By Kayla Turnbow, Navy Office of Community Outreach

Photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Tim Miller

May 31, 2018 (Lemoore, Calif.) - A 2003 Mount Miguel High School graduate and Lemon Grove, California, native is currently serving with a U.S. Navy strike fighter squadron which flies one of the world’s most advanced warplanes.

East County News Service

May 31, 2018 (El Cajon) - Just in time for summer vacation, Regal's Summer Movie Express returns to Regal's Parkway Plaza Stadium 18 in Parkway Plaza and Edwards Rancho San Diego Stadium 15 in El Cajon.

Summer Movie Express shows films rated G and PG every Tuesday and Wednesday morning at 10:00 a.m. from June 19th to August 15th.  Admission is just $1.

The full schedule of films is below:

By Miriam Raftery

May 31, 2018 (San Diego’s East County) –  Last week, we interviewed Eric Lund, candidate for San Diego County Board of Education in district 3, on our radio show. Lund is president of the San Diego East County Chamber of Commerce and also teaches business classes Grossmont and Southwestern Community Colleges. In addition he heads up the East County Homeless Task force and is a member of the East County Adult Education Alliance. The district encompasses most of East County as well as parts of San Diego.

Hear the full interview, originally aired on KNSJ Radio, by clicking the audio link, or scroll down for highlights.

“I’m so much an advocate of great education. I love teaching,” says Lund, who has taught for 17 years and was inspired by his grandfather, who headed up SDSU’s English Department for many years. “I really feel that our education system that is ranked one of the lowest in the United States can and should do better.”

By Miriam Raftery

May 31, 2018 (Julian) – The only on-duty firefighter authorized to drive a firetruck in Julian was placed on leave yesterday after a heated argument with the chief, ECM news partner 10 News reports.

Rick Marinelli, the departing Chief of the Julian-Cuyamaca Volunteer Fire District in process of being taken over by the County Fire Department run by Cal Fire, reportedly ordered Captain Dave Southcott escorted off the property by law enforcement. Firefighters told 10 News that Marinelli placed Southcutt and Battalion Chief Mike Van Bibber on administration leave this week.

But no one else authorized to drive a fire truck was slated to work yesterday or today, leaving the public vulnerable should an emergency occur, firefighters told 10 News.

May 31, 2018 (San Diego's East County) -- East County Roundup highlights top stories of interest to East County and San Diego’s inland regions, published in other media. This week’s top “Roundup” headlines include:

LOCAL

• Efforts to build housing around transit threaten to price out those most dependent on bus and rail (San Diego Union-Tribune)
• Fee hikes for park users in La Mesa have moms fit to be tied (San Diego Union-Tribune)
• San Diego County Ambulances to Carry Fentanyl for Pain Relief (NBC 7)
• Lemon Grove says no to property upgrades (San Diego Union-Tribune)
• Politics Report: Big Cities Remembered They Run SANDAG Now  (Voice of San Diego)
• Liquor Store Owners Are Getting Into the Pot Game  (Voice of San Diego)
• Grossmont-Cuyamaca Community College Area 2: Incumbent challenged by business owner and university professor (San Diego Union-Tribune)
• Public safety takes a big bite out of Santee’s budget (San Diego Union-Tribune)

STATE

• 7 things every California voter should know about the race for Governor (San Jose Mercury News)
• Granny flats and renters’ tax credits: Which California housing bills lived and died Friday  (Mercury News)
• 4 largest states carrying highest credit card debt (ABC News)
• California Lawmakers Look to Stop Cities from Billing Citizens Thousands for Their Own Prosecutions (Reason)

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

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By Liz Alper

Photo: despite giving up two runs to Miami, Clayton Richard was impressive; seven innings pitched, four hits, two runs, two earned runs, one walk and five strikeouts.  Via @Padres on Twitter

May 30, 2018 (San Diego) - The Padres’ series with the Marlins is tied at one game apiece.  Tonight, the Padres tried to take a series lead with Jose Urena on the mound for Miami against Clayton Richard.

May 30, 2018 (San Diego's East County) -- Our Health and Science Highlights provide cutting edge news that could impact your health and our future.

