By Miriam Raftery

November 10, 2022 (Sacramento) – California voters overwhelmingly approved a constitutional right to abortion, but soundly defeated legalized sports wagering both on and off tribal lands.  They also voted down taxing the rich to bolster wildfire protection, but voted in favor of increasing funding for arts and music education in public schools. 

Voters also approved banning flavored tobacco products, but once again voted down a measure to require presence of a doctor, nurse, or physician assistant during kidney dialysis treatment.

By Rebecca Jefferis Williamson

Update Nov. 21, 2022 -- Ryan and Fox have retained their leads.  Ryan has 75.56%, far outposcing her opponent. Fox has 48.58% in his three-person race, well above Thill at 36.71% and Dolin at 14.7%.  This will be the final update from the Registrar of Voters before certification of the votes on Dec. 8.

Nov. 9, 2022 (Santee) The  Santee School District’s board of education had three seats up for election on its board of trustees. Campaign issues included school safety, catching up on pandemic learning loss and more.

The latest vote tally has incumbent Barbara L. Ryan vastly outpacing Ron Burner for seat 1. Ryan has 76.15% of the vote, versus Burner’s 23.85%. Ryan, a member of the Santee Board of Education, supports comprehensive language arts programs that include phonics, a zero-tolerance policy ensuring safety, curriculum standards that exceed state standards, and more. In her ballot statement, she says her leadership has brought significant additional funding to the district. Additionally, she has served on district committees, as a PTA president and school site councilmember as well as numerous other organizations.

By Miriam Raftery

Photo, top left to lower right:  Andrew Hayes won reelection; newcomers Ron Kasper, Jim Bennett and Autumn Ellenson beat out a trio of other incumbents

November 9, 2022 (Lakeside) – Lakeside Union School District’s governing board will look dramatically different as a result of yesterday’s election.  Three full-term seats and one short-term seat were on the ballot. But only one of the incumbents up for reelection, Andrew Hayes, has won reelection.  Three others – Bonnie LaChappa, Holly Ferrante, and Don Whiseman, are trailing by substantial margins.

All of the leading candidates are endorsed by the Republican Party, though the race is officially nonpartisan. In addition to Hayes, challengers Jim Bennett and Ron Kasper appear poised to win full-term seats, while Autumn Ellenson is winning the short-term seat by a resounding margin of more than two-thirds.

By Miriam Raftery

November 8, 2022 (San Diego) – The balance of power in Congress hangs in the balance this election, with Republicans currently looking likely to take back a majority in the House of representatives by a few seats – a narrower margin than pundits forecast; control of the Senate remains too close to call.  But in San Diego County, all five incumbent Congressional members have solid leads and appear set to hold onto their sets.

East County Congressman Darrell Issa, a Republican, has 58.12% of the vote in San Diego County over his opponent, Stephen Houlahan, a nurse with a masters in business degree who has 41.88% of the vote. The district also includes a small portion of Riverside County, which also has a large Republican voter registration advantage. Houlahan had criticized Issa's anti-abortion stance and accepting over $150,000 in federal loan forgiveness for his business, after voting against COVID-relief funds for others.

Victim was adopted daughter of Rock Church elder and ministry leader

By Miriam Raftery

November 8, 2022 (Spring Valley) -- Three people have been arrested and charged in relation to the death of 11-year-old Arabella McCormack of Spring Valley. Those arrested are the child’s adoptive mother, Leticia McCormack, 49, and Leticia McCormack’s parents, Stanley Tom, 75, and Adella Tom, 49.  All are charged with torture and willful cruelty to a child; Stanley Tom and Leticia McCormack have also been charged with murder.

Source:  goaztecs.com

Photo courtesy goaztecs.com

November 7, 2022 (Stanford) - The Aztec women’s basketball team fell at No. 2 Stanford 86-48 in their season opener Monday evening.

SDSU was led by Alex Crain and Meghan Fiso who each scored nine points. Mercedes Staples and Kim Villalobos each chipped in seven.

East County News Service 

Story and photos by Shiloh Ireland

Photo:  Steve White's body location on trail

November 6, 2022 (Santee) – Authorities have not yet identified the man found  last week on a trail near a homeless camp in Santee. But two men who live at the camp told East County Magazine that the deceased was Steve White, who was homeless.

East County News Service

November 6, 2022 (San Diego’s East County) – The second Pacific storm of the season will bring cold weather and heavy rainfall with potential for atmospheric river conditions this week, the National Weather Service predicts.

By Miriam Raftery

Photo: Tiny homes at Meridian Baptist Church in El Cajon

November 5, 2022 (San Diego) – The County Board of Supervisors has unanimously approved a proposal by Supervisors Joel Anderson and Nora Vargas to purchase sleeping cabins or other emergency shelter structures. The structures will be made available to community partners like churches and non-profits who want to step up and provide shelter options in their community.

By Mike Allen

November 5, 2022 (Santee) -- The Tin Fish at Santee Lakes, open for about a year, is closing this weekend, but why is a mystery. Padre Dam Water District, the agency that controls Santee Lakes, indicated only that a new vender is being selected.

Melissa McChesney, spokeswoman for Padre Dam, said that the owner of the business, Ed Kim, notified the agency in September “he intended to cease operations at Santee Lakes.”

She said the agency and owner determined the best course of action for both parties was to assign the licensing agreement to another vender, which Padre Dam’s CEO would oversee and select. But she provided no reason why Kim was exiting his contract early. In May of 2021, he signed a three-year lease with Padre Dam and opened the restaurant in June.

This is the 5^th year that SDG&E is supporting educators through the DonorsChoose Crowdfunding Platform

Source:  SDG&E

November 4, 2022 (San Diego) - Ahead of STEM/STEAM Day on Nov. 8, San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E) announced today that it is providing $250,000 in shareholder funds as matching dollars to help teachers supplement classroom learning with science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) projects, as well as racial equity and inclusion education. This is the fifth year that SDG&E is partnering with DonorsChoose, a nonprofit crowdfunding platform that empowers public school educators to post their projects online and raise donations to fund them. 

By Susan Taylor and Miriam Raftery 

November 3, 2022 (La Mesa) – The La Mesa-Spring Valley School District will soon have a majority of new faces, since incumbents Megan Epperson and Charda Bell are not seeking reelection in trustee areas 1 and 3. In addition, the resignation of Sarah Rhiley resulted in the Board appointing Nathanial Allen last month to complete her term in trustee area 5. 

 

Six candidates are vying for three seats on the La Mesa-Spring Valley School District Board. In trustee area 1, business owner and former board member Jim Long is running against Tiffany Caitlin, a teacher.  In area 2, board president Rebecca McRae, an elementary school teacher, seeks reelection and faces challenger Myriam Moody, a community college professor.  In area 3, La Mesa Planning Commissioner Brianna Coston is running against teacher and university administrator Hermann Kyle.

The California Teachers Association has endorsed Caitlin, McRae, and Coston. So has the San Diego County Democratic Party.  The San Diego County Republican Party has endorsed Moody and Kyle.

East County Magazine sent questionnaires to all candidates running but disappointingly, only one candidate, Jim Long, replied. His responses are published below.

Opponents say merger of grocery giants would create monopoly

East County News Service

November 2, 2022 (Sacramento) -- California Attorney General Rob Bonta today joined attorneys general from the District of Columbia and Illinois in asking the D.C. District Court to temporarily block Albertsons' planned $4 billion payment of a special dividend to shareholders on November 7. The action is due to concerns that the payment would dramatically hamper Albertsons' ability to compete, at a time when a proposed merger between Albertsons and Kroger grocery corporations is under scrutiny by federal regulators.