November 6, 2014 (Alpine) -- An Alpine resident has posted a video on YouTube showing a close encounter with a bobcat that wandered into her backyard, apparently unaware of the photographer on a porch swing close at hand.

November 6, 2014 (San Diego's East County) - The California Indian Heritage Center Foundation is calling for Native American artists to produce new visual artwork that shares the Native Californian perspective of the Anza Expedition of 1775-76 and its impact. The visual art will enter the collection of the California Indian Heritage Center Foundation for display and interpretation. It will also be used by the National Park Service for education and interpretation of multiple perspectives of the Juan Bautista de Anza National Historic Trail.

November 6, 2014 (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

• “I did my very best for this city.” La Mesa’s outgoing Mayor Art Madrid  (SD Reader)
• Wedding bug hits S.D. City Council (UT San Diego)
• What Chris Cate means for the City Council (Voice of San Diego)
• Grammy Award winner Steven Vaus now Mayor of Poway (KUSI)
• Intrusive county exams reined in (UT San Diego)
• Major injury collision on I-8 sents several Ramonans to area hospitals (Ramona Sentinel)

STATE

• Analysis: California GOP victory—Democrats denied a supermajority (LA Times)
• University of California plans annual tuition fee increase for five years (Sacramento Bee)
• California could legalize recreational marijuana use in 2016 (KUSI)
• Brittany Maynard’s death could spur action on assisted suicide in California (Sacramento Bee)

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

By Jason Jackson

November 3, 2014 (San Diego's East County) - Special District Board elections may not be sexy and certainly don’t get the press of federal races or even that of some of our municipal elections, but they are nonetheless extremely important for setting policy in the San Diego region. If anything the lack of attention paid to these districts adds to the importance of these elections. If the “sunlight” of media attention is the best disinfectant for a democracy, than it is easy to see why special districts can be breeding grounds for nepotism and corruption. The lack of public attention increases the importance of electing to these boards people of high integrity who will act as independent advocates for rate payers.

By Paul Kruze

November 2014 (Sacramento)--So what was on the mind of California voters on Tuesday  in voting on ballot initiatives? 

They approved new water projects and set aside funds for a rainy day. They voted against allowing the state’s insurance commissioner to have authority over insurance rates, also defeating mandatory drug and alcohol testing for medical doctors and caps on malpractice awardsVoters gave their approval for criminal sentences for simple drug possession and other property crimes to be reduced immediately to misdemeanors, but dealt a major blow to the gambling aspirations of three small California Indian tribes  by voting down a measure which would allowed them to build a casino outside the borders of their reservation.

By Miriam Raftery

November 5, 2014 (San Diego) -- Nationally, Republicans have won control of the Senate and increased their margin of dominnance in the House of Representatives. One of those gains appears to have occurred in San Diego's 52nd Congressional District.

With all votes tallied except several thousand provisional ballots, former Councilman Carl DeMaio, a Republican, has just 752 votes more than Democratic incumbent Scott Peters, up by 50.26% to 49.74%.  It is not yet known whether Peters will request a recount, which is his right under the law with such a narrow margin. 

In other local races, Republican Congressman Duncan Hunter captured 71.55% of the vote over challenger James Kimber, a physician assistant in the 50th Congressional District.  In the 51st District, Democratic Congressman Juan Vargas scored a solid victory with 68% of the vote over his opponent, Stephen Meade. 

Two other races were somewhat closer. Congresswoman Susan Davis, a Democrat, fought off a challenge from ex-Navy Seal Larry Wilske, a Republican. Davis won with 57.88% of the vote in the 53rd District; Wilskie picked up  42.12%. Congresman Darrell Issa, a Republican who has drawn national media scrutiny as chair of the House Oversight Committee held his seat with 57.97% of the vote over Democratic challenger Dave Peiser, who receivecd 42.03%.

By Miriam Raftery

Photo: Ronn Hall

November 5, 2014 (Santee) -- Santee City Council members John Minto and Rob McNelis have won reelection with  26.02% and 22.79% of the vote respectively with 100% of precincts counted.  But the biggest vote getter was Ronn Hall, who drew 27.39% of the vote to fill a vacant seat on the Council. Hall, an insurance broker, is past President and a current board member of the Santee Chamber of Commerce, with strong name recognition in the community.

Challengers Maggie Acerra and Keshav Damoor, who ran on reform platforms, drew 15.44% and 8.32% of the vote.

