September 27, 2020 – Giardino’s Neighborhood Cucina in Lemon Grove has set up a large outdoor dining pavilion where you can dine al fresco in the COVID era. (There are also indoor tables available, if you prefer). Doing our part to help support local restauranteurs in these challenging times, our family recently savored the flavors there.
We started with a cheese and meat charcuterie board I enjoyed a house specialty Anchovie Parpardelle, a wide pasta noodle dish served with anchovies, capers, olives, roasted tomatoes and bread crumbs, which was delicious.
A Catholic church nearby was also targeted with graffiti early Saturday
By Miriam Raftery
September 27, 2020 (El Cajon) – Yesterday, St. Peter Chaldean Catholic Diocese in El Cajon posted this message, along with disturbing video: “This morning our beloved Cathedral was defaced with pentagrams, upside down crosses, white power, swastikas, BLM, etc. It reminds us to pray for my brethren in Iraq that are facing persecution. Pray for the criminals who did this.”
The odd combination of hate symbols fueled speculation over who was responsible. Some community members theorized that a group might have sought to discredit another group, since it seemed unlikely that a support of Black Lives Matter or Joe Biden would spray paint racist symbols such as swastikas and the words “white power,” nor would a neo-Nazi or white supremacist want to promote BLM or Biden. The pentagram, a symbol associated with satanic cults, is not affiliated with either either the far right nor leftist groups named.
CalMatters is an independent public interest journalism venture covering California state politics and government.
Photo: parents and students mill around the McGaugh Elementary School parking lot during morning and afternoon changeover on Sept. 17. Los Alamitos Unified School District has reopened its elementary schools for hybrid in-person instruction with students attending either morning or afternoon sessions in the classroom in addition to distance learning. Photo by Tash Kimmell for CalMatters
September 26, 2020 (San Diego) -As schools throughout California tiptoe toward reopening, decisions about whether to routinely test teachers, staff and even students for the COVID-19 virus are proving controversial – and potentially costly.
CalMatters is an independent public interest journalism venture covering California state politics and government.
Photo: Dr. Joseph Castro, President of Fresno State University, has been named successor to Timothy White. Photo courtesy of Fresno State University
September 26, 2020 (San Diego) - The next head of the California State University system — with 480,000 students, the largest public four-year university in the U.S. — will be the first California native and the first Mexican American chancellor to oversee it.
Residents praise “heroic” actions of Deputy Jared Anderson
By Miriam Raftery
September 26, 2020 (Julian) – Ernest Bartocci, 45, was arrested last night after leading law enforcement officers on a high-speed chase followed by a foot pursuit through a residential area of Julian, where “assistance from residents played an essential role in locating Bartocci,” says Sergeant William Uelen with the San Diego Sheriff’s department.
Bartocci is accused of stealing a Honda Pilot in Borrego Springs near Palm Canyon Drive and Christmas Circle around 4:45 p.m.. A be-on-the-lookout alert was sent out to local law enforcement units.
September 26, 2020 (Alpine) -- Viejas Casino & Resort recently donated 100,000 face masks to the Alpine Union School District. The donation, conceived by the Viejas Tribal Council, is focused on protecting the community and its children. Viejas has a long-standing tradition of community and isupporting local schools.
“It’s important to the Viejas Tribal membership and also to the Viejas Casino & Resort team that we understand and appreciate the importance of safety in the COVID-19 environment that we’re in,” Viejas Tribal Vice Chairman Victor Woods stated. “Safety and well-being of the students in class are of paramount importance to us.”
Alpine Union School District Superintendent Dr. Rich Newman expressed, “The impact that these face masks will have on our school district is huge. This is a year’s worth of supply for our students, staff, and our family members that are in need. It also is a huge cost savings to us and, as always, Viejas has been a fantastic partner with us through the years. This is one more example of how they step up for the community and support virtually every need that we have.”
September 26, 2020 (El Cajon) -- Grossmont College President Nabil Abu-Ghazaleh, who since 2015 has led the academic and physical transformation of the El Cajon community college, has announced his retirement. A replacement has not yet been named.
“I am leaving my post after 31 years of service in the California Community Colleges to spend more quality time with my wife,” Abu-Ghazaleh said in an announcement to campus. “As we have spent more time together working from home in the past six months, we have revisited forgotten plans. Long before I left the classroom in 1999 to become an administrator, we envisioned living simply and retiring early to travel and pursue a more active lifestyle.”
According to a notice posted on the campus website, thanks to his long-standing commitment to equity for students, Abu-Ghazaleh leaves the college much changed from his start there five-and-a-half years ago.
September 26, 2020 (San Diego’s East County) - East County Magazine's World Watch helps you be an informed citizen on important issues globally and nationally. As part of our commitment to reflect all voices and views, we include links to a variety of news sources representing a broad spectrum of political, religious, and social views. Top world and U.S. headlines include:
September 26, 2020 (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 25, 2020 (El Cajon) – Three suspects are in custody for allegedly robbing people at gunpoint at bank ATMs and at a self-serve car wash in El Cajon. They are suspected of other robberies across the San Diego region.
