By Miriam Raftery

Photo: California Attorney General Rob Bonta

September 27, 2022 (El Cajon) – California Attorney General Rob Bonta sent a warning letter to El Cajon’s Mayor and City Council on Sept. 23 demanding that the city rescind warning notices sent to hotels housing homeless individuals under the County of San Diego’s voucher program. Bonta letters calls the County’s program “unquestionably legal” and claims the city’s notices constitute unlawful discrimination under the Fair Employment and Housing Act, which prohibits housing discrimination based on income source.

Last week, the city of El Cajon sent warning notices to seven of the eight hotels/motels participating in the County of San Diego’s voucher program to temporarily house homeless people. The city warned that the motels were violating a city law that limits hotels to a maximum 25% of capacity for homeless people in the voucher program. The city notified the hotels that they would be fined up to $1,000 a day if they did not comply.

The city noticed an increase in drug dealing and drug use around the motels, then learned that the County had placed homeless people from across the region into the motels through the voucher program.

East County News Service

September 25, 2022 (La Mesa) – A man jumped to his death this afternoon off of State Route 125 onto Interstate 8 east in La Mesa, the California Highway Patrol reports.

New York declares statewide emergency after wastewater testing repeatedly finds polio in four counties; man left paralyzed

By Dr. Henri Migala

Photo: Iron lung machines in Downey, CA circa 1953, U.S. FDA

September 22, 2022 (San Diego) -- San Diego County funds wastewater testing in our region for COVID-19 and, more recently, for Monkeypox. But so far, no testing for polio has been authorized locally-- despite a resurgence in the U.S. of polio, the Governor of New York declaring a ‘state of emergency after the detection of polio in multiple counties, paralysis of one patient, and a directive this week from the Centers for Disease Control urging wastewater testing in at-risk communities.

By Henri Migala

September 23, 2022 (Lemon Grove) – At a press conference held at the new Wellgreens dispensary at 6859 Federal Boulevard yesterday, Wellgreens executives announced their partnership with Pacific Stone to eliminate $250,000 worth of medical debt for Californians through a donation to RIP Medical Debt in New York.

Lemon Grove Mayor Racquel Vasquez was present to help celebrate the announcement. “We have members of this community who are struggling with medical debt and I commend Wellgreens, RIP Medical Debt, and Pacific Stone, for not only recognizing this but also taking a bite out of the medical debt crisis right here in Lemon Grove,” said Vasquez.

Update July 31, 2024:  Rendon has withdrawn his lawsuit and issued a joint statement with Rodriguez-Kennedy, who is now cleared of all wrongdoing.  

By Ken Stone, Times of San Diego, a member of the San Diego Online News Association

Photo:  Oscar David Rendon alleges he was assaulted in August 2021. At the urging of a college professor, he reported the incident to San Diego police in March 2022, his lawsuit says. Image via Facebook

September 22, 2022 (San Diego) - A former San Diego City College student body president is accusing local Democratic Party leader Will Rodriguez-Kennedy of sexual assault and also named San Diego Councilman Stephen Whitburn as a defendant.

By Miriam Raftery

September 21, 2022 (El Cajon) – A 45-year-old man who was the passenger in a Silverado truck that crashed into a brick wall on September 12 has died, says Lt. Darrin Forster with El Cajon Police.

Around 1:57 a.m. on Sept. 12, police officers and paramedics responded to the crash scene at 1576 Greenfield Drive, where a 2020 black Chevrolet Silverado truck had struck a brick wall at a residence. Both the driver, a 37-year-old woman, and the male passenger were taken to Sharp Memorial Hospital with serious injuries. 

The male passenger was later pronounced deceased at the hospital. The female driver is expected to survive her injuries, according to Lt. Forster.

By Miriam Raftery

September 21, 2022 (Lakeside) – Last week, East County Magazine reported on Lakeside residents protesting the secret placement of five sex offenders at a home on Blossom Valley Road in their community. Now, residents have launched a GoFundMe page called “Help Protect Lakeside” to raise funds for legal costs to fight this action.

The page states, “Our Lakeside Community is devastated to find out a home in our small HOA Community is being utilized as a Facility to house up to 6 Registered Sex Offenders at all times. Our small community and surrounding neighborhoods have been blindsided by these events, and we no longer feel safe. The home, aka facility, will continue to be a revolving door for convicted criminals.”

By J.W. August, Times of San Diego, a member of the San Diego Online News Association

Photo:  hikers on a trail.  Photo via Pixabay

September 19, 2022 (San Diego) - A young man invites a female friend to go dirt bike riding with him and they end up in a head-on collision.

East County Wildfire & Emergency Alerts

September 17, 2022 (San Diego’s East County) – An evacuation warning has been issued for the #HauserFire. It applies to residents who live west or north of Buckman Springs Road at Lake Morena Drive, the Sheriff reports.  Evacuees can go to Mountain Empire High School, 3305 Buckman Springs Rd., Pine Valley.

