March 11, 2012 (San Diego)--What can be done to gain an opt-out from smart meters here in San Diego and Orange Counties? The CPUC is dragging its heels in "granting permission" for one in our region. They may do so by June, our attorney learned recently. That is not good enough. It is not set and it is not definite. Why? Well, for one thing, few people in our county know about the smart meter problem due to lack of media coverage and no activism that is newsworthy here such as protests; even fewer have taken steps to show the CPUC we want an opt-out.
March 10, 2012 (San Diego) – Mission Trails Regional Park’s concert series will feature the Murray Hills Strings on Sunday, March 18 at 3 p.m. (Musicians include violinists Lee Wolfe and Marilyn Thomas, Janet Mathews on viola, Willis Frisch on cello, and Don Mathews, string bass.)
March 11, 2012 La Mesa) -- On February 18, hundreds gathered to participate in La Mesa's Century of Smiles in honor of the City's Centennial. The Aerial "100" photo and merchandise are available for purchase at the following link:
March 11, 2012 (Jamul) – The water saving garden at Jamul Primary School sports a new information board thanks to a generous grant from the Metropolitan Water District. The sign is part of an ambitious outdoor learning project, which demonstrates and promotes sustainable gardening practices in arid East San Diego County. The garden is a project of ARCHES, a local non-profit corporation.
March 11, 2012 (Lakeside) – Jan Owens sent in this photo of her “accidental bird food” – a golden-hued sunflower that sprouted from a seed in the front yard of her Lakeside home.
March 11, 2012 (San Diego County) -- Don't push your luck on St. Patrick's Day, give your keys to a designated driver before partying. A DUI/Driver License checkpoint is scheduled in Encinitas on March 16th between 6:00 p.m. and 2:00 a.m. the next day. The County's Avoid the 14 DUI Task Force will also be conducting DUI patrols on St. Patrick's Day, March 17th. Last year during the St. Patrick's Day period, three people were killed and 96 others were seriously injured in DUI related crashes in California. Remember, Buzzed Driving is Drunk Driving. Report drunk drivers, call 911.
March 11, 2012 (Julian) -- Jeremy’s on the Hill and Manzanita Brewery are teaming up and celebrating St. Patrick’s Day with a three-course beer pairing on Tuesday, March 20th at 6:15pm.
“We are going to have specials on St. Patrick’s Day and all weekend long, and wanted to extend the celebration to Tuesday by offering 3 great beers from Manzanita Brewery and 3 special courses for just $28!” said Chef Jeremy.
March 11, 2012 (San Diego) -- It is science fair time again in San Diego. Tuesday, March 20 through Sunday, March 25 will be the time when more than 850 students throughout San Diego and Imperial counties will present their scientific research ranging in areas from Astronomy to Zoology at the Greater San Diego Science and Engineering Fair. These 7-12 grade student participants, representing over 100 schools, will bring their work to the GSDSEF to be judged by professionals in their fields. They will be competing for 1st through 4th place awards, scholarships, trips, sweepstakes and professional society awards.
March 11, 2012 (El Cajon) – The Grossmont Union High School District will be dedicating three new pools throughout the district this spring thanks in part to funding provided by Proposition U.
The Granite Hills High School Aquatics Facility will be the first to be dedicated on March 27 from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. with the official ribbon cutting at 4:30 p.m.The special guest will be Supervisor Dianne Jacob.
March 13, 2011 (San Diego) – Everyone has the time of their lives in Project X, a comedy movie, party movie, found footage movie, and disaster film all rolled into one. I’m happy that they had fun because I didn’t. I felt like a teenager forced by his parents to attend a social gathering with people he doesn’t know and can’t relate to.
March 11, 2012 (Sacramento) - Attorney General Kamala D. Harris, Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg and Assembly Speaker John A. Perez have announced their sponsorship of six bills known collectively as the California Homeowner Bill of Rights.
