By Gig Conaughton, County of San Diego Communications Office

Video by Brett Michel

October 28, 2021 (San Diego) - Hoping to help sow the seeds of sustainable, nutritional living, County Board of Supervisors Chair Nathan Fletcher, Vice Chair Nora Vargas, master gardeners and County staff opened a new demonstration garden at the County Operations Center Wednesday.

East County News Service

View video: https://www.facebook.com/CityOfElCajon/videos/3043747972534333 \

October 27, 2021 (El Cajon) -- The City of El Cajon and Heartland Fire & Rescue shared a video on its Facebook and Instagram accounts recounting a recent rescue by firefighters using swift water rescue equipment recently received through a grant from the Firehouse Sub Public Safety Foundation. The equipment was received just two weeks prior to the rescue

East County News Service

October 27, 2021 (Julian) – You’re invited to get into the Halloween spooky spirit Halloween weekend at Ghost Town Banner City’s haunted forest from 7 to 11 p.m. The Haunted Forest is located at historic Banner Ranch about seven miles from downtown Julian.

October 27, 2021 (San Diego’s East County) - East County Magazine's World Watch helps you be an informed citizen on important issues globally and nationally. As part of our commitment to reflect all voices and views, we include links to a variety of news sources representing a broad spectrum of political, religious, and social views. Top world and U.S. headlines include:

U.S.

• Democrats at odds over 'billionaires tax' to fund sweeping Biden agenda (Reuters)
• A 19th-Century Law Dismantled The KKK. Now It Could Bring Down A New Generation Of Extremists (Huffington Post0
• Jan. 6 committee chair: 'No question' Capitol riot was a premeditated attack (The Hill)
• House January 6 committee unanimously votes to hold Steve Bannon in criminal contempt (CBS)
• Supreme Court won’t block Texas abortion law but grants expedited review for Nov. 1 (Washington Post)
• Colin Powell was vaccinated against Covid, but suffered from a cancer that makes the shots less effective (CNN)
• Ethics Group: 7 House Members Are Violating The STOCK Act (NPR)
• Dwindling Alaska salmon leave Yukon River tribes in crisis (AP)
• Even Colorado's Largest Wildfire Was No Match For Beavers (KUNC)

WORLD

• Haiti faces disasters and chaos. Its people are most likely to be denied U.S. asylum (NPR)
• Biden vows to stand with Asia on freedom, hits at China on Taiwan (Reuters)
• Syria executes 24 people charged with lighting wildfires that devastated the country last year (CNN)
• U.S. offers payments, relocation to family of Afghans killed in botched drone attack (Reuters)

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

By Miriam Raftery

October 27, 2021 (San Diego) – Republican Congressman Darrell Issa has introduced a bill that would exempt people who test positive for antibodies against COVID-19 from the Biden administration’s vaccine mandate for federal workers and large employers.

The measure, H.R. 5642, is titled the Follow Accepted Science Together (FAST) Act.

“The demand by this Administration for vaccine mandates is a mistake,’ said Rep. Issa, whose district includes much of East County. “The FAST Act follows the science and exempts Americans with COVID-19 antibodies from this unfair White House edit.”

By Henri Migala, East County Eater

October 26, 2021 (La Mesa) -- East County is quickly becoming the new go-to place in San Diego for the best BBQ in town. One of the most delicious is West Coast Smoke and Tap House in La Mesa, where new owners defied all odds by taking over amid the pandemic and serving up the restaurant’s most successful year ever.

By San Diego Jewish World, a member of the San Diego Online News Association

Photo:  The Kamaras family. Left to right: Elliott, Jacob, Aurora, and Megan.

October 26, 2021 (San Diego) - The San Diego Jewish World on Tuesday announced that Jacob Kamaras will assume the role of publisher and editor in chief of the daily online news publication beginning January 1, 2022. Kamaras, a public relations professional who previously served as the first editor in chief of the national Jewish News Syndicate (JNS), succeeds San Diego Jewish World founder Donald H. Harrison, 76, who will become editor emeritus.

