By Miriam Raftery

September 15, 2014 (San Diego)--San Diego City Councilwoman Marti Emerald has been diagnosed with breast cancer and will be undergoing outpatient surgery, she revealed on her Facebook page.

By Nadin Abbott

Sep. 14, 2014 (San Diego) The San Diego Unified School District has announced that schools will be on minimum school day tomorrow due to the heat. These will be schools without 100 percent air conditioning.

By Miriam Raftery

September 12, 2014 (San Diego) – There won’t be a gas-fired power plant built next to Mission Trails Regional Park. Plans for the controversial project have been withdrawn at the request of a letter sent by Quail Brush GENCO LLC, the project applicant, to the California Energy Commission on September 12.

The project had faced strong opposition including city councils of both Santee and San Diego, the Santee School District, environmental groups and residents. 

Preserve Wild Santee posted the following message on its Facebook page upon hearing the news:

E - The Environmental Magazine

Dear EarthTalk: I thought that putting ethanol in our gas tanks was going help fight climate change, but lately I’ve heard reports to the contrary. Can you enlighten?       -- Bill B., Hershey, PA

Ethanol and similar “biofuels” made from corn and other crops seem like a good idea given their potential for reducing our carbon outputs as well as our reliance on fossil fuels. But recent research has shown that the federal government’s push to up production of corn-derived ethanol as a gasoline additive since 2007 has actually expanded our national carbon footprint and contributed to a range of other problems.

By Miriam Raftery

September 13, 2014 (Sacramento)—The Secretary of State’s office has found that backers of a ballot initiative that would divide California into six separate states fell short of the required 807,615 signatures needed.  Supporters turned in over 1.2 million signatures, but a random check to verify the validity found only 752,685 signatures were valid—66.1% of those turned in.

Law enforcement can keep 80% of cash seized, a system critics say has led to victimization of innocent people

By Nadin Abbott

September 13, 2014 (San Diego) East County Magazine was informed by a reader in Santa Ysabel about seizure of $4,500 during a Sheriff’s raid locally. A member of the household was arrested on drug charges, Sheriff’s records indicate. But a relative claims the money belonged to the suspect’s father--savings that the older man intended to use to purchase a car.

By Miriam Raftery

September 13, 2014 (Alpine)—Tina Smyth, owner of the Atria Salon in Alpine, suffered serious injuries from a brutal attack during an attempted robbery at her shop on April 8, 2014.  In a blog posted at the Alpine Community News site, Smyth says she has now been forced to put her shop up for sale because her injuries prevent her from working more than a couple of days a week.

By Miriam Raftery

Photo courtesy of CAL-FIRE

September 13, 2014 (Cleveland National Forest) – Over 200 homes are under evacuation orders in Silverado Canyon in Orange County due to the Silverado Fire burning in the Cleveland National Forest. The blaze, which started yesterday, has scorched over 1,500 acres. Other fires are also taking a heavy toll on federal public lands.

Firefighting resources are battling blazes in Yosemite National Park as well as Klamath, Sequoia, Lassen, and Shasta-Trinity National Forests. Fueled by tinder-dry conditions amid the worst drought in memory, the fires have collectively burned over a quarter of  a million acres—and it’s only September.

September 13, 2014 (Sacramento)—If you’re a part-time or full-time worker, you’ll soon have at least three paid sick leave days a year, starting in July 2015.

By Miriam Raftery

September 13, 2014 (San Diego) – A virus suspected of sickening hundreds of children in the Midwest this summer is spreading across the nation, with 80 cases confirmed, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control reports.

September 11, 2014 (Lakeside) -- The Barona Cultural Center and Museum invites San Diegans to learn the art of Southern California Style Pottery Making at a workshop led by Tony Soares. Pottery is one of the oldest forms of utilitarian objects used by the Kumeyaay/Diegueño people and other indigenous groups for the storage of water, food and seeds. Tony Soares will show participants how to grind and process raw clay, shape and build a pot, and then fire the final piece.

Our East County Magazine Show's July radio broadcasts are now online, covering hot issues from the Banner Fire to immigrant children to local rallies to save Iraqi Christians. We also interviewed local authors, musicians, a new winery owner, and a representative of the Lions Clubs’ Camp Jack in Descanso for disadvantaged children. Plus we had coverage and analysis of local and national issues, from the minimum wage to  some controversial Supreme Court rulings.

We also rebroadcast of our interview with Sycuan Chairman Daniel Tucker on the tribe’s Emmy Award winning documentary on Kumeyaay history, plus on the 4th of July weekend, we re-aired our “Spirits of 1776” dramatic presentation featuring `interviews’ with our nation’s founding fathers and mothers. Plus we brought you on-the-scene coverage of Descanso Days.

For a full list of interviews and issues on each of our July shows, click here, or click “read more” and scroll down. To listen to future shows, tune in to KNSJ 89.1 FM Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 9 a.m. or listen online live during our broadcasts at www.KNSJ.org.

Tips Available for Customers to Save Energy

Sept. 12, 2014 (San Diego)– As some of the hottest weather of the year approaches over the next several days, San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E) is prepared to meet system demand with crews on standby if needed, and tips available for customers to save energy and avoid high bills caused by increased energy use.

Child of The Storm, by Kirk Lee Aeder (Mutual Publishing, LLC, Honolulu, Hawaii, 2012, 306 pages).

Book Review by Dennis Moore

September 12, 2014 (San Diego's East County) - Kirk Lee Aeder, currently a resident of Hawaii, the acknowledged birthplace of surfing, has written an iconic book about how an angry young man formed a bond with the sea and changed our lives forever; Child of The Storm.It has been described as “One of the most compelling, tragic, yet inspiring stories in the history of surfing.” It is all that, and much more! Aeder’s book is the story of Chris O’Rourke, a shy young Irish boy from New Jersey who had an affinity for playing in the water. It chronicles O’Rourke’s family being unexpectedly forced to flee their East Coast home and lavish lifestyle, and journey as far west as possible, La Jolla and the shores of the Pacific Ocean. It is very possible from reading this heartfelt and well written book, that the presumed anger in this young man came about as a result of this sudden uprooting of his family.