Story and photos by Ken Stone,Times of San Diego, a member of the San Diego Online News Association

January 28, 2023 (Santee) - Former Miss California Carrie Prejean Boller took the lectern at Wednesday’s Santee City Council meeting and declared that she “identified” as Christynne Wood — and thus deserved the same three minutes of public comment time.

Source:  U.S. Customs and Border Protection

January 28, 2023 (San Diego) - U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers from the San Diego Field Office kicked off the new year strong, seizing more than $9 million worth of dangerous drugs at its ports of entry. From January 4 through January 22, nine significant seizures led CBP officers to extract 515 packages of fentanyl, methamphetamine, cocaine, and heroin from travelers’ vehicles.

Story and Photos by Josh Stotler

January 27, 2023 (Spring Valley) -- A single vehicle collision into a power pole ignited a small vegetation fire off of Elevator Road in Spring valley today. The reports of smoke came in to Heartland Fire Dispatch just before noon and units from Heartland, Cal Fire and air support from the San Diego Sheriffs dept. we’re quickly on the scene.

Source: Trauma intervention Programs (TIP) of San Diego

January 27, 2023 (San Diego) - Neighbors helping neighbors in crisis.  That is what local nonprofit, Trauma Intervention Programs of San Diego (TIP), thrives on. For over 37 years, TIP volunteers have been responding to a continuous high demand need of crisis intervention requests in San Diego County. 

January 26, 2023 (Pala) -- Pala Casino Spa Resort is excited to present legendary group Spyro Gyra and world-renowned prolific acoustic guitarist Peter White on Friday, February 17, performing live indoor at the Events Center. The show will start at 8:00 p.m. General admission tickets are $45.

This show is just one of the impressive lineup of headliner and tribute concerts that will be held at the Events Center and Starlight Theater.

By Pennell Paugh

On January 27, 7 to 9 p.m., San Diego Public Library is proud to sponsor the 2022 Showcase, featuring published works by San Diego's most talented authors. The event is live and in-person! The library will be featuring a stunning collection of display cabinets filled with locally authored books from several different genres. The display will be available for public browsing for the entire month of February, afterwards the books will be prepared to circulate for one year. Books will also be featured in an online exhibit. Please visit the Local Author website for more information and to view previous online exhibits.

Multi-award-winning local author T. Greenwood will be delivering a keynote speech. The evening will feature local jazz musicians, Ria & Aaron, light refreshments, a limited open mike event and a few more surprises.

Registration is highly suggested for authors and their guests.

By Miriam Raftery

January 25, 2023 (Alpine) – Late last fall, Sweetwater Water Authority authorized draining Loveland Reservoir down to  minimum pool and then in November, further draining to dead pool status over public objections, as ECM reported,  That extreme draining left an L-shaped floating fishing dock paid for by taxpayers through a federal HUD grant perched on dry land.

Then came the deluge of rainfall in mid-January, which ripped apart the fishing dock.

East County News Service

January 24, 2023 (Julian) – Julian Tea & Cottage Arts invites you to romantically-inspired Valentine’s Teas from Feb.9 through Feb. 14.  The four-course menu features soup, finger sandwiches and savories, a scone with curd, jam and whipped cream, plus a grand finale served on a three-piece dessert tray.

By Miriam Raftery

January 24, 2023 (La Mesa) – Neighbors near Lemon Avenue Elementary School reporting seeing 15-20 police cars and a SWAT team late this afternoon.  The La Mesa Police Department sent a Nixle warning of police activity near Lemon Ave. and Glen, but at 4:19 posted this message on Facebook:  “La Mesa PD received a call of an active shooter at Lemon Avenue Elementary. It was a FALSE ALARM. Officers are still on scene but there are no injuries and no active threat to the community.”

By Shiloh Ireland

Miriam Raftery also contributed to this report

Photo, left: Conservative activist Carl DeMaio speaks at rally

January 23, 2023 (Santee) -- On a rain-soaked, muddy field at the Santee YMCA, around 500 peaceful rally goers and counter protesters turned out on January 18^th. Organizers staged a rally supporting women and girls’ rights over concerns regarding a transgender person in the women’s locker room, while counter protesters turned out in support of transgender rights.

At the flash point of the controversy, 17-year-old Rebecca Phillips told YMCA staff and the Santee City Council that she saw a “naked man” in the locker room earlier this month as Phillips emerged from the shower. The teen had testified that she was traumatized and voiced concern for her younger sister who attends camps at the center.

The person Phillips saw was Christynne Lili Wrene Wood (photo, right), a transgender person who has indicated she has undergone gender-change surgery and considers herself a woman.

