By Miriam Raftery

Photo: Creative Commons via Bing

February 10, 2020 (San Diego) – The San Diego County Bar Association has issued its ratings of candidates in local Superior Court judicial races.  All but two were rated “well qualified” or “exceptionally well qualified.”  But two ranked the lowest possible “lacking qualifications” rating:  Steve Miller and Shawn McMillan.

Lacking Qualifications is defined by the SDCBA as “Presently not possessing professional ability, experience, competence, integrity and/or temperament indicating ability to perform the judicial function.”

McMillan, a plaintiff’s civil rights attorney, is running in district 36 against Michelle Ialeggio, a deputy district attorney. 

Miller, a criminal prosecutor, is in a 3-way race against Alana Wong Robinson, a federal prosecutor, and Mark Skeels, senior chief deputy attorney for San Diego, in district 22.

Moving On: Redesigning Your Emotional, Financial, and Social Life After Divorce, by David J. Glass, JD, PhD (Lioncrest Publishing, San Bernardino, CA, 2018, 186 pages).

Book Review by Dennis Moore

“David served as the mediator for my own divorce. He provided creative problem-solving that resulted in reasonable alternatives for myself and my ex-husband. In the simplest terms: he made things easy for us. Moving On offers more of the same. The book is a practical, self-help guide to charting what works in your life, what doesn’t, and how to change the latter. Your “second chance” can start now, and this book will help you maximize it.”

• MARIEL HEMINGWAY, Actress, producer, and author of Healthy Living from the Inside Out

February 8, 2020 (San Diego) - Where was Dr. David J. Glass, the author of Moving On: Redesigning Your Emotional, Financial, and Social Life After Divorce, when it seemed that I needed him the most, going through my own divorce and child custody issues? In reading this insightful book by Dr. Glass, it is like he is preaching to the choir, for I have experienced a lot of what he has written in this book. He gives sage advice to anyone faced with the difficult prospect of divorce.

East County News Service

February 8, 2020 (Valley Center) – Following a debate among the top four-polling candidates in the 50^th Congressional District, the Valley Center Business Association and Valley Roadrunner newspaper released a  press release with results of a straw poll. The poll found Democrat Ammar Campa-Najjar “dominated with 61% of the vote,” earning more votes than all three of his Republican opponents combined in the race to fill the seat vacated by Rep. Duncan Hunter's resignation.

THE TALLY

• 61% – Ammar Campa-Najjar (D)

• 22% – Carl DeMaio (R)

• 9% – Brian Jones (R)

• 8% – Darrell Issa (R)

View the full debate:  https://www.facebook.com/valleycenter/videos/186686705769417/

View video of full debate here:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=daR2Gmad0g4





By Miriam Raftery

Photo, left to right: Candidates Joel Anderson, Brian Sesko, Kenya Taylor, and Steve Vaus

February 6, 2020 (La Mesa) – Four candidates running to represent East County in the San Diego County Supervisors 2^nd district seat participated in a lively forum on Jan. 29 at Murdock Elementary, hosted by the Grossmont Mount Helix Improvement Association and sponsored by East County Magazine.

Candidates fielded a broad range of in-depth questions provided by the public during the forum moderated by the League of Women Voters before a capacity crowd. 

The four candidates are Poway Mayor Steve Vaus, former State Senator Joel Anderson, behavioral health consultant Kenya Taylor, and homebuilder/cattle rancher  Brian Sesko.  They are running to fill the vacancy soon to be left when long-serving Supervisor Dianne Jacob leaves office next January due to term limits.

February 6, 2020 (San Diego) -- East County Roundup highlights top stories of interest to East County and San Diego's inland regions, published in other media.  This week's round-up stories include:  

LOCAL

• Poll: Sara Jacobs has wide lead in race to replace retiring Rep. Susan Davis in 53rd District (San Diego Union-Tribune)
• CDC Hospitalizes 4 Coronavirus Evacuees With Symptoms In San Diego  (KPBS)
• San Diego County’s Freezing Temps Break Records (NBC 7)
• Grossmont, Cuyamaca community colleges receive accreditation  (San Diego Union-Tribune)
• Santee making sound progress on bringing music back to school  (San Diego Union-Tribune)
• La Mesa Police Visited Store Owner Charged With Battery 22 Times Since 2015  (NBC 7)
• Federal Money May Soon Help With San Diego's Cross Border Pollution Woes  (KPBS)

STATE

• Five things Californians need to know about Michael Bloomberg (Sacramento Bee)
• What happens if California takes over PG&E? (CalMatters)
• Mixed results for California’s experiment with community colleges offering bachelor’s degrees (Ed Source)
• California’s most controversial homebuilding bill just died. What will Newsom do now? (Cal Matters)

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

February 6, 2020 (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.

Impeachment

• Impeachment: Senate rejects witnesses, paving way for Trump acquittal  (CBS)
• Trump Acquitted (Time)
• Full Transcript: Mitt Romney’s Speech Announcing Vote to Convict Trump (New York Times)
• Trump Told Bolton to Help His Ukraine Pressure Campaign, Book Says (New York Times)

Presidential race

• 96% of Iowa precincts are reported, but there's still no caucus winner; Buttigieg, Sanders neck and neck (USA Today)
• DNC chair calls for a recanvass in Iowa as chaos ensues (CNN)

Other national news

• Trump administration expands travel ban to include six new countries (CNN)
• AP fact check: Trump’s exaggerated ‘great American comeback’ (AP)
• Trump administration declares health emergency over coronavirus  (San Diego Union-Tribune)
• Coronavirus: United cancels flights from SFO and other airports to China  (San Francisco Chronicle)

WORLD

• Brexit: UK leaves the European union (BBC)
• Greta Thunberg nominated for Nobel Peace Prize (New York Post)
• Trump shifts to authorize wider U.S. military use of land mines (10 News)
• Feds: Alleged leader of al-Qaida terrorist group arrested in Phoenix (USA Today)

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

February 6, 2020 (San Diego's East County) -- Our Health and Science Highlights provide cutting edge news that could impact your health and our future.

