November 4, 2015 (San Diego’s East County) - This is East County Magazine with a public service announcement from the County of San Diego.

The County’s Department of Environmental Health is warning that this week’s rainfall has brought urban runoff to beaches countywide.

View pedestrian safety video from El Cajon Police: http://vimeo.com/116996655

By Miriam Raftery

November 3, 2015 (El Cajon) – El Cajon has had 13 pedestrian fatalities in the past 20 months. In the prior 36 months, there were 10 fatalities. So in half the time, there have been double the number of pedestrian deaths. 

“That concerns us a great deal,” Police Chief Jim Redman told community members at a public safety forum held last month at the Ronald Reagan Community Center, where the department reached out to share safety tips, hear community suggestions, and advise about a new enforcement campaign aimed at saving lives.  A “Check before you step” campaign aims to educate the public on how to prevent pedestrian injuries and deaths.

East County News Service

October 31, 2015 (San Diego) – California Highway Patrol is seeking a second vehicle, a white Nissan Sport Utility Vehicle with damage to the right front fender and quarter panel. It was seen leaving the area of a fatal pedestrian crash on I-15 that occurred about 1:45 a.m. on October 28, when several motorists reported swerving to avoid a “mannequin” that turned out to be a woman’s body.

October 31, 2015 (San Diego)--Not only are weather forecasters predicting the chance of showers next week, we’re also heading into our much-anticipated El Niño season — which could mean a lot more rainfall than we’ve seen for a long time.

By Miriam Raftery

October 29, 2015 (Alpine) – For Alpine parents, it sounds like a Halloween horror story.  But it's an unexpected treat for the board majority at the Grossmont Union High School District.  Today, Superior Court Judge Joel Pressman (photo) issued a tentative ruling granting Grossmont 's motion to dismiss the lawsuit filed by Alpine parents and taxpayers. 

The suit sought to  force the district to turn over funds to build an Alpine high school, which voters twice voted to approve in Propositions H and U. The board's action drew scrutiny from the County Grand Jury, which issued a scathing report titled "Fool us once, fool us twice?"

The tentative ruling comes as a shock since Judge Pressman  previously denied an attempt by Grossmont to dismiss the case and set a trial date for early December, as ECM reported. In his earlier ruling, the judge rejected Grossmont’s arguments that it did not have a contract commitment with Alpine to build a high school and that the text of Prop U did not compel the district to build the long-promised school.

By Miriam Raftery

Hear our exclusive interview with David Guefen, Solar City in San Diego: https://www.eastcountymagazine.org/sites/eastcountymagazine.org/files/au...

October 12, 2015 (San Diego)—Solar City, the largest solar company in the U.S., has launched some of the most ambitious and empowering programs in the solar industry.  The company can even act as your utility company, enabling you to get a solar system for no money down and start saving on your utility bill from day one.   Average savings per home run 20 to 60 percent on utility bills, says David Guefen with Solar City San Diego.

The company is also giving back through programs that provide free solar to schools in impoverished countries, giving free solar power to families in military housing, and offering a rewards program for referrals. (If you buy a system from Solar City and mention East County Magazine, our nonprofit will receive a reward. Just click the ad in this story.)

But the window to go solar with maximum incentives ends December 31^st, when a 30% federal tax credit is set to expire or be slashed.

East County News Service

October 25, 2015 (San Diego’s East County ) – The Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA, is urging all Californians to buy flood insurance before the torrential rains forecast  due to El Niño conditions strike. Even those who live in areas at low to moderate risk of flooding should buy flood insurance and do so immediately, since there is a 30-day waiting period before policies take effect, FEMA advises.

East County News Service

October 23, 2015 (San Diego) – Hurricane Patricia, described as a “potentially catastrophic hurricane” by the National Weather Service’s National Hurricane Center, is forecast to slam into the Pacific coast of Mexico later today.  With winds of 200  miles per hour, Hurricane Patricia is the strongest hurricane ever recorded by the center, which tracks all storms in North America.

