Story and Photos By: Josh Stotler

Photo, left:  A San Diego Helitack crew heads into the smoke to clear crush as the Proctor fire burns in the background.

June 24, 2023 (Jamul)-- Crews from CAL FIRE and Inmate fire crews are still on the scene at the #ProctorFire this evening, mopping up and dousing hot spots. All   road closures and evacuation orders have been lifted.

The  brush fire was reported off Proctor Valley Road around 5:23 pm. Units were dispatched to the scene and reported the blaze burning in medium vegetation with a medium rate of spread. Due to vegetation drying out and homes in the area, the fire was upgraded; more air and ground units were called in.

East County Wildfire & Emergency Alerts

Photo by Henri Migala

June 24, 2023  (Jamul) – A brush fired dubbed the #ProctorFire is burning along Proctor Valley Road near Jamul.  CalFire reported at 5:37 that a vehicle fire at 12998 Proctor Valley Rd. spread into the brush, had charred a half acre and was burning at a moderate rate of spread.

Since then, scanner traffic indicates a structure threat and that the fire has reached five acres.

By Patricia Daly-Lipe

Review by Pennel Paugh

June 24, 2023 (San Diego) -- With a brief biography, author Patricia Daly-Lipe and her husband put together a lovely collection of notes, drawings, and paintings they inherited from Steele’s mother, Georgeanna Lipe. The talented artist lived from 1909 – 2012.

Georgeanna Lipe’s watercolors in How She Did It include areas in San Diego and Europe. Her style is delightful. This review includes examples of her paintings.

East County News Service

June 24, 2023 (Spring Valley) – California Highway Patrol is searching for the drivers of a red SUV and a silver sedan which each struck a 50-year-old woman in Spring Valley shortly before 10 p.m. on June 22, then fled the scene.

The woman was walking northbound on Jamacha Blvd. east of Lamplighter Village Drive when she was hit by the red  SUV, which was traveling west on Jamacha.  The impact knocked the victim to the ground. While she was lying on the roadway, she was struck a second time by the silver sedan.

The woman sustained major injuries and died at the scene.

“Both vehicles were last seen fleeing the scene, westbound on Jamacha Blvd.,” says Officer Matthew Baranowski with the California Highway Patrol. 

East County News Service

June 23, 2022 (El Cajon)—The couple found dead yesterday morning by their daughter in the family’s home have been identified as Eric and Denise Helen Orpinela. According to the Sheriff’s Department, Eric Orpinela shot and killed his wife, then committed suicide.

The couple had three young children. The oldest, who found the couple in their residence on East Bradley Ave. in ElCajon, is 14.

East County News Service

June 23, 2023 (Boulevard) -- A woman has been arrested on suspicion of shooting her daughter in Boulevard. 

Shortly before 10 a.m.,  deputies from the Sheriff's Rural Command responded to a call about a 22-year-old woman with a gunshot wound who came to a fire station on Church Road.

Deputies learned that the victim and her mother, Andrea Najera, had gotten into an argument earlier that morning inside their home near the fire station.

East County News Service

Photo courtesy of 10  News, an ECM news partner

June 23, 2022 (El Cajon) – The San Diego Sheriff’s homicide unit is investigating the deaths of a man and woman found dead in their home in the 200 block of East Bradley Ave. in El Cajon yesterday morning.

According to Lieutenant Joseph Jarjura, “Both victims appeared to have head trauma.”

ECM news partner 10 News reports that the couple was found by their daughter, a minor, around 9:47 a.m.

Watch full video

June 22, 2023 (El Cajon) – Last Tuesday, staff and parents with opposing views came to the Cajon Valley School Board meeting to be heard. With well over 200 people in attendance the Cajon Valley boardroom was overflowing with outrage and passion. LGBTQ  rights were at the forefront of the debate.

By Miriam Raftery

June 22, 2023 (El Cajon )  -- A man who swung a sword at neighbors and threatened violence prompted a SWAT team to respond today ending in his arrest 

Around 8 a.m., El Cajon Police began receiving calls reporting a man swinging a large sword at people in the parking lot of 1018 East Lexington.

“The man with the sword went back inside an apartment, and then returned to the parking lot making threats to shoot people, while simulating a gun in his waistband,” says Lieutenant Jeremiah Larson, adding that no gun was seen by any of the victims or witnesses.

June 22, 2023 (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:

U.S.

General news

• Supreme Court rules against Navajo Nation in water supply case (CNN)
• Justice Samuel Alito Took Luxury Fishing Vacation With GOP Billionaire Who Later Had Cases Before the Court (Pro Publica)
• Missing Titanic sub crew believed to be dead after 'catastrophic implosion' (CNN)
• Supreme Court strikes down Alabama congressional map in voting rights dispute(NBC)
• Lab-grown chicken can now be grown in the U.S. (Time)

Political news

• House votes along party lines to censure Rep. Adam Schiff  (NPR)
• Texas Democrat unveils bipartisan immigration plan with path to citizenship, border security spending (Texas Tribune)
• Trump vows to stay in the race even if convicted (Politico)
• Trump’s Former Defense Secretary Believes He Is a Threat to National Security (Rolling Stone)
• Trump lacked power to declassify secret nuclear arms document, experts say  (MSN)
• Senate GOP leaders break with House on Trump indictment (The Hill)
• The GOP ‘bribery’ allegations against Biden remain transparently thin (Washington Post)

