April 29, 2013 (San Diego’s East County)--In early April, some of the world’s foremost experts in coccidioidomycosis presented published papers on the epidemiology, laboratory science and clinical status of , a fungal disease endemic to Southwestern states like Arizona, California, New Mexico and Nevada. Valley Fever attacks the human and animal respiratory systems and can disseminate to other organs in the body, proving fatal in some cases.
May 2, 2013 (Lake Moreno) -- History comes alive for the next two weeks at a pre-1840 North American fur trade encampment in East County. It's all part of the 20th annual Manzanita High Mountain Rendezvous.
May 2, 2013 (San Diego's East County) -- Our Health and Science Highlights brings you cutting edge news each week that could impact your health and our future.
May 1, 2013 (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 reflect all voices and views, we include links to a wide variety of news sources representing a broad spectrum of political, religious, and social views. Top world and U.S. headlines include:
April 30, 2013 (Ramona)- -Things haven't gotten any better at the Ramona Unified School District in the few months since we last wrote about the district's budgetary woes.
Ramona is the only school district in the county to have never passed a bond measure. Last year, the district floated Proposition R, which would have raised $55 million, a chunk of which Ramona Unified could have used to pay off old loans it took out to renovate district schools in 2004. The bond failed, leaving district officials scratching their heads as to how to pay off the old debts.
May 1, 2013 (Spring Valley) – Under the direction and choreography of mother-daughter team Michelle Mullen and Chelsea Mullen, a Steele Canyon High School senior, and Beatriz Corral, musical director, Young Actors’ Theatre is pleased to announce the upcoming The Little Mermaid, a beloved and family-friendly tale. The Little Mermaid will run for eight performances in the intimate setting of the ENCORE! Theater located in Spring Valley.
The tale tells the story of a magical kingdom fathoms below, where the beautiful young mermaid Ariel longs to leave her ocean home to live in the world above. But first, she'll have to defy her father King Triton, make a deal with the evil sea witch Ursula, and convince Prince Eric that she’s the girl with the enchanting voice. The Little Mermaid is based on the Hans Christian Andersen Story and the Disney Film produced by Howard Ashman & John Musker and written & directed by John Musker and Ron Clements.
Celebration Aims to Get 100,000 to Support Fair Trade
May 1, 2013 (La Mesa) - La Mesa Fair Trade and San Diego Fair Trade will hold a Fair Trade Day on Saturday, May 11 in celebration of World Fair Trade Day. N. Americans will gather from May 4-19, to invite friends, coworkers and neighbors to participate in Fair Trade activities for World Fair Trade Day, the largest Fair Trade event of the year. Participants will support trade justice and celebrate the producers, businesses and advocates who practice Fair Trade.
April 30, 2013 (Sacramento) – The Assembly Natural Resources Committee in Sacramento yesterday voted 5 to 3 to temporarily halt fracking until further health assessments can be done. Three moratorium bills passed, including AB 1301 to stop fracking unless it can be proven safe.
Two similar bills, AB 1323 and AB 649 call for creating an advisory committee to review health, environmental, economic and other effects. They would recommend regulatory changes. Those bills would require state officials to decide by January 2019 if fracking should occur in California.
April 30, 2013 (Spring Valley) – A Spring Valley mother of two small children has been missing for over three weeks, the San Diego Sheriff announced today. Selina Salgado, 21, was last seen April 5 when she left her home in the early morning.
A tattoo artist, she has multiple tattoos including roses with a hummingbird and bumblebees on a forearm. She has long brown hair and brown eyes, but sometimes wears green contact lenses. She is Hispanic, 5 feet 3 inches tall and weighs 145 pounds.
Media outlets reported today that the International Olympic Committee rules may prohibit a joint bid by the U.S. and Mexico to host the 2024 Olympic Summer Games in San Diego and Tijuana.
In response Mayor Bob Filner released the following statement. “We are undaunted by this statement from the International Olympic Committee. We don’t have all the answers right now."
April 30, 2013 (San Diego's East County)--We will be experiencing an extremely high fire danger for the next 72 plus hours. High pressure is building over Southern California. Lack of rain has resulted in critically low fuel moisture content level. Warm temperatures with strong gusty off-shore winds will increase the threat of wildfire.
Wildfires affect everyone as resources from areas not serving in wildland urban interface (WUI) are called to assist leaving areas short staffed until personnel can be recalled. Please advise homeowners to do their part by:
April 30, 2013 (Santee) – Summit Fellowship Concert Series will present the Bayou Brothers in Concert with special guests from the UK, Mama Tokus and Andy Williamson. On Friday, May 3 at 7 p.m. Tickets cost $15.00. Start with a blend of accordion, keyboards, guitar, bass, drums and rub board, add three-part harmonies, mix it up with a lot of rockin' Zydeco, blues and R&B and you get the rousing, rollicking, heart thumpin', foot stompin' Bayou Brothers.