CNN reports that 50,000 people have been evacuated along the Mexican coast, where a storm surge wave of 30 feet is expected to hit the Mexican state of Jalisco. The powerful storm is between Puerto Vallarta and Acapulco, about 85 miles southwest of Manzanillo Mexico and 155 miles south of Cabo Corrientes. Flights from San Diego and elsewhere in California into the region have been cancelled, the Los Angeles Times reports.

East County News Service

October 20, 2015 (La Mesa) – La Mesa Mayor Mark Arapostathis will be the special guest speaker at a no-host social mixer to speak on La Mesa’s Oktoberfest.  He will also be available to chat with guests afterword on topics of interest.

The event, hosted by La Mesa Conservations, will be held Thursday, October 22 from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at Johnny B’s Burgers, Brew & Spirits, 8393 La Mesa Blvd. in La Mesa.

By Miriam Raftery

What are you most afraid of?  If you really want to terrify others this Halloween season, forget ghost and zombie costumes. The thing that strikes the most fear into the hearts of more Americans than anything may just surprise you.

Over half of Americans surveyed say that they’re more afraid of corruption of government officials than terrorist attacks, violent crime, snakes, natural disasters, or any other scary things. 

East County News Service

October 19, 2015 (El Cajon) – The El Cajon Police Department will host a community forum on traffic and pedestrian safety on Wednesday, October 21 from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. in the Ronald Reagan Community Center, 195 East Douglas Avenue in El Cajon.

From 2011 through 2014, 17 people died in pedestrian traffic accidents in El Cajon and 61 were seriously injured, according to results of a public records request by East County Magazine.  View data.

By Miriam Raftery

Photo: Kern County Animal Rescue

Update: A body has been found in a vehicle buried since last Thursday under mud in Palmdale. Details: http://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/california/Firefighters-Dig-Out-Vehicle-...

October 18, 2015 (Los Angeles)-Torrential rains and flash flooding turned hillsides in Los Angeles and Kern Counties into mudflows last Thursday that cascaded over two freeways—Interstate 5’s grapevine area north of Los Angeles and  State Route 58 near Tehachapi.

Hundreds of terrified motorists swept up in the mud flow escaped their vehicles as the freeways became muddy rivers. Firefighters and swift-water rescue personnel made daring rescues, pulling passengers out of windows as cars bobbed past. One pregnant woman escaped out the sunroof of her vehicle. Others remained trapped in their cars overnight, some with mud up to the windshields. Even semi-trucks became mired in the muck.

East County News Service

After first agreeing to recuse himself from voting on Lilac Hills Ranch after the Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC) ruled that he has a conflict of interest due to owning property near the proposed development in northeast San Diego county, Supervisor Bill Horn  has announced that he plans to appeal the FPPC ruling.  Moreover, the County has reportedly decided to back Horn’s appeal and seek clarification on when Supervisors must recuse themselves on land use issues.

Voice of San Diego reports that a county spokesman told them, “Clarity is needed to ensure no voters in any of the five county districts are disenfranchised by the new FPPC rules.”

East County News Service

Photo: Two Jacumba CAL FIRE firefighters stand ready to respond in a new paramedic engine at the Jacumba fire station.

October 14, 2015 (San Diego)--San Diego County Fire and CAL FIRE are making a major upgrade to fire and emergency medical services at the County’s Jacumba fire station with the launch this week of round-the-clock paramedic service. It’s the first time ever the service has been offered from the station, located south of Interstate 8 near the Mexican border.

The upgrade is part of an overall effort to increase paramedic capabilities throughout the San Diego County Fire Authority’s service area.  A new paramedic engine at Jacumba is the seventh that County Fire has added over the past few years.  Other new, County Fire-funded paramedic engines now operate out of the Otay, Jamul, Lake Morena, Pine Valley, Descanso and Intermountain stations.

By Mike Allen

October 9, 2015 (Santee)--What appeared to be nearly a done deal---San Diego craft brewer Karl Strauss relocating its main production and corporate headquarters to Santee’s Town Center---may not happen after all.

Matt Rattner, who co-founded Karl Strauss in 1989 and its president, said the company is keeping its options open.

“There’s no deal yet,” Rattner said recently. “We just received a proposal to go to Otay Mesa--and we’ve also talked with the cities of Vista and San Marcos.”