East County News Service

July 13, 2016 (Spring Valley) – The proposed Sweetwater Place  residential project in Spring Valley will be considered  Friday by the County Planning Commission. This project has twice been rejected by the Spring Valley Community Planning Group.

The meeting begins at 9 a.m. at the County’s conference center hearing room at 5520 Overland Ave. in San Diego. Public testimony and participation are encouraged.

The applicant seeks a General Plan Amendment , rezoning and a tentative map and site plan to build 122 condominiums and a two-acre public park on an 18-acre property. The project includes a trail along Jamacha Boulevard that connects to new park and a new bus stop on Jamacha Boulevard.

By Miriam Raftery

July 12, 2016 (Lake Morena) – The City of San Diego has no plans to restore water levels in Lake Morena or take any actions whatsoever to remedy the harm done to the community by draining the lake—despite residents who have stated there was not enough water in the Lake for firefighting helicopters during the Border Fire, which killed two people and burned five homes, as ECM reported.

By Miriam Raftery, East County News Service

July 10, 2016 (El Cajon)—In January 2015, Pope Francis issued a ruling to protect Father Noel Gorgis, a popular, zealous priest at St. Peter’s Chaldean Cathedral in El Cajon, as ECM reported. The Pope invalidated a decree issued by Patriarch Mar Louis Raphael Sako, which would have required Father Noel and several other U.S. priests to return to Iraq, where the Islamic State has been slaughtering Christian religious leaders. The Pope’s action was applauded by local Chaldean leaders. Father Noel has been a leading voice locally and nationally, on behalf of Chaldean-Americans and Chaldean immigrants.

But now the new interim Bishop for the St. Peter Chaldean Catholic diocese of San Diego, Shlemun Warduni, has issued an order for Father Noel to leave St. Peter’s effective Friday, July 15, 2016, multiple church sources have confirmed.  Bishop Warduni is a temporary replacement for Bishop Sarhad Jammo, who recently retired and had been a defender of Father Noel, as ECM reported.

City clerk says team collected enough signatures from citizens

By Liz Alper

Photo: Voice of San Diego, originally from JMI Realty

July 9, 2016 (San Diego) - Despite low approval ratings from some Republicans, the initiative for a proposed "convadium" downtown for the Chargers and for the San Diego Convention Center is headed to the November ballot, the San Diego Union Tribune reports.

By Miriam Raftery

July 8, 2016 (Mt. Helix) – Two mountain lions have been reported Monday by a homeowner on Mt. Helix.  La Mesa Today sent an alert warning the lions were seen  off Lemon Avenue in the Lake Helix area.  A CBS 8 news story ran two photos taken by the homeowner in unincorporated  La Mesa and footage of the location outside the home. 

The homeowner, who asked to stay anonymous, said the lions were on a hillside above a pool where her children were playing and two large dogs were present.

A long-time La Mesa resident  posted on a residents’ online forum that through the years he has previously seen mountain lions in the Boulder Hills area of La Mesa near Chevy Chase, above the La Mesa Village. 

By Tracy DeFore, County of San Diego Communications Office

Image Credit: County Department of Animal Services

July 5, 2016 (San Diego) -- Dozens of dogs are waiting for their owners at the County’s three animal care facilities the day after Fourth of July fireworks exploded around the county. While it’s impossible to say exactly what drove each dog loose, they are known to panic at the noise and run off to escape. As of late Tuesday afternoon, 59 dogs had been brought into the shelters and more are still expected to arrive. Last year, 67 dogs came in the first few days after the Fourth of July.

Photos: Examples of 2001-2002 model Honda Civic (left) and Honda Accord.

East County News Service

June 30, 2016 (Washington D.C.) -- New test data on a particular subset of defective Takata air bag inflators in certain model-year 2001-2003 Honda and Acura vehicles show a far higher risk of ruptures during air bag deployment, prompting an urgent call from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to ensure that unrepaired vehicles in this population are found and fixed before they cause further injuries or fatalities.

East County News Service

June 25, 2016 (La Mesa)—Hope for Iraqi Christians, a La Mesa based organization that assists Iraqi Christian refugees fleeing genocide in the Middle East, has received a pledge from the  Anahid Oram Memorial Refugee Fund to match $10,000 in monthly donations, sponsoring 100 families per month, but only if they can secure sponsors for at least 100 families by July 4. If that goal is met, the matching funds will mean that 200 families will be helped.

