By Miriam Raftery

Updated 3 p.m. with new outage information

November 24, 2022 (San Diego’s East County) – Gusty winds howled across East County’s mountains and rural region last night and early today, Thanksgiving morning.  Strong winds are forecast to continue through Friday.

The National Weather Service reports peak gusts as high as 89 miles per hour on Sill Hill near Descanso and 75 mph on Cuyamaca Peak in San Diego’s inland region between 10 p.m. last night and 10 a.m. today. Many other local areas had strong winds as well.

SDG&E reports outages in Campo, Dulzura, and Potrero with power restoration expected around 6 p.m. due to a foreign object hitting a power line, putting a damper on Thanksgiving cooking. In Granite Hills/Bostonia areas of El Cajon, outages have left people without power until an estimated 6 p.m. power restoration time. Two outages in the Julian, Wynola, Pine Hills and Santa Ysabel areas is due to have power restored around 5:30 p.m. Outages in East County have a 4 p.m. projected power restoration time. An earlier outage in Live Oak Springs, Boulevard and Jacumba, has been restored. Find out the latest outage info at to the SDG&E outage map.  

By Miriam Raftery

Photo  left:  water drains from Loveland Reservoir in Alpine to Sweetwater Reservoir in Otay;

Photo, right: bare mudflat at Loveland, once  400 surface acres, now doomed to be dropped to just 10.

November 23, 2022 (Alpine) – Without any regard to impacts on wildlife, fire danger, rural residents or recreational users at Loveland Reservoir near Alpine in San Diego's East County, the Sweetwater Water Authority (SWA) on November 16 began draining down the lake with an intent to reduce it to “dead pool” level – less than one-half of one percent of the reservoir’s capacity, once draining is completed over the next couple of weeks or so.

The water is being transferred to Sweetwater Reservoir in Spring Valley. From there, it will be used to provide drinking water and other water needs to residents in the South Bay communities of Chula Vista, National City and Bonita.

But critics say  the action is destroying habitat for wildlife, perhaps forever, also eliminating fishing at the area's only reservoir with free fishing access, and threatening firefighters' ability to combat fast-moving wildfires .  Critics also contend that draining the reservoir so low is unnecssary at current drought levels. Yet the people most negatively impacted have no representation on the SWA board, which doesn't include East County.

East County News Service

November 22, 2022 (El Cajon) – Outback Steakhouse® announced the re-opening of its El Cajon, CA restaurant after a complete remodel. The restaurant has been closed since May of this year. The El Cajon location was the first Outback Steakhouse to open in Southern CA in 1994. The newly renovated Outback – located at 722 Jamacha Road– re-opened to guests on November 9.

November 22, 2022 (Alpine) -- Josh Stotler snapped this inspirational image of a starburst sun beaming morning rays onto a field in Alpine, California. 

East County News Service

November 22, 2022 (Spring Valley) -- Two men have been arrested for the murder of 32-year-old Jorkim Rose in Spring Valley. Authorities believe the killing was gang related.

Source:  City of El Cajon

November 21, 2022 (El Cajon) - The City of El Cajon has been recognized as a Top Workplace in San Diego for 2022. The award comes solely from employee feedback gathered through a third-party survey. The survey measures organizational culture, empowerment of staff to meet customer needs, an environment of innovation, and employee engagement.

East County News Service

November 21, 2022 (Lakeside) -- Santa and his elves at the Lakeside Chamber of Commerce are hard at work, getting ready for the 25^th annual Spirit of Christmas on Maine Avenue in Lakeside on Saturday, Dec. 3 from 3 p.m. to 7:30 p m.

East County News Service

November 21, 2022 (Spring Valley) - Noah Homes in Spring Valley invites you to its annual Enchanted Village December 16-22 from 5-8 p.m. 

Guests will  stroll through acres of brilliantly lit trees, magical cottages, light tunnels, live entertainers, and over a million lights with interactive displays and other festive decorations. Santa will be at the Enchanted Village every night for photos with guests. 

Donations are requested to support lifelong homes for people with developmental disabilities at Noah’s Homes.  For more information, visit enchantedvillage.org/.  

By Miriam Raftery

November 19, 2022 (La Mesa) – California Highway Patrol seeks witnesses to a fatality accident that occurred yesterday at 10:50 a.m. on Interstate 8 near Severin Drive in La Mesa. 

View video of forum: (note: forum ran longer than anticipated, so some questions at end were not recorded.)

By Christianne McCormick

November 17, 2022 (El Cajon) -- A highly anticipated forum on homelessness in El Cajon was held on October 22 at Grossmont College with city and county leaders. The panel, convened by Supervisor Joel Anderson, also included El Cajon Councilmembers Steve Goble and Phil Ortiz, City Manager Graham Mitchell and Police Chief Michael Moulton. All weighed in on the public’s concern about the growing issue throughout East County and especially in the city of El Cajon.  

East County Wildfire and Emergency Alerts

Update: The fire burned approximately 10 acres, including an abandoned home on McGinty Peak.

November 16, 2022 (Spring Valley) -- Cal Fire has responded to the #Willow9Fire, a vegetation blaze that has burned 4-5 acres southeast of Steele Canyon Road and WIllow Glen Road in Spring Valley. 

The fire is in the vicinity of Steele Canyon High and Jamacha Elementary Schools. It began around 7:25 p.m.

It is burning at a moderate rate of spread. Humidity is very low and peak gusts are around 20 miles per hour.

There appears to be a structure threat. Incident commander has requested a Type 1 structure strike team and additional engines. A night-flying helicopter is also requested.

Kathleen Hedberg provided this image of McGinty Peak.

East County News Service

November 16, 2022 (La Mesa) – Charles William “Chuck” Muse, long-serving member and past president of the Helix Water District, died November 10.

"We at Helix Water District are saddened by the news of Chuck Muse’s passing," said Kathleen Coates Hedberg, current president of Helix Water District’s board of directors. "He served on the Helix Board from 2004-2016 and represented the communities of Lemon Grove and La Mesa. He was active in the community on many boards. We are grateful for his service and he will be missed."

Update November 16, 2022 – This race has tightened further, with the top three candidates in a near dead heat for the two Council seats.  Only 49 votes separate Dillard, who is in the lead, from Lothian in second, while just 31 votes separate Lothian from Afshan, who is currently in third. Countywide, 80,000 votes remain to be tallied, though the Registrar has not disclosed how many are in La  Mesa.

If Lothian squeaks out a win and Afshan fails to win a seat, it will likely be due in part to Brand, a Democrat who withdrew from the race too late to remove her name from the ballot, likely drawing votes away from fellow Democrats Afshan and Dillard, the party-endorsed candidates. Lothian was endorsed by Republicans. Though the race is officially nonpartisan, both parties sent mailers urging voters to party-backed candidates.

November 15, 2022 (La Mesa) – The latest election returns from the County Registrar of Voters show that Patricia Dillard has taken the lead over Councilmember Laura Lothian, with Mejgan Afshan a close third.  The top two vote-getters will win the seats.