East County News Service

Photos: Map of proposed project; wildlife photos by Debbie Ekhaml, including raccoons in adjacent Sweetwater National Wildlife Refuge and mule deer in Jamul ecological preserve are among wildlife species that could be negatively impacted

July 13, 2019 (Rancho San Diego) – Significant concerns raised by the community over the proposal for a 10-year sand mining operation at Cottonwood Golf Course have been confirmed with the release of the County of San Diego’s Scoping Letter on the project.

By Tracy DeFore, County of San Diego Communications Office

July 12, 2019 (San Diego) - The County Board of Supervisors approved another step Wednesday toward increasing local drinking water supplies for East County residents.

The Board, acting as the Board of Directors for the County Sanitation District, voted to approve $2.35 million for the County’s contribution to final program development costs of the East County Advanced Water Purification Program.

By Miriam Raftery 

July 12, 2019 (Washington D.C.) – Xylitol can kill a dog in just 10 to 60 minutes, or symptoms may occur up to 24 hours after ingestion. The U.S. Food & Drug Administration has issued a warning to pet owners to avoid any products with xylitol and to seek immediate emergency veterinary care if a dog or a ferret consume anproduct containing it.  

East County News Service 

Photo: El Capitan Reservoir in Lakeside is among the lakes impacted.

July 11, 2019 (San Diego) – As part of a budget reduction of 3 percent citywide, each of the City of San Diego’s reservoirs including several lakes in East County will be closed an additional weekday each month beginning July 1, 2019. The additional days each month that reservoirs will be closed are as follows: 

East County News Service

July 11, 2019 (Jacumba Hot Springs) - The East County backcountry lost one of its biggest cheerleaders on June 29, when Howard W. Cook passed away peacefully after a short illness. He gave selflessly to the community, serving as Chair and later Secretary for the Jacumba Sponsor Group and as Board Member of the Jacumba-Boulevard Revitalization Committee. 

By Ken Stone

Reprinted with permission from Times of San Diego, a member of the San Diego Online News Association

Photo:  Gregory A. Vega of downtown San Diego’s Seltzer Caplan McMahon Vitek law firm came to the defense of his old friend Gonzalo Curiel when the federal judge came under attack from Donald Trump. Image via YouTube.com

July 9, 2019 (San Diego) - At Monday’s hour-long hearing for Rep. Duncan D. Hunter, 22 minutes were devoted to whether two (or possibly three) assistant U.S. attorneys had a political ax to grind against the indicted Republican.

By Miriam Raftery

July 8, 2019 (San Diego) - U.S. beekeepers lost 40.7% of their honey bee colonies for the year ending April 2019, according to the latest survey by the Bee Informed Partnership, a nonprofit led by the University of Maryland.  That continues a national decline in recent years that has alarmed scientists, with causes ranging from pesticides to climate change to colony collapse disorder of unknown causes. 

Update July 9:  This photo has been deleted off Hunter's social media. The San Diego Union-Tribune reports Hunter spokesman Michael Harrison stated, “Congressman Hunter has never supported or been accused of supporting white supremacy and if anyone were to espouse any such beliefs in a photo with Congressman Hunter they did so without his knowledge or consent,” Harrison said in an email. “To be clear, Congressman Hunter does not personally know this individual, or what his views may be.”

Updated July 7 with information on identity of the man standing next to Hunter: Kristopher Wyrick, founder of an avowed white nationalist organization.  Updated July 8 with statement from Ammar Campa-Najjar.

By Miriam Raftery

July 6, 2019 (Alpine) – A photo making the rounds on social media claims Congressman Duncan D Hunter spent the Fourth of July in the company of white nationalists.  A photo shows Hunter standing next to a man flashing a hand signal that’s commonly used as a white power symbol as well as A-okay sign.  The image was cropped down from a group photo taken in Alpine, where Rep. Hunter participated in the town’s annual 4th of July Independence Day Parade.

However, the man in the photo has an apparent history of participating in and leading groups that espouse white nationalist positions and of  violence against protesters as shown in videos.

