By County News Center, County of San Diego Communications Office

September 7, 2023 (Mount Laguna, Calif.) -- A deer mouse collected near Mount Laguna on Aug. 24 during routine monitoring has tested positive for hantavirus.

Hantavirus in wild rodents is relatively common in San Diego County. This is the seventh routine detection of hantavirus in the region for calendar year 2023.  However, because wild rodents naturally avoid people, human exposure to the virus is rare. Still, County officials advise people should be careful around wild rodents as there is no cure or vaccine for hantavirus.

Story by Liz Alper

Photo via @padres on Twitter

September 6, 2023 (San Diego) - Both the Padres and Phillies went  for the series today.  Zack Wheeler started for Philly against Michael Wacha.

Source:  goaztecs.com

Photo courtesy goaztecs.com

September 5, 2023 (San Diego) - The Aztec women’s basketball team has released their 2023-24 non-conference schedule. The 12-game slate features eight games against teams that had winning records last season and six against schools that made the postseason. The Aztecs will face five programs who won at least 20 games last season, including perennial national powerhouse Stanford.

September 5, 2023 (San Diego’s East County) - East County Magazine's World Watch helps you be an informed citizen on important issues globally and nationally. As part of our commitment to reflect all voices and views, we include links to a variety of news sources representing a broad spectrum of political, religious, and social views. Top world and U.S. headlines include:

U.S.

• Impeachment threats and shutdown fears: Congress returns for a chaotic September (NBC News)
• Trump heading to trial in 7 civil and criminal cases: A calendar of dates and what to expect (USA Today)
• US 30-year mortgage rate soars to highest since 2000 (Reuters)
• Idalia’s Aftermath: Floridians Begin Recovery After Hurricane (Forbes)
• Rudy Giuliani defamed former Georgia election workers, federal judge rules (NBC)
• Proud Boys leader Joe Biggs sentenced to 17 years in January 6 case (CNN)
• Judge sides with youth in Montana climate change trial  (Daily Montananan)
• More schools that forced American Indian children to assimilate revealed (Washington Post)
• "War on Mexico": Republicans ramp up calls for military action as they blast Democrats as warmongers (Salon)
• Judge: Trump-era rule change allowing logging of old-growth forests violates laws  (NPR)
• Where do the 2024 presidential candidates stand on abortion? (San Diego Union-Tribune)
• White House ramps up war room to battle expected GOP impeachment inquiry (NBC)
• Pittsburgh jury condemns Tree of Life synagogue killer to death (Reuters)
• The plot thickens: The battle over books comes at a cost(NPR)

WORLD

• BRICS invites Saudi, Iran and others to join developing world bloc   (Reuters)
• Russia's Medvedev: We'd have to use a nuclear weapon if Ukrainian offensive was a success (Reuters)
• Russia’s central bank raises interest rates to 12% after the ruble plunges (CNN)
• Warsaw sends troops to border, accusing Belarus of violating its airspace (Guardian)
• Nearly half of those held in Russia's detention centers in Kherson were tortured, rights report finds (CNN)
• Explainer: What are China's 'sponge cities' and why aren't they stopping the floods? (Reuters)
  
  Ukrainian Counteroffensive Pierces Main Russian Defensive Line in Southeast (Wall St.Journal)
• Poland, Baltics will shut Belarus border if 'critical incident' occurs -minister  (Reuters)
• UN warns that hundreds of thousands in Southeast Asia have been roped into online scams  (AP)
• Russia turning to sleeper cells and international agents (Guardian)

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

Latest pro-labor actions aim to grow the economy "from the middle out and the bottom up” as part of Bidenomics

By Miriam Raftery

View President Biden's Labor Day speech in Philadephia, where he speaks to union workers about the differences between his record of helping working people and Donald Trump's record

September 3, 2023 (Washington D.C.)-- President Joe Biden promised to be the most pro-worker and pro-union President in American history, and has taken numerous steps to keep that promise.

Under his administration,  more jobs per month have been created than under any president in the past four decades, despite the pandemic. Recent polls show  support for unions at its highest level in more than half a century—68%  according to Gallup. Though inflation has been the greatest economic challenge,Inflation-adjusted income is up 3.5% since the President took office, and the largest wage gains over the last two years have gone to the lowest-paid workers, according to the White House. The unemployment rate is the lowest in 50 years, the Deptartment of Commerce reports,  and a greater share of working-age people have a job today than in over 20 years. Under Bidenomics, America is seeing a historic level of investment in manufacturing, Forbes reports, and new industries to create good-paying jobs that Americans can raise a family on and build a community around.

In advance of Labor Day, the Biden-Harris Administration is announcing new actions this week to empower workers by investing in America’s clean energy workforce, establishing pathways into high-paying and union jobs, demonstrating the benefits of unions, and extending critical wage protections. 

The White House released details on these actions, including:

By Ken Stone,Times of San Diego, a member of the San Diego Online News Association

Photo:  La Mesa Police Chief Ray Sweeney (right) succeeded Walt Vasquez (center) and Matt Nicholass in July 2021. Photo via Twitter

September 3, 2023 (La Mesa) - The announcement came Monday in Facebook.

By Chuck Westerheide, County of San Diego Communications Office

September 3, 2023 (San Diego) -- Thousands of San Diegans fortified their homes and property with sandbags before the arrival of Tropical Cyclone Hilary. More than 100,000 bags were gathered and used across the county.  But now the storm has passed and clear skies have returned.  That has led many to ask, “What should I do with the sandbags now?”

By: Tracy Defore, County of San Diego Communications Office

Photo: Doaa Polus, seen pointing to her map, votes for 3 new parks just north of I-8 in the vicinity of First Street

September 3, 2023 (San Diego) -- The County is looking for input on projects covering a wide range of priorities that may affect you, your neighborhood or the region at large.

September 2, 2023, 2023 (San Diego's East County) -- Our Health and Science Highlights provide cutting edge news that could impact your health and our future.

HEALTH

• Long COVID Recovery Remains Rare. Doctors Are Struggling to Understand Why (Time)
• Medicare names first 10 drugs up for price negotiations with the government (NBC)
• U.S. health agency recommends easing federal restrictions on marijuana (NBC)
• COVID-19 Hospitalizations and Deaths on the Rise (WebMD)
• Highways are the next antiabortion target. One Texas town is resisting. (Washington Post)
• Diabetes drug Ozempic and weight-loss drug Wegovy seem to curb other cravings  (NPR)

SCIENCE AND TECH

• India lands a spacecraft near the moon's south pole, a first for the world as it joins elite club (AP)
• What to know about Japan releasing Fukushima water into the ocean  (NPR)
• Meta takes down large Chinese and Russian influence operations  (NPR)
• NASA releases first U.S. pollution map images from new instrument launched to space: "Game-changing data"  (MSN)
• An 'ancestral bottleneck' took out nearly 99 percent of the human population 800,000 years ago (PopScience)

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

By Miriam Raftery

September 2, 2023 (La Mesa) — From  Sept. 29 through Oct. 1, La Mesa Oktoberfest will be celebrating 50 years of Bavarian festivities in an effort to top its traditions for the past half-century.