January 9, 2014 (Crest) --Local author & Chef Mimi Kirk, will show you how to make several easy, delicious and healthy raw food recipes at a special event at the Crest Library, 104 Juanita Lane in El Cajon, on Tuesday January 14 from 6-7 p.m..

Kirk has been voted sexiest vegetarian over 50 in a national contest. She's now 75 and attributes a raw foods diet to her high energy level and health.  Samples will be offered and books will be available for purchase and signing.

The Lemon Grove Historical Society, New Pacific Productions and the Lemon Grove Library will present a free, seven-part history film series, "John Adams," on Wednesdays between Jan. 8  and  Feb. 19 at 6:30 p.m. in the Putnam Community Room of the Lemon Grove Library, 3001 School Lane.



The award-winning series stars Paul Giamatti and Laura Linney as John and Abigail Adams and traces their life and times through the American Revolution and Adams' tenure as the nation's second president to their deaths. Produced by Tom Hanks, directed by Tom Hooper and based on David McCullough's Pulitzer Prize-winning biography of Adams, the series is noted for its historical authenticity, stirring characterizations and epic scale.

January 8, 2014  (San Diego’s East County) -- Our Health and Science Highlights provide cutting edge news each week that could impact your health and our future.

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

• Disease inheritance: the long-term effects of pesticide exposure (Reviving Gaia)
• Researchers, wind companies seek more bird-friendly turbines at Altamont Pass (Contra Costa Times)
• Building tops to house urban windpower (Science X)
• Hackers post account info of 4.6 million Snapchat users: report (Reuters)
• Using Sound To Levitate Objects And Move Them Midair (NPR)
• Ford reveals solar-powered car (BBC)
• Move Over Electric Car, Auto Companies To Make Hydrogen Vehicles (NPR)
• More Than 300 Sharks In Australia Are Now On Twitter (NPR)

HEALTH

• Stem cell transplant problem solved, UCSD-led study says (U-T)
• Prescription Privacy (Reason)
• Relapse of 'cured' HIV patients spurs AIDS science on (Reuters)  

For excerpts and links to full stories, click “read more” and scroll down.

Public Comments Due by February 17

By Sharon Penny

January 5, 2014 (Boulevard)--On Thursday, January 2, the County of San Diego released an Environmental Impact Report (EIR) on massive solar projects proposed in East County by Soitec Solar (http://www.sdcounty.ca.gov/pds/ceqa/Soitec-Solar-EIR.html).

At the Boulevard Planning Group meeting, County employees made a brief presentation of the EIR.  The small community room was packed with over two dozen residents of Boulevard, all expressing major concerns with the proposed projects. Robert Hingtgen and Mindy Fogg from the County’s Planning and Development Services discussed Soitec’s four proposed projects, which combined would encompass a total of 1,490 acres in Boulevard, with almost 7,500 solar trackers, each measuring 30 feet tall by 48 feet wide.

January 7, 2014 (San Diego’s East County ) --ECM World Watch helps you be an informed citizen about important issues globally and nationally. As part of our commitment to reflect all voices and views, we include links to a wide variety of news sources representing a broad spectrum of political, religious, and social views. Top world and U.S. headlines include:

U.S.

• Edward Snowden, Whistle-Blower (NY Times editorial)
• Pentagon cuts by third places where U.S. troops get danger pay (Reuters)
• Court Upholds Border Gadget Searches (Reason)
• Medicaid Expansion Boosted Emergency Room Visits In Oregon (Reuters)  
• Yes, Legal Pot Does Cost More Than Black-Market Pot (for Now at Least) (Reason)
• Senator Ron Johnson to sue over healthcare subsidy for Congress (Reuters)

WORLD

• Worst of climate change predictions are the most likely: new study (Common Dreams)
• Hezbollah Moving Long-Range Missiles From Syria to Lebanon (NY Times)
•  Greece takes over as EU president (Marketplace)
• Marine Crisis Team Evacuates American Embassy Staff From South Sudan (KPBS)
• Hundreds of Palestinians protest Kerry's visit in Ramallah (Jerusalem Post)
• Nine dead after attackers dressed as police enter Mexican prison (Reuters)

For excerpts and links to full stories, click "read more" and scroll down.

By Miriam Raftery

January 7, 2014 (Descanso) -- Duncan McFetridge sent in these idyllic images of his "spiritual grandson," Ki, enjoying a swim at Indian Springs along the Sweetwater River, about a half hour hike from the town of Descanso. 