HEALTH

• To Lower Your Medicare Drug Costs, Ask Your Pharmacist for the Cash Price  (NPR)
• FDA warns that Benzocaine teething products aren’t safe for children (CNN)
• With compassionate outreach, a city cuts its drug overdose rate in half (CS Monitor)
• Trump’s ban on global abortion funding has led to more abortions (CNN)

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

• FBI warns Russia hacked hundreds of thousands of routers (Yahoo News)
• Amazon Alexa heard and sent private chat (BBC)
• Amazon is selling facial recognition to law enforcement—for a fistful of dollars (Washington Post)
• Trump violated the Constitution when he blocked his critics on Twitter, judge rules (Washington Post)
• Scientists See Promise in Resurrecting These Rhinos That Are Nearly Extinct (New York Times)
• How many people do volcanoes kill? (BBC)

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

East County News Service

May 30, 2018 (Santee) -- This morning, the Sheriff’s department announced that deputies at the Santee station became aware yesterday of a possible school threat posted on social media.

“The post was not specific to any school, but was spreading online amongst students from Santana and West Hills High School,” Sergeant James Golembiewski states in a press release.

He adds, “Deputies conducted a thorough investigation and concluded the threat was not valid.”

Making threats against a school, even as a joke, is a crime and the San Diego District Attorney is prosecuting several such cases that occurred at other local schools.

Hear our interviews with 4 candidates in the race on their immigration views

By Miriam Raftery

May 30, 2018 (San Diego’s East County) – A campaign mailer sent by 50^th Congressional candidate Josh Butner, a Republican-turned-Democrat, to voters contained false smears against his opponent, Democrat Ammar Campa-Najjar.  KPBS reports that Butner’s mailer distorted Campa-Najjar’s stances on immigration, falsely claiming he’s defended Trump’s Muslim ban.

It also has a photo taken before Donald Trump’s presidency, when Campa-Najjar says was working with the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, to falsely position Campa-Najjar as a Trump supporter when in fact, he has been a vocal opponent of a wide range of Trump’s policies.

East County News Service

Photo:  Creative commons photo by Youli on Wikipedia

May 29, 2018 (Sacramento) -- The California State Assembly today unanimously passed a bill authored by Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez Fletcher (D-San Diego)  to help prevent future deadly wildfires caused when trees dry up into kindling after being killed by beetles that have become a scourge of the Southern California countryside.

Alpine-Mountain Empire Chamber of Commerce

Who knew Alpine had a castle?

May 29, 2019 (Alpine) -- Guests were treated like royalty May 23 at the Alpine Castle! The first of the “It’s After 5 Somewhere” mixers by the Alpine Mountain Empire Chamber of Commerce was delightfully medieval with all the modern amenities at the palatial home in the Alpine foothills.

By Miriam Raftery

May 29, 2018 (Sacramento) – By a 24-11 vote, the California State Senate today passed Senate Bill 894, a bill to help wildfire survivors who were underinsured rebuild their lives after devastating disasters.  Republicans opposed the bill, while all Democrats (except one) voted in support.

East County News Service

May 29, 2018 (La Mesa) - The Foothills Art Association invites everyone to enjoy “Art in the Park” an art show and sale at MacArthur Park in La Mesa on Sunday, June 10 from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.   Many local artists will be displaying and selling their artwork during a festive day in La Mesa’s newest community park. See the art, listen to the music, bring a picnic lunch, and enjoy a family day at MacArthur Park.  

By Fire Chief Sam DiGiovanna 

May 28, 2018 (San Diego) -- This Memorial Day Weekend brought cool temperatures in Southern California.  with many areas experiencing light precipitation. What makes this unusual is the fact we had several brush fires throughout southern California. This is very strong evidence we are looking at another significant wildfire season this summer.

East County Wildfire & Emergency Alerts

Update 8:45 p.m.:   Heartland Fire and Rescue indicates the fire started in palm trees at the Lemon Grove Trolley station and spread along trolley tracks, briefly threatening about 20 homes.  The fire damaged power lines and railroad ties for the trolley, so the trolley remains shut down. There was also minor damage to eaves of some homes and a fence. Cause of the fire is under investigation by the Sheriff's Bomb and Arson squad.

Heartland Fire & Rescue units from Lemon Grove and La Mesa responded, with assistance from San Diego Fire, San Miguel Fire, and Cal Fire/SDSO to swiftly stop the blaze.

May 27, 2018 (Lemon Grove) -- A brush fire in Lemon Grove has charred about two acres, but Heartland firefighters have halted the forward spread.

The fire was reported in palm trees shortly after 5 p.m. in the 1500 block of San Altos Place. It jumped Imperial Avenue and according to CBS 8, briefly threatened structures on Angelus Avenue.