By Jordan Damond

Miriam Raftery also contributed to this report

Photo:  Former Seal Team Six hero Kristin Beck, who transitioned to become a transgender woman after her military service, as challenged President Trump, stating, “I was defending individual liberty.”

July 27, 2017 (San Diego) -- On Twitter yesterday President Donald Trump announced that he was reinstating a ban prohibiting transgender personnel from working in any capacity in the U.S. armed forces. This was the reversal of a policy that Barack Obama implemented, which allowed transgenders to serve openly and gave the Defense Department until July 1, 2017 to craft plans for full implementation, a deadline Trump’s administration delayed before the President’s announcement today of cancelling the Obama policy.

By Miriam Raftery

Photo by Dennis Mammana

July 26, 2017 (Borrego Springs) – California Overland Adventures invites you to a 5-hour sunset-to-stars excursion to experience the Anza-Borrego Desert on August 11 or August 16  from 5:30 to 9:30 p.m. including an off-road adventure to rugged badlands, dinner and stargazing in Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, which USA Today has called a “stargazer’s paradise.”

Overnight camping options are also available on separate dates.

By Miriam Raftery

Photo: Debbie Wasserman Schultz

July 26, 2017 (Washington D.C.) – An IT aide who worked for Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz, the former Democratic National Committee Chair, has been arrested on bank fraud charges while trying to board a plane to Pakistan at Dulles Airport in Virginia.

By Rebecca Jefferis Williamson

July 26, 2017 (Alpine) -- Falconry – the sport of kings, can now be the sport of East County residents and others.  Kirk Sellinger and Denise Disharoon operate an Alpine-based company called Sky Falconry that offers a basic falconry class plus a Hawk Walk.

New U.S. airport screening procedures for carry-on bags to better focus on threats

East County News Service

July 26, 2017 (Washington D.C.)-- To ensure the security of airline passengers and the nation’s airports, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is implementing new, stronger screening procedures for carry-on items that require travelers to place all electronics larger than a cell phone in bins for X-ray screening in standard lanes. Following extensive testing and successful pilots at 10 airports, TSA plans to expand these measures to all U.S. airports during the weeks and months ahead. Below are details from a TSA press release issued today:

Some critics contend Commission’s aim is voter suppression, not halting voter fraud

By Jordan Damond

July 25, 2017 (San Diego) -- Multiple lawsuits have been filed against Donald Trump’s Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity. Many of them voice concerns that the Commission’s actions could result in voter suppression as opposed to protecting voting integrity.

Funds raised will support an orphanage in Tecate, college scholarships for high school seniors, help for homeless teens in San Diego find safe housing, and assist Home of Guiding Hands plus other worthy causes

East County News Service

July 25, 2017 (La Mesa) -- La Mesa Rotary (http://www.lamesarotary.org) is conducting a shoe drive fundraiser on August 1st to October1st to raise funds for our numerous charitable projects. The collected shoes will go to those most desperate in Haiti and Africa. La Mesa Rotary will earn funds based on the total weight of the pairs of gently worn, used and new shoes collected, as Funds2Orgs will issue a check for the collected shoes. Those dollars will benefit local and international charities, one of which is the total eradication of polio. Anyone can help by donating gently worn, used and new shoes at 6804 Murray Park Dr. San Diego, CA 92119

By Miriam Raftery

July 25, 2017 (Washington D.C.) – By a slim one-vote margin, Republicans in the Senate voted to open debate on repealing and replacing Obamacare. Senator John McCain flew back from Arizona after brain cancer surgery to vote in favor, with Vice President Mike Pence casting the tie-breaking vote to open debate. But then the bill to gut healthcare for millions of Americans, while granting tax breaks to the wealthy, failed passage.

East County News Service

July 25, 2017 (San Diego’s East County) -- This week’s Destination East County includes Pine Valley Days, outdoor concerts, a murder mystery theatre in Julian and a 40^th birthday party for the city of Lemon Grove.

Plus, we’ll have a preview of coming attractions including concerts in the park, a Sip of Julian, the Heart of Mt. Helix, a star party campout at Oakoasis, a dive-in movie and ice skating at Kroc Center, the Chippendales at Sycuan, the Ramona Country Fair, and Laurel and Hardy comedy clips in Spring Valley.

So scroll down for all of these events and many more!

East County News Service

July 25, 2017 (San Diego’s East County) -- H. Dail Rankin succumbed to a heart attack on June 14, 2017 after a lengthy battle with non-Hodgkins lymphoma and complications caused by chemotherapy.  Born January 24,1944, he attended local schools and became known to many in East County through the years as an Allstate Insurance agent, a Standard Brands Paints manager, and the organizer of multi-class reunions for Lincoln High School.

By Julie Pendray

Photo: Animal Services worker evacuates pets during Border Fire

July 25, 2017 (Ramona) -- A public meeting about the County’s possible outsourcing of animal welfare services in unincorporated areas drew criticism last week from union members and some residents in this town, where memories of evacuating horses and other animals during the Witch Creek and Cedar wildfires are still scorched deeply into local culture.

East County News Service

July 24, 2017 (Santee) – Deputies from the Santee Sheriff’s station responding to a vehicle fire this morning in Santee collided with a southbound trolley at Prospect Avenue and Cuyamaca Street.

The deputies entered the intersection with lights flashing and sirens on.  Twelve passengers were in the trolley, but fortunately no injuries were reported, the Sheriff’s Department reports.

By Miriam Raftery

Photo: Kremlin

July 24, 2017 (Washington D.C.) – In a stinging rebuke of President Donald Trump’s cozy relationship with Russia, The House and Senate have agreed on a bill to impose new sanctions on Russia over its efforts to meddle in the U.S. election and Russian aggression in the Ukraine.  The bill also prohibits Trump from easing those sanctions without Congressional approval.  The Republican-controlled Congress is said to have mustered a veto-proof majority in both Houses for the bill.

By Miriam Raftery

Photo: UK Independent Twitter feed

July 24, 2017 (Raqqa, Syria) -- Women in Raqqa, Syria are burning their burqas and men are shaving off their beards in celebration of being liberated from the Islamic State, or ISIS, by U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces, a Kurdish fighting group. British media reports photos and interviews of joyful, freed Syrians who had been forced to endure ISIS occupation of their city.

By Miriam Raftery

July 23, 2017 (Washington D.C.) – As the special investigation into Trump-Russia ties proceeds, the question of whether a president can be indicted while in office has arisen. Now, the New York Times has obtained a secret memo prepared by Ken Starr, independent counsel during the Bill Clinton presidency, which concluded it is “proper, constitutional, and legal for a federal grand jury to indict a sitting president for serious criminal acts that are not part of, and are contrary to, the president’s official duties.”  In addition, an earlier 1974 memo written for Watergate special counsel Leon Jaworski similarly found that he could legally indict President Richard Nixon.