January 23, 2023  (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

• 10 cities demand SANDAG scrap weighted vote to get representation (KPBS)
• S.D. County residents have unequal access to public meetings. How easy should it be to tune in? (San Diego Union-Tribune)
• Watch: Huge Section of Cliff Crashes onto Black's Beach in La Jolla (NBC San Diego)
• Tijuana Is Again Buying Emergency Water from California After Aqueduct Outage (Voice of San Diego)
• Rest In Peace: San Diego's Saddest & Most Surprising Closures Of 2022 (SanDiegoville)
• San Diegans struggle with egg-stremely high egg prices (KPBS)
• Photographer arrested after sting by San Diego-based vigilante group (10 News)
• East County’s only hospital is powered by an off-the-grid machine that’s cutting costs and emissions, report says (San Diego Union-Tribune)
• El Cajon judge gets second chance to donate a kidney (East County Californian)

STATE

• President Biden Declares Emergency in California Due to Winter Storms (Times of San Diego)
• Senate musical chairs: California prepares for political battle over Feinstein vacancy (Guardian)
•   (Los Angeles Times)
• Authorities working to determine source of oil slick off Santa Barbara coast (Los Angeles Times)
• Gov. Gavin Newsom’s 2024 budget predicts no recession, but tough times for job seekers (Sacramento Bee)
• California faces budget deficit of $22.5B, governor says (KPBS)
• California sees increase in cannabis-related ER visits by older adults (KPBS)
• Residential batteries linked over internet could soon help California’s electrical grid (KPBS)
• Storm hits Santa Barbara and Montecito hard, bringing mass rescues, damage and jitters (Los Angeles Times)

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

January 23, 2023 (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.

• Classified papers in Biden’s home; special counsel investigating (The Hill)
• Trump and lawyer sanctioned almost $1 million for ‘frivolous’ lawsuit against Hillary Clinton (CNBC)
• Trump’s NY Tax-Fraud Hit Eclipsed by Impact of Felony Conviction (Bloomberg Law)
• Kevin McCarthy wins speaker race after a grueling 4 days and 15 rounds of voting (CBS)
• Arizona city cuts off a neighborhood’s water supply amid drought (Washington Post)
• Coast Guard monitoring Russian spy, ship on patrol off Hawaii  (AP)
• Trump accused in lawsuit of causing wrongful death of Officer Brian Sicknick in US Capitol attack (CNN)
• Trump's returns shed light on tax offsets, foreign accounts (10 News)
• FAA: Contractors unintentionally deleted files, leading to the NOTAM outage  (NPR)
• FBI says two men hit Washington's power grid to commit a burglary (NPR)
• U.S. moves to ban non-compete provisions that hurt workers  (Yahoo News)
• The skilled trades haven't caught as a career choice with Gen Z.  (NPR)
• Puerto Rico to privatize power generation amid power outages (AP)

WORLD

• Migrants Can Now Use ‘CBP One’ App to Request Asylum at Border Crossings (Times of San Diego)
• Foreigners banned from buying residential property in Canada for 2 years (Times Now News)
• Mexico gives account of violence after ‘Chapo’ son nabbed (AP)
• Global food prices in 2022 hit record high amid drought, war (AP)
• 90% of people in China province infected with Covid, says local health official (NPR)
• UK leader calls crisis meeting over struggling health system (AP) 
• China set for historic demographic turn, accelerated by COVID traumas (Reuters)
• England bans single-use plastic plates and cutlery (NPR)
• Russia backs banning of maps disputing official 'territorial integrity' (Reuters)
• Peru antigovernment protests spread, with clashes in Cusco  (NPR)
• Ukraine building suffers deadliest civilian attack in months (AP)
• In Istanbul, what was once routine for the winter is now a luxury   (NPR)

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

By Miriam Raftery

January 22, 2023 (Julian) – Here’s an event worth howling about.  The California Wolf Center in Julian is offering guided tours on February 4. The tours last an hour and provide an opportunity to see the facility’s critically endangered wolves and learn about wolf conservation.

By Donna Durckel, County of San Diego Communications Office

January 22, 2023 (San Diego's East County) - A recent analysis of census data as part of the County Comprehensive Broadband Plan showed that approximately 37,000 households in the unincorporated area of San Diego don’t have a broadband internet subscription. This places them at a disadvantage when it comes to things such as online education, healthcare services or emergency notifications.

Free, daylong family event is scheduled for April 29, 2023

January 20, 2023 (Spring Valley) - The Spring Valley Day Planning Committee is looking for vendors, sponsors, and volunteers to participate in Spring Valley Day 2023. The event will be held on Saturday, April 29, 2023 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. in front of Bancroft Elementary School where Bancroft Drive and Tyler Street intersect.