September 30, 2010 (Julian) -- As part of Julian’s Apple Days Centennial Celebration, a two-day Apple Days Festival will be held October 2nd and 3rd.  Festivities take place at Menghini Winery in the historic gold rush town of Julian, located on Highway 79 in East County's mountain region.

September 30, 2010 (La Mesa) -- The Environmental Sustainability Commission is holding the third annual “Sustain La Mesa” Environmental Festival on Saturday, October 9, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Harry Griffen Park, 9550 Milden Street, La Mesa, 91942.This year's festival will feature over 30 booths and exhibits as well as expert speakers and activities for all ages.

By Miriam Raftery
 

September 30, 2010 (El Cajon ) – Johnney P. Minarick prays perserverance will pay off. He ran for Grossmont Health Care district board in 1998, getting just 4.92% of the vote, and for Grossmont Cuyamaca Community College District’s board in 2000, drawing 18.5%.  Now he’s running for Mayor of El Cajon against four other candidates (incumbent Mayor Mark Lewis and challengers John “Mike” Garcia, Todd Moore, and Darris Mroz.)
 

Minarick says his biggest concern is that “nonbelievers took the Bible out of schools” and belives that kids "need the Bible to learn right from wrong.” As Mayor, he would seek to “bring reading the Bible back into schools again like we used to do when we were kids in Pennsylvania.”

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.