According to Cal Fire/San Diego County Fire, the brush fire began around 4:15 p.m. near 2022 Lake Morena Drive and Big Potrero Truck Trail in the Hauser Creek area of Lake Morena. Around 5-10 acres have burned with a moderate rate of spread.

East County News Service

September 16, 2022 (Alpine) – Shadow Hills Elementary School in Alpine and Creekside Learning Center were briefly locked down today after a report of a gunshot fired near the campuses shortly after 10 a.m.

 Out of an abundance of caution, school staff immediately initiated a campus-wide lockdown at both schools.

Deputies searched both schools.  “They were unable to locate any evidence of a shooting,” says Captain Michael Rand with the Alpine Sheriff’s station. “The lockdown was lifted just before 11:00 a.m. No children, teachers or staff were hurt.”

By Shiloh Ireland

September 16, 2022 (Lakeside) – On September 12, Hope for the Homeless Lakeside (www.hope4homelesslakeside.org) organized an outreach event held in the parking lot next to the Parks and Recreation Building in Lakeside. Also present was a mobile unit from the county, HHSA-Health and Human Service Agency and several deputies from the HART -Homeless Assistance Resource Team of the San Diego Sheriff Department.

Judy Scheuer (photo, right) is the executive director, spoke with East County Magazine about how she came to establish the organization to help homeless people in the community – help needed now more than ever, after the August 31 Willow Fire destroyed homeless encampments in the riverbed and one homeless man was found dead in a pond days earlier.

“Three years ago, it started as a grassroots effort; then I hired a homeless woman and then began taking water, food, blankets tents and also hauled out trash weekly in the riverbed,” she said.  “Showers were offered weekly and  Otay Mesa Detention Facility fixed broken bicycles for us.”  Now bicycles are going to be repaired by a resident she knows.

19 structures including homes, mobile homes and recreational vehicles were destroyed in the fire  

Source: Supervisors Fletcher and Anderson

September 15, 2022 (San Diego) -- Chair Nathan Fletcher, Supervisor Joel Anderson and the San Diego County Board of Supervisors have voted to waive fees for people affected by the Border 32 Fire when they apply for a permit to rebuild a structure, or acquire replacement copies of important documents lost in the fire, such as birth certificates.

Chair Fletcher and Supervisor Anderson, the authors of the policy presented on Wednesday, issued the following statements after today’s vote:

Source:  San Diego Sheriff's Department

September 13, 2022 (Spring Valley) - The Rancho San Diego Sheriff's Station wants your help in finding a missing person from Spring Valley.

72-year-old Eddie Joe Taylor was reported missing on Friday, August 5. He was last seen on Thursday, August 4 when he left his girlfriend's home in Lemon Grove. As he was driving home to Spring Valley, he called his girlfriend saying he mistakenly continued on SR-125 south towards Mexico and crossed the border into Baja California, Mexico. 

Retired paramedic loses RV home; family’s water well, solar panels and dreams up in smoke

By Miriam Raftery

Photos by Henri Migala, Miriam Raftery, Ryan and Gemma Sommers

September 10, 2022 (Potrero) – Ryan and Gemma Sommers had a dream—to build an earth-berm home on 80 acres in Potrero that Ryan grew up on and inherited from his father. So when the Border 32 Fire swept through the community last week, Ryan didn’t hesitate – he headed into the wildfire and fought singlehandedly to save what he could. But the family had no insurance, and their losses are overwhelming.

“I have been trying to live out my father’s dream of living self-sustainability on a ranch,” says Ryan, who lost his father to pancreatic cancer in 2020. Now the fire has torched much of their property, including burning his uncle’s RV home to the ground.  “My uncle has lost everything,” Ryan reflects. Ryan and Gemma also suffered major losses, with Ryan risking his life to save what he could.

On a GoFundMe page set up to help the family repair and rebuild their lives, Gemma wrote, “We don’t want to say goodbye to our land that has been in our family these past 21+ years..”

Board will meet Monday to determine how to fill immediate vacancy

By Susan Taylor

Photo:  Trustee Sarah Rhiley

September 8, 2022 (La Mesa) –Trustee Sarah Rhiley announced her immediate resignation from the La Mesa-Spring Valley School Board, effective September 7. She submitted her resignation letter immediately before the board’s first meeting of the 2022-23 school year on September 6.

Asked how the vacancy  in trustee area 4 will be filled, Superintendent David Feliciano told ECM, “Following board bylaw 9322, the board may either make a provisional appointment or call for an election.” A special board meeting will be held Monday, Sept. 12 at 5 p.m. at which the board will decide how to fill the vacancy. 

Area 4 is not on the November ballot, which has areas 1, 2 and 3 up for election. Two of those, areas 1 and 3, are open seats, since incumbents Charda Bell and Megan Epperson are not seeking reelection. Each area has two candidates. In district 2, Megan McRae seeks reelection, facing off against a challenger.

Trustee Sarah Rhiley, in announcing her resignation, cited frustration with the many restrictions imposed on schools by the Department of Education of the State of California.  She said that she plans to take her children to visit all of the country’s National Parks and later settle on a city and school district for her family.