You can sponsor a family for as little as  $1 a day. Each donor will receive information on the family adopted.  Smaller donations will be pooled to help reach the total. Or consider adopting multiple families.

June 29, 2016 (Barrett Junction)--Supervisor Dianne Jacob has pulled together an emergency meeting in response to all the concerns raised by Border Fire survivors. The meeting will be held at 8:30 a.m. at the BarrettCafe, 1020 Barrett Lake Road in Dulzura.

A note from her office states: "She will be there with Fire Officials, Sheriff's Department, Office of Emergency Services, Animal Services, BLM, Border Patrol to listen to residents' concerns andanswer questions. This meeting was scheduled already. Sup Jacob has quickly reformed it to include the very people who need to hear from residents there on the ground.  She is well aware of the concerns you've shared with her office."

Update:  The Medical Examiner's office has identified the bodies found as Jim and Kyrie Keefe, who died of heat-related injuries.

By Miriam Raftery

June 29, 2016 (Potrero) – Two bodies have been found in a rocky crevasse in Potrero by volunteer community members who organized a search this morning, multiple sources have informed East County Magazine. 

The bodies were found at a site burned by the Border Fire, 10 days after the blaze began, Reporting San Diego’s Nadin Abbott, first media at the scene, and Deerhorn Valley Antler Editor Kim Hamilton both confirmed.

The bodies have not yet been identified,  but were found during a search for Jim Keefe, known as “Barefoot Jim” and  his wife or girlfriend who neighbors knew as “Kyrie.”   As ECM reported last night, neighbors launched the search themselves, voicing frustration that their repeated efforts to get help from a Sheriff’s official for days failed to lead to a serious search of the property and vicinity.

“Spent 15 minutes and picked up smell,” Hamilton told ECM in an e-mail. “Located bodies on hillside tucked into a pocket in the boulders. Exactly what has ben communicated to sheriffs from the beginning.”

East County News Service

Photo: Day 2 of the Border Fire, Cal-Fire

June 28,2016 (San Diego) -- The San Diego County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously Tuesday to help those who lost homes or buildings in the Border Fire. The County will waive fees for building permits and plan-check reviews. 

Fees will only be waived for structures that were legally permitted originally, prior to the fire. The Board’s Tuesday action would also distribute trash bins to people in the fire areas to help them clear debris.

The Border Fire started June 19^th and over the past 10 days has charred over 7,600 acres, destroyed five homes and 11 outbuildings. CAL FIRE reported Tuesday that the Border fire, which grew to 7,609 acres, was 92 percent contained.

“It’s an absolute tragedy for anyone who has lost everything,” said Supervisor Dianne Jacob, whose district includes the Potrero, Campo and Lake Morena communities ravaged by the Border Fire.

East County News Service

Video credit:  Fremantle Media North America

June 27, 2016 (La Mesa) – Ellen "Gigi" Draper from La Mesa won a car on the Price is Right earlier this month. She and her husband, Robert “Bob” Draper went to Los Angeles the night before in order to be first in line in hopes of being picked by host Drew Carey.

“I had on an orange shirt and it says, `HI Drew, I need help. Married 58 years to Pop Pop, Mother of four boys and 1 girl, grandmother of 18 and great-grandmother of 15. I need a vacation – Gigi.”

By Miriam Raftery

June 27, 2016 (Washington D.C.) — Suspected drunk drivers can refuse to take a blood test without a warrant, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled on Thursday. But the Court also held that drivers must submit to a less invasive breath test when ordered, or face arrest.

Update: Not wild cats, County Animal Services Deputy Director concludes

By Miriam Raftery

June 2016 (Eastlake)—In 2014 and 2015, East County Magazine has documented dozens of local sightings by people who claim to have seen large black wild cats prowling the region, some as large as mountain lions or jaguars, others smaller but still much larger than a housecat.  But thus far, no photos had been provided of the elusive animals.

Then on June 6, 2016,we received cell phone images taken at night by a resident in the Eastlake community of Otay Mesa in Chula Vista, due east of where some earlier sightings were reported in Jamul/Deerhorn Valley and South Spring Valley.  It’s hard to judge the size or species, but looking at items such as a vehicle, hydrant , house and a three-feet-high wall in the photos raises  a question: what was prowling yards in this suburban neighborhood?

East County News Service

June 25, 2016 (San Diego’s East County) – The County of San Diego Department of Animal Services is still seeking the owner of this dog found with burned paws during the Border Fire.