By Miriam Raftery

Photo, right:  Cathy and Kayla Lechien at La Mesa trolley stop

Photo, left:  Women's marchers at the embarcadero in San Diego 

January 21, 2017 (San  Diego) – At the Spring Street trolley station in La Mesa, hundreds of East County residents converged to ride downtown and join this morning’s  Women’s March.

Major media outlets estimate some 40,000 marchers in San Diego joined millions more across the U.S. in what CBS reports was the largest protest in U.S. history.  Some participants estimate there were over 100,000 marching in San Diego; another 10,000 marched in North County. Other cities around the globe also drew huge crowds.

 Women and men,  young and old, straight and gay, white, black and Latino –and all shared one common goal:  forging a resistance coalition opposed to policies of President Donald Trump that would weaken rights and freedoms for  women, minorities, and many other American.

November 29, 2016 (San Diego's East County) -- East County Roundup highlights top stories of interest to East County and San Diego’s inland regions, published in other media. This week’s top “Roundup” headlines include:

LOCAL

• El Cajon takes urgent stand on marijuana (San Diego Union-Tribune)
• Caught on camera: mountain lion in Lakeside neighborhood (10 News)
• Across the County, taxpayer-funded turf fields are falling apart while still under warranty (Voice of San Diego)
• Judge allows San Onofre waste lawsuit to advance (San Diego Union-Tribune)
• Trump should renounce Muslim registry: America is better than that (San Diego Union-Tribune editorial)
• Hundreds of new downtown rentals approved(San Diego Union-Tribune)

STATE

• ‘Calexit’ movement launches (Los Angeles Times)
• Can your landlord just say no to marijuana now that Prop 64 passed? (San Diego Union-Tribune)
• Government sued over offshore fracking in Santa Barbara Channel(Pacific Coast Business Times)
• UC, CSU Consider Raising Tuition For The First Time In 6 Years (KPBS)
• Numbers of international students in U.S. is at all-time high and California is top destination (Los Angeles Times)
• CalSTRS calculates total fees in likely first for public pension (Reuters)

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

Meeting Nov. 12 planned for communities of color concerned about the election outcome

By Miriam Raftery

Photo: Estela de los Rios, past victim of a hate crime in El Cajon

November 11, 2016 (San Diego) – Maria, a maid and legal U.S. resident who has raised her daughter here,  tearfully put her elderly,  frail mother on a plane Wednesday night and said goodbye,  perhaps forever.  “She is going back to Mexico, before Donald Trump can deport her,” Maria told East Magazine.

President-Elect Trump has vowed to deport all 11 million undocumented immigrants in America—including those brought here as children and the parents of U.S. citizens.  Even children who were brought here as babies, who have never known any other home.  Even ill and elderly parents such as Maria’s mother,  who has survived cancer and suffers from  diabetes.  Maria fears she is too ill to survive long on her own in Mexico—but the prospect of her mother languishing in a detention camp was even more frightening.

November 2, 2016 (San Diego's East County) -- East County Roundup highlights top stories of interest to East County and San Diego’s inland regions, published in other media. This week’s top “Roundup” headlines include:

LOCAL

• Businessman donates $100,000 to El Cajon Valley High (San Diego Union-Tribune)
• Father of man fatally shot by police establishes foundation for police reform (Los Angeles Times)
• Grossmont schools chief organizing campaign work for students, staff (San Diego Union-Tribune)
• In failing the homeless,  San Diego stands apart (San Diego Union-Tribune)
• Toxic Plume Leads To Testing Of El Cajon Mobile Homes(KPBS)
• Raided by never charged, cannabis distributor seeks return of seized assets (San Diego Union-Tribune)
• Resident says his tree-trimming case shows CPUC favors utilities (San Diego Union-Tribune)
• $47B Deal Could Help Qualcomm Move From Phones To Cars(KPBS)
• Educators getting trained to 'run, hide or fight'(San Diego Union-Tribune)
• Refinancing La Mesa to save $9 million(San Diego Union-Tribune)
• Ramona Unified School District Board:  Choose 2 (Ramon Sentinel)

