Pesticide spraying set for July 14 and 15 in more La Mesa neighborhoods

By Miriam Raftery

July 11, 2025 (La Mesa) – Concern over West Nile virus in the La Mesa and Rolando areas has ramped up, after County Vector control tested nearly 2,000 mosquitos in 165 batches in these areas.

West Nile virus found in 37 batches of mosquitos tested in Roland and La Mesa

 “In this area, 37 batches have tested positive for West Nilie virus, Gig Conaughton, communication specialist for San Diego County, told East County Magazine.

The positive tests were in La Mesa and the San Diego portion of Rolando.

Mosquitos were also tested in Lemon Grove, with no West Nile virus detected there.

Spraying dates and locations

Pesticide spraying will be done Monday and Tuesday, July 14 and 15, between 1 a.m. and 6 a.m.in the La Mesa areas shown on the map at left and at the County's Adult Mosquito Control site.

Source: County of San Diego

July 7, 2025 (La Mesa) -- To protect the public and keep mosquitoes from potentially spreading West Nile virus, which was recently detected in Rolando, the County is scheduled to conduct ultra-low volume, truck-mounted, pesticide-mist treatments this week. The spraying aims to reduce the number of adult mosquitoes on about 4,000 parcels in the community of Rolando, which includes parts in San Diego and La Mesa.

The treatments are scheduled to take place from 1 a.m. to 6 a.m. from Wednesday, July 9 through Friday, July 11, depending on conditions.

While the treatments pose a low risk to people and pets and the pesticide dissipates in roughly 20 to 30 minutes, residents may wish—as a precaution—to stay inside, keep pets and pet bowls inside, and close windows during the treatment.

More information, including a map of the treatment area, frequently asked questions, and contact information for Vector Control, can be found on Vector Control’s Adult Mosquito Control Information webpage.

Board will consider how to fill vacancy at its July 17 meeting

By Miriam Raftery

July 3, 2025 (La Mesa) – After more than 30 years of dedicated service, Grossmont Healthcare District Board Member Gloria Chadwick, RN has submitted her resignation from the Board of Directors, effective June 30, 2025. Director Chadwick has been a steadfast advocate for healthcare access, mental health, and the advancement of nursing and community wellness throughout East San Diego County.

“We are incredibly grateful for Director Chadwick’s longstanding commitment and her tireless efforts to serve the people of East San Diego County,” said Aaron Byzak, Interim CEO of the Grossmont Healthcare District. “Her leadership and voice will be missed.”

President Donald Trump’s “Big, Beautiful Bill” will also give tax breaks to the wealthiest of Americans; Democrats and some Republicans raise objections 

By G. A. McNeeley 

June 21, 2025 (Washington D.C.) – Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S. Dakota) faces backlash from Republicans, over the latest version of President Donald Trump’s budget bill, which ignores Republican senators’ concerns about Medicaid cuts, according to The Hill, as well as concerns over cuts to clean energy incentives. 

Democrats have been virtually united in opposition to these cuts as well, but with Republicans in control of both houses of Congress, Democrats lack power to force changes.

While slashing medical care for the poorest Americans, the House Republicans’ tax cuts for wealthy Americans and corporations would add $2.4 trillion to the deficit over the next decade, according to the Congressional Budget Office’s (CBO) analysis of the bill that Republican lawmakers narrowly approved last month, according to CNN. 

June 1, 2025 (San Diego's East County) -- Our Health and Science Highlights provide cutting edge news that could impact your health and our future.

HEALTH

• COVID variant NB.1.8.1 hits U.S. What to know about symptoms, new booster vaccine restrictions (CBS)
• C.D.C. Contradicts Kennedy and Keeps Advice That Children May Get Covid Shots
• Deep cuts erode the foundations of US public health system, end progress, threaten worse to come  (AP)
• New blood test screens for thousands of rare inherited diseases at once (UPI)
• A dystopian surveillance fear has become reality in Texas (The Guardian)

SCIENCE AND TECH

• AI revolt:  New ChatGPT model refuses to shut down when instructed (The Independent)
• iPhone could triple in price to $3,500 if they’re made in the US, analyst warns (CNN)
• Tropical forests destroyed at fastest recorded rate last year  (BBC)

For excerpts and links to full stories, click “read more” and scroll down.

