Update 5:55 p.m.:  The Gate Fire is 800 acres and is now 10% contained.  Road closures remain in effect on Highway 94 from Honey Springs Rd. to State Route 188, and on Otay Lakes Road.

Update 4:50 p.m.:   Fire is now 500 acres and still only 5% contained. A Chula Vista policeman directing traffic was struck by a vehicle and has been taken to a hospital with non-life threatening injuries.

Update 3:20 p.m. :  The Gate Fire is now 425 acres and 5% contained, per Cal Fire. 

By Miriam Raftery

Photo left, by Dan Cassidy

May 20, 2017 (Jamul/Otay) – The Gate Fire has scorched 300 to 400 acres,  according to Cal-Fire.  Thus far no structures have been damaged.  The fire is burning  near Highway 94 and Otay Lakes Road, toward the Rancho Jamul Reserve with winds at 10-15 miles per hour.  The fire is zero percent contained and still spreading rapidly. 

By Miriam Raftery

May 24,2016 (San Diego) – Patrick Malloy is the endorsed Democratic candidate challenging  Congressman Duncan D. Hunter in the 50^th Congressional District.  A realtor running on a platform of “reigniting the American Dream,” he sat down for an exclusive, in-depth interview with the East County Magazine Show originally aired on KNSJ Radio. 

You can hear the full interview by clicking the audio links at the bottom of our story for part 1 and part 2 (sound files may take a few moments to load.)  You can also scroll down to read highlights of his proposals for creating jobs in the district and rebuilding the middle class and helping small businesses, as well as his views on the Middle East, refugees, immigration and other hot topics.

June 2, 2016 (San Diego's East County) -- East County Magazine's World Watch helps you be an informed citizen about important issues globally and nationally. As part of our commitment to reflect all voices and views, we include links to a wide 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

• Old and on the streets: the graying of America’s homeless (New York Times)
• Michigan Governor hit with federal RICO lawsuit over Flint water disaster(Bipartisan Report)
• We finally know how much U.S. debt is owned by Saudi Arabia(Marketplace)
• Why is cheddar getting cheaper? (CS Monitor)
• New NYC rule says use transgender pronouns or risk a $250,000 fine (CS Monitor)
• Why is everyone moving to Texas? (CSMonitor)
• Conservative mega-funders hold conference featuring known anti-Semites(Jewish World Review)
• For First Time In 130 Years, More Young Adults Live With Parents Than With Partners(NPR)
•  

Presidential primary

• Republicans stunned after Trump admits his presidential campaign is broke (Politics USA)
• Experts: Audit justifies FBI push for Hillary Clinton indictment (Boston Herald)
• Bernie Sanders calls for  ‘radical transformation’ of healthcare (San Francisco Chronicle)
• Trump’s press feud boils over (The Hill)
• Judge orders release of documents in Trump University lawsuit (Wall St. Journal)
• 5 ways Bernie Sanders may influence the Democratic Party platform (Huffington Post)
• The Democrats are making a suicidal mistake (Current Affairs)
• Japanese-American internment survivor hears troubling echoes in Trump rhetoric (Guardian)
• Can Libertarian Gary Johnson be a factor in 2016? (Time)
• Jill Stein and the Green Party set to break out in 2016 (Mint Press)

WORLD

• Doctors: Postpone or move Olympics from Rio due to Zika (CNN)
• Chinese fighter jets in near collision with US aircraft, Pentagon says (+video) (CS Monitor)
• China is restructuring itself for war (Business Insider)
• Rule of Law Collapses in Venezuela As Maduro Continues to Push Socialist Agenda (Reason)
• Saudi Arabia gives women the right to a copy of their marriage contract (Guardian)

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

East County News Service

May 31, 2016 (Julian) – You’re invited to grab your partner and mosey on up to Julian for the annual Julian Dance and Back Country Barbecue on Saturday, June 11^th from 2 p.m. to 10 p.m.

By Liz Alper

Photo courtesy @Padres on Twitter

 

May 31, 2016 (Seattle) - A Tuesday matinee?  It's more likely than you think!  James Shields got the start today against Hisashi Iwakuma for Seattle.

