April 2, 2013 (El Cajon, CA) -- On April 12 San Diego Las Hermanas will hold A Comedy Classic: A night of Friends and Laughter. The event will feature live entertainment, dinner and a live auction to raise funds for two non-profit charities, Fostering Opportunities-Dollars for Scholars, and Include Autism’s Community Coaching Center.

The evening promises to be extremely entertaining: Mike Pace is an Emmy nominee for HBO’s Comic Relief; Jeff Capri has appeared on Last Comic Standing and Ed McMahon’s Next Big Star; and Dave Burleigh’s voice impressions were showcased on America’s Got Talent. In an electrifying mixture of art and music, Stephen Fishwick will create an “Art Attack,” and his painting will be part of the evening’s live auction.

April 2, 2013 (El Cajon) –  “The Anatomy of Hate; A Dialogue to Hope,” an award-winning documentary film directed by Michael Ramsdell and focusing on individual and collective ideologies of hate will be shown during a free screening and Q&A with the director at 3:30 p.m. April 3, in Building 26, Room 220 at Grossmont College.

The 90-minute film follows the director’s six-year journey with groups like the white supremacists and Palestinian militants, as well as U.S. embedded troops in the Middle East. It is juxtaposed with interviews from leading experts in sociology, psychology and neurology to reveal both the emotional and biological factors that make everyone susceptible to acts and ideologies of hate. At the same time, this film posits, these are the very same traits that enable people to rise above the negativity.

April 2, 2013 (Flinn Springs) -- Find your way through a towering fragrant sweet pea maze at Summers Past Farms in Flinn Springs, celebrating this fragrant old –fashioned flower in its full glory. You will cut your own sweet pea bouquets during this event while they last. Bring the kids, walk through the maze and enjoy live music in the coffee bar areas or picnic on the grass.

View the maze from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m.  Cutting bouquets starts at 11 a.m. Arrive early – these vanish quickly!  Cost is $3 per bouquet.  Sweet Pea Day activities continue until 3 p.m.

For more information, visit www.summerspastfarms.com

San Diego clean energy lender FIGTREE provides up-front funding for businesses to finance energy, water savings

Photos provided by FIGTREE and SunUpEnergy

April 2, 2013 (San Diego) – Commercial Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) financing is alive and well in California despite last month’s surprise 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruling.  The Court ruled that the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) was within its rights as a ‘conservator’ of mortgages held by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in issuing a ruling against PACE, effectively putting the brakes on residential PACE financing for homeowners across the U.S..

Despite that setback, adoption of commercial PACE programs is continuing, reports commercial PACE provider FIGTREE Energy Financing of San Diego. FIGTREE is the first company in California to successfully raise private capital for commercial PACE projects via a multi-jurisdictional bond issue.

By Marsha Kay Seff

April 1, 2013 (San Diego)--Caring for your parents is tough enough under any circumstances.  Without a good night’s sleep, caregiving is an almost impossible task. 

Being sleep-deprived not only drains energy but can drastically affect your health, mood and daily functioning.  Adequate rest is vital to being able to handle your life, your family’s and your parents’.

Doctors say there are several things you can do to improve your sleep. Tell that to my “sleep center,” which never worked very well and went on permanent disability while I was caring for my parents. 

April 1, 2013 (Campo) – The Pacific Southwest Railway Museum will be hosting a gala gourmet food and wine tasting event April 20 from noon until 5 p.m. to celebrate its 52 years of service and education, along with the Chefs de Cuisine. The event will be held in the Museum’s Display Building, amidst the historic railroad trains and artifacts.  The Museum is located off Highway 94 in Campo.

April 1, 2013—East County Magazine has the exclusive scoop on astounding major stories breaking today.

• ECM acquires surveillance drone reporter
• Backcountry towns secede to form new county, create ultimate wildlife preserve
• Coming attractions: Amusement park, movie studio to replace Grossmont Center
• San Diegans plan party for "do or die final battle"
• Anonymous donor buys Julian-Cuyamaca Fire District
• Jamul Indians to build casino in Jacumba Hot Springs
• Spotlight El Cajon: F St. Performing Arts Center unveiled

Is truth stranger than fiction? You decide. Be sure to click this hot link  to view these stories in our extra-special April 1st edition. (Trust us, you won't want to miss this news!)  Then click "read more" to open each story and get the full scoop.