By Fernanda Lopez Halvorson, County of San Diego Communications Office

Image Credit: CDC.gov

May 28, 2025 (San Diego) --County Public Health is working in close collaboration with Father Joe’s Villages and the San Diego Rescue Mission to notify residents, employees and volunteers who may have potentially been exposed to tuberculosis (TB) at the Father Joe’s Villages Paul Mirabile Center (PMC) and the San Diego Rescue Mission South County Lighthouse.  

The dates of potential exposure at Father Joe’s Villages Paul Mirabile Center are from Feb. 14, 2025 to March 18, 2025, and from April 6, 2025 to May 7, 2025. Dates of potential exposure at the San Diego Rescue Mission South County Lighthouse are from March 28, 2025 to April 11, 2025.

"We can cut plenty of other things," President Donald Trump told West Point's graduating class.

By Jake Johnson, Common Dreams

Photo: Screenshot via CSpan; Pres. Trump speaks at West Point graduation

May 26, 2025 (West Point Military Academ, New York) -- U.S. President Donald Trump on Saturday bragged to West Point's graduating class that he has refused to cut Pentagon spending and touted his push for an annual military budget of $1 trillion, arguing that other programs should be on the chopping block instead.

"Some people say, 'Could you cut it back?' I said, 'I'm not cutting 10 cents,'" the president said of Pentagon spending during his bizarre, campaign-style commencement address at the U.S. Military Academy.

"We can cut plenty of other things," Trump added, without specifying what he sees as better targets for cuts than the Pentagon, a sprawling morass of waste and abuse that recently failed its seventh consecutive audit.

Trump's remarks came after House Republicans, with his support, passed a massive budget reconciliation package that includes more than $100 billion in additional spending for the U.S. military and around $1 trillion in combined cuts to Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.

May 20, 2025 (San Diego's East County) -- Our Health and Science Highlights provide cutting edge news that could impact your health and our future.

HEALTH

• FDA sets new requirements for COVID vaccines in healthy adults and children (ABC)
• Common Energy Drink Ingredient Linked to Blood Cancer (People)
• Trump EPA Guts Rules Against Toxic Forever Chemicals in Drinking Water (Common Dreams)
• The FDA approves first U.S. at-home tool as a Pap-smear alternative (KPBS)
• Measles math: What to know about 1,001 measles cases across the country (KPBS)
• The US hasn't seen a human bird flu case in 3 months. Experts are wondering why (AP)

SCIENCE AND TECH

• A Baby Received a Custom Crispr Treatment in Record Time  (Wired)
• Trump bans 'revenge porn': Melania Trump co-signs the document (USA Today)
• Victims of explicit deepfakes will now be able to take legal action against people who create them (CNN)
• Insight: Rogue communication devices found in Chinese solar power inverters (Reuters)

For excerpts and links to full stories, click “read more” and scroll down.

By Michelle Mowad, County of San Diego Communications Office

May 17, 2025 (Lakeside) -- Conquer what is arguably the toughest trail in San Diego County this Memorial Day weekend. Trek up El Cajon Mountain in El Capitan County Preserve during the 10th annual Warrior Hike Challenge on Saturday, May 24.

The adventure is designed to celebrate the physical and mental stamina that’s required to hike El Capitan, which is popular among active-duty military and veterans.

There are several levels to this challenge. Participants can choose their own adventure, navigating the length of trail that matches their individual interest and ability. “Celebration stations” will be at the 1-mile and 3-mile turnaround points. Extreme hikers can push on to the summit for an 11-mile roundtrip trek.

From the Editors of E - The Environmental Magazine

Image via Pixabay

April 15, 2025

Dear EarthTalk: Am I being exposed to harsh chemicals when I get a manicure or pedicure? -- Susan Porter, via e-mail

The nail care industry is booming. Global market projections will near $11 billion by 2027. But beneath the glossy finish of a manicure or pedicure may lie health and environmental concerns. Many consumers, and even salon workers, remain unaware of the chemical exposures involved in these beauty treatments.

Nail polishes, removers and adhesives often contain ingredients collectively known as the “Toxic Trio”: toluene, formaldehyde and dibutyl phthalate. The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) says these chemicals come with serious health risks, including nervous system, respiratory and reproductive harm. Even short-term exposure can cause headaches, dizziness and skin or eye irritation.

