East County News Service

File photo: Snow in Cuyamacas by Grace Schleiser

December 28, 2015 (San Diego’s East County) – A winter storm is bringing snow, ice and fog to our mountain regions.

Chains are required due to icy/snowy conditions on the Julian-Sunrise Highway from State Route 79 to Old Highway 80, according to the County Department of Public Works. Caltrans reports icy conditions on I-8 at Mountain Pass as well as on State Route 76 at Palomar Mountain.

The Laguna Mountain Lodge reports on its Facebook page that snow is falling on Mt.Laguna.  Residents across East County report snow in the Lake Cuyamaca area, an iced over pond in Descanso and cold conditions across our inland region.

Listen to Destination East County, originally aired on KNSJ, by clicking the audio link.

By Miriam Raftery

December 27, 2015 (San Diego’s East County) --This week’s Destination East County includes New Year’s celebrations across our region, from swanky soirees to a masquarade party. Plus we’ll have previews of coming attractions, including some activities to start off the New Year, from a guided mountain bike ride with a ranger at Mission Trails to the opening of trout season at Santee Lakes, as well as live music featuring some hot local talent.

So stay tuned (and scroll down) for all of these events and more.

 Photo credit:  Sanfranman59 on Wikipedia

By Miriam Raftery

December 28, 2015 (Sacramento) – Nonprofit groups that help the poor are working to qualify the Lifting Children and Families Out of Poverty Act for the November 2016 ballot.  The Legislative Analyst has estimated that the measure could raise up to $7 billion by adding a property tax surcharge on properties worth $3 million or more.

December 28, 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.

• Extreme weather continues to slam Midwest, south; fatalities rise (USA Today)
• New York dam hack underscores threat for connected utilities (CS Monitor)
• Dems rip deportation plan (CNN)
• TSA can now require full body scanners (CNN)
• Cleveland police will not face charges in death of Tamir Rice (Time)
• Donald Trump defends Vladimir Putin  (Business Insider)
• U.S. Hostages Held In Iran For 444 Days Finally To Get Compensated (NPR)
• Iran deal restricts U.S. more than Congress knew (Jewish World Review)
• Arizona man indicted in 'Draw Mohammed' event hit with new charges (Reuters)

WORLD

• Islamic leader Baghdadi goads west in rare audio statement(Telegraph)
• Iraqi troops retake center of Ramadi from ISIS (New York Times)
• Australians flee bushfires, lose homes to flames on Christmas Day  (Reuters)
• Somali government bans Christmas celebrations (Reuters) 
• Struggling to absorb asylum seekers, Germany steps up deportations (NPR)
• Muslims protect non-Muslims during Kenya Islamist attack (CS Monitor)
• Newly crowned Miss Iraq receives threatening phone call: Join ISIS or else (JPost)
• U.S. reports 31 strikes against Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (Reuters)
• Afghan militia beheads four Islamic State fighters(Reuters)
• Turkish military offensive kills 110 Kurdish militants in six days  (Reuters)
• Floods force mass evacuations in 4 South American countries (AP)
• Senegalese police arrest 11 accused of homosexual acts (AP)

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

December 28, 2015 (San Diego's East County)-- Our Health and Science Highlights provide cutting edge news that could impact your health and our future.

HEALTH

• Elephants don’t get cancer (Ivanhoe)
• Preventing Parkinson’s : medicine’s next big thing? (Ivanhoe)
• Surgeons To Test New Technique For Saving The Almost-Dead (JWR)
• ER Docs Say Rule Change Could Raise Patients' Out-Of-Network Bills (NPR)
• HIV antibody curbs virus in trial (San Diego Union-Tribune)
• Gonorrhoea 'could become untreatable’ (BBC)
• Blood transplants miss key immune cells, study says (U-T)

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

• Home insurers rush to exclude drones as Christmas sees popularity soar (Telegraph)
• The Cybersecurity Argument For And Against Device Encryption (NPR)
• How chemists plan to sniff out bombs (BBC)

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

December 28, 2015 (San Diego) — San Diego WriteWay has provided a calendar of activities across our region for Readers as well as for writers.

