ATMOSPHERIC RIVER TO DRENCH REGION OVER EASTER WEEKEND

GROSSMONT HIGH SCHOOL BOARD SLASHES STAFFING, OVER OBJECTIONS OF VOCAL CROWD

CONSUMER ALERT FOR SAFELY FILING YOUR TAXES

VIEW OUR INTERVIEW: LA MESA ACTIVISTS OBJECT TO CITY COUNCIL BANNING REMOTE PARTICIPATION

WINTER STORM WARNING

EASTER BRUNCH AND EGG HUNT MARCH 30 IN EL CAJON

BIA SAN DIEGO PARTNERS WITH WORKFORCECONNECT TO UTILIZE JOBS PLATFORM, WHILE ADDRESSING CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY WORKFORCE SHORTAGE

RECENT FIRE DEATHS HEIGHTEN CALLS FOR FIRE PROTECTION BALLOT MEASURE IN SANTEE

MISSION TRAILS REGIONAL PARK COMMUNITY NIGHT SLATED FOR THURSDAY, APRIL 4

COUNTRY MUSIC LEGEND TANYA TUCKER LIVE AT THE MAGNOLIA MAY 19

UNOFFICIAL ELECTION RESULTS SHOW FLIPS IN TWO KEY RACES HOLDING

184 GUNS TURNED IN AT SHERIFF’S LEMON GROVE GUN SAFETY EVENT

EAST COUNTY PAGEANTS SEEK CONTESTANTS

 

On Friday, March 4, the cities of La Mesa and Santee will hold the Miss La Mesa and Miss Santee Pageants. Pageant organizers are currently seeking outgoing women ages 13-26 to participate in a program that has been a tradition in the cities since the late 1960’s and is an outstanding mentoring program for young women. The pageants are sponsored by the local Chambers of Commerce and focus on community service. There is no swimsuit competition--and is no entry fee to participate.

 

Miss La Mesa and Miss Santee 2011 will each receive at $1,000.00 scholarship while Miss La Mesa Teen and Miss Santee Teen 2011 will each receive a $500.00 scholarship.

SYLVIA’S SOAPBOX: 5 QUESTIONS FOR CONGRESSMAN DUNCAN HUNTER AS THE 112TH CONGRESSIONAL SESSION BEGINS

 

By Sylvia Hampton

 

January 19, 2012 (San Diego)--The constituents of the 52nd Congressional district are pleased that the majority party in the House has pledged to be open and fair in dealing with the crucial issues facing our nation today. We are also pleased to learn that cutting waste, fraud and abuse in the budget is your top concern. Therefore we ask the following questions to see if you, as our representative, are firmly behind these pledges and will vote to fulfill these promises. We thank you for sharing your answers with us.

U.S. FOREST SERVICE CONDUCTING CONTROLLED BURNS ON PALOMAR MOUNTAIN

 

January 18, 2011 (Palomar) --If you see smoke, don't panic.  The United States Forest service will be conducting a controlled burn today and tomorrow near the intersections of Palomar Divide Truck Trail and Halfway Road placing it on a North East / East aspect of Palomar Mountain.

ON THE SILVER SCREEN: "THE GREEN HORNET" HAS NO STING

By Brian Lafferty

 



January 18, 2011 (San Diego) – The Green Hornet is beset with many problems. The first glaring issue involves the casting. I could not buy Seth Rogen as either Britt Reid or his alter ego the Green Hornet. I can understand why he was cast; Rogen co-wrote the screenplay with his longtime writing partner Evan Goldberg. Having been an established actor and a bankable writer (he also co-wrote Superbad and Pineapple Express) I don’t doubt he had his heart set on playing such an enduring and somewhat iconic character.

 



But Rogen has miscalculated this time around. He should have let someone else play the hero this time. Someone who would have brought a smooth, sly personality to both characters.

 

MARTIN LUTHER KING DAY MARRED BY HATE SYMBOLS SPRAYED ON CARS, SCHOOLS AND PARK IN PENASQUITOS AREA

January 17, 2011 (Rancho Penasquitos) – Vandals spray-painted swastikas and “666” (numbers symbolizing the devil) on at least 14 vehicles early this morning, also defacing property at Hilltop Community Park, Black Mountain Middle School, and Sunset Hills Elementary School. A witness reports seeing two white teens spray painting in the area around 1 a.m., the San Diego Union-Tribune reports. Another source indicates they were driving a green car.

“It’s disturbing and shameful,” said Kevin Keenan, San Diego director of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).