The bills aim to protect homeowners from unfair practices by banks and mortgage companies and to help consumers and communities cope with the state's urgent mortgage and foreclosure crisis. The bill could bring relief to homeowners statewide include San Diego County, where one in 27 homeowners has faced foreclosure.
By David Grant DW Grant, an award-winning author who now lives in Las Vegas, sent us this recollection of President John F. Kennedy’s visit to San Diego in 1963. You can visit Grant’s website at www.dwbooks.yolasite.com.
March 10, 2012 (San Diego) -- During the blossoming optimism of the early 1960s the president of the United States of America came to my home town, San Diego, and paraded down my street, El Cajon Blvd.. On that great day my best friend’s name was Johnny Kennedy, I found myself enraptured by my second grade teacher’s clavicle, and someone stole my bicycle.
March 9, 2012 (SAN ONOFRE) – Activists from San Diego to Eureka will converge at the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS,) just south of San Clemente, on the first anniversary of the devastating Fukushima disaster, March 11, 2012. The peaceful protest will occur a short walk from San Onofre State Beach about 1/8 mile south of the SONGS facility.
March 10, 2012 (San Diego’s East County) – With two new wind farms proposed for our region and another already in operation, evaluating potential health impacts is important.
A survey was conducted on wind farm noise as part of a Master’s dissertation by Zhenhua Wang, a graduate student in Geography, Environment and Population at the University of Adelaide, Australia. The results show that 70% of respondents living up to 5 kilometers away report being negatively affected by wind turbine noise, with more than 50% of them "very or moderately negatively affected". This is considerably higher than what was found in previous studies conducted in Europe.
“A City is Born: The Incorporation of La Mesa” With James D. Newland
March 10, 2012 (La Mesa) – The La Mesa Historical Society continues its popular History Roundtable Series for the City’s Centennial year with a presentation on the efforts to establish the City of La Mesa one hundred years ago on Saturday, March 17, 2012 at 10 a.m. The presentation will take place at the Grossmont Heathcare District Auditorium, 9001 Wakarusa Drive, La Mesa 91942 (Next to Briercrest Park).
Senior Resource GroupLaunch InTouch At Home: Rancho San Diego group to bring Service to Seniors’ Homes
March 10, 2012 (Rancho San Diego) -- The principals of Senior Resource Group (SRG), who have achieved national prominence for their senior living communities, have launched InTouch at Home, to bring SRG’s superior level of service to seniors who choose to age in place in their homes, according to Michael Grust, president and CEO of SRG.
March 10, 2012 (Lakeside)--Join the Lakeside Union School District and the Lakeside PTA Council for the 14th annual Run for the Arts on Saturday, March 24, 2012 at Lindo Lake Park.
Registration begins at 8 a.m.and the run/walk starts at 9:00 a.m. All proceeds will benefit the award winning L-E-A-P arts education program in Lakeside District schools that provides artists-in-residence programs, field trips to view artistic performances and arts assemblies.
March 13, 2012 (San Diego) – This year I (quietly) introduced a rating system. In short, the highest rating a movie can get is an A, a D- is the lowest rating a movie can get on the basis of being bad, and an F given to films that are not only unbearably bad, but immoral, base, incompetently shot, and beneath contempt.
March 10, 2012 (San Diego’s East County) –Wind power produces electricity from a renewable resource without generating greenhouse gas emissions. But wind turbines also generate controversies over bird kills, health impacts, visual blight, maintenance costs and who takes responsibility if turbines are damaged or abandoned.
March 13, 2012 (La Mesa)—Okay-- maybe a hokey title, but I hope it makes my point - which is that our society seems to be uncritically enamored with all things declared to be green.
March 10, 2012 (Alpine) -- The Alpine Sheriff’s Station at 2751 Alpine Boulevard will be hosting a station tour as well as an opportunity to learn about bullying, bike safety, personal safety and much more.There will also be a K-9 Unit demonstration.
