Source: City of El Cajon

December 24, 2017 (El Cajon) -- The El Cajon City Council is now accepting applications for Personnel Commission, Planning Commission, and Veterans’ Commission. The filing period is December 13, 2017, through January 11, 2018, at 5:30 p.m.  Applicants will be interviewed and appointed on January 23, 2018, at 7:00 p.m. in the Council Chamber, 200 Civic Center Way, El Cajon, CA 92020.

By Miriam Raftery

Photo: Julian Market & Deli, decked out for Fourth of July

December 23, 2017 (Julian) – The holidays just got a lot merrier for one lucky Julian resident or visitor.

A lottery ticket sold at the Julian Market & Deli, 2202 Main Street in the mountain town of Julian has five winning numbers in the multi-state Mega Millions lottery and is worth $1,298,334, the state lottery announced yesterday. 

The five winning numbers drawn Friday were 1, 20, 30, 33, and 42.  The Mega number, 16, was not on the Julian ticket.

East County News Service

December 23, 2017 (El Cajon) – “The internet has enabled endless positive opportunities for time saving applications, navigation and access to news and information that could never be possible without it.  But it also provides access for predators to monitor and interact with unsuspecting juvenile and adult victims,” says Lieutenant Rob Rainsweiler with the El Cajon Police Department. “In this case, an El Cajon Police Detective was able to locate these two suspects who were using the internet to arrange to have sex with what they believed was a 13 year old girl.  They arranged to meet her at a hotel in El Cajon where they were contacted and arrested. “

The suspects arrested are Amer Jamil Mansour, 60, and Salman Dawood Salman, 63. 

East County News Service

December 22, 2017 (San Diego’s East County) – The National Weather Service has issued a frost advisory for tonight that includes inland desert regions in San Diego County. Temperatures could reach as low as 25 degrees in some places.

Pet owners are advised to bring pets inside tonight and to bring in or cover plants sensitive to cold, such as tropical plants or citrus.

East County News Service

December 21, 2017 (Spring Valley) – The Sheriff's SWAT/Special Enforcement Detail (SED) assisted the Rancho San Diego Crime Suppression Team (CST) and Area Detectives with serving a search warrant at the Club 64 marijuana dispensary located at 8650½ Bancroft Drive in Spring Valley, this morning at 8:30 a.m.

“The search warrant was the direct result of numerous complaints from concerned citizens regarding the illegal marijuana dispensary,” says Sergeant Matt Cook. “As a result of the search warrant, deputies located a large amount of marijuana, marijuana edibles, cash, marijuana paraphernalia as well as items used in the sales of marijuana.”

By Paul Kruze

Hear audio of meeting: http://www.mediafire.com/file/bo4c5wwv6k6tmcb/SanteeSPARC12142017Meeting.mp3

December 21, 2017 (Santee) -- Cigarette smokers in our region may end up with one less place to smoke if the Santee City Council approves a recommendation of the Santee Park and Recreation Committee (SPARC) to ban smoking on its numerous hiking trails located within the city limits. Smoking would still be allowed in public parks, leaving Santee the last city in San Diego County to still allow smoking in public parks, although the city does restrict smoking to designated areas during special events.

Smoking marijuana, however, will remain prohibited in Santee parks, although the state is set to decriminalize use on January 1 after voters passed Proposition 64 legalizing the public recreational use and commercial purchase of marijuana.

East County News Service

December 20, 2017 (Dehesa) -- Carnaval Fantastique will bring performers from around the world to Sycuan’s Live and Up Close Theatre on January 7^th in a celebration of music and action that combines gravity-defying acrobatics, contortionists, jugglers, comedy, beautiful dancers and dynamic laser special effects.

By Miriam Raftery

December 19, 2017 (El Cajon) – El Cajon Police have arrested two adults and a juvenile in connection with the December 12^th stabbing death of Kyle Khamphan and the attempted murder of a juvenile victim, says Lt. Rob Rainsweier, public information officer for ECPC.

