East County News Service

May 6, 2015 (La Mesa)--Grossmont Healthcare District (GHD) recently hosted a check-presentation ceremony to celebrate GHD’s ongoing support of Volunteers in Medicine (VIM), a nonprofit providing access to health care to uninsured residents by relying on volunteer medical professionals. From left to right: GHD board members Gloria Chadwick, Bob Ayres and Betty Stieringer, VIM CEO Maureen Hartin and GHD board members Michael Emerson and Randy Lenac. VIM’s clinic in El Cajon is staffed by more than 100 professional volunteers, including retired doctors, nurses and support staff, who donate thousands of hours in providing primary care services to more than 3,000 patients annually.

May 7, 2015 (San Diego's East County) - The Grossmont Healthcare District (GHD), a public agency that supports various health-related community programs and services in San Diego’s East County, recently hosted a check-presentation ceremony with Maureen Hartin, CEO, Volunteers in Medicine (VIM) San Diego, Inc. The ceremony celebrated GHD’s ongoing support of VIM, including a $150,000 grant awarded during GHD’s current fiscal year.

May 7, 2015 (San Diego’s East County) -- Our Health and Science Highlights provide cutting edge news that could impact your health and our future.

HEALTH


• Tyson Foods plans to cut human antibiotics in U.S. chicken flocks by 2017 (Reuters)
• Why the conventional wisdom on hospice care was wrong (APM Marketplace)

TECH


• Measuring Earthquakes With More Than Just One Scale (NPR)
• EU to require cars to have automatic emergency call systems(AP)
• EU looks to cut use of flimsy plastic bags by 80 percent (AP)

NATURE


• Amazon: 1% of trees store 50% carbon (BBC)
• VIDEO: New York turns lights off for birds (BBC)
• Man-made Global Warming Likely to Be Moderate, Says Study (Reason)
• The green movement heads underground (APM Marketplace)

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

May 7, 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:

NATIONAL

• NSA phone surveillance not authorized: U.S. appeals court (Reuters)
• How Utah reduced homelessness by more than 90 percent (CS Monitor)
• U.S. government to pay New Mexico $73 million over radiation leak (Reuters)
• Exclusive: U.S. boosts bird flu emergency funds as Hormel cuts jobs (Reuters)
• Small town evacuated after oil train derails in North Dakota (Reuters)
• Ferry service between US and Cuba to resume (CS Monitor)
• Power Problems: Puerto Rico's Electric Utility Faces Crippling Debt (NPR)
• Surveillance planes spotted in the sky for days after West Baltimore rioting (Washington Post)

INTERNATIONAL

• European Union wants new rules for its digital economy (APM Marketplace)
• Virtual Volunteers Use Twitter And Facebook To Make Maps Of Nepal (NPR)
• Rocket-propelled grenade forced down Mexican helicopter(AP)
• On becalmed sea, Italy rescues nearly 4,000 migrants in 24 hours (CS Monitor)
• More than 50 Thai police punished over human trafficking links (Reuters)
• German spies curb Internet snooping for U.S. after row: media (Reuters)
• Kenya Pushes For Close Of Word's Largest Refugee Camp (NPR)
• Israel veterans group alleges Israeli misconduct in Gaza war (AP)
• Africa's richest economy surviving on borrowed cash (AP)

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

Kids Night Out

May 6, 2015 (El Cajon) - The City of El Cajon Recreation Department offers youth, ages 7 to 12, a safe and entertaining place to go on a Friday night, called a “Kids Night Out Party!”  This program  includes free swim, games, dinner and fun! The party takes place on Friday, May 8, from 6:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at Fletcher Hills Center, located at 2345 Center Place in El Cajon.  The fee is $10 per child. Pre-registration is required. Hurry, space is limited! Register at any City of El Cajon Recreation Center or online at www.elcajonrec.org.  For more information, please contact Heather Birchard at (619) 441-1672.

By Jack Haworth

May 6, 2015 (San Diego) -- For the first time in more than 40 years, the SDSU Debate Team has placed as a team in the National Forensics Association Tournament. The team of Vincent Bellinghiere, Cody Meza, and Darron DeVillez, represented Aztec Forensics at the NFA tournament at Ohio University and placed 8th in Division III, competing in literature interpretation and platform speeches.

