December 5, 2012 -- (San Diego’s East County)--East County Roundup highlights top stories of interest to East County and San Diego’s inland regions, published in other media. This week’s top “Roundup” headlines include:

LOCAL/REGIONAL

• No fairy tale: The saga of the Mother Goose Parade, B-list celebrities, embezzled funds  (UT San Diego)
• Desert wind farm jolts San Diego (UT San Diego)
• She spent money on whatever she wanted (IT San Diego)
• Council counters Madrid on Fair Trade (UT  San Diego)
• Santee Crime report: $30,000 burglary at Padre Dam, thefts at Santana High (Santee Patch)
• Mayor, Councilman Ewin play hardball over lost softball in testy meeting (La Mesa Patch)
• Fire board member works for ambulance firm (UT San Diego)
• Old problems plague merchants group (La Mesa Today)

STATE

• California Legislature welcomes largest freshman class since 1966 (Sacramento Bee)
• California says federal immigration detention requests are voluntary (Reuters)

Read more for excerpts and links to full stories.

By Nancy White

I’ll have a blue Christmas without you,

I’ll be so blue just thinking about you.

December 5, 2012 (San Diego’s East County)--Elvis Presley aside, the holiday blues are nothing to sing about.  For many the holidays are not a time of cheer, but of dread, exhaustion and even depression.

What distinguishes the holiday blues from cases of severe depression are not the symptoms – they’re similar – but the duration.  For those who are vulnerable, the blues tend to arrive just before the holidays – in anticipation – and fade when the calendar turns. The symptoms generally are a lack of interest in usually pleasant activities, sleep disturbances, appetite changes, agitation, anxiety, feelings of guilt or difficulty in concentrating.

By Kathy Carpenter

Stagehouse Theatre, Grossmont College

Playing December 6, 7, 8th at 7:30, and Dec. 8th at 2 p.m. 

http://www.grossmont.edu/theatrebrochure/plays1213Season.asp

Based on La Culisine Des Anges - by Albert Husson

December 4, 2012 (El Cajon)--As a reviewer, I appreciate the fresh ways theatres keep coming up with to take care of housekeeping at the beginning of plays. The dos and don't of the theatre. In this case, the rules were read in French and then repeated by someone with a French accent, setting the tone of the play which takes place in the back of a store in Cayenne, French Guiana, on Christmas Eve 1910.

By Laurie Baker

December 4, 2012 (McCain Valley) -- This is a warning for those who escape to Cottonwood Campground in McCain Valley for a tranquil and refreshing experience to explore the Great Outdoors:  Your days of enjoyment are numbered.   Wind turbines will soon be invading the area just like the ones in Ocotillo.   The Sunrise Powerlink already obliterates the natural beauty along parts of the 13-mile dirt road to the remote campground.    Building 450-foot tall wind turbines a little more than 1,000 feet away from it will completely destroy its appeal altogether.  

By Fire Chief Sam DiGiovanna

December4, 2012  (San Diego) -- Regrettably, far too many of us tumble from ladders and rooftops, receiving a numberless wounds, sprains, busted bones, head wounds and even death when trimming for the holidays. Last year, over150, 000 people were treated in emergency rooms just from ladder accidents, not to cite thousands more electrical and additional trimming misadventures. Neglecting to adopt the suitable safety safeguards when trimming your home this holiday season can rapidly take the Merry right out of your Christmas says Fire Chief Sam DiGiovanna.

E - The Environmental Magazine

December 4, 2012 (San Diego) – Dear EarthTalk: What are the new nutrition standards for school lunches that have some students boycotting their cafeterias and discarding the food?                

-- Melissa Makowsky, Trenton, NJ

Indeed, some 31 million American kids participating in the federally supported National School Lunch Program have been getting more whole grains, beans, fruits and vegetables in their diets—whether they like it or not. The change is due to new school meal standards unveiled by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) last January, per the order of 2010’s Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act. The new standards are based on the Institute of Medicine’s science-based recommendations, and are the first upgrade to nutritional standards for school meals since 1995 when low- and no-fat foods were all the rage.

