By Miriam Raftery

May 24, 2017 (La Mesa) – The 25^th anniversary season of the La Mesa Classic Car Show will go on.  Council voted 3-0 last night to authorize a permit for the show to be managed by the new La Mesa Village Association, despite concerns over the LMVA’s decision to drop long-time popular  DJ Jack Leary, aka “Jumpin’ Jack Flash.” 

By Jonathan Goetz

Photo: The project is bordered by existing sand projects to the north and east

May 23, 2017 (Lakeside) -- The Lakeside Community Planning Group  on May 17 approved by a 10-0 vote a major use permit for East County Sand LLC to extract sand from 19.23 of 27.39 acres in the heavy industrial portion of Hwy-67 and Vigilante Road. The project still needs to go before the County Planning Commission. Upon conclusion, it will host 8.8 acres of wetland in Slaughterhouse Creek and San Vicente Creekbed at the north end of Moreno Valley in Lakeside.

Popular event could fly off into sunset without more sponsors and donors

By Mike Allen

Photo credit John Ford Photography and Air Group One

May 22, 2017 (El Cajon) -- Organizers of the biggest annual air show in East County say they cannot afford to put it on because of rising costs and an inability to raise sufficient funds.

By Miriam Raftery

May 22, 2017 (El Cajon) – Crews from Heartland Fire & Rescue, Cal Fire and San Miguel Fire responded to a  call reporting a shed fire.at the Safari Mobile Home Park, located in the 1100 block of East Main Street in El Cajon at 5:30 p.m. Crews arrived within four minutes, but found the fire had spread to the interior of a mobile home.

Source: Caltrans

May 22, 2017 (San Diego) - Construction crews will close the northbound State Route 15 (SR-15) connector ramp to eastbound and westbound Interstate 8 (I-8) on Sunday from 7 p.m. until 5 a.m. on Monday, according to Caltrans. The closure is needed for construction on the SR-15 Commuter Bikeway Project.

By Miriam Raftery

Photos by Cynthia Wharton, taken yesterday from Otay Lakes Road just before it was shut down.

May 21, 2017 – A criminal arson investigation has been launched into the cause of the Gate Fire, which has charred 2,056 acres and is now 70% contained.

Captain Isaac Sanchez with Cal Fire told ECM news partner 10 News that a video shot by a target shooter and posted on social media shows a group of people starting the fire. The video may be this one posted by a user named Vandalsworld on Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/p/BUVtlvSBN0r/?hl=en.   The poster claims the people started the fire, but it is unclear whether the fire was started by shooting or some other way. After the fire started, the people could be seen walking away from the scene.

Earlier, some neighbors had blamed the fire on shooters at a target range near where the fire began, in an area where shooting is believed to have started several prior brush fires. But now a shooter may have captured evidence to catch possible arsonists or careless individuals whose actions ignited the Gate Fire.

Firefighters continue to make progress towards full containment, Cal Fire reports.  State Route 94 has been reopened, as well as Otay Lakes Road.  Please drive with caution, however, in this area.

By Miriam Raftery

May 21, 2017 (Lemon Grove) – The driver of a green Honda Accord died after a high-speed accident in the 3200 block of Sweetwater Road in Lemon Grover yesterday.  The young man, who was not wearing a seatbelt, was ejected onto the roadway.

Update 5:55 p.m.:  The Gate Fire is 800 acres and is now 10% contained.  Road closures remain in effect on Highway 94 from Honey Springs Rd. to State Route 188, and on Otay Lakes Road.

Update 4:50 p.m.:   Fire is now 500 acres and still only 5% contained. A Chula Vista policeman directing traffic was struck by a vehicle and has been taken to a hospital with non-life threatening injuries.

Update 3:20 p.m. :  The Gate Fire is now 425 acres and 5% contained, per Cal Fire. 

