By Kathy Carpenter 

East County News Service

November 27, 2021 (Pauma Valley) – The San Diego County Medical Examiner has identified Joaquin Romero, 34, of Banning, California as the worker who died on November 1^st after a fall a day earlier in Pauma Valley at the La Jolla Zip Zoom line operated by the La Jolla Indian tribe. 

By Miriam Raftery

November 27, 2021 (Alpine) – Vincent I. Esquivel, 29, of Descanso has been identified as the driver who died at the scene of a vehicle accident on the evening of November 13.

By Henri Migala, East County Eater

Photos by Henri Migala, Miriam Raftery and Sammy’s

November 27, 2021 (La Mesa) -- Having been reviewing restaurants in East County for nearly two years now I have been reporting that East County has become the new gastronomic center of San Diego.

Nowhere is this more evident than the recently renovated Sammy’s Food + Wine in La Mesa. With a full and varied menu that reflects the international background of founder Sammy Ladeki and the rich multicultural nature of our eclectic East County community, Sammy’s offers something for everyone.

By Miriam Raftery

November 27, 2021 (San Diego) – Mike Hancock, 59, traffic reporter for several local radio stations and former news director at KNSJ radio, was found dead in his San Diego residence by a friend on November 14 after an illness. His voice has also been heard on the East County Magazine Radio Show, where he was instrumental in mentoring interns and reporting on locations in East County.

Source:  goaztecs.com

Video courtesy goaztecs.com

November 27, 2021 (Anaheim) - Trey Pulliam scored 11 points, while Lamont Butler and Aguek Arop each had nine, but the No. 24 Southern California Trojans, were able to limit the San Diego State Aztecs to 32.1 percent shooting and defeated SDSU 58-43 in the championsip game of the Paycom Wooden Legacy on Friday night.

East County News Service

November 26, 2021 (San Diego’s East County) – What could be merrier than a Holiday Wine Trail in the country featuring 17 local wineries? This year, the Ramona Holiday Wine Trail is extended for a full month, each Saturday and Sunday from Nov. 28 to Dec. 19.

Update 5:15 p.m. -- Power has been restored to all customers, according to the SDG&E website.

By Miriam Raftery

Photo by Fran Materra, via Facebook: Thanksgiving by lanternlight in Potrero

November 26, 2021 (San Diego’s East County) – An estimated 2,520 SDG&E customers remain in the dark on Black Friday due to power-shut offs amid a red flag warning for high fire danger. About half the communities originally blacked out have power restored, but these areas remain without power:  Alpine, Boulevard, the Campo reservation, Descanso, Jamul, Potrero, the Viejas Reservation, and Warner Springs.

More than 50,000 customers remain at risk of outages yet to come.  View the list of communities at risk at https://www.sdge.com/psps-dashboard. SDG&E has set up community resource centers where residents without power can go to recharge devices, pickup ice, water, snacks and more. Find the closest CRC at SDG&E’s CRC look-up tool.

East County residents posted comments and complaints on social media regarding the outages. While some railed against SDG&E for cutting power on a holiday, others pre-cooked foods early, grateful for the warnings.  Others dined out at restaurants, brought in hot meals, or headed to relatives homes’ outside the blacked-out areas. Some also voiced thanks that no homes were lost to wildfires.

East County News Service

November 25, 2021 (Spring Valley) – Pedro Arturo Rodriguez, Jr., 22, has been arrested and charged with the shooting murder of Arnolfo Quinntero, 26.

Sheriff’s homicide detectives responded to the killing on November 3 in the 8700 block of Troy Street in Spring Valley. On November 23, the San Diego Regional Fugitive Task Force arrested Rodriguez as he left his residence in the 5200 block of Quince Street in San Diego, says Lieutenant Thomas Siever.

Rodriguez was booked into San Diego Central Jail.

