SDSU SWIM & DIVE EARNS 7 SCHOLAR/ALL-AMERICA HONORS

SAN DIEGO NAMED CANDIDATE HOST CITY FOR INVICTUS GAMES 2029

HEALTH AND SCIENCE HIGHLIGHTS

SUNCREST TRUCK TRAIL NOT A VIABLE OPTION FOR FIRE EVACUATION ROUTE IN CREST, ACCORDING TO FIRE OFFICIALS

STATE PARKS PHOTO CONTEST RUNNING THROUGH SEPT. 30

ADVANCING HEALTHY COMMUNITIES: INSIDE THE BINGE AND UNDERAGE DRINKING INITIATIVE’S 2025 ANNUAL STATUS REPORT FOR COUNTY

DEAF MONGOLIAN IMMIGRANT HELD BY ICE IN OTAY MESA FOR MONTHS WITHOUT ACCESS TO INTERPRETER

GROCERY WORKERS AT RALPHS, ALBERTSONS, VONS, AND PAVILIONS VOTE TO RATIFY NEW CONTRACTS

WALMART RECALLING OZARK STAINLESS STEEL WATER BOTTLES

LA MESA CITY COUNCIL APPROVES RENOVATIONS FOR GROSSMONT CENTER

SANDAG LOOKING FOR COMMUNITY INPUT; ZOOM MEETING ON JULY 16

LA MESA BECOMES FIRST LOCAL CITY CERTIFIED AS AGE-FRIENDLY EMPLOYER, HELPING JOB SEEKERS AGE 50 AND UP

WILDFLOWERS- JEWELS OF THE BACKCOUNTRY: JULIAN WOMAN’S CLUB PRESENTS 97TH ANNUAL WILDFLOWER SHOW

By Patricia Haley

April 23, 2023 (Julian) -- The Julian Woman’s Club will present The 96th Annual Wildflower Show at the Clubhouse of the Julian Women’s Club (2607 C Street Julian) on Friday May 5 and Saturday May 6, from 10 a.m.to 4 p.m. both days.

For two days, club members collect specimens from the over 850 plant species in the area surrounding Julian. The plant display ranges from desert cacti to high mountain dogwood gathered in a 15 mile radius from the historic old mining town of Julian. Permission to collect is obtained from private property owners.

Each year flowers vary depending on weather and rainfall. The display is always colorful and informative as plants are labeled and arranged by area of origin.

EAST COUNTY ROUNDUP: LOCAL AND STATEWIDE NEWS

April  23, 2023  (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:

LOCAL

STATE

For excerpts and links to full stories, click  “read more” and scroll down.

ECM WORLD WATCH: NATIONAL AND GLOBAL NEWS

CHIEFS CORNER: THE RAIN IS MOVING OUT AND SNAKES ARE COMING UP

By Fire Chief Sam DiGiovanna

April 23, 2023 (San Diego) -- Now that the rain is moving out, are you ready for some hiking, biking, golfing, or yardwork? Hold on before you head out and watch your step! You may be greeted with a surprise. Rattlesnakes are coming out and I’m not talking about those “special” people in your life personally or professionally that slither around ready to take a swipe at you!

Rattlesnakes are found in most U.S. states, but California is “blessed” with more than its fair share. Rattlesnake season in California starts in April, however they can start as early as March and runs through October.

SUPREME COURT RULES TO KEEP ABORTION DRUG AVAILABLE TEMPORARILY

By Daniela Torres

April 23, 2023 (San Diego) - Mifepristone, an abortion pill, will continue to remain available nationwide while a legal battle continues in court, after the Supreme Court issued a stay on a lower court ruling that would have banned the medication nationwide.  

VINTAGE ALPINE AT SUMMERS PAST FARMS BENEFITS CHILDREN

East County News Service

April 23, 2023 (Alpine) – You can taste up to 40 wines from 25 wineries, sip beers from a trio of local breweries, as well as savor foods from over 20 local restaurants at Vintage Alpine. The event will take place on May 7 from 1-4 p.m. at Summers Past Farms (15602 Olde Highway 80) in Flinn Springs, which is located between El Cajon and Alpine just off Interstate 8.

EL CAJON POLICE RELEASES VIDEO WITH TIPS TO SPOT SKIMMERS, AVOID ID THEFT

East County News Service

April 22, 2023 (El Cajon) – After ECM reported on EBT scams involving skimming devices,  El Cajon Police Department revealed that it’s recovered 12 skimmers from retailers in the city and released a video with tips for consumers to avoid ID theft wherever you slide a credit card or EBT card.

