By Joan Casanova, for Bonnie Plants

August 11, 2010 (San Diego’s East County) -- You might think the end of summer means bidding farewell to fresh, homegrown veggies. Not so – many cool-season crops hit their heyday as autumn temperatures drop, and some even taste better when nipped by a light frost.

August 11, 2010 (San Diego) -- San Diego Police Department Homicide Unit detectives arrested 35 year-old Quang Van Dang  at 6 a.m. this morning for the murder of a woman in the Oak Park area, just west of Lemon Grove. Quang was located by Homicide Unit investigators in the 5400 block of Fieger Street, a short distance from the crime scene.

August 10, 2010 (Poway) –San Diego Sheriff seeks public help to locate a man who reportedly grabbed the arm of a 17-year-old walking her dogs in Poway last night and attempted to pull her behind a laundry building adjacent to a dog park.

Simulation labs with high-tech mannequins mimic real-life hospital scenarios

August 9, 2010 (El Caj on) – – Vanessa Cordova, newly hired nurse at Sharp Grossmont Hospital, quickly assesses the situation. A 46-year-old patient, J. Smith, had been admitted after collapsing at home and losing consciousness.

By Christine Seisun

As a San Diego native, I was quite surprised to discover that my hometown had just last year surpassed Los Angeles to become the nation’s number one refugee resettlement location.

Owner hand-crafts fantasy environment

Part II of a 5-part series on gardens featured in the Grossmont-Mt. Helix Improvement Association’s spring 2010 garden tour
 

By Miriam Raftery
 

August 7, 2010 (San Diego's East County) -- “I like Disneyland, so I created an escape environment,” said Bob Caparas, who single-handedly planted all landscaping and built each masonry wall, bridge and waterway at his private Shangri-La complete with switchback trails through a tropical jungle filled with prehistoric-style artifacts off Grandview Road.

East County News Service

August 6, 2010 (El Cajon) – Emergency room physicians described the condition of Jeremy Marlow, 28, as the worst case of neglect that they had ever seen. Paramedics brought Marlow, who lived on Graves Avenue in El Cajon, to Grossmont Hospital on January 21. He was unconscious, suffering from infections, covered in open pressure wounds, and weighed less than 100 pounds, according to the San Diego Sheriff’s Department. He died five days later of pneumonia.

Last night his mother, Deborah Marlow, 58, and his brother, Christopher Marlow, 26, were  arrested.  Both are charged with elder abuse, a crime that can be filed against caregivers for abusing a person of any age.

August 6, 2010 (Allied Gardens) -- Bring your blankets and beach chairs for free movie night at the Allied Gardens Community Park 5155 Greenbrier, on Saturday, August 7th.  A showing of the family-friendly movie "Madagascar, Escape 2 Africa" will begin at dusk.

Flurry of new charter approvals raises questions over state funding priorities in an era of budget shortfalls

East County Magazine Special Report

By Miriam Raftery

 

August 5, 2010 (San Diego’s East County) – In the 2009-2010 school year, California approved more than 88 new charter schools at a cost of tens of millions of dollars. Recent charters approved include middle schools opening in districts that already have schools with high academic achievements--new charters with oversight provided by a district with middle school test scores that rank in the bottom 10% statewide.

These findings, discovered by East County Magazine, raise serious questions about budget priorities at a time when the state faces a $20 billion deficit.  What are the long-range consequences of approving numerous charters, all entitled to a portion of public education funds? 

By Miriam Raftery

August 5, 2010 (San Diego) -- Pierre Martel Terry, 18, was arrested today by San Diego Police homicide detectives for the  murder of Jonathan Pleasant, 24 in late June. He was taken into custody in the 3500 block of College Avenue and booked into County jail.

August 5, 2010 (San Diego) – The San Diego City Council voted 6-2 in a special session Wednesday to let voters decide whether the City should have a temporary (five year) half-cent increase in sales tax. The “Reform before Revenue” measure, proposed by Councilmembers Donna Frye and Todd Gloria, will require that key pension and financial reforms be met before the tax increase would take effect. 

Update 11:30 a.m.  The gas line has been repaired and all roads are now open.
August 5, 2010 (El Cajon) – Road closures and evacuations are being ordered in El Cajon due to a damaged gas line at 613 Mundy Terrace.

Judge to hear arguments today on whether to issue a stay extending ban on gay marriages pending appeal; weddings could resume as early as tomorrow

East County News Network

August 4, 2010 (San Diego) – Over a thousand people celebrated in the streets of San Diego today after a federal judge declared Proposition 8, the initiative banning gay marriage, to be unconstitutional.  Same-sex marriages could resume as early as tomorrow--or not at all, depending on a judge's ruling on a request for a stay to extend the ban pending appeal.

"Yesterday when the ruiling came out, our phones starting ringing off the hook," San Diego County Assessor/Recorder/Clerk Dave Butler told East County Magazine.  Then word got out that the judge had issued a temporary stay until he hears arguments today and issues a decision on the stay.  "The phones have been quiet today," Butler said.