August 30, 2010 (La Mesa)--Norm MacDonald, star of movies and Saturday Night Live (SNL), will take the stage at Challenge Center’s 13th Annual Comedy Night on September 11 at the Hilton San Diego Bayfront. The event benefits the scholarship fund established by Challenge Center, a nonprofit gym in La Mesa that has achieved dramatic results helping patients with strokes, brain and spinal cord injuries, as well as other debilitating conditions. Tickets for the event are $175.

August 29, 2010 (San Diego) – Sheriff Bill Gore announced last week that the Search and Rescue Unit and added a new component: an Urban Search and Rescue division. Urban search-and-rescue is considered a multi-hazard discipline, as it may be needed for a variety of hazards including earthquakes, storms, tornadoes floods dam failures, technological accidents, terrorist activities, and hazardous materials releases.

Story and photos by Miriam Raftery

Head of nation’s largest college system faults two-thirds rule for impeding passage of state budget;  remarks made during visit at Cuyamaca College

August 27, 2010(El Cajon)--Grossmont-Cuyamaca Community College District Chancellor Cindy Miles welcomed California Community Colleges Chancellor Jack Scott to Cuyamaca College on Thursday for a candid discussion with the region’s community college and business leaders. Topics ranged from the state budget crisis to a bill just passed that will smooth transition for students from two-year campuses to state universities.

August 28, 2010 (Rancho San Diego) -County Supervisor Dianne Jacob and state and local tourism industry leaders will celebrate the historical designation of Highway 94 iwith a ribbon cutting ceremony at Simpson’s Nursery in Jamul at 9 a.m. on Saturday, August 28. Over a dozen businesses from Jamul to Boulevard will offer discounts and giveaways to customers who attend. The event will also feature classic car displays and a reenactment of the famed Gaskill Brothers shootout.

By Nancy Clement & Dawn Clement

Share creative ideas to assist people of all ages on tips to save money and improve their lifestyle!

August 28, 2010 (San Diego’s East County) —Want to save money on your college textbooks? Why buy when you can rent? Now you can rent textbooks from Bookrenter for a semester. Check their website to see if the book you are interested in is available--with 3 million titles, chances are good that it will be. They offer free shipping to your door and at the end of the semester, UPS comes and picks it up so you do not have the hassle of re-selling a textbook you no longer need.

East County News Service

August 27, 2010 (Sacramento) – Assemblymember Marty Block (D- Lemon Grove) announced that his AB 2058 has been approved by the Legislature and will now go to the Governor for signature. If signed, the measure would help thousands of unemployed Californians upgrade their job skills and let unemployed individuals receive unemployment insurance (UI) benefits while enrolled in an approved training program on a full-time basis.

By Walter Davis

August 28, 2010 (San Diego) -- The Glenn Beck “Restore our honor” rally at the National Mall recently illustrated the continued short-sighted view point of the far right, and the left’s inability to arrest it. In speeches replete with religious over tones and nationalistic fervor, the Beck-Palin Tea Party rally was an insult to those who truly want freedom.

Shadow Masters, By Daniel Estulin (Trine Day, LLC, Walterville, Oregon, 2010, 357 pages.)

Book Review by Dennis Moore

August 26, 2010 (San Diego) -- Award-winning investigative journalist and best-selling author of The True Story of the Bilderberg Group, Daniel Estulin, has followed up with another powerful expose in a similar vein, Shadow Masters. To carry the Bilderberg theme further, the author demonstrates how governments and their intelligence agencies are working with international drug dealers and terrorists for mutual benefit and profit.

August 26, 2010 (San Pasqual) -- Orfila Vineyards in San Pasqual invites you to celebrate the fruits of their labors at its annual Grape Stomp from 4-8 p.m. on Saturday, August 28. Tickets ($85 each) include dinner, wine-tasting reception with hors ‘de oeuvres, live music, tractor rides, and of course, stomping of the grapes. Reserve early, as this event sells out each year.

Full menu includes:

August 27, 2010 (Spring Valley) – San Diego Sheriff’s ASTREA-3 helicopter assisted Lemon Grove gang suppression deputies in the apprehension of a parolee at large on Wednesday night at 9:44 p.m. on Eileen Street in Spring Valley.