ECPD included this message: 

WILL SAN DIEGO'S OAN FOLLOW FOX NEWS' LEAD AND SETTLE? LEGAL FILINGS OFFER HINTS

By Ken Stone,Times of San Diego, a member of the San Diego Online News Association

Photo:  lawsuit singled out Mike Lindell for the most egregious falsehoods against Dominion Voting Systems. Image via court records

April 22, 2023 (San Diego) - Now that Fox News has settled with Dominion Voting Systems, what are the odds of the San Diego owners of One America News doing the same in a similar defamation case?

END OF AN ERA: “BACKCOUNTRY WARRIOR” DONNA TISDALE RETIRES AFTER FINAL BATTLE

By Miriam Raftery

April 22, 2023 (Boulevard) – For more than two decades,  Donna Tisdale has been a champion for residents in San Diego’s backcountry, leading battles against massive energy projects and a dump. She started a nonprofit, Backcountry Against Dumps and chaired the Boulevard Planning Group every year since joining it in 1991. She’s filed countless lawsuits against a seemingly endless array of Goliath-scale projects and organized community opposition after San Diego’s East County was declared an energy corridor by the federal government.

POTRERO MAN KILED IN HEAD-ON CRASH ON BUCKMAN SPRINGS ROAD

East County News Service
 
April 21, 2023 (Potrero) – A 62-year-old Potrero man died of injuries sustained in a two-vehicle crash that occurred on Buckman Springs Road north of Coral Canyon Trail in Pine Valley.
 
The victim was driving a Toyota pickup southbound on Buckman Springs Road with his wife in the passenger seat the afternoon of April 7 when another Toyota pickup lost control and crossed the center line, causing a head-on collision.

THIRD RAMONA AMBULANCE AND CREW ARE BUSY HELPING RESIDENTS

By Chuck Westerheide, County of San Diego Communications Office

Photo:  Medic 282 Paramedic Ambulance and Crew

April 21, 2023 (La Mesa) -- A new ambulance with its crew and services added by the San Diego County Fire Protection District and CAL FIRE is seeing a great deal of use. County Fire accepted the transfer of responsibility for fire protection and emergency medical services in Ramona last August. The change brought a third fire department paramedic ambulance and additional firefighter staffing enhancements to the Ramona service area. 

The new paramedic ambulance has been dispatched 315 times and has taken 148 patients to area hospitals. Assigned to Fire Station 82, on Dye Road, the paramedic ambulance has full-time staffing with two firefighter paramedics 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.  Due to residential and business development along with population growth, there have been steady increases in 911 emergencies.  

CAL FIRE LAUNCHES NEW ONLINE BURN PERMIT APPLICATION, STREAMLINING PROCESS FOR RESIDENTS, LANDOWNERS AND PRESCRIBED FIRE PRACTITIONERS

Source: Cal Fire

April 19, 2023 (Sacramento) – CAL FIRE has launched a new Online Burn Permit application platform that offers the public a user-friendly way to request a burn permit. Burn permits that are available on this platform include the following:

GRANTS EXPAND SOLAR ENERGY SYSTEMS IN TRIBAL COMMUNITIES

Applications accepted May 1 through May 31

East County News Service

April 19, 2023 (San Diego) -- The Tribal Solar Accelerator Fund: Tribal Facility and Residential Grant Program catalyzes the growth of solar energy and expands solar job opportunities in tribal communities across the United States. TSAF's Tribal Facility and Residential Grant Program provides grants of up to $200,000 for the purchase and installation of solar energy systems.

COUNTY TO CONDUCT FIRST MOSQUITO-FIGHTING LARVICIDE DROP OF 2023 NEXT WEEK

By Gig Conaughton, County of San Diego Communications Office

April 19, 2023 (San Diego) - San Diego County is scheduled to conduct its first routine aerial larvicide drop of the year next week on up to 51 local waterways to help stop mosquitoes from potentially spreading diseases like West Nile virus.

EL CAJON REVOKES PERMIT FOR MOTEL WHERE ALLEGED SEXUAL ASSAULT OCCURRED

By Miriam Raftery

April 19, 2023 (El Cajon) — El Cajon’s planning commissioners have voted unanimously to revoke the approved status of the Motel 6 on Montrose Court after two registered sex offenders were arrested for alleged sexual assault of an under-age girl. 

