Dear Readers:

Many hot news stories are on the horizon in the New Year. Help us cover the stories listed below and more! While other publishers are cutting East County coverage, we’re gearing up to grow our local news reporting in the public interest!  To make a year-end, tax deductible donation, click here. Donors who give $50 or more will receive our Beautiful East County calendar as thanks!

Here are the top 2022 issues we aim to cover, with your help:

Story and photos by Karen Pearlman 

December 30, 2021 (San Diego) -- An extremely contagious disease which is nearly always fatal to wild rabbits and hares as well as pet bunnies has spread throughout San Diego County and the western United States. 

Rabbit Hemorrhagic Disease Virus Type 2 (RHDV2) was first seen in a wild rabbit in the county in June 2020. Since then, nearly a dozen more rabbits have tested positive for the disease locally. But there are likely many more cases, since the state and county lack resources to test the growing number of dead rabbits reported.

By Miriam Raftery

December 28, 2021 (San Diego) – Hours before this evening’s 5 p.m. kickoff at Petco Park, the UCLA Bruins pulled out, forcing cancellation of the Holiday Bowl.  A statement from UCLA at 12:30 p.m. indicated the team was withdrawing “due to COVID-19 protocols within the Bruins’ program.”

No details were provided, though UCLA Athletic Director Martin Jarmond voiced disappointment for team members. “My heart goes out to them,” he said, but added that health and safety of our students will always be a priority.

UCLA was slated to compete against North Carolina State, which tweeted, “Heartbroken to not be able to compete one more time this season.”

December 23, 2021 (San Diego) -- East County Roundup highlights top stories of interest to East County and San Diego's inland regions, published in other media.  This week's round-up stories include:

LOCAL

• Supervisors Expand Mobile Crisis Teams to Treat Mental Health and Dug Abuse (Times of San Diego)
• San Diego County Supervisors OK Over $1M in Fire Suppression Grants (Times of San Diego)
• New Congressional and State Legislative districts: a detailed analysis (SD Rostra)
• La Mesa hires its first communications manager (San Diego)
• Calif. Senator Brian Jones calls for review of state-licensed homes after Team 10 investigation (10 News)
• Black job applicant sues company for discrimination over hairstyle (Los Angeles Times)
• Transgender Woman Settles With East County Gym In Lawsuit (Patch.com)
• The best and worst places to live if you only care about money : Planet Money  (NPR)
• SDPD arrests anti-fascists who clashed with pro-Trump group at January ‘Patriot March’ (San Diego Union-Tribune)

STATE

• Smash-and-grab robbery rings organize on social media, Bonta says (Los Angeles Times)
• California sues Walmart for allegedly dumping hazardous items  (NPR)
• Texas pipeline company charged in California oil spill (AP)
• California water districts to get 0% of requested supplies (KPBS)
• California disciplining doctors over questionable medical exemptions for vaccines  (Sacramento Bee)
• Gavin Newsom’s California budget will propose more help for kids who – like him – have dyslexia  (Sacramento Bee)
•  California governor says he will use legal tactics of Texas abortion ban to implement gun control (CNN)
• California man charged in Jan. 6 U.S. Capitol riot flees to Belarus  (Reuters)
  
  
  
  For excerpts and links to full stories, click “read more” and scroll down.

By Elijah McKee

December 11, 2021 (El Cajon) — It can be easy to take a delicious meal at a restaurant for granted — but doing so would be difficult to do at Mal Al Sham, which celebrates its three year anniversary in El Cajon this month.

Whether swinging by for a quick solo wrap or sitting down with loved ones around a full platter, a dining experience with Mal Al Sham — also known as The Taste of Damascus — leaves diners with a genuine appreciation for the food, as well as for the people, places and experiences that led to its creation. 

