October 23, 2010 (Spring Valley) – Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has ordered flags in the state capitol flown at half-mast to honor Sergeant Rafael Martinez Jr., 36, of Spring Valley. Martinez was serving his third tour of duty when he was killed on October 14 by insurgents who attacked his unit in Afghanistan with an improvised explosive device. Two other soldiers, Sgt. Carlos A. Benitz and Pfc. Tremaine J. Billingsley, also died from the explosion.
 

“He served our country with honor, integrity and steadfast loyalty, and in the end he made the ultimate sacrifice in the line of duty,” the Governor said, extending condolences to the Martinez family. "Rafael will be remembered and honored forever in our hearts."

East County News Service

October 21, 2010, (Ramona) -- The Palomar Ranger District of Cleveland National Forest in Ramona is maintaining closure of the Orosco Ridge Recreational Target Shooting Area for an indefinite amount of time, due to public safety concerns. Those include an accidental shooting, near misses at or near the range, and repeated wildfire starts caused by use of both legal and illegal firearms, the U.S. Forest Service reports.

October 21, 2010 (San Diego’s East County) – A body found by hikers in a vehicle that plunged into a ravine off I-8 has been identified as David Mow, 56, who has been missing since July 22nd.

"My brother rests peacefully now. Thank you all for your support, prayers, love," Dot Darragh posted on a Facebook page devoted to the search for Mow. "I will forever love and miss my brother and be grateful for all of you have touched our lives."

Veteran Michael Foster was hero who saved Alpine woman from burning home

October 19, 2010 – Michael Foster, a U.S. Army combat veteran who barricaded himself into his home in Alpine after firing shots at his wife this morning, has been shot by S.W.A.T. team snipers, ECM news partner 10 News reports.

October 17, 2010 (Santee) – Caltrans will completely shut down all northbound lanes on State Route 67 between Prospect and Woodside in Santee from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m. for five nights, starting tonight. The shut-down is needed for construction as part of a $520 million extension of State Route 52 to connect with State Route 67.

First-in-the-county retail licensing program credited for decline

New law will expand and update benefits for veterans

October 15, 2010 (Washington, D.C). – House Veterans’ Affairs Committee Chairman Bob Filner (D-San Diego) announced yesterday that President Obama signed H.R. 3219 into law. The Veterans’ Benefits Act of 2010, authored by Filner, improves and modernizes certain benefits administered by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) for veterans and their families.

By Miriam Raftery

October 14, 2010 (El Cajon) – A white car plunged over the side of westbound I-8 shortly after noon today, landing upside in a drainage ditch just west of Second Street.

Emergency workers extricated those inside and transported two patients to a local hospital, according to Monica Zech, spokesperson for the City of El Cajon.

October 13, 2010 (Jamul) – An East County Magazine reader asks, “I want to know who else saw the blue and whitish-orange meteor I saw from my house in Deerhorn Valley in Jamul at approximately 8:50 pm on Monday evening, October 11.”

Update:  Chinese and Iraqi hackers also attempted to hack this election, a startling report today reveals.  
By Miriam Raftery

October 11, 2010 (San Diego's East County) -- The U.S. military has cancelled Internet voting for U.S. troops after hackers infiltrated an online election in Washington D.C., playing the University of Michigan “Fight” song on the voting system--and accessing the ability to change votes.

Development interests seek to make it easier to build housing projects in rural areas

Photo credit: https://precondo.ca/

East County News Service

October 8, 2010 (San Diego’s East County) -- Do you know how to protect your home and your family when a major quake strikes?  Recent seismic activity in San Diego has shown the importance of being prepared. All County residents are urged to participate in the Great California ShakeOut October 21 at 10:21 a.m. Schools, colleges, businesses, churches, and community organizations can register at www.shakeout.org. To date, more than 6.6 million Californians have registered to participate; over 530,000 are from San Diego County.

Here are tips from Shakeout on what to do -- and what NOT to do in a quake:

October 7, 2010 (San Diego County) – Incident Page Network reports two breaking emergencies late this afternoon. In Carlsbad, a 5,000-gallon sewage spill from the sewage treatment plant is flooding city streets in the area of Avenida Encinas and Palomar Airport Road. North County residents are asked to reduce water usage, 10 News reports.

The second incident is a large diameter natural gas line break at Towns Gate Drive in Carmel Country Ranch.  Evacuations of a complex are underway.  A Haz-Mat crew and SDG&E have been dispatched.