Heartland Coalition

EAST COUNTY MAGAZINE RECEIVES $100,000 GRANT FROM FACEBOOK JOURNALISM PROJECT

 

COVID-19 Local News Relief Fund aids over 200 newsrooms nationwide

By Miriam Raftery

East County Magazine has been selected to receive $100,000 through the Facebook Journalism Project COVID-19 Local News Relief Fund Grant Program.  Facebook announced that more than 200 news organizations will receive nearly $16 million in grants through the program as part of Facebook’s $100 million global investment in news.

Read more about our grant project here.  View an index of our grant works to date, organized by topic. 


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SOCIETY OF PROFESSIONAL JOURNALISTS PRESENTS FOUR AWARDS TO EAST COUNTY MAGAZINE

 

By Miriam Raftery

Photo, left: Award-winning  journalists Rachel Williams, Rebecca Jefferis-Williamson, Jonathan Goetz, Miriam Raftery

July 20, 2017  (San Diego) – The Society of Professional Journalists San Diego Pro Chapter last night present four awards to East County Magazine at last night's awards banquet held at the Kona Kai resort, bringing ECM’s awards total to 101 since our inception in 2008. 

This year’s awards for our team, shared among five photojournalists, honored coverage of Border Fire controversies, the shooting of Alfred Olango and ensuing civil unrest in El Cajon, Syrian refugees, and ourradio broadcast of the Helix Water District candidate forum.


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NEW JOBS PROGRAM EMPLOYS AND EDUCATES HIGH SCHOOL DROPOUTS WHILE BUILDING AFFORDABLE SAN DIEGO HOMES

  

 

                                                                                            

By Terri Steele

 

July 17, 2017 (San Diego) -- There’s a ray of hope on the horizon for 16 to 24-year-olds looking for jobs, an education and a better future.  It springs from a $1.3 million U.S. Department of Labor grant recently awarded to the not-for-profit Heartland Coalition. 

The hope is with a program called YouthBuild.  And it’s working with East County community partners like Rock Church, Foothills, the County of San Diego and City of El Cajon to help them identify disaffected youth who are eager to get back to work and need an education.


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2015 WOMEN IN LEADERSHIP WINNERS ANNOUNCED BY SAN DIEGO-EAST COUNTY CHAMBER

 

 

East County Magazine Editor and Founder Miriam Raftery is among those honored

Photo:  2015 WILL winners (from left to right): Elizabeth Smith Chavez, Erica Pinto, Wendy Urushima-Conn, Mara Fortin, Molly Nocon, Miriam Raftery. Not shown: Carey Guthrie, Shelly Zimmerman.

October 19, 2015 (San Diego’s East County) -- The San Diego East County Chamber of Commerce has honored eight women with Women in Leadership Luncheon (WILL) awards.

Honorees included: Mara Fortin, Nothing Bundt Cakes; Carey Guthrie, Pacific Southwest Association of Realtors; Molly Nocon, Noah Homes; Erica Pinto, Jamul Indian Village; Miriam Raftery, East County Magazine; Elizabeth Smith Chavez, Smith Chavez Law; Wendy Urushima-Conn, Asian Business Association; Shelly Zimmerman, San Diego Police Department.

According to Leah McIvor, 2015 event chair, a record 41 nominees were considered by the committee for the awards program, now in its 13th year. She said the recipients were honored for their outstanding leadership, exemplary character and integrity in the community, as well as their efforts to empower women to succeed and prosper in life and business.


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EAST COUNTY MAGAZINE PUBLISHER HEARTLAND COALITION SUPPORTS FREE HEALTH SCREENINGS FOR CHILDREN AT KIDS CARE FEST SEPT. 12

 

August 28, 2015 (Lakeside) -- The Heartland Foundation, publisher of East County Magazine, an award-winning community publication, has been named a media partner of the 2015 Kids Care Fest, a free, family-oriented event open to the public. Kids Care Fest, featuring free health care screenings, will be held on Saturday, Sept. 12 at the Lakeside Rodeo Grounds,12584 Mapleview St., Lakeside. The event runs from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.


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OUR MAY 2015 RADIO SHOWS ARE NOW ONLINE

July 3, 2015 (San Diego’s East County) - - -Our May 2015 radio shows are now online!  You can listen online now (sound files may take a minute to load). For links to listen to the shows plus a full list of topics and interviews in May, click here and scroll down.