“Hundreds of universities across the nation compete in intercollegiate individual events, and only a select number qualify to compete at the national tournament,” said Bill Snavely, director of the School of Communication. “This is a great accomplishment for only three competitors against much more well-funded programs from across the country.”

-- Final bond sale to complete facilities improvements at Sharp Grossmont Hospital

May 5, 2015 (San Diego's East County) - The Grossmont Healthcare District (GHD), a taxpayer-supported public agency that serves as landlord of Sharp Grossmont Hospital in La Mesa, said it recently finalized the sale for two separate series of general obligation (G.O.) bonds totaling $24.5 million and $175 million.

By Kristin Kjaero

May 5, 2015 (La Mesa) -- The La Mesa City Council voted 5-0 April 28 to issue a public notice of a possible rate increase for both residential and commercial trash pickup in La Mesa. The public hearing will occur at the June 23 City Council meeting in the 7:00 p.m. time certain slot for hearings.

EDCO President and CEO Steve South made the presentation to the Council. The company is requesting 3.6% and 1.5% increases for residential and commercial, respectively. That translated to a 68-cent increase for residential from $19.09 to $10.77, and an increase of $1.45 from $99.29 to $100.74 for commercial.

By Sharon Penny

May 5, 2015 (San Diego’s East County) - I’m a lifelong resident of East County and, for the past 25 years, I’ve lived four miles from Green Valley Falls. Until last week, I had never heard of the Airplane Monument hiking trail just north of Green Valley – literally 4.5 miles from my house.

May 5, 2015 (San Diego's East County) - The Grossmont Healthcare District (GHD), a public agency that supports various health-related community programs and services in San Diego’s East County region, recently presented $16,000 in scholarships to eight local college students planning a career either in nursing or in the healthcare technician field.

May 4, 2015 (La Mesa) -- Myra Witzer, a strong willed woman in her late thirties, is determined to get married at any cost and Leonard Shank, an unassuming man in his early forties, is the guy she goes after and gets, much against his will. After several months of married life, Myra realizes that the chase excited her more than the capture and wants out. On the other hand, Leonard, who at the beginning wanted no part of the marriage, now wants to stay married to her more than anything. Now that he's fallen for her, will Leonard be able to convince her that he's her prince charming?

May 4, 2015 (El Cajon)--At approximately 9:03 p.m., Friday, May 1, Heartland Fire & Rescue crews in El Cajon responded to reports of a structure fire in the nine-hundred block of Broadway.  Upon arrival firefighters found heavy smoke and flames coming from the windows of “Broadway Thrift” store at 941 Broadway.

By Ed Barrena

May 4, 2015 (San Diego) - The San Diego Chargers had the 17th overall pick in the 2015 NFL draft this weekend, when college football’s biggest stars make the transition to professional sports in front of millions of TV viewers. This year’s draft featured a departure from tradition as the 3 day ceremony was held in Chicago instead of New York, where it had been previously held every year since 1963.

May 3, 2015 (Borrego) – La Casa del Zorro in Borrego Springs is offering several upcoming attractions, set against a beautiful desert backdrop.

Consumer group starts petition to urge more review

By Miriam Raftery

Photo: GMO salmon (back) is larger than non-GMO salmon of same age

May 2, 2015 (Washington D.C.)  -- The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is considering approving a genetically modified salmon – not as a food, but as an “animal drug,” according to Sarah Alexander at Food and Water Watch.  If approved, it would be the first GMO animal allowed into our food chain. But tests have found high levels of both hormone and potential allergens.  Only six fish were tested for allergies – but those fish had an allergenic potency was 20 to 50 percent higher in the GMO salmon than non-GMO salmon.

By Leon Thompson

Photo: Winona LaDuke with her cousin, ECM Tribal Beat journalist Leon Thompson

May 2, 2015, 2015 (SDSU Montezuma Hall) - The Conrad Prebys Student Center at San Diego State University was filled on Earth Day, April 22, as Winona LaDuke took the stage dwarfed by the giant screen depicting the past splendor and future possibilities of her native White Earth Nation.  In the language of the Anishinaabe she brought greetings and recounted the Ojibwa names for the months or moons noting that not one of them was named after a Roman Emperor.