By Miriam Raftery

November 7, 2019 (Lemon Grove) – Lemon Grove Councilman Matt Mendoza resigned Monday after moving to Florida due to his work for Boeing.  The Council will meet tonight in a 6:30 p.m. public session to discuss options for filling the vacancy. The  Council originally planned a closed-door meeting but changed to an open session after the San Diego Union-Tribune raised questions about the legality of a closed-door process, the newspaper reported.

The resignation comes at a critical time for the city, which has been forced to dip into its financial reserves.  An initiative to raise sales tax by three-quarters of a cent has just qualified for the ballot – a measure that Mendoza, a conservative, has said he supports.  He told the Union-Tribune that his greatest regret has been the inability of the city to attract enough new businesses to attain fiscal stability. The city has even faced calls from some to consider disincorporation, or giving up cityhood to revert to county control.

Mendoza’s departure comes just weeks before a December 19, 2019 jury trial in a lawsuit against the city of Lemon Grove and Counclman David Arambula is set to commence.  Judge Richard Whitney authorized Cory Briggs, attorney for plaintiff Chris Williams, to take a deposition from Mendoza but so far, Mendoza has been unavailable for that deposition, Candid Chronicle reports.   

East County News Service

November 7, 2019 (San Diego) -- The Old Globe celebrates six years of making theatre matter to more people.  Its talented Globe for All company of professional actors will bring a stirring production of William Shakespeare’s The Winter’s Tale to a variety of economically, geographically, and culturally diverse communities throughout San Diego County. The free-admission Globe for All Tour kicked off in late October and has already held several performances around the County.  The Tour comes to the El Cajon branch of the County Library with the Chaldean Middle Easter Social Services on Friday November 8 at 5:34 (799 East Washington).

November 7, 2019 (San Diego) -- East County Roundup highlights top stories of interest to East County and San Diego's inland regions, published in other media.  This week's round-up stories include:  

LOCAL

• Donations to Anderson’s 2020 county supervisor campaign draw questions (San Diego Union-Tribune)
• San Diego farmers find innovative solutions to climate change problems (10 News)
• Morning Report: Backlogged Rape Kits Yielded Dozens of DNA Hits (Voice of San Diego)
• Lemon Grove Councilman Matt Mendoza resigns (San Diego Union-Tribune)
• San Diego Explained: The Policy That's Wreaking Havoc on San Diego's Immigration Courts (Voice of San Diego)
• Salvation Army’s Red Shield Center opens in El Cajon (San Diego Union-Tribune)

STATE

• California DMV ‘data breach’ exposes thousands of drivers’ Social Security information (San Diego Union-Tribune)
• Apple pledges $2.5 billion to help with housing crisis (San Francisco Chronicle)
• Judge orders state takeover of insurer at heart of Lara political controversy (San Diego Union-Tribune)
• As Newsom Meets With PG&E, Nearly A Dozen Mayors Propose To Make The Utility A Customer-Owned Co-Op (San Francisco Chronicle)

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

East Counrt News Service

November 7, 2019 (Julian) – Julian resident Jim Baker served as a firefighter for 41 years as well as Fire Chief in Del Mar.  But now he faces financial struggles after his wife, Janet, was diagnosed with Lewy Body Dementia. According to family friend Beatriz Cauzza, who has started a GoFundMe page to help the couple, “Within the first 26 days of that diagnosis Mr. Baker spent $143,000 on medical bills that were not covered by their insurance.”

November 6, 2019 (San Diego’s East County) - East County Magazine's World Watch helps you be an informed citizen on important issues globally and nationally. As part of our commitment to reflect all voices and views, we include links to a variety of news sources representing a broad spectrum of political, religious, and social views. Top world and U.S. headlines include:

U.S.

Impeachment inquiry

• Trump impeachment hearings to go public next week (BBC)
• Sondland becomes 4th witness to confirm quid pro quo between Trump, Ukraine (MSNBC)
• Giuliani associate willing to comply in Trump probe (Reuters)

Other national news

• Democratic sweep in Virginia gives new life to the Equal Rights Amendment (CNN)
• Trump formally pulls out of landmark Paris climate agreement (The Hill)   
• In historic shift, The Salt Lake Tribune gets IRS approval to become a nonprofit (Salt Lake Tribune)
• Trump advisers have a plan for national parks: Amazon, food trucks and no senior discounts (San Diego Union-Tribune)
• Smugglers are sawing through new sections of Trump’s border wall (Washington Post)
• Frank Luntz reveals unprecedented findings on how voters view President Trump (Fox News)

WORLD

• Iran fuels centrifuges, resumes uranium enrichment at Fordow (Reuters)
• Indigenous leader who protected rainforest in Brazil ambushed and killed (CNN)
• Slain U.S. citizens were part of Mormon offshoot with sordid history (NBC)
• Protests Greet Spanish King in Secession-Focused Catalonia (Time)

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

By Yvette Urrea Moe, County of San Diego Communications Office

Photo:  A new updated Personal Disaster Plan is available for San Diego County residents to learn what to do before, during and after a disaster.

