January 13, 2012 (San Diego’s East County)—Due to guardrail repairs, the connector ramp from northbound State Route 67 to westbound Interstate 8 will be closed Saturday morning. The closure will be in effect from 3 a.m. to 11 a.m., according to the California Department of Transportation (CalTrans).

 Update February 3, 2012:  Sgt. Polk's death has still not been reported by the Dept. of Defense, nor has any notice of his death appeared in his family's hometown newspaper. A source has further informed ECM that his name has not been provided for addition to a memorial that honors fallen special services soldiers. Thus at this point, it appears likely that Polk did not die in service overseas. Perhaps he faked his death, or possibly someone else posted misleading information on his Facebook account.

January 11, 2012 (El Cajon ) – Gloria Maria Moler, 81, who was reported missing last night has been located.

“Police received a call about a wrong-way driver at 5:00 a.m.,” said Melissa Aquino with the San Diego Sheriff’s Department. “An officer detained Miss Moler and later discovered a missing person’s report about her.”

La Mesa woman who wrote tell-all book about film industry was third-oldest Californian

January 8, 2012 (La Mesa) – Silent movie screenwriter Frederica Sagor Maas gained fame and notoriety in an era when few women attained such acclaim.  But on Thursday, December 29, 2011, Maas made her final exit, passing away at Country Villas, a La Mesa nursing home.

Scripts written by Maas starred some of Hollywood’s leading talents on the silver screen, including Greta Garbo, Norma Shearer and Clare Bow. The Hollywood Reporter called her a “pioneering” female screenwriter, while the Los Angeles Times memorialized her as “one of the last links to the silent film industry.”

January 7, 2012 (Alpine) – A multi-vehicle pile-up shut down I-8 east near Dunbar Road this evening, but the roadway is now open, CHP reports. The accident results in injuries to seven people, who were transported to Grossmont Hospital.

 
January 7, 2012 (La Mesa) -- In the past three months the La Mesa Police Department management team has gone through many new changes.  With Chief Lanning’s retirement in September of 2011 and Captain Medero’s retirement in December 2011, seven promotions of existing LMPD staff were made in 2011 to consist of a new Chief of Police, two new captains, two new lieutenants and two new sergeants.

“Wind farms are the main cause. The issuing of license to kill will accelerate the decline toward extinction.”—Save the Eagles International

 An East County Magazine Special Report

By Miriam Raftery

January 6, 2012 (San Diego’s East County) – San Diego County’s 48 pairs of nesting golden eagles and even rarer bald eagles could be in peril if proposed industrial-scale wind farms are built.  In a press release issued today,  Save the Eagles International (STEI) issued a dire warning, providing detailed documentation proving  that golden eagles and their nests are disappearing rapidly near wind farms across the U.S.

The group also blasted the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service for changing its mission from protecting wildlife to “catering to the interests of an industry” that is a “ruinous one to boot.”  

 
January 6, 2012 (North County San Diego) --  On Monday, January 16, at 10-11a.m., North County area families are invited to  join Westfield North County and the Westfield Family Program for Family Fun Days featuring "Cultural Traditions". They will explore how other cultures celebrate the New Year and hear classic folktales from around the world.

By Nadin Abbott
Photos by Tom Abbott

Few San Diegans today are aware of numerous free speech fights across America a century ago—or that “dwarfing them all was the San Diego episode,” according to the San Diego Journal of History’s fascinating account at http://www.sandiegohistory.org/journal/73winter/speech.htm. Fearing mob violence from the Industrial Workers of the World amid a growing U.S. labor movement and actions by anarchists, City leaders in 1912 outlawed public speaking in a five-square block area of then-downtown centered at Fifth and E streets. Thousands of defiant people turned out in protest of the ban and numerous arrests ensued, clogging jails and courts. Fire hoses, horsewhips and clubs were used by police; vigilantes joined police, even kidnapping a newspaper publisher as riots and deaths ensued in a conflict that lasted six months.

To this day, however, San Diego has never restored the people’s free speech rights.

Photos by Monica Zech

January 4, 2012 (El Cajon) – A homeowner escaped her burning mobile home this morning, but her chihuahua dog, Mojo, was found unconscious and near death. Thanks to dedicated efforts  by local firefighters, however, Mojo's live has been saved. 

 
January 4, 2011 (Scripps Ranch) –A man in his 40s has been transported to a hospital with fractured vertebrae following an accident on Scripps Lake Drive yesterday. 

 
January 1, 2012 (San Diego County) -- The National Weather Service has provided the following reflections on local weather highlights for the past year--which included some wet and wild times.

January 1, 2012 (Otay)—Josephina Lopez has been found safe in Mexico following an intensive search and rescue effort to find the missing woman.  Lopez, who suffers from medical problems, disappeared from the Otay area while visiting family over the holidays.  She had last been seen December 23, when she told family she was walking to a pharmacy. 

January 31, 2011 (San Diego’s East County) – New Year’s celebrations around the world have begun, starting in Sydney, Australia.  Those party-loving Aussies welcomed in 2012 with an elaborate fireworks display launched from barges on the water, off the Sydney Harbour Bridge, and rooftops of buildings.  The extravaganza included 11,000 shells, 25,000 shooting comets and 100,000 individual pyrotechnic effects all synchronized to music.   Click to enjoy the show—and happy New Year!

For more fireworks shows around the world, scroll down to find links.