East County News Service

November 11, 2019 (Campo) – The Pacific Southwest Railway Museum Association (PSRM), a San Diego-area historical and educational nonprofit, will mark the 100-year anniversary of the completion of the San Diego & Arizona Railway (SD&A) with a variety of family-friendly activities at its “SD&A Centennial Celebration Gold Spike Day” on Saturday, Nov. 16 at PSRM’s Campo Railroad Park and Museum in Campo, Calif. The public is invited to attend.

By Miriam Raftery

November 11, 2019 (San Diego) – Kaiser Permanente Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Bernard J. Tyson passed away unexpectedly yesterday morning in his sleep, the healthcare organization announced.  Today, 170 National Union of Healthcare Workers voted unanimously to postpone a planned 5-day statewide strike of mental health employees due to Tyson’s passing.

Photos and story by Rebecca Jefferis Williamson

Nov. 11, 2019 (Escondido) The 5th Annual Escondido Tamale Festival was held Nov. 2 at Escondido's Grape Park.  

Tamales included traditional, vegetarian, and gourmet and included smoked bbq varieties, Oaxacan, banana wrapped, dulce and more. Holiday pre-orders of tamales was also available.

Five Aztecs scored in double figures

Source:  goaztecs.com

Photo courtesy goaztecs.com

November 9, 2019 (San Diego) - The Aztec women's basketball team (1-1) rallied from a double-digit second half deficit to beat Towson (0-2) 80-72 in their home opener Saturday afternoon.

Five Aztecs scored in double-figures, led by Téa Adams' 16. Mallory Adams had 15 points and Taylor Kalmer had 13. Zayn Dornstauder had 12 points and a team-high seven rebounds while Sophia Ramos added 10, all of which came in the second half, and dished out a team-best six assists.

My Watergate Scandal Tell-All: How I Unwittingly Caused This Historic Event, by Bruce Givner (ExecuProv Press, Santa Ana, California, 2019, 258 pages.)

Book Review by Dennis Moore

“This is a story I’ll tell to my students many times. Internships can make history!”

• Larry J. Sabato, Director, UVA Center for Politics

November 8, 2019 (San Diego) - The Watergate story never dies. It has become more and more intriguing (and popular) as time goes by. It has evoked comment many a time when a Washington D.C. official becomes entangled in a self-styled web of deception. Watergate is no longer the name of a hotel and office complex. It is more than a proper noun that branded a piece of property and cemented its “title” in numerous pages of history books. It is now the go-to reference to identify any scandal, though its origin was first reserved for the most sordid political scandal our nation has ever witnessed – at least up until the writing of this book. In that respect, it ranks right up there in significance with Teapot Dome, Wounded Knee and Gettysburg.

By Miriam Raftery

Photo: George Gastil, former Lemon Grove Councilmember who spearheaded the petition drive

November 8, 2019 (Lemon Grove) – The Registrar of Voters confirms that the Lemon Grove sales tax measure has qualified to appear on the March 2020 ballot. If approved, the initiative would increase the city’s sales tax by three-fourths of a cent to 8.5 percent, the same as neighboring La Mesa.

According to the Registrar, 1,987 signatures have been verified as valid, substantially more than the 1,482 required for the measure dubbed the "Lemon Grove Security Initiative."

Advocates for the measure posted on their “Sweeten Lemon Grove” Facebook page, “Shoutout to all of the volunteers who circulated 233 petitions and to every person who provided their signature in support of the measure.”

The stakes are high for Lemon Grove residents and businesses.

By Miriam Raftery

November 8, 2019 (Lemon Grove) – At a special meeting last night, Lemon Grove’s City Council voted to fill the vacancy left by Matt Mendoza’s resignation through appointment.  Applications will be accepted starting Monday, Nov. 11 through Thursday, Nov. 21 at 5 p.m. at City Hall.

East County News Service

Photo:  Creative Commons

November 7, 2019 (Washington D.C.) – Over 2 million pounds of chicken products sold to institutions in eight states including California have been recalled by Simmons Prepared Foods, Inc. due to metal contamination.

Aztecs defeat Fresno State 3-2 in their semifinal matchup

Source:  goaztecs.com

Photo courtesy goaztecs.com

November 7, 2019 (Boise) - The San Diego State women’s soccer team and Fresno State Bulldogs put on a goal-scoring show midway through the first half of the first Mountain West Championship semifinal.  The teams combined to score five goals in just over 13 minutes with SDSU getting three of them in a 3-2 victory.

East County News Service

November 7, 2019 (San Diego’s East County) – Due to elevated fire danger, Cleveland National Forest has issued additional fire restrictions in effect from October 30, 2019 through January 1, 2020 for emergency resource protection and public safety. These are in addition to elevated fire restrictions already put into effect due to other conditions including high temperatures and high winds.

An open letter to El Cajon City Councilmembers to consider vaping ban Nov. 12

By Amanda McGimpsey, El Cajon

November 6, 2019 (El Cajon) -- My grandmother had a beautiful singing voice.  But I never heard it.

In the 50’s, my grandmother was a social smoker. She was told that smoking was healthy. That it helped her skin. Helped her loose weight. Even that it was good for calming your nerves during pregnancy. That’s what the packaging said and the scientific research on the long-term health effects of smoking wouldn’t be completed for nearly two decades.

By Miriam Raftery

November 7, 2019 (Ramona) – What began as a fall treat for the camel herd at Oasis Camel Dairy has become the venue’s most beloved event 

This year, on Nov. 29, Nov. 30 and Dec. 1, Pomegranate Days celebrates its 9th year with much more than the traditional camel feeding, camel show and camel rides.  Guests can also savor pomegranates for sale from the family farm’s orchard, a comedy magic performance by Godfrey the Magician with his Magic Castle, and just in time for Thanksgiving weekend, a Turkey Stampede by pardoned gobblers from the award-winning state fair traveling turkey race show. Click here for video.

Emergency fire and medical protection, SDG&E planned outages top list of concerns

By Paul Kruze, Contributing Editor

Miriam Raftery, Editor, contributed to this report

View video of townhall: https://tinyurl.com/JacobsJulianTownHall

Photo, left, by Paul Kruze:  Supervisor Dianne Jacob and SDG&E Vice President Eugene "Mitch" Mitchell fielded audience questions.

November 7, 2019 (Julian) -- Supervisor Dianne Jacob ventured into a potential firestorm when she held a scheduled town hall forum at the Julian Town Hall on October 25th in downtown Julian. Jacob’s town hall coincided with the anniversary week for the infamous 2003 Cedar Fire and 2007 Witch Creek firestorms which devastated the eastern San Diego backcountry. Up to then, both were the two worst wildfires in California history.

But the irony didn’t stop there. Moments before the town hall was set to begin, word reached the venue that a brush fire erupted near Witch Creek between Ramona and Julian. This prompted County Fire Authority/Cal Fire Chief Tony Mecham to bolt out of the town hall where he was slated to speak in order to respond to the fast-moving fire.

“We are all on edge,” acknowledged Jacob, who chairs the county’s Unified Fire Council and outlined major investments made by the county to improve fire safety. “But we are better prepared than ever before.”

That contention, however, was disputed by the president of the former Julian-Cuyamaca Fire Protection District (JCFD)'s  board of directors, as multiple fire engines and an ambulance roared past the town hall en route to the Sawday Fire in Ramona.