Update 5:30 p.m. --There are multiple fires in the Vallecito Lightning Complex, the largest of these fires per Cal Fire are:

 Vallecito Fire: 350 acres 0% contained South East of Julian, cause lightning

Wilson Fire: 600 acres 0% contained near Scissors crossing North East of Julian, cause lightning

Stewart Fire: 50 acres 0% contained near Scissors crossing North East of Julian, cause lightning

A reader advises that Pinyon Ridge is on fire between Shelter Valley and Ranchita (photo above, shot from Shelter Valley, shows Sentanec Cienega where Higwhay 78 enters Sentanec Canyon.

August 13, 2012 (San Diego’s East County) –  The Chihuahua Fire is 100% contained, after burning 2,007 acres according to Cal Fire’s final update.

Multiple new brush fires are burning in East County. Largest of these is the Vallecito Lightning Complex  fire, which has charred 220 degrees and remains 0% contained. No structures are threatened.  

By Rebecca J. Williamson

August 13, 2012 (Santee) -- Around the world and here in East County, people are saying “yes” to the dress---a pillowcase dress. Sashay, spin, or strut in it! This dress is made out of a pillowcase (new or gently used).

August 13, 2012 (San Diego) - East County Magazine editor Miriam Raftery was interviewed last week by KPBS radio regarding the County Supervisors' impending vote on Tule Wind and related issues. 

Listen to that interview here: http://www.kpbs.org/news/2012/aug/08/tule-wind-project-key-vote/.  Hear a followup story on the vote approving the controversial project here: http://www.kpbs.org/news/2012/aug/09/tule-wind-project-gets-green-light/.

August 13, 2012 (Ocotillo) -- ECM photographer Jim Pelley shot this beautiful sunrise this morning from the yard at his home in Ocotillo. 

Soon this dramatic landscape may be only a memory, vanished in the dust as towering ocotillo cacti are torn down and replaced by 112 wind turbines, each 500 feet tall. 

August 12, 2012 (La Mesa)—A woman who claimed to be armed attempted to rob Cabrillo Credit Union at 7900 El Cajon Boulevard in La Mesa on August 9.  The suspect, who wore a black and white polka dot scarf covering her head and face, left empty-handed after a teller refused to turn over the money.

The Necromancers: Or Love Zombies of San Diego, by E.Z. Graves (Contemporary Instructional Concepts, San Diego, CA, 2012).

Book Review by Dennis Moore

Update: Flooding is reported in Campo on Buckman Springs Road and in the Warner Springs area, where a fire crew was briefly stranded, the National Weather Service reports. Largest storms have developed over Borrego Springs, Ranchita, Shelter Valley and Warner Springs.

August 11, 2012 (San Diego's East County) - A flood advisory has been issued at 4:40 pm. for San Diego mountains and deserts.  Affected areas include Borrego Springs, Julian, Pine Valley, Agua Caliente Springs, Banner, Boulevard, Canebrake, Cuyamaca Peak, Live Oak Springs, Mount Laguna, Oak Grove, Ocotillo Wells, Ranchita, Santa Ysabel, Shelter Valley, Tierra Del Sol and Warner Springs.

By Tom Lemon
 

August 10, 2012 (East County) – The Perseid Meteor Showers will be peaking August 11 and 12 this year.  The meteor shower occurs every August when the Earth passes through space debris left by Comet Swift-Tuttle.  The meteors are bright and often leave trails of luminous gas.  There are a number of events across East County to participate in and enjoy the show.

By Mark Gabrish Conlan

By Miriam Raftery

Energia Sierra Juarez Substation and Cross-Border Transmission Lines Also Approved in East County

By Miriam Raftery

“This will impede firefighting efforts to a frightening degree…a wind-drive fire is not going to stay in the backcountry. We must not roll the dice…There are other, safer alternatives….I also have serious problems about an energy policy that depends on the stability of Mexico.” –Supervisor Dianne Jacob, who voted against both projects

“I’m opposed to green energy…I don’t think the Department of Energy should be putting subsidies in this….but the state has mandated renewable and we have to comply.” – Supevisor Bill Horn, who voted for both projects

August 9, 2012 (San Diego) – The irony was enormous. San Diego’s Board of Supervisors yesterday spent much of the morning debating whether cell phone towers five feet taller than current ones would mar community character on Mount Helix.  In the afternoon,  three of the five Supervisors then threw county height limits to the winds—voting to approve 500-foot-tall industrial wind turbines in scenic McCain Valley over the objections of numerous backcountry residents.

By a 4-0 vote, Supervisors also approved a power substation and cross-border transmission lines designed to bring power up from the massive Energia Sierra Juarez wind project proposed in Mexico.