By Melinda Myers

March 1, 2022 (San Diego) - Boost this year’s harvest and reduce pest problems with less effort, while being kind to the environment.  Employ row covers, chicken wire cloches and crop cages to prevent damage without the aid of chemicals.

Floating row covers of spun-bonded or woven materials let air, light, and water through to the covered plantings. The warm air that is captured protects the plantings from frosty temperatures. The coverings also prevent birds from dining on newly planted seeds and eliminate damage by certain insects like flea beetles, onion maggots, seed corn maggots, and leafhoppers that may infect lettuce, celery, and carrots with aster yellows disease.

Source:  goaztecs.com

Video courtesy goaztecs.com

February 28, 2022 (Laramie, Wyo.) -  Matt Bradley hit a career-high equaling five 3-pointers and totaled a career-high 30 points to lead the San Diego State men's basketball team to a 73-66 victory at the Arena-Auditorium on Monday night.

By Chuck Westerheide, County of San Diego Communications Office

February 28, 2022 (San Diego) - The Medical Examiner’s Office needs your help identifying a man killed while crossing Interstate 805 in January.

By Miriam Raftery

February 18, 2022 (Campo) – You’re invited to experience the history and heritage of San Diego’s East County during Campo Day. The event will take place on Saturday, April 30  at four separate locations encompassing the community’s colorful past which includes a historic railway, Wild West shootout, Native Americans, pioneers, cowboy skills, Buffalo soldiers, a cavalry camp and living military history. There’s also an evening dance.

Specifically, the Campo venues and events at the event organized by the Mountain Empire Historical Society include:

By Miriam Raftery

February 27, 2022 (San Diego’s East County) – Jok Joseph Jok, 18, had dreams of going to medical school and was a student at the University of California, Riverside when he was struck by a pickup truck a year ago. The driver fled the scene, leaving Jok injured alongside the road on Bancroft Drive in La Mesa on Feb. 27, 2021. Jok died a week later in a hospital.

By Elijah McKee

February 27, 2022 (Logan Heights) — The Greenwood district of Tulsa, Oklahoma was once a hub of Black-owned businesses that saw such prosperity that it became known as Black Wall Street — that is, until it was destroyed by white rioters during the 1921 Tulsa race massacre. 

East County News Service

February 26, 2022 (San Diego) – Tonight, the San Diego County Administration Building is illuminated in blue and yellow – Ukraine’s national colors, to show solidarity with Ukraine amid the Russian invasion.

Aztecs lose game on walk-off two-run home run

Source:  goaztecs.com

Video courtesy goaztecs.com

February 26, 2022 (Cathedral City, Calif.) - For the second time in 21 hours, the San Diego State softball team lost to a nationally ranked team in extra innings by a 7-6 score, falling to No. 16/19 Missouri on the third day of the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic Saturday at Big League Dreams Cathedral City.

By Helen Ofield, Lemon Grove Historical Society

Photo:  Mike Norris Media for LGHS

February 26, 2022 (Lemon Grove) - They left nothing to chance. Starting in 1842 when the first "Tregensoes" (later, Treganzas) crossed the Atlantic to America and a new life, the family left the starting gate (Cornwall) with many of the things that make life worth living:  Art, Writing, Music, Crafts, Agriculture, Architecture, Anthropology, Ethnography, Medicine, Research, Business, Education, International Relations, and above all, a sense of adventure and faith in the future. 

Source: County News Service

Photo: close-up of 38 caliber revolver handgun with safety trigger lock.

February 25, 2022 (San Diego) – Starting today, a new County of San Diego ordinance requiring that all guns be safely stored takes effect. It requires all guns in homes or structures near a home to either be secured with a trigger lock or be locked away in a container.

By Miriam Raftery

Photo: CC via Bing

February 25, 2022 (San Diego) – By a 3-2 vote, San Diego County Supervisors approved a Working Families Ordinance on Feb. 8.  The measure requires payment of prevailing wages and use of a skilled, trained workforce on construction projects over $1 million on county lands.  It also brings sick leave requirements in line with state standards.

A second reading is set for March 1^st. if approved then, it will go into effect 30 days later on new contracts or projects up for renewal.

By Kristen Hwang, CalMatters

CalMatters is a public interest journalism venture committed to explaining how California’s state Capitol works and why it matters

Photo:  George Dowell, 40, receives the COVID-19 vaccine at Umoja Health pop-up clinic in Oakland last week. He waited a year to watch for any side-effects or problems in his vaccinated friends. Photo by Marissa Leshnov for CalMatters

February 25, 2022 (San Diego) - Deondray Moore sat in a plastic folding chair, rolled up his sleeve and got his first COVID-19 shot in the parking lot of Center of Hope Community Church in Oakland a week ago. He was the last in his family to get vaccinated after putting it off for more than a year, and only acquiesced because he wants to be in the delivery room when his son is born this summer. 

East County News Service

Photo, left: Congress Darrell Issa, via Issa’s office

Photo, right: NATO Secretary Jens Stoltenberg, courtesy of NATO

February 24, 2022 (San Diego) -- WASHINGTON D.C. - Congressman Darrell Issa (CA-50) issued a media statement today after the invasion of Ukraine by Russia.

"This is a disastrous day for free nations everywhere and a direct assault by tyranny and aggression that will compel the world to take notice,” said Issa, a Republican.

He added, "This is also a defining moment for the Biden Administration, which has manifestly failed to bolster a coalition of allies and partners to keep and secure the peace."

East County News Service

February 24, 2022 (San Diego) -- Congresswoman Sara Jacobs (D-CA-53) today released a statement on the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Jacobs is a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee and the House Armed Services Committee. In late January, she traveled to Kyiv, Ukraine, as part of an official bipartisan Congressional delegation led by Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Gregory Meeks.

“I condemn President Putin’s unjustified attack on Ukraine that will have devastating and deadly consequences for the Ukrainian people and widespread consequences for the European continent. I stand with the Ukrainian people who woke up to Putin’s declaration of war, to explosions rocking their cities, and to a new and horrifying reality for the future," Jacobs says, adding,  “When I visited Ukraine with my colleagues last month, it was clear that the United States Congress and the Biden Administration – along with our NATO allies and partners – are united in our strong support for the Ukrainian people."

While world leaders denounce Russia for violating international law,  on eve of invasion Trump praised Putin for recognizing separatist regions as independent, predicted Russian president intended to "keep the peace."

By Miriam Raftery

Updated 2:06 p.m. with additional comments from Sara Jacobs.

February 24, 2022 (San Diego) – In defiance of international law, according to the United Nations, Russia last night launched a full-scale attack on the Ukraine including missile attacks on the capital, Kyiv, military targets and other cities far beyond separatist regions in dispute. Russian troops and tanks are also moving in on three sides of the Ukraine in the largest military threat Europe has faced since World War II.

Ukraine’s leaders have fled the capitol.  Chillingly, today exiled Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky tweeted, ““Russian occupation forces are trying to seize the Chernobyl [Nuclear Power Plant]. Our defenders are sacrificing their lives so that the tragedy of 1986 will not be repeated," rerferring to the core meltdown at the nuclear reactor site

He added, “This is a declaration of war against the whole of Europe.” 

President Joe Biden condemned Russian President Vladimir Putin for choosing ”a premeditated war that will bring a catastrophic loss of life and human suffering,” adding,”The world will hold Russia accountable.” In addition to sanctions already imposed, Biden announced he will convene a meeting of G7 leaders today and coordinate with NATO allies to ensure “a strong, united response that deters any aggression against the Alliance. Tonight, Jill and I are praying for the brave and proud people of the Ukraine.”