According to a Times of San Diego report published July 7, the man flashing the white power sign is believed to be Kristopher Wyrick, a cofounder of the Bordertown Patriots, a white nationalist group that organized an event at Chicano Park that reportedly resulted in clashes with counterprotesters and multiple arrests. Wyrick is also reportedly a former member of San Diego Proud Boys and the United Patriot National Front. Will Johnson, who has had two court battles with Wyrick, told Times of San Diego that he's certain it's Wyrick in the photo because  "I've seen him so many times."  Johnson sought a restraining order against Wyrick but lost; Wyrick later won a small claims court against Johnson over lost work time and gun storage costs.

East County Wildfire & Emergency Alert Services

July 5, 2019 (Ridgecrest) -- A powerful 7.1 earthquake has struck 11 miles northeast of Ridgecrest tonight at 8:19 p.m., the same area rocked by a 6.4 earthquake yeserday morning. KCFD reports over a dozen small outdoor fires with larger vegetation fires burning north and east of the city. Kern County spokesperson Megan Person confirmed to CNN that fires and multiple injuries have occured. Structure damage is also reported.

Seismologist Lucy Jones tweeted, "There is a 1 in 20 chance of Friday night's magnitude 7.1 earthquake "being followed by somethign even bigger." Earthquake of magnitude 5 are likely and a magnitude 6 is quite possible, she said. 

An 8.5 quake in Chile was once a precursor to a 9.2, a seismic expert in a live press conference held by the Kern County Fire Department stated.

The U.S. Geological Survey originally reported the quake at 7.1, downgraded it to 6.9 and then upgraded it back to 7.1. That's 11 times stronger than the earlier 6.4 quake since the Richter scale is logorhythmic.

Southern California Edison reports some 26,000 customers are without power due to the quake.

Los Angeles Fire Dept. reports downed powerlines in L.A. 

View video of the KTLA newscasters ducking for cover when the quake hit:  https://twitter.com/i/status/1147353969674448896.

In San Bernadino County, the county fire department reports som homes have shifted off their foundations, according to KTLA.

Highway 178 is closed due to a rockslide in Kern County.

July 5, 2019 (La Mesa) – Should La Mesa form a citizens’ police oversight or advisory commission? Jack Shu, a former Superintendent of California State Parks and Janet Castaños, a former dean in the Grossmont-Cuyamaca Community College district and past president of Helix Charter High School’s board, have a proposal that will soon be considered by the La Mesa City Council. 

We interviewed them on our East County Magazine Show on KNSJ.   You can hear the entire interview by clicking the audio link, or scroll down for highlights.

By Miriam  Raftery

July 4, 2019 (Ridgecrest) – A 6.4 temblor named the #RidgecrestEarthquake struck 125 miles northeast of Los Angeles in Kern County’s Searles Valley this morning shortly after 10:30 a.m.  It was felt as far south as San Diego’s North County and Orange County, where Disneyland has closed rides for safety inspections due to the quake.

Governor Newsom has issued an emergency declaration for Ridgecrest, the city hardest hit with damages.

The quake is the strongest centered in California since a 7.1 quake at the Twenty-Nine Palms military base 20 years ago and the strongest felt in southern California since the 2010 Easter Sunday quake in northern Mexico that rattled San Diego.

Authorities, in a press conference this afternoon, say they were inundated with emergency calls including a home on fire, medical aid calls, gas and water leaks, and stores with merchandise knocked off shelves in Ridgecrest. The Ridgecrest Regional Hospital and several apartment buildings were evacuated, local media outlets report.

The powerful temblor opened up crevasses in roads, knocked down power lines and left some residents without electricity.  Minor injuries from broken glass and falling objects have occurred, according to CNN, Fortunately, no deaths have been reported.

By Miriam Raftery

July 3, 2019 (La Mesa) – The La Mesa City Council will hold a special meeting on Tuesday, July 9 to discuss whether to consider leasing the former police station site at the southeast corner of Allison and Date avenues to USA Properties Fund.  

A U.S. District Court judge fines and sentences Otero to federal prison for fraud

By Paul Kruze, Contributing Editor

July 3, 2019 (San Diego) -- Friday was judgment day for Andrew R. Otero, owner of A&D General Contracting and husband of Cajon Valley Union School District president Tamara Otero.  

Otero, a San Diego building contractor, was sentenced by Senior U.S. District Judge John Houston after a federal jury convicted Otero last November of fraudulently obtaining over $11 million dollars in government contracts through his company which had been set aside for small businesses owned by disabled veterans.