June 5 (La Mesa) -- Here's what's happening in La Mesa this month!

There are a number of food events this month, including a Fire Station pancake breakfast, a Craft Beer and Wine Fest, the Taste of La Mesa, three nights of food trucks, and two nights of farmers' markets.

But fear not, as there are also several ways to work off all those calories.

June 11 show at Sacha’s Supper Club

By Mimi Pollack

June 5, 2015 (San Diego’s East County) - Sacha Boutros is an old soul. This award winning San Diego jazz singer channels bygone eras naturally. She has been listening to records, and singing along, since she was a child. Her love of music came early, and on every birthday, she would always ask for a piano and eventually took piano lessons.

June 4, 2015 (Sacramento) - The California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) has released the draft California State Wildlife Action Plan 2015 Update (SWAP 2015) and is seeking public input. Public input will help shape the final SWAP 2015, which will be completed by October 2015.  The comment period is open from May 18 through July 2, 2015.

Source: City of El Cajon

June 4, 2015 (El Cajon )—You’re invited to celebrate Independence Day with numerous games, musical entertainment and fireworks at the City of El Cajon’s Fourth of July Celebration.

By Miriam Raftery

June 4, 2015 (San Diego)—Imagine using crowd-sourced images to digitally recreate ancient works of art and architecture, starting with those destroyed by the Islamic State in Iraq and other world heritage sites where antiquities have been lost.  That’s precisely the mission of Project Mosul, an innovative undertaking started by University of California San Diego (UCSD) researcher Matthew Vincent, along with several others.

You can help!  Needs include uploading videos you have from destroyed or damaged sites, such as vacation photos you’ve taken. You can also assist in sorting, masking, or processing reconstructions on the site.  Start  here.  If you know how to code, you can build tools here or join a conversation with volunteers  here.

Upcoming Sunday Education:

June 4, 2015 (Poway) Sunday, June 7 and 28, at 9 a.m., St. Bartholomew’s Episcopal Church in Poway will host an Education Summit.  Nationally-recognized global humanitarian Mark Arabo will share details of the urgent circumstances in Iraq and neighboring Syria. He will provide insights into how we may be able to help our fellow Christians in the part of the world where Christianity was born. The theme of Arabo’s speech will be “Persecution of Christians in the Middle East.”

June 4, 2015 (San Diego’s East County)--This week’s Destination East County includes a craft beer and wine festival, Shakespeare, night fishing, poetry by the river, a firefighters’ breakfast, Taste of La Mesa and more. Plus we’ll also have a preview of coming attractions including Julian’s Backcountry Dance and Barbecue, Boars and Brews at Lakeside’s River Park, and much more.  So stay tuned for all of these events and much, much more!

Source: County News Service

June 3, 2015 (San Diego) -- The number of dead birds testing positive for West Nile virus in San Diego County has spiked.  Only 5 dead birds had tested positive for the disease this year as of May 1^st.  But a month later, that number has jumped to 29—the highest level in the state.

Photo: Instagram #JusticeforZachBuob

By Miriam Raftery

June 3, 2015 (Santee) – Santee resident Zacharia Buob,39, a Navy Chief Petty Officer in special operations, was killed May 28^th in a bizarre road rage incident.  Darla Jackson, 26, has been charged with murder for allegedly striking Buob intentionally with her vehicle and running over him on his motorcycle.

UPDATE: Hear our interview on KNSJ radio with Lisa Wood, Lakeside resident and chair of Supervisor Dianne Jacob's youth activites on the river committee.  Wood discusses impacts of the sand mining project, which she believes would be severe, irreversible, and worse than Sunrise Powerlink. 

Listen online now: https://www.eastcountymagazine.org/sites/eastcountymagazine.org/files/au...

By Miriam Raftery

Photo: Facebook site dedicated to stopping project

May 29, 2015 (Lakeside) – A controversial proposal for sand mining in scenic El Monte Valley along the San Diego River bed is on the agenda for the Lakeside Planning Group on Wednesday, June 3 at 6:30 p.m. in the Lakeside Community Center (, 9841 Vine St, Lakeside). The applicant is the “El Monte Nature Preserve LLC,” though residents voice concerns the project will be destructive to nature, not preserve it.  View application.