By Miriam Raftery

Photos: Left:  Trump in San Diego by Shor Masori, courtesy of San Diego Jewish World, a member of the San Diego Online News Association. Right: Police in riot gear, courtesy of Nadin Abbott,Reporting San Diego.  Cover:  Protesters, by Nadin Abbott.

May 28, 2016 (San Diego) –Republican Presidential candidate Donald Trump spoke to a crowd of several thousand people at the San Diego Convention Center yesterday, while a crowd estimated  by police at at least 1,000 people  protested outside. The protesters included representatives from labor, the Democratic Party, Mexican Americans, Muslims, women’s rights advocates and an array of progressive groups who urged that voters oppose Trump's divisive politics.

Trump sounded his familiar themes denouncing illegal immigration and calling for a wall, slammed trade deficits with Mexico, China and other nations, said he would eliminate Common Core in education, inexplicably claimed California has no drought, called media “bloodsuckers” and bashed Judge Gonzalo Curiel, an Obama appointee set to hear a civil fraud trail in San Diego after the election over the now defunct Trump University.  

 “I love you San Diego—get out and vote,” he concluded. (View video of Trump speech on CSPAN.)  

“We have known the agony of war. Let us now find the courage, together, to spread peace, and pursue a world without nuclear weapons.” - President Barack Obama

By Chisato Iversen

On Friday, May 27^th,  President Barack Obama made a historic trip to Hiroshima, Japan. Obama became the first president to visit Hiroshima , site of the atomic bombing 71 years ago.

Obama neither apologized nor had he blamed the Japanese for the attack on Pearl Harbor. He simply came to mourn the loss of the victims.

May 31, 2016 (Lakeside) – Leon Thompson sent in this dramatic image showing a canopy of clouds swooping across Lake San Vicente in Lakeside, an area he calls “Coyote Highway” due to the wildlife frequenting the natural habitat in this beautiful, windswept area.

East County News Service

May 30, 2016 (San Diego) -- After Hillary Clinton backed out of debating Bernie Sanders in California,  late night comedy host Jimmy Kimmel asked Donald Trump if he would debate Sanders.  Trump said he would – provided $10 million could be raised for a charity.

Authorities seek public help to locate his killer, an unidentified Hispanic man

May 30, 2016 (Spring Valley) – Jeffrey Quirino, 17, died this morning at a hospital of stabbing injuries suffered May 23^rd in Spring Valley.  Family and friends held a candlelight vigil in his memory last night in Spring Valley.

East County News Service

May 30, 2016 (Lakeside) – The Lakeside Community Planning Group has a vacancy.  Applications are due June 1^st at 6:30 p.m.  Qualified applicants may submit an application at the June 1^st LCPG meeting at the Lakeside Community Center (9841 Vine St., Lakeside).

Answering your questions about writing, publishing, and marketing books

By Sarka-Jonae Miller

Writing duo Liz Fenton and Lisa Steinke are dropping by to talk book covers, chick lit and favorite spots in San Diego. Although Steinke currently resides in Chicago both authors are San Diego natives. The writers have been best friends for decades and have some advice for people thinking of writing with someone else. Their published works include The Year We Turned Forty, The Status of All Things, and Your Perfect Life.

They say, "Don't judge a book by its cover" but with today's market, how important are book covers to overall exposure and success, and by extension, does the same theory also apply to e-books as well? - Sahar Abdulaziz, author of Secrets That Find Us

East County News Service

May 30, 2016 (San Diego) - Score one for the Padres. Major League Baseball has completed its investigation and concluded that human error, not any intentional action, was responsible for the mix-up during the San Diego Gay Men’s Chorus appearance at a recent Padres game.

East County News Service

May 30, 2016 (La Mesa) – The San Diego East County Chamber of Commerce will present “Health Fair Saturday,” one of the largest annual free health fairs in San Diego’s East County region, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, June 18, near the movie theaters at the Grossmont Center mall, 5500 Grossmont Center Drive, La Mesa.

By Miriam Raftery

May 30, 2016 (San Diego) -- Today is an appropriate time to talk about our military members, their families and veterans – and what our local members of Congress are doing to help them and to impact our men and women in uniform.