December 6, 2021 (San Diego) -- East County Roundup highlights top stories of interest to East County and San Diego's inland regions, published in other media.  This week's round-up stories include:

LOCAL

• Trial begins for former La Mesa police officer accused of lying on report (San Diego Union-Tribune)
• Arsonist Who Set Fire to Chase Bank in La Mesa Sentenced to Probation (NBC San Diego)
• Lemon Grove Councilmember Liana LeBaron files complaint against city manager, city attorney (San Diego Union-Tribune)
• San Diego’s burrowing owls get new homes at Ramona Grasslands after sprawl drove them away (San Diego Union-Tribune)
• 'Making malicious threats'| CEO of Sullivan Solar Power arrested on felony stalking charges (CBS 8)
• Daniel Sullivan of Sullivan Solar Power a no-show at bail review hearing (San Diego Union-Tribune)
• Santana Student Raped Countless Times in Early 1980s by Counselor, Suit Alleges (Times of San Diego)
• Black job applicant in San Diego sues company for discrimination over hairstyle (San Diego Union-Tribune)

STATE

• Police investigating several flash mob thefts in California (10 News)
• Rain, snow and chill are heading to Southern California this week (Los Angeles Times)
• ‘There is nothing alive on that tree’: Inside a giant sequoia grove scorched by the KNP Complex fire  (Los Angeles Times)
• Derby winner Medina Spirit collapses, dies in California (San Jose Mercury News)

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

Update 5:15 p.m. -- Power has been restored to all customers, according to the SDG&E website.

By Miriam Raftery

Photo by Fran Materra, via Facebook: Thanksgiving by lanternlight in Potrero

November 26, 2021 (San Diego’s East County) – An estimated 2,520 SDG&E customers remain in the dark on Black Friday due to power-shut offs amid a red flag warning for high fire danger. About half the communities originally blacked out have power restored, but these areas remain without power:  Alpine, Boulevard, the Campo reservation, Descanso, Jamul, Potrero, the Viejas Reservation, and Warner Springs.

More than 50,000 customers remain at risk of outages yet to come.  View the list of communities at risk at https://www.sdge.com/psps-dashboard. SDG&E has set up community resource centers where residents without power can go to recharge devices, pickup ice, water, snacks and more. Find the closest CRC at SDG&E’s CRC look-up tool.

East County residents posted comments and complaints on social media regarding the outages. While some railed against SDG&E for cutting power on a holiday, others pre-cooked foods early, grateful for the warnings.  Others dined out at restaurants, brought in hot meals, or headed to relatives homes’ outside the blacked-out areas. Some also voiced thanks that no homes were lost to wildfires.

By Miriam Raftery

Photo, left: Congresswoman Sara Jacobs and colleagues with President Joe Biden at infrastructure bill signing

November 19, 2021(San Diego’s East County) –  Could funds from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act just signed into law by President Joe Biden be used to fund sorely needed projects to benefit East County, from wildfire prevention to reducing freeway gridlock, taking communities off-grid, and improving dam safety?  East County Magazine reached out to Congresswoman Sara Jacobs, who attended the bill signing at the White House. She issued a statement on some local priorities and had her staff respond on other potential projects including:

• Reducing gridlock on State Route 52 in Santee
• Repairing dams at El Capitan and Lake Hodges reservoirs
• Increasing mass transit for our region
• Cleaning up a toxic underground plume near Gillespie Field and an elementary school in El Cajon
• Taking communities such as  Descanso, that have suffered through many power outages, off-grid to produce their own clean energy for reliable electricity;
• Replacing lead water pipes

“We have big infrastructure needs in San Diego, from broadband to transportation to wildfire prevention, but the good news is that this bill provides new funding to meet these needs. Now it’s time to make sure that San Diego gets our share of the funding and I look forward to working with our state and local partners to get that done,” Jacob says.

By Miriam Raftery

October 24, 2021 (San Diego) – “Just a couple of weeks ago, a quarter of a million kids were getting COVID,” says Dr. William Tseng, area assistant medical director of Kaiser Permanente and Kaiser’s vaccine expert. That’s according to the American Academy of Pediatrics' new site tracking COVID cases in U.S. children. Deaths of children due to COVID have occurred in 48 of 50 states.

In an exclusive interview via Zoom on October, the day the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) broadly expanded eligibility of COVID-19 booster shots, East County Magazine interviewed Dr. Tseng on who should get boosters and what parents should know about COVID vaccines for children ages 5-11, which are likely to be approved in early November.  The answers may surprise you!