By Miriam Raftery

Photo left, by Dan Cassidy

May 20, 2017 (Jamul/Otay) – The Gate Fire has scorched 300 to 400 acres,  according to Cal-Fire.  Thus far no structures have been damaged.  The fire is burning  near Highway 94 and Otay Lakes Road, toward the Rancho Jamul Reserve with winds at 10-15 miles per hour.  The fire is zero percent contained and still spreading rapidly. 

By James Kecskes, County of San Diego Communications Office

May 19, 2017 (San Diego) - Kitten season is upon us and the County’s Department of Animal Services is getting flooded with kittens. The department is offering spay and neuter coupons to help lower the cat population: $100 for females and $50 for males.

By Suzanne Potter, Public News Service

Photo via D3Damon, iStockphoto

May 18, 2017 (Sacramento) - Opponents of a bill intended to smooth the way for the rollout of next-generation cell technology are cautiously optimistic - after a key committee put the measure on hold on Monday.

East County News Service

May 18, 2017 (San Diego) - The San Diego chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ) will present its 2017 Journalist of the Year award to Morgan Cook, an investigative reporter at The San Diego Union-Tribune, for her investigative reporting that revealed campaign finance scandals involving Congressman Duncan Hunter (R-Alpine).

“San Diego has seen its share of big stories this past year, but our board believes no local journalist did better work than Cook in her relentless accountability reporting on Congressman Duncan Hunter’s use of campaign funds for personal expenses. She broke the story last year and continues to follow it after the Department of Justice made clear in March that it is investigating Hunter, whose district covers Alpine, Escondido and Temecula,” a press release from SPJ states.

By Jordan Damond

May 18, 2017 (San Diego’s East County) -- Congressman Duncan Hunter has introduced the Cigarette Smoking Reduction and Electronic Vapor Alternatives Act, which eases regulations on vaping and electronic cigarettes.

By Miriam Raftery

An East County Magazine Special report

May 17, 2017 (Washington D.C.) – In a bombshell announcement, the U.S. Justice Department has  issued an order to appoint a special prosecutor  to investigate Russia’s efforts to interfere in the 2016 presidential election, including any links and/or coordination between the Russian government and individuals associated with the Trump campaign.  Far more broadly, the order allows investigation of any matters that arise from the investigation and all other matters within a special prosecutor’s jurisdiction under federal law – including authorization to prosecute federal crimes arising from the investigation.   

Acting Attorney General  Rod. J. Rosenstein issued the order to appoint Robert Mueller, a former federal prosecutor who served as FBI director from 2001 to 2013 under both Republican President George W. Bush and Democratic President Barack Obama.

By Miriam Raftery

Photo by Gage Skidmore

May 17, 2017 (Washington D.C.) –President Donald Trump pressured FBI director James Comey to halt the FBI investigation into former National Security Director Michael Flynn’s Russian connections, but Comey refused, according to a memo written by Comey at the time,  the New York Times reports.  Comey also refused Trump’s demand to jail journalists for publishing leaked materials—shortly before the President fired Comey.   The revelation has top Republican and Democratic Senators preparing to subpoena records that could, potentially, lead to impeachment.

“Obstruction of justice is what it looks like to anybody who’s looking at it,” Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, a Democrat working with Republican  Senator Lindsey Graham to investigate the FBI’s role in the federal Russia investigation,  Politico reports. “This is about as lay down a case…as a prosecutor could imagine,” he added.

Republican Jason Chaffetz, chairman of the House Oversight Committee who has said he won’t seek reelection,  today announced on Twitter that his committee will “get the Comey memo, if it exists,” adding, “I need to see it sooner rather than later. I have my subpoena pen ready.”

By Miriam Raftery

May 16, 2017 (Washington D.C.) – After the Washington Post reported yesterday that President Donald Trump leaked classified information to Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Moscow’s Ambassador Sergey Kisylyak, multiple major media outlets now report that they have independently confirmation this through their own sources, including the New York Times,  Politico, Buzzfeed and CNN.