By Paul Kruze, Contributing Editor

May 17, 2919 (El Cajon) --In a unanimous vote, the El Cajon City Council on Tuesday approved planning commissioner and businessman David “Phil” Ortiz to fill the seat formerly held by Ben Kalasho. Ortiz edged out three other finalists for the position: Richard Agundez, Anthony Sottile, and Humbert Cabrera.

Other applicants were Gladys “Jo” Alegria, Juan Barajas, Richard Campbell, Margaret Carlson, Estela De Los Rio, James Elia, Mark Jamil, former El Cajon Mayor Mark Lewis, Amanda McGimpsey, Juan Carlos, Mercado, Michelle Metschel, Abraham Muheize, Nancy Wilson, and Steven Woods. Community activist Stephanie Harper dropped out of the race at Tuesday’s meeting. See our prior coverage for highlights on all 22 candidates.

Owner and CEO of New Earth Energy Specialists Inc. and a pastor of Foothills Church, Ortiz is also an active community volunteer. He serves on the San Diego East County Chamber of Commerce board of directors and is founding member of the El Cajon Community Clean Up Group.  He has a B.A. degree in criminal justice administration from SDSU and a master’s in organizational management with emphasis in public administration.

According to his application with the city, his top priorities are public safety, including making retention of officers a priority, homelessness, including partnering with local organizations and having metrics to determine programs effectiveness, and having a balanced budget plus revitalization and incentivization to build on vacant lots.

Watch a streaming video of Tuesday’s evening's council session here and scroll down for details.

By Miriam Raftery

Photo:  Retired Pvt. First Class Joseph Reilly, courtesy of the White House website

May 17, 2019 (San Diego) – Joseph Reilly, a D-Day veteran who parachuted behind enemy lines in Britain and fought other battles to help liberate Eastern Europe during World War II, has made his first political endorsement at age 97.  Reilly, whose courageous actions were honored by Donald Trump at the President’s State of the Union Address, has endorsed Ammar Campa-Najjar, the Democrat running against indicted Republican Congressman Duncan D. Hunter in the 50th Congressional district.

Hunter has been a strong supporter of Trump on the  campaign and during Trump’s presidency. But Reilly, a former Army private, said in a statement that he is “proud” to support Campa-Najjar because Hunter “has now crossed the line twice. First when he betrayed the public in order to enrich himself, and now again when he  makes such shameful and false attacks in order to hold onto his power.”

Hunter, a combat veteran in Iraq and Afghanistan, is awaiting trial on federal corruption charges. He and his wife are accusing of taking over $250,000 from his campaign and spending it on lavish personal expenditures including family vacations to Italy and Hawaii, jewelry, oral surgery bills, tuition at his children’s private school, and airfare for his son’s pet rabbit.

Updated at 11:02 with information on burn victim and estimated damge.

May 16, 2019 (El Cajon) -- A major fire has caused an estimated $100,000 of damage to a  structure at the New 2 You Autos used vehicle dealership at 930 El Cajon Blvd. near Washington in El Cajon tonight.  The fire is now extinguished.

The fire was reported at 9:13 p.m. by a caller from a nearby Walmart who was involved in the fire. He has been transported to the UCSD Medical Center burn unit.

Division Chief Mike Chasin told the press that this is the second fire at a car dealership recently, following a fire at a Mercedes Benz dealership last week.

Chemicals were found at the scene tonight and an arson investigation will be done, Chief Chasen confirms.. ECM reporter Paul Kruze reports at least eight fire engines were present to battle the blaze. A Hazmat unit arrived at 10:45 p.m. 

Source:  goaztecs.com

Photo courtesy goaztecs.com

May 16, 2019 (San Diego) - The San Diego State men’s and women’s tennis programs will offer youth tennis camps this summer, which will be led by men’s assistant coach Jeff Thomsen and women’s assistant coach Nico Vinel. Two camp weeks will be offered, first from July 22-26 and again from July 29 through August 2, both at the Aztec Tennis Center.

By Miriam Raftery and Paul Kruze

May 15, 2019 (El Cajon) – The Cajon Valley Union School District stepped up its war on the media during its May 7^th board workshop.  A guard demanded that East County Magazine editor Miriam Raftery and contributing editor Paul Kruze move from the front row to the back, in a clear effort to prevent the investigative journalists from recording an audible copy of the meeting. Both refused, citing First Amendment freedom of the press and the district’s continued non-compliance with California public records act requests to receive audios of past meetings.

