By Miriam Raftery

February 17, 2015 (San Diego’s East County)—Last week,  a young Jewish man was shot and killed outside a Copenhagen synagogue. In Paris, as many as 250 Jewish graves were desecrated.  At the University of California in Davis, California earlier this month, swastikas were sprayed on a Jewish fraternity house after a demonstration by pro-Palestinian students, one of whom  proclaimed on Facebook that Hamas and Sharia law had come to the campus, prompting 23 organizations to demand an investigation to protect Jewish students’ safety. These are the latest in a string of hate crimes targeting Jewish people around the world.

It's a violent start to the New Year that continues a chilling trend.  Last year, 2014, was a year of unprecedented anti-Semitic violence worldwide, the Simon Wiesenthal Center reports. That report found that due to violent anti-Semitism, Jewish people worldwide now face the greatest challenges since the end of World War II, when 6 million Jewish people were exterminated in concentration camps by the Nazis.

East County News Service

February 17, 2015 (Spring Valley )—Sheriff’s detectives are investigating a drive-by shooting that occurred early this morning at 2:45 a.m. near the intersection of Bancroft Drive and Kenwood Drive in Spring Valley, an unincorporated community in San Diego's East County.

The suspect vehicle, a white or silver BMW-type sedan occupied by at least two black males, was last seen traveling northfrom the shooting scene toward state route 94. The victim, an adult male, suffered multiple gunshot wounds, says Sergeant Pat McCoy.

By Sam DiGiovanna

February 16, 2015 (San Diego)--If your husband has chest pain you’d call 911. However, many women may not recognize signs of heart attacks themselves. Did you know that heart attack symptoms in women can be quite different from men's. Heart disease is often thought about as a man’s disease, but recent studies show that heart disease is actually the number one killer of women in America.  Yet acting quickly is vitally important.

Janju: A Village Girl In A City World, by Priscilla Koranteng (Poised Publishing LLC, Lanham, Maryland, 2014, 147 pages.)

Book Review by Dennis Moore

February 17, 2015 (San Diego's East County) - Priscilla Koranteng has followed up on her earlier Janju: The Voice Of One Girl with the natural progression to Janju: A Village Girl In A City World. It expands on the leadership qualities of a young girl in a small village area of Africa identified in the earlier book to that of her being in a much larger city environment. As with her earlier book Koranteng underscores the unique and endearing qualities of a young girl that seems to embolden her family and all those that come into contact with her. Clearly, Janju is a born leader. Why this particular book? The author indicates that as a young girl she always loved to read and write, and that she would basically write about anything, but little did she know or realize at the time that she had the ability to write poetry, fiction and non-fiction. Looking at her own life and now living abroad – she realized that the African child is sometimes distorted and limited to hunger and poverty – which is still the case. Koranteng emphasizes that the underlying resilience with which these kid survive is sometimes left out of the story. Thus, the fictional and warmly humanistic character Janju.

February 16, 2015 (San Diego’s East County)--This week’s Destination East County includes celebrations of Black History Month, rock and roll concerts, a star party, a sweetheart dance and more. Plus we’ll have a preview of coming attractions including St. Patrick’s Day events and Vallecito Day celebrating our frontier heritage and cattle drives along the Overland trail. Stay tuned for all of these events and much more, from East County Magazine.

East County News Service

February 17, 2015 (Sacramento)—A clear partisan divide separates Congress on immigration issues. But in a rare show of bipartisan unity, California’s State Senate unanimously approved a strongly worded resolution asking Congress to provide undocumented immigrants with a path to citizenship.

February 16, 2015 (El Cajon) – You’re invited to join in St. Patrick’s Day weekend festivities on Sunday, March 15^th.   Choose from a half marathon, a 5K run or a green mile competition to compete for a large cash prize pot, medals, and  free drinks after the races at the St. Patrick’s Beer & Wine Festival in downtown El Cajon (Main Street and Magnolia).

February 15, 2015 (San Diego’s East County) -- Our Health and Science Highlights provide cutting edge news that could impact your health and our future.

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

• Four steps for Anthem customers to protect themselves after the breach (CS Monitor)
• Not in front of the telly: Warning over 'listening' TV (BBC)
• Do underwater volcanoes alter Earth's climate? (CS Monitor)
• FCC Proposal Would Regulate Internet Like A Public Utility (NPR)
• Qualcomm Hit With Record Fine In Chinese Anti-Monopoly Case (NPR)
• If you're happy and you know it, write a tweet (APM Marketplace)

HEALTH

• 'DNA Clock' May Predict Your Time On Earth (Jewish Word Review)
• Ebola virus sent out of high-security lab was likely dead: CDC (Reuters)
• Drunkorexia: Swapping Meals For Drinks (KPBS)
• Alzheimer's brains have key genetic differences (UT San Diego)

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

Free Blood Pressure Screenings Around County On Feb. 13

East County News Service

February 13, 2015 (San Diego)--County officials and community partners kick off Love Your Heart Day to help residents take charge of their health by offering free blood pressure screenings throughout San Diego County on Friday, February 13. The blood pressure screenings will be offered to adults at more than 200 locations. For a list of locations, call 2-1-1 or visit www.loveyourheartsd.org.

East County News Service

Photo courtesy of Heartland Fire & Rescue

February 14, 2015 (El Cajon ) –, Heartland Fire Dispatch received reports shortly after 8:30 this morning of a structure fire.   Heartland Fire & Rescue crews, returning from an earlier call, saw the smoke and were on scene of the fire in two minutes of the call.  They found the smoke coming from an upstairs bedroom area of a two-story condominium unit at 288 Roanoke Road in El Cajon.

East County News Service

February 15, 2015 (San Diego's East County) - February is Heart Health Month, and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has launched a Million Hearts^® effort to prevent 1 million heart attacks and strokes in the United States by 2017.  The CDC is encouraging you to know your blood pressure, and if it's high, to make control  your goal.

By Miriam Raftery

San Diego (February 16, 2015) – Egypt has launched airstrikes at  Islamic State (ISIL) jihadists in Libya, CNN reports.  The attacks are in retaliation for ISIS claims of killing 21 Egyptian Christians, including approximately a dozen whose beheadings were shown in the latest gruesome video released by ISIL.

Mark Arabo, a national spokesman for Iraqi Chaldean Christians in San Diego, issued a statement to media voicing concern for other Christians in the wake of the murders, denouncing ISIL for conducting "Christian genocide."

By Miriam Raftery

February 15, 2015 (San Diego)--A labor dispute is causing slow-downs in ports along the West Coast.

Now President Barack Obama has announced he is sending his labor Secretary Tom Perez to California to meet with both sides and try to negotiate a settlement.

East County News Service

February 14, 2015 (El Cajon ) – An armed gunman robbed Weisfield Jewelers in the Parkway Plaza Shopping Mall in El Cajon Wednesday night.

Source: County News Service

February 14, 2015 (San Diego)--Last November, a 24-year-old San Diego County man bought and injected what he thought was heroin. Instead, it was a synthetic drug 10 times more powerful, and he died from the accidental overdose.