October 21, 2019 (San Diego) - Do you have a plan if there’s a wildfire? Or any emergency? The County of San Diego is mailing a Personal Disaster Plan to residents who live in the areas of highest fire danger in our community. Read it when you get it, discuss it with your family, complete it and practice it.

Source:  SDSU News Team

Photo:  SDSU Kumeyaay Land Acknowledgement formally acknowledges Native and Indigenous people and to take specific action in support of the Kumeyaay.

November 6, 2019 (San Diego) - The SDSU Kumeyaay Land Acknowledgement has been formally approved and will be adopted as part of ceremonial introductions at key campus events, as written statements on university web pages, and to encourage initiatives that bolster academic, professional and other support for students, faculty and staff. 

By Donald H. Harrison

Originally published at San Diego Jewish World, a member of the San Diego Online News Network

November 6, 2019 (San Diego) - Old Mission Dam, a.k.a. Padre Dam, is celebrated as both a California Historic Landmark and as a National Historic Landmark for being one of the first irrigation projects on the West Coast of the United States, having been built between 1813 and 1816 by Franciscan padres and Kumeyaay laborers.

Sophia Ramos had a team-high 14 points

Source:  goaztecs.com

Photo courtesy goaztecs.com

November 5, 2019 (Honolulu) - The Aztec women’s basketball team lost at Hawai’i 61-58 in their season opener Tuesday evening.

In a game where neither team led by more than four points in the second half, Hawai’i made five of their final six field goals to hold off the Aztecs in a nail-biter. SDSU had a chance to tie the game in the final seconds, but Sophia Ramos’ three-pointer rimmed out.

East County News Service

November 5, 2019 (San Diego’s East County) - This week’s Destination East County features a fall festival in Casa de Oro, a Cultural Arts Expo in El Cajon a Multicultural Diversity Event in Lemon Grove.

Plus, we have a preview of coming events including concerts at the Magnolia Center, 

the Mother Goose Parade in El Cajon, Pianorama in La Mesa, a Thanksgiving Feast at Pine Hills Lodge in Julian, Pomegranate Days at the Oasis Camel Dairy in Ramona, a Julian Country Christmas, Lakeside’s Spirit of Christmas on Maine, a Christmas celebration on Mt. Helix, Ramona’s Christmas Tree lighting, Santa at Santee Lakes, and La Mesa’s Holiday in the Village. 

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

By Michelle Mowad, County of San Diego Communications Office

November 5, 2019 (Lakeside) - Conquer what is arguably the toughest trail in the county this Veterans Day weekend. Trek up El Cajon Mountain in El Capitan County Preserve during the Warrior Hike Challenge on Saturday, Nov. 9.

By Miriam Raftery

November 4, 2019 (El Cajon) – Ray Lutz announced today that he will not run for the 53^rd Congressional district seat being vacated by the retirement of Susan Davis, after earlier forming an exploratory committee for the race. Lutz, an engineer and founder of the Citizens Oversight watchdog group based in El Cajon, previously challenged Duncan Hunter in the 52^nd Congressional district before redistricting shifted his residence into the 53^rd.

Lutz has long been an activist on election integrity issues, including training the public to provide oversight of election audits. Now Lutz says he intends to focus on developing an auditing service to be available by the 2020 elections. It will allow election officials, candidates, and oversight groups to conduct a thorough and independent review of any election that uses paper ballots and equipment that creates ballot images.

By Julie Cart | CALmatters

CALmatters is an independent public interest journalism venture covering California state politics and government.

Photo:  This small energy system, or microgrid, powers the Southern California desert town of Borrego Springs. Photo courtesy of San Diego Gas & Electric

November 4, 2019 (San Diego) - More than 1 million Californians were left in the dark for days recently as their big utility companies shut off power for fear of sparking wildfires. Frustrated by those outages, some homeowners say they’d like to turn their backs on the companies in favor of smaller providers who might do a better job of keeping the lights on. The mayors of San Francisco and San Jose say they want to sever ties with Pacific Gas and Electric, which serves much of Northern California, and create separate utilities for their cities.