March 6, 2026 (San Diego’s East County) -- 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

• San Diego gas prices surge amid Middle East tensions (Times of San Diego)
• Lithium-ion battery fire at SDSU leaves at least one student injured (Times of San Diego)
• ICE in San Diego is monitoring activists through Operation Road Flare (Daylight San Diego)
• Tijuana businesses reopen, yet residents remain cautious following cartel attacks (San Diego Union-Tribune)
• Joe Musgrove completes another step on path to recovery from 2024 surgery (Times of San Diego)
• CBP’s Request for All San Diego County Parcel Data Raises Questions Among Officials (Newschunks)
• ICE agents deny US Senator, San Diego County supervisors access to Otay Mesa immigrant detention center (KPBS)
• .Federal agents detain immigration court observers in downtown San Diego (KPBS)
• County launches aging dashboard as senior population grows (KPBS)
• He saw an abandoned trailer. Then, he uncovered a surveillance network on California’s border (KPBS)

STATE

• California’s next insurance commissioner will have ‘brutal’ balancing act (Cal Matters)
• 8 dead in Tahoe avalanche; victims include moms of Sugar Bowl youth team skiers (Sacramento Bee)
• Bernie Sanders kicks off billionaires tax campaign with choice words for the ‘oligarchs’ (Politico)
• Billionaires Spielberg, Zuckerberg eyeing East Coast, stirring concerns about California’s wealth-tax proposal (Los Angeles Times)
• Canadian snowbirds are still unhappy with Trump. And Palm Springs is feeling the chill (Los Angeles Times)
• Frustrated families sue the state to stop antisemitism in California schools (EdSource)
• Senators decry surge in deaths at ICE detention facilities, citing poor medical care (Los Angeles Times)
• Part of California’s Highway 1 shut down due to rockslides and debris (San Francisco Chronicle)

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

East County News Service

March 6, 2026 (San Diego) -- SDSU will host its 54th annual pow wow on Saturday, April 11 starting at 11 a.m.

The San Diego State University Pow Wow is a cultural and social event held annually to bring together the Native American community at SDSU. SDSU has the reputation of having one of the longest running pow wows ran by a university in California.

This event is open to the public and is a partnership between the Native Resource Center, the SDSU American Indian Studies Department, the Native American Student Alliance and the American Indian Alumni Chapter of SDSU.

By Miriam Raftery

Photo by Miriam Raftery: Bishop Shaleta in May 2024 at opening of incubator business center for refugees and immigrants in El Cajon

March 5, 2026 (El Cajon) – San Diego County Sheriff’s deputies today arrested Chaldean Bishop Emmanuel Shaleta at the San Diego International Airport, where he was attempting to leave the country. He is charged with eight counts of embezzlement, eight counts of money laundering, and one count of aggravated white collar crime enhancement, according to a news release from the Sheriff’s department.

By Miriam Raftery

March 4, 2026 (Washington D.C.) – Following the U.S. and Israeli military attacks on Iran and Iran’s retaliatory bombings in cities across the Middle East, the U.S. State Department is urging Americans worldwide to be cautious. Americans in the following Mideast nations are urged to depart immediately via commercial means due to “serious safety risks”:  Bahrain, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Israel, the West Bank and Gaza, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen.  

East County News Service

March 4, 2026 (El Cajon) — El Cajon Valley High will roll out the proverbial red carpet on Friday, March 6 for the Grossmont Union High School District's 2026 GUHSD Film Festival.

The annual event will take place this year from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at the El Cajon Valley High School Event Center, a premier stage for the district’s most talented young filmmakers.

The film showcase features original creative works from students enrolled in the Career Technical Education Arts, Media & Entertainment pathway at GUHSD.

More than just a screening, the film festival is a celebration of technical mastery and artistic storytelling of students, and by students in the district -- GUHSD students who have spent months scripting, filming and editing projects that range from narrative short films to complex animation.

By Miriam Raftery

Photo: Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, in press conference today

March 2, 2026 (San Diego) – The U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran in Operation “Epic Fury” which began Saturday are believed to have killed 49 senior Iranian officials, including the Ayatollah Khomeini, according to the White House. The USS Abraham Lincoln and stealth bombers based at Miramar Naval Air Station in San Diego were among the U.S. forces involved in the strikes.

Sycuan Casino Resort hosted the San Diego Regional East County Chamber of Commerce's 114th annual East County Honors Awards Gala over the weekend.

Photos and story by Karen Pearlman