By Miriam Raftery

Photo:  Don Buxton, owner of Play It Again Sports, accepts La Mesa Disaster Recovery Fund relief check. His store suffered looting, fire and smoke damage.

July 1, 2020 (La Mesa) – Relief checks of $5,000 each from the La Mesa Disaster Recovery Fund were distributed to 27 business owners on Tuesday, in the first of two rounds of funding.  

Source: Helix Water District

June 30, 2020 (La Mesa) -- Helix Water District’s 2020 Water Quality Report, which documents the quality of its treated water throughout 2019, is now available in English at hwd.fyi/wqr2020-english and Spanish at hwd.fyi/wqr2020-espanol.

The annual water quality report contains important information about the sources and quality of customers’ drinking water. As in years past, Helix Water District tap water met all U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and state of California health standards for drinking water.

By Helen Horvath

Photo, lefft: Dynamite charges set by the US Corps of Engineers

June 30, 2020 (Campo) – Yesterday, at the end of Tierra del Sol Road in the Campo area, a group of Kumeyaay-led people and supporters gathered early in the morning to protest the blasting of Kumeyaay cultural sites.

Many of these protesters, wearing masks due to COVID-19, were members of the Kumeyaay Original Peoples Alliance, American Indian Movement, and Warriors of Awareness. These groups  participated out of concern for the ancestral history and culture of the Kumeyaay tribes.  Black Lives Matter (BLM) and American Friends Service Committee also participated in the protest in a show of solidarity with local Native Americans. (Photo, right)

By Miriam Raftery

June 30, 2020 (San Diego’s East County) – The weather will be warming up over the Fourth of July weekend. But before you head to the beach, be aware that elevated surf is forecast to generate strong rip currents that will be hazardous to swimmers this weekend and next week.

On Sunday and Monday,  breezy winds, warmer conditions and low relative humidity will create elevated fire weather conditions, says meteorologist Casey Oswant with the National Weather Service. The conditions are “favorable for fast-moving grass fires,” Oswant cautions.

By Miriam Raftery

June 29, 2020 (San Diego) – San Diego County’s Health and Human Services Agency today ordered  bars, wineries and breweries to shut down starting July 1 to slow the spread of COVID-19.

The county also halted reopening of any additional businesses until at least August 1, due to a spike in cases locally.

Although Governor Gavin Newsom earlier this week ordered bars in six counties to close and recommended closures in eight other counties, San Diego was not on those lists. However local officials made the decision to shut down the alcohol establishments after nearly 500 new cases were reported yesterday, the highest number since the start of the pandemic. Also, 7% of test results reported yesterday were positive, up sharply from the 4.1% rate over the prior two weeks.

Concerns are also rising over hospital capacity, since San Diego has taken some patients from neighboring Imperial County, where 23% of tests have come back positive in recent days prompting the state to order a return to a full lockdown there.

Today, Riverside County’s hospital ICU units hit 99% capacity, forcing hospitals to resort to surge mode, converting other hospital bed areas into ICU units to accommodate COVID-19 patients. San Diego could be asked to accept yet more patients from its neighbor to the north if Riverside's surge in cases continues.

Imperial County put back on full lockdown as positive test rates soar to 23%

By Miriam Raftery

June 28, 2020 (San Diego) – Across the U.S., states and counties that reopened broad sectors of their economies are rolling back some business re-openings as COVID-19 cases spike. On Friday, the governors of Florida, Texas, and California all ordered total or partial shutdowns of bars in efforts to slow the spread. 

Today, Governor Gavin Newsom announced that the state has ordered bars in six counties to shut down and recommends that bars be closed in eight additional counties.

So far, San Diego is not on either of those lists and bars remain open, though that may change as the county's rate of hospitalizations from COVID-19 climbs.

By Miriam Raftery

Photo, left: Ramona Ranch Winery's winemaker is cheered by news that wineries and vineyards can now reopen to visitors.

June 26, 2020 (San Diego’s East County) – Wineries are reopening across our region, after three months of curbside-only services due to COVID-19. Some owners have been hard-hit by the economic loss, but now welcome the opportunity to welcome back visitors.

Now you can once again enjoy sipping wine on a mountain patio  overlooking vineyards or in an urban tasting room. Some are offering food pairings, special sales and other incentives to welcome back visitors – with social distancing and other changes per state health rules.

By Mike Allen

June 25, 2020 (Santee) -- Santee’s leaders decided they needed to make a public denunciation of racism, hate speech, and intolerance in response to a flurry of recent ugly incidents in their predominantly white city.

At the June 24 City Council meeting, Mayor John Minto said the unanimously passed resolution condemning racism will be a guiding principle as the city confronts its past.