By Miriam Raftery

Photo by Dennis Richardson

December 19, 2017 (San Diego’s East County) – SDG&E has responded to our inquiry seeking answers to questions raised by concerned readers during planned outages to 17,000 SDG&E customers due to last week’s high winds, which ECM reported on here and here.

Helen Gao,  communications manager for Sempra Energy,  parent company of SDG&E,  sent the following reply to our questions on topics including loss claims, factors that determine when to shut off power, people with medical needs, support for residents during outages in need of water and communications, adjusting bills to eliminate charges during outages, and what might be done in communities with repeated outages to reduce or eliminate that need in the future.

Below is her response in full, followed by comments from rural residents with contrasting opinions on the outages:

East County News Service

December 18, 2017 (Spring Valley) – A federal judge has sentenced Spring Valley resident Robert Lee Talnadge, 55, to six years in prison after he pled guilty to receiving child pornography.  The U.S. Attorney’s Office in San Diego announced that Talnadge had over a million images and 25,000 videos of children in sexually explicit acts.

Update December 19, 2017:  The plane had taken off from Gillespie Field when the pilot reported engine trouble. He was trying to return to the airport when the crash occurred. Two of the three men aboard were officers with the Huntington Beach Police Department. The two officers have been released from the hospital, according to the Orange County Register, but the third man remains hospitalized.

East County WIldfire & Emergency Service

Photos by John Sulser

December 17, 2017 (El Cajon) -- A single engine plane has crashed near Gillespie Way and Weld in El Cajon, close to Gillespie Field, El Cajon Police report.

Witnesses report a pilot, copilot and passenger escaped before the plane caught fire and have been transported to a hospital.

by Paul Kruze

Hear audio of Mayor Wells’ State of the City address

December 15, 2017 (El Cajon) -- El Cajon Mayor Bill Wells painted a positive picture of his city in his annual “State of the City” address at the City Council Chambers on Tuesday.

Wells began his address saying that for the past several years, the City of El Cajon has attempted to create a new atmosphere for its businsses, residents, and visitors. He said that in 2017 the city had made significant progress towards this goal. “New and exciting things are continuing to happen for El Cajon, and more is yet to come,” he stated. “The City of El Cajon is taking enormous strides to improve the quality of life liveability of the city for residents and businesses. The city is engaged in major economic development making our city more effiicient, increasing the safety of the community, and rebranding El Cajon as a family friendly place.”

Residents angered at loss of water pumps, alarm systems, refrigeration, comunication and heat during outages up to a week in some areas that have suffered repeated outages

By Miriam Raftery

December 12, 2017 (San Diego’s East County) – SDG&E announced last night that it has fully restored power to all customers who were de-energized due to “public safety concerns” following a week-long red flag warning with strong gusty winds, low humidity and dangerous fire conditions.  An SDG&E media release states, “After crews inspected power lines all day in coordination with contract firefighters who were on hand to ensure a safe restoration process, power was turned on for all remaining customers. Field crews patrolled on the ground and in the air. Aerial inspections were completed by five helicopters in rural, mountainous areas."

Power remains out to 56 customers in the Lilac Fire zone in North County, where full restoration is expected early Tuesday evening. All 43 poles damaged in the fire will be replaced with fire-resistant steel poles and thicker, stronger wires, SDG&E indicates, adding, ““We understand that being without power, for any reason, is an inconvenience and we appreciate the patience we have received from our customers.”  For current information on outages and restoration times, visit sdge.com/outage.

Across East County,  many residents in rural, mountain and high desert towns have taken to social media to voice concerns over the prolonged outages.  Although SDG&E says it did provide advance notice to 170,000 customers of possible planned outages due to high winds and fire danger, before shutting off power to many thousands of homes, many rural residents say that’s not enough – and they want changes made. Below are highlights of residents' concerns and proposals.

East County News Service

December 13, 2017 (El Cajon) – A 20-year-old man is dead and a 17-year-old has been treated for stab wounds following an altercation in the 700 block of East Park Avenue in El Cajon around 7:30 last night.