GROUPS CALL FOR EXPANDING POWER OUTAGE BATTERY-BACKUP PROGRAM

When the power grid fails, it’s an inconvenience for most people, but a matter of life and death for disabled California residents who depend on medical devices that need to be plugged in.

By Jennifer McLelland for Yes! Magazine (via California News Service for the Solutions Journalism Network-Public News Service Collaboration)

April 18, 2023 (Sacramento) -- Our house lost power a few nights ago, during one of 2023’s record-setting storms. For most people, losing power is a minor inconvenience. For our family, losing power is a medical emergency.

MAN DIES OF FLESH-EATING BACTERIA FROM POND IN JULIAN

East County News Service

Photo courtesy of ECM news partner NBC 7

April 18, 2023 (Julian) - An El Cajon handyman who waded into a pond left by rainwater in Julian to retrieve his dog contracted a rare flesh-eating bacteria.

MAN ARRESTED IN EL CAJON DIES IN VISTA DETENTION FACILITY

By Miriam Raftery

April 18, 2023 (El Cajon) — Eddie Faulkner, 53, was arrested by El Cajon Police on November 7th last year on charges of failing to register as a sex offender and parole revocation. Last night, he died in the Vista Detention Facility.

ASSEMBLYMEMBER WEBER TO SPEAK AT SPRING VALLEY DAY COMMUNITY CELEBRATION APRIL 29

Family friendly event brings together residents, businesses, and local services

 

East County News Service

 

April 17, 2023 (Spring Valley) — You’re invited to join a community celebration at Spring Valley Day in front of Bancroft Elementary School on April 29 from 10a.m. to 3 p.m.  Spring Valley Day is a free, street-fair style event that will feature merchants, arts and crafts, food, live entertainment, Cars and Community car show, free pony rides, free kids’ zone, first responder displays, and multiple San Diego County services.

 

HORSE RESCUED AFTER 100-FOOT FALL IN JAMUL

East County News Service

Photos courtesy of San Diego Humane Society

April 17, 2023 Jamul)-- An 8 year-old horse named Dobby is safe this afternoon, after falling 100 ft off a trail in Jamul Sunday. San Diego Humane Society’s Emergency Response Team (ERT) was called to assist Cal Fire and the San Diego County Department of Animal Services (DAS) near Honey Springs Ranch Truck trail yesterday afternoon.

“Eight members of our ERT hiked 4-5 miles down to reach the horse, who was standing on an incline,” says Nina Thompson,  San Diego Humane Society’s Director of Public Relations. “They got him across a stream, to get him on flat ground. At approximately 1 a.m., they returned a second time to provide food, water and a blanket, to keep him as comfortable as possible overnight.”

RACE TO SAVE NATIVE HORSES GROWS MORE CRITICAL

By Miriam Raftery

Photo:  Kupa, one of the last dozen descendants of San Diego's heritage herd, has died of a rattlesnake bite. His owner is asking the County to protect  the remaining herd descedants under the County's MultipleSpecies Conservation Plan.

April 17, 2023 (San Diego’s East County) – Kupa, one of only a dozen descendants of San Diego’s heritage herd of wild horses, has died. Kathleen Hayden made the announcement “with a breaking heart” on Facebook yesterday, stating that “during the night, our four-year-old Coyote Canyon stallion, Kupa, was bitten in his eye by a rattlesnake and died.”

Hayden is cofounder of Coyote Canyon Caballos d’Anza, a nonprofit in Santa Ysabel.  For years, she and her foundation have been fighting to gain protection for the heritage herd. The federal government has long refused to recognize horses as native species worthy of protection, believing they were brought here by European explorers.

But on March 23, 2023, Science published a report by 84 researchers who concluded that horses evolved first in North America and later crossed a land bridge over the Bering Strait to Eurasia. There are ancient fossils found in the Anza Borrego desert and Carlsbad  predating the early Spanish and English explorers to bolster that claim, as well as references to Native American horses in writings of Sir Francis Drake in 1580.

Those findings have reignited the urgent call to save wild horses and try to repopulate San Diego’s heritage herd on public lands, before it is too late.