January 7, 2014 (Lakeside)--On January 19^th, 2014, at 7:00 pm, the Lakeside Fire Protection District will take to the airwaves with the “Lakeside Emergency Net”. This new amateur radio net was developed to establish a working relationship between the Lakeside Fire Protection District and the amateur radio community throughout the East County area.

Photo courtesy of ECM news partner 10 News

January 6, 2014 (Pine Valley) – Two vehicles collided on I-8 this morning, plunging down a steep, rocky slope and igniting a brush fire that scorched a quarter-acre in Cleveland National Forest.  Six people were injured.

January 5, 2014 (Santee)--This is a story made in the shade!  Takeda California, a pharmaceutical company,  plans to plant 2,000 trees along a one-mile-stretch of the San Diego River in Santee’s new Walker Preserve on January 20.  That’s 20 times more trees than the drug discovery company used in paper during the entire last year.

The trees will be planted by Takeda’s employees, family members and friends.  The effort will benefit the San Diego River Park Foundation and Walker Preserve by introducing native Coast Live Oak, Scrub Oak, Englemann Oak, Laurel Sumac, Cottonwood, Sycamore, Lemonade Berry and Elderberry to lands previously used for mining operations.

January 6, 2014 (San Diego's East County) -- If you’re traveling outside of our area, you may have a long wait.  Over 3,000 flights have been cancelled nationwide due to an extreme cold front known as a polar vortex. 

The severe weather system  is breaking all records, with temperatures dipping to a frosty 68 degrees below zero in  the Midwest, also bringing icy cold weather to the northeast and the South. Atlanta Georgia was colder than Moscow today ad Memphis, Tennessee was chillier than Anchorage Alaska.

January 5, 2014 (San Diego) -- Sprinkled with stories and tips (such as how to connect with literary agents), this February 22 program is designed to inspire and empower writers of all levels and genres. Start with a glimpse at today’s dynamic book business including traditional, electronic, and self-publishing. Then  share ideas to help refine the writing craft, followed by suggestions for getting published and tips for promoting books.

Also on the afternoon’s menu are imagination workouts, writing prompts, self-assessments, and Q&A throughout. The workshop will be presented by  Laurie Gibson, the La Mesa resident who’s edited the work of more than 150 first-time authors. She’s also edited or proofread well over 250 books for numerous publishers, including recent editions of novels such as “The Color Purple” and the writing of business guru Brian Tracy. For several years, Laurie taught at the Extension programs of both UCSD and UCLA.

January 5, 2014 (Ramona) – Yesterday, El Cajon Police Department arrested Ramona resident Douglas Lane, 50, for a road rage incident on State Route 67 back on October 26 that resulted in injury to a bicyclist.

On October 26, 2013 at 9:48 a.m., Poway Sheriff’s deputies responded to a vehicle collision on State Route 67 north of Poway Road. Drivers of two vehicles were involved n a dispute over right of way as the highway merged from two lanes to one lane, said Deputy A. Meleen. 

January 5, 2014 (San Diego’s East County) – Cassandra Kunze, a resident of Crest and a student at San Diego State University, has been crowned winner of the 2014 Miss California USA competition.

Kunze, 20, is working to complete a double major at SDSU in international security and conflict resolution and television/film media.  She represented Beverly Hills at the time of her pageant entry and will next compete at the Miss USA pageant, representing California.

Click to buy this book

On Teaching Well: Using Classroom Instructional Strategies to Increase Your Teaching Effectiveness, by Dr. Dee L. Fabry (Ready or Not Press, Cheyenne, Wyoming, 2012).

Book Review by Dennis Moore

January 5, 2014 (San Diego)--Dee L. Fabry, Ph.D, along with 18 eighteen high school teachers in a graduate level course on effective teaching practice, shares their journey of improving the cognitive skills of students in Fabry’s groundbreaking book; On Teaching Well: Using Classroom Instructional Strategies to Increase Your Teaching Effectiveness.

The author, Associate Professor at National University, School of Education, Teacher Education Department in La Jolla, serves as the Master of Arts in Teaching Program Lead, teaching classroom teachers returning for their post graduate degrees. This makes her eminently qualified to lead these high school teachers in a graduate level course in effective teaching practice, which has resulted in this innovative book. Her research and scholarship is focused around improving teaching and student learning outcomes.