By Tracy DeFore, County of San Diego Communications Office

August 16, 2017 (San Diego) - Looking for a new pet to add to the family? Take advantage of Clear the Shelters day Saturday, August 19.

By Miriam Raftery

August 15, 2017 (Mount Helix) – A resident on Mount Helix says he caught a woman driving a Lexus luxury car red-handed, stealing avocados off trees at his home before dawn last week.

The resident, Alan van Antwerp, in an interview with ECM news partner 10 News, said a motion sensor alerted him. He posted a photo of the startled woman and her license plate number on the Next Door Mount Helix forum, eliciting over 100 comments, many from residents reporting similar thefts of avocados and other fruits by thieves who left trees stripped bare.

By Miriam Raftery

August 13, 2017 (Charlottesville, VA)—Unite the Right, the largest white supremacist gathering in decades, was declared an unlawful assembly by the city of Charlottesville, Virginia,  where three people are dead and at least 35 injured. Governor Terry McAuliff declared a state of emergency and politicians across the country have spoken out to denounce the hate groups participating and a Nazi sympathizer who rammed his vehicle into a crowd has been charged with murder.

Former Ku Klux Klan (KKK) mperial Wizard David Duke had earlier credited Donald Trump with inspiring the rally.

By Miriam Raftery

August 12, 2017 (San Diego) – El Cajon Councilman Ben Kalasho is counter-suing two contestants in the Miss Middle East Beauty Pageant that he founded, alleging that his reputation has been harmed by their claims that include fraud and sexual harassment.

By Kendra Sitton

Photo:  Mrs. Monreau addresses Member John Eugenio while the public views the plans

August 10, 2017 (Spring Valley) -- In the warm training room at Otay Water District headquarters, every seat was filled by Spring Valley residents who quickly grew heated by the long process before Agenda Item 5, a proposal for the old shopping center at Sweetwater Springs Boulevard and Austin Drive, was reached.

Story and photos by Julie Pendray

Photo:  County Fire Authority Chief Tony Mecham addressed about 100 people at a special meeting of Julian/Cuyamaca Fire Protection District on July 27.

August 9, 2017 (Julian) – Impassioned pleas to save the volunteer firefighting operation in this historic California gold mining town were rebutted by cold, hard, financial facts at a special public meeting of the Julian/Cuyamaca Fire Protection District.

By Miriam Raftery

August 8, 2017 (Pine Valley) – Effective today, the Pine Valley Fire Protection District has dissolved and has joined the San Diego County Fire Authority (SDCFA).  The Pine Valley district has served this mountain community and surrounding areas for over 70 years.

Bombshell story from Gizmodo underscores need for FCC to address serious issues with its public comment process before making any decision on net neutrality. 15,000+ people call on lawmakers to demand that FCC comply with transparency laws

Source:  Fight for the Future

August 7, 2017 (Washington D.C.) --In a bombshell story from Gizmodo today, a former FCC security employee lays waste to the agency’s claims that a pair of DDoS attacks took down the FCC comment website at the exact moments when large amounts of pro net neutrality comments would have been flooding into the docket following viral segments from comedian John Oliver in 2014 and 2017. The agency’s inability to maintain a functional way for the public to comment on its net neutrality proceedings has become an issue of concern for members of Congress overseeing the agency, and raises questions about how it can or should move forward with its rulemaking process.

By Miriam Raftery

August 7, 2017 (Jamul) – A 51-year-old man from San Diego has died after an accident last night in Jamul. According to the California Highway Patrol, the 2008 Acura MDX driven by the man on Skyline Truck Trail east of Lawson Valley Road drifted off the road and struck a dirt embankment.

By Miriam Raftery

August 7, 2017 (Washington D.C.) -  In recent years, passengers have been complaining about shrinking seat sizes while airlines seek to squeeze out maximum profits.

But last month, the U.S. Court of Appeals ordered the Federal Aviation Administration, or FAA, to conduct a review to determine whether those claustrophobic small seats pose safety hazards to passengers.

By Miriam Raftery

Image: Pixabay

August 6, 2017 (Los Coyotes Reservation) – An agreement to grow, manufacture and distribute commercial cannabis products has been reached between GB Science, Inc. and the Los Coyotes Band of Cahuilla and Cupeña Indians. The Los Coyotes reservation is located in a mountainous area near Warner Springs in San Diego’s East County.

East County News Service

August 4, 2017 (Escondido) – Public help is sought to help locating Seraphine Bustillos, a missing Escondido 15-year-old who may have left home with a foot-and-a-half long ball python snake and a black backpack.  She has hair dyed black, blue eyes, pierced ears, and is 5 feet 1 inch tall, weighing 110 pounds.

By Miriam Raftery

Scene photos credit:  Lynn Spicer

Photo: Kristina Andarus, 6, of Santee suffered a spinal injury in the crash. Her mother, Aneta Andarus, has asked for prayers.

August 3, 2017 (San Diego’s East County) – The two people killed yesterday after a big-rig lost control on State Route 125 were a mother and daughter from Ramona:  Nancy Jeanette Bauerlein, 57,  and Jennifer Campbell, 29. Campbell leaves behind a husband and two children.  Bauerlein had a husband, five children and 10 grandchildren.

The crash has also left 6-year-old Kristina Andarus of Santee with severe spinal injuries.  She has undergone surgery but may be left paralyzed, her mother told 10 News. Her mother, Aneta Andarus, an Iraqi immigrant and owner of Threading by Aneta in Clairemont, has asked for prayers.

By Miriam Raftery

August 4, 2017 (El Cajon) –The San Diego Reader reports that a second contestant in the 2016 Miss Middle East Pageant has filed a lawsuit against Ben Kalasho and the pageant that he runs.  Paris Kargar told the Reader that on the eve of the pageant, Kalasho, an El Cajon Councilman, pulled her aside and told her, “You stay here at the hotel tonight with me, and you win.”

Major CEOs say bill would harm tech industry; policy has roots in racist organizaitons

By Miriam Raftery

August 3, 2017 (Washington D.C.) – Going far beyond rounding up  undocumented immigrations, President Donald Trump is now backing a bill that aims to cut legal immigration in half.  It proposes a skills-based immigration system that includes English proficiency and job skills, also prohibiting immigrants from bringing any family members here except for spouse and minor children.