“CHAMBER MAIDS" TOUR ANNOUNCED

April 1, 2011 (Rancho San Diego) – A free banjo lesson taken during a Chamber-led tour of Deering Banjo factory in Spring Valley proved music to Valerie Harrison’s ears. “I never knew I had musical talent before,” said the plucky President of the Rancho San Diego-Jamul Chamber of Commerce. 

By Wanda B. Sekure
 

April 1, 2011 (El Cajon) -- The National Association of Insurance Commissioners has declared El Cajon the safest city in America.

“Our underwriters found that El Cajon is ideally situated to minimize risks of a catastrophe,” said Commissioner Macon Wills. “Not only is El Cajon midway between the Rose Canyon and Elsinore earthquake fault lines, it also sits far enough north to avoid border violence, inland a good half-hour from the coast, and a full 53 miles away from the San Onofre nuclear power plant,” he noted, adding that the U.S. has recommended a 50-mile evacuation zone around Japan’s troubled reactors. “ If a nuke meltdown, tsunami or killer quake occurs,” Wills declared, “El Cajon is going to look like heaven.”

"You may remember that when the City of San Diego experienced the devastating wildfires in 2007, the citizens of Yokohama donated over one million yen to the Wildfire Disaster Relief Fund." -- Harry Bishop, San Diego-Yokohama Sister City Society

March 21, 2011 (San Diego) – Victims of the 2007 wildfires our region received help from San Diego's sister city, Yokahama Japan. Now, some local residents are seeking to give back to Japanese people in need. The San Diego-Yokohama Sister City Society is establishing a disaster relief fund for victims of the 9.0 earthquake and tsunami in Japan.

“We are asking everyone to join us to help those who lost loved ones, homes, and communities to this disaster,” Harry Bishop told East County Magazine.

Core damage confirmed at 3 reactors; spent fuel rods a rising concern at 4th;
U.S. urges evacuation within 80 kilometers (50 Miles) around stricken plants

March 16, 2011 (San Diego) – The United Nations has released a forecast indicating a radioactive plume from damaged Japanese nuclear reactors at Fujushima Daiichi cold reach the Aleutian Islands off Alaska on Thursday and Southern California late on Friday, then east to Nevada, Utah, Arizona, and likely points beyond.

The U.N. has not issued a statement on how much radiation the plume could contain, however numerous other experts have indicated that amounts are expected to be small and below levels likely to harm human health. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is setting up additional radiation monitors on the West Coast as a precaution. An existing monitor in San Diego is currently non-operational, according to the EPA’s RadNet real-time radiation monitoring database online.

Murray Jennex, a nuclear expert at San Diego State University, told by ECM of the non-operational monitor locally, called back a short time later to reveal, “We’re going to set up monitoring here and try to get real numbers."

By Miriam Raftery

March 14, 2011 (San Diego) – The U.S. S. Ronald Reagan, an aircraft carrier based out of San Diego, has repositioned after detecting radioactive fallout from the Fukushima Dai-Ichi nuclear power plant in Japan that has undergone a partial meltdown. According to Captain Thom Burke, commanding officer, all personnel aboard are “safe and healthy.”

The ship has been deployed to assist in relief efforts following the devastating earthquake and tsunami, which has left an estimated 10,000 dead and many more missing in Japan.

Kids and adults are encouraged to enter photos by April 15 deadline

1.6 Million San Diegans Are Overweight or Obese

With 1.6 million people in the region tipping the scales, the County of San Diego Health and Human Services Agency (HHSA) today launched a major obesity-prevention media campaign.

February 28, 2011 (Pine Valley ) –“This is a grim example of human smugglers’ disregard for life. They place profits over life,” Ralph Desio, U.S. Customs & Border Protection (CBP) public affairs specialist said of a tragedy this weekend.

Acting on a report from the San Diego Sheriff of eight people lost in a winter snowstorm near Sunrise Highway in the Pine Valley Area, the CBP activated its Border Search Trauma and Rescue Team.

Passengers on the flight are urged to call their doctor before seeking treatment for symptoms so that infection-control can be implemented to prevent spread of the contagious disease.
 

February 16, 2011 (San Diego) -- Is San Diego a land of opportunity for black women, or are opportunities for black female leadership dwindling?  Find out at a panel discussion sponsored by San Diego Democratic Women’s Club on Saturday, February 26 from 10 a.m. to noon at the Weingart City Heights Library community room, 3795 Fairmount Avenue in San Diego.

The event is free and open to the public.

By: Jeremy Los

January 30, 2011 (San Diego) – The green economy is booming in San Diego County and California as a whole. In a new study titled Many Shades of Green: Diversity and Distribution of California’s Green Jobs, Next10.org finds that California’s green economy has boasted persistent growth and now encompasses over 174,000 jobs in the state. 

Between January 2008 and January 2009, the growth rate was highest in San Diego and the Bay Area; San Diego’s green jobs rate grew 7 percent while the Bay Area saw an 8 percent growth.

Plan is opposed by cities, labor, development interests, and affordable housing advocates

By Miriam Raftery

January 27, 2011 (San Diego’s East County) – Governor Jerry Brown has proposed to eliminate redevelopment agencies (RDAs), a move he predicts would save the cash-strapped state $1.7 billion in the next fiscal year. The Governor’s plan would take away funds for improving blighted areas and instead divert those dollars to school districts, counties, and state coffers. But the plan is being met with strenuous opposition from cities and redevelopment entities around the state—including here in East County.

An open letter to Mayor Jerry Sanders opposing plan to fluoridate San Diego’s water

By Jeanie Ryan
 

January 1, 2010 (San Diego) --The problem with water fluoridation is that it negatively affects those we try to protect. The American Dental Association advises no fluoride for children under 6 months and then very little to one year of age-- less than that with is supplied in fluoridated water.
 

We know that fluoride crosses the blood brain barrier and that one in six children have a learning disability. Studies have shown that children in high fluoride areas have lower intelligence. (See a Chinese study linking mental retardation and low IQs to fluoride in water.) 

December 22, 2010 (San Diego) 2 pm.--Over 1,000 people are being evacuated by life guards from the Handlery Hotel and the Archstone Apartments in Mission Valley after the San Diego River overflowed its banks, Incident Page Network reports. Qualcomm Stadium’s field and parking lot are also flooded, though organizers say tomorrow’s Poinsettia Bowl will be played.

December 18, 2010 (San Diego's East County) -- To quote a favorite carol, "it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas" all across East County!  Here are highlights from just some of the holiday festivities that have recently taken place in our communities.

At the Olde Time Christmas Village, sponsored by the Rancho San Diego-Jamul Chamber of Commerce, youngsters frolicked in snow--some for the first time.