Source:  San Diego County American Legion Baseball

May 20, 2019 (San Diego) - San Diego County American Legion Baseball is comprised of the greater San Diego County and offers an abundance of High School talent. Historically, San Diego was once a prominent region for Legion Baseball. In the The American Legion World Series, San Diego teams were crowned National Champions in 1938, 1941 and 1954. For whatever reason in the 1980's, San Diego County American Legion Baseball disappeared.

By Miriam Raftery

May 20, 2019 (San Diego’s East County) – This Memorial Day Weekend, events include the Santee Street Fair and Craft Beer Festival, a Living History program on Mount Laguna, the Julian Fiddle and Pickin’  contest, a hike across the Santa Ysabel Preserve, an a-capella concert by Chamber Bravura in La Mesa, and a Warrior Hike Challenge at El Capitan County Preserve in Lakeside.  On the last weekend of May, Kidz Danz Kompany presents Visions of Broadway and the Musica En La Plaza series opens in Escondido.

Plus we’ll have a preview of some joyful June events including La Mesa’s flag day parade, Lavender Days at Summers Past Farms in Flinn Springs, night fishing at Santee Lakes, a Father’s Day pit barbecue in Santa Ysabel,  Fido Fest in Santee, the Anomar Arts Festival in Ramona, and some all summer long event series including outdoor concerts in La Mesa, Lemon Grove, El Cajon and Santee, classic cruises and movies in the park.

So scroll down for all of these events and many more!

By Matt Levin and Ben Christopher, CALmatters

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

May 19, 2019 (San Diego's East County) - Shock. Depression. Relief.

Those were just some of the reactions as the year’s most controversial state housing bill met its sudden demise. But very few people—supporters, opponents, and even the author himself—can claim to have seen this coming.

East County News Service

May 18, 2019 (Flinn Springs) – Summers Past Farms in Flinn Springs invites you to come celebrate the fragrance and beauty of lavender at a Lavender Festival and Antique Fair on Saturday, June 8 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

By Miriam Raftery

May 18, 2019 (La Mesa) — The California Fair Political Practice Commission has sent a warning letter to Bill Baber for failing as treasurer of the Better East County Committee to file a timely 24-hour contribution report during the November 6, 2018 election. Baber, a La Mesa City Councilman and member of the San Diego Ethics Commission, could be fined up to $5,000 per violation, the Feb. 6 letter states.  

“Based on your agency’s history of deleting audio recordings of board meetings, it has become necessary for reporters to record the meetings because your agency cannot be trusted to carry out this basic governance function.Now that all board members are on notice of the fact that the public must perform this function, any member’s participation in a meeting at which the public has been thwarted in its efforts to make a recording will subject the member to criminal prosecution.” – Attorney Cory Briggs, in a letter to the CVUSD.

By Miriam Raftery

Photo:  ECM's recording device, a cell-phone sized recorder on a small tripod next to the front left seat, is clearly not obstructive or disruptive at the May 7 board workshop.

May 17, 2019 (El Cajon) – “Despite lawfully occupying open seats in the front  row, reporters have been threatened with arrest, removal, or both if they did not move to the back of the room,” states a letter sent by Attorney Cory Briggs of Briggs Law Corporation to Cajon Valley Union School District yesterday on behalf of East County Magazine. His letter makes clear that such conduct is “flatly illegal.”

On May 7, Ryan Love, safety and security officer for the district, ordered ECM contributing editor Paul Kruze and editor Miriam Raftery to move to the back, where we explained that audio recordings would not turn out due to noise from an air conditioner and the audience. We refused to comply with this illegal request. 

On May 14, Love again demanded that Kruze move from the front row to the back, and Kruze again refused. Kruze says he was told that an El Cajon Police officer would be called to arrest him.

East County News Service

May 17, 2019 (San Diego's East County) – The San Diego East County Chamber of Commerce has announced the appointment of San Diego native Rick Wilson as its new president and CEO.

Wilson succeeds Joe Mackey, the most recent El Cajon Citizen of the Year recipient who served as the Chamber’s interim CEO following the departure this past January of Eric Lund, who had served as the Chamber’s top executive since 2014. Lund relocated to Colorado for a job as CEO of Visit Estes Park, a local tourism bureau.

Updated at 11:02 with information on burn victim and estimated damge.