Our interviews included Jana Clark with Cleveland National Forest Foundation (on their suit over the county’s transit plan), internationally acclaimed wildlife photographer Roy Toft, , environmental activist Cindy Buxton (on progress toward Eagle Peak wilderness designation and on an ECM investigation that helped stop dumping on public lands) and Leticia Sandoval with Stronger Communities, a new nonprofit bringing help to East County residents.

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OUR APRIL 2015 RADIO SHOWS ARE NOW ONLINE

 

June 30, 2015 (San Diego's East County)--Our April 2015 radio shows are now online!  You can listen online now (sound files may take a minute to load). For links to listen to the shows plus a full list of topics and interviews in April, click here and scroll down.

Our interviews included Megan Hamilton with Surfrider Foundation on water-saving ideas, Author Deborah M. Pratt, Ashley Mazanec, San Diego Energy District Foundation, Ken Woodward, Ramona’s Woodward Museum, Jim Cooper, Ramona Old West Days, Joel Gossett, Circle Players on Café Murder, and Estela de los Rios on human trafficking.

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LIVING INDEPENDENTLY IS FOR EVERYONE

 

By Leon Thompson

September 20, 2014, El Cajon - Estreanda Fulford-Yates is the President of ‘Living Independently is for Everyone’ a nonprofit Corporation that benefits individuals with any level of disability with the goal of independent living.  Participants receive life training, job training and learn social skills that accelerate their ability to live independently.


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HEARTLAND COALITION: YOUTH BUILD CHARTER HIGH HELPS STUDENTS GET DIPLOMAS--AND JOBS

 

By Leon Thompson



May 30, 2014 (Lakeside) -- “Heartland Charter School helped me get a job,”  said Andy Casteruita.  “I learned good work habits and leadership skills.” Andy is one of 49 students at the Heartland Coalition’s one year old Youth Build Charter High School with classes and an office on Orange Avenue in City Heights.


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THE DEMISE OF LOCAL MEDIA: WHAT IF WE SOON HAVE NO NEWSPAPERS LEFT?

 

By Miriam Raftery

February 17, 2014 (San Diego’s East County)--As a journalist, I find it disturbing to see the high number of East County media outlets that have closed their doors, slashed content, or sold out to a corporate conglomerate in recent months.  Those remaining are struggling amid a culture of readers that increasing are failing to support the important job of news gathering that is so critical for our democracy—not to mention keeping you informed of breaking news, emergencies and events in your community.


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ENTER OUR EAST COUNTY WRITING CONTEST

 

DEADLINE EXTENDED TO MAY 10

Win prizes for your prose--including admission to a writers conference and a literary festival

 

April 25, 2014 (San Diego's East County)-- Love to write?  East County Magazine invites you to enter our 1st annual East County Writing Contest.  Description: Crank up your creative juices and send us your best short story, or first chapter of a novel, set in our inland region, East County (mountains, deserts, cities or towns east of I-15 in San Diego County).  Your story can be historical or contemporary, in any genre or style you choose – dramatic, romantic, mystery, humor, time travel…The only limit is your imagination!


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EAST COUNTY MAGAZINE WINS INTERNATIONAL AWARD FROM WORLD COUNCIL FOR NATURE

 

January 30, 2014 (San Diego’s East County) – East County Magazine has been awarded the World Council for Nature’s 2013 award.

“A number of articles published in East County Magazine have been brought to my attention,” Mark Duchamp, Chairman of WCFN, a global organization based in Spain, wrote in an e-mail to ECM’s editor. “The work you do informing people of the threats against nature in your county is commendable. The World Council for Nature wishes to honor your publication with the WCFN award for 2013.”


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SAN DIEGAN JIM BELL TO PRESENT FINDINGS AT CHINA'S 2013 LOW CARBON EARTH SUMMIT

 

September 12, 2013 (San Diego) – Jim Bell, a San Diego expert on developing cost-effective and life-support-system-effective (low and carbon free) economies, will present his findings on creating  a sustainable future at the Low Carbon Earth Summit in Xi’an, China,  held September 26-28.  Founder of the Ecological Life Systems Institute, a division of the Heartland Coalition, Bell will instruct conference attendees how efficient energy use and renewable energy development are foundational to the long term success of regional and national economies worldwide. He will also show how renewably produced, carbon free electricity can be used to make regions and countries renewable energy, water and food self-sufficient, in life-support sustaining ways. Additionally, he will show how true-cost and cradle to cradle pricing can be used to create real, mutually beneficial, free-market economies.


