By Miriam Raftery

Photo:  Kupa, one of the last dozen descendants of San Diego's heritage herd, has died of a rattlesnake bite. His owner is asking the County to protect  the remaining herd descedants under the County's MultipleSpecies Conservation Plan.

April 17, 2023 (San Diego’s East County) – Kupa, one of only a dozen descendants of San Diego’s heritage herd of wild horses, has died. Kathleen Hayden made the announcement “with a breaking heart” on Facebook yesterday, stating that “during the night, our four-year-old Coyote Canyon stallion, Kupa, was bitten in his eye by a rattlesnake and died.”

Hayden is cofounder of Coyote Canyon Caballos d’Anza, a nonprofit in Santa Ysabel.  For years, she and her foundation have been fighting to gain protection for the heritage herd. The federal government has long refused to recognize horses as native species worthy of protection, believing they were brought here by European explorers.

But on March 23, 2023, Science published a report by 84 researchers who concluded that horses evolved first in North America and later crossed a land bridge over the Bering Strait to Eurasia. There are ancient fossils found in the Anza Borrego desert and Carlsbad  predating the early Spanish and English explorers to bolster that claim, as well as references to Native American horses in writings of Sir Francis Drake in 1580.

Those findings have reignited the urgent call to save wild horses and try to repopulate San Diego’s heritage herd on public lands, before it is too late.

By Daniela Torres

Video by ECM interns Daniela Torres and Jacob Pamus

April 14, 2023 (El Cajon)-- The first of four town halls in order to address homelessness in El Cajon was held on April 4, amidst concerns from the city’s residents.

Outrage and controversy have been sparked after the arrests of two sex offenders at a Motel 6 last month for allegedly sexually assaulting an underage girl. The offenders were placed there under the People Assisting the Homeless (PATH) motel voucher program funded by the County of San Diego.

By Miriam Raftery

April 11, 2023 (San Diego) – During a special meeting convened today,  San Diego County Supervisors passed a vote of no confidence and approved a letter calling on disgraced Supervisor Nathan Fletcher to resign immediately. The vote was 4-0, with Fletcher absent while undergoing treatment for Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome and alcohol abuse.

On March 29, Fletcher announced his resignation effective May 15, after an MTS employee went public with allegations that Fletcher sexually assaulted and harassed her when he was MTS chair. Fletcher, who is married with children, has denied those allegations but said he had a “consensual” relationship. The woman, Grecia Figueroa, has denied this and filed a lawsuit against Fletcher and MTS. Fletcher has resigned as MTS chair and dropped his campaign for the State Senate.

Nora Vargas, Chair of the County Board of Supervisors, said before the vote, “"My priority is ensuring that we are able to serve the people of San Diego” noting that Fletcher has been absent for the past two weeks and hasn't answered the troubling allegations against him. "We encourage him to resign immediately so he (can) focus solely on his treatment, and the people of San Diego can move forward with the representation they deserve."

Calls grow for Fletcher to step down immediately from Board of Supervisors; second woman claims harassment by Fletcher

By Miriam Raftery

April 9, 2023 (San Diego) – The Metropolitan Transit Board (MTS) on Thursday announced that it will hire outside counsel to conduct an independent investigation into allegations of sexual assault and harassment made by MTS public information officer Grecia Figueroa  against Nathan Fletcher, ([photo, left), who was chair of MTS at the time.

Grecia was fired on February 6, the date Fletcher announced his intent to run for the State Senate. Fletcher withdrew from that race on March 26 and announced he was entering rehab for PTSD and alcohol abuse. After the MTS allegations surfaced soon after, he  resigned from the MTS board and announced he will resign as Supervisor effective May 15.  Fletcher, who is married with children, has denied sexually assaulting or harassing Figueroa but claimed a “consensual” relationship.