May 16, 2019 (El Cajon) -- A major fire has caused an estimated $100,000 of damage to a  structure at the New 2 You Autos used vehicle dealership at 930 El Cajon Blvd. near Washington in El Cajon tonight.  The fire is now extinguished.

The fire was reported at 9:13 p.m. by a caller from a nearby Walmart who was involved in the fire. He has been transported to the UCSD Medical Center burn unit.

Division Chief Mike Chasin told the press that this is the second fire at a car dealership recently, following a fire at a Mercedes Benz dealership last week.

Chemicals were found at the scene tonight and an arson investigation will be done, Chief Chasen confirms.. ECM reporter Paul Kruze reports at least eight fire engines were present to battle the blaze. A Hazmat unit arrived at 10:45 p.m. 

Source:  goaztecs.com

Photo courtesy goaztecs.com

May 16, 2019 (San Diego) - The San Diego State men’s and women’s tennis programs will offer youth tennis camps this summer, which will be led by men’s assistant coach Jeff Thomsen and women’s assistant coach Nico Vinel. Two camp weeks will be offered, first from July 22-26 and again from July 29 through August 2, both at the Aztec Tennis Center.

By Miriam Raftery and Paul Kruze

May 15, 2019 (El Cajon) – The Cajon Valley Union School District stepped up its war on the media during its May 7^th board workshop.  A guard demanded that East County Magazine editor Miriam Raftery and contributing editor Paul Kruze move from the front row to the back, in a clear effort to prevent the investigative journalists from recording an audible copy of the meeting. Both refused, citing First Amendment freedom of the press and the district’s continued non-compliance with California public records act requests to receive audios of past meetings.

 At a subsequent meeting May 14, the guard repeated this demand for Kruze to move out of a front row seat, even threatening to the El Cajon Police for “disruption” if he would not comply. Kruze’s recording device is inobtrusive, about the size of a cell phone. There is nothing inherently disruptive about a journalist quietly recording a meeting, which is a right guaranteed to any citizen by the California Ralph M. Brown Act, the state’s public records act.

These intimidation tactics come after the board admitted destroying recordings of public meetings despite our requests for the recordings.  After receiving a cease and desist letter from an attorney at CalAware, the board on March 29 responded with a letter agreeing to comply with the law, as we reported, but has not done so. The board also voted to retain recordings for a year and make copies available on request. But the  district’s lawyer claims our more records request, along with other emails sent to multiple  people at the district, all went to a spam folder.

May 16, 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

• Can SANDAG solve traffic woes with 100 MPH commuter rail, rush-hour pricing? (San Diego Union-Tribune)
• Gov. Gavin Newsom announces wildfire technology competition at conference in La Jolla (San Diego Union-Tribune)
• San Diego homeless deaths doubled in last decade (Voice of San Diego)
• Breaking San Diego: A Meth Crisis (NBC 7)
• Family DNA Search Leads to Another Arrest: Suspect in 1995 San Diego Rapes
• (Times of San Diego)

STATE

• A Little-Known Company Is Quietly Making Massive Water Deals (Voice of San Diego)
• San Francisco is first US city to ban police use of facial recognition tech (The Guardian)
• Key conflicts roil California’s ever-evolving waterscape (CalMatters)

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

May 15, 2019 (San Diego's East County) -- Our Health and Science Highlights provide cutting edge news that could impact your health and our future.

HEALTH

• US states file lawsuit accusing drugs firms of inflating costs (BBC)
• Sunscreen Chemicals Enter Bloodstream at Potentially Unsafe Levels (U.S. News)
• Glucosamine supplements 'may cut heart risk' (BBC)
• Hepatitis A infections increased by nearly 300% over two years (CNN)
• Triclosan, a chemical used in antibacterial soap, is found to impair muscle function (Smithsonian)

SCIENCE AND TECH

• Lyft hits record low as Uber slumps in Wall Street debut  (Reuters)
• An extinct bird species has evolved back into existence, study says (New York Times)
• Facebook restricts Live feature, citing New Zealand shooting (Reuters)
• The moon may be tectonically active, and geologists are shaken (National Geographic)

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

By Miriam Raftery

May 15, 2019 (Washington D.C.) -- The Federal Trade Commission is warning the public about a surge in phone calls from scammers posing as Social Security agents. The imposters try to con people into providing their Social Security numbers or other personal or financial data.

By Kathy Carpenter