 At a subsequent meeting May 14, the guard repeated this demand for Kruze to move out of a front row seat, even threatening to the El Cajon Police for “disruption” if he would not comply. Kruze’s recording device is inobtrusive, about the size of a cell phone. There is nothing inherently disruptive about a journalist quietly recording a meeting, which is a right guaranteed to any citizen by the California Ralph M. Brown Act, the state’s public records act.

These intimidation tactics come after the board admitted destroying recordings of public meetings despite our requests for the recordings.  After receiving a cease and desist letter from an attorney at CalAware, the board on March 29 responded with a letter agreeing to comply with the law, as we reported, but has not done so. The board also voted to retain recordings for a year and make copies available on request. But the  district’s lawyer claims our more records request, along with other emails sent to multiple  people at the district, all went to a spam folder.

May 16, 2019 (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 top “Roundup” headlines include:

LOCAL

• Can SANDAG solve traffic woes with 100 MPH commuter rail, rush-hour pricing? (San Diego Union-Tribune)
• Gov. Gavin Newsom announces wildfire technology competition at conference in La Jolla (San Diego Union-Tribune)
• San Diego homeless deaths doubled in last decade (Voice of San Diego)
• Breaking San Diego: A Meth Crisis (NBC 7)
• Family DNA Search Leads to Another Arrest: Suspect in 1995 San Diego Rapes
• (Times of San Diego)

STATE

• A Little-Known Company Is Quietly Making Massive Water Deals (Voice of San Diego)
• San Francisco is first US city to ban police use of facial recognition tech (The Guardian)
• Key conflicts roil California’s ever-evolving waterscape (CalMatters)

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

May 15, 2019 (San Diego's East County) -- Our Health and Science Highlights provide cutting edge news that could impact your health and our future.

HEALTH

• US states file lawsuit accusing drugs firms of inflating costs (BBC)
• Sunscreen Chemicals Enter Bloodstream at Potentially Unsafe Levels (U.S. News)
• Glucosamine supplements 'may cut heart risk' (BBC)
• Hepatitis A infections increased by nearly 300% over two years (CNN)
• Triclosan, a chemical used in antibacterial soap, is found to impair muscle function (Smithsonian)

SCIENCE AND TECH

• Lyft hits record low as Uber slumps in Wall Street debut  (Reuters)
• An extinct bird species has evolved back into existence, study says (New York Times)
• Facebook restricts Live feature, citing New Zealand shooting (Reuters)
• The moon may be tectonically active, and geologists are shaken (National Geographic)

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

By Miriam Raftery

May 15, 2019 (Washington D.C.) -- The Federal Trade Commission is warning the public about a surge in phone calls from scammers posing as Social Security agents. The imposters try to con people into providing their Social Security numbers or other personal or financial data.

By Kathy Carpenter

East County News Service

May 14, 2019 (San Diego) -- The FBI needs public help in the search for missing 5-year-old Aranza Lopez, who was removed from a mall in Vancouver, Washington in October 2018 and is believed to be located in Mexico.  California residents may have information that could be key to her safe recovery, as an individual she may be residing or traveling with has close ties to the San Diego area.

East County News Service

May 14, 2019 (Lakeside) -- The Lakeside-based Foundation for Allied Health & EMS Education (FAHEE) will host a fundraising evening at The Hills Pub in La Mesa on Wednesday, May 22, 2019 from 5 to 9 p.m.  The Foundation provides scholarships for qualified students pursuing careers in emergency medicine at East County’s EMSTA College.  View flyer.

By Maryanne Jackson, real estate broker, CNE, CPRES

May 13, 2019 (San Diego's East County) - 

Dear Maryanne,

My wife and I have been having some issues with our neighbors’ large tree. The tree has encroached over the shared fence, causing damage to our deck.

The damage has since been repaired by our neighbor’s insurance company.

However, the deck repair company made note that the tree roots were growing under the fence and into our yard. Eventually this may cause damage to the deck again unless the tree is removed.

The insurance company will not cover the cost to remove the tree and our neighbors are not in a financial position to cover the cost.

Any ideas? We really don’t want to take legal action against our neighbors and are seeking peaceful solutions.

Jay N. Horizon Hills, Mount Helix

East County News Service

May 13, 2019 (San Diego) – As 5G small-cell antennas to improve wireless communications roll out in neighborhoods, the Center for Electrosmog Prevention in La Mesa is raising concerns about potential health and safety impacts of the microwave-emitting devices. The nonprofit group is organizing a “Stop 5G California” rally on Wednesday, May 15 from 11:30 to 1 p.m. at the Waterfront Park on Harbor Drive (on the harbor side of the County Administration building at 1600 Pacific Highway).