By Sholeh Sisson

June 5, 2013 (Ocotillo Wells) -- Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) and the Desert Protective Council (DPC) filed a legal action May 21, 2013 to stop open riding in the Ocotillo Wells State Vehicular Recreation Area (SVRA). If successful this action would end ORV "open riding" beyond designated trails and require the state park to implement strategies to protect the park's habitats and archaeological resources.

The park, located in east San Diego county, allows off-road driving on all 85,000 acres except for a few fenced and protected areas.

“SB 33 is being used by wealthy absentee landowners, foreign corporations, and investor-owned San Diego Gas & Electric to industrialize over 10,000 acres of our predominantly low-income and highly fire-prone rural community of Boulevard.” -- Donna Tisdale, chair of the Boulevard Planning Group

By Miriam Raftery

June 3, 2013 (San Diego’s East County) – SB 33, a bill that could force voters to pay for big energy projects through bond measures even if the majority of voters don't approve such projects,  is moving forward in the state legislature. The bill has passed the State Senate and is set for hearing June 12 in the Assembly Local Government Committee. It could have a big impact in East County communities such as  Boulevard, where big energy companies have engaged in a stealth campaign to stick voters with the bill for projects they don't want.

Federal Funding Could Give 40 More Veterans A Place to Call Home

June 3, 2013 (San Diego) – Some 40 more homeless veterans in San Diego County will gain a roof over their heads after the federal government announced it would award $332,731 to the County’s Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD).

June 2, 2013 (La Mesa) – The Helix Water District board will present its preliminary 2013-14 budget at a workshop June 4 from 9 a.m. to noon. View budget. here.

On June 5 at 3 p.m., the finance directors will present draft water rates and a proposed Proposition 218 notice set to be mailed to ratepayers June 27.  Water rates will be discussed at 6 p.m. on June 5.  A workshop to discuss the draft water rates and Proposition 218 notice is also set for June 19 at 6 p.m. at the Helix Water District Boardroom.

By Miriam Raftery

“Through the years that we had known you,  you had been a blessing to know. How sweet and kind you are to all our family. We will cherish every moment and memories we had with you. We love and miss you and you will never be forgotten.” – sign beside the road, where Michelle St. Clair was fatally burned

May 30, 2013 (Lakeside) – Beside the scorched earth where Michele St. Clair was found severely burned during a brush fire on May 12,  her friends have created a makeshift memorial . Flowers, crosses,  ragged stuffed toys and a hand-lettered sign on cardboard reveal how she touched the lives of those who came to know her, before succumbing to her injuries on May 16.

St. Clair, a Navy veteran who by all accounts worked hard, refused to take handouts, and was not an alcoholic or an addict when she died.

By Miriam Raftery

May 29, 2013 (Lakeside) – Clad in pajamas, Karen Goodman broke down in tears as she told me her story  today. 

We met with her at the request of Walter Choate, an advocate for the homeless who told us that without immediate help, this bedridden woman who relies on a caregiver to survive could be homeless by Friday--and lose all of her belongings as well.

May 27, 2013 (Lakeside) – Helix Water District’s Johnstown Tank, located in Lake Jennings Park Estates off Harritt Road, Lakeside, is currently undergoing complete interior and exterior recoating. Work began on Monday, May 13, 2013. The project will take approximately six months to complete.

The viewshed for this tank includes a large area along the I-8 corridor west of the Lake Jennings Park Road exit.

Residents in the area should be aware of increased traffic, elevated noise levels, and a visual change to the tank’s surface.

May 24, 2013 (Ramona)--The County Department of Animal Services (DAS) is investigating the death of a horse and is caring for another ten horses seized from an owner in Ramona late yesterday afternoon.      

DAS was called to Ramona Monday after a group of horses was found loose on Highway 78 Monday. CHP and CALFIRE returned them to a nearby property, and DAS began monitoring a herd of 30 horses at the location, noting that the animals lacked food and water. CALFIRE supplied some water, but the conditions prompted DAS to post a notice advising the horses’ owner the animals were subject to seizure.

Concerned neighbors also provided some feed to the horses, but based on the conditions officers found during a check yesterday, DAS seized all of the animals on the property.

May 23, 2013 (San Diego’s East County) – Portions of land in and around Oceanside were added to California’s Light Brown Apple Moth (LBAM) quarantine this week after inspections turned up four apple moths.