STATE

• ‘Pot Prop’ 64: Clearing the haze on a complex measure (Orange County Register)
• Sexually transmitted diseases reach record high (San Diego Union-Tribune)
• SeaWorld Marine Rescues Remain Higher Than Usual (KPBS)
• DMV uncovers fake ID ring on Craigslist(San Diego Union-Tribune)

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

October 25,  2016 (San Diego's  East  County)--  Measure B on the  countywide ballot was paid for by  a  developer.  Accretive Development wants voters to approve Lilac  Hills, a massive,  master-planned community the size of Del Mar in rural Valley Center. 

Why should voters in East County and elsewhere in San Diego care?  First, because taxpayers countywide could wind up footing part of the bill and second,  because if Measure B passes, developers of other controversial  projects could similarly seek to bypass state enviornmental review and the county plannning process.  That's why major environmental groups such as  Sierra Club, Save Our Forests and Ranchlands, and Cleveland Natoinal Forest Foundation are all opposed to the ballot proposition.

Hear our interview with Mark Jackson from the No on Measure B committee, originally aired on  our show on KNSJ radio, by clicking the audio link.

September 21, 2016 (San Diego's East County) -- East County Roundup highlights top stories of interest to East County and San Diego’s inland regions, published in other media. This week’s top “Roundup” headlines include:

LOCAL

• Pet owners on alert amid shootings in Lakeside (10 News)
• Medical Board Drops Drug Charges Against Doctor In Sharp Video Sting (KPBS)
• San Diego County average rent hits $1,743 a month (San Diego Union-Tribune)
• Two Dozen Donors In Dumanis' Mayoral Run Linked To Key Figure In Azano Case (KPBS)
• Green, Libertarian Parties See Gains In San Diego Voters (KPBS)
• San Diego County Rents Rise As Vacancies Fall (KPBS)
• Trolley Extension Gets $1 Billion From Transportation Department(KPBS)
• San Diego's Private Sector Leads In Naturalization Push Nationwide (KPBS)
• San Diego Income Stays Flat As Incomes Rise Nationally (KPBS)
• The Water Authority’s Big, Strange Battery Bet (Voice of San Diego)
• Issa challenger was accused of “stalking”, harassing wife (Politico)

STATE

• Leniency has been hard on homeless (San Diego Union-Tribune)
• California halves medically uninsured rate to8.6%(Sacramento Bee)
• Who should pay fines if coastal commissioners are found guilty of breaking rules? Them or taxpayers? (Los Angeles Times)
• Utilities meet tight energy storage deadline (San Diego Union-Tribune)
• What stoned driving looks like and how California might regulate it  (Sacramento Bee)
• California Today: Your Voices (New York Times)

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

East County News Service

September 13, 2016 (San Diego's East County) -- East County Roundup highlights top stories of interest to East County and San Diego’s inland regions, published in other media. This week’s top “Roundup” headlines include:

LOCAL

• San Diego backcountry wildfire risk lessening, insurance group concludes (Los Angeles Times)
• Cancer Surgery Volumes at San Diego Hospitals May Warn of Complications (KPBS)
• 10,000th Syrian refugee will settle in El Cajon  (San Diego Union-Tribune)
• Affordability Report Ranks San Diego County Near the Bottom (KPBS)
• Mexican billionaire found guilty of buying political influence in San Diego (10 News)
• Judge sides with Monsanto in lawsuit  (San Diego Union-Tribune)
• Report probes Saudi links of San Diego's 9/11 hijackers (San Diego Union-Tribune)
• Faux city for Alzheimer’s patients takes shape (San Diego Union-Tribune)

STATE

• Yosemite National Park unveils 400-acre expansion (BBC)
• Sanchez calls on feds to takeover CPUC probe (San Diego Union-Tribune)
• Southern Calif. Gas Co. agrees to $4 million settlement over massive gas leak (CBS)
• This Mojave Desert solar plant kills 6,000 birds a year (Los Angeles Times)

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

September 2, 2016 (San Diego's East County) -- Our latest newsletter just came out --with all the hottest news and events impacting you in East County all in one single-page newsletter.  You can view the latest edition here.   

