Update January 24, 2018:  Supervisors voted 4-0 yesterday to approve this, with Supervisor Horn absent due to leaving early.

By Miriam Raftery

Photo: Joe Brunetto, owner of Marechiaro's Italian Restaurant and Jack Shu, president of Cleveland National Forest Foundation, speak out against retail project proposed for land visible in background

January 22, 2018 (Lakeside)—San Diego County Supervisors will hold a hearing Wednesday on Lake Jennings Marketplace, a proposed retail strip shopping center on Olde Highway 80 in Lakeside.  The project by South Coast Development requires approval of an environmental impact report,  a General Plan amendment and rezoning  of residential land  to commercial.

But opponents say the developer earlier promised to build multi-family housing on the site, not a shopping center.  Cleveland National Forest Association (CNFF) and a local restaurant owner are heading up opposition to the project, saying what the community needs is housing, not more retail. 

Source: Campo Railroad Park & Museum

January 22, 2018 (Campo) -- The Campo Railroad Park & Museum has set up a donation page to help offset the costs of relocating and reconstructing the former Alpine train lovingly operated for children of all ages by Roy Athey. 

The Museum is committed to keeping the legacy alive in Campo with a dynamic exhibit of not only the train ride but also to include a faux mine complete with mining equipment to explain San Diego County’s many gold and precious metal mines.  Moving the train and setting it up was an unexpected gift and funds are simply not available today to put it back together. 

By Sue Strom, Advocates of Safe Airport Policies (ASAP)

January 21, 2018 (El Cajon) -- We hope your year is off to a happy and healthy start.  However, for those of us concerned about heavy local traffic, safety, noise, toxic air and lead overhead, with protections for homeowners few and far between, the new year is already daunting.

FAA approval for an increase in air traffic... a state of the art flight training center... the lengthening of the 27L training runway...the redesign and enlargement of the Bradley Street interchange off hwy 67... and the development of 9 five acre parcels of land for aviation usage called the Cajon Air Center are all coming together step by step over the next several years to form the perfect storm.

By Miriam Raftery

January 21, 2018 (San Diego) - An estimated 37,000 people took to the streets of downtown San Diego for the second annual women’s march protesting policies of the Trump administration, according to San Diego Police Chief Shelley Zimmerman.  Zimmerman tweeted photos of the large crowd, adding, “All of us thank you for saying hello throughout the rally and walk.”

MASL leading goal scorer Franck Tayou gets hat-trick on game-winning goal

Source:  San Diego Sockers

Photo courtesy sdsockers.com

January 20, 2018 (San Diego) -The 14-time San Diego Sockers were beaten by their nemesis the Soles de Sonora on a Franck Tayou goal twenty-three seconds into overtime. San Diego, who had seven different scorers, has lost two straight games to drop to 10-2 on the season.

By Elizabeth Aguilera, CALmatters

Photo:  A hospital emergency room entrance. Photo by M.O. Stevens via Wikimedia Commons

January 20, 2018 (Sacramento) - With Congress ending the requirement that all Americans have health insurance, California leaders are preparing to counter that move by securing health care for as many residents as possible in a fortified state insurance exchange.

Traffic impacts remain key concerns

By Mike Allen

January 20, 2018 (Santee) -- HomeFed Corp., the developer of Fanita Ranch in north Santee, says its plan will preserve about three quarters of the 2,600-acre parcel as open space, while nearly doubling the number of houses it seeks to build on the site.

Fort, Murray finish with career-high point totals

Source:  goaztecs.com

Photo:  McKynzie Fort scored 23 of her career-high 32 points in the second half on Saturday vs. UNM.  Courtesy goaztecs.com

January 20, 2018 (San Diego) - The San Diego State women’s basketball team stormed back from an early 10-point deficit to produce its highest point total of the season in a wild 97-89 victory over New Mexico on Saturday in a Mountain West showdown at Steve Fisher Court.

NAN is also organizing a “100 ministers and the people” march Jan. 15

By Miriam Raftery

January 15, 2017 (Lemon Grove) – National Action Network (NAN) San Diego announces two events in honor of the late Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. 

“Where are we 50 years later?”  a celebration honoring civil rights leaders will be held on January 19 at the Lemon Grove Community Church “the Lagoon”, 3122 Main Street in Lemon Grove.  Doors open at 6 p.m. with a 7 p.m. start.  The event will feature guest speaker Jane Elliott, an anti-racism activist who will discuss her historic brown eyes-blue eyes exercise. Honorees will include BAPAC State President Dr. William Blair, Dr. Cheryl Morrow of the San Diego Monitor newspaper, Alan Cabrera of Ideas Cabrera, and Raymond Wiley, a 67-year-old African-American man who has contended he was racially profiled by a San Diego police officer in 2017.

For tickets ($15), visit http://www.nansd.net/janeelliottevent.

By Miriam Raftery

January 19, 2018 (San Diego’s East County) – A new report by humanitarian organizations  reveals that Border Patrol agents  have been systemically destroying water bottles left in desert areas for undocumented immigrants in the Arizona desert, condemning people to die of thirst.  While its unknown if this is occurring in California, this article in Britain’s The Guardian hit home for me in a visceral way, reminding me of an experience that brought me to tears.