All three crimes occurred on September 18 between 2 and 2:30 a.m. and were reported by the victims, who called 911.
El Cajon Police robbery detectives investigated, working with detectives from the San Diego Sheriff’s Office, San Diego Police Department, National City Police Department, and The Chula Vista Police Department.
Detectives identified the suspect and learned he had not acted alone. Two additional suspects were identified. Detectives also discovered the suspects had committed at least eight robberies in San Diego County in the last week, says Lt. K MacArthur with El Cajon Police.
September 25, 2020 (El Cajon) – The city of El Cajon isembarking on updates to the Housing and Safety Elements of the General Plan and developing a new Environmental Justice Element. Residents are invited to join in a virtual community meeting on September 29 at 7:00 p.m. to discuss housing needs and the future of housing and community issues.
September 25, 2020 (Santa Ysabel) – Fort Cross Old Timey Adventures in Santa Ysabel, just outside of Julian, invites you to share some “seasonal spooky fun, if you dare” on special events Oct. 2, 3, 9, 10, 16, 17, 23, 24 and 29. Haunted hayrides can be reserved at 8 or 8:30 p.m. each evening.
September 25, 2020 (Santa Ysabel) – Fort Cross Old Timey Adventures in Santa Ysabel invites you to join in some socially distanced fun at the Julian Autumn Jubilee. The festivities will be held from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. each Saturday and Sunday from late September through October 25.
September 24, 2020 (Sante) -- By a 4-1 majority, the Santee City Council approved the controversial Fanita Ranch development that will add nearly 3,000 homes and about 8,000 residents to a city that has been fighting over the project for most of its 40-year history.
September 24, 2020 (Sacramento) – Two new laws have been signed into law by California Governor Newsom that expand maternity care options and protection for paid family leave.
September 24, 2020 (Lakeside) – Hannah Wogatzke is under arrest for the suspected stabbing of her father, who is hospitalized in critical but stable condition.
Up to 13 million people may have latent TB in the U.S, which could be activated by COVID-19. It worries an SDSU researcher and TB expert.
By Padma Nagappan, SDSU News Center
September 24, 2020 (San Diego) - For most of us in the United States, our only awareness of tuberculosis (TB) may be the skin patch test required to work or volunteer in schools or health care facilities. But that could change during the pandemic.
September 24, 2020 (Ramona) – Judges in the prestigious Sunset International Wine Competition in Santa Rosa received over 2,7000 entries from around world. Ramona Ranch and Hatfield Creek Winery in San Diego’s Ramona wine region took home five silver medals:
September 24, 2020 (La Mesa) – By a 3-2 vote on Tuesday, the County Board of Supervisors voted to withdraw its application for state grant funding to convert the Holiday Inn motel on Parkway Drive in La Mesa into a Homekey transitional living and long-term supportive housing facility for the homeless and those at risk of homelessness.
Sept. 24, 2020 (Lakeside) The AGC East County Headquarters and Apprenticeship Training Facility (AGC) is under construction and slated to open this year. The facility will serve as the headquarters and training center for carpentry, cement masonry, drywall finisher, drywall lather, heavy equipment operator, painter, laborer, and more trades.
For those trying to retrain or hone skills because of COVID-19 economic losses, job seekers may consider enrolling.
Additionally, the state-of-art 43,600 sq. ft facility will provide construction services to the 1,100 plus AGC member firms in the County.
Training services include continuing construction education, safety services, government affairs, labor relations, business development, and many more.
September 23, 2020 (Spring Valley) – A 52-year-old Spring Valley woman died at the scene of a crash that occurred at 6:50 this morning on Paradise Valley Road, east of Worthington Street in Spring Valley. She was a passenger who “appears to have been lying in the back seat” without a seatbelt when the accident occurred.
Photo: Dr. Wilma Wooten, San Diego County Public Health Officer
September 23, 2020 (San Diego) – The state announced yesterday that San Diego County will remain in tier two, the red tier, after narrowly keeping COVID-19 cases just below the threshold that would have shifted our region into the more restrictive tier one, or purple tier. That means that recently reopened businesses won’t have to shut down again or reduce current capacity for at least two weeks and schools retain the option to provide in-classroom learning.
Even though the state rejected the county’s argument to exclude San Diego State University’s outbreak cases from the county’s total, the region remained under 7 cases per 100,000 – but just barely, at 6.9 per 100,000 for the assessment period ending Sept. 12.
The state uses two metrics, case rates and testing positivity rates, to determine which tier to assign. On positivity rates, the county is doing much better at 3.8%, well below the 4.9% that would qualify for the even less restrictive orange tier. But both metrics would have to be met.
To drop down into the orange tier, which would allow many businesses to increase capacity, the county would have to keep its positivity rate down and show a reduction in its case rase below the required threshholds for at least two weeks. Due to a lag time in assessments, the soonest that could occur would be three weeks from now.