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EAST COUNTY MAGAZINE RADIO SHOWS FOR AUGUST ARE POSTED: LISTEN NOW!

 

August 31, 2013 (San Diego’s East County) -- Podcasts of our August radio show broadcasts are now posted online -- so you can listen to shows you missed them on the airways.  Click "read more" below  to open and then scroll down for  links to each show with a lineup of  guests.

Our show schedule has changed. It now runs Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m. and repeats on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 10 a.m. on KNSJ 89.1 FM.  If you can’t hear the signal, you can listen live at www.knsj.org or click “read more” below and scroll down to hear podcasts of past shows.  We welcome your feedback and suggestions for future shows!

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ECM’S NONPROFIT PUBLISHER, HEARTLAND COALITION, HONORED BY U.S. DEPT. OF COMMERCE’S MINORITY BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT AGENCY

Story and photos by I.C.  Jimenez

November 8, 2012 (San Diego)--Heartland Coalition has received the prestigious “Service Firm of The Year” award by the Minority Business Development Agency.  The award, presented October 25 in Riverside, recognizes individuals and organizations that have demonstrated leadership and commitment in advancing minority business enterprises.  The MBDA theme for this year is “Build it here-sell it everywhere.”


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HEARTLAND HOSTS FREEDOM FESTIVAL NOV. 5-6 IN SAN DIEGO

Business Mixer, Political Mixer, and Festivities Focus on Restoring American Dream

November 4, 2012 (San Diego)--Celebrate being American at a fun-filled two day festival at historic Tuna Harbor Park (700 North Harbor Drive) in San Diego, CA on November 5 and 6  from 10 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. The Freedom Festival is dedicated to connecting people to resources for establishing our original values as Americans, bringing together pioneers dedicated to the promise of the “American Dream” and the prospect of growing businesses to promote the American economy and jobs.


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LIVING GREEN AT BLUE SKY RANCH: SEPT. 29 IN LAKESIDE

Find inspiration, savor a fresh foods buffet, and learn the latest in sustainability

By Walt Meyer

September 16, 2012 (Lakeside)--At Heartland Coalition/UnitedGREEN's  Forging a Sustainable Future event at San Diego State University in March, keynote speaker Robert F. Kennedy Jr. shared the importance of changing how we all live in light of the global climate crisis. But as has been said many times, all global change starts with local action--and there has never been a better time to take steps for real change. Toward that end, Heartland Coalition’s UnitedGREEN division is producing a series of customized Forging a Sustainable Future Solutions events to advance its mission of transforming the San Diego region.

The first FSFS event will be “Living Green at Blue Sky Ranch” on September 29 from 3-6:30 p.m. Exhibits and experts will explain permaculture, wildfire protection, Community Supported Agriculture, grey water, water catchment, organic farming and gardening, and other aspects of this self-sustaining community in Lakeside. The aim is to encourage others to emulate techniques used at Blue Sky Ranch (BSR) and invite people to showcase their innovations on the property. Early bird rates of $20 have been extended; at the door rates are $35/person or $60/couple.


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HEARTLAND COALITION TAKES NEIGHBORHOOD REDEVELOPMENT SERIOUSLY AT GREEN UP-CLEAN UP BLOCK PARTY

 

 
By Sherry Adler, El Cajon, CA
 
June, 22, 2012 (Chula Vista)  --  An uninhabitable residence at 102 East Oxford Street in Chula Vista provided the setting for Heartland Sustainable Housing (HSH)’s “Clean Up-Green Up Block Party” on Saturday, June 16. HSH is a division of the nonprofit Heartland Coalition, publisher of East County Magazine.

 


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HOW OUR NATIONAL DEBT HELPED PAY FOR MY COLLEGE EDUCATION

 

By Ellinoa Blake

June 19, 2012 (San Diego)--Recently I won a $48,000 scholarship funded by STOP2011, a Heartland Coalition project. This number represents more than a weight off my chest for college, however. It is the amount of debt each American owes if the United States national deficit was divided by the number of our citizens.


