East County News Service

November 15, 2014 (San Diego)—San Diego State University’s Aztec Club recently launched a drive to raise scholarship funds for student athletes.  This week, Athletics Director Jim Sterk announced that a $1.25 million donation has been bequeathed by Bill and Robin Sinclair to launch the Coryell Legacy.

El Cajon plans special activities

November 15, 2014 (El Cajon) - Small Business Saturday is a day to recognize and shop small businesses held on the Saturday after Thanksgiving during one of the busiest shopping periods of the year.  Avoid the hectic crowds and fighting for parking spaces, shop in your neighborhood.  Small Business Saturday activity is scheduled for the downtown El Cajon area from 10:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.

November 15, 2014 (Spring Valley) – Our interview with Gretchen Burns-Bergman, founder of A New Path, is now online. Listen now at : https://www.eastcountymagazine.org/sites/eastcountymagazine.org/files/au...  .   Hear from this Spring Valley mother who helped lobby successfully to change drug sentencing laws and put more emphasis on getting help for those battling addiction. 

In the interview, she discusses newly announced reductions in federal drug sentencing laws that can also impact those already behind bars, as well as the impacts of Prop 47, the California ballot initiative recently passed.  This interview originally aired Wednesday on KNSJ 89.1 FM radio.

November 15, 2014 (San Diego)--Desert Bighorn Sheep: Wilderness Icon is the most comprehensive photographic work ever published on this iconic symbol of the deserts of  southwestern United States and northern Mexico. Author Mark Jorgensen, former Superintendent of the Anza Borrego Desert State Park, and photographer Jeff Young will appear at two events:  November 19 at Adventure 16 San Diego and December 16 at the Natural History Museum in Balboa Park.

November 15, 2014 (El Cajon)--Rob Tade at the El Cajon American Legion post sent in this video by David Miyashiro, CVUSD Superintendent, of  El Cajon’s 2014  Veterans Day commemoration held earlier this week to honor our nation's veterans.

“It's a horror beyond words; something you have to live to understand. Something must be done to stop the noise.” – Ocotillo resident Parke Ewing

November 14, 2014 (Ocotillo) – Residents in Ocotillo say that during windy conditions in early November, noise from wind turbines is making their lives unbearable.   

Jim Pelley captured the loud noise on videotape, juxtaposed with footage of Pattern Energy’s Glenn Hodges selling the project to supervisors in Imperial Valley by claiming that noise would not be an issue due to setbacks.  “The project was sold on the understanding to be five miles from the community of Ocotillo,” Pelley wrote on a Youtube post. “We have turbines as close as 1/2 mile, we are now forced to live with the horrible noise of 112 turbines when the wind blows.”

His neighbor, Parke Ewing, says his complaints to Imperial County and Bureau of Land Management officials, as well as Pattern Energy, have fallen on deaf ears, with no meaningful responses.

November 14, 2014 (Sacramento)--In response to public requests, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), California Energy Commission (CEC) and California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) will extend the public comment period for the draft Desert Renewable Energy Conservation Plan (DRECP) Environmental Impact Report/Environmental Impact Statement (EIR/EIS) for 45 days.  The comment period, originally scheduled to close on January 9, 2015, will be extended through February 23, 2015.

East County News Service

November 14, 2014 (El Cajon)—An 87-year-old man died at a local hospital after being struck by a vehicle in the 600 block of El Cajon last night shortly before 5:30 p.m.  Witnesses told police that the man walked into the roadway from the center media, following two family members. He was wearing dark clothing and appeared unaware of the vehicle traffic.

November 13, 2014 (Deerhorn Valley) – A vehicle with flashing blue and white lights and religious stickers has reportedly been impersonating an emergency vehicle on East County roadways.

Photos: Roy Cook (left) and Dr. Daniel Calac (right)

East County News Service

November 13, 2013 (San Diego)--KPBS and Union Bank  are honoring two inspiring individuals in honor of American Indian Heritage Month through their Local Heroes program, which pays tribute to exemplary leaders who are making a difference and enriching the lives of others by improving their community, region and the world at large. 

The 2014 honorees for American Indian Heritage Month are Dr. Daniel Calac and Roy Cook.

By Miriam Raftery

November 13, 2014(Borrego Springs) -- You just never know what you'll see along the highways in East County. Our editor snapped these images at Butterfield Ranch Resort, an RV park and horse camp named for the historic stage coach line that once ran through the area.

The roadside stop has an eclectic collection of statues featuring Western wildlife, as well as an old horse and buggy and other Western memorability, a store and more.

November 12, 2014 (El Cajon) – The RnB Lounge at El Cajon Grand, 351 West Main Street, El Cajon, bills itself as a “party celebrating love.”   DJ Jam and DJ Artistic invite you out to The Grand in El Cajon every Wednesday night to party for a purpose. Each week you are invited to dance and enjoy live R&B, Sexy Hip Hop, Reggae and Spoken Word performances.

By Miriam Raftery

Photos, (ltop left to lower right):  Noori Barka and Supervisor Dianne Jacob, Wadi Deddeh and Congressman Susan Davis, Father Noel and Congressman Juan Vargas, Lion of Babylon/Citizen of the Year presentation to Pastor Harold Brown (third from right)

November 13, 2014 (El Cajon ) – With a theme of “together, we can build a better community,” the Chaldean American Association convened at the Crystal Ballroom in El Cajon on October 30^th for the organization’s annual awards banquet. 

Fire stations, schools, and public waterways among those targeted by thieves

By Miriam Raftery

November 11, 2014 (San Diego’s East County) – Water rustling is on the rise across California amid the worst drought ever recorded.  A thriving black market for purloined water has arisen, leaving authorities scrambling to catch thieves and lawmakers looking to stiffen penalties for stealing water.

The Healing Shower, by Eloise Laws (Knowledge Power Books, Valencia, California, 2012, 131 pages).

Book Review by Dennis Moore

When all the odds say there’s no chance,

Amidst the final dance,

I’ll be your comfort through your pain

I’ll be your shelter in the rain.

• Stevie Wonder

Grammy award-winning singer-songwriter, musician, political           activist and philanthropist.

November 13, 2014 (San Diego's East County) - Eloise Laws, an award-winning vocalist, Tony-nominated actress, author, and breast cancer survivor – in her debut book The Healing Shower, shares her personal journey, surviving the “ups and downs’ of breast cancer. Inspired by the outpouring of love and support she received from family and friends, prompted her to write this thought provoking and deeply moving book. In this thoughtful and well-written book are all the tools one who is suffering from a life-threatening illness will need as a guide when considering a “Healing Shower” before or possibly returning home from surgery. As East County’s Jamie Reno attested to in his book Hope Begins in the Dark, which this writer also had the honor of writing a review of in the East County Magazine, cancer can be a never ending battle. San Diego City Councilwoman Marti Emerald is also fighting this debilitating disease of cancer.