U.S.

March 2, 2016 (San Diego's East County)-- East County Magazine's World Watch helps you be an informed citizen about important issues globally and nationally. As part of our commitment to reflect all voices and views, we include links to a wide variety of news sources representing a broad spectrum of political, religious, and social views. Top world and U.S. headlines include:

Presidential primary

• Justice Dept. grants immunity to staffer who set up Clinton e-mail server (Washington Post)
• Jesse Ventura: I’ll run for president if Bernie Sanders loses (Daily Beast)
• Therapists confirm Trump’s narcissistic personality disorder (Psychology Today)
• Can Marco Rubio save his campaign and his career in Florida? (Washington Post)
• National poll: Clinton, Sanders both top Trump (CNN)
• Current Affairs: Unless Democrats run Sanders, a Trump nomination means a Trump presidency (Current Affairs)
• Ben Carson, seeing ‘no path forward’, signals end to candidacy (New York Times)
• Nearly 20% of Trump supporters disapprove of Lincoln freeing slaves (Vox)

General news

• ISIS leaders threaten Zuckerburg and Dorsey, say they will take down Facebook and Twitter(CNN)
• Abortion clinics are closing at record pace (Bloomberg)
• The unexpected side effects of legalizing weed (Newsweek)
• IRS says phishing and malware scams are up 400 percent this year (10 News)
• Despite promised transparency, US drone policy remains cloudy (CS Monitor)
• Investigation offers glimpse into polygamous sect's secretive compound (CS Monitor)
• 106 Burmese pythons captured in Florida in monthlong hunt (CS Monitor)
• IRS identifies more cyberattacks to access tax data (Reuters)
• U.S. Air Force vet one of first to face trial for Islamic State support (Reuters)

WORLD

• Former Tepco execs indicted over Fukushima nuclear disaster: media (Reuters)
• Mugabe birthday bash riles critics in drought-hit Zimbabwe  (Reuters)
• Cameroon frees several hundred hostages from Boko Haram (San Diego Union-Tribune)
• Israel: Lebanon violated UNSC resolution calls to disarm Hezbollah more than 2,000 times (JPost)
• Huge increase in European products passing through Israel to Arab states (JPost)
• Missing radioactive material found dumped in south Iraq (Reuters)
• To stay or go? UK to vote on membership in European Union. (CS Monitor)
• Thousands pay respects to slain Russian opposition leader Boris Nemtsov in solemn march (Social Media News)

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

Team will begin conference play October 8^th 

By Liz Alper

Photo: Mika Holder via goaztecs.com

March 2, 2016 (Colorado Springs, Co.) - The San Diego State Aztecs football program has released its 2016 schedule.

By Miriam Raftery

March 2, 2016 (Ocotillo) – The numbers are in –and for the third straight year, the Ocotillo Wind Energy Facility has fallen far short of the 34% capacity factor that Pattern Energy predicted the project would generate in its applications for lucrative federal subsidies.   In 2015, the Ocotillo project generated just 23.06%.  In 2014, it hit 26.4% and in 2013, when it was offline two months for hurling off a multi-ton blade, it produced a scant 15.7%.

We’re not surprised, since our award-winning 2014 investigative article, Was It Fraud? included forecasts by an international wind expert,Nicolas Boccard, who accurately predicted the project’s failure before it was built. He suggested the federal government had grounds for a False Claims Act suit against Pattern Energy.  We again raised questions about the project’s viability last year, in  a second story.

East County News Service

March 1, 2016 (San Diego) - If you’ve used your credit or debit card to purchase monthly trolley or bus passes through the Metropolitan Transit System’s Compass Card fare collection system, your security may be compromised.

Update 11:05 a.m.:  The suspect is now in custody and the lockdown has been lifted.

March 1, 2016 (San Diego) 10:50 a.m. -- San Diego State Police have issued a shelter-in-place alert due to suspect believed armed with a handgun near Alvarado Hospital.  10 News reports police attempted to stop a vehicle on I-8 near College Avenue and the suspect fled toward Alvarado.

If you are in this area, police ask that you stay inside and do not call police unless you have an emergency.

East County News Service

March 1, 2016 (San Diego’s East County) – It’s official – last month was the hottest February ever I San Diego County since record-keeping began way back in 1875. 

