By Greg Dunne

By Rebecca Jefferis Williamson

Image by Engin Akyurt at Pixabay

Nov. 21, 2020 (San Diego’s East County) -- The number of COVID-19 positive cases in the San Diego region is increasing.  Currently the County of San Diego reports 68, 203 cases and 952 deaths. Chances are increasing that you will be taking care of someone in your household, or even monitoring your own symptoms if you were exposed.

Should you do laundry with gloves? Spray disinfectant on handles and doorknobs? Wear masks inside? How do you isolate someone in your family? Check with your doctor for details and consider the tips below.

According to the guidelines set forth by the Center for Disease Control (CDC) here are the tips they suggest

Source: Federal Emergency Management Agency

Photo: Creative Commons by NC-ND via Bing

November 20, 2020 (Sacramento) – As California continues to recover from wildfires, FEMA urges everyone who experiences a power outage to be safe when using portable generators.

By Miriam Raftery

View full interview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FyR8N8tdOvo&t=493s

November 20, 2020 (San Diego)—ECM interviewed Harvey Wasserman earlier this week for our radio show aired on KNSJ.  Wasserman is a journalist, historian and author of numerous books and articles on election integrity.  

ECM editor Miriam Raftery, who has won awards for her own reporting on election integrity issues, spoke with Wasserman about issues in the 2020 presidential election including documented efforts to suppress votes, the Georgia recount, and the upcoming Georgia run-off elections in January 2021 that could determine the balance of power in the U.S. Senate.

“This will be the most thoroughly and intelligently scrutinized election in American history because you now have an army of aware election protection activists who are all going to pour into Georgia,” he predicts.

By Miriam Raftery

Chart via San Diego County: Surging COVID cases increase stress on healthcare system

November 19, 2020 (San Diego) – California’s Department of Public Health today issued a curfew Nov. 21-Dec. 21 aimed at reducing spread of COVID-19 as cases surge statewide. The County also announced beefed up enforcement efforts, with many cease and desist orders issued in East County, including El Cajon despite the Mayor's pledge not to enforce health rules.

What the curfew impacts

The limited stay home order applies in Purple Tier counties including San Diego. Between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m., the order prohibits gatherings with people not in your household either on your property or elsewhere. 

Non-essential businesses must cease operations during the curfew; only activities defined as “critical infrastructure” (COVID19.ca.gov Essential Workforce) may continue.

The curfew does not prohibit individuals or people in the same household from leaving their residence, as long as they don’t interact with people from other households. You can walk your dog, exercise alone or with those in your household, ride your horse, and travel for essential purposes such as medical visits, picking up food or going to the pharmacy. The curfew also does not apply to people who are homeless.

By Brent Wakefield, President and CEO, Meals on Wheels San Diego County 

November 19, 2020 (San Diego) -- This holiday season, charitable giving and volunteering will look a lot different, thanks to COVID-19. The need for volunteers and donations is greater than ever as millions more people than usual struggle amid the pandemic’s economic disruption.

By Miriam Raftery

Photo: Creative Commons via Bing

November 16, 2020 (San Diego’s East County) – How can you support struggling retailers and local nonprofits while also minimizing risk during the 2020 holiday season, with the COVID-19 pandemic raging?

Here are several options to keep the "merry" in your holiday season and/or keep the "jingle" in local stores.

By Miriam Raftery

Photo: This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA-NC

Flynn is the sixth Aztec taken in the draft since Coach Dutcher has been on The Mesa and the second in as many years

Source:  goaztecs.com

Photo courtesy goaztecs.com

November 18, 2020 (San Diego) - Former San Diego State men's basketball player Malachi Flynn has been selected by the Toronto Raptors in the first round (29^th overall) of the 2020 NBA Draft, Wednesday night at ESPN Headquarters in Bristol, Conn.  

By Miriam Raftery

Photo:  Night sky in  Borrego Springs, by Dennis Mammana

November 18, 2020 (San Diego) – San Diego Supervisors today voted to approve amendments to the county’s Light Pollution ordinance which will provide “Dark Sky Community” designation to both the Julian and Borrego Springs community planning areas.  The action aims to prevent light pollution, enhancing astronomy viewing and related tourism.

The action comes after the Julian Dark Sky Network asked Supervisors in 2018 to create a way for Julian to meet International Dark Sky Association recognition. Borrego Springs was the first California community to receive that designation in 2009.

​"Our community is part of the 1% of the U.S. that can still see the Milky Way. Our distance from the urban glow of San Diego's skies and the surrounding mountains help with our sky quality, but preservation must be intentional," the Julian Dark Sky Network's website states.

November 18, 2020 (San Diego's East County) -- ECM held an interview via ZOOM yesterday with investigative reporter Greg Palast. 

The award-winning journalist and author shared results of his latest investigative results publicized by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). His investigation found massive numbers of disenfranchised minority voters in Georgia, who were falsely taken off voting rolls for having moved, but they never relocated. His findings have helped many of those voters reregister in time to have their votes counted.

Palast also talks about the Georgia recount, possible (though unlikely) scenarios for  Congress to determine who won the 2020 election should any states refuse to certify their electors, and the upcoming Georgia Senate runoff races that could determine the balance of power in the U.S. Senate.

Palast has East County roots; his late parents were long-time residents of La Mesa. 

By Miriam Raftery

Photo via ECM news partner 10 News

November 18, 2020 (El Cajon) –California Highway Patrol, San Diego Sheriff and San Miguel Fire Department personnel responding to a report of a pedestrian struck by a vehicle around 12:31 a.m. found a Caltrans worker who was unresponsive on State Route 94 east near the Avocado exit.

Other Caltrans workers told authorities that a driver traveling on the wrong site of construction cones struck the worker and dragged him approximately 40 feet, ECM news partner 10 News reports.

Deadly counterfeit pills mimic common prescription medications

By David R. Shorey, East County Program Manager, Institute for Public Strategies

November 17, 2020 (San Diego’s East County) -- It was his birthday and 22-year-old Vista resident Zach Budlong decided to meet up with some friends at a beach party to celebrate. Furloughed from his job because of COVID-19 and impacted by a reduction in unemployment benefits, Zach looked to the gathering as a way to celebrate and let off some steam.