By Janis Mork

October 12, 2012 (San Diego’s East County)- In the November election, community planning association (CPA)/community planning group races countywide give voters few choices.  Most are not competitive – with either the exact number of candidates as seats vacant or in several cases, fewer candidates than openings. That means many vacancies will be filled by appointments approved by Supervisor Dianne Jacob.  

The moral of the story? If you  want to have a say-so in development projects planned for your area, run for office! Your odds of getting elected are high, based on this year’s low number of candidates. Plus if your planning group has fewer candidates than seats open, you can ask to be considered for appointment to fill a vacancy.

Property owners, campers urged to take precautions to stem spread of infestation

By Miriam Raftery

September 23, 2012 (San Diego’s East County) –A voracious new pest is gnawing its way through East County.  The gold-spotted oak borer has already killed over 21,500 trees in San Diego’s inland regions.  Infestations have been found on federal, state, private and Native American lands across 1,893 square miles.

“Has anyone driven through Japatul into Julian lately?  We did last weekend and it was a very SAD sight!  Almost all of the Oaks are BARE SKELETONS or half brown and going fast,” Jerry Williams of Deerhorn Valley wrote in an e-mail to ECM. 

By Miriam Raftery

August 22, 2012 (San Diego)—Some people just don’t learn.  Back in January, San Diego Supervisors  got sued for hiding information from the public about a developer-backed scheme to eliminate community planning groups. The Board backed down to avoid a trial, vacated votes and held a hearing with proper public notice and open—though heated--public testimony. 

Now history has repeated itself. San Diegans for Open Government has filed a lawsuit alleging that Supervisors once more violated the Ralph M. Brown Act. According to the suit, this time the County failed to post an agenda for Supevisors' June 26, 2012 agenda on  the County website for the 72-hours required by state law. Supevisors further failed to postpone the meeting, took action on agenda items and refused to allow members of the public to address Supervisors on a key agenda item.

“Long overdue”l tactic to contain California’s dangerous wildfires, Senator Feinstein says

August 19, 2012 (Washington D.C.)— The U.S. Forest Service will update its nighttime firefighting program to battle out-of-control wildfires in Southern California.

By Miriam Raftery

July 19, 2012 (San Diego) – Tomorrow at 9 a.m.,  San Diego County's Planning Commission will decide whether to approve a wind ordinance that would enable construction of numerous wind energy projects in our region's mountains, rural and desert communities.

Why, then, did San Diego County’s Health and Human Services Agency just issue a public health position statement that amounts to a whitewash of serious health problems linked to wind turbines around the world?

Bill would also ban public from accessing environmental impacts of tribal projects

By Miriam Raftery

July 5, 2012 (Washington D.C.) –The Native American Energy Act, HR 3973, has been approved by the House Natural Resources Committee. The bill, which seeks to remove “bureaucratic obstacles” to energy production on tribal lands, would also severely impede residents, environmentalists or even neighboring tribes who file lawsuits to stop tribal energy projects.

“She had an attitude of gratitude,” La Mesa resident Ethel Rudolph says of her mother, Titanic survivor Anna Sofia Turja

By Ellinoa Blake

July 1, 2012 (La Mesa)--In the heart of La Mesa lives a hidden historical gem: Ethel Rudolph, whose mother, Anna Sofia Turja survived the Titanic tragedy. In her cozy home, Ethel sat down with East County Magazine editor Miriam Raftery and I to share her mother’s moving tale.

In honor of this year’s 100^th anniversary of the Titanic sinking after striking an iceberg, Rudolph recently visited Titanic: The Artifact Exhibition at the San Diego Natural History Museum, which runs through September 9.  

She reflected, “It brought back a lot of nostalgia, things Mother had said.”

Scroll down to read her dramatic story, including a video interview describing an eyewitness account of one of history's greatest tragedies.

June 28, 2012 (Sacramento)—At least 65 of the 70 state parks slated for permanent closure on July 1 will remain open—even though Governor Jerry Brown made a line-item veto to cut $31 million of the $41 million in funds earmarked to keep parks open.

By Miriam Raftery

June 15, 2012 (San Diego) –Who will be squaring off in the November run-off  to represent East County and San Diego in Congress and the State Legislature?

With all but 7,000 votes counted locally, according to the Registrar, here’s a rundown on these important race--including our assessment of the odds for those vying in the November run-off election:

San Diego Jewish Academy eight grader Jonah Kohn's project uses tactile sound to enhance music for people with hearing loss through vibrations

June 11, 2012 (San Diego)--San Diego Jewish Academy (SDJA) eighth grade student Jonah Kohn was recently notified that he is one of five finalists in his age group out of a total 15 finalists in the 2012 Google Science Fair, which received thousands of entries from over 100 countries worldwide.

His project, Good Vibrations: Improving the Music Experience for People with Hearing Loss Using Multi-Frequency Tactile Sound, has the potential to affect millions of people with hearing loss by enhancing their ability to enjoy music.

June 4, 2012 (San Diego) The U.S. Health & Human Services Department has awarded $9,398,738 for healthcare in the communities of San Diego, Campo and Brawley.