Update 2:35 p.m. Forward spread of this fire has been stopped.

September 9, 2010 (Valley Center) 2:15 p.m. – Cal-Fire is on the scene of a two- to three-acre brush fire off of Old Guejito Grade Road and North Lake Wohlford Road, near the community of Valley Center (Thomas Brothers Map page 1111 C-1). The fire was reported at 1:48 p.m. and the cause is under investigation. The fire is burning to the east and there is no immediate structure threat.

September 9, 2010 (San Diego)--Before the new school year gets even busier for your favorite high school junior or senior, the San Diego Better Business Bureau (BBB) is inviting all 11th and 12th graders to write and submit a 400-word essay on the importance of marketplace ethics and receive up to a $1,500 scholarship from the BBB.

Beyond Justice, By Joshua Graham (Dawn Treader Press, 2010, 430 pages.)

Book Review by Dennis Moore

September 8, 2010 (San Diego’s East County) -- San Diego author Joshua Graham has written a riveting and supernatural legal thriller, Beyond Justice, that at times has spiritual overtones. Beyond Justice is the story of Sam Hudson, a reputable San Diego attorney who descends into a hell not of his making after authorities wrongfully convict him of the brutal rape and murder of his wife and daughter.

On Death Row, he awaits execution by lethal injection while he agonizes over the fate of his young son Aaron, who was beaten into a coma during the attacks.

September 8, 2010 (Poway) – Want to meet mountain men and cowboys? Try your hand at panning for gold? See mock train robberies and gunfights? Come costumed in Old West attire?

Number of cases approaches 500 countywide as epidemic grows

September 8, 2010 (San Diego) -- County Health and Human Services Agency officials report  495 confirmed cases of pertussis, commonly known as whooping cough, in 2010—triple the number last year. Today, the County announced dozens of new cases, including three in East County.

"It was the biggest play of my life. We had a whole line of blockers and I went the whole way untouched." -- Zach Breidt, after scoring a 95-yard touchdown.

By Christopher Mohr

September 8, 2010 (Santee) - For years, the battle for the Mayor's Cup has been a tradition between Santana and West Hills, rival high schools both based in Santee.

Public urged to get vaccines, now available at clinics

September 8, 2010 (San Diego’s East County) updated 4 p.m.– A five-year-old at Boulder Oaks Elementary School in Alpine is among 11 new cases of whooping cough reported by the San Diego County Department of Health & Human Services last week.

The County urges people to get whooping cough vaccinations from their family physician.  "However, if an individual does not have a family doctor, the vaccine is also available at the County’s seven public health centers at minimal or no cost; one of them is located at 855 East Madison in El Cajon," County spokesman Jose Alvarez told East County Magazine.

by Christopher Mohr

September 7, 2010 (San Diego/Pacific Beach) - Friday afternoon's football season opener between the Valhalla High School Norsemen and the host Buccaneers of Mission Bay High School was a matchup between two playoff contenders from last season.  East County's Valhalla proved victorious in a crushing 38-0 blow-out.

East County News Service

New jobs include many slated for East County;

Cedar Fire survivor also calls for stronger fire protection and improved emergency notification in region

By Miriam Raftery
 

By Brian Lafferty

September 6, 2010 (San Diego)--Neil Marshall is a British writer/director renowned for the amount of blood and gore he includes in his films. Sometimes he’s visceral as in Dog Soldiers. He can be gleeful and cartoonish about it like he was in Doomsday. In The Descent, the violence was unpleasant. In the case of Centurion, he is gritty and realistic. Even if it appeared gratuitous, I didn’t mind because I had a lot of fun watching it.

By Art Neill, New Media Rights

September 6, 2010 (San Diego) -- Though we live in the land of Time-Warner, Cox, and AT&T, the looming Comcast-NBC merger has real consequences for the future of media in San Diego and the United States.

The merger gives Comcast, owner of a pipe for information and communication (aka the internet), an unprecedented interest in the information passing through the pipe. Congress must closely scrutinize the proposed Comcast-NBC merger, because the decision will impact the health of independent and public media, like the East County Magazine, for years to come.

September 6, 2010 (Blossom Valley) – A man driving a white van with tinted rear windows attempted to kidnap a teen jogging in Blossom Valley yesterday around 5:15 p.m. The suspect, a white or Hispanic male, age 20-35, was wearing a Padres baseball cap. He reportedly tackled the  woman, 19, from behind and tried to drag her into the bushes, tearing her clothing.

“He lost his balance and fell down, which allowed her to escape,” Sergeant Brent Strahm at the San Diego Sheriff’s Department told East County Magazine.

September 6, 2010 (Poway) -- What could feel more like the Old West than sitting around a campfire singing songs and listening to storytelling? On September 10th, the City of Poway and the Old Poway Park Action Committee will host a hobo campfire sing-along from 7:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at Old Poway Park on the banks of Rattlesnake Creek.

By Mary Paulet

September 5, 2010 (Escondido) – For San Diego classic car enthusiasts of all ages, the place to see and be seen on Friday nights is Escondido’s Cruisin’ Grand, a pre-1973 car-themed festival that attracts participants from across San Diego. The events also feature live music and vintage entertainment from hula hoops to a “Twister” contest.