Acting MTS Board Chair Stephen Whitburn issued a statement after a closed-door session of the MTS board,  Whitburn indicated that findings in the independent investigation will be made public. The transit board has also cut off legal support to Fletcher, who must pay for his own defense. ”Mr. Fletcher failed to act in good faith and in a manner reasonably believed to be in the best interest of MTS,” Whitburn stated.

By Joshua Kaplan, Justin Elliott and Alex Mierjeski, ProPublica

This story was originally published by ProPublica.

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April 6, 2023 (Washington, D.C.) - In late June 2019, right after the U.S. Supreme Court released its final opinion of the term, Justice Clarence Thomas boarded a large private jet headed to Indonesia. He and his wife were going on vacation: nine days of island-hopping in a volcanic archipelago on a superyacht staffed by a coterie of attendants and a private chef.

Unsealed indictment alleges pay-offs to three people with negative claims about Trump were fraudulently covered up in order to protect his presidential campaign

By Miriam Raftery

View District Attorney Alvin Braggs' press conference after arraignment

View Trump's speech at  Mar-a-Lago after arraignment

April 5, 2023 (New York) – Former President Donald Trump was arrested yesterday in Manhattan and pleaded not guilty to 34 felony counts of falsifying business records as part of a conspiracy to undermine the integrity of the 2016 election. 

If convicted, Trump could be sentenced to up to four years for each count, though the court could determine whether terms would be served concurrently or consecutively.  Trump’s lawyers have until August to file motions, with the next court hearing scheduled for December 4.  Barring further delays, a trial could be held early next year, just as the 2024 primaries get underway.

Trump, also a candidate running in the 2024 presidential race, was booked and fingerprinted, but not handcuffed nor was a mugshot taken. After the arraignment, he was released pending trial and returned to his home in Florida, where he gave a blistering speech railing against the prosecutor and judge despite a judicial warning to refrain from rhetoric that could incite violence.

By Jessyka Heredia 

April 2, 2023 (La Mesa) -- Clear Channel Outdoor Vice President of Public Affairs Layne Lawson gave the La Mesa City Council a presentation on a proposed digital billboard plan during the March 28 Council meeting. The company is proposing that the City enter a development agreement with Clear Channel for two digital billboards that would display advertisements generating an annual development fee payment of $125,000 per new advertising structure for the City, plus a 3% annual increase, starting in the second year. 

By Miriam Raftery

March 30, 2023 (San Diego) – Last night, San Diego County Supervisor Nathan Fletcher announced that he will resign his District 4 seat at the end of his medical leave for treatment of PTSD and alcohol abuse.

The announcement comes on the heels of a lawsuit filed March 28 against Fletcher and the Metropolitan Transit System (MTS) by an MTS worker who claims Fletcher harassed and sexually assaulted her on MTS property, and that she was fired by MTS as a result.

Fletcher has called the relationship “consensual’ and a “mistake” but denies harassing or assaulting the plaintiff, Grecia Figueroa, a former TV journalist and MTS spokesperson. Fletcher’s attorney, Danielle Hultenius Moore, alleges that Figueroa tried to extort Fletcher before filing a suit and that Fletcher’s team will be “pursuing our own legal response.

Photo; CC by ND via Bing

March 30, 2023 (San Diego) — Congressman Darrell Issa (CA-48), Chairman of the Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property and the Internet in the House Judiciary Committee, has introduced bipartisan legislation to reduce the expense of automotive repairs and the cost of car insurance.

By Jessyka Heredia 

View video: Regular CityCouncil Meeting 3/21/2023

March 25,2023 (Lemon Grove) On Tuesday, Lemon Grove Finance Manager Joseph Ware presented the Mid-Year Budget Review, which projects a substantial surplus.

 “Sales tax is exceeding our expectations,” he informed the City Council, adding that as of January, the projected increae is $500,000. "Sales tax is “by far our biggest revenue,” he said, noting that 35% of the city’s revenue comes from sales tax .