WORLD

• Climate Crisis Is on Track to Push One-Third of Humanity Out of Its Most Livable Environment   (Pro Publica)
• Russia had means, motive and opportunity to destroy Ukraine dam, drone photos and information show  (AP)
• Russia rejects U.N. help as death toll from breached Kakhovka dam rises  (MSN)
• Mexico president's ruling party rolls to win in country's most populous state (AP)
• ‘Miracle, miracle’: lone children survive 40 days in Amazon jungle (Guardian)
• Boris Johnson Resigns From Parliament (New York Times)
• Mexico's president states willingness to negotiate peace deals with cartels  (NPR)
• Biden calls for immediate repeal of Uganda’s anti-gay law (Politico)
• Hundreds of scientists protest the Indian government's changes made to textbooks  (NPR)
• Brazil's Bolsonaro faces trial over voting claims that could bar him from office  (NPR)
• Chinese ex-official's wife says alleged repatriation pressure turned her life in US 'upside-down'  (AP)
• How US-made sniper ammunition ends up in Russian rifles (Politico)

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

June 22, 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

• Cal Fire seeks $675K in lawsuit against family over 2020 Skyline Fire (10  News)
• The US Plant Treating Tijuana’s Sewage Is Busted (Voice of San Diego)
• Qualcomm to lay off hundreds of workers at its San Diego headquarters  (KPBS)
• San Diego Sheriff agrees to reforms to improve jail conditions for disabled people in custody (San Diego Union-Tribune).
• One dead, one injured in shooting at Liberty Station Juneteenth event (San Diego Union-Tribune)
• Feds Grant $26 Million to Find Storage Sites for Nuclear Waste from San Onofre, Other Plants (Times of San Diego)  
• As Salton Sea Shrinks, Potential for Earthquakes Reduced, New Study Finds  (Times of San Diego)

STATE 

• Report paints new picture of homelessness in California (ABC News)
• Hackers steal social security numbers, birth dates and more on 769,000 CalPERS retirees (Cal Matters)
• California is getting a new Assembly Speaker. Is he an unlikely leader or a calculating one? (Sacramento Bee)
• She lost her home. She doesn’t want to lose her city council seat (Cal Matters)
• Ex-firefighter suspected of igniting devastating fire near Yosemite, could face life term (Los Angeles Times)

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

June 22, 2023 (San Diego's East County) -- Our Health and Science Highlights provide cutting edge news that could impact your health and our future.

HEALTH

• CDC advisers vote to recommend first RSV vaccines for seniors (CBS)
• Kaiser employees call for halt of surgeries at Zion hospital citing ‘contaminants’ in surgical trays (San Diego Union-Tribune)
• Peru is reeling from record-breaking outbreak of dengue fever (NPR)
• 1 year since Roe v. Wade was overturned: Abortion in the US told in graphics (ABC News)

SCIENCE AND TECH

• Bird Populations Are in Meltdown (Wired)
• Millions of Americans’ personal data exposed in global hack (CNN)
• DNA sucked into air filters can reveal what plants and animals are nearby (AP)

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

By Miriam Raftery

June 21, 2023 (San Diego’s East County) – Two drownings, one fatal, two days apart in Lakeside prompted East County Magazine to dive into the circumstances and the victims’ lives. Our coverage has resulted in two awards from the Society of  Professional Journalists presented at last night’s awards ceremony.

Shiloh Ireland’s article, Who was Thomas Moreno? received first place in the daily reporting profile category. The piece profiled a man whose body was found in a Lakeside pond, his hope to reunite with his adult children after prison, and suspicious circumstances surrounding his death.

A shocking video provided by a community member, Angel New, led to our article, Heroic bystander and deputies save drowning woman in Lindo Lake. Miriam Raftery and Shiloh Ireland shared SPJ’s third place award for breaking news in the daily reporting category.  The article documented a shocking delay by deputies to take action while a homeless woman was drowning in Lindo Lake. A bystander ultimately entered the water, and only then did law enforcement officials help to save her life. ECM grilled multiple officials in an effort to seek answers and accountability.

Our coverage depends on your support.  Will you please donate to help us report on more important stories in our region? Give now.

Enrolled customers who conserved during last heat wave earned more than $11M in bill credits for helping to reduce strain on statewide grid

Source:  SDG&E

June 21, 2023 (San Diego) - With today being the first official day of summer, San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E) is sharing summer energy savings tips and encouraging its residential customers to sign up for Power Saver Rewards, an energy savings incentive program that rewards customers with bill credits for reducing their electricity use on days when the statewide grid is stressed by high demand. Enrolled customers who conserved during the summer 2022 heat wave earned more than $11 million in bill credits.

By Miriam Raftery

June 21, 2023 (San Diego) -- A desperate race against time to find and save passengers and crew aboard a missing submarine at the Titanic wreckage site is making worldwide news. Knocking sounds have led searchers to believe people are still alive aboard the missing vessel, the Titan. But oxygen will likely run out tomorrow.

The effort evokes memories of  a similar story nearly 50 years ago in August 1973, when two San Diegans, Bob Watts and Larry Brady, were involved in the dramatic rescue of two men trapped above a submarine on the floor of the  Atlantic Ocean.

In  September 2021, Reina Menasche interviewed Stephen McGinty, author of the true-story thriller, The Dive: The Untold Story of the World’s Deepest Submarine Rescue during the Bookshelf segment on East County Magazine's radio show.  You can listen to the full  interview aired on KNSJ, and read highlights below.