March 10, 2012 (San Diego) – In recognition of her leadership on animal protection issues and for receiving a perfect score on the 2011 Humane Scorecard, Congresswoman Susan Davis (D-San Diego) was named a Humane Advocate by the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) and the Humane Society Legislative Fund (HSLF).
March 9, 2012 (La Mesa) –A La Mesa Middle School student was arrested yesterday at his home in the unincorporated area of La Mesa for making criminal death threats against the school. Detectives are also investigating possible bullying and harssing conduct reportedly made against the suspect.
March 9, 2012 (Lakeside) – Most every day I like to drive down El Monte Rd in Lakeside. It reminds me of how it used to be in the old days with wide open fields, some farming and the best part is all the wildlife in the area--golden eagles, hawks and falcons, wild turkeys, deer and every once in a while a mountain lion or a bobcat.
March 9, 2012 (Rancho Penasquitos)-- San Diego Police Department Robbery Unit detectives are investigating two similar commercial robberies committed by a masked suspect in Rancho Penasquitos.
Surveillance video captured the same female entering the business, just prior to the suspect’s entry, in both cases.
Partnership with Privacy Commissioner of Ontario, Canada, will bring Privacy by Design best practices to customer offerings
March 9, 2012 (San Diego) – San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E) and the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario, Canada, has released a joint paper to document the incorporation of Privacy by Design into SDG&E’s smart grid initiative.
According to an SDG&E press release, this partnership is the first of its kind in the United States, and emphasizes the “commitment of the company in designing, building and operating a secure, reliable and trustworthy smart grid that safeguards customer privacy” from the start.
March 9, 2012 (El Cajon) -- How do students save on the expense of prom? By attending the 2012 Fashion Show and Prom/Grad Expo on Friday, March 16, 2012 from 6:00 to 9:00 p.m. at the Valhalla High School theatre. This event is sponsored by the Valhalla High School Cheer Program. All students, parents, and the Grossmont High School community are invited to attend.
March 9, 2012 -- State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson has applauded efforts by the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights (OCR) to shed light on the problem of excessive use of suspension and expulsion of students as a disciplinary tool in the nation’s schools.
March 9, 2012 (El Cajon) -- The El Cajon Animal Shelter has sent out a request through its new Facebook page to fill a need of rubber backed bath mats for the outdoor dog runs. The dog runs are floor heated but the dogs need some padding.
“If everyone brought in one mat that could go a long way in satisfying their need,” says Peggy Buffo. Sizes needed are 2 x 3 feet or 3 x 4 feet.
March 11, 2012 (Jamul) – The water saving garden at Jamul Primary School sports a new information board thanks to a generous grant from the Metropolitan Water District. The sign is part of an ambitious outdoor learning project, which demonstrates and promotes sustainable gardening practices in arid East San Diego County. The garden is a project of ARCHES, a local non-profit corporation.
March 11, 2012 (El Cajon) – The Grossmont Union High School District will be dedicating three new pools throughout the district this spring thanks in part to funding provided by Proposition U.
By Brian Lafferty
March 11, 2012 (Sacramento) - Attorney General Kamala D. Harris, Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg and Assembly Speaker John A. Perez have announced their sponsorship of six bills known collectively as the California Homeowner Bill of Rights. 
By David Grant
March 10, 2012 (Lakeside)--Join the Lakeside Union School District and the Lakeside PTA Council for the 14th annual 
By Brian Lafferty
March 10, 2012 (La Mesa) -- March means mud in the hills of La Mesa, especially on March 24, 2012 for the San Diego Mud Run spring edition. 
March 10, 2012 (Alpine) -- The Alpine Sheriff’s Station at 2751 Alpine Boulevard will be hosting a station tour as well as an opportunity to learn about bullying, bike safety, personal safety and much more.
By Billy Ortiz 
March 9, 2012 (Rancho Penasquitos)-- San Diego Police Department Robbery Unit detectives are investigating two similar commercial robberies committed by a masked suspect in Rancho Penasquitos.
Partnership with Privacy Commissioner of Ontario, Canada, 
Recent comments