By Miriam Raftery

October 24, 2021 (San Diego) – “Just a couple of weeks ago, a quarter of a million kids were getting COVID,” says Dr. William Tseng, area assistant medical director of Kaiser Permanente and Kaiser’s vaccine expert. That’s according to the American Academy of Pediatrics' new site tracking COVID cases in U.S. children. Deaths of children due to COVID have occurred in 48 of 50 states.

In an exclusive interview via Zoom on October, the day the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) broadly expanded eligibility of COVID-19 booster shots, East County Magazine interviewed Dr. Tseng on who should get boosters and what parents should know about COVID vaccines for children ages 5-11, which are likely to be approved in early November.  The answers may surprise you!

Click the image at left to view the full interview (which will also air on KNSJ radio) or click "read more' and scroll down to read highlights.

By Miriam Raftery

October 26, 2021 (La Mesa) – A body found on a dark, dead-end road in Bonita has been identified as Kimberly Gutierrez, 22, of La Mesa.  An autopsy found that she died of gunshot wounds.

According to Lieutenant Thomas Seiver, evidence at the scene indicated she was killed at the site, not dumped there. Her death was ruled a homicide.

By Miriam Raftery

October 25, 2021 (San Diego) –  East County Magazine tonight received 11 awards in San Diego Press Club’s 48^th annual Excellence In Journalism competition. The honors include three first place awards, recognitions for both our online news site and radio show coverage during the past year’s turbulent times.  ECM’s awards span a broad range of categories, including three of the four awards presented for breaking news. Since its inception in 2008, ECM has won 137 major journalism prizes.

Congratulations to ECM’s award-winning reporting team:  Miriam Raftery, Henri Migala, Helen Horvath, and the late Briana Gomez as well as columnists David Shorey and Paul Levikow.

“I’m proud of our team for once again going all out to report news that matters, even amid a global pandemic and civil unrest, at times risking their own safety to get the stories,” says ECM editor Miriam Raftery. " It's especially poignant to see two posthumous awards honoring works by Briana Gomez, who was such a talented and devoted young journalist."

She adds, “We also thank the Facebook Journalism Project for their generous support through a grant which helped enable our reporting during the pandemic, including several Zoom special reports and interviews as well as our coverage of COVID-19 issues and breaking news."

 Below are ECM's winning stories, radio broadcasts and podcasts:

By Miriam Raftery

October 25, 2021 (San Diego) --  Family and friends of Steven Hilles, 54, are asking individuals throughout San Diego County to help find hm. Since the evening of October 7, when he experienced an extreme mental health crisis and left his Kensington neighborhood home on foot, no one has heard from him.

When last seen, he was wearing dark blue jeans, a black pullover and dark sport shoes. He is white, 5’7”, 150 pounds. 

His disappearance has been reported to San Diego Police (reference # 21-500959).

By Miriam Raftery

October 24, 2021 (San Diego’s East County) – This week’s Destination East County features many of East County’s most popular fall festivities including some haunting Halloween happenings, a murder mystery play, plus art and winetasting events to celebrate harvest season in our region’s wine country.

Scroll down for all of these events and many more!

Source: Caltrans

Photo: Creative Commons-SA via Bing

October 23, 2021 (Dulzura) --  Pavement rehabilitation work on a nine-mile segment of State Route 94,  from just west of Arnold Road to State Route 188 in East County, will move to weekdays from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. beginning Monday, according to Caltrans.

The work will require lane closures on 1.5-mile sections of roadway within the project area through November. Highway personnel will direct traffic onto the open lane, one direction at a time, as crews work on the closed lane.

Traffic delays are expected depending on the traffic queues and motorists are advised to allow additional travel time to reach their destinations.

Signs will be posted ahead of the closures to alert drivers.

By Miriam Raftery

October 23, 2021 (San Diego’s East County) – The drought has dried up watering holes and vegetation that the Anza Borrego Desert’s iconic bighorn sheep rely upon.  Scott Gibson with the Society for the Conservation of Bighorn Sheep told ECM, “Endangered bighorn sheep mortality due to dehydration has been documented recently."

Fortunately, the U.S. Marines came to the rescue – with help from several nonprofit organizations and state agencies. In September, a Marine Corps helicopter crew made the first-ever helicopter water delivery to Anza-Borrego Desert State Park.

Click here view a video by David Owen Hawxhurst, www.hawxhurtst.com and scroll down for details.