June 7, 2011 ( San Diego’s East County) – A man stole beer from a cooler, then left an Arco Gas Station Store at 8797 Lake Murray Blvd. without paying shortly after midnight on Sunday, June 5 When a clerk confronted the suspect in the parking lot, the man displayed a gun.

Authorities describe the suspect as an Asian male adult around 18 years old, 5 feet 6 inches tall, with a medium build. He wore a black jacket with red letters.

June 6, 2011 (San Diego) –San Diego Police Department’s homicide detectives seek public help to locate the driver and occupants of a 1990s burgundy Cadillac with chrome rims. This afternoon at 2 p.m., a passenger in the vehicle shot and killed a 24-year-old man standing in the 600 block of Chester Street, one block east of 69th Street in the Skyline neighborhood.

June 6, 2011 (San Diego) –  San Diego City Council has voted 7-1 to approve a budget that will eliminate brown-outs at city fire stations starting July 1, also restoring funds for libraries and city parks.

After staff projected that reserve accounts will have more money than estimated earlier, several proposals were made to utilize the new-found surplus. Council adopted an amendment proposed by Councilmember Marti Emerald to restore eight fire engines that have been shut down for over a year. Brownouts have been blamed for at least one death, a toddler who choked to death waiting on a fire engine with paramedics to arrive from a distant location while a station a block away was closed.

June 6, 2011 (San Diego's East County)--Grossmont-Cuyamaca Community College District’s (GCCCD) Continuing Education and the Small Business Development Center (SBDC) at Southwestern College will host a free class on “How to put your business on the Internet” from noon to 1:30 p.m. on Tuesday, June 14 and 21, at Cuyamaca College, Building “L,” Room 103, 900 Rancho San Diego Parkway, in El Cajon.

June 6, 2011 (El Cajon) -- Just before 10:00 a.m. this morning Heartland Fire & Rescue, serving the City of El Cajon, responded to reports of an apartment fire at 525 East Camden Avenue in El Cajon. As crews arrived smoke was coming from a second floor apartment. El Cajon fire crews, assisted by firefighters from the San Miguel Fire District, had the fire knocked down in about ten minutes. Quick action kept the fire from reaching neighboring apartment units. The exact cause of the fire is still being investigated, but it appears to have started in or around the clothes dryer area located in the middle of the apartment.

Damage has been estimated at $15,000 to the apartment and its contents. There was some smoke damage to an adjoining apartment. The family was at home at the time of the fire and were able to escape safely. The family will be staying with relatives. There were no injuries reported. 

June 7, 2011 (Bonsall) --San Diego County Crime Stoppers and investigators from San Diego County Sheriff’s Department seek help from the public to identify a suspect wanted for a battery that caused serious injuries to the victim.  

June 6, 2011 (San Diego’s East County) – This month, approximately 5,300 senior students will be graduating from the Grossmont Union High School District’s 9 comprehensive high schools, two charter high schools, and three alternative high schools.

For a list of graduate dates, times and locations, as well as statistics on graduates by school and a complete list of valedictorians and salutatorians, click here.

June 6, 2011 (Sacramento) -- The method for assessing skills of incoming community college students will become more efficient and less costly to taxpayers under a bill approved by the California State Assembly. AB 743 by local Demcratic Assemblyman Marty Block (AD-78), chair of the Higher Education Committee, establishes a standardized assessment system at the California Community Colleges for the purpose of placing and advising students, and promoting uniform assessment across all campuses.

Every Thursday night 5-8 p.m.  during the months of June, July and August

June 5, 2011 (La Mesa) --Starting Thursday June 2, 2011, The La Mesa Car Show starts a thirteen week run. Thousands of spectators attend the weekly car show.

In addition to the show crafters and street vendors display their products.

June 5, 2011 (La Mesa) --Volunteers to conduct walk audits and evaluations of City of La Mesa parks are needed during the months of June and July as part of a citywide Park Master Plan project. Volunteers will walk neighborhood areas surrounding the City’s 14 parks to identify access barriers to the parks as well as potential opportunities for adding open space or green space in areas of the community that are underserved by parks and recreational facilities.

By Brian Lafferty

June 5, 2011 (San Diego) – Most comic book movies that are the first in a franchise feel like a feature-length first act. I had this feeling with X-Men and Spider-Man. They’re good movies but they functioned more like set-ups for X2 and Spider-Man 2, which also delivered the goods better.

May 26, 2011 (El Cajon)--Bike To Work Day on Friday, May 20^th was a big success in El Cajon.  A total of 103 riders stopped by the Bike To Work Day Pit Stop at East Main Street and Sulzfeld.  City employees and residents were asked to find an alternative way to get to work, such as riding their bike, carpooling or taking public transit.

This event also reminded motorists and bicyclists about bicycle safety - and about sharing our roadways.  Those who stopped by the Bike To Work Pit Stop were treated to snacks, water and a Bike To Work Day T-Shirt. 

Through the sale of t-shirts, El Cajon employees raised $850 to purchase bikes for deserving grade school children in the City of El Cajon.  Last year six bikes were purchased for area students.   

Following cuts in Cal-Fire staffing, fire agencies will be out in force next weekend to inspect properties and educate public

June 5, 2011 (San Diego's East County) -- State budget cuts have slashed staffing on Cal-Fire engines from four men to three.  The manpower cuts as fire season approaches come at a time when heavy winter rains mean more growth of brush, providing increased fuel for fires.  The County asks residents to join in Defensible Space Days and remove fire hazards within 100 feet of your home before peak fire season. Fire agencies and safety groups will be out in the community June 10-12 to provide information about defensible space, including what is required by law and local code.  

Click here for information on protecting your home with defensible space. 

June 4, 2011 (Otay) – One person is dead and two others injured following a collision on Otay Lakes Road today, the Deerhorn Valley Antler reports. A blue Ford F-150 truck struck a motorcycle near the glider port, causing a shut down of Otay Lakes Road at Highway 94.

June 4, 2011 (La Mesa) -- This summer the City of La Mesa is offering fun, safe, and FREE outdoor family activities including the Chipotle “Sundays at Six” Summer Concert Series each Sunday in June and July at Harry Griffith Park. In addition, the city hosts a popular outdoor movie night July 29 at La Mesita Park plus a special "dive-in" showing at the La Mesa pool July 15.