East County News Service

June 26, 2019 (La Mesa) -- Adventurer, musical alchemist and mythological scholar Mindy Dillard plays clawhammer banjo and rhythm guitar, often in alternate tunings to accompany her electric and raw, crystal-clear voice.  Through her music, which pulsates with funky rhythmic grooves and sparkles with heartfelt storytelling, she transforms the ordinary into the magical. A genre hopper, Mindy’s sound holds shades of old-time Appalachia, contemporary folk, gospel, musical theatre and rhythm and blues.  In the words of Ruthie Naccarato, “...She will make you laugh and cry and you’ll leave her performance with a genuine smile and feeling of goodness.”

By Miriam Raftery

Photo: LMVA president Peter Soutowood and Councilwoman Akilah Weber, during Oktoberfest discussion

June 26, 2019 (La Mesa) – La Mesa’s City Council, majority approved a 3-year permit for McFarlane Promotions to run the city’s popular Oktoberfest in partnership with the La Mesa Village Association, which will be from October 4-6 this year.

This year’s event will include several changes including an additional beer garden that will be German-themed with traditional German music, foods, and German-costumed servers.  Event-goers can still find a broader variety of music and foods at another beer garden plus food trucks that will be moved to a side street for improved flow; a total of 45 food vendors and 95 nonfood vendors will be included. There will be two kids fun zones with attractions such as a trampoline, inflatable jumps, and face painting. Wiener dog (dachshund) races, another crowd favorite, will return but be moved to Alison Avenue.

McFarlane will  provide a 50% cost recovery to the city, up to a maximum of $50,000 per year. Councilmembers Kristine Alessio and Akilah Weber voted no, wanting a higher cost recovery rate in the wake of projections that the city will likely have to tap its reserves to balance its budget in the next couple of years.

By Yvette Urrea Moe, County of San Diego Communications Office

Photo:  All cell phones in the San Diego County area will receive this message at 11 a.m. June 27 to test ShakeAlert, the Earthquake Early Warning system.

June 25, 2019 (San Diego) - The San Diego County Office of Emergency Services together with the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services and the United States Geological Survey will be conducting a test at 11 a.m. on June 27 using the Wireless Emergency Alert system. The test will affect all mobile phones in the county area and will evaluate if the system could be effectively used for the California Earthquake Early Warning, also called a ShakeAlert.

Some populations face extinction threat from freeways, sprawl, rat poison

East County News Service

Photo: National Park Service

June 25, 2019 (San Diego) -- The Center for Biological Diversity and Mountain Lion Foundation formally petitioned the California Fish and Game Commission today to protect mountain lions under the California Endangered Species Act.

The petition seeks protections for “gravely imperiled” cougar populations in Southern California and on the Central Coast, including all of San Diego County, the Eastern Peninsular Range as well as Santa Ana Mountains, San Bernardino Mountains, San Gabriel Mountains, Santa Monica Mountains, and north along the coast to the Santa Cruz Mountains.

 By Ben Christopher, CALMatters

CALmatters is an independent public interest journalism venture covering California state politics and government.

Photo:  Sign at San Diego County Registrar of Voters Office in Kearny Mesa directs customers. Photo by Ken Stone

June 23, 2019 (San Diego) - Presidential challengers hoping to glide to victory through California’s newly relevant primary, a heads-up: Your electoral fate may hinge on convincing enough left-leaning millennials to send postcards over the holiday season.

By Miriam Raftery

June 22, 2019 (San Diego’s East County) – The city of San Diego ranked second worst in the nation for rent hikes on  a one-bedroom apartment in 2018, at 17% with an average rent of $2,300, according to Rent.com. By contrast, the national average rent increase nationwide was 2.69% and California averaged a 4.48% increase in rents on one bedroom apartments during the same time period.

Rents are also skyrocketing in East County, where some communities had double digit rent hikes from March 2018 through March 2019 for 1 BR units:

Lemon Grove +15.66%

La Mesa +10.63%

El Cajon + 5.04%

Santee, by contrast, had only a modest 1.25% increase.

Spring Valley, the only unincorporated community in San Diego County with enough inventory to provide statistically valid data, had a 9.6% increase.

By Miriam Raftery

June 22, 2019 (San Diego) – Short-term rentals through Airbnb and similar services have provided lucrative side incomes for some residential property owners. But vacation rentals have also caused complaints from neighbors, including concerns over wild parties that in some cases also caused serious damage to the hosts’ properties as well as resulting in theft, drug use, and violent crimes including fatal shootings. 

By Miriam Raftery

June 22, 2019 (San Diego) – The deadline is June 30th for the public to submit comments on the County of San Diego’s draft Zoning Ordinance Update for Small Cell Wireless Facilities. You can read the draft ordinance and supporting documents here. Read concerns about the ordinance here.  

East County News Service

June 21, 2019 (Jamul) – On Saturday, June 22, Jamul Casino will ring in summer by hosting an All-Star Block Party featuring casino promotions, live entertainment, and celebrity guests.  The all-day event will feature:

East County News Service

June 21, 2019 (La Mesa) — The La Mesa Chamber of Commerce will host its 6th annual Summer Bash Business Expo on Thursday, August 15 from 5-8 p.m. at the La Mesa Community Center (4975 Memorial Drive).  Attendees can meet representatives from over 45 local businesses,  enterdrawings to win door prizes and savor foods and beverages from local restaurants, breweries and more.

By Miriam Raftery

June 21, 2019 (San Diego’s East County) – A generation ago, San Diego County was considered a bastion of conservatism and East County was solid red Republican territory. But that’s changing. First the city of San Diego turned blue and now has nearly twice as many Democrats as Republicans. Then the county flipped; today 35.7% of all county residents are Democrats and 27.2% are Republicans, with 31.6% no-party-preference voters. Two of East County’s four incorporated cities now have more Democrats than Republicans, one is evenly split, and a fourth is still staunchly Republican.

East County News Service

June 20, 2019 (Sacramento) --  Governor Gavin Newsom has issued an apology through executive order on behalf of California to Native American people for the many instances of violence, mistreatment and neglect inflicted upon California Native Americans throughout the state’s history.

June 20, 2019 (San Diego’s East County) -- East County Roundup highlights top stories of interest to East County and San Diego’s inland regions, published in other media. This week’s top “Roundup” headlines include:

LOCAL

• Rising fire insurance rates causing East County homeowners to pay up or move out (NBC 7)
• Court rules in county’s favor, strikes blow to Julian volunteer firefighters (San Diego Union-Tribune)
• Lemon Grove starts strategizing on plans moving forward (San Diego Union-Tribune)
• Here’s What San Diego’s Getting Out of the New State Budget (Voice of SD)
• SDG&E says there is a 100% chance it will start or contribute to a major wildfire (KPBS)
• Neighbors cry foul over proposed egg ranch manure plant (Ramona Sentinel)
• Judges orders 3 charter school shut down (San Diego Union-Tribune)
• Public urged to file fire hazard reports online (The Alpine Sun)
• Uber says it will start delivering fast food by drone in San Diego this summer (The Verge)
• 15 beach-goers stung by stingrays in one day at (Coronado) beach (Daily Mail)

STATE

• California governor calls Native American treatment genocide (San Francisco Chronicle/AP)
• In Risk-Prone Areas, Fire Insurance Is Getting Harder and Harder to Come By (Voice of San Diego)
• California man suspected of threatening synagogue free on bond (Reuters)
• 3 of 4 Californians want to restrict housing in wildfire-prone areas, poll says (Los Angeles Times)

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