East County News Service

September 28, 2010 (La Mesa) -- The City of La Mesa, the La Mesa Chamber of Commerce and the La Mesa Village Merchants’ Association invite you to La Mesa's annual Oktoberfest celebration in the downtown Village October 1-3.  This year's event will feature 400 vendors, two beer gardens, live music, carnival rides, and an estimated 200,000 visitors.

Hours are:

By Billie Jo Jannen

Firefighters shoot back at border fire

30% are economically challenged; 17% of region’s children live below federal poverty line
 

East County News Service
 

September 29, 2010 (San Diego) -- More than 100,000 San Diego County residents fell from the middle class into poverty or severe economic hardship in the past two years.  The County's highest poverty rate (22.4%) is in El Cajon.  

East County News Service

September 29, 2010 (El Cajon) –The German American Societies presents the 39th annual Oktoberfest in El Cajon over the first two weekends of October, the 1st – 3rd and 8th – 10th, 2010. Hours of this traditional, family-friendly festival are Fridays from 5:00 to 10:00 PM, Saturdays from noon until 10:00 PM, and Sundays from noon until 9:00 PM.

Vaccination, Booster Shot Best Defense, County Officials Say

East County News Service

September 29, 2010 (San Diego’s East County) -- Thirteen new pertussis (whooping cough) cases where other children may have been exposed were reported this week in San Diego County, including six in East County, according to County Health and Human Services Agency (HHSA) officials today.

September 29, 2010 (Sacramento) – Four San Diego County tribal leaders were presented honors by the California Justice Department’s Office of Native Affairs in Sacramento last week during the 43rd Annual Native American Day.

Local honorees were the Honorable Anthony Brandenburg, Chief Judge of the Intertribal Court of Southern California; Bo Mazzetti, Chairman of the Rincon Band of Luiseño Indians; Daniel Tucker, Chairman of the Sycuan Band of the Kumeyaay Nation; and Bill Denke, Chief of Police, Sycuan Band of the Kumeyaay Nation.

By Brian Lafferty

September 28, 2010 (San Diego)--Playing until Friday at the Ken Cinema is A Film Unfinished. The title refers to an uncompleted Nazi propaganda film shot in the Warsaw Ghetto in the early 1940s. The majority of the movie consists of footage from the propaganda film. Director Yael Hersonski isn’t content to just show the film. Behind each shot is a story and the narrator goes into deep, articulative, and informative detail into each of them. Diaries from the overseer of the Ghetto and letters from one of the filmmakers are read.

September 28, 2010 (Rancho San Diego) –Lawrence “Larry” Hoagland, 48, was arrested at 12:15 a.m. in connection with the attempted murder of his wife, Connie Hoagland, Lt. Dennis Brugos with the San Diego Sheriff’s homicide detail announced this morning.

September 28, 2010 (San Diego’s East County) –San Diego’s inland areas sweltered yesterday, with record temperatures in some areas. The mercury hit 112 in San Pasqual, 111 in Santee, 110 in Rancho Bernardo and Poway, 109 in El Cajon, 108 in Borrego, 106 in La Mesa, and 104 in Alpine.

The National Weather Service has issued a hazardous weather outlook, warning of a chance of thunderstorms and lightning strikes Tuesday through Friday, with chances higher in the mountain areas.  Temperatures, however, are predicted to be cooler.

"You can't get any better than 4-0. We have a lot of room to grow and we can improve on every aspect of the game, but the bottom line is that we played four and we won four, so you can't get any better than that."   -- Ron Murphy, head football coach, Grossmont High School

by Christopher Mohr

September 27th, 2010 (El Cajon) - The Foothillers of Grossmont High School faced off at home against Santa Fe Christian in a non-league football game Friday night (9/24) at Lt. Thomas M. Adams Field. Grossmont learned just how determined the Eagles can be after fighting off their last-second comeback bid and holding on for a 23-14 win.

It was a fitting way to celebrate Grossmont's 90th annivesary. at a game attended by many alumni in town for an all-classes reunion. 

Updated 1:15 p.m. - The package has been determined to contain party supplies, Sheriff's officials have told ECM news partner 10 News.  Sheriff's representative Jan Caldwell says it is too early to determine if this is related to the pipe bomb that injured Connie Hoagland in Rancho San Diego or the pipe bomb left in the family's Rolando neighborhood earlier this month.

September 27, 2010 (Rancho San Diego) - Steele Canyon High School has been placed in lockdown due to a suspicious package delivered this morning, ECM has learned.  The package was delivered via Federal Express.  According to 10 News and an ECM source close to the investigation, the package was addressed to a child of Connie Hoagland, the woman injured in last week's pipe bomb explosion outside a Rancho San Diego daycare center where she worked. 

September 29, 2010 (Poway) – Firefighters battling a fire at the home of Valentine Derkach in Poway on September 23rd found his body inside the residence. Following an autopsy, the San Diego County Coroner has concluded that gunshot wounds to Derkach’s head and chest were self-inflicted and ruled the death a suicide.

September 27, 2010 (Poway) – All lanes of Highway 67 are now shut down due to a rollover accident involving a dumptruck and three vehicles. A SigAlert has been issued. According to the SigAlert, CHP is turning traffic around at Mt. Woodson and Archie Moore. Northbound lanes are shut down at Poway Road as of 9:01 a.m. Northbound motorists are advised to use Poway Road as an alternate route. Southbound traffic is being diverted onto Archie Moore to Highland Valley.