Lakeside resident Billy Ortiz, a videographer who chronicles Lakeside’s beauty for media outlets and the Lakeside Historical Society, opposes the project. He voiced outrage over the plan.

. “If we don’t stop them, our beautiful valley will be destroyed,” Ortiz told ECM.  “We will be there to protest and discourage the project.”

June 3,  2015 (San Diego's East County)-- East County Magazine's 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.

Texas floods:

• After 35 trillion gallons of rain, Texans search for the missing – and closure (+video)
• Cattle Drive Saves Hundreds Of Cows Stranded By Texas Flooding (NPR)
• Soaked Texans Brace For More Storms After 7 More Inches Of Rain Fall (NPR)
• IsraAID sending team to join Texas flood relief effort (JPost)

Other national news:

• As The Arctic Opens Up, The U.S. Is Down To A Single Icebreaker (NPR)
• U.S. removes Cuba from list of terrorism sponsors (LA Times)
• Leaked Repot: DHS and soverign citizens   (Reason) 
• It's a Match (Reason)
• What Beau Biden represented in American politics (CS Monitor)
• If NSA surveillance program ends, phone record trove will endure (LA Times)
• Silk Road mastermind: drug kingpin or libertarian ideologue gone astray? (CS Monitor)
• Yahoo must face email spying class action: U.S. judge (Reuters)
• Appeals court blocks 12-week ban on abortion as unconstitutional (CS Monitor)
• San Diego State Study: Millennials Might Be Least-Religious Generation (KPBS)
• IRS believes massive data theft originated in Russia (CNN)

WORLD

• Russia moves to silence civil society and its 'undesirable' contacts (CS Monitor)
• Putin classifies Russian soldiers' deaths while denying Ukraine buildup (CS Monitor)
• Islamic State suicide attack kills 38 Iraqi policemen (Reuters)
• Cyber-Archeologists Re-Create Destroyed Artifacts (NPR)
• Did Russia impose a secret travel ban on European politicians?
• Under Cover Of Conflict, Hamas Killed Palestinians, Amnesty Alleges (NPR)
• Cyberattack tied to Hezbollah ups the ante for Israel's digital defenses (CS Monitor)
• Five weeks after big quake, Nepal's schools reopen (CS Monitor)
• Squeezing Somalia (Reason)
• Man arrested in Cyprus suspected of planning terror attack against Israelis (JPost)
• Video shows Canada Parliament gunman praying before attack (Reuters)
• Gravely ill Russian opposition figure won't be sent abroad (AP)
• Assad regime kills dozens with barrel bombs, rights group says (JPost)

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

By Sarka-Jonae Miller

How can I get free material on formatting my manuscript for eBook conversion, and where can I find a good free eBook conversion application? Do you know any eBook retailers who pay through PayPal, since I can't receive payments through a US bank and prefer PayPal to posted checks? Also, can I find quality material on how to use Social Media to promote my books? – James Badmos

June 1, 2015 (San Diego's East County) - I recommend Draft2Digital.com for quality ebook conversion. You can upload a Word document and they will provide you with a mobi and epub file for free. Their program can create a table of contents, dedication page, copyright page, etc. so you don't have to do much formatting. In your case, you might want to allow them to do your distribution since they pay via PayPal.

By Miriam Raftery

Photos: Creative Commons images by Deus X Florida and Kirsten 5400  from Wikipedia

June 1, 2015 (Sacramento) – Two-thirds of all catastrophic sports injuries among female high school and college athletes nationwide occur in cheerleaders, according to a report by the National Center for Catastrophic Sports Injury Research at Chapel Hill, North Carolina.

San Diego Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez, a Democrat and former cheerleader, says cheerleading is “the most dangerous sport for high school athletes,” the Sacramento Bee reports. This week, Assembly Bill 949, a measure by Gonzalez aimed at improving safety for high school and collegiate cheerleaders, passed the Assembly by a 71 to 3 vote.