East County News Service

February 29, 2016 (San Diego) – Zika has recently been suspected of causing Guillain-Barré syndrome, a rare neurological disorder. It can leave patients partially paralyzed, sometimes permanently, also causing breathing problems in severe cases after the patient’s immune system attacks nerve cells, according to the Centers for Disease Control.

Now results of a study published in the medical journal The Lancet confirm that nearly all of the blood samples from 42 Guillain-Barré patients in French Polynesia in the South Pacific two years ago also tested positive for Zika virus.

By Miriam Raftery

Correction:  A prior article in ECM stated that Senator Anderson supported construction of Sunrise Powerlink. His office indicates he took no position on the project. We regret our error.

February 29, 2016 (Alpine) – “Keeping constituents safe is my top priority,” Senator Joel Anderson states  in a letter today to Supervisor Dianne Jacob.  “I want to make sure all available and appropriate state resources are deployed so that my constituents are provided answers to their questions about the electric and magnetic field (EMF) levels in our community.”

Senator Anderson’s letter indicates he has contacted three state agencies regarding the EMF concerns, including the California Department of Health (CDPH), which advised him that they will review measurements taken by local governments to see how they compare with other schools that were surveyed by the CDPH in a previous study.  

By Leon Thompson

February 29, 2016 (Maryland Avenue Elementary School, La Mesa) – An overflow crowd attended the Town Hall meeting with the La Mesa City Council on February 20^th to discuss the City’s future.  Mayor Mark Arapostathis greeted the attendees.

In this part of La Mesa the subject of group-homes was very much on the minds of nearby residents.  The concentration of group-homes in this neighborhood is five times the normal number.  

Lots of free and discounted health/fitness services for Lakeside residents!

By Steve Lauria

View video with Senator Joel Anderson discussing the Lakeside Health Awareness Month: https://www.facebook.com/CaliforniaHealthNetwork/videos/1234959753184102/

February 29, 2016 (Lakeside)--Lakeside is a rural area in the Eastern region of San Diego County. Many people find it a great place to call home, but like the rest of San Diego County, it has a growing problem with chronic disease and other health concerns.

Throughout the month of March, California Health Network, a nonprofit organization based in East County, is doing its part in improving  the health of the citizens of Lakeside by sponsoring Lakeside Health Awareness Month. Another 32 local health and fitness businesses are offering free and discounted services to  citizens of Lakeside. You can view the offers here: http://californiahealthnetwork.org/healthawarenessmonth

By Suzanne Potter, Public News Service

Photo:  Arnoshwithal/morguefile

February 28, 2016 (San Francisco) -- The American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit with the state Supreme Court in San Francisco Monday with far-reaching consequences for the 255 people sentenced to die in prison for crimes committed as juveniles.

East County News Service

February 27, 2016 (El Cajon) — Joshua Hallmark, 24, is under arrest for vehicle theft and evading law enforcement following a chase that ended in a crash on State Route 125 near Grossmont College on Thursday, February 25^th.  A passenger, Daniel Toft, 28, was also arrested and charged with drug possession.

East County News Service

February 27, 2016 (San Diego) – An environmental health symposium and public forum featuring acclaimed scientist Dr. Gilles-Eric Seralini in his first U.S. appearance will be held on Sunday, March 6 from 3- 7 p.m. at the Hilton San Diego. Dr. Seralani has exposed dangers of glyphosate (the ingredient in Monsanto’s Roundup) in a landmark study.

Hear our interview with Richard Walker, which originally aired on the East County Magazine Radio Show on KNSJ radio February 1st: https://www.eastcountymagazine.org/sites/eastcountymagazine.org/files/au...

By Miriam Raftery

February 27, 2016 (Borrego Springs)—Borrego Springs is running out of water. The community’s sole-source aquifer could dry out within 30 years. But while residents in the community’s water district have been asked to conserve, big agricultural users and golf resorts have virtually no mandate to cut back, since they utilize private wells.

Recently we interviewed Richard Walker, a resident of Borrego Springs who supports adjudication to have the courts resolve Borrego’s vanishing water supply.  But Walker can't afford legal action --and hopes someone in the community will step forward.

East County News Service

February 27, 2016 (Lakeside) – Spring brings bountiful traditional food resources.  The Barona Cultural Center and Museum will hold a native foods/yucca cooking class with Martha Rodriguez (San Jose de la Zorra) sharing knowledge of how to prepare, cook and eat various parts of the yucca plant.

Lunch is included, so bring your appetite!