By Fire Chief Sam DiGiovanna

Now You’re Cooking – With Safety!

November 14, 2016 (San Diego)--Thanks giving is quickly approaching and did you know Thanksgiving Day is the leading day for home cooking fires, with three times as many occurring on Thanksgiving as any other day of the year? “Thanksgiving is a fun, festive holiday, but it’s also very hectic says Fire Chief Sam DiGiovanna. “All the entertaining and distractions make it easy to forget about what’s cooking on the stovetop.”

By Rebecca Jefferis Williamson

November 13, 2016 (El Cajon) -- The City of El Cajon held a Veterans Day ceremony at Centennial Plaza on November 11^th and presented its first Veteran of the Year Award to retired Chief Ray Moody.

In addition to the WWII veterans and others in attendance, a 30-year-old veteran, Kenny Patterson, US Navy, was also present.  He went in the service at 19. The phrase “I am a veteran –my oath of enlistment has no expiration date” aptly applies to Patterson.  He gives back to the community by participating in the American Legion Riders Chapter #303 which raises money to help other veterans.  A vet helping other vets. A vet who was also honoring other vets by his attendance at the ceremony.

By Jonathan Goetz

Photo: (L-R) Hon. Gary Kendrick, Moody RL, BMC, Hon. Bob McClellan, Hon. Susan Davis, Hon. Star Bales, Hon. Tony Ambrose

November 13, 2016 (El Cajon) — Congresswoman Susan Davis joined members of the El Cajon City Council at a ceremony honoring our veterans on Friday in downtown El Cajon. Rep. Davis, who also hosted a town hall meeting for veterans last week, posted on her Facebook page,  “Let us never forget the veterans who dedicated themselves to defending and protecting our freedoms.”

By Miriam Raftery

November 12, 2016 (Jamul-Dulzura) — Two military veterans have won seats on the Jamul-Dulzura Union School Board.  Running on a platform of giving back and continuing to serve their community, the pair won two open seats.

Sam Manis is an Army veteran once assigned to the White House communications agency. He is a farmer and cheesemaker, father of triplets  and has served as treasurer of the San Diego County 4H Club.   He stated on his Facebook  page, “I am running for the Jamul-Dulzura Union School Board because I have devoted my life to serving my community and children. As a long time Jamul resident I am deeply rooted in this community and want to support our local schools so every child is able to grow and learn to the best of their ability. As a US Army veteran, I firmly believe in giving back to this great nation that has been so generous to me.”

By Robert Gehr

Update November 13, 2016:  Jarred  Jefferson, 22, has been charged with felony vandalism for destroying or damaging 13 flags,  as well as two counts of obstructing an officer, NBC 7 News reports.  Poles were broken and some flags thrown in the street, where vehicles ran over them.  The flags had been put up by a local Boy Scout troop.

November 12, 2016 (El Cajon) — El Cajon Police arrested a young man yesterday morning who was reported to be damaging American flags displayed along Main Street in downtown El Cajon in recognition of Veteran’s Day.

Witnesses called El Cajon Police to report a man vandalizing American flags and it didn’t take very long for a Police officer to arrive, track down the perpetrator and make contact. The suspect did resist initial attempts by the first officer on scene attempting to arrest him, but was eventually taken into custody after another officer responded and aided in controlling the uncooperative man.

By Greg Palast

Reprinted with permission of Greg Palast, award-winning investigative reporter published in Rolling Stone, the Guardian and BBC News. His New York Times bestseller, Billionaires & Ballot Bandits, is now a major motion picture documentary.

Editor’s note: I interviewed Palast before the election, when he warned that Trump operatives were conspiring to steal it by purging 7.2 million minority voters off voting roles in key swing states. Now Palast has evidence that Trump’s winning margin in these states was far less than the number of voters wrongly removed by software called “Crosscheck.” It purported to remove duplicate voters with common minority names, even when middle names were different, denying millions of Latinos, blacks and Asians their right to vote. The mastermind behind Crosscheck is Kris Kobach, now head of Trump’s immigration policies transition team. If you believe this election should be investigated, send this story to your elected officials or party leaders.  You can also Support The Palast Investigative Fund. E

Fund and keep our work alive.

November 12, 2016 -- Before a single vote was cast, the election was fixed by GOP and Trump operatives.

Starting in 2013 – just as the Supreme Court gutted the Voting Rights Act – a coterie of Trump operatives, under the direction of Kris Kobach, Kansas Secretary of State, created a system to purge 1.1 million Americans of color from the voter rolls of GOP–controlled states.

For more sports coverage, visit ECM'S Sports section

SDSU shot just 29.1 percent from the floor

Source: goaztecs.com press release

Photo courtesy goaztecs.com

November 11, 2016 (Riverside) - San Diego State women’s basketball got scores from three of its four freshmen but fell in its season opener, 72-44, to UC Riverside on Friday night at SRC Arena.

