SDG&E Thanks Customers for Patience & Conservation Efforts During Five-Day Heat Wave & Thunderstorms

September 20, 2014 (San Diego) – Following a record-breaking five-day heat wave combined with a microburst of thunderstorms bringing high winds, San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E) is thanking customers and community partners for their efforts to save energy and for their patience during power outages. Due to the extreme weather conditions, SDG&E reached new all-time back-to-back peak demand records of 4,781 megawatts (MW) on Sept. 15 and 4,890 MW on Sept. 16. The conservation efforts by customers limited strain on the electric grid and ensured SDG&E was able to provide reliable energy throughout the event.

East County News Service

September 18, 2014 (Alpine)--An elderly woman was seriously injured after the vehicle she was driving flew off a freeway in Alpine on September 15^th.

By Nadin Abbott

September  18, 2014 (San Diego)-- Robert Germann,  spokesman for Citizens Against Gillespie Expansion (CAGE), spoke before the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday to make a presentation. He wants to know the reason for a large increase in funds allocated for Gillespie Field airport that has been kept hidden from the public.

He told the Board, “According to the California Division of Aeronautics, Gillespie Field is slated to receive nearly $417 million."

He added that the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) will give the El Cajon Center $10.63 million. Yet the County stated that the field is only going to receive $232,070, said Germann. He asked why there is such a discrepancy?

By Nadin Abbott

September 16, 2014 (East County) - San Diego has many rural roads, many of them maintained by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). The California Department of Transportation (CALTRANS) maintains other roads.

Photos, left, by Kathleen Hedberg:  Storm cell swoops toward La Mesa

By Miriam Raftery

September 16, 2014 (San Diego’s East County) – A powerful storm lashed East County early Tuesday afternoon, causing major damage before moving across San Diego later in the day.  Thousands were left without power from at least 16 different outages in East County, SDG&E reported. Hardest hit areas included Rancho San Diego, Mt. Helix, La Mesa and Spring Valley.

Helix Water Board member Kathleen Hedberg captured dramatic images of the stormcell swooping toward her La Mesa home-- a downdraft from a thunderstorm that looked more like tornados seen in the Midwest than a typical southern California storm. Gusts of at least 50 miles per hour were reported, with coin-sized hailstones and sheets of rain pouring down.  It was all a result of Hurricane Odile which struck the Baja coast at 125 miles an hour, ,still packing a wallop by the time it reached our region.

By Miriam Raftery

Photo: Donna Frye presenting Sunshine Award to CALAWARE’s Terry Francke

September 15, 2014 (San Diego)--Californians Aware, or CALAWARE, a nonprofit group that protects the rights of citizens and journalists to access public information, has sent a letter to Governor Jerry Brown urging him to veto Senate Bill 1300.

East County News Service

Hurricane Odile has struck the coast of Baja California, Mexico in Cabo San Lucas at record speeds of 125 miles per hour as a category 3 hurricane.  Up to 11 inches per hour were reported in the tourist resort town, according to CNN.

As Odile moves north, it is not expected to make landfall near San Diego. However moisture from the system could bring significant rainfall across our region Wednesday and Thursday, the National Weather Service Reports. The risk of flash flooding will also increase by mid week. 

By James Oson

September 13, 2014 (Jamul)--It’s no surprise when you have 18 year old Jordan Ver Hoeve with abs of steel and 16-year-old statuesque, blonde beauty Makayla Stevens hit the runway for New York Fashion Week.  What you don’t expect is that the teenagers both come from the same small San Diego town in East County… Jamul.

Update: A Sempra spokesperson has confirmed that these helicopters were contracted by SDG&E and that height limits were followed, but surveillance in the Jamul area is now over.

By Miriam Raftery

August 12, 2014 (San Diego’s East County) – Last week, we ran a story on residents’ complaints about an SDG&E helicopter that witnesses claimed was flying below legal height limits in the Descanso area. The flights, part of a surveying effort of power lines in Cleveland National Forest, allegedly caused injury to a horse that was startled by the helicopter.

Watch on YouTube

Read the President's full address here.

By Miriam Raftery

September 10, 2014 (Washington D.C.)-- President Obama tonight spoke to the nation , laying out a comprehensive strategy to “degrade and ultimately destroy” ISIL (the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant) terrorist group that has declared an Islamic state across Iraq and Syria, massacring thousands of Iraqis and beheading two captured American journalists.

“Working with the Iraqi government, we will expand our efforts beyond protecting our own people and humanitarian missions, so that we’re hitting ISIL targets as Iraqi forces go on offense.  Moreover, I have made it clear that we will hunt down terrorists who threaten our country, wherever they are,” the President said. “That means I will not hesitate to take action against ISIL in Syria, as well as Iraq.  This is a core principle of my presidency:  If you threaten America, you will find no safe haven.”

The President made clear that the U.S. will lead an international effort to eradicate ISIL. He assured that unlike the past decade of war in Iraq and Afghanistan, this conflict will not include U.S. combat troops on the ground.  Instead, he laid out a four-part strategy. First, air strikes will target ISIL in Iraq, Syria and wherever else ISIL poses a threat.

September 10, 2014 (Washington D.C.)--President Barack Obama will address the nation tonight to lay out his plan for action against the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, or ISIS, also known as ISIL.

By Miriam Raftery, photos by Danielle Cook and Wayne Brammer

September 7, 2014 (Jacumba Hot Springs)—This high desert town in San Diego’s East County is normally characterized by dry washes.  But tonight around 7:30 p.m., the town’s Centennial Committee chair Danielle Cook reports, “I received a call a half hour ago from another Jacumba resident, Bill Pape, saying to "get down to the bridge right away, there is a flash flood here and about 20 of us are gathering to watch it.”

September 7, 2014 (El Cajon)—Two people have been transported to the burn unit at the University of California San Diego Medical Center due to smoke inhalation and minor burns suffered in a bedroom fire early this morning.

September 7, 2014 (San Diego's East County)--The National Weather Service has issued a flash flood watch for San Diego’s mountains and deserts this Sunday and Monday.

A surge of deep monsoonal moisture around tropical cyclone Norbert off the Baja coast will bring a high threat of showers and thunderstorms, particularly in the afternoons both days.

There is potential for three inches of rain and flash flooding, with greatest risk below desert slopes and recently burned areas.

East County News Service

September 3, 2014 (San Diego) – Tropical Storm Norbert, the remnants of a hurricane, will move northwest off the coast of Baja California this weekend, bringing thunderstorms to Southern California beginning early Sunday. Stormy weather could last through Tuesday, with the highest chance of thunderstorms in the mountains.