To get a free subscription to our weekly newsletter-- and also the option to get free wildfire and emergency alerts, click here. 

Tell your friends and family!

August 17, 2016 (San Diego's East County) -- East County Roundup highlights top stories of interest to East County and San Diego’s inland regions, published in other media. This week’s top “Roundup” headlines include:

LOCAL

• Sea level rise would redraw the map (San Diego Union-Tribune)
• Dumanis, Filner subpoenaed in Azano trial (10 News)
• 2 Ramona medical pot shops can proceed (Ramona Sentinel)
• Water authority’s electricity plan kicks off power struggle with SDG&E (Voice of San Diego)
• Auditor finds insider hiring at San Diego utilities department (San Diego Union-Tribune)
• News In Numbers: Data Shows Proposed San Diego Election Change Would Help Democrats(KPBS)

STATE

• Scathing audit bolsters critics’ fears about secretive state gang database (Voice of San  Diego)
• California Bill Would Make It a Felony for Prosecutors to Withhold Evidence(Reason)
• Mass migration missing from Salton Sea (Borrego Sun)
• California’s largest utility found guilty of obstructing investigators after a deadly explosion (Business Insider)
• California Freeways Will Soon Generate Electricity (L.A. Weekly)
• California university chancellor resigns after ethics probe (Reuters)
• California’s Six Figure Pension Club Has More Than 20,000 Members (Reason)

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

August 3, 2016 (San Diego's East County) -- East County Roundup highlights top stories of interest to East County and San Diego’s inland regions, published in other media. This week’s top “Roundup” headlines include:

LOCAL

• Heartbroken family hopes baby’s death from whooping cough raises awareness (Good Morning America)
• Tule Wind project takes another step (San Diego Union-Tribune)
• Sterling decides to leave council then changes mind (San Diego Union-Tribune)
• Voters to decide Lilac Hills project (San Diego Union-Tribune)
• Numbers show increase in assaults on San Diego Police officers in recent years (10 News)
• Cuyamaca College to launch fall program in Kumeyaay studies (Times of San Diego)
• Santee coach who had sex with student, 15, gets 1 year  in jail (Patch)
• Representative of CPUC addressed Alpine regarding EMF (Alpine Sun)

STATE

• State officials want these California reservoir owners to warn people not to eat the fish (Los Angeles Times)
• Big Sur fire spreads into Los Padres National Forest(San Jose Mercury News)
• Nuts, by the truckload,make appetizing targets for thieves (CNN)

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

By Miriam Raftery

July 26, 2016 (Lake Morena) – An online petition has been launched asking the City of San Diego to stop draining Lake Morena and Barrett Lake. Rural residents seek help from San Diego residents and all who are concerned about wildlife or the prospect of a devastating firestorm to sign the petition.

The petition, posted by Campo resident Karen Noblitt-McIntyre, accuses San Diego officials of ignoring public safety, noting that two residents died during the recent Border Fire. Firefighting aircraft were diverted to water sources farther away due to lack of water in these lakes, witnesses stated in recent public meetings.

The petition states that the city has put wildlife and rural communities at risk, also failing to live up to its promise to repair the dam at Lake Morena. The city drained Lake Morena to less than 3% of capacity and Barrett Lake to below 6% of capacity, public records indicate.  Although San Diego claimed it needed drinking water during the drought, the city did not ask its residents to conserve water before draining East County’s lakes.  The water was pumped to Otay reservoir, which overfilled when rain fell, so the city dumped the precious water supply into the ocean.