April 28, 2013 (Rancho San Diego)—Cuyamaca College hosts its 5th annual Coyote Music Festival from 12-5 p.m. on May 4, featuring nine bands/solo artists on two stages showcasing their original music compositions.
Performers will take stage on the grand lawn on campus at 900 Rancho San Diegio Parkway in El Cajon. Genres at this event, which has free admission, include acoustic, rock, and folk by these talented home-grown songwriters.
The music festival is produced by students in the Music Industry Seminar class. You’ll find plenty of shade and free parking. For details and directions, see: www.coyotemusicfest.com . Scroll down to see the complete line-up.
April 29, 2013 (Santee)- Recently, a Coffee Corner benefit was held for Dylan Pourner, a kindergarten boy with brain cancer, in Santee. Organizers and students who helped out wore bracelets that said, “We Love Dylan…The greatest of these is love,” and “We Love Dylan” t-shirt. A concert was also held. Now, local schools are pitching in to help raise funds to help Dylan and his family.
ECM interviewed Gina Milton, one of the organizers. She told us that Dylan has a glioma, a non-operable mass. “He lost control of his hands and he can’t stand. The tumor is on the brain stem. It keeps growing and putting pressure on his brain.” But there is hope; he started a new treatment a few weeks ago and is expected to be getting it for eight weeks.
April 29, 2013 (La Mesa) – The La Mesa Rotary will host Sweet Retreat on May 4th to benefit Volunteers in Medicine and other East County non-profit organizations at the Visitor and Interpretive Center at Mission Trails Regional Park, 1 Father Junipero Serra Trail, San Diego. The event featuring gourmet desserts, appetizers, wine and beer will be from 7:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. and include a silent auction.
April 29, 2013 (El Cajon) – ACES Foundation El Cajon Animal Shelter will be auctioning Barkitecture Animal Houses to raise money for the ACES Foundation. The event will be May 19, from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. at O’s American Bistro, #75 Parkway Plaza, El Cajon.
Tickets are $25 and include an auction number, appetizers, and wine or beer. Tickets can be purchased online at www.acesfoundation.org or at the door.
April 30 (Tuesday – 9:30 am) — California Gold – Bradbury & Other California Writers. Grossmont Community College - Griffin Hall, 8800 Grossmont College Drive, El Cajon.
April 29, 2013 (El Cajon) –Heartland Swim Association has opened registration for its popular Summer League program which will be held at 10 locations beginning June 24. A special incentive is being offered for paid registrations received by May 17.
Heartland Summer League is designed for swimmers of all abilities from the ages of 6 to 18. Practices are held three days a week with competitive swim meets held on weekends in July. The Summer League culminates in an All-Team Championship Meet at El Cajon Valley High School on August 2 & 3.
April 28, 2013 (El Cajon)- This past Tuesday, Michael Griffiths from the El Cajon Public Works Department gave a PowerPoint presentation to El Cajon City Council about the pavement maintenance program underway since 2006 and set for completion in 2014. City Manager Doug Williford stated that this program affects businesses and residents.
Before Griffiths began, he acknowledged junior engineer Katie Odiorne, who put the PowerPoint slides together. First, he presented a scale of old to new street pavings from 1-100.
“Facebook doesn’t create relationships. When I was younger, I remember posting something on Facebook, a bad word. My uncle called me and told me it was dumb. If you have a million followers or a lot of friends, those are not your friends honestly.”- a 22-year-old girl
April 28, 2013 (El Cajon)- April 16 was the 18th annual youth-led event by STAAND (Students Together Against Alcohol And Drugs), a critical teen issues forum addressing common problems prevalent in East County teens. Among those are bullying, suicide, alcohol, drugs, and safety (cyber bullying, cyber dating).
STAAND is a part of Communities Against Substance Abuse. The group has this forum because adjusting to high school can be challenging for all students, but East County has experienced a huge influx of immigrant families and up to 50 languages are spoken among families in local school districts. More of these families live in poverty than ever before. This affects teens greatly.
April 28, 2013 (San Diego’s East County) -- My friend, David Hart, and myself went on a long and strenuous six-hour but fun hike of all five peaks at Mission Trails Regional Park on Wednesday. We enjoyed seeing many of nature’s wild life. Mule Deer, Red Diamondback Rattlesnake (always be aware of rattlesnakes this time of year), a Gopher Snake, (the gopher snake I befriended and then let him back on his way), and even a Jerusalem Cricket.