Click the image at left to view the full interview (which will also air on KNSJ radio) or click "read more' and scroll down to read highlights.

By Miriam Raftery

October 20, 2021 (San Diego) – East County Magazine interviewed Dr. Mark Sawyer, infectious disease specialist at Rady Children’s Hospital and an advisor to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on COVID-19 vaccines for children and booster shots.  He also serves on an advisory commission for the Governor and advised County Supervisors on COVID-19 issues. 

We asked him to address concerns raised by parents and others over vaccine mandates, to assess the safety of COVID vaccines compared to risks of COVID-19 for children and teens, and discuss the likely timetable for approvals of vaccines for young children and boosters for adults.

Dr. Sawyer revealed that hundreds of children have been treated at Rady Children’s Hospital for COVID-19, including 75 treated in the intensive care unit and another 75 diagnosed with multi-system inflammatory disease, a rare but serious complication of COVID-19 in children.  “To say that COVID is not serious in children is underestimating the virus,” he said.

By Miriam Raftery

October 10, 2021 (El Cajon) – On Tuesday, October 12, the El Cajon City Council will consider a city staff proposal to ask County Supervisors to opt out of the state’s Microenterprise Home Kitchen Operations (MEHKO) program. The proposal before the City Council, item 12 on the agenda, comes after Supervisors Joel Anderson and Nora Vargas introduced a MEHKO measure in September that was approved in concept by Supervisors, as ECM reported. 

The county measure asked staff to draft an ordinance by January 12 to legalize home kitchen operations to prepare, sell and serve up to 30 meals per day, or 60 meals per week and earn a maximum annual revenue of $50,000. Meals would be limited to foods that are consumed the same day that they are prepared.

By Miriam Raftery

Photo courtesy City of Carlsbad

October 7, 2021 (San Diego) – After a massive oil spill off the coast of Huntington Beach in southern Orange County on Friday, San Diego County’s Health and Human Services Agency has issued a warning of tar balls washing ashore on North County beaches. County officials advise residents to avoid contact with tar balls, if seen.

The County of San Diego Emergency Operations Center is activated and is monitoring the situation. 

Photos:  Left: Secretary of State Dr. Shirley Weber with East County Magazine Editor Miriam Raftery.  Center: Slack Key Ohana.  Right: Jamul Casino Manager Mary Cheeks accepts Community Benefactor Award on behalf of Chairwoman Erica Pinto; Paul Gomez speaks at presentation of Briana Gomez Award for racial and social justice.

 By Miriam Raftery

September 19, 2021 (San Diego) -- Rescue Task Force (RTF), a nonprofit founded in San Diego's East County and now headquartered in Temecula, provides disaster relief response and medical aid around the world.  They also started schools for girls and women in Afghanistan. But since the U.S. troop withdrawal and Taliban takeover, the RTF team has had to close its schools, dimming hopes of students under the Taliban's brutal regime and endangering the lives of RTF's coordinator and his family, who remain trapped and in hiding inside Afghanistan.

East County Magazine editor Miriam Raftery today interviewed Steven Prusky, a director with Rescue Task Force, on the Afghanistan situation as well as other projects around the world in which RTF is currently involved ranging from water purification to disaster relief and more.

September 2, 2021 (San Diego’s East County) – East County Magazine today announced finalists in its Community Champions Awards. Winners will be presented with awards on September 25, 2021 during the nonprofit media outlet’s “Party in Paradise” at the new rooftop venue at Jamul Casino. For tickets, visit  https://www.eastcountymagazine.org/tickets-now-sale-our-party-paradise-a....

“We are pleased to recognize these community champions who have done so much to benefit people in our communities, particularly during the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic,” says ECM Editor and Founder Miriam Raftery. "Thanks to the many readers who sent in nominations -- the judges had many outstanding entries to choose from in selecting finalists."

The awards categories are healthcare, public safety, environmental and wildlife protection, racial and social justice, and humanitarian, as well as a special community benefactor award. Awards will be presented Sept. 25 at ECM's "Party in Paradise' atop the Jamul Casino. Below are the finalists, as well as information on the event and tickets: