By Kevork Kurdoghlian, California Urban Forests Council

March 11, 2022 (San Diego’s East County) – AMPlifying the Urban Forest is coming to El Cajon and Santee on Saturday, March 12 to empower El Cajon, Santee and 26 municipal agencies and other organizations throughout California to plant nearly 2,000 trees with the help of volunteers. The program is developed and presented by the groundbreaking partnership between the California Urban Forests Council (CaUFC), West Coast Arborists (WCA), Taylor Guitars, Western Chapter of the International Society of Arboriculture (WCISA) and the Britton Fund.

Tree planting in El Cajon starts at 8 a.m. at Wells Park located at 1153 E Madison Ave, El Cajon, CA 92021.

In Santee, volunteers will start planting trees at 10 a.m. at Woodglen Vista Park located at 10250 Woodglen Vista Dr. Santee, Ca 92071.

Source:  City of La Mesa

March 11, 2022 (La Mesa) - “It is important that the commuting public is always mindful of the increase in children in and around our neighborhoods before and after school,” Sergeant Tim Purdy said. 

Source:  City of El Cajon

March 10, 2022 (El Cajon) - The City of El Cajon Teen Coalition is accepting nominations for the 2021 “Youth of the Year” award. The award recognizes outstanding students who go above and beyond to serve the El Cajon community.

By Miriam Raftery and Mike Allen

March 10, 2022 (San Diego) – Citing wildfire evacuation concerns, San Diego Superior Court Judge Katherine Bacal has ruled that the city of Santee and the City Council violated state law in approving Fanita Ranch, HomeFed’s long-planned 3,000 home development.  The project would be built on more than 2,600 acres of fire-prone hillsides in the city’s northwest section.

The ruling found that the city’s environmental review of the project was inadequate, violating California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) by failing to adequately disclose how the development would affect wildfire evacuations and safety in the surrounding community.

The Judge also slammed the city for its last-minute removal of the Magnolia Avenue extension from the project just six days before approving the project’s EIR, even though that extension had been touted as a key wildfire evacuation route. This was inadequate for public review or evaluation of impacts on neighbors along other connector roads should an evacuation be needed. In addition, the judge found, “the City’s decision not to recirculate the EIR violated CEQA.”

East County News Service

March 10, 2022 (San Diego) – A La Mesa man, 26, died at the scene of an accident early this morning after he was struck by a truck and ejected off his Honda motorcycle onto westbound State Route 52.

The accident occurred at 5:13 a.m. just west of Mast Blvd.  According to the California Highway Patrol, a Freightliner truck tractor-trailer combination driven by a 34-year-old Lakeside man collided with the motorcycle.

East County News Service

March 9, 2022 (Julian) – Julian’s annual “Taste of Julian” celebrates the town’s diverse culinary delights – proving there’s much more here than the community’s famed apples.  The self-guided tour includes a variety of participating restaurants, bakeries, and tasting rooms for wine, beer and cider on April 30 from 12:30 to 5 p.m.

East County News Service

March 9, 2022 (Ramona) – Photographer Scott Lagace was hiking in the Ramona Grasslands Preserve this week when he was fortunate enough to encounter a bobcat basking in the sun that obligingly posed for photos. Though this was one cool cat around the human present, bobcats are normally secretive and solitary. They have been protected species in California since 2020.

East County News Service

File photo: Cottonwood Golf Course, site of the proposed sand mine along the Sweetwater River

March 7, 2022 (Rancho San Diego) – Several community groups have sent letters to the county sharply criticizing the draft EIR on the proposal for a controversial 10-year open pit sand mining operation proposed on the site of the Cottonwood Golf Course.  Groups providing detailed comments on the inadequacy of the report include the Sycuan Band of the Kumeyaay Nation, the Sierra Club, the Valle de Oro Community Planning Group and Stop Cottonwood Sand Mine, a coalition of concerned residents.

By Miriam Raftery

Photo, left: Councilmember Liana LeBaron

Updated March 6, 2022 8:30 p.m. with comments from Councilman Gastil.

March 6, 2022 (Lemon Grove)  -- After weeks of contentious meetings, the Lemon Grove City Council will hold a special meeting on Tuesday, March 8 to consider a resolution for the Council majority to condemn alleged misconduct by Councilmember Liana LeBaron including disruptions at Council meetings and accusations made against staffers that the City contends are false.

The City Attorney has also sent a letter to LeBaron and other Councilmembers threatening legal action against her. 

Le Baron has denied wrongdoing. An attorney representing the Project for Open Government has also weighed in, criticizing the City's actions.

By Miriam Raftery

March 5, 2022 (Spring Valley) – State Route 94 is shut down this morning for investigation of a car-to-car shooting that injured a woman who was driving a white Ford Edge. She was traveling west on 94 just east of Kenwood Drive, along with two male passengers, at 5:40 a.m. when an unknown vehicle pulled p behind and opened fire.

“Several of the rounds penetrated the vehicle and the female driver was struck.  This caused driver of the Ford to veer to the left and crash into the center median,” says Officer Travis Garrow with the California Highway Patrol. “The unknown vehicle fled the scene westbound on State Route 94.”

By Miriam Raftery

March 4, 2022 (El Cajon) – A shoplifting suspect at the Walmart store in Parkway Plaza in El Cajon has been arrested and charged with attempted murder after reportedly striking a police officer with a baseball bat.

Tribe to benefit from low interest rate

Source:  Jamul Indian Village

Photo:  the Jamul Indian Village Development Corporation (JIVDC), owner and operator of Jamul Casino, recently closed on a refinance with a syndicate of commercial banks.  JIVDC was able to retire all of its high-interest pre-development debt and consolidate its financing in a single low-interest loan.

March 4, 2022 (Jamul) - On February 10, 2022, the Jamul Indian Village Development Corporation (JIVDC), owner and operator of Jamul Casino^®, closed on a refinance with a syndicate of commercial banks led by Western Alliance Bank.  The other lenders were U.S. Bank, Nevada State Bank, KeyBank, First-Citizens Bank & Trust Co. and Columbia State Bank.  JIVDC was able to retire all of its high interest pre-development debt and consolidate its financing in a single low interest loan.  With this refinance, the JIVDC was able to pay off the entirety of its high interest rate loan with funds from the refinance and significantly reduce the interest rate on its debt, dramatically improving the financial future of the Jamul Indian Village.

East County News Service

March 2, 2022 (Alpine) - Do you like whodunits, creepy psychological thrillers, or even cozy detective tales? Join your fellow mystery fans in a relaunch of the mystery and thriller book discussion group at the Alpine library on Tuesday, March 15 from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m.