Council also calls for investigation into price-gouging by motels

By Jessyka Heredia

March 21, 2022 (El Cajon) At a special session meeting Tuesday, El Cajon City Council members voiced outrage over recent crimes happening in hotels involving recipients of the county’s hotel voucher program. These vouchers are intended to help people vulnerable from homelessness find shelter at local hotels. 

Recently it was discovered that two men allegedly molested a 16 year old female victim at a Motel 6 located on Montrose Court in El Cajon and videotaped it. Both men are registered sex offenders and wore ankle monitoring devices. El Cajon Police Department has indicated it believes at least two other underage girls were sexually assaulted by the men.

City also lifts pandemic emergency declaration, proposes enforcement of affordable housing rules

By Jessyka Heredia

March 21,2023 (La Mesa) -- At Tuesday’s meeting, the La Mesa City Council voted to have staff draft a project labor agreement, form a subcommittee to consider stricter regulation of tobacco sales, and create fees for monitoring compliance with affordable housing in the city, among other items.

By Jessyka Heredia

March 19, 2023 (La Mesa) - On February 28th, the La Mesa City Council heard an update from Karen Jewel, the Caltrans Project Corridor Director, on the State Route 94/125 Interchange Project that aims to provide freeway-to-freeway connection from southbound SR-125 to eastbound SR94 as well as ease congestion and improve traffic flow. 

By Miriam Raftery

Photo:  CC by NC-ND

Updated March 22 with responses from East County cities and the County.

March 13, 2023 (La Mesa) – Two failed banks have been taken over by federal regulators.  The Federal  Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) has taken control Silicon Valley Bank on Friday and Signature Bank on Monday.  That’s sent ripples  of concern through the financial community, also prompting La Mesa’s Treasurer to assure residents that at least 99% of the city’s assets are safe.

How did the bank failures happen?

The failures are tied to the Trump administration’s rollback of Dodd-Frank banking regulations, an action that eased restrictions on banks with under $250 billion in assets. That measure passed Congress in 2018 with overwhelming Republican support, though a few Democrats also backed the regulatory rollbacks. Both failed banks had under $250 billion in assets and would have been subject to stress tests and other regulatory scrutiny before the rollback of regulations.

Silicon Valley Bank got in trouble when many of its tech industry and business start-up customers needed money and made large withdrawals. So SVB had to start selling assets, mainly bonds, at a loss to free up funds for those withdrawals until its losses became too high, fueling a bank run by customers fearful of losing their money. That prompted the FDIC to take action. Like SVB, Signature Bank had over 90% of its deposits that were unisured, over the federally insured amount.  Now, the federal government is stepping in to help restore funds for investors -- but will not bail out the banks, leaving shareholders and holders of unsecured corporate bonds to absorb the losses.

Story and video by Jacob Pamus

“Really crazy stuff,” Rupert Murdoch, CEO of Fox, on Donald Trump’s stolen election claims.

“I did not believe it for a second.” – Sean Hannity, Fox broadcaster, on stolen election theory pushed by Trump’s attorney.

March 8, 2023 (San Diego) – Fox News Network LLC, the parent company of Fox News, is being sued by Dominion Voting Systems for allegedly broadcasting misinformation about voter fraud during the 2020 election. Dominion Voting is seeking $1.6 billion for defamation in the lawsuit. Fox News is also being sued by Smartmatic Voting Machines, for $2.7 billion. Evidence presented shows that Rupert Murdoch knew that Fox News was endorsing misinformation about the 2020 election. Murdoch is the head of Fox Corp and Fox News as well as many other media outlets in the U.S and Australia. In a deposition  while under oath, Murdoch acknowledged that some commentators on Fox News endorsed the idea of a stolen election on the air, knowing this was false. 

When asked if Fox News spread false claims that the 2020 presidential election was stolen, as Donald Trump claimed, Murdoch stated, "Some of our commentators were endorsing it."  Murdoch also said in an email that the election denial is “Really crazy stuff.”