Unlike some local cities that are built out, Santee weathered tough economic times with a sound budget due in part to new development including a sports complex that created new property tax revenues.  The fate of remaining undeveloped lands in the city was a key campaign issue, with pending projects including Fanita Ranch, a proposed theater complex, and land around the Carlton Hills Golf Course that recently sold.

By Miriam Raftery

Updated November 5, 2014 (Lemon Grove)--Democratic challenger Jennifer Mendoza has ousted incumbent Councilman Howard Cook, a Republican, to increase Democratic control on Lemon Grove's Council.  Jerry Jones, an incumbent who is also a Democrat, also won reelection. Though officially a nonpartisan race, the political parties threw their weight behind candidates in the race.

Chair of the city's Planning Commission, Mendoza is also a paralegal and as a board member of the Soroptomists, Boy Scouts, PTA, and other community groups. She has made street repairs her number one goal if elected.

Photo, left: Baber and McWhirter's victory party at Tiramisu Trattoria in La Mesa

Republicans, developer-backed candidates in Council race

Updated November 5, 2014 (La Mesa) - Mayor Art Madrid, who has led La Mesa for the past 24 years, has been unseated by Councilman and teacher Mark Arapostathis.  With 100% of precincts counted, Arapostathis has received 58.8% of the vote to Madrid's 41.11%.

Updated November 5, 2014 (San Diego's East County) -- With 100% of votes counted, incumbents Robert Shield and Jim Kelly won reelection on the Grossmont Union High School District Board with 24.31 and 22.58 % of the vote respectively. Dr. Gary Woods, who lost his seat in the last election and consistently voted in a block with Kelly and Shield, is in third place with 22.2%,  beat by a substantial margin over challengers Shirley Anderson (14.39%), Barbara Stevens (11.39%) and Steve Mattia (5.12%).  Woods will fill the vacant seat left by Dick Hoy', who did not seek reelection.

The election outcome will solidify control of the GUHSD board by staunch conservative members opposed to building an Alpine High School or backing Alpine parents' wishes to split up the district and unify with the Alpine Union School District.  The district is currently embroiled in two lawsuits over its obstructionism on turning over funds from two bond measures into an escrow account to assure funds intended by voters for building a high school will be used for that purpose. 

November 5, 2014 (Ramona)--Ramona Author Joyce T. Strand will introduce her newest mystery novel, Hilltop Sunset, at Unicorn Books and Gifts, 738 Main St.; Ramona, CA on Saturday, November 8, 2014 from 3:00 to 5:00 p.m. Strand will be available to sign copies and discuss the new mystery.

November 4, 2014 (San Diego) – Voters are casting ballots today at 1432 precincts with 1236 polling places manned by 6300 poll workers. Polls close at 8 p.m. tonight.  Unusual polling places include an equestrian center in Ramona, a pet wash and a fencing center in Escondido, a bowling alley in San Marcos, a theater in San Diego, and a museum in Vista.

The Registrar of Voters is forecasting a 50 to 55 percent turnout in today’s gubernatorial election. If accurate, that would be lower than the 64% in2010 and 57% in 2006.  As of noon yesterday, only 281,147 mail-in ballots out of 868,122 issued countywide had been turned in. Voters who have not yet mailed in absentee ballots can drop them off at polling places.

East County News Service

October 29, 2014 (San Diego's East County)-East County Magazine picked up 11 more awards in San Diego Press Club’s 2014 Excellence in Journalism awards on October 28th, bringing our total to 80 journalism awards since our launch in 2008.

This year’s awards including winners in the following categories: breaking news, environment, general news, investigative reporting, political/government, public service/consumer advocacy, criminal justice, health and medicine, radio special reporting and radio feature categories.

To read and hear our award-winning reports, click "read more" and scroll down.

November 4, 2014 (San Diego) -- With strong, gusty winds and low humidity in the forecast, the National Weather Service has issued a Red Flag warning effective immediately for the inland valleys and mountains. The warning is expected to last until 5 p.m. on Thursday night.

Santa Ana winds of 20-30 miles per hours are forecast, with gusts up to 55 miles per hour in places.  The Santa Ana Wildfire Threat Index for San Diego (Zone 3) indicates that the threat will peak on Wednesday with a threat rating of moderate.

By Fire Chief Sam DiGiovanna

November 3, 2014 (San Diego’s East County)--Did you know that one in twelve Americans has diabetes? That’s more than 25 million people. Another 79 million adults in the United States are at high risk of developing type 2 diabetes. Why is this awareness important? Because diabetes is one of the leading causes of disability and death in the United States. If it’s not controlled, diabetes can cause blindness, nerve damage, kidney disease, and other health problems.