September 22, 2020 (Jacumba Hot Springs) – You’re invited to “Celebrate the Sunflowers” at a pop-art art show featuring local artists on Saturday, Sept. 26 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The show will be held at 44545 and 44555 Old Highway 80 in Jacumba Hot Springs.
This exhibit will feature paintings and crafts by Nancy Rupe, metal sculptures by Kirk Gilliam, basketry by Becky Person, and works of local artists Bill McKee, Linda Churchill and Paul Stevens.
September 22, 2020 (El Cajon) -- Finally, a new crosswalk has been added to Madison Ave. at the west entrance to Johnson Elementary School (Cajon Valley School district), thus creating a safer environment for children and adults to cross a very busy street. In this writer’s opinion, it’s long overdue.
September 18, 2020 (San Diego’s East County) – With Supervisor Dianne Jacob retiring due to term limits after 25 years, the race to fill her seat is one of the most important elections in years for voters in the 2nd district including East County. Two candidates, Poway Mayor Steve Vaus and former State Senator Joel Anderson are in the November runoff.
On her deathbed, she told her granddaughter: "My most fervent wish is that I will not be replaced until a new president is installed."
Photo credit: Supreme Court
September 20, 2020 (San Diego) - Sparking a swift flood of condolences along with fear for what the future holds, the U.S. Supreme Court announced that Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg died in her home Friday evening, surrounded by family, due to "complications of metastatic pancreas cancer" at the age of 87.
As of yesterday, the Padres have clinched their first postseason berth since 2006
By Liz Alper
Photo: Dinelson Lamet struck out 11 Dodgers. Via @padres on Twitter
September 14, 2020 (San Diego) - After an odd series against the Giants that had some COVID postponements, the Padres hoped this series with the Dodgers would go swimmingly. Clayton Kershaw started game one for the Dodgers tonight against Dinelson Lamet.
The following article on the buildings that burned during civil unrest in La Mesa appeared in the Fall Issue of Lookout Avenue, newsletter of the La Mesa Historical Society. It is reprinted here with permission. To learn more about the Greater La Mesa area’s history, visit lamesahistory.com or their Facebook site.
By James D. Newland, La Mesa Historical Society
Photo, above: First National Trust/Piggly Wiggly Building (1942), 4767 Palm Avenue, Edmund Dunn, master builder. Randall Lamb Engineering, rehab designers. May 2020.
September 20, 2020 (La Mesa) - Almost immediately after the tragic destruction of three recognizable commercial buildings on the evening of May 30th-31st, the Society and myself began to receive requests for information on the history of the three iconic architectural staples of downtown La Mesa’s historic landscape. Upon gathering the stories of each of these prominent, long-standing commercial buildings it became clear that they had unrecognized historical connections to each other, as well as with other buildings and sites within downtown’s contextual history.
Photo, right: Imperial Savings/Chase Bank (1973), Richard George Wheeler, architect. 4791 Spring Street, May 2020.
For more recent La Mesa residents the presence of these three commercial buildings, the First National Bank/Piggly Wiggly Market (1942) at 4757 Palm, the Imperial Savings/Chase Bank (1973) at 4791 Spring, and the Southern California First National/Union Bank (1974) at 4771 Spring may have had little personal connection. Unless you were a customer of the two banks or a client to the Randall Lamb engineering firm that had masterfully rehabilitated that Palm Avenue building, you may not have ever gone inside any of them.
Photo, below: Southern California First National/Union Bank (1974), 4771 Spring Street, Russell Forster, architect. May 2020.
By Miriam Raftery
By Barbara Feder Ostrov, CalMatters
By Mikhail Zinshetyn and Felicia Mello, CalMatters
September 26, 2020 (San Diego’s East County) - East County Magazine's World Watch helps you be an informed citizen on important issues globally and nationally. As part of our commitment to reflect all voices and views, we include links to a variety of news sources representing a broad spectrum of political, religious, and social views. Top world and U.S. headlines include:
September 26, 2020 (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 Liz Alper
By Miriam Raftery
By Miriam Raftery
By Miriam Raftery 
By Mike Allen
By Miriam Raftery
Source: mlb.com
By Miriam Raftery
Up to 13 million people may have latent TB in the U.S, which could be activated by COVID-19. It worries an SDSU researcher and TB expert.
By Miriam Raftery
By Miriam Raftery and Briana Gomez
By Rebecca Jefferis Williamson
By Miriam Raftery
East County News Service
By Robert Gehr
By Miriam Raftery
On her deathbed, she told her granddaughter: "My most fervent wish is that I will not be replaced until a new president is installed."
As of yesterday, the Padres have clinched their first postseason berth since 2006
The following article on the buildings that burned during civil unrest in La Mesa appeared in the Fall Issue of Lookout Avenue, newsletter of the La Mesa Historical Society. It is reprinted here with permission. To learn more about the Greater La Mesa area’s history, visit 
Photo, right: 
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