By Ken Stone

Reprinted with permission from Times of San Diego, a member of the San Diego Online News Association

Photo:  Rep. Duncan D. Hunter and his wife, Margaret, are seen in La Mesa at the 2014 Polosia United event for Polish-Americans in the San Diego region. Margaret is the oldest daughter of Steve and Miroslawa Jankowski, a couple who moved their two daughters to America in the late 1980s, escaping “the bleak landscape of communist Poland,” according to Steve Jankowski’s 2010 obituary quoted by The San Diego Union-Tribune.  Photo by Miriam Raftery

June 14, 2019 (San Diego) - Downtown attorney Jeremy Warren had work to do Thursday, but he took time to comment on what transpired in the federal courthouse a few blocks away.

Hunter changing her plea to guilty in the corruption case enveloping herself and her husband, Rep. Duncan D. Hunter.

By Alan Renga and Katrina Pescador (bottom right), (America Though Time, Arcadia Publishing, 2019, 96 pages)

Book review by Jeff Thurman

June 13, 2019 (San Diego’s East County) - In the interest of full disclosure, I have a confession to make.  I am that guy in the museum who reads every one of the placards and captions on all of the exhibits. This led to a traumatic incident at the Omaha Beach Museum when the tour guide informed us that we had 30 whole minutes to explore the entire museum.  I am still haunted by that dark episode. When I get a new nonfiction book with a photo section, my first action is to turn to the pictures and happily read each and every caption. Twice.

I am also an aviation nerd.  Since grade school, I’ve been in love with anything that flies.  I have a particular passion: all things World War II and firmly believe the Republic P-47 Thunderbolt is the most underappreciated warbird of the last 100 years.   This all resulted in my becoming a helicopter pilot in the Army, where I fell in love with a beautiful girl named “Huey.” It was here I learned that life is best experienced at 90 knots, preferably below treetop level.

In other words, I am the target demographic for this book.

June 13, 2019 (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

• East County residents concerned over future of transportation (NBC 7)
• SDG&E Says There’s A 100% Chance It’ll Start Or Contribute To A Major Wildfire (KPBS)
• American Bar Association Votes to Strip Thomas Jefferson Law School of Accreditation (Voice of San Diego)
• California’s vaccination rate slips as medical exemptions rise (Wired)
• KPBS Lawsuit Reveals Unanswered Citizen Complaints Against Sheriff’s Department (KPBS)
• Stop Dismissing Concerns About the Risks of New Homes in Wildfire Zones (Voice of San Diego)
• What is the Vaccination Rate at Your Child’s School in San Diego County?
• East County family searches for answers after bicycle crash (10 News)
• Massive Buddha statue carved into granite in East County (10 News)

STATE

• California’s high speed rail route took land from farmers. The money they are owed hasn’t arrived.  (Los Angeles Times)
• A civil rights hero focuses on a new fight at the Capitol: clean drinking water (Sacramento Bee)
• Utility companies in fire-weary California strategize for a long, hot summer (Los Angeles Times)

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

By Miriam Raftery 

June 13, 2019 (El Cajon) -- At its June 11th meeting, the El Cajon City Council received a presentation from Hasan Ikhrata, Executive Director of the San Diego Regional Association of Governments (SANDAG) about the new vision being formulated by the regional planning agency. After Mr. Ikhrata presented SANDAG’s “Five Big Moves” presentation, the City Council unanimously voted to support Mayor Bill Wells, sending a letter to SANDAG spelling out El Cajon’s position on the TransNet future spending.  

East County News Service

June 12, 2019 (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 25th to August 21st.  Admission is just $1.

The full schedule of films is below:

By Tracy DeFore, County of San Diego Communications Office

Video by James Kecskes

June 12, 2019 (San Diego) - The County’s most vulnerable residents are the focus of a new recommended budget formally presented to the County Board of Supervisors Monday. The $6.21 billion budget for Fiscal Year 2019-2020 invests $112 million in new spending for residents struggling to get by in our region.

By Ken Stone

Reprinted with permission from Times of San Diego, a member of the San Diego Online News Association

Photo:  UFCW Local 135 is one of the biggest labor unions in San Diego County. Photo by Ken Stone

June 12, 2019 (San Diego) - Members of seven Southern California food workers locals, including San Diego’s, will vote June 24 on whether to authorize a strike against three major grocery chains, it was announced Monday via social media.

Source:  El Cajon Police Department

June 11, 2019 (El Cajon) - The El Cajon Police Department will be hosting its 4^th Annual Teen Academy beginning on June 17, 2018. The academy will run Monday through Friday for two weeks, concluding with a graduation ceremony on Friday, June 28, 2019. Classes will begin at 7:30 am every morning, and conclude at 3:30 pm every afternoon. There are a total of 27 teens in this year’s Teen Academy. 

East County News Service

June 10, 2019 (La Mesa) – “We’ve recently read and heard about the number of Hondurans coming to the United States,” says Scott Elam with the La Mesa Rotary Club. “Join us for another perspective to learn about Honduran women who are making great strides to improve the lives of their families and villages through the benefits of micro-financing.”

By Miriam Raftery

 

June 9, 2019 (San Diego’s East County) – The National Weather Service has issued an extreme heat warning for San Diego County’s deserts from Tuesday morning through Wednesday, when high temperatures are forecast to reach 110 to 114 degrees.  

By Miriam Raftery

June 9, 2019 (Washington D.C.) — The FDA is warning consumers about hepatitis A virus (HAV) contamination of frozen packages of blackberries and triple berry medley products. The “private selection” products made by Kroger were sold in Kroger, Ralph’s, Food 4 Less, Dillons, Fred Meyer and other grocery chains across the U.S.

The contamination was found as part of an ongoing berry sampling.  The recalled products have a long shelf life with best-by dates through June and July of 2020:

For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Politics, by Donna Brazile, Yolanda Caraway, Leah Daughtry, Minyon Moore, with Veronica Chambers (St. Martin’s Press, New York, NY, 2018, 316 pages).

Book Review by Dennis Moore

somebody/anybody sing a black girl’s song, bring her out to know herself, to know you, but sing her rhythms … sing her sighs, sing the song of her possibilities, sing a righteous gospel, the makin of a melody, let her be born, let her be born & handled warmly.

-NTOZAKE SHANGE

May 8, 2019 (San Diego) - Ironically, in my earlier review of Donna Brazile’s book Hacks in the East County Magazine in San Diego, she makes the profound statement; “I am not Patsey the Slave.” This was in reference to her involvement in the Clinton campaign and her being chairman of the Democratic National Committee (DNC), and despite that fact, Brazile being marginalized by Clinton’s brain trust in New York, with Brazile specifically stating: “Y’all keep whipping me and you never give me any money or any way to do my damn job. I am not going to be your whipping girl!”

This book is rich in history and politics, which includes the personal insight from four fabulous and acclaimed black women!