Your guide to financial planning & socially responsible investing

By: Judith L. Seid, CFP ®
 

President, Blue Summit Wealth Management

July 9, 2010 (La Mesa) -- We have just received notification that two of our top-rated carriers, John Hancock & Metlife, will be raising rates for new policies. If you have already secured your long term care policy, CONGRATULATIONS…you made a great decision! If you have been considering taking out a long term care insurance policy, please contact an independent Long Term Care Insurance (LTCI) agent right away for quotes. (See below for tips on what to look for.)

Update on Tax Deductible Premiums:

By Miriam Raftery

July 9, 2010 (San Diego's East County)  -  What are the odds of a big quake striking your community?  Now there's a website where you can type in your zip code and learn the probability of a major quake striking in the near or distant future.

I typed in my own zip code (91941 La Mesa) and was startled to learn that the odds of a 6.0 magnitude quake or greater striking within the next 10 years is 50%--and in some nearby towns the chances are even greater. 

What should you do to stay safe when an earthquake strikes?

July 9, 2010 (Escondido) – Escondido Police seek the public’s help to find a man suspected of raping a 16-year-old girl. The suspect reportedly attacked the teen at gunpoint and raped her shortly before 8:30 this morning on the flood control bike path near North Beech Street and East Valley Parkway.

July 9, 2010 (Lakeside) – The Lakeside Highway Lions Club is hosting a fundraiser on all “to go” orders placed July 12-14 at Mario’s Restorante Italiano, 12440 Woodside Avenue in Lakeside. Mention the Lakeside Skatepark and the restaurant will donate 20% of proceeds to help build a premier skatepark where skaters can exercise in a clean, safe environment.

July 9, 2010 (San Diego) – East County Magazine added another award to its growing list of honors last night at the Society of Professional Journalists awards banquet at the Bali Hai restaurant in San Diego. SPJ-San Diego presented ECM with a first-place award for investigative reporting in the daily news reporting category.

July 9, 2010 (Sacramento ) State Controller John Chiang has filed a lawsuit in Superior Court to block Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s order that would reduce state workers’ pay to the federal minimum wage, $7.25 an hour. The decision could determine whether 200,000 state workers ranging from DMV employee workers to Cal-Trans highway workers will face pay cuts of two-thirds or more of their salaries in some cases.

By Sylvia Hampton

July 9, 2010 (San Diego) -- One of our most prized regional achievements and treasures in San Diego County is the San Dieguito River Park, located in our back yard. When Mayor Sander’s budget was approved by the San Diego City Council recently it included cutting $254,000 annual contribution to the river park, which is 36% of the park’s budget.

By Ann Menasche

The 2010 election cycle is demonstrating beyond a shadow of a doubt that California’s proposition process is undemocratic, corrupt, and irreparably broken. It’s time to reform the process to eliminate moneyed interests and return decision making power to the voters.

July 9, 2010 (El Cajon) --The County of San Diego Department of Parks and Recreation wants to notify residents to leave the alcohol at home when visiting Hilton Head County Park, which features an aquatic center with a pirate-themed water-spray for children.

July 8, 2010 (La Mesa) -- The City of La Mesa is offering two free summer movie nights. The movies are shown on large screens, providing family entertainment under the stars.  Now you can enjoy a "dive-in movie" while swimming or floating, or relish a movie in the park at dark.

July 8, 2010 (La Mesa) – A 74-year-old woman whose car crashed through a fence and tumbled 60 feet down an embankment on Aztec Drive in La Mesa has been rescued. Heartland Fire & Rescue was dispatched to the accident at 12:30 p.m. and found the vehicle had landed in a drainage ditch. It took ten firefighters approximately half an hour to extricate the woman from the vehicle by removing the roof of the car.

July 8, 2010 (La Mesa) -- What does author Jack Brandais do when he’s not busy being the media spokesperson for the San Diego Unified School District, writing a driving column, or reviewing new cars? He hits the weekly Back to the 50’s car show in La Mesa! On July 22 at 6 pm, he’ll be signing copies of his book, Weekend Driver San Diego, at the Readers Inc. bookstore in the heart of La Mesa village.

July 7, 2010 - A strong earthquake jolted East County at 4:53 p.m. today.  The quake, which was centered 13 miles north northwest of Borrego Springs in San Diego's East County, was initially rated a 5.9 on the Richter scale but subsequently downgraded to a 5.4 according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

"Montezuma Valley Grade had boulders rock and come loose, laying in the roadway, a citizen reported," a deputy at Borrego Springs told East County Magazine.  "They felt it was a safety hazard and I dispatched County Roads...Cell phone service went out for about five minutes also; all circuits were busy."

"It was a rough jolt," Linda Narrin, an employee at Orchard Hill Bed & Breakfast Inn in Julian, told East County Magazine.  

Long before the Internet or cell phones, mission bells served as major means of communications. Tone sequences announced times for work, meals, mass and siestas. Bells guided travelers along El Camino Real (the King’s Highway), signaled danger, honored the dead, and pealed to celebrate joyous feast days, weddings and fiestas.