MWD must show whether its rates are tied to the cost of its services
May 2, 2013 (San Diego’s East County) – A San Francisco Superior Court judge on Wednesday, April 24 ordered the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California to produce information no later than May 10 that shows how it allocates its costs to rates or admit it does not have any evidence to support its current allocation of its costs to its rates. The order followed a Tuesday hearing on the Water Authority’s motion to compel MWD to answer discovery and granted the Water Authority’s motion in its entirety. Before the Court’s ruling, MWD had refused to respond to requests by the San Diego County Water Authority asking MWD to show what evidence it has to support its claims that its rates reflect its cost of providing its services.
April 29, 2013 (San Diego’s East County) – Two lost hikers are safe following an all-night search and rescue effort.
The hikers called the Sheriff’s Department on Saturday night to report that they were lost on the west side of Cuyamaca Peak, trapped in thick brush without any food or water . Due to low clouds and fog, helicopters could not fly in the rugged terrain.
Deputies from the Julian Sheriff's Station requested assistance from the Sheriff's Search and Rescue Team. Search teams responded to the Paso Picacho Campground in the Cuyamaca Rancho State Park area Saturday at around midnight to search for the lost hikers.
Update: The fire off 125 reached 20 acres and is now contained.
April 28, 2013 – A brush fire that began along State Route 125 in the vicinity of Magdalena and Birch Streets is now two acres. Helicopters are battling the blaze. Access is difficult for hose-lays. The blaze is in a canyon near Olympian High School. State Route 125 has been closed in both directions.
In Otay, a small fire has also been reported near the George Bailey Detention Center.
April 28, 2013 (El Cajon ) – A brown Ford car has crashed into a power pole on Jamacha Road at Kendrick in the Granite Hills area. Power lines are down. An outage is affecting 1217 homes in the Granite Hills, Bostonia, Singing Hills and East El Cajon areas, according to the SDG&E website.
“The driver was not injured,” said Paul Kruze, an ECM photojournalist at the scene. “Heartland Fire is on scene due to the risk of fire.”
April 28, 2013 (La Mesa) -- Responding to a report of a fight last night in the 5900 block of Severin Drive, La Mesa Police officers arrived and found that the fight was actually an altercation between liquor store employees and suspects who reportedly stole alcohol. The employees chased the four suspects, two men and two women, out of the store and a fight ensued.
Both employees were hit in the face by the two male suspects and sustained bruising, but refused medical attention. The loss was a bottle of alcohol.
San Diego’s only exotic animal rescue facility celebrates 10 years of saving lives
April 18, 2013 (Alpine) – Lions, Tigers & Bears (LTB), the Alpine non-profit exotic animal sanctuary celebrating 10 years of saving lives this year, is hosting its annual Wild in the Country Gala on May 4, 2013 from 2:00 – 6:00 p.m. The event, open to the public, will feature a silent and live auction; live entertainment; catered food; a live music performance by Lisa Sanders; visits with the big cats, bears and animals in Animal Encounters and fun for the whole family.
May 1, 2013 (San Diego’s East County) – One of the workshops I am asked to present most often is "Developing Your 30-Second Commercial." Anyone who has ever attended a networking event knows that a concise, effective 30-second commercial (AKA elevator pitch) is critical. The hard part is putting one together that is concise, effective and doesn't sound like a scripted speech.
March 26, 2013 (Jacumba) – From wildflowers to waterfalls, the Jacumba Hikers have announced a variety of unique hiking destinations for their outings this spring. Scroll down for a list of hikes and descriptions of hikes set for April and May.
To view flyer with details, including difficulty/accessibility of hikes, click here.
Pollution of earth and water is driving indigenous peoples from their homelands
By Miriam Raftery
April 27, 2013 (San Diego)--Around the world, including here in the U.S., native people are losing lands they have occupied for countless generations. The earth and water that sustained life in their communities is being destroyed –once-mighty rivers and wetlands reduced to barren, parched or even contaminated land. The story is the same from tribes along the Colorado River to those deep in the Amazon, from the deserts of Southern California to the jungles of Mexico, from the coal fields of Appalachia to the copper mining pits of Arizona to indigenous people’s lands in Canada threatened by the Keystone Pipeline.
The culprit? Growing demand for energy and water.
Now, native people are speaking out. They hope to educate the public to conserve precious resources, sharing knowledge of the heart-breaking price being paid by people who have been given no choice—and whose very cultural identity centers around the lands and waters being lost.
May 1, 2013 (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 reflect all voices and views, we include links to a wide variety of news sources representing a broad spectrum of political, religious, and social views. Top world and U.S. headlines include:
By Janis Mork
April 29 (Monday - 7:00 pm) — Post World Book Night. Mysterious Galaxy Bookstore, 7051 Clairemont Mesa Blvd, San Diego.
San Diego’s only exotic animal rescue facility celebrates 10 years of saving lives
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