RAMONANS TAKE CALL FOR CIVILITY TO THE STREETS

"Like an unchecked cancer, hate corrodes the personality and eats away its vital unity. Hate destroys a man's sense of values and his objectivity." --
Martin Luther King, Jr., 1963

 

January 17, 2011 (Ramona) – Ron Selkovitch and Dave Patterson of the Ramona Forum demonstrated in Ramona over Martin Luther King Day weekend. According to a press release issued by the group, the purpose was to call for “civility and courage in the face of the recent shooting and political rancor.”

LT. GOVERNOR ASKS CALIFORNIANS TO DO PUBLIC SERVICE IN HONOR OF KING'S MEMORY

 

January 17, 2011 (Sacramento)--California Lieutenant Governor Gavin Newsom issued the following statement commemorating Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, urging all Californians to participate in local communities through public service.  To find a service project in your community, visit: www.californiavolunteers.org.

 

“Our nation has made great progress, guided by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s vision of advancing social justice and opportunity for all," said Newsom, "but I recognize that there is still work to be done."

SERENITY HOUSE, EL CAJON’S NEWEST SHOP, OFFERS CHRISTIAN BOOKS & MUSIC IN ARABIC


Egyptian proprietor also serves up coffee, snacks, and free classes to help Arabic-speaking residents

By Miriam Raftery
 

January 17, 2011 (El Cajon) --

On Saturday, throngs of well-wishers  stopped by on Saturday to bid welcome (ahlan wa sahaln, أهلا وسهلا) to Zohny Hanna at his new business, Serenity House in downtown El Cajon. The store/coffee shop offers Christian books, art, and music in Arabic. Located on Main Street just east of Magnolia, Serenity House also offers free classes in English and community orientations for East County’s growing population of Arabic-speaking immigrants, asylees, and refugees.

 

“This is my land now. America is my new home,” says Hanna, who came here on a tourist vista back in 1997 with his wife and children, then received asylum status due to persecution of Coptic Christians in his native Egypt.

 

PASSAGES: CYNTHIA CLAY, SERVICE DOG TRAINER

 

January 17, 2010 (Poway) – Ramona resident Cynthia Clay, founder of Clay’s Canine Sidekicks and Leashes for Leaving, died Christmas night, December 25th, one day before her 58th birthday.

“Cyndy, while seriously disabled herself, created and managed over the years two service dog training groups,” said Hope Goodwin, a client who owns a service dog obtained through Clay. “I believe that Cyndy's training group is the only one in the U.S. that teaches the disabled how to train their own Service Dogs,” she said of the two-year program.

GROSSMONT HEALTH DISTRICT GRANTS $49K TO CASA FOR PREVENTION OF SUBSTANCE ABUSE

 

January 17, 2011 (La Mesa)--Grossmont Healthcare District (GHD) is continuing its support of Communities Against Substance Abuse (CASA), East County's oldest, community-based, non-profit organization dedicated solely to substance abuse prevention. The GHD board of directors recently voted unanimously to approve a grant of $49,000 to help fund CASA’s Students Together Against Alcohol ‘N Drugs (STAAND), a youth advocacy program.

TRAFFIC STOP YIELDS EXPLOSIVE FIND: LIVE GRENADE IN TRUNK

 

January 16, 2011 (El Cajon) – El Cajon Police Officer Dan Hansen stopped a car for a registration violation at 9 p.m. tonight at the intersection of Greenfield and Main. The car had not been registered for six months and was to be impounded, so an inventory was taken and a live grenade was found in the trunk.

Officers evacuated businesses near the car, and closed down the intersection.

ARTISTS & THIEVES MYSTERY AUTHOR TO SPEAK IN LA MESA FEB. 12

January 16, 2011 (La Mesa)—Author Linda Schroeder will discuss her novel, Artists & Thieves, a mystery set in the Monterey art scene, in the Friendship Hall of United Church of Christ of La Mesa on February 12th. The novel introduces heroine Mai Ling who, in the words of Editor Mary Holden, is “a new kind of detective on the literary scene: smart, beautiful, respectful of her elders and her cultural history.”

SAN DIEGO JUDGE TO PRESIDE OVER TRIAL OF GUNMAN ACCUSED IN ARIZONA MASSACRE

Case to be moved to San Diego

January 16, 2011 (San Diego) – Larry Burns, a federal judge in the U.S. District Court’s Southern District in San Diego, has been assigned to preside over the case of Jarod Lee Loughner, the accused gunman in last week’s Arizona massacre. Loughner is accused of shooting 19 people in Tucson, Arizona, killing six. The dead include Arizona’s chief federal judge John Roll and a nine-year old girl. The injured include Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, who was shot through the brain.