By Seraphina Eberhardt, Program Manager, Institute for Public Strategies East County

May 9. 2025 (San Diego's EastCounty) -- May 2025 marks Mental Health Awareness Month, a time dedicated to educating the public about mental health challenges, reducing stigma, and promoting wellness. It was established in 1949 by Mental Health America. The annual observance has been pivotal in bringing mental health to the forefront of national conversations. Over the decades, it has evolved to address various aspects of mental well-being, including the relationship between mental health and substance use.

In East County, mental health and substance use are a concern. Recent data highlights the challenges faced by the community. San Diego’s youth are drinking earlier and more often than their peers statewide. That’s a troubling sign of growing risk. One in four local teens has already consumed alcohol, and nearly 1 in 10 reported recent binge drinking.

Despite improvements in San Diego's air pollution overall, San Diego ranks worst in the U.S. for ozone pollution, per to a new report from the American Lung Association, making our region one of the most polluted areas in the U.S. 

By Miriam Raftery

Photo: Los Angeles smog in 2006, before California's clean vehicle emissions laws dramatically cleaned up the air.  Image by David Iliff, CC license

May 4, 2025 (Washington D.C.) – House Republicans have pushed through three bills to repeal California’s Clean Air Act waivers, which have allowed our state to have stricter vehicle emission standards than the rest of the nation, resulting in dramatically cleaner air. 

Governor Gavin Newsom has blasted the measures as both illegal and aimed at “making California smoggy again.” 

Since the Clean Air Act was passed under Republican Richard Nixon’s administration in 1970, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has granted California over 100 waivers for its clean air and climate efforts.

Kennedy also moved to cut funding for various autism programs, and tasked discredited researcher with finding “link” between autism and vaccines 

By G. A. McNeeley 

Photo, left: cc via Bing

April 27, 2025 (Washington D.C.) — Robert F. Kennedy Jr, Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary, has pledged to find the “cause” of autism, while he and other members of the Trump Administration have reduced funding for autism research at the same time. 

He has also put a researcher in charge of finding the cause of autism. previously disciplined for practicing medicine without a license in a debunked autism study with unapproved treatments that caused harm to patients.

Kennedy, who’s also spread debunked claims about vaccines causing autism, has also suggested “compensating” American families with autism. 

Meanwhile, The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is collecting private medical records from federal and commercial databases to give to Kennedy's effort to “study” autism, according to CBS News. 

April 24, 2025 (San Diego's East County) -- Our Health and Science Highlights provide cutting edge news that could impact your health and our future.

HEALTH

• Virus that causes polio-like illness found in Bay Area as influenza cases spike (SF Gate)
• Tuberculosis cases in the US rose to their highest levels in more than a dozen years (AP)
• States sue Trump administration for rescinding billions in health funding (AP)
• CDC division responsible for asthma control and lead poisoning prevention effectively eliminated (Stat)
• CDC’s top laboratory on sexually transmitted diseases is shut by Trump administration (STAT)
• RFK Jr. says MMR vaccine ‘most effective’ way to stop spread of measles after Texas child’s death (Fox 5)
• Vaccine critic’s apparent selection to head HHS autism study shocks experts (Stat)
• The CDC Buried a Measles Forecast That Stressed the Need for Vaccinations(ProPublica)
• Utah becomes the first state to ban fluoride in public drinking water (ABC)
• CDC’s top laboratory on sexually transmitted diseases is shut by Trump administration  (STAT)
• CDC advisory committees not mandated by law at risk of being terminated (Politico)

SCIENCE AND TECH

• NASA weighs doing away with headquarters (Politico)
• Dire wolf revived after 10,000 years due to biotech company's de-extinction process (MSN)
• Exclusive: Secretive Chinese network tries to lure fired federal workers, research shows (Reuters)
• Trump shifts cyberattack readiness to state and local governments in wake of info-sharing cuts (CSO)
• Dire wolf revived after 10,000 years due to biotech company's de-extinction process (MSN)
• Encrypted messaging apps promise privacy. Government transparency is often the price (AP)
•  Humming along in an old church, the Internet Archive is more relevant than ever (NPR)
• Turned Into a Ghibli Character? So Did Your Private Info (CySecurity News)

For excerpts and links to full stories, click “read more” and scroll down.