East County News Network

Aide workers voice fears over impact of cuts on East County’s growing refugee population; San Diego’s Congressional representatives have thus far declined to take action to extend benefits

By Miriam Raftery

 

August 3, 2010 (San Diego) – Over 3,800 disabled and elderly refugees who came to the U.S. legally, all victims of persecution or torture, have been notified that they will lose Supplemental Security Income (SSI) on October 1st. Those slated to lose benefits include about 1,800 Iraq War refugees living in East County.

 

“They don’t have any other income. They want to find work and they can’t. They are too old and too sick,” said Joseph Ziauddin, president of the East County Refugee Center in El Cajon. Ziauddin estimates that there are around 40,000 Iraqis now living in East County.  Asked how many of East County’s Iraqis are currently refugees, he replied, “Ninety percent.”

By Miriam Raftery

July 31, 2010 (Rancho San Diego) – San Diego Sheriff deputies along with U.S. Fish and Wildlife officials conducted sweeps of homeless camps in wooded areas of Rancho San Diego in the grey light of early morning.

East County Magazine accompanied officers on the first sweep, behind Savanna Grill. More sweeps were held near Cuyamaca College, the YMCA, Target, and the old Steele Canyon bridge off Highway 94. No homeless people were present or arrested, though many left behind trash and/or treasures that could not be toted away in a backpack or shopping cart. Makeshift tents, lean-tos and mattresses were found, along with more poignant items: a large stuffed monkey, a cracked mirror with ornate frame, a pushcart, cooking utensils, nail polish, and a chipped china pitcher.

All lay forgotten in the mud, symbols of shattered lives and broken dreams.

July 30, 2010 (Washington D.C.) – Congressman Duncan D. Hunter (R-El Cajon), a member of the House Armed Services Committee, today highlighted a report by the bipartisan Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR) Independent Panel, which calls for increasing the Navy to a 346-ship fleet and expanding America’s focus to prepare for threats in the Western Pacific.

East County News Service

Photos by Dennis Richardson

July 28, 2010 (Lakeside) – A brush fire charred several acres near Rocky Lane and San Vicente Avenue this evening, briefly threatening several homes including one that had previously burned and was rebuild following the 2003 Cedar Fire. Flames came with 50 feet of homes before firefighters contained the blaze.

By Miriam Raftery

July 28, 2010 (San Diego) –Four U.S. soldiers including Army Staff Sergeant Conrad Mora, 24, of San Diego were killed Saturday in Afghanistan by a roadside bomb. Mora was leading a group of solders when the attack on their vehicle occurred. He was a graduate of Morse High School, where he played football.

He is survived by his wife, Ann, and their one-year-old son, Christopher. The family had recently moved to Washington state before his deployment.  Mora’s parents, Alejandrino and Carmelita Mora, live in National City. He is also survived by his sister, Carmela.

July 25, 2010 (Live Oak Spring) –  Crystal Lopez, 15, has been identified as the victim in a fatality rollover accident that occurred shortly after 10 a.m. July 24 on I-8 east near Crestwood Road.  Lopez died and her mother was also injured. 

 According to the San Diego County Medical Examiner’s office, the mother was driving when she heard a “pop” and lost control of the vehicle.

By Miriam Raftery

July 22, 2010 (San Diego) – Two-year-old Bentley Do’s family lives just one block from a San Diego Fire-Rescue Department Station. But the station’s crew was filling in for another Mira Mesa station’s personnel as part of city-ordered “brown-outs” to save money.

July 22, 2010 (Lakeside) – A fire at a duplex in Lakeside last night caused heavy damage, displacing nine residents. “It’s a robust response that included four fire engines, one truck company, and a paramedic ambulance, so about 20 people,” said Lakeside Fire Chief Andy Parr. “We were assisted by City of Santee and San Miguel fire departments.”

ONLY 40 REMAIN IN THE WILD; MOST ENDANGERED ANIMALS IN NORTH AMERICA

"There were pups. Now it will be a challenge for them to survive."--Patrick Valentino, California Wolf Preserve in Julian

July 21, 2010 (Julian) -- “It’s depressing—very bad news,” Patrick Valentino at the California Wolf Center in Julian said upon learning that two endangered Mexican grey wolves had been found shot in Arizona. Eva Sargent at Defenders of Wildlife in Tucson told East County Magazine that a third Mexican wolf, or lobo, has been found dead in New Mexico under suspicious causes.  A fourth wolf is missing.

July 18, 2010 (Ramona) – Cal-Fire rescued four dehydrated hikers and a dog, but were unable to save a second dog that collapsed and died on the trail to Cedar Falls near Ramona on Saturday. The group had hiked more than two miles in temperatures over 100 degrees.

The tragedy illustrates the need for hikers to know safety tips for themselves--and their dogs.

BROTHERS SAVE LITTLE SISTER, 4

Updated July 18, 2010
July 17, 2010 (Spring Valley) -- 100 degree heat in Spring Valley today did not slow the attack of San Miguel firefighters on a house fire in the 8600 block of Sandy Bev Lane.  A mother and seven of her eight children were home when the blaze was reported. The mother told investigators she was in the kitchen preparing a meal when she heard the smoke alarm sound. She went down a hallway to investigate and found one of the children’s bedrooms on fire.

Seven family members evacuated safely, but once outside realized that a four-year-old child was missing.  The girls brothers, 14 and 18, ran back inside and found her hiding in her bedroom closet and rescued her.

"The policy of the GUHSD in thunder/lightning storm conditions would be to immediately seek safe shelter at the first sound of thunder." -- Larry Pear, Grossmont Union High School District

ECM Special Report

Story by Miriam Raftery, photos by Dennis Richardson

July 16, 2010 (Lakeside)—While lightning strikes caused multiple fires in East County including Lakeside, El Capitan’s football team continued practicing on an open field during a thunderstorm in direct violation of district rules.

“There was thunder and lightning in the immediate area striking the ground...during the time the kids were practicing,” ECM photographer Dennis Richardson reports. “As I was shooting pictures of the players [from a hill nearby], a man who was watching the lightning storm from the safety of his home near me told me he had just seen a bolt of lightning hit a power pole near Wildcat Canyon and Willow Road.” That’s about half a mile from the football practice, he estimated.

 

Playing sports during a thunderstorm can be deadly. In 2008, all eleven players on a football team in the Democratic Republic of the Congo were killed when lightning struck the field. 

July 16, 2010 (Pine Valley) – San Diego Sheriff’s office today announced a search for a Rancho San Diego man who was last seen on June 30th. Steve Smith, 47, was reported missing on July 12; his vehicle was towed by California Highway Patrol on July 8 at 2:30 a.m. from the Pine Valley bridge. Smith may be suicidal and in possession of a firearm, according to an investigation by detectives with the Lemon Grove Sheriff substation.