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GREENSMART TECHNICAL COLLEGE COMING TO SAN DIEGO—ALONG WITH ELECTRIC CAR ENGINE MANUFACTURING PLANT

 

An ECM exclusive special report


Amptran is developing an electric engine with capacity to travel 400 miles between charges using lithium air technology. The break-through could revolutionize the car industry --and eliminate U.S. dependence on OPEC Mideast oil

By Miriam Raftery


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WORRIED ABOUT STUDENTS' DEBT? LOCAL GROUP OFFERS $47,000 SCHOLARSHIP FOR A HIGH SCHOOL SENIOR: DEADLINE NOV. 23 TO APPLY


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FORGING A SUSTAINABLE FUTURE: A 2-PART EVENT TO CHANGE SAN DIEGO’S FUTURE, STARTS THIS WEEKEND AT QUALCOMM HQ

November 8, 2011 (San Diego)--UnitedGREEN’s Forging a Sustainable Future event series begins on November 12 and 13 at Irwin M. Jacobs Hall at Qualcomm Corporate Headquarters in Sorrento Valley. This two-part event covers a wide array of topics including green building, green job training, building sustainable communities, community redevelopment, renewable energy sources, community- centered architecture, and green transportation. The goal of the conference is to plan for economic, environmental, and cultural sustainability in the San Diego/Tijuana region. View video of ECM publisher Mark Hanson of Lakeside discussing this global event (click screen above).


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NEED MONEY? “GRANTWRITING FOR SUCCESS: SOURCES & STRATEGIES” WORKSHOP OFFERS NATIONAL EXPERT’S TIPS MAY 6 IN SAN DIEGO

 

Jan McAdams, national grantwriting expert with over $125 million in funded grants and sponsorships, will speak at event sponsored by Heartland Coalition/UnitedGREEN

 


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ASSEMBLY CANDIDATE MARK HANSON REVEALS COMMITMENTS TO BRING 32 GREEN MANUFACTURING COMPANIES TO CALIFORNIA & CREATE 2,200 JOBS

 

New jobs include many slated for East County;

Cedar Fire survivor also calls for stronger fire protection and improved emergency notification in region

By Miriam Raftery
 


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JOBS! ECM PUBLISHER MARK HANSON LEADS EFFORT TO TRAIN LOCAL WORKERS FOR GULF OIL SPILL CLEANUP; SAN DIEGO TEAM HEADS TO LOUSIANA JUNE 13

 

HUNDREDS OF JOBS FOR LOCAL WORKERS: 

LMI teams up with Urban League, Heartland Coalition,  Progressive Environmental Services and Job Corps to address nation's worst environmental disaster

 

Update June 14:  LMI's team of 50 trained local workers have been delayed departing for the Gulf because BP has failed to provide payment for their transportation.  Hanson has called for President Obama to set up an escrow fund with BP money to be used to expedite cleanup of the spill. 

  

By Miriam Raftery
 

 

June 5, 2010 (San Diego) – “This is an unprecedented oil    spill,” Lakeside resident Mark Hanson, chief executive officer of Leadership Management International in San Diego, told a crowd of eager job applicants assembled at Urban League in San Diego yesterday. “Oil is now landing on one of the most pristine coasts in Florida and satellite images show a reddish glob of goop in the ocean that’s the size of several states.” 

 

Hanson, who also heads up Heartland Coalition, publisher of East County Magazine, led the successful effort for LMI to obtain a contract from Progressive Environmental Services (PES) of Virginia to provide hazardous materials training locally and ultimately send hundred of San Diego-area workers to Gulf coast states to assist in cleaning up oil from beaches, coastal wetlands, waterways and wildlife.


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GARAMENDI OFFERS SOLUTIONS TO ATTAIN A SUSTAINABLE CALIFORNIA

GARAMENDI OFFERS SOLUTIONS TO ATTAIN A SUSTAINABLE CALIFORNIA

 

By Jackie Hanson

 


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FACING FORECLOSURE? NEED INFO ON HOME LOANS? GET HELP AT FREE HOMEOWNER PRESERVATION SEMINAR APRIL 18 IN SAN DIEGO

By Miriam Raftery April 13, 2009 (San Diego)—At a time when many lenders have evicted families and aggressively foreclosed on, one lender has taken a different approach, setting up a series of events to help families find ways to avoid foreclosure. On April 18th, Project Homeowner, a program to advise California homeowners facing foreclosure on how to keep their homes, will be held on April 18th from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the San Diego Concourse, Golden Hall, 202 C Street in San Diego. The event is sponsored by JP Morgan Chase & Co.


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