By Miriam Raftery

April 25, 2014 (San Diego) – Judge Ronald Prager has been a Superior Court Judge for 26 years, with an unblemished record.

 “I’ve handled more important cases and complex litigation than any other judge,” said Prager, who has presided over many of our region’s most high profile cases.  He told ECM that he has been endorsed by all 125 Superior Court judges as well as Sheriff Bill Gore, District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis, the Public Defender, Deputy District Attorneys Association, the Lawyer’s Club, and San Diegans Against Crime, a crime victims’ rights group.

His opponent for Superior Court seat 9,  Douglas James Crawford,   faces suspension of his law license for advising opposing counsel of threats made by his client to instigate an IRS audit if settlement talks in a lawsuit were not commenced.  He denies wrongdoing and has filed an appeal.  He has also drawn criticism for racial remarks regarding an African-American judge and for offering free legal advice to white supremacist groups. In addition, an East County Magazine investigation reveals that Crawford has previously been sanctioned by the California 4th District Court of Appeal for “intentionally misleading” a court and bank regarding his mother’s death.  Moreover, the court found that Crawford  claimed to represent his mother’s  estate after allowing his license to practice law to become inactive.

Injured and Ill Athletes Go Head-to Head in the Annual Horseman Competition

April 26, 2014 (Escondido)--For the fifth year in a row, the injured athletes of Team Semper Fi and Team America’s Fund are saddling up for an incredible challenge.  Ten veteran and active duty service members, some of them amputees, will learn the skills to become cowboys, then go head-to-head in the ring–and they have just three days to do it.

By Miriam Raftery

Photo by Nadin Abbott

April 26, 2014 (Mount Laguna) – Cal Fire and the federal government have not released reports on the official cause of the Chariot Fire, which scorched over 7,000 acres and destroyed more than 100 buildings including  a historic lodge and the century-old Al Bahr Shrine Camp.  Now attorney John Fiske, who represents  fire victims, says he has filed a claim against the U.S. Bureau of Land Management.

April 25, 2014 (San Carlos) – Police believe that 52-year-old Jackie Clinton Jackson, Jr. may be a victim of a hit-and-run accident.  Jackson was found by a passerby unresponsive in the street between parked vehicles in the 8000 block of Beaver Lake Drive in San Diego’s San Carlos neighborhood on April 24.

April 25, 2014 (Potrero)--A horse found injured and bleeding after a fall down a deep ravine Thursday evening in Potrero is now recovering from its injuries at the County Animal Services shelter in Bonita.

By Miriam Raftery

April 25, 2014 (Lakeside) – San Diego residents Carlos Kristopher Vargas and Monica Yvette Lupercio, each 20 years old , died of injuries sustained in a vehicle accident April 19 on westbound Interstate 8  near the Lake Jennings exit in Lakeside.  Vargas and Lupercio  were passengers in the backseat, both wearing seatbelts when the vehicle drifted into the median. 

The driver , Mario Alberto Carranza, had a blood alcohol level four times the legal limit. Because of a prior DUI on his record, Carranza has been charged with murder. He pled not guilty and his hearing is set for May 1st.

By Miriam Raftery

April 25, 2014 (San Diego’s East County) – The National Weather Service has issued a high wind warning for mountains and deserts in San Diego County  and other inland areas in Southern California.  Dangerous gusts of 70 miles per hour or more are possible. The warning is in effect today through Saturday evening.

Rain is also forecast, along with snow at elevations over 4,500 feet.

Charges include execution-style murders, racketeering, gun-running and drug smuggling involving El Cajon High School students

East County News Service

April 25, 2014 (San Diego)—U.S. Attorney Laura Duffy today unsealed a complaint revealing charges filed against 35 people, including many alleged members and associates of the West Coast Crips criminal street gang.  The defendants, include many from East County.  They face charges of participating in three drug- and gun-related conspiracies, including one that alleges a racketeering enterprise with execution-style murders, a takeover-style robbery, high-speed chases, witness intimidation and other acts of violence.

By Miriam Raftery

April 23, 2014 (San Diego)—San Diego Unified School District should require all schools to use its website content system, a San Diego Grand Jury report titled “Can we please get on the same page?”  issued today advised.

The report concluded that many San Diego city schools have set up independent websites outside of the school district's management structure, leaving the San Diego Unified School District little or no say on the websites' content or how they are used. In fact, private foundations control many of the sites, acting as school website administrators who do all of the on-line updating of the content. Foundations operate autonomously outside of the District's established policies and procedures, even accepting commercial paid advertising on the school sites. In some cases advertisers have solicited the students’ for personal information, the Grand Jury report revealed.

“I don’t want Disney Land in my backyard!”—Santee Lakes Resident

Jessica Richmond

April 24, 2014 (Santee)-- Amid growing residents’ concerns, Santee Lakes park administrators dropped the proposed plan for a recreational zip line, removing it from a proposed master plan. After meeting with community members, staff decided it would be in the best interests of the residents and the park to keep incursions into the peaceful out-door serenity to a minimum. Many Santee resident were outspoken in their protests against the addition of a zip line for fears that it would endanger wildlife and increase noise, traffic, and parking problems, leading to over-commercialization of the natural beauty at the lakes.

April 24, 2014 (Lakeside) Tomas Gracilazo, trick roping expert, will perform his dazzling showmanship routine at each performance of the Lakeside Rodeo, which celebrates its 50^th anniversary with performances on Friday, Saturday and Sunday  April 25-27 this weekend.

You can also see a full range of other rodeo events including bull riding, barrel racing, team roping, steer wrestling, tie down roping, bareback bronc riding, and saddle bronc riding. There’s also a special stick horse riding competition for children.

By Miriam Raftery

April 23, 2014 (San Diego’s East County) – Last week, we reported that applicants for the controversial gas-fired Quail Brush Power plant proposal asked the California Energy Commission to extend a suspension for another year and keep alive the potential to revive the project proposed next to Mission Trails Regional Park in San Diegio and schools in Santee.

April 23, 2014 (San Diego) – Campus police at San Diego State University have sent an alert warning students about a hot prowl burglary that occurred around 3:50 a.m. this morning.  A female victim awakened to find an unknown man burglarizing her apartment.

By Miriam Raftery

April 23, 2014 (San Diego’s East County) – A lawsuit filed against San Diego Supervisors asks the court to set aside the County’s new wind energy ordinance and an amendment to Boulevard’s community plan.  The case will be heard on Friday, April 25 at 1:30 p.m. in Superior Court, Department C-72, with Judge Timothy Taylor presiding. The courthouse is located at 220 West Broadway, San Diego.

The suit was filed by two community groups-- the Protect Our Communities Foundation, Backcountry Against Dumps-- and  by Donna Tisdale, chair of the Boulevard Planning Group. Plaintiffs seek to half industrial wind development in their backcountry community. They contend that such projects pose serious impacts to wildlife, water resources, human health and safety that the Board ignored.

By Leon Thompson

April 23, 2014 (Lakeside) --At El Monte Park in Lakeside on March 29, the Kurdish people celebrated Kurdistan’s independence and the Kurdish New Year.  

According to Chinar Hussein who helped start the Kurdish Community Center in El Cajon it is fitting that the two events be celebrated together since it is like a “new beginning” for the Kurdish people.  She said one reason the occasion was so joyous is because this particular celebration is forbidden in their homeland, Kurdistan, a mountainous region that encompasses portions of  northern Iraq, Turkey, Iran and Syria.