By Miriam Raftery, East County News Service

July 10, 2016 (El Cajon)—In January 2015, Pope Francis issued a ruling to protect Father Noel Gorgis, a popular, zealous priest at St. Peter’s Chaldean Cathedral in El Cajon, as ECM reported. The Pope invalidated a decree issued by Patriarch Mar Louis Raphael Sako, which would have required Father Noel and several other U.S. priests to return to Iraq, where the Islamic State has been slaughtering Christian religious leaders. The Pope’s action was applauded by local Chaldean leaders. Father Noel has been a leading voice locally and nationally, on behalf of Chaldean-Americans and Chaldean immigrants.

But now the new interim Bishop for the St. Peter Chaldean Catholic diocese of San Diego, Shlemun Warduni, has issued an order for Father Noel to leave St. Peter’s effective Friday, July 15, 2016, multiple church sources have confirmed.  Bishop Warduni is a temporary replacement for Bishop Sarhad Jammo, who recently retired and had been a defender of Father Noel, as ECM reported.

5 homes lost

By Miriam Raftery

Photo: Facebook post by Kerra Elizabeth McAhren

June 23, 2016 (San Diego’s East County) – This morning, the Border Fire is now 20% contained and has scorched 6,8450 acres as over 1,900 firefighters battle the blaze.  Five homes (of which 3 were secondary homes on the same property) and eleven outbuildings were destroyed, while one other home was damaged, Cal Fire confirms. Residents on the Campo-Lake Morena Neighborhood Watch page on Facebook have been posting eyewitness accounts, photos and videos as well as thank you messages for firefighters at https://www.facebook.com/groups/345408365593244/.

There will be a community meeting at the Los Coches Creek Middle School located at 9669 Dunbar Ln., El Cajon, CA at 7:00 pm today hosted by the Cal Fire IncidentManagement Team with an update on the Border Fire.  Representatives from agencies managing and supporting the incident as well as local dignitaries will provide a briefing and answer questions.  Public inquiries regarding the Community Meeting or Fire Information, please call 2-1-1.

“The fire still remains a threat to the communities of Lake Morena Village, Campo as well as the outlying recreational assets as the fire continues to move north and northeast. This is still a dynamic and active fire, residents in the surrounding area of the fire should continue to be prepared to evacuate if need be,” Cal Fire’s latest update reads.

June 15, 2016 (San Diego's East County) -- East County Roundup highlights top stories of interest to East County and San Diego’s inland regions, published in other media. This week’s top “Roundup” headlines include:

LOCAL

• Broken from baseball: the rise in youth baseball injuries (10 News investigation)
• Ninth circuit approves Tule Wind farm approval (Courthouse News)
• Former desert rail line prez penalized (Reader)
• San Diego County deputy D.A. accused of texting naked selfies, sexting  on county time (10 News)
• Strike vote to be taken by supermarket workers in San Diego(Reporting San Diego)
• Chinese migrants flocking to San Diego, stats show (San Diego Union-Tribune)
• Desalination test facility in the works (San Diego Union-Tribune)

STATE

• Judge in Stanford rapist case must go, California lawmakers urge (SacBee)
• Man with weapons and explosives arrested, was going to L.A. gay pride parade, police say (L.A. Times)
• California water savings increased despite eased mandates (San Diego Union-Tribune)
• California panels approve raft of gun control bills in wake of Orlando shootings (San Jose Mercury News)
• California Budget To Eliminate Contentious Welfare Policy  (KPBS)

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

East County News Service

Photo: Memorial in Hillcrest, posted on Twitter by Shawn Van Diver

June 12, 2016 (San Diego) -- The worst mass shooting in modern U.S. history is being investigated as both a terror attack and a hate crime.  Omar Mateen, 29, a U.S. citizen born to Afghan immigrants, killed 50 people and injured 53 during a gay pride celebration at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida early this morning. 

The gunman called 911 and pledged allegiance to ISIS, the Islamic state before the massacre, the FBI has indicated.

The massacre has prompted outpourings of sympathy across the nation and here in San Diego.