State Senate candidate Paul Clay calls on Riverside Registrar to resign for failing to pick up ballots from Post Office

July 6, 2010 (San Diego) – Candidates in two state legislative districts that span both San Diego and Riverside counties are concerned over a scandal involving 12,563 uncounted ballots in Riverside County.

Those ballots could tip the balance of victory in the 40th State Senate district Democratic primary. Juan Vargas now leads Assemblymember Mary Salas by a scant 12 votes a full month after the June 8th election.

By Miriam Raftery

July 6, 2010 – It’s not on the scale of Stonehenge. But stacked rocks popping up along an East County freeway are drawing the attention of passersby and sparking a mystery as to their origins. Just who has been balancing stones along Highway 52, and why?

Senator Boxer to meet with San Diego business leaders today on jobs plan; has support of dozens of technology leaders

July 6, 2010 (San Diego) – Senator Barbara Boxer (D-California) has launched a “Fiorina Facts and Fiction” campaign to fight back against misleading statements made by her opponent, Republican Carly Fiorina.

Independent analyses of the facts by nonpartisan groups and major media outlets support claims by Boxer, who chairs the Senate Ethics Committee, that Fiorina has distorted data on jobs, climate change legislation, and impacts of the federal stimulus bill by relying on outdated or biased sources.

View a video of Senator Boxer outlining her jobs plan during a speech at the California Democratic convention.

July 6, 2010 (Washington D.C.) -- The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services on July 1st unveiled an innovative new on-line tool aimed at helping consumers take control of their health care by connecting them to new information and resources to access quality, affordable health care coverage.

July 6, 2010 (Lemon Grove) – The City of Lemon Grove has issued a proclamation declaring July 10th “Pride Day at Your Lemon Grove Library.” Ron deHarte, emcee of the Pride Celebration, was the victim of a hate crime that occurred in Lemon Grove last summer while participating in an equal rights torch relay that passed through Lemon Grove.

Public services July 12 at Viejas Arena on SDSU campus

By Chris Mohr

July 5, 2010 (La Mesa) - Don Coryell, football coaching legend at the collegiate and professional levels, died Thursday (July 1) at Sharp Grossmont Hospital in La Mesa after an extended illness. He was 85.

July 5, 2010 (San Diego’s East County) – C. Hook Theater will present Joseph & The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat July 7-10. C. Hook Theater productions are held at the Performing Arts Center at The Salvation Army Ray & Joan Kroc Community Center, 6845 University Avenue in San Diego (one block west of 70th Street).

U.S. Supreme Court ruling to allow unlimited corporate spending on elections heightens concerns

“Most Americans, especially champions of business deregulation and the free market, but also many members of Congress and state legislatures, would be shocked to learn that the Founding Fathers firmly believed that corporations were dangerous organizations which, if left unchecked, threatened the very freedom of the nation.” – John David Rose, author, Rescuing Capitalism from Corporatism

By Miriam Raftery
 

July 4, 2010 (San Diego) – At a “Defending Democracy” forum in San Diego on July 1st, a panel of experts raised concerns over the future of democracy in America from threats posed by increasing and unchecked corporate power.

By Dawn Celapino

July 4, 2010 (La Mesa) – Investigators from Heartland Fire & Rescue have determined that a cigarette smoker started a brush fire shortly after 11:30 this morning in La Mesa. Fortunately, an alert homeowner spotted the blaze and called 911 to report a fire behind her home in the 7000 block of Saranac Street.  Firefighters arrived within five minutes and  fully extinguished flames ten minutes later from the quarter-acre fire burning in light, flashy fuels.

 By Miriam Raftery

July 3, 2010 (San Diego’s East County) – Michael Eugene Richardson, whose wife and mother-in-law have been identified as homicide victims in a staged car crash in Lakeside, has an extensive criminal past, investigations reveal.  Court records in North Carolina indicate Richardson was convicted of robbing and shooting a cab driver in 1976. He served six years of a 30 year sentence before escaping while out with a roadside work crew.

July 2, 2010 (La Mesa) – Brew Ha Ha "Sunday Night Comedy" opens July 11 at Gio Bistro and Wine Bar, 8384 La Mesa Boulevard in La Mesa’s downtown village. The weekly performance will be the first of its kind in East County, according to producers.

By Miriam Raftery

Photos courtesy of Helix Water District

July 3, 2010 (Sacramento) – Due to the state budget deficit, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger this week announced his intent to ask the Legislature to postpone Proposition 18, the $11.4 million water bond measure that qualified for the November 2010 ballot, until November 2012. Postponement would require a two-thirds vote of both the Assembly and Senate. 

The measure faced mounting opposition from consumer, environmental and labor groups, with even many supporters urging revision or postponement amid the current economic situation.

July 3, 2010 (San Diego) -- Congressman Bob Filner (D-San Diego) applauds the announcement of a $9 million U.S. Department of Energy grant to a UC San Diego led consortium for research into use of algae for biofuels.

Hackers use Facebook and other social networking sites to swindle friends

July 2, 2010 (San Diego) – The San Diego FBI office warns that the Internet Crime Complaint Center has received complaints of e-mail or social networking accounts being used in a social engineering scam to swindle consumers out of thousands of dollars.