By Miriam Raftery

November 25, 2021 (San Diego’s East County) – SDG&E has shut off power to 5,311 customers as of 10 a.m. Thanksgiving morning.  Another 47,934 are at risk of outages amid a red flag warning for extreme fire danger and high winds. 

So far, these are the communities without power:  Alpine, Boulevard, Descanso, Jamul, Pala, Pauma Valley, and Potrero as well as the Campo, Cuyapaipe, La Jolla, Pauma, and Viejas reservations.Many more areas are on a list of potential outages to come.

View an outage map and click on your community for estimated power restoration times:  https://www.sdge.com/residential/customer-service/outage-center/outage-map   Some areas are listed as likely to be without power until Saturday.

SDG&E has opened several community resource centers where residents can get water, ice, snacks, and preparedness supplies, car power inverters, solar-powered batteries, radios, and update on outages.  View map at https://www.sdge.com/resource-centers.

East County News Service

November 24, 2021 (El Cajon) - The nonprofit Campaign One At A Time is (OAAT) hosting a fundraiser for a 5-year-old cancer patient, Maximiliano Jacobs from El Cajon, to help fulfill his dream of going on a dream trip to Disney World with his family. 

East County Wildfire & Emergency Alerts

November 24, 2021 (San Diego’s East County) -- The National Weather Service has issued a Red Flag Warning from tonight at 9 pm to Friday at 6 pm. due to risk of extreme fire behavior, threatening life and property.

Be prepared to evacuate if needed. Strongest winds are expected tonight into tomorrow morning with gusts up to 65 mph.

SDG&E has broadened its list of possible power shut-offs to include over 53,000 customers across most of East County and other areas. For the latest list of impacted areas see https://www.sdge.com/psps-dashboard.  As of 6 p.m. tonight, the list includes:

East County News Service

November 24, 2021 (Spring Valley) - The Saps at Sea, the San Diego chapter of the Sons of the Desert, the Laurel & Hardy appreciation society, invite you to "Laurel & Hardy - Save the Best for December Night" December 18 at Williams Hall at Trinity Presbytarian Church in Spring Valley.

November 24, 2021 (San Diego) -- East County Roundup highlights top stories of interest to East County and San Diego's inland regions, published in other media.  This week's round-up stories include:

LOCAL

• El Cajon does about-face on redistricting maps process (San Diego Union-Tribune)
• San Diego judge dismisses lawsuit challenging state's school mask mandate (10 News)
• Sniffing Out COVID-19 at San Diego Ice Arena (NBC San Diego)
• San Diego City Council Eliminates Minimum Parking Requirements for Businesses (Times of San Diego)
• Staffing shortages challenging San Diego Fire-Rescue (KPBS)
• San Diego MTS determined to rehab ‘Impossible Railroad’ despite latest setback in the desert  (San Diego Union-Tribune)
• Residents applaud safety fixes on Mount Helix Drive (San Diego Union-Tribune)

STATE

• After record low, monarch butterflies return to California (AP News)
• California broadens access to Covid booster shots  (New York Times)
• Fearing a winter surge, California turbocharges its push for COVID booster shots  (Los Angeles Times)
• Here’s how many California kids have had a COVID vaccine, about a week into rollout  (Sacramento Bee)
• About 80 thieves ransack department store near San Francisco (10 News)

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

East County News Service

November 24, 2021 (La Mesa) -- You’re invited to a holiday fest at Grossmont Center mall in La Mesa on Saturday, November 27 from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. and Sunday, November 28 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Come kick off your holiday shopping with a curated mix of over 70  local crafters and vendors while enjoying family-friendly activities at this fun, free holiday event.

November 27 is Small Business Saturday, and this will be the perfect opportunity to small and shop local among the shops and vendors at Grossmont Center. There will also be a tree lighting from 4 to 6 p.m. on November 27 in the Grossmont Center courtyard.

On both Saturday and Sunday, you can mix and mingle with Kris Kringle and friends while getting your holiday photos taken at one of the holiday photo backdrops and enjoy lunch or snacks including vegan options by local food vendors.