By Miriam Raftery

Photo by Miriam Raftery: Trestle over Carrizo Gorge

July 8, 2015 (Campo) – Plans to revive the long-closed Desert Line freight railway from Campo to Imperial County appeared to be in danger of derailing after the Pacific Imperial Railroad fell behind in payments to the Metropolitan Transit System. But now the company has made its latest  half-million dollar payment to the Metropolitan Transit, the San Diego Union-Tribune reports.The 99-year-lease requires two such payments annually.

By Miriam Raftery

July 9, 2015 (Santee) – At last night’s Santee City Council meeting, 24 people came to show support for asking that dogs from puppy  mills be outlawed for sale in Santee.   The group is waiting to see if Council will agree to add the item to its agenda.

Sydney Cicourel, west coast director for The Puppy Mill Project, told Council members that her organization has gathered 3,000 signatures on a petition in support of the ban.  The group has been protesting at Pups and Pets, a Santee store that Cicourel says purchases dogs in from puppy mills where the animals are kept in “deplorable” conditions that are unsafe and unsanitary, often in stacked wire cages.

East County News Service

July 6, 2015 (El Cajon)—East County will soon have its first four-star hotel.  In its last meeting in June, the El Cajon Council approved final plans for a Marriott Courtyard hotel to be built at Magnolia and Rea Avenues.

July 10, 2015 (San Diego’s EastCounty) -- Our Health and Science Highlights provide cutting edge news that could impact your health and our future.

HEALTH

·         CDC: Some anti-depressants linked to birth defects (USA Today)

·         Farewell, Low-Fat: Why Scientists Applaud Lifting A Ban On Fat (NPR)

·         It Turns Out We Really Didn't Know What People Are Dying From (NPR)

·         Curb Your Appetite: Save Bread For The End Of The Meal (NPR)

July 9, 2015 (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:

U.S.

• 6 big things to know about sanctuary cities (Washington Post)
• South Carolina House okays removing confederate flag (CBS News)
• Federal court rules against Redskins in legal battle with Native Americans (NPR)
• Whitewash: New Texas text books will downplay slavery, omit KKK and Jim Crow (RawStory)
• This Term the Supreme Court Might Open the Way for Prison Reform (Reporting San Diego)

Presidential  campaign:

• Companies, countries cutting ties with Donald Trump (Denver Post)
• House Republicans release the subpoena she said she never received for her e-mails (Huffington Post)
• Jeb Bush: You can love your Mexican-American wife and also believe that you need to control the border (Washington Post)
• Jeb Bush: People should work longer hours (ABC News)
• Bernie Sanders wants to spend $3 billion on solar panels for the poor (Washington Examiner)
• Huckabee calls for civil disobedience against marriage equality ruling (NY Post)

WORLD

• Greeks defy Europe with overwhelming referendum 'No' (Reuters)
• Greeks are locked out of online payments (APM Marketplace)
• A Saudi prince is giving away his entire fortune to charity—and it’s a lot (TakePart)
• China stems market slide, stringent measures imposed (Reuters)
• New textbook guidelines to be launched despite criticism (China Post)
• Reforms May Help North Korea Survive An Imminent Drought (NPR)
• Egyptian army kills 63 militants in North Sinai: sources

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

By Miriam Raftery

July 8, 2015 (San Diego’s East County)--As water supplies grow scarcer in California’s fourth year of drought, residents in impoverished rural towns are facing a new threat.  Groundwater pumped to record low levels means higher concentrations of arsenic are being found in drinking water in many areas.

By Miriam Raftery

July 8, 2015 (Santee)—The Santee City Council has voted to raise the Fire Benefit Fee for all commercial and industrial properties to a maximum of $492 per building, per year.  Parcels with multiple buildings will owe the fee for each building. The highest increase faced by any property owner would be $1,800, staff told Council.

“This is really a per building fee,” Councilman Jack Dale observed, “whether you’re 500 square feet or you’re Costco.”

        "47th NAACP Image Award Nominee in Literature"

The Audacious Woman: Blaze Your Own Path To Prosperity, by Pamela Y. Toussaint, MBA (Courageous Women Publications, 2015, 118 pages).

Book Review by Dennis Moore

“Looking and acting like a leader depends on getting three things right, a trio we refer to as Appearance, Communication, and Gravitas. Individuals who nail each of these elements exude true executive presence.”

~ “Executive Presence” By the Center for Talent Innovation

July 8, 2015 (San Diego’s East County) - Pamela Y. Toussaint, MBA, the president and founder of Ultimate Image Coach, has authored with her daughter, Tamara Toussaint, JD, the quintessential book on women’s empowerment; The Audacious Woman: Blaze Your Own Path To Prosperity. A personal branding consultant, corporate trainer, author, and keynote speaker, Toussaint came from humble beginnings to write this well researched and documented book. Born and raised in a small village in Jamaica with three sisters and brother, her mother was widowed when Pamela was 10 years old. Against all odds, motivated by the values her mother instilled, Toussaint achieved success as a corporate executive and community leader in the United States. She took an audacious step to re-write her life’s story, and re-branded herself as The Ultimate Image Coach. Click to view.

East County News Service

July 7, 2015 (San Diego’s East County) – Warning: Your future utility bills may provide a shock.

Electric utility bills will soon be going up for most San Diegans, though some heavy energy users’ bills will go down.   Instead of four tiers for energy use and payments, there will now be just two.  Not only will low energy users and low-income people be paying more,  they will also be charged more for energy use during peak periods such as mid-afternoon. Those hikes come despite the fact that San Diego already has among the highest electricity rates in the United States.

July 5, 2015 (Santee) – Last night Sheriff’s deputies conducted a driving-under-the-influence (DUI) sobriety and driver license checkpoint near the 9200 block of Carlton Hills Blvd. in Santee from 8:30 p.m. to 2:30 a.m.

Story and photos by Susan A Mahalick

July 7, 2015 (Baja, Mexico)--The day dawned cloudy and cool as it often does this time of year; sometimes the marine layer stays all day, or for a month at a time along the Pacific coastline. At about three in the afternoon the layer was thin enough that the sun came out for a brief time. Time to go to Angel’s Camp for the annual 4^th of July pig roast.

East County News Service

July 7, 2015 (Sacramento)--As the legislative session draws near its close, a flurry of bills are making their way through the state Capitol this week. Here is an update on several key measures: motorcycle lane-splitting, discrimination against transplant patients using medical marijuana, a patient right-to-die bill, and sick-time pay for California workers.

East County News Service

Photo: U.S. Border Patrol

July 7, 2015 (Pine Valley) -- U.S. Border Patrol agents at a checkpoint on I-8 near Pine Valley found three undocumented Mexican immigrants in a vehicle trunk and arrested three American citizens on Monday.

Listen to our podcast of this week's Destination East County by clicking the audio  link.

July 6, 2015 (San Diego’s East County)--This week’s Destination East County features lots of  community concerts, from jazz in a lavender field to blues in a park, plus the Descanso Days Parade, and more. Plus we’ll have a preview of coming attractions including Pine Valley Days, outdoor movies, off-road madness and Jimmie Johnson night in El Cajon. So stay tuned for all of these events and much, much more!

July 6, 2015 (Lakeside) – Residents across East County are invited to a Neighborhood Watch training program put on by staff of the Lakeside Sheriff Substation. The training will be held on Friday, July 17 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Lakeside Community Center, 99841 Vine Street in Lakeside.