By Miriam Raftery

March 21, 2018 (Alpine) – The Alpine Education Association will hold its sixth annual Spring Gala on Saturday, April 21 at 6:30 p.m. at Viejas Casino & Resort in the Oak Ballroom. The event includes a buffet-style dinner, silent and live auctions, music and dancing – all to improve education for children in Alpine schools.

For tickets, visit https://aef4kids.org/events/aef-gala-2018//.

East County News Service

March 21, 2018 (San Diego’s East County) -- This week’s Destination East County includes a lilac festival in Santa Ysabel, a water-wise garden tour, Spring Eggstravaganza at Santee Lakes, a Bunny Train ride in Campo, and a Plein Air art show in Borrego Springs.

Plus, we’ll have a preview of coming attractions including Harp Fest, Laurel and Hardy comedy night, a remembrance of Martin Luther King Jr. in Lemon Grove on the 50^th anniversary of the civil rights leader’s death, the Peg Leg Smith Liar’s Contest, meet the winemaker weekend, Sweet Pea Days, Cajon Classic Cruises, Heritage of the America’s 25^th anniversary celebration, an arts and crafts fair, and the San Diego Festival Chorus and Orchestra’s spring concert.

So scroll down for all of these events and many more!

By Miriam Raftery

March 21, 2018 (San Diego) – San Diego State Senator Toni Atkins this week became the first woman to lead California’s State Senate, as well as the first gay or lesbian person to hold the legislature’s highest office. Atkins previously served as Speaker of the Assembly.

By Miriam Raftery

March 20, 2018 (Washington D.C.) – In direct conflict to warnings from top U.S. intelligence agency representatives, The House Intelligence Committee’s Republican majority shut down its investigation and  issued an overview of its report which concluded that Russia’s election hacking and social media attacks were merely intended to cause discord, not help Donald Trump win the 2016 presidential election.  The GOP report also concluded that that it found no “evidence of coordination, collusion or conspiracy between the Trump campaign and Russians. “

By Gig Conaughton, County of San Diego Communications Office

March 20, 2018 (San Diego) - The National Weather Service is predicting rain around San Diego County this week, potentially heavy rain on Thursday.

People in unincorporated areas can get free sandbags at numerous locations to help them protect their homes, properties and communities.

By Chris Jennewein

Originally published in Times of San Diego, a member of the San Diego Online News Association

March 20, 2018 (San Diego) - Democratic Congressional Candidate Josh Butner‘s suggestion in an interview that military service should be a requirement to run for national office sparked a controversy Monday.

By Jonathan Goetz

March 19, 2018 (La Mesa) – Constitution, the dance, is coming to the San Diego Performing Arts Center (4579 Mission Gorge Place) April 13-14 thanks to La Mesa based Kidz Danz Kompany and Visionary Dance Theatre.

An example from the San Diego Union-Tribune

By Joel A. Harrison, PhD, MPH

March 19, 2018 (San Diego) -- As a retired epidemiologist, especially interested in public health, I have been following the so-called “vaccine controversy” for many years. Recently I wrote a rather long paper that was published on a popular blog, Science-Based Medicine. I wrote this Reader’s OpEd for East County Magazine because the False Balance in this case was in our own local newspaper, The San Diego Union-Tribune, and the opinion piece by Terry Roark that my paper refutes point by point concerns California Senate Bill 277 which limits exemptions for vaccinations, clearly a topic that many East County Magazine readers will be interested in. My hope is that this short Reader’s OpEd will interest East County Magazine readers to go to the longer article, which can be accessed by clicking here. Note that the longer article allows one to link to a downloadable pdf version

SDSU is swept in its opening Mountain West series

Source:  goaztecs.com

Photo:  Courtesy goaztecs.com

March 18, 2018 (Los Altos, Calif.) - The San Diego State softball team ended its Mountain West opening series with a 9-1, five-inning loss at San José State Sunday afternoon at Foothill College in Los Altos, Calif. The Aztecs are now 9-20 and 0-3 in MW play.