Congresswoman Susan Davis offers support

By Ray M. Wong

By Miriam Raftery

August 22, 2010 (El Cajon ) – Two Congressmen and four local lawmakers fielded questions from the audience Friday night, trading quips and barbs on topics ranging from healthcare to gay marriage. The occasion was the San Diego East County Chamber of Commerce’s annual “Politics in Paradise” event in the Water Conservation Garden at Cuyamaca College, where the weather was sultry and the politics even hotter.

East County News Service

Update 6:05 p.m. This fire is now 50% contained at 30 acres; aerial support has been released, Cal-Fire reports.

August 22, 2010 (Santa Ysabel) – Cal-Fire is on the scene of a 25-acre brush fire off Highway 79 near the Santa Ysabel Casino, assisted by U.S. Forest Service, volunteer fire agencies, and the San Diego Sheriff’s Department. One firefighter has suffered minor injury, Cal-Fire spokesperson Roxanne Provaznik reports.

By Brian Lafferty

August 22, 2010 (San Diego)--Cairo Time is a film best appreciated as art. Forget the simplistic, nearly nonexistent plot involving a budding affair between an American woman and her husband’s Egyptian friend. I admired this film for it’s cinematography and it’s visual style which included such lyrical imagery as the Pyramids, the mosques, the streets, the desert, and the Nile. The script, not unlike the characters, wanders almost aimlessly but I liked where it took the characters and I enjoyed where it took me.

By Miriam Raftery

August 21, 2010 (Lakeside) -- As East County Magazine reported earlier, a San Diego Sheriff's helicopter rescued two people trapped on the face of El Capitan (El Cajon Mountain) when the fast-moving Monte fire encroached below them.

Now the Sheriff and Cal-Fire have released details of the harrowing ordeal, revealing how two deputies risked their own lives to save others.  They narrowly escaped, as flames burned so close that one rescuer leaped onto a landing skid and hung on as the chopper descended 3,675 feet to the valley floor.

Fire burning along Powerlink route; eagle's nest threatened

By Miriam Raftery
 

August 21, 2010 (Lakeside) 5:15 p.m. – Firefighters are expected to work through the night battling a blaze that Cal-Fire now estimates at 2,000 acres, with 5-10% containment. (Note: Cal-Fire issued a correction of an earlier release, which had indicated 3,000 acres.)

"The fire went right up El Cap to where one of the towers is to be located," Candy Barra-Jenkins said of the planned Sunrise Powerlink line. "All the pictures I took of the planes and helicopters are where the transmission line would be. This fire would have been much worse if the transmission line were here." View more of her fire photos.
 

“Passport to the Future” brings together La Mesa, Santee and East County Chamber for business showcase on September 23

August 20, 2010 (San Diego's East County) -- Applications are now available for the East County’s largest Business Showcase and Expo to be held on Thursday, September 23 from 5:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. at the Elk’s Lodge, 1400 E. Washington Avenue, El Cajon, 92019.

Climbers reportedly trapped on mountain

August 21, 2010 (Lakeside) 1:55 p.m. - The fire in El Monte Valley is now 100 acres, actively burning to the north, into steep terrain, away from structures,  Cal-Fire's Roxanne Provaznik reports. 

ECM photographer Dennis Richardson, on the scene, reports the fire is burning up the face of El Capitan. A radio scanner report indicated that hikers on a trail expressed concerns about becoming trapped.

August 21, 2010 (Spring Valley) - A small fire on Anlee Street is burning along the backside of several homes in the Spring Valley area; firefighters are on scene attacking the blaze, Incident Page Network reports. Watch for details.

August 21, 2010 (Santee) - Free dental exams for children will be offered today from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Pathway Community Church in Santee, thanks to a program through Rady Children’s Hospital. The free exams aim to help parents meet state requirements for youngsters entering kindergarten or first grade to have a dental checkup before starting school.

August 20, 2010 (San Diego) – The Salvation Army Kroc Center’s Verge Teen Theatre company will present Les Miserables School Edition, the first show for this teen-organized theatre company.

By Buck Shott

August 19, 2010 (San Diego's East County) – The races are on for mayor and council positions in East Couny. Two local mayors’ seats are up for reelection in November. Both face challengers vying for the leadership spots in El Cajon and La Mesa. In addition, a pack of contenders is vying to run for council seats in East County’s cities of El Cajon, La Mesa, Lemon Grove, and Santee. Here's the lineup: 

Hundreds of thousands now face starvation as crops, soils washed away
 

Rescue Task Force seeks help to save lives of Afghan women & girls at literary schools
 

By Miriam Raftery
August 19, 2010 (San Diego) –“The same floods that are hitting Pakistan are hitting Afghanistan. It’s just horrific,” said Gary Becks, founder of Rescue Task Force, a San Diego-based nonprofit that has its roots in East County. 

Becks has led relief efforts in some of the worst disasters on earth including the Asian tsunami, Hurricane Katrina, major earthquakes, and the Cedar Fire. But the scale of devastation in Afghanistan goes far beyond even those catastrophes. Threats from the Taliban make relief efforts dangerous—and with farmlands washed away, the very survival of the Hazara people is at stake.

4 million homeless, 20 million people impacted, one-fifth of nation underwater in disaster worse than Hurricane Katrina, Haiti earthquake, or Asian tsunami

By Miriam Raftery

ECM intern Tasneem Kassamali also contributed to this story.

August 19, 2010 (San Diego) – San Diego State University finance student and software engineer Omed Habib was cleaning his closet when he heard about the floods devastating Pakistan.

“I am a child of Afghan refugees,” said Habib, whose parents came to the U.S. during the Soviet-Afghanistan War in 1981. Knowing what it’s like for a family to lose everything, he asked a friend involved in relief efforts how he could donate three bags of his clothing to Pakistan flood victims. Then he posted a notice on Facebook asking 500 friends for more help.

August 20, 2010 (La Mesa) – A woman walking in the Costco parking lot in La Mesa on Wednesday shortly before noon had her purse stolen As the suspects drove past the victim, one suspect hung out a passenger window and forcibly grabbed her purse, causing burn-type abrasion to her arm. The suspects were last seen speeding away through the Costco parking lot.