On the 4^th of July In 2008, I rode alongwith Border Angels founder Enrique Morones. We discovered sabotage of water bottles his group had left in rugged locations--all slashed open, empty. My article, Dying to Come to America, was published in our very first edition of East County Magazine. Morones vividly described what it is like for people to die of dehydration – hallucinating, throwing off clothes and shoes. We saw the signs of this torment – a woman’s high-heeled shoe cast aside, a man’s crumpled shirt.  The heat was triple digits.

I went along to learn about experiences faced by people so desperate to come to America that they rely on water left by benevolent strangers to survive. I learned that coyotes, or human traffickers, often lie to the migrants, telling them it's just a short walk to freedom; some women dressed up to meet their husbands are unaware of the dangers. I choked up, imagining their pain. My story included photos of those slashed water bottles and graves of people--some so very young--who died crossing East County's rugged border mountains in their failed quest to find freedom.

By Eric Tegethoff, Public News Service

Photo:  National Park Service Advisory Board members are concerned Secretary Ryan Zinke's Interior Department is not focused on the protection of national parks. (Mark Wilson/Getty Images)

January 18, 2018 (Helena, Mont.) - After nine of the twelve members of the National Park Service Advisory Board resigned this week, public lands supporters are noticing what they say is a pattern of indifference from Secretary Ryan Zinke's Interior Department.

Update: Services are scheduled for February 8 at 11 a.m. at Foothills Christian Church. 365 West Bradley in El Cajon.

By Miriam Raftery

January 18, 2018 (San Diego’s East County) – Charles “Chuck” Hansen passed away suddenly on Monday night, January 15^th.  A civic leader active in many organizations for decades, Hansen mentored and befriended many people , leading numerous charitable efforts as well as promoting East County.

He is remembered by San Diego East County Chamber of Commerce president/CEO Eric Lund as a community icon whose “years of knowledge and experience has helped to make San Diego East County a better place to live, work and play.”

By Miriam Raftery

An East County Eaters review from East County Magazine

Join the East County Dining Club in a feast Jan. 25 at Village House Kalina! 

Read details & RSVP by Jan. 25.

January 17, 2018 (La Mesa) – Each time I’ve dined at Village House Kalina in La Mesa, the Russian, Ukranian and other Eastern European dishes have been delicious. These hearty and flavorful foods have nourished the creative powers of Tchaikovsky, Stravinsky, Tolstoy and other great Russian novelists, energetic Cossack dancers, tsars and peasants alike.

Cozy and filled with authentic décor from Russian samovar teapots to a balalaika on the wall, Village House Kalina is the perfect place for a hearty winter feast or filling fare year-round.

Update January 18, 2018:  Alaya Michelle Jenkins has been arrested and charged with first degree murder in this case.

By Miriam Raftery, East County Magazine

January 17, 2018 (El Cajon) — A woman stabbed near a bus stop in the 100 block of West Madison Avenue in El Cajon by another woman yesterday at 3 p.m. was rushed to a hospital and pronounced dead.  According to Lt. Walt Miller with El Cajon Police, the victim and her pet pit bill dog had exited a vehicle to confront another woman. 

January 17, 2018 (San Diego’s East County) - East County Magazine's World Watch helps you be an informed citizen on important issues globally and nationally. As part of our commitment to reflect all voices and views, we include links to news sources representing a broad spectrum of political, religious, and social views.  Top world and U.S. headlines include:

U.S.

• Missile threat alert for Hawaii a false alarm; officials blame employee who pushed ‘wrong button’ (CNN)
• As Dreamers begin renewing permits again, Trump tweets ‘DACA is probably dead’ (KPBS)
• Who is Stormy Daniels? Trump paid former porn star $130k to keep quiet (Newsweek)
• Trump administration wants to arrest mayors of ‘sanctuary cities’ (Newsweek)
• Kentucky becomes first U.S. state to impose Medicaid work restrictions (Reuters)
• The Senate’s push to overrule the FCC on net neutrality now has 50 votes, Democrats say (Wash. Post)
• U.S. charges Maryland businessman with bribing Russian official (Reuters)
• Court Kills Most of Idaho’s Law Against Secret Farm Recordings (Reason)
• Detroit Kit Tests Indicate Hundreds of Serial Rapists (NPR)

WORLD

• Will Cape Town be the first city to run out of water? (BBC)
• Huge quake rattles Peru’s Pacific coast (BBC)
• Death of leading opposition negotiator is further blow to Syrian peace talks (Wash. Post)
• Russia deploys more surface-to-air missiles in Crimean build-up (Reuters)
•  Denmark will increase defense spending to counter Russia: PM (Reuters)
• North Korea's Punggye-ri nuclear test site showing 'significant tunneling’ activity (CNBC)
• Hundreds protest against austerity in Tunis, tear gas fired (Jerusalem Post)
• Report Shows It's Increasingly Dangerous to Be a Christian In Many Countries (NPR)
• Myanmar prosecutor seeks Official Secrets Act charges against two Reuters reporters (Reuters)

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