By Carrie Wilson 

December 4, 2012 (San Dieg's East County) -- The California Fish and Game Department has provided the following answers to questions commonly asked about hunting and fishing in California.

When Fishing with Kids, What's Required?

Question: I was always taught as a kid fishing in the streams in the high Sierras and Mother Lode lakes that a child under 16 had to count their catches under their licensed parent’s or other adult’s license on site.

My question is, can a child capable of catching their own fish without assistance from an adult catch a limit of trout, for example, separate from a licensed adult? I see this come up with parents who want to take their kids fishing (and the kids really want to learn how to fish!), but the parents are not interested enough to buy a fishing license.

December 4, 2012 (La Mesa)--Helix Charter High School is a nominee in The Clorox Company's Power a Bright Future grant program and is in the running to win up to $50,000. If we win, the school will use this grant to fund community-based, student-run Senior Projects. All Helix students are required to complete a Senior Project to graduate.

"Currently, many students choose to do projects that benefit the surrounding communities; however, due to the costs associated with a large-scale project, many are done on a small scale. If Helix were to win this grant, the projects would not face those funding limitations and students could affect our community in a much bigger way," says Jenn Osborn, Helix community relations.

December 4, 2012 (San Diego’s East County) – “Uncle Sam made sure everyone knew (well - everyone at Lake Murray on my 6 mile walk) it was their civic duty to vote today,” Greg Dunne wrote in an e-mail to ECM on election day, adding that he received enthusiastic comments from walkers, dog walkers, bicyclists, joggers and others.  “Thanks to some great photography work from my walking buddy David,” he added. “Now it's off to vote,” said Dunne, who struck a “muscle pose” while modeling the costume made by his wife.

December 3, 2012 (Alpine) – Christ the King Episcopal Church is hosting a gingerbread house decorating event on Dec. 15 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at 1460 Midway Drive, Alpine. Tickets are sold per gingerbread house and are $20 each. More than one person can work on one house or each person can purchase their own. The gingerbread houses are pre-assembled and ready for decoration with extra icing and candy supplied.

By Daniel J. Smiechowski

December 3, 2012 (San Diego)--Locally in San Diego, as well as nationally, the Republican Party is on its way to the Land of Oz. We're not in Kansas anymore, says Dorothy to Toto. Federalists and Whigs and Republicans, oh my! Yes Wizard, demographics do count and America's GOP better not hide behind the curtain.

December 3, 2012 (San Diego) – IRC’s Microenterprise Program hosts its annual International Holiday Bazaar at the City Heights Farmers’ Market, 4326 Wightman Street, San Diego on December 8 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.  The event features IRC-supported businesses with an array of arts and crafts from all over the world.

December 2, 2012 (Lakeside) – Oma’s Christmas Tree Patch is now open Tuesday – Friday 2-8 p.m. and Saturday 10 a.m. – 7 p.m. through December 21.  Children can participate in all activities for $5 per child, which includes a water bottle and candy cane.  Activities include a hayride, hay maze, petting corral and more.

December 2, 2012 (Alpine) -- On Wednesday, November 28, members of Junior Girl Scout Troop 6279 of Alpine worked like elves in the Alpine Food Bank workshop packaging bulk rice and pasta. The girls decorated and packaged over 200 one-pound bags of rice and pasta that will be distributed by the Alpine Food Bank to needy East County families.

Members of Girl Scout Troop 6279 with their Holiday staples packages at the Alpine Food Bank, pictured from left to right, Back Row: Julia Tompkins, Kate Duffy, Claire Doucet . Front Row: Gracie Wyse, Danika Dabbs, Carlita Coleman, Brinleigh Aland and Kenzie Wray. Not pictured: Rori McCarthy, Karlee Dillon, Carly Hodgson and Carli Sheker. 

by Darleen Hayden

‘Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house