East County News Service

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December 10, 2021 (San Diego) – More than six months after Lester Marroquin, 35, was found dead in his cell at San Diego Central Jail on May 30, the Medical Examiner’s autopsy has determined an unusual cause of death: ingesting a deadly amount of water.

By Gig Conaughton, County of San Diego Communications Office

December 10, 2021 (San Diego) - With potentially heavy rains expected around the county early next week, the County of San Diego and CAL FIRE are offering free sandbags to residents who live in the unincorporated areas.

By José A. Álvarez, County of San Diego Communications Office

December 10, 2021 (San Diego) - A man in his 30s is believed to have contracted the Omicron COVID-19 variant locally, the County Health and Human Services Agency announced today.

By Rebecca Jefferis Williamson

(Photo—(L) Pine Valley PO – Postmaster Jessie Rose Hoffman. Depicting & shot by Jessie Rose Hoffman)

December 10, 2021 (Pine Valley) -- Pine Valley Postmaster Jessie Rose Hoffman brings holiday cheer to her community. She is Pine Valley’s postal “Elf”, delivering seasonal joy to all and most likely working harder than any elf in Santa’s workshop.

By Miriam Raftery

December 9, 2021 (Ocotillo, Calif.) – All turbines at the Ocotillo Wind Energy Facility have been offline in a since September 20, when a massive wind turbine collapsed, as ECM reported. The California ISO’s Dec. 8  Curtailed and Non-Operational Generator report, the shutdown of more than three months is listed as “forced.”

East County News Service

December 9, 2021 (Pine Valley) – A dozen passengers in the back of a pickup truck were ejected and suffered moderate to major injuries on December 7 after a pursuit from Border Patrol agents ended in a crash. None of the passengers were wearing seatbelts; only the driver was restrained.

Araiza becomes first Aztec in program history to win a major award

Source:  goaztecs.com

Photo courtesy goaztecs.com

December 9, 2021 (San Diego) - San Diego State football’s Matt Araiza (San Diego/Rancho Bernardo HS) has been named the recipient of the Ray Guy Award, which was announced Thursday night on ESPN during the broadcast of the 31st annual The Home Depot College Football Awards. The award is given annually to the nation’s best collegiate punter.

Source:  goaztecs.com

Photo courtesy goaztecs.com

December 8, 2021 (San Diego) - Matt Bradley had 22 points as San Diego State topped Cal State Fullerton 66-56 on Wednesday night.

Source:  goaztecs.com

Photo courtesy goaztecs.com

December 8, 2021 (Riverside) - The Aztec women’s basketball team (5-4) scored a season-high 78 points and gave California Baptist (5-2) their first home loss since Feb. 19, 2020, with a 78-77 win Wednesday evening.

(Photo -left of Split Bakehouse owner Vanessa Corrales and her cousin Roxy Corrales)

By Rebecca Jefferis Williamson

December 8, 2021 – La Mesa’s Grossmont Center offers even more vegan food choices since adding Mystical Blends to their food court. Mystical Blends joins Split Bakehouse, a vegan bakery, and other establishments at the mall.

Split Bakehouse is located near the food court, just steps outside their west doors. They are a 100% plant-based bakery. They have won best vegan bakery, reader’s pick, in a San Diego Magazine poll in 2021 and best vegan pastries in 2019.

“We’ve been here three years,” said Split Bakehouse owner Vanessa Corrales. She adapted to the covid19 pandemic by opening a window in their storefront that they sell their plant based baked goods from Wednesday to Sunday. A buzzer can be used to alert staff to a customer’s presence.

“We are 100% plant based,” she said. “We make our own eggs and butter. We are mostly known for our ‘laminated’ croissants.”

By Brent Wakefield, President and CEO, Meals on Wheels San Diego County  

December 8, 2021 (San Diego) - The holidays are only weeks away, and the CDC has shared safer ways to celebrate as COVID-19 and its variants still impact the public. From vaccinations and masks to being outdoors, the country continues to bubble back to life daily, but not everyone will – or can – join in. Seniors are one such group. The past two years have delivered far less than holiday cheer as they struggled with social isolation, loneliness, and hunger more than ever.  

Innovative project first in the region to use vehicle-to-infrastructure technology

Source:  SANDAG

December 7, 2021 (San Diego) - The Bus on Shoulder pilot project hit a major milestone this week when driver training began on the I-805 and SR 94 freeway shoulders between National City and Downtown San Diego. The pilot project is a joint effort between SANDAG, MTS, and Caltrans, in partnership with the California Highway Patrol (CHP), to improve reliability and maintain travel times for the South Bay Rapid transit service (Route 225) by using select shoulders on the two freeways to bypass vehicle congestion during peak travel times.

By Elijah McKee

December 5, 2021 (Lemon Grove) – Lemon Grove has several new businesses that you may want to check out when doing your holiday shopping including a boutique and art space, a coffee shop with health and wellness gifts, and a brewery.

Shopping locally not only brightens the holiday season for local businesses and those on your holiday gift list, it also puts some sales tax jingle into the city’s coffers to help fund projects that benefit the community.

This is part 3 in our series on new local retailers in East County.

East County News Service

December 6, 2021 (San Diego) – The number of COVID-19 cases reported by San Diego County’s Health and Human Service Agency jumped to 1,153 on December 2^nd. That’s nearly double the numbers the prior two days, which were in the 600s.  County health officials s believe the upturn is tied to Thanksgiving gatherings and not due to the new Omicron variant, which has not yet been identified in San Diego County. The Delta variant still accounts for nearly all COVID-19 cases and deaths in the U.S..

The news comes on the heels of a National Public Radio (NPR) analysis which found death rates from COVID-19 in recent months have ranged from  three to six times higher in Republican-leaning red states than in Democratic leaning blue states – a dramatic difference likely due primarily to high vaccination rates in blue states and low vaccination rates in red states. NPR credits the high death rate in red states to misinformation on COVID and vaccines.

December 6, 2021 (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

• Trial begins for former La Mesa police officer accused of lying on report (San Diego Union-Tribune)
• Arsonist Who Set Fire to Chase Bank in La Mesa Sentenced to Probation (NBC San Diego)
• Lemon Grove Councilmember Liana LeBaron files complaint against city manager, city attorney (San Diego Union-Tribune)
• San Diego’s burrowing owls get new homes at Ramona Grasslands after sprawl drove them away (San Diego Union-Tribune)
• 'Making malicious threats'| CEO of Sullivan Solar Power arrested on felony stalking charges (CBS 8)
• Daniel Sullivan of Sullivan Solar Power a no-show at bail review hearing (San Diego Union-Tribune)
• Santana Student Raped Countless Times in Early 1980s by Counselor, Suit Alleges (Times of San Diego)
• Black job applicant in San Diego sues company for discrimination over hairstyle (San Diego Union-Tribune)

STATE

• Police investigating several flash mob thefts in California (10 News)
• Rain, snow and chill are heading to Southern California this week (Los Angeles Times)
• ‘There is nothing alive on that tree’: Inside a giant sequoia grove scorched by the KNP Complex fire  (Los Angeles Times)
• Derby winner Medina Spirit collapses, dies in California (San Jose Mercury News)

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