Update: Barbara "Betty" Wells has been found safe in Cathedral City in Riverside County.

By Miriam Raftery

April 5, 2020 (San Diego) – The Sheriff seeks public help to find Barbara “Betty” Welt, 86, reported missing yesterday by her daughter. She has dementia and speaks with a German accent. She was last seen yesterday getting off a bus in Miramar in a blue sweatshirt, maroon pants, black shoes and carrying a black purse. She was asking for directions to Palm Springs and may be trying to get a ride to her former home there.  

After going missing from her daughter’s home in Rancho Santa Fe, she got a ride to the Escondido Transit station before taking the bus to Miramar yesterday morning. She is 5 feet 4 inches tall, weights about 150 pounds, has hazel eyes and white hair.

By Miriam Raftery

April 3, 2020 (San Diego's East County) --  A quake measuring 4.9 on the Richter scale occurred this evening at 6:53 p.m. near Anza, at the boundary of San Diego and Riverside counties.  The U.S. Geological  Survey earlier ranked the quake a 4.6 but later upgraded its intensity.

The shallow quake, at a depth of about 6.6 miles, occurred along the San Jacinto fault which seismologists have previously indicated is capable of generating a powerful quake up to 7.5 in magnitude. There is a 5 percent chance that this quake could be a precurser to a large quake within the next 48 hours, seismologist Tom Rockwell with San Diego State University told the San Diego Union Tribune.

By Miriam Raftery

April 3, 2020 (Tecate) – Along the California-Mexico border at Tecate in San Diego’s East County, construction of the border wall is being done by workers not maintaining social distancing or wearing masks—despite national, state and county emergency declarations due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Construction is deemed an essential business under California’s emergency order and the Trump administration has specifically deemed building the border wall essential.  But why are no precautions being taken to protect the health of workers and the public?

By Miriam Raftery

April 2, 2020 (San Diego) – Over 849 cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed in San Diego County. Of those, 1.4%, or 15 people have died, according to  County health officials. The county has identified several cluster outbreaks, including an outbreak in East County linked to the PalmCare Pharmacy in El Cajon,  NBC-7 reports.

A 25-year-old pharmacy tech who worked there , and who  had hoped to become a doctor, died last week at his family’s home in Riverside County. The pharmacy’s customers included many in East County’s Iraqi Chaldean community.

By Rebecca Jefferis Williamson

File photos by Miriam Raftery

March 31, 2020 (Alpine) -- Local tigers and other rescued exotic animals at Alpine’s Lions Tigers & Bears Animal Sanctuary need your monetary help.  The tigers, and more, need to keep eating even during today’s economic hard times induced by the COVID-19 crisis.

With millions in stay-at-home lockdown locally and nationally, money from attendance at the sanctuary has evaporated. The facility is closed to the public due to the pandemic. The COVID-19 shutdown has also forced postponement or cancellation of fundraising events for the foreseeable future.

You can donate at https://www.lionstigersandbears.org.  

Founder Bobbi Brinks set up the rescue facility and dedicated it to providing a safe haven for abused and abandoned exotic animals for life.

Unlike the infamous facility featured on “Tiger King,” Lions, Tigers and Bears is a no-kill and no-breeding  sanctuary.

By Paul Kruze

March 31, 2020 (El Cajon)-- Cajon Valley Union School District (CVUSD) Superintendent David Miyashiro, EdD and Board of Trustees have walked into a new controversy after reports by NBC San Diego and the San Diego Union-Tribune on pay raises authorized the district board.

Following a call to action by the Cajon Valley Employees Association (CVEA), some 100 CVUSD teachers wearing red t-shirt and coats gathered in the CVUSD boardroom on March 10, the last board meeting before the district shut down due to COVID-19. In no uncertain terms, employees let the Board of Trustees and district cabinet know of their unhappiness with recent pay raises given to Superintendent David Miyashiro, EdM and others.

By Miriam Raftery

March 27, 2020 (Lemon Grove) – Amid a wave of fiscal bad news for Lemon Grove, from its sales tax measure failing to the Covid-19 crisis dropping sales tax revenues even further due to business shutdowns, one slice of good news has emerged.

The California Natural Resources Agency has announced that the city of Lemon Grove will receive a $1.47 million Green Infrastructure Grant for phase 3 of its Connect Main Street project.

By Mike Allen

March 26, 2020 (Santee) -- Responding to a still-evolving global pandemic crisis, the Santee City Council has approved a 60-day temporary suspension on evictions of tenants in the city who prove their financial situation has been damaged by the coronavirus.

The Council approved a temporary moratorium on evictions at its March 25 meeting by a 4-1 vote, with Councilman Rob McNelis opposed. It was the first ever gathering that was done using teleconferencing technology allowing the five elected members and other staffers to “meet” from remote locations.

Cases expand countywide including more East County communities

By Miriam Raftery

March 24, 2020 (San Diego) – The number of COVID-19 cases in our region continues to grow at a steep pace.  San Diego County now has 242 confirmed cases, of whom 226 are county residents. Two of the new cases are in infants. Heath experts warn the actual number of cases could be ten times higher, since not enough tests are available and thus testing is being done primarily on those hospitalized with respiratory distress.

By Miriam Raftery

View video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kjF2UYCYNcw&feature=youtu.be . Warning: video contains graphic images and language, viewer discretion advised.  

March 23, 2020 (El Cajon)—El Cajon Police have released body camera footage from multiple officers of the non-  lethal shooting of a car theft suspect, Keith Crenshaw, 21, on February 12^th. The videos confirm that after waking up the suspect sleeping in the vehicle, officers repeatedly warned him to put his hands up, even after the suspect repeatedly said, “Shoot me!”

The incident began after Phoenix Police called to request that ECPD recover a stolen car identified via an auto-license reader.  Officer Stanley and his trainee, Officer Jabrael, arrived at 544 South Johnson and Officer Sandoval along with a civilian approached from the rear.

After verifying the license, Officer Jabrael approached the driver’s side but the door handle was missing. When the suspect awoke, Officer Stanley repeatedly ordered him to put his hands up and not to reach into his shirt. At one point he asked for a less-lethal weapon. But before he could obtain one, the suspect repeatedly stated, “Shoot me! Shoot me! Shoot me!”

Officer Stanley and another officer can be hear continuing to try and convince the suspect to put up his hands.  Officer Stanley stated, “No, I do not want to kill you. Let me see your hands.”