“We acknowledge that we’ve had problems but we’re not going to allow those problems to stop us from moving forward and doing better,” Minto said.

By Paul Kruze, Contributing Editor

June 24, 2020 (El Cajon) -- The Cajon Valley Union School District Board of Trustees has approved a plan to re-open its 27 schools this fall, after going to a state-mandated distance learning program in March due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The final plan approved by the board on June 11, however, looks different from what had been envisioned by the district’s Superintendent, Dr. David Miyashiro. The original plan would have had students continue to use internet teleconferencing exclusively, as they have been since mid-March.

However, after documents from a private meeting involving some 40 district employees at the Marriott Coronado Resort and Spa on June 6 and 7 were leaked to parents and to East County Magazine, Miyashiro’s vision began to unravel. Some 100 parents throughout the district quickly organized and descended on school district headquarters on June 9 for what was supposed to be a one hour board workshop to approve the measure.

San Diego has eight community outbreaks, reopenings halted

By Miriam Raftery

Image:  Comparison of U.S. and European Union COVID-19 cases based on Johns Hopkins University medical data.

June 25, 2020 (San Diego)—If you’re planning a European vacation anytime soon, you may be out of luck. The European Union is looking to reopen to tourism from countries with low rates of the virus, travelers from the U.S. are expected to be banned, along with travelers from Brazil and Russia, the New York Times reports.

COVID-19 has largely diminished in Europe thanks to swift and aggressive actions by government in nations hard-hit there in late March. By contrast, cases have skyrocketed in the U.S., which had a similar number of cases in late March as Europe. But President Donald Trump never ordered a national lock-down or made masks mandatory; the U.S. was also late disseminating testing and sent inadequate numbers of personal protection equipment to medical providers.

The U.S. has had 11.3 million cases to date, more than any other nation on earth.  Over 120,000 Americans have died of COVID-19, which is more lives lost than from World War.

The Phair Company and Lions Club of La Mesa also make major contributions

By Miriam Raftery

Photo, left by Jake Rose: Flames engulf Randall Lamb Associates building

June 24, 2020 (La Mesa) – Among the many local companies stepping forward with donations to help businesses damaged by looting, vandalism or arson on May 30-31, one name stands out. The Randall Lamb Associates’  building burned to the ground, yet its owners have generously given $5,000 to help others rebuild their businesses and their lives.

By Christine Huard, Times of San Diego, a member of the San Diego News Association

Photo:  A man is tested for coronavirus at a drive-up site. Courtesy County News Center

June 22, 2020 (San Diego) - San Diego County public health officials reported a daily record of 310 new COVID-19 cases on Sunday, but no additional deaths from the disease.

Update June 23, 2020:  In a show of solidarity, all drivers in the Talladega race yesterday afternoon joined together to push Bubba Wallace's car to the front before the race began, after Jimmie Johnson announced he would stand with Wallace during the national anthem.  During the race, Wallace's vehicle ran out of gas, so another drived pushed him over the finish line and he came in 14th.  Johnson finished 13th and said he is "very proud of our sport."

Later in the day, the FBI announced that video shows the rope noose used as a door pull had been in the stall newly assigned to Wallace's team since 2019.

By Miriam Raftery

Photos, left: Jimmie Johnson and Bubba Wallace, creative commons via 2.0 by Zach Catanzareti

June 22, 2020 (San Diego’s East County) – Seven-time NASCAR champion Jimmie Johnson, an El Cajon native and hometown hero, is ending his final year in the sport by taking a strong stand against racism in the sport.

Last week, NASCAR announced a ban on the Confederate flag, a move long pushed for by Bubba Wallace, one of the most successful African-American drivers in NASCAR racing history. 

Yesterday, NASCAR announced that a noose had been found in the stall of the Wallace team 43 prior to the Talladega Super Speedway race in Alabama (which has been postponed until 1 p.m. today Pacific Standard Time due to inclement weather). 

The U.S. Justice Department and NASCAR have both announced investigations into the action, which could be charged as a hate crime.

Jimmie Johnson tweeted, “I can’t begin to fathom the pain this action has caused. I stand with you @BubbaWallace.”

By Miriam Raftery

Photo by Chris Stone, Times of San Diego, a member of the San Diego Online News Association

June 20, 2020 (La Mesa) – The attorney for Leslie Furcron, the woman shot in the head with a beanbag projectile May 30 outside the La Mesa Police station, has characterized her as a “peaceful” protester. A police incident narration claims she threw an object at Sheriff’s officers before she was fired at from 40 yards and struck in the head with the beanbag. While it is unclear on her cell phone video whether she threw an object or not, what is clear is that she, or someone narrating the video taken on her cell phone, advocated burning down the police station while she was in the car driving to the station.