By Fire Chief Sam DiGiovanna

December 28, 2015 (San Diego’s East County) --This New Year’s Eve, we should all vow to take a closer look at our lives and make decisions about ourselves. Here are 16 New Year’s Resolutions to help you for a better 2016.

East County News Service

December 28, 2015 (Santee) — A 66-year-old San Diego man has died after driving a black Mercedes Benz the wrong way on State Route 52.  At 12:58 a.m., while approaching Oak Canyon west of Mast Blvd., the Mercedes drove off the road and plunged down into the ravine.

By Miriam Raftery

December 27, 2015 (La Mesa) - As part of a week of  Martin Luther King Jr. commemoration, the Table United Church of Christ of La Mesa (5940 Kelton Ave., La Mesa) will present a showing of the film “12 Years a Slave” on Sunday, January 16^th  from 1:30 to 4 p.m.

By Miriam Raftery

December 26, 2015 (Sacramento)--It will be illegal to wear earbuds or headphones while driving a bicycle or a vehicle starting January 1st, except for emergency vehicles and heavy equipment. If you have outstanding traffic tickets and missed a court appearance, you can apply for amnesty. Cities can now regulate electronic skateboards, and electric bicycles will soon be able to travel in bike lanes.

These are just a few of the new laws taking affect in 2016 that will impact drivers in California.  The Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) has provided this summary of the new laws, as well as key changes to existing laws:

By Miriam Raftery

By Miriam Raftery

December 26, 2015 (San Diego’s East County) – An omnibus appropriations bill passed the House earlier this month on a 316 to 133 vote, avoiding a government shutdown.  The measure was passed by the Senate and signed by President Obama.  Among local representatives, only Republican Duncan Hunter voted no.  Democrats Susan Davis, Juan Vargas and Scott Peters joined with Republican Darrell Issa in voting yes.

“Many San Diego priorities focusing on the middle class are included in this bipartisan omnibus spending bill,” says Congresswoman Davis. “While not perfect by any means, this bill has critical investments for medical research, innovation, education, infrastructure, and supports many jobs in our region.”

The Omnibus Appropriations bill includes:

December 26, 2015 (San Diego’s East County) -- Our October 2015 radio shows are now online!  You can listen online now (sound files may take a minute to load). For links to listen to the shows plus a full list of topics and interviews in October, click here and scroll down.

We covered new laws enacted in Sacramento as well as hot local topics ranging from water rate hikes to health alerts. We interviewed some fascinating guests, including Roberto Alvarez, whose family helped desegregate a school in Lemon Grove, Wendy Patrick on California’s new right-to-die law, Beth Klareich from Shabbat San Diego, and activists seeking help for Lyme disease patients. On Bookshelf, hear from Roger Conlee, author of Dare the Devil, and David Schmidt, author of Holy Ghost Stories. We also produced a Halloween special complete with some haunting East County ghost stories.

The East County Magazine Show airs Mondays and Fridays from 5 to 6 p.m. on KNSJ, 89.1 FM.  The shows rerun on Tuesdays at 9 a.m. and Saturdays at 8 a.m. Pacific Standard Time.

East County News Service

Update December 28, 2015: The deceased has been identifed as Corey Akren, 47, a transient, according to the Medical Examiner.

December 25, 2015 (El Cajon) — A pedestrian and a friend pushing a bicycle were struck by a red Toyota Tundra pickup truck while crossing Naranca Avenue at Second Street in El Cajon last night at 5:45 p.m.  The pedestrian was transported to a hospital where he was pronounced dead a short time later despite aggressive rescusciation efforts. The bicyclist, a woman, was also taken to a hospital with non life-threatening injuries.

December 24, 2015 (Santee) — A reward of up to $1,000 is offered for information leading to the arrest of a man wanted for allegedly trying to steal credit card information at an ATM machine in Santee back on November 27^th.  The photo was captured by a surveillance camera.