By Miriam Raftery

Photo: Rev. Shane Harris during a January interview with East County Magazine on KNSJ

March 13, 2017 (El Cajon) — Rev. Shane Harris at the National Action Network in San Diego announced that he has asked Calif. Attorney General Xavier Becerra to appoint a special prosecutor to conduct an independent investigation into the death of Alfred Olango. Olango, an African-American man, was fatally shot in Sept. 2016 by an El Cajon Police officer.

By Rebecca Jefferis Williamson

March 13, 2017 (Alpine) -- Alpine’s First Annual Honey Festival, held March 11^th, included teaching youths in their community about the history of their land.  That history includes honey and its production. In fact, this region was once the honey producing capitol of the world! Kids dressed up as bees and participated in an art show that portrayed bees and hives, with major doses of yellow and black.  But teaching kids about their local history was just a part of the festival.

Source: Caltrans

March 13, 2017 (El Cajon/Lakeside) -- Caltrans construction crews will close one lane on northbound State Route 67 between Interstate 8 in El Cajon and Mapleview Street in Lakeside on Monday from 9 a.m. until 2 p.m. The closure is needed to apply a fog seal – a protective pavement coating. The same closure will take place Tuesday if needed to complete the work.

Aztecs complete non-conference season with third straight win

Source:  goaztecs.com

Photo:  Jenavee Peres hit a grand slam in the sixth inning in SDSU's 6-1 win over Harvard.  Courtesy goaztecs.com

March 12, 2017 (Long Beach) - Junior Jenavee Peres (Garden Grove, Calif.) hit a grand slam in the top of the sixth inning to lift the San Diego State softball team to a 6-1 victory over Harvard Sunday afternoon at Long Beach State. It was the third straight win for the Aztecs (16-9) in their final non-conference game of the season.

March 6, 2017 (San Diego's East County)-- Our January 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 Diane Conklin from Mussey Grade Alliance in Ramona on SDG&E’s effort to recoup wildfire losses from ratepayers, Estela de los Rios from CSA on homelessness, Rev. Shane Harris on the Martin Luther King Day march, and more.  We also covered top local, state and national news on issues impacting people across our region including the inauguration of President Donald Trump and newly elected local city council members.

 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 January shows:

East County News Service

March 10, 2017 (Washington D.C.) -- The Senate introduced a resolution today to overturn a Federal Communications Commission rule that requires internet service providers to get customers’ permission before they sell sensitive consumer data, such as browsing history.

East County News Service

View video: https://www.facebook.com/ienearth/videos/1657313897618763/

“Native Nations Rise” led by Standing Rock Sioux, indigenous people from across America will march to the White House in response to Trump’s pipeline aggressively calling for a new era of respect

March 10, 2017 (Washington D.C.) – Today, indigenous people from numerous tribes led by the Standing Rock Sioux marched on the White House in response to President Donald Trump authorizing the Dakota Access Pipeline and Keystone Pipeline that threaten waters on indigenous lands.

East County News Service

March 10, 2017 (Sacramento) -- State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson, as part of his efforts to ensure parents and students feel safe at schools regardless of their immigration status, this week asked federal law enforcement authorities to explain if they are changing a policy that had avoided immigration actions near schools.

East County News Service

March 8, 2017 (San Diego's East County) - This week’s Destination East County includes a honey festival, TOMATOMANIA, open house at a camel dairy, a healthy living fair and a stargazing party.

Plus, we’ll tell you about coming attractions including the Circle of Art show, a lilac festival, a piano and violin concert, a street fair with carnival rides, the famous Peg Leg Smith liar’s competition, Sweet Pea days, a Taste of Julian, and a chili cook-off with a hotrod contest.

So scroll down for all of these events and many others!

By Miriam Raftery

AARP warns that seniors age 50-64 will pay $8,500 a year more for health insurance premiums each year, on average, under the GOP plan. Read the bill here. 

March 10, 2017 (San Diego’s East County) –Major organizations representing patients, doctors, nurses and senior citizens have come out against the “American Health Care Act” ( AHCA or “Trumpcare”), Congressional Republicans’ plan for replacing the Affordable Care Act (ACA Obamacare) that’s being fast-tracked through Congress. 

The American Medical Association (AMA),  the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) and others warn that the plan will weaken benefits and make healthcare much more expensive than many people are paying now, whether you’re on an ACA plan, private health insurance or Medicare/Medicare.   

“As drafted, the AHCA would result in millions of Americans losing coverage and benefits,”  Dr. Andrew Gurman, prseident of the AMA, the nation's largest organization of doctors, said Wednesday. "By replacing income-based premium subsidies with age-based tax credits,  AHCA will also make coverage more expensive—if not out of reach—for poor and sick Americans. For these reasons, the AMA cannot support the AHCA as it is currently written.”

East County News Service

March 9, 2017 (San Diego’s East County) – If you’re in search of Irish music, Irish beer or feasting on Irish foods to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day,  here are some St. Patrick’s Day happenings in East County.

East County News Service

March 9, 2017 (Washington D.C.) – Congress is considering a bill that will effectively end California’s 20-plus year civil protection system for victims of elder abuse or neglect perpetrated by health care providers.



“H.R. 1215 is a corporate wish list of anti-justice measures to immunize health care providers from accountability for terrible care by limiting justice for victims of health care malpractice,” warns California Advocates for Nursing Home Reform, a nonprofit that advocates for improving care for patients needing long-term care. “The bill is misleadingly named the `Protecting Access to Care Act of 2017.’  A more apt name for H.R. 2115 would be `Obstruction of Justice for the Injured.’”

East County News Service

Photo courtesy 10 News, ECM news partner

March 9, 2017 (Rolando) – A gunman fired multiple rounds into the Blue Nile Hookah Lounge shortly after midnight, but fortunately no one was injured.

Panicked customers dove for cover to avoid bullets that went through a front window and also struck vehicles in the 7200 block of El Cajon Blvd.

By Miriam Raftery

Photo:  Tammy Rimes and her husband/winemaker, the late William Holzhauer

March 9, 2017 (Ramona) – Hacienda de las Rosas Winery in Ramona is closing its doors.   The last day in business will be Saturday, April 29^th. The property will be going up for sale in April, owner Tammy Rimes announced in an email to wine club members.

East County News Service

March 9, 2017 (San Diego’s East County) -- Our Health and Science Highlights provide cutting-edge news that could impact your health and our future.

HEALTH

• Overprescribed: veterans and the painkiller problem (San Diego Union-Tribune)
• Health Officials Monitor Jump in Human Cases of Bird Flu in China (NPR)
• Forbidding Forecast for Lyme Disease in the Northeast (NPR)
•  Did You Get Bit by a Lyme-Infested Tick? Here's What to Do (NPR)
• Drugs disaster (BBC)
• Patients Demand The 'Right to Try' Experimental Drugs, But Costs Can Be Steep (NPR)
• Reports of Medical Breakthroughs Often Don't Prove Out (NPR)
• WATCH: Raindrops Catapult Bacteria into the Air, and It's Beautiful (NPR)
• Feeling Lonely? Too Much Time on Social Media May Be Why (NPR)

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

• This Tiny Home Was 3D Printed in 24 Hours (Apartment Therapy)
• New insight into secret lives of Neanderthals (BBC)
• DNA clues to why woolly mammoth died out (BBC)
• Ancient human tree cultivation shaped Amazon landscape (Reuters)
• Scientists create first artificial mouse 'embryo' from stem cells (Reuters)
• Doctor Launches Vision Quest to Help Astronauts’ Eyeballs (NPR)

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