HEALTH

• Medicaid cuts may force retirees out of nursing homes (New York Times)
• ‘I would like a medal for smoking’: Old radio shows haunt Rush Limbaugh after he reveals advanced lung cancer (RawStory)
• Bayer considers new tactic in Roundup settlement talks (Reuters)
• San Diego judge orders Johnson & Johnson to pay $344M for ‘deceptive’ pelvic mesh marketing (San Diego Union-Tribune)
• Study Links Autism To 'Insulation' That Coats Brain Cells And Speeds Signals : Shots - Health News 

SCIENCE AND TECH

• As primary season gets underway, YouTube cracks down on doctored election videos (Washington Post)
• Stephen King quits Facebook over ‘flood of false information’ and privacy concerns (Washington Post)
• The containers the U.S. plans to use for nuclear waste storage may corrode (Science News)

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

By Miriam Raftery

February 5, 2020 (Washington D.C.) – After refusing to allow any witnesses in the impeachment trial of President Donald Trump, the Senate voted to acquit the President, who will remain in office.  The vote split down party lines with the exception of Utah Senator and former Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney, the lone Republican who voted to convict on one of the two counts.

Romney said that his vote stemmed from his “inescapable conviction that my oath before God demanded it.” He said Mr. Trump was “guilty of an appalling abuse of public trust” and indicated he was voting to convict despite the prospect of retaliation for becoming the first member of Congress ever to vote to convict a president in his own political party. Read his floor speech.

Story and photos by Mike Allen

The wait is over. After 13 months of reconstruction, Mast Park reopened Feb. 1 to hordes of Santee residents who were nearly universally happy about the results.

“I like it but I can’t wait until all the people are gone,” said Olga Buhler, a 24-year resident of Santee who frequents the park on daily walks. “I’ve been waiting, waiting, every day…They did a super job.”

“It looks beautiful,” said Michael Ranson, who lives nearby in the Santee Lakes neighborood. “This looks a lot more open, brighter, and safer. They did an amazing job.”

One plaintiff, attorney Lina Charry, has refused to settle

By Miriam Raftery

Photo: Ben Kalasho and Zhala Tawfiq, dethroned pageant queen who accused Kalasho of posting faked nude photos of her online in retaliation for a business dispute

February 1, 2020 (El Cajon) – Former El Cajon Councilman Bessmon “Ben” Kalasho and his wife, Jessica Kalasho aka Jessica Deddeh, have been ordered by  San Diego Superior Court Judge Kenneth Medel to pay  $300,000 in a civil fraud, defamation and sexual harassment lawsuit.

The suit was filed by former Miss Middle East Beauty Pageant contestants Zhala Tawfiq and Paris Kargar as well as by Three Brothers Taco Shop against the Kalashos, the pageant, and the former San Diego East County Chaldean American Chamber of Commerce that the Kalashos founded.  The settlement money is to be divided equally among the three plaintiffs, according to the judgment. 

By Rebecca Person

Miriam Raftery also contributed to this article

Photos: An existing wind project on the Campo reservation has previously had multiple fires caused by exploding wind turbines, shown here, raising alarm among area residents over fire dangers and other potential hazards posed by the proposed new and far larger turbines

February 3, 2020 (Campo) -- Residents of Campo, Boulevard and Jacumba voiced their concerns Jan. 23rd at a meeting in Boulevard held by the County Planning Development Services staff addressing the construction of 120 wind turbines in Boulevard and on the Campo Reservation.

The wind turbines will be 596’ tall, taller than towers which dot the high desert that stand between 325' to almost 400 ft tall. 60 turbines are planned for the Campo Indian Reservation, and 30 turbines for McCain Valley near I-8 freeway in Boulevard. According to Donna Tisdale, chair of the Boulevard Community Planning Group, these may be the largest wind turbines ever erected on land. Turbines on tribal land would also abut her property in rural Boulevard. Setbacks from some homes would be far less than at many other wind projects, even though the turbines are larger.

Over 60 local residents gathered at the meeting and many spoke of the effects existing towers have had on their quality of life. Campo Band of Mission Indians tribal members who live on the Campo Reservation and oppose the project stated that they have presented a petition with 65 signatures asking their tribal council to overturn an earlier disputed vote to erect the giant turbines on the reservation.

By Miriam Raftery

February 1, 2020 (San Diego) – Nancy Casady is a life-long Democrat, environmental champion and women’s rights advocate challenging Democratic Congressman Scott Peters in the 52nd Congressional district primary.  She recently sat down for an in-depth interview with East County Magazine on our radio show on KNSJ 89.1 FM.   Casady discussed her support for the Green New Deal, as well as her passion for protecting women’s health.

Hear our interview by clicking the audio link and scroll down to read highlights.

Nancy Casady has served on the Food and Agricultural Board in Sacramento, has worked as a pro-choice advocate, was co-founder of the San Diego Climate Mobilization Coalition, and for 12 years was general manager of the Ocean Beach People’s Food Cooperative. 

The 52^nd district includes coastal communities as well as some inland communities including Poway and Rancho Bernardo.  Of note: Casady has an East County connection – her husband, Derek Casady, was the long-time editor of the East County Californian.