April 1, 2013 (Arkansas) – No, this is not an April Fool's joke. Thousands of gallons of tar sands oil, a gritty, toxic and flammable mixture, is flowing through the streets in a residential neighborhood of Mayflower, Arkansas after rupture of an Exxon-Mobil pipeline. The spill has also flooded backyards and threatens to spill into a lake.

Media has been reportedly largely blocked from access to the site, so residents have posted their own photos and videos online of the site, which has now forced evacaution of homeowners amid a massive cleanup effort. The spill highlights concerns over potential contamination from the controversial Keystone XL pipieline, which is proposed to pump tar sands oil from Canada across the U.S. Midwest south to the Gulf coast.

By Miriam Raftery

March 30, 2013 (Julian) – Julian Cuyamaca Fire Protection District’s Acting Battalion Chief Cris Cornette has sent a resignation letter to the Board. In his letter, he faults the Board for not fighting to prevent a County takeover of the all-volunteer Department. 

Now in a message posted on the Julian Connection, Cornette calls on community residents to attend Thursday’s Board meeting and “demand the immediate removal of ALL board members.”  He adds that he would be willing to “step up to bat” and serve as a board member if asked--or return as Captain, but only if the current Board is replaced.

March 31, 2013 (El Cajon) – On March 28, 2013 at about 4:50 p.m. two men went to the El Cajon Animal Shelter located at 1275 N. Marshall and engaged one of the shelter attendants in a conversation. While there, the two men were looking at two dogs in separate kennels. The men had additional questions about the dogs and the attendant referred them to the shelter's office. The attendant then went to another portion of the shelter where she could no longer see the men. A short time later it was discovered the dogs the men were looking at had been taken from their kennels and were missing. The men could not be located.

By Miriam Raftery

March 29, 2013 (San Diego’s East County) – The Centers for Disease Control yesterday issued a press release warning that cases of Valley Fever (Coccidioidomycosis), a fungal respiratory disease, have risen sharply across the southwest including California.  Cases rose nearly ten-fold from 2,265 in 1998 to over 22,000 in 2011 in southwestern states.

California now accounts for 25% all cases, trailing only Arizona, which has 70% of cases.   The fungus occurs naturally in dry soils of the southwest and is spread through the air when people inhale the spores. Outbreaks have occurred following wildfires and those in occupations exposed to dust are at higher risk, such as construction workers, archaeologists, farm workers and Border Patrol agents.

March 29, 2013 (San Diego’s East County) – San Diego Sheriff’s deputies arrested 14  juveniles during a curfew sweep of Santee and Lakeside from 10 p.m. last night until 1:30 a.m. this morning. 

The juveniles were released to their parents at the Santee Sheriff’s substation.  Eleven were given an opportunity to participate n a diversion program through San Diego Youth Services. Three cases were turned over to the District Attorney’s office for review. One juvenile was found in possession of marijuana.

Deputies were also out on patrol to look for social host violations. No social host violations were discovered.

The Descanso Town Hall will be honored on Saturday, April 20 at 9 a.m. and you are invited to join in the festivities.  The historic Town Hall has been selected by E Clampus Vitus, a national primer historical society, to be honored with a monument and plaque. 

This historical preservation society, under the leadership of Descanso’s own Warren Geiske, will be unveiling the monument on April 20.

March 25, 2013 (Lemon Grove) – At the Lemon Grove Historical Society’s next "History Alive" lecture, Garry McClintock, the renowned saddle maker and CEO of McClintock Saddle Works, Descanso, and authority on cowboy history, will explain what makes a great saddle andwhy the cowboy was central to the story of the American West.  The event will be held on April 4 at 7 p.m. in the H. Lee House Cultural Center, 3205 Olive, Lemon Grove

See McClintock's gorgeous, hand-crafted saddles and hear why the life and times of the cowboy and his trusty horse became rooted in the American psyche.  From the gritty outback, to the open plains, to sprawling ranches, to the silver screen, the often harsh realities of the cowboy's world became the stuff of myth and legend, song and poetry. 

Celebrate The Big Read: Imagine a World without Books: Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451

March 12, 2013 (La Mesa)--La Mesa's San Pasqual Winery will be hosting an overview of Bradbury’s celebrated novel, and a dramatic reading of his poignant short story The Love Affair of Laurel and Hardy on Tuesday, April 2 at 6:00 p.m. in the San Pasqual Winery Tasting Room (8364 La Mesa Blvd).