Source: American Psychiatric Association

Photo: Hurricane Katrina damage

May 21, 2017 (San Diego) – Adolescents exposed to natural and environmental disasters show higher levels of alcohol misuse and emotional trauma than their peers, according to new research presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Psychiatric Association in San Diego. The findings indicate the importance of mental health services for youth that have experienced emotional trauma.

By Miriam Raftery

Photos by Cynthia Wharton, taken yesterday from Otay Lakes Road just before it was shut down.

May 21, 2017 – A criminal arson investigation has been launched into the cause of the Gate Fire, which has charred 2,056 acres and is now 70% contained.

Captain Isaac Sanchez with Cal Fire told ECM news partner 10 News that a video shot by a target shooter and posted on social media shows a group of people starting the fire. The video may be this one posted by a user named Vandalsworld on Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/p/BUVtlvSBN0r/?hl=en.   The poster claims the people started the fire, but it is unclear whether the fire was started by shooting or some other way. After the fire started, the people could be seen walking away from the scene.

Earlier, some neighbors had blamed the fire on shooters at a target range near where the fire began, in an area where shooting is believed to have started several prior brush fires. But now a shooter may have captured evidence to catch possible arsonists or careless individuals whose actions ignited the Gate Fire.

Firefighters continue to make progress towards full containment, Cal Fire reports.  State Route 94 has been reopened, as well as Otay Lakes Road.  Please drive with caution, however, in this area.

East County News Service

May 21, 2017 (San Diego) – Congresswoman Susan Davis will host a town hall meeting on Monday, June 19^th from 6 to 7:30 p.m. at San Diego State University’s Montezuma Hall, within the Conrad Prebys Aztec Student Union (6075 Aztec Circle Drive, San Diego).

By Miriam Raftery

May 21, 2017 (Lemon Grove) – The driver of a green Honda Accord died after a high-speed accident in the 3200 block of Sweetwater Road in Lemon Grover yesterday.  The young man, who was not wearing a seatbelt, was ejected onto the roadway.

East County News Service

May 20, 2017 (Lemon Grove and Rancho San Diego) -- Community outreach is a priority of the San Diego County Sheriff's Department.  “Members of the community should feel comfortable bringing problems related to safety and security to our staff,” a press release states.

By Roy L. Hales

May 20, 2017 (San Diego) - GRID Alternatives entered San Diego eight years ago, with a solar installation in El Cajon.  Since then, the non-profit has put up a total of 824 systems throughout the county. This Saturday, they return to the same El Cajon neighbourhood for GRID Alternatives San Diego’s SummerSolarthon.

May 20, 2017 (San Diego's East County)-- Our February 2017 radio shows are now online. For links to listen to the shows plus a full list of topics an interviews, click here. (Sound files may take a few moments to load).

We interviewed representatives from the International Rescue Committee and Survivors of Torture on impacts of President Trump’s refugee restrictions and travel ban,  Dr. Patrick Sullivan, an anesthesiologist suing Grossmont Hospital over patient privacy concerns, women’s rights advocate Bonnie Price,  SDSU climate scientist Walter Oechel on melting permafrost, and Victor Crosswaite Contreras on Twainfest, who performed a dramatic reading of bandito Joaquin Murrieta.  We also covered top East County issues as well as regional and national news headlines.

 The East County Magazine Show airs Mondays and Fridays from 5 to 6 p.m. on KNSJ, 89.1 FM.  Our shows rerun on Tuesdays at 9 a.m. and Saturdays at 8 a.m. Pacific Standard Time.  Read more and listen to our February shows:

By Miriam Raftery

May 20, 2017 (San Diego) -- Dave Myers wants to be the new Sheriff in town.  He says he’s running to restore accountability, transparency, and community trust to policing.  He’s worked in law enforcement for 32 years and is currently a Commander with the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department.

A native of San Diego, he’s always had a “passion for law enforcement” and to “treat everyone who’s calling for help as if my mother was calling for help.”

Recently, East County Magazine sat down with Myers for an in-depth interview on our show on KNSJ radio. Hear the full broadcast by clicking the audio link above, and view highlights below.

By Miriam Raftery, East County Magazine

May 20, 2017 (San Diego) – Mollie Moon, author of the novel Five Wishes,  sat down for an exclusive interview with Reina Menasche, host of the Bookshelf segment on East County Magazine’s Show on KNSJ radio.  Hear the full interview by clicking the audio link eand read highlights below.

Her novel tracks the journey of a teen girl escaping a shanty town in Honduras in hopes of finding a better life in America .  Her journey includes living on  city streets and falling prey to a human trafficker, nightmares that befall far too many immigrants coming to America. A German immigrant, Moon has empathy with immigrants around the world in today’s political climate.

By James Kecskes, County of San Diego Communications Office

May 19, 2017 (San Diego) - Kitten season is upon us and the County’s Department of Animal Services is getting flooded with kittens. The department is offering spay and neuter coupons to help lower the cat population: $100 for females and $50 for males.

By Jonathan Goetz

May 19, 2017 (Lemon Grove) -- The Lemon Grove City Council voted 3-2 to support, with additional amendments, Assembly Bill 805 authored by Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez Fletcher, which gives San Diego and Chula Vista more power on SANDAG, the regional transportation body in San Diego County.   The key change sought would allow chairs and vice chairs of SANDAG to include leaders from any city in the region, not just San Diego and Chula Vista. 

East County News Service

May 19, 2017 (El Cajon) – Joseph Bollacker, 25, of El Cajon has been arrested and charged with attempted homicide after shooting his girlfriend’s brother last night in El Cajon.

El Cajon Police received numerous calls of a shooting at an apartment at 633 South Johnson Avenue around 7:22 p.m. last night.  The victim was at the apartment shared by his girlfriend and her brother, Bollacker, when he was attacked by Bollacker, said Lieutenant Jason Taub.

By Suzanne Potter, Public News Service

May 18, 2017 (Berkeley, Calif.) - A new report finds that some California families are losing their homes and being driven into bankruptcy by the fees counties charge when kids get arrested - fees that nonetheless generate little to no profit for taxpayers.

Source: Padre Dam Municipal Water District

May 18, 2017 (Santee) - Padre Dam Municipal Water District received regulatory conceptual approvals for the East County Advanced Water Purification Program from the California State Water Resources Control Board Division of Drinking Water. Additionally, the State Water Resources Control Board awarded Padre Dam $116.2 million as part of the Proposition 1 (Prop 1) Water Recycling Funding Program. 

By Ryan J. Smith, Executive Director of the Education Trust-West

May 17, 2017 (Washington D.C.) -- Today we rightly celebrate the milestone Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court decision issued on May 17^th, 1954 striking down school segregation. Yet today also marks another anniversary – the annual issuing of statements reminding us that, decades later, we still have not closed the gaps in access and opportunity that segregate our students and limit their ability to learn.

When asked about William Faulkner’s essay urging the nation to “go slow” on integration, Brown v. Board attorney and future Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall pointed out “They don’t mean go slow. They mean don’t go.”