East County News Service

April 2, 2019 (San Diego)--The National Weather Service has issued a wind warning in effect from noon today to 11 a.m. tomorrow for San Diego’s mountain and desert areas.  Southwest winds of 20-30 miles per hour with gusts up to 60 mph are forecast.

Watch for blowing dust or sand in these areas and use caution if driving a high-profile vehicle.

East County News Service

By Maryanne Jackson, real estate broker

April 1, 2019 (San Diego’s East County)

Dear Maryanne,

My mother is living in another state now, but we need to start to explore the possibility of having her come live with us soon. We have a large lot and would like to find out  how to get a permit to build a smaller unit on our residential property.

Is this an easy process?

--JD. La Mesa

By Miriam Raftery

March 31, 2019 (El Cajon) – Slow-cooked, wood-smoked meats barbecuing on an old wagon base, or buckboard, filled the air with mouth-watering aromas at a ribbon-cutting held March 20^th at Buckboard’s Barbecue & Brew in El Cajon by the San Diego East County Chamber of Commerce.

The restaurant specializes in California smokehouse barbecue, which owner Fadi Shihadeh describes as “Santa Mara-style with a twist” that includes smoke flavor in all meats. They also do catering, if you've got a hankering for barbecue at your next outdoor gathering.

Now located at 975 Greenfield Drive, Buckboard’s moved to El Cajon from San Diego, where it was originally owned by Padres pitcher Randy Jones. The Shihadeh family bought it and ran it for many years, before moving recently to El Cajon at 975 Greenfield Drive.

“This really is a homecoming for us. It feels great to be back,” Shihadeh told ECM during the Chamber event.

By David R. Shorey

Photo credit:  CC by SA

East County Program Manager, Institute for Public Strategies

April 1, 2019 (San Diego’s East County) - If you were to open my medicine cabinet today, you would probably find a few bottles of prescription medication that I stopped using or didn’t need to finish. Perhaps I’ve forgotten I have them for pain medication, or I might be saving them for an “emergency.” Unfortunately, the availability of excess medication contributes to the problem with prescription medication abuse in the United States.

April 1, 2019—East County Magazine has the exclusive scoop on astounding major stories breaking today.

Is truth stranger than fiction? You decide. Click any title  to view a description of each story, then click "

read more to view full story.  Click here to view  our full special edition.

• Initiative to build affordable housing and homeless shelter atop Santee’s city hall
• UCSD researchers announce creation of high-grade artificial sand, eliminating need for local sand mines
• Citizens advisory board in El Cajon proposes vetting guidelines for City Council candidates and appointees
• Borrego Springs asks tourists’ help to ease water shortage
• Transparency slate runs for Cajon Valley school board
• La Mesa finds lofty solution to farmer’s market location

Trust us, you won't want to miss this news! 

By Miriam Raftery



Updated April 1, 2019 with clarifications from Catherine Martin at the GUHSD.

March 31, 2019 (Alpine)  -- For over two decades, Alpine residents have sought a high school in their community.  After the Alpine Union-High School District (AUSD) board recently voted to close the Alpine Elementary School in June due to declining enrollment, the AUSD and the Grossmont Union High School District (GUHSD) are exploring options to bring some high school programming to the campus on Alpine Boulevard. But it won't be a full-service high school, as the community was originally promised in two past bond initiatives.

GUHSD Superintendent Tim Glover confirmed in an e-mail to ECM, “We’ve been having discussions with AUSD over several months regarding potential programs and services as part of a satellite program option. We look forward to creating an MOU (memorandum of understanding) with AUSD and gauging the interest in some specialized program offerings such as Independent Study, Home Choice, and Adult Education classes.”

East County News Service

March 31, 2019 (San Diego) – San Diego State University sent an email Friday to students advising that a student has been diagnosed with mumps.  

By Miriam Raftery 

March 30, 2018 (Santee) – The Sheriff’s department is warning the public about a man who tried to lure a 9-year-old girl into his silver convertible vehicle on Thursday at 8 p.m.  The girl was riding her bicycle in the 8000 block of Poplin drive in Santee when the man asked if she wanted a ride to a “game,” says Sgt. Kamon Harris.

Source: Caltrans

Photo:  Detour will route motorists onto Montezuma Valley Road

March 30, 2019 (Borrego Springs) — Construction crews will close a 13-mile segment of State Route 78 (SR-78) from San Felipe Road/ Great Southern Overland Stage Route (S-2) located just east of Julian to Borrego Springs Road for 24 hours beginning Wednesday at sunrise. The closure is needed for rock scaling to remove boulders and loose soil from highway slopes to ensure that they remain stable.

By Miriam Raftery

March 29, 2019 (Washington D.C.)—Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s long awaiting report has been submitted to the Justice Department.  A summary written by newly appointed Attorney General William Barr has been made public, but thus far, Congress and the media have not seen the full report.

According to Barr’s summary, Mueller’s two-year investigation did not find evidence of a conspiracy involving President Donald Trump and Russia to tamper with the 2016 election despite “multiple offers from Russian-affiliated individuals to assist the Trump campaign.  But as for whether Trump committed the crime of obstructing justice, Barr states that while Mueller’s report does not recommend prosecution of Trump for obstruction of justice, “it also does not exonerate him.”

Trump called the report “a complete and total exoneration” based on Barr’s summary.

But that’s not fully accurate. The Justice Department has long held that it does not have the power to indict a sitting president, deferring investigation of presidential actions to Congress, which has the power to impeach under the Constitution. Without reading Mueller’s full report it is difficult to speculate on the Special Counsel’s intent, but Mueller could have intended for Congress to weigh any evidence his investigators found with regard to obstruction of justice.

By Miriam Raftery

March 29, 2019 (Descanso)—The worst ice storm in decades knocked East County’s nonprofit community radio station, KNSJ 89.1 FM, off the air for weeks, damaging its antennae atop Mt. Laguna. East County Magazine’s radio show airs on KNSJ, along with many other local and national shows providing independent news, views, music and culture.

Thanks to a board member’s $5,000 loan, the station is back on the area—but urgently needs donations recoup those costs for repairs and buying an ice shield, as well as thousands of dollars in more equipment recommended to improve reliability, boost the signal and prevent future disruptions during emergencies when people need news most.

You can help KNSJ’s “people powered radio” station by making a donation at www.KNSJ.org/donate.

CalAware warns district after CVUSD destroys requested school board meeting recordings

By Paul Kruze, Contributing Editor

Updated with CVUSD letter to CalAware)

March 28, 2019  (El Cajon) -- The Cajon Valley Union School District Board of Trustees voted 3-2 on Tuesday to change its policy on board meeting audio recordings. The action came after the district received a legal warning letter from Californians Aware (CalAware) regarding the district’s destruction of recordings from the Dec. and Nov. public meetings requested in a California Public Records Act request by East County Magazine in December.

Instead of destroying audio of board meetings after 30 days, the district will now keep them for one year and will make them available to the public on request on compact disc (CD). The measure, spearheaded by board trustee Jill Barto, was affirmed by Barto along with trustees Karen Clark-Meija and Jim Miller. Cajon Valley Union School District (CVUSD) trustees President Tamara Otero and Jo Alegria voted “no” on the new policy.

The letter addressed to Otero accused the CVUSD of violating multiple sections of the California Government Code relating to its refusal to permit inspection and copying of audiotape recordings made by the District of open and public meetings. The government act violated is more commonly known as the “Ralph M. Brown Act” which legally obligates government agencies and bodies to abide by specific rules regarding open meetings and access to public documents.