By Kristin Kjaero

February 14, 2010 (La Mesa) -- How will water rates change as of July 1, 2010, and will individual water budgets be imposed as part of the process?

The Helix Water District (HWD) Board will discuss these February 17 and March 17, 2010 respectively.

February 14, 2010 (San Diego) – “Now is not the time to run scared. It’s the time to run smart,” Pam Slater-Price, chair of the San Diego County Board of Supervisors said in state-of-the-County speech delivered Thursday at Qualcomm Hall. 

February 13, 2010 (Palomar) -- Cal Fire will continue a prescribed burn to reduce dead and dying vegetation on Palomar Mountain near the Palomar Observatory starting on Tuesday, February 16th.   Burning will be conducted by Cal Fire crews on week-days. Smoke may be visible from many miles away.

February 13, 2010 (Alpine) – The County Coroner’s office has identified Ruben Dario Fernandez, 35, of Chula Vista as the driver who was killed yesterday in Alpine. Fernandez was driving a Lancer eastbound of I-8 west of East Willows Road around 6:45 in the morning when he collided with a slow-moving truck, lost control and plummeted down an embankment, striking a boulder.

IRAQI IMMIGRANTS WAITING HOURS FOR SERVICES FORCED TO GO HOME EMPTY-HANDED

February 12, 2010 (El Cajon) –Iraqi immigrants began lining up at 5 a.m. today to recertify documentation and quality for social service benefits at the Chaldean-Middle Eastern Services Office at 343 Main Street in El Cajon. But shortly after 9 a.m., Heartland Fire & Rescue crews responded to a medical aid call. They found a crowd estimated at 500 to 1,000 people congregating in and around the second floor office.

February 11, 2010 (San Diego) – Juan Carlos Navarro, 38, was struck and killed February 8th by a dump truck while riding on his bicycle. Navarro was riding on a sidewalk on 54th Street at College Grove Drive when he attempted to pass a dump truck that was parked in a crosswalk, according to the Medical Examiner's report based on information provided by police.

February 8, 2010 (San Diego) – By an 8-0 vote, San Diego’s City Council has voted to place an initiative on the June ballot that would amend the City’s charter to expand eligibility for veterans’ hiring preference points when they apply for civilian jobs.

February 7, 2010 (Ramona) -- It's a good thing residents of this Ramona home weren't hosting a SuperBowl party this afternoon, when a massive tree scored an unforeseen touchdown. 

At 1:30 p.m. Cal Fire responded to a report of a tree fallen into the residence, located in the 13000 block of Fernbrook. When firefighters arrived, they found a giant oak tree had crashed down, completely destroying the entire structure.

February 7, 2010 (La Mesa) James Robinson, 29, of La Mesa died of acute heroin and alcohol intoxication, the San Diego County Medical Examiner has found. Robinson was found slumped over his infant child at Gas Depot, a gas station on in San Diego on January 4.

February 6, 2010 (El Cajon) Updated 11:45 p.m.. - A serious accident involving several vehicles caused CHP to shut down all lanes on I-8 westbound at Murray Drive in El Cajon, diverting traffic onto 125.  CHP's website reports one vehicle flipped over and a person was trapped inside with fluid leaking.

February 6, 2010 (Lakeside) 9:25 a.m. -- Center lanes remain blocked on I-8 westbound at Lake Jennings Road in Lakeside due to a vehicle accident.  Emergency workers have now freed all people trapped in a vehicle and transported three patients to a hospital, according to Heartland Fire dispatch.

Incident Page Network reports that one of those trapped was a baby.  

Open to all GUHSD students – if you can draw, you can win!

February 5, 2010 (La Mesa) – Golden Artistry Jewelry Design invites Grossmont Union High School district students to participate in its 2nd annual jewelry design competition. “We are doing this in order to find students that have creative skills, and help them find their calling,” says Terry Whyte, owner and master goldsmith.

By D.R. Schwab

February 3, 2010 (Poway) -- It would be a first for Poway: Converting a city-owned mobile home park to resident ownership.  For the second time in six years, it's something that residents of Poway Royal Mobile Estates, the City's largest mobile home park, are attempting to do.

By Miriam Raftery

 “How can you sit there and say it’s safe to be there when that canyon has burned every year—and you’re going to put those towers up, leave us with no power, and we only have one way in and one way out?” -- Myles Thurman, Lakeside

February 3, 2010 (Lakeside) – San Diego Gas & Electric officials received a far-from-warm welcome from Lakeside residents at a community forum last night hosted by the utility to discuss impacts of Sunrise Powerlink, the proposed high-voltage power line that SDG&E wants to run through Lakeside's El Monte Valley.

SDG&E plans to hold a follow-up meeting within 30 days.