglsiative district lines to lump the two regions together.
Update 2:55 p.m.: The fire is now 5-10 acres, burning at Otay Truck Trail.
June 29, 2011 (Otay Mesa) – A brush fire that originated in Mexico has burned three to five acres in Otay Mesa along Alta Road, Cal Fire reports. Currently one air tanker, one helicopter, one air attack plane, three engines and two handcrews are at the scene.
June 29, 2011 (La Mesa)--William Warnock, 59, is under arrest for assault with a deadly weapon and felony criminal threats after an eight hour standoff with police. La Mesa Police responded to a call at 6100 Blain Place, La Mesa, around 10 p.m. last night after Warnock's wife reported that her husband had threatened to hurt her and also threatened to kill their 20-year-old son with a large screwdriver.
June 28, 2011 (El Cajon) --On Thursday, June 23rd, 2011 at approximately 11:00 a.m., the victim was exiting the Wells Fargo Bank at 250 N. Second, El Cajon after just making a deposit when the suspect approached. The suspect physically assulted him, grabbed the victim's bank deposit bag, and fled on foot. The victim did not sustain any injury.
Santee Store Yields Top Total in Charity Campaign for People with Disabilities
June 28, 2011 (Santee) -- The Santee Vons store was named a top fundraising store by Easter Seals during Safeway Inc.’s charity campaign to benefit people with disabilities in April. The Santee store achieved the highest fundraising total in its district.
July 1, 2011 (Washington D.C.) - The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, in cooperation with Hamilton Beach Brands, Inc. yesterday announced a voluntary recall of about 300,000 Hamilton Beach classic chrome 2-slice toasters. The heating element in these toasters can remain energized indefinitely when an item is placed in the toaster which may ignite the contents, posing a fire hazard if the toaster is near flammable items.
July 1, 2011 (San Diego County) -- This 4th of July CAL FIRE’S Volunteers In Prevention will be conducting Red Flag/Holiday Patrols 
July 1, 2011 (Alpine) -- East Count Magazine editor Miriam Raftery will be a guest this evening on Billie Jo Jannen's "TGIF" radio news show from 6-7 p.m. 
July 1, 2011 (San Diego’s East County)—Six rodents trapped in locations around San Diego County have tested positive for the potentially deadly hantavirus, including two deer mice from Campo.
June 29, 2011 (San Diego’s East County) – Expect traffic delays if you are traveling on I-8 through east County this afternoon. A two-car rollover on I-8 east at Pine Valley Road sparked a brush fire, forcing 150 cars to be turned around at Sunrise Highway and diverted onto Old Highway 80. The U.S. Forest Service is currently mopping up that blaze.
June 29, 2011 (San Diego) -- Last week, 150 elementary school children in San Diego County were attending a new kind of summer camp -- the “Summer Engineering Experience for Kids” (SEEK) Camp, a concept designed by the 
June 29, 2011 (La Mesa)--William Warnock, 59, is under arrest for assault with a deadly weapon and felony criminal threats after an eight hour standoff with police. La Mesa Police responded to a call at 6100 Blain Place, La Mesa, around 10 p.m. last night after Warnock's wife reported that her husband had threatened to hurt her and also threatened to kill their 20-year-old son with a large screwdriver. 
so, Alpine Planning Group Member
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