MOTORCYCLIST DOWN IN CRASH ON 94 NEAR BARRETT CAFÉ

 

January 16, 2011 (Barrett Junction) – A serious accident involving a motorcyclist down in the roadway has been reported at 12:00 noon today on Highway 94 near Barrett Lake Road. An ambulance is en route and other motorists have stopped to assist. The accident is near Barrett Café in a curve in the road, CHP reports.  No further details are available at this time (12:20 p.m.)

FATALITY ACCIDENTS SHUTS DOWN HWY 78 IN ANZA-BORREGO

 

Update 9 p.m.: The victim was a 67-year old Caucasian man from Valley Center, the San Diego Medical Examiner's office reports.  His name has not been released pending next of kin.

January 16, 2011 (Anza-Borrego) – A fatality accident involving a trailer and a motorcycle has shut down Highway 78 just east of Scissors Crossing in the Anza Borrego Desert State Park, California Highway Patrol reports. The accident was reported at 11:41 a.m. and the road closure occurred at 12:04 p.m.

STARGAZING, PHOTOGRAPHY CLASSES, & A CELESTIAL CAMPOUT ANNOUNCED IN ANZA BORREGO DESERT

 

 

 January 16, 2011 (Borrego Springs) – Famed night-sky photographer Dennis Mammana announces a series of photography classes and lectures in Borrego Springs in January, February and March, plus a celestial overnight campout in the Anza-Borrego desert January 29-30.

 

COX COMMUNICATIONS GM BILL GEPPERT TO RETIRE

 

January 16, 2011 (San Diego)--Cox Communications Senior Vice President and General Manager Bill Geppert has announced his plans to retire, culminating a 30-year career in the communications industry, to focus on serving the San Diego community.

 

“We are deeply grateful to Bill for his outstanding leadership heading up our operations in New Orleans, the United Kingdom and, finally, San Diego,” said Pat Esser, President and CEO of Cox Communications.

PASSING ON SIDEWALK PROVES BLOCKHEAD MOVE, CAUSES 3-VEHICLE CRASH

January 16, 2011 (San Diego) – A man, 26, tried to pass traffic by driving onto the sidewalk in his 1998 Mitsubishi Montero this morning at 8:25 a.m. at 4400 Home Avenue. His vehicle struck a 2003 Ford F-150 that was turning right onto Fairmont ahead of him, causing the F-150 to roll over and strike a 2000 GMC Yukon.

DRIVER CHARGED WITH DUI AFTER HIGH-SPEED CRASH INTO BACKYARD OF SAN CARLOS HOME

 

January 16, 2011 (San Diego)—A woman, 40, lost control of a 2007 Hummer H3 that she was driving at a high rate of speed on Mission Gorge Road at 3:25 this morning, according to San Diego Police Officer David Stafford. The vehicle plunged down an embankment and into the backyard of a house on Echo Dell Road, then struck a fence and a tree.

3 LOCAL GROUPS FILE SUIT TO BLOCK SUNRISE POWERLINK ON FEDERAL LANDS

 

By Miriam Raftery

January 15, 2011 (San Diego’s East County) – Three local organizations and an East County land use issues expert have filed a lawsuit against five federal agencies. The suit alleges that the agencies approved SDG&E’s planned Sunrise Powerlink transition line in violation of environmental regulations—in some cases, making decisions based on the original route through the Anza Borrego Desert, instead of the revised southern route through numerous East County communities.

 

The suit makes other contentions, notably that key decision makers ignored fire danger and failed to consider the collective impact on public lands in East County, where several wind farms are planned as well as Powerlink in some wilderness areas.  In addition, plaintiffs claim that some decisions were made before completion of studies on endangered species and that once completed, those studies found the project could threaten endangered Peninsular bighorn sheep, golden eagles, and other species.

EMERALD ASKS MAYOR TO FUND FIRE & POLICE SERVICES WITH PENSION SAVINGS

January 15, 2011 (San Diego) -- Councilmember Marti Emerald has asked Mayor Jerry Sanders to use newly found pension savings to fund San Diego’s financially strapped public safety agencies.

 

The City has learned its required pension payment for the 2012 fiscal year will be about $20 million less than originally anticipated-- about the same amount demanded in public safety cuts for next year.

WILL POWER REPORT: RED LIGHT SCAMS AND PRIVATE POLICE PLATES


Nothing but the truth!
By Will Power

 

January 15, 2011 (San Diegoi)--In California, a program to keep criminals from learning home addresses of policemen has morphed into a bureaucratic boondoggle that allows California Public Service Workers to avoid freeway tolls, red-light tickets, and bridge tolls.

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