California’s “interior” quarantine has grown to 6,000 acres in 19 counties across the state for the apple moth, a destructive agricultural pest that eats and damages more than 250 types of crops.

The County of San Diego’s Department of Agriculture, Weights and Measures (AWM) has scheduled a meeting to talk to local growers from 1 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. Friday, May 24, at the Fallbrook Community Center Auditorium at 341 Heald Lane in Fallbrook. Officials from the California Department of Food and Agriculture and the United States Department of Agriculture will be at the meetings and available to answer questions.

May 22, 2013 (San Diego's East County) --As warm weather returns, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) is reminding the public to be rattlesnake safe.

All of California is snake country. Much like bats, rattlesnakes are often misunderstood. They play an important role in the ecosystem by keeping rodent populations under control.

Company had flood of violations, including providing unsafe drinking water and illegally selling water to SDG&E and other contractors

By Miriam Raftery

May 20, 2013 (Live Oak Springs) – Chief Administrative Law Judge Karen V. Clopton with the California Public Utilites Commission has issued a decision recommending that  owners of Live Oak Springs Water Company be fined $1 million for violations that have put public health at risk.  The CPUC proposal would  ask the Superior Court to appoint a receiver to take possession of the property , including the bankrupt Live Oak Springs resort, and operate the water system.

“Nazar Najor, the controversial owner, has been selling water to large construction projects without authorization from his small regulated water district that is meant to serve Live Oak Springs ratepayers,” said Donna Tisdale, chair of the Boulevard Planning Group.

By Miriam Raftery

May 20, 2013 (Ocotillo) – Federal Judge Gonzalo Curiel has granted a motion filed by citizens’ groups to remand a lawsuit over the Ocotillo Express Wind Facility from federal court back to state court.

Plaintiffs Donna Tisdale, Protect Our Communities Foundation and Backcountry Against Dumps hailed the decision.

“Since Ocotillo Express operation started in late 2012, residents complain of adverse impacts from noise, vibrations, electrical interference, shadow flicker and light pollution. People, pets and wildlife are suffering while the project’s wind production is far less than advertised,” a press release issued by plaintiffs states.

Update May 19: Smith has been found safe in San Ysidro.

May 18, 2013 (Lemon Grove) -- The San Diego Sheriff’s Department is searching for a missing person at risk.  James Edward Smith of Lemon Grove is on medication for dementia and is in the early stages of Alzheimer’s.  Smith, 66, was last seen driving his 2006 Silver Chrysler 300 four-door sedan with CA license plate 5XLV296.

Smith is described by authorioties as black, 5 feet 11 inches tall, 207 pounds, bald, with brown eyes and a mustache.  He was last seen wearing a tan and brown jacket, baggy blue jeans, and a tan baseball cap.

He was last seen leaving Willy's Electronics on Mercury Street in San Diego on May 16 at 02:55 p.m., alone in his vehicle. He may have been heading to Harbor Freight supply in Chula Vista. He never arrived at the supply store, and never arrived home in the 1800 block of El Prado Ave, Lemon Grove.

May 18, 2013 (San Diego’s East County) – March Against Monsanto has announced that on May 25, tens of thousands of activists around the world will “March Against Monsanto.” Currently, marches are being planned on six continents, in 36 countries, totaling events in over 250 cities, and in the US, events are slated to occur simultaneously at 11 a.m. Pacific in 47 states. The San Diego March will be starting at 11am on May 25th at the Balboa Park fountain in front of the Science center.

By Sierra Robinson and Miriam Raftery

May 16, 2013 (San Diego) – “This is the worse crime that’s ever been committed against the East County wilderness. Period,” Craig Maxwell, former La Mesa mayoral candidate and outdoor enthusiast told ECM after San Diego Supervisors voted 4-1 yestesday to approve a wind ordinance that industrial-scale wind turbine projects in rural and scenic backcountry regions.

Only Supervisor Dianne Jacob, who represents East County, made an impassioned plea to protect the health and safety of rural residents, who have repeatedly voiced concerns over risks from infrasound, stray voltage, noise , fire danger, turbine collapse and blades thrown off.

Emphasizing those points, less than 24 hours after the vote, a turbine in nearby Ocotillo threw off an 11-ton blade. (photo)