Making their collegiate debut, the Aztecs got production from Baylee Vanderdoes (7), Abby Lowe (2) and Monique Terry (2). McKynzie Fort paced her team with 14 points, while Ariell Bostick’s eight rebounds were a team-high.

By Amber Henry

File photo by Ron Logan

November 11, 2016 (San Diego) — Kamala Harris will be California’s first African-American U.S. Senator and the first Indian-American in the U.S. Senate.  Harris, 52, a Democrat currently serving as California’s Attorney General, won over 62% of the votes,  AP reported, winning a landslide victory over Loretta Sanchez, a Democrat who represents California in the 46^th Congressional district.

Meeting Nov. 12 planned for communities of color concerned about the election outcome

By Miriam Raftery

Photo: Estela de los Rios, past victim of a hate crime in El Cajon

November 11, 2016 (San Diego) – Maria, a maid and legal U.S. resident who has raised her daughter here,  tearfully put her elderly,  frail mother on a plane Wednesday night and said goodbye,  perhaps forever.  “She is going back to Mexico, before Donald Trump can deport her,” Maria told East Magazine.

President-Elect Trump has vowed to deport all 11 million undocumented immigrants in America—including those brought here as children and the parents of U.S. citizens.  Even children who were brought here as babies, who have never known any other home.  Even ill and elderly parents such as Maria’s mother,  who has survived cancer and suffers from  diabetes.  Maria fears she is too ill to survive long on her own in Mexico—but the prospect of her mother languishing in a detention camp was even more frightening.

By Tracy DeFore, County of San Diego Communications Office

November 10, 2016 (San Diego) - In honor of Veterans Day, County Animal Services is joining Animals for Armed Forces and waiving adoption fees to military members and their families on Saturday, Nov. 12 and Sunday, Nov. 13.

November 10, 2016 (San Diego's East County) -- Some dressed in white, paying silient homage to the woman's suffrage movement, as they cast their votes for the first woman president.  But Election Day soon became a nightmare for supporters of Hillary Clinton,  despite weeks of walking precincts and phone-banking voters across the country for their candidate, when news broke of Donald Trump's victory.

Photo, left, by Devorah Fox:  Clinton supporter Debbie Boyd speaks with a local newscaster. (Click "read more" to view more photos.)

More than 100 Girl Scouts learned about the future of water in East San Diego County

Source:  Padre Dam nes release

November 10, 2016 (Santee) - More than 100 Girl Scouts from San Diego County joined Padre Dam Municipal Water District on Sunday, November 6 to learn about water, conservation and the future of water in East San Diego County during Padre Dam’s Girl Scout San Diego Day at the East County Advanced Water Purification Demonstration Facility.

By Fire Chief Sam DiGiovanna

November 10, 2016 (San Diego) -- Veterans Day is an important day for showing appreciation to members of our military, past and present. If you're looking for an appropriate way to honor a veteran in your life, here's a list of suggestions to start you off:

By Miriam Raftery

November 10,  2016 (San Diego) – Voters countywide resoundingly defeated Measure A and Measure B on Tuesday’s ballot. 

East County News Service

November 10, 2016 (San Diego’s East County) -- Our Health and Science Highlights provide cutting-edge news that could impact your health and our future.

HEALTH

• Zika therapy 'works in the womb' (BBC)
• Drug-resistant TB rates in west Africa much higher than previously thought (Guardian)
• Food Pantries Try Nutritional Nudging to Encourage Good Food Choices (NPR)
• Middle school suicides double in past decade: What can be done? (CS Monitor)
• Male Birth Control Study Killed After Men Report Side Effects (NPR)
• Laughing Gas Gives Women Another Option to Manage Labor Pain (NPR)
• Warning over non-lump breast cancers (BBC)

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

• Rise in atmospheric CO2 slowed by green vegetation (BBC)
• Mount St. Helens surprise: There's no magma in the volcano's peak (Christian Science Monitor)
• Thousands of baby turtles released into Peruvian Amazon (BBC)
• San Diego Scientists Create Electronics Material That Can Heal Itself (KPBS)
• An Experiment Shows How Quickly the Internet of Things Can Be Hacked (NPR)
• Adobe Voco 'Photoshop-for-voice' causes concern (BBC)
• U.S., 35 states to boost electric vehicle charging stations (Reuters)
• Google Chrome is going to crack the whip on unprotected websites (Marketplace)
• Deutsche Telekom to launch drone defense system: report (Reuters)
• Smart motorways catch more than 1,000 speeding drivers a week (BBC)
• Polish minister accuses Facebook of censorship over right-wing symbol (Reuters)
• Facebook Lets Advertisers Exclude Users by Race (ProPublica)

For excerpts and links to full stories, click “read more” and scroll down.