June 24, 2012 (San Diego) -- The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) this week approved San Diego Gas & Electric's (SDG&E) East County (ECO) Substation Project, a development that involves two electric substations along SDG&E's Southwest Powerlink transmission line.

Bill also jeopardizes national parks along U.S.-Mexico and Canadian borders;

2 local Congressmen vote to kill environmental protections for all federal lands within 100 miles of borders--encompassing vast swaths in San Diego

June 21, 2012 (San Diego's East County) -- While attempting to send out an alert about a missing person today, we discovered that Twitter is offline. News and blog sites worldwide are now reporting this as a global outage.  Twitter has thus far offered no explanation for the outage.

By Miriam Raftery

Government accused of illegally approving “ineligible” project that failed to meet minimum federal wind speed standards

Violations of other laws alleged, including discrimination against low-income residents

June 20, 2012 (Ocotillo) –A fourth lawsuit seeking to halt the Ocotillo Express wind facility has been filed in federal court.  The plaintiff in this case, Community Advocates for Renewable Energy Stewardship, filed suit yesterday against Pattern Energy, the U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management and top government officials.

The suit, which seeks a permanent enjoinment or halt to the project, differs from prior lawsuits filed by other groups on several fronts.

By Miriam Raftery

Sierra Robinson also contributed to this report

June 18, 2012 (Washington D.C.)— "It makes no sense to expel talented young people who are, for all intents and purposes, Americans," said President Obama Friday, speaking at the White House. View a video.

The President noted that many children of undocumented immigrants have grown up in America, only learning of their own undocumented status when they apply for a driver’s license or a job.

Under a new policy announced by Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, young immigrants who meet certain criteria will no longer be deported. Instead, those who qualify will be eligible for deferred action for two years, subject to renewal.

June 17, 2012 (El Cajon )—The County Medical Examiner has identified a teen found dead Thursday at a car crash site as Mario Arturo Rodriguez, 18, an El Cajon resident. He died of head injuries, the Medical Examiner concluded.

East County Magazine to form carpools from San Diego to desert vigil June 23-24

By Miriam Raftery

June 13, 2012 (Ocotillo) –  As bulldozers raze their ancestors’ graves, Native American tribes across the southwest are asking for the public’s help to stop the desecration. 

If you believe this heartbreak funded by taxpayer dollars is wrong, please join with tribes of all nations to take a spiritual stand together against despoilment of these once protected desert lands for private corporate gain.

Determined to halt the Pattern Energy's Ocotillo Express wind energy project, tribes of all nations will gather for a traditional dusk-to-dawn ceremony to mourn disruption of their ancestors' burial sites. From 7 p.m. on Saturday, June 23 to dawn on Sunday, June 24, members of the public are encouraged to join with Native American neighbors in the Ocotillo desert for these spiritual ceremonies.