HOSPITALS ARE DUMPING HOMELESS SENIORS WITH SERIOUS MEDICAL CONDITIONS, ADVOCATES FOR HOMELESS REPORT

Advocates describe "crisis," call for state, county and city of San Diego to take action

By Miriam Raftery

Hear our interview aired on KNSJ

April 16, 2023 (San Diego) – Last year, hospitals in San Diego County discharged over 500 vulnerable patients onto the streets late at night in violation of state law, according to Amnie Zamudio and Joanne Standlee, co-founders of Housing 4 The Homeless (H4H).  In an interview with ECM, they described dumping of homeless or indigent patients, many wearing only hospital gowns and booties. Those discharged after midnight included seniors with dementia,  people in wheelchairs,  patients with catheters, and an elderly man with a broken hip. 

Audio: 

GREGORY PAGE AND PETER BOLLAND IN CONCERT AT OASIS MAY 19

East County News Service

April 16, 2023 (La Mesa) – Renowned singer-songwriter Gregory Page is taking time out from his international tour to perform at San Diego Oasis in Grossmont Center, La Mesa with his haunting and illuminating songs. Opening the show will be local singer-songwriter Peter Boland. 

CALIFORNIA CITIES BEGIN CLEARING THEIR HOMELESS CAMPS AS STATE-LEVEL EFFORTS LAG

By Marisa Kendall, CalMatters

CalMatters is a public interest journalism venture committed to explaining how California’s state Capitol works and why it matters 

Photo:  notice of cleanup and property removal. Photo via @HomelessnessSD Twitter

April 16, 2023 (San Diego) - Technically, the encampment of about a dozen tents at W Street and Alhambra Boulevard in Sacramento is illegal. 

The tents, tarps and associated debris — clothing, a discarded crib, boxes of rotting food — are blocking the sidewalk in violation of a new city ordinance. Located on a major thoroughfare and across the street from a neighborhood of houses, the camp is one of the most complained about in the city, said Hezekiah Allen with Sacramento’s Department of Community Response. 

CITY OF LA MESA HIRES NEW ASSISTANT CITY MANAGER AMANDA LEE

Source:  City of La Mesa

April 15, 2023 (La Mesa) - After an extensive recruitment process, Amanda Lee has been chosen for the Assistant City Manager position for the City of La Mesa. Ms. Lee comes to La Mesa after ten years at the City of Vista, California where she was the Assistant City Manager for the past two years. As Assistant City Manager at Vista, Ms. Lee provided direct supervision over Homelessness and Housing, Communications, Code Enforcement, Climate Action Plan implementation, Grants and Governmental Relations, and administrative support staff. Ms. Lee has been serving as the Acting City Manager at Vista for the past six months where she was responsible for leading the City’s Department Directors and Management Team.

SHERIFF WARNS CONSUMERS TO BEWARE OF GIFT CARD SCAM AFTER LOCAL ARREST

By Miriam Raftery

April 15, 2023 (San Diego) – The San Diego County Sheriff’s department is warning the public about thieves stealing barcodes off gift cards in stores countywide. Consumers who buy the cards soon discover that the cards have no value, after thieves went on shopping sprees.

DUNCAN HUNTER BLAMED IN FRIENDLY FIRE INCIDENT THAT KILLED TWO MARINES IN FALLUJAH

By Ken Stone,Times of San Diego, a member of the San Diego Online News Association

Photo:  Duncan D. Hunter shakes hand with his father, former Rep. Duncan L. Hunter, at start of Ramona forum in May 2019. Photo by Ken Stone

April 15, 2023 (San Diego) - A disturbing report from National Public Radio on Thursday said former Rep. Duncan Duane Hunter, when he fought in Fallujah, was partly to blame for a friendly fire incident that killed two fellow Marines and an Iraqi interpreter.

BASKETBALL STAR ARRESTED FOR FIRING AT CAR IN JAMUL AFTER ARGUMENT

Update April 15, 2023:  The suspect, Mikey WIlliams, has been described as one of the nation's top prep high school players, the San Diego Union-Tribune reports. Williams "maintains his innocence," according to his attorney.

East County News Service

Photo: Fox Life Visuals, CC-SA-4.0 via Wikipedia

April 14, 2023 (Jamul)--Deputies with the San Diego County Sheriff's Department are investigating a shooting in Jamul on Monday, March 27 at a house in the 2600 block of Bratton Valley Road just before midnight. According to Lieutenant Jeff Ford, there was a verbal argument over guests being asked to leave the home.

“Five people got into a car and as they were driving away, shots were fired. The car was hit, but no one was hurt,” Lt. Ford says, adding that three of the passengers in the vehicle were minors.

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