Halloween event includes prizes for runners with best costumes

October 21, 2010 (El Cajon) – Up to 3,000 participants are expected to take part in a 5K “Mud Run” on October 31st. The charity fundraiser  takes off at Skyline Church, 11330 in La Mesa, raising money to benefit children’s programs with Sonshinehaven.org, programs offered by Skyline Sports, and Rescue Task Force, a world relief organization.

October 23, 2010 (El Cajon) – Camp Bow-Wow invites you and your dog to celebrate Halloween early at “Yappy Hour” on Thursday, October 28 from 6-8 p.m. at the Downtown Café. “Bring your pup or pups in costume and win some great prizes,” a press release for the event states. “We will be judging most creative, funniest and owner/pup best duos—so you two-legged folks, come dressed up as well.”

October 23, 2010 (San Diego’s East County) – Timothy Allen Bliss of Ramona has been arrested following a chase through Lakeside, Poway and Ramona on State Route 67.

By Brian Lafferty

October 23, 2010 (San Diego)--After the hilarious yet powerfully dramatic and tragic Gran Torino and the rousing Invictus, director Clint Eastwood has followed up with the somber and sedate Hereafter, which presented a challenge for my attention span. The movie opens with a spectacular tsunami that nearly takes the life of French journalist Marie LeLay (Cecile De France). For the first hour after this sequence I started getting a little restless, feeling that the film wasn’t delivering anything close to the level of the opening action. But that changed over the next hour and I began to fully appreciate it. It doesn’t rank among Eastwood’s best directorial efforts but it is a good movie that doesn’t have a lot to say about its subject matter but is interesting if you’re willing to listen.

East County News Service

October 22, 2010 (San Diego) -- After three public hearings and hours of testimony from scores of people, including the homeless, the San Diego City Council has chosen a site in its own backyard to serve as a winter shelter: Golden Hall, the convention complex attached to City Hall.

“This is the best compromise available for this year’s winter shelter,” said Councilmember Emerald, a former TV newscaster who once went spent a week living on the streets for an undercover story on homelessness. 

 October 22, 2010

No kidding! Youngsters had a great time at the San Miguel Fire open house in Spring Valley earlier this month, where this boy got a close-up look at goats owned by Johnny Gonzalez; the four-footed brush clearing team is used to create firebreaks in East County’s rural areas. Photo by Miriam Raftery.

“My son grew up here in Boulevard and loves what God gave us,” wrote reader Leslie Mauris, who submitted this photo of boulders balanced as if by divine design.

Scroll down to see more amazing images of East County.....

By Brian Lafferty

October 22, 2010 (San Diego)--Conviction has a well-told, if formulaic, story. The acting is OK, although I felt at times Hilary Swank was trying too hard. It somewhat touched me emotionally and I got mad at times, in a good way. However, I cannot recommend it because of its one major flaw: it’s nothing more than big screen television.

By Ray Wong

October 22, 2010 (San Diego)--Last week, a 19-year-old student named Diana Gonzalez was found dead in a men’s bathroom at San Diego City College. Investigators are looking for her estranged husband because there has been a history of domestic violence reported between them. It’s a shocking incident that has made front-page headlines.
 

I work as a counselor at San Diego City College and I don’t want to focus on the horror of the violence. What I want to tell you about is the candlelight vigil organized by the campus Associated Students in front of the school cafeteria Thursday evening in honor of their fellow student.

"It is a public good, and that’s why to starve it is crazy. We should invest more, not less.” -- Jerry Brown, on higher education funding

By Tanya Huang
Photos by David J. Olender

October 21, 2010 (San Diego) — Gubernatorial candidate Jerry Brown addressed a crowd of hundreds at San Diego State University on Thursday afternoon—his only stop in San Diego—about the importance of funding higher education while criticizing his opponent, Meg Whitman for excessively spending on her campaign.  See full video of Brown's speech at SDSU or scroll down for details.

East County News Service

October 22, 2010 (San Diego) -- A proposal to implement a high-tech Graffiti Tracker Program was recently approved by The Public Safety and Neighborhood Services Committee. The Grafitti Tracker Program is a comprehensive, web-based system designed to identify, track, prosecute, and seek restitution from graffiti vandals.

East County News

October 21, 2010 (Julian) -- On Sunday, October 31, at 5:00 p.m. Jeremy’s on the Hill California-Style Bistro teams up with Stone Brewing Company to host a five-course Beer Pairing. The event will feature local produce and ingredients, as well as specialty hops and at least one course featuring grass fed American bison from Star B Buffalo Ranch and Hops Farm.

Guests are invited to wear Halloween Costumes (if they dare….) and prizes will be awarded.

By Anne Spencer and Hub Thompson

October 21, 2010 (El Cajon) -- Valley Music Store hosts its next open mike nights  from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Sasturday, October 30th. For many years now, the 58-year-old music store has had a reputation for drawing some of the best musical talent around at its open mike nights. These events are free and open to the public at the store’s new location at 1611 Magnolia Ave. in El Cajon.

October 22, 2010 (San Diego)-- The FBI and San Diego Police Department are seeking the public’s assistance to identify the unknown male who attempted to rob the Bank of America branch, located at 6801 El Cajon Boulevard, San Diego, on Wednesday, October 13th.

By Mary E. Paulet