By Yvette Urrea Moe, County of San Diego Communications Office

Photo:  Here are some available pets at the County Department of Animal Services that are waiting for you or someone to give them a loving home.

August 15, 2019 (San Diego) - If you’re looking to add a furry friend to your life, consider one of our fabulous felines like Jessie, Damsel, or Joplin. Or one of our devoted dogs like Millie. They’re all at San Diego County Department of Animal Services shelters in Bonita or Carlsbad. And it won’t cost you a thing to take them home this Saturday, Aug. 17, for Clear the Shelters Day.

East County News Service

August 15, 2019 (Lakeside) – “It’s important that your voice is heard,” reads a flyer from State Senator Brian Jones, who will host an East County Town Hall on Thursday, Aug. 22, 2019 at the Lakeside Community Center (9841 Vine St., Lakeside).  There will be a local Nonprofit Expo first from 5-6 p.m., followed by a Town Hall from 6-7:30 p.m.

Republicans Bill Wells and Carl DeMaio voice intent to challenge Hunter; others silent on whether they will run if Hunter is on the ballot

By Miriam Raftery

Photo courtesy Times of San Diego

August 14, 2019 (San Diego) – Judge Thomas Whelan has ruled that Congressman Duncan Hunter’s federal corruption trial will be postponed until January 14th.  That’s after the Dec. 6 deadline for candidates to run for the seat, posing a dilemma for some Republican candidates who have said they would not run if Hunter is still in the race. If the trial extends into February, voters could be casting early vote-by-mail ballots without knowing if Hunter has been found guilty or not.

East County News Service 

August 12, 2019 (San Diego’s East County) – The National Weather Service as issued an excessive heat watch for San Diego County’s desert areas starting Wednesday morning through Thursday evening, with hot weather forecast countywide. 

East County News Service

New Blackhawk helicopter, tactical command vehicle, evacuation planning map books, Information and Community Resource Centers and Wildlife Resiliency Fairs provide protection to customers

Source: SDG&E

August 8, 2019 (San Diego) – San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E) announces new upgrades to improve wildfire preparedness and help ensure the safety of everyone in the region. For more than a decade, the company has been adding new monitoring technology, upgrading existing infrastructure and working with first responders. Today, the company unveiled additional enhancements, including a second aerial firefighting asset, as the latest strategic improvement to help ensure public safety.

By Katie White, County of San Diego Communications Office

Video by Jose Eli Villanueva

August 7, 2019 (San Diego) - The County of San Diego is inviting businesses, nonprofits and government organizations that currently use high-polluting heavy-duty equipment to apply for a share of $28.5 million in grant funding for greener vehicles, machinery and equipment.

East County News Service

August 7, 2019, 2019 (Alpine) – Congressional candidate Ammar Campa-Najjar will be at a Town Hall Meet and Greet open to the public at the Alpine Community Center on August 18th from 1 to 4 p.m. Food and beverages will be served. The event is hosted by Alpine resident Anne Craig-Tillmond.

Campa-Najjar is facing off in the November, 2020 elections against incumbent Congressman Duncan D. Hunter, Jr. and/or other primary challengers.

The Town Hall format offers an opportunity for constituents to ask questions about issues that matter most to them.

By Miriam Raftery

Listen to the full interview, originally aired on KNSJ radio: click the audio link.

Learn more about Ammar Campa-Najjar's town hall at the Alpine Community Center on August 18 from 1-4 p.m. by clicking here.

August 9, 2019 (San Diego’s East County) – “We need an economy and a government that works for working people,” says Ammar Campa-Najjar, who is running for the 50^th Congressional district seat currently held by indicted Congressman Duncan Hunter. So we sat down with Campa-Najjar on our radio show to discuss those plans in detail.

Headlines tout a strong GDP as well as low unemployment. But  those numbers don’t tell the full story,  Campa-Najjar points out. “That’s great if you own stock.  But it’s not great if unemployment is low because one person is working three jobs, barely making a living and living paycheck to paycheck, having to choose whether to buy a gallon of gas or a gallon of milk.”  He says that in talking with people across the district, he’s hearing from people who are having to cut prescription pills in half or who can’t pay for insulin, choosing which bills to skip paying to cover basic survival needs. “These are real issues in the district, especially in rural areas."

Unlike most candidates who have run for this seat through the years, Campa-Najjar says he is uniquely positioned to bring good jobs to East County and elsewhere in the district because “I worked at the Department of Labor to create good-paying jobs, not just in San Diego County, but throughout the country.”

At the Department of Labor, he worked on creating apprenticeship jobs to train workers in high-paying fields, as well as setting up summer youth jobs and opportunities for veterans.  He later worked for the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce as communications and marketing director, which included promoting opportunities for small businesses to secure contracts with the federal government and corporations. He’s also worked as an educator teaching at UCSD, USD and SDSU.

He’s also a small business owner and Jamul resident who was born in La Mesa and raised by a working class Catholic mother. His first job was as a janitor at his church, where he became a youth leader before graduating from San Diego State and later working in the White House and at the U.S. Department of Labor.

So what kinds of jobs would he bring to the district, including rural areas, small towns and Native American reservations?

Update: View 10 News coverage of the celebration of life for Kieran: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LtuTIWafbX0

By Miriam Raftery

Photo via Facebook

August 4, 2019 (Lakeside) – A memorial service for friends and family of Kieran Shafritz de Zoysa will be held on Wednesday, August 7 at 6 p.m. at Oakoasis Park in Lakeside, where a bench will be dedicated as Kieran’s View. The 11-year-old boy who dreamed of being a neurologist in hopes of finding a cure for Alzheimer’s was killed during the Easter Sunday terrorist bombing on April 21 in Sri Lanka.