East County News Service

January 22, 2024 (Spring Valley, CA) --- Yesterday at 5:11 a.m., California Highway Patrol received reports of a pedestrian possibly hit by a vehicle at Sweetwater Road near Blossom Lane.  Preliminary investigation determined the pedestrian had been struck by an unknown vehicle while in the southbound lanes of Sweetwater Road before being struck by additional vehicles, several of which fled the scene prior to the arrival of emergency personnel. 

The pedestrian was pronounced deceased at the scene, says Officer Jared Grieshaber.

The California Highway Patrol is currently looking for additional involved vehicles, one of which is believed to be a 2013-2018 Ram 1500 with damage to its left side and/or front, to include a missing driver’s side mirror.

By Miriam Raftery

January 21, 2024 (Alpine, CA) – Tamara Newton, a Granite Hills High School alumni and daughter of Alpine resident Carlette Anderson, is hospitalized after suffering a brain hemorrhage from a suspected tumor. She is paralyzed on her left side, cannot walk, and requires full-time care.

“The family has been very generous, but now we need some extra help with her expenses and recovery,” Anderson, founder of CPR PROS,  told  East County Magazine. A GoFundMe account has been setup to help pay for surgery and other medical needs.

The family posted on the site, “There is no doubt that it will be SO much easier for her if you join us in showering her with blessings and support in this time of need. She cannot work at this time, has limited savings and many new expenses. AND all this happened within days of moving from New Jersey to California with her youngest son.”

Facility will house migrants,  serve as control center for enforcement  

By Michael Howard

An artist rendering of the new Dulzura Border Patrol facility slated to open in September 2024. Photo courtesy of the U.S. Border Patrol

January 20, 2024 (Dulzura, CA) –  A new $74 million U.S. Border Patrol station has begun construction and is slated to open in Dulzura next year, spokesperson Michael Scappechio said in an emailed statement this week.

“This new station will provide CBP law enforcement personnel with much-needed facilities, technologies, and other infrastructure carefully designed to meet the demands and challenges of an ever-evolving border environment,” Scappechio wrote.

The station will be used to process and house migrants short-term, as well as serve as a control center for border patrol enforcement activities. The facility sits on an approximately 9-acre plot of land and will include a helipad for air support, fuel stations, and dog kennels.

By Yvette Urrea Moe, County of San Diego Communications Office

January 19, 2024 (San Diego) - Overcrowded shelters are a problem across the nation and in our local communities. Hundreds of shelter dogs need to be adopted or to be fostered temporarily. County Animal Services is asking caring individuals in the community: Can you be a Hero for a Husky?

East County News Service

January 18, 2024 (San Diego) -- The National Weather Service is forecasting a major storm bringing widespread rain this weekend and early next week countywide, with thunderstorms possible in San Diego’s mountains, valleys and coastal areas. The storm is also expected to bring gusty winds, graupel (similar to hail) and lightning that could pose hazards to those outdoors.

Source: San Diego County Sheriff

January 18, 2024 (El Cajon) -- A woman is behind bars on suspicion of starting a fire on January 11 at an apartment complex on E. Bradley Ave. in unincorporated El Cajon. The fire engulfed 14 garages at the complex.

By Miriam Raftery

Photos:  Screenshots of loose dog photos posted on Deerhorn Valley social media

January 17, 2024 (Jamul) – Residents of Deerhorn Valley, a Jamul community, are speaking out to warn neighbors about loose dogs posing threats to people, pets and livestock.

Story and photo by Michael Howard

Photo: Tobacco retailers like this smoke shop will be subject to licensing later this year. 

January 15, 2024 (La Mesa, CA) - The La Mesa City Council adopted a new ordinance earlier this month that mandates tobacco retailers shall have a license to sell tobacco products.

The ordinance passed unanimously during the January 9,2024 City Council meeting upon Councilmember Jack Shu’s motion to adopt. Shu showed his support of the ordinance by wearing two lapel pins.

“One is ‘I love clean air’ and the other is a lung that was given to me for cleaner lungs by not smoking,” Shu said.

“Being America’s most expensive city is anti-Dr. King.”—Shane Harris

January 14, 2024  (San Diego) -- Civil rights leader Shane Harris and the People's Association of Justice Advocates  will serve hundreds of unsheltered individuals and low-income families with a free breakfast on Martin Luther King Day, January 15, from 9 a.m.to 11 a.m. at the Living Water Church, 1550 Market Street, San Diego.  Harris will give an MLK Day address announcing new policy efforts to combat poverty, calling new efforts to raise sales taxes in what has already been deemed America's most expensive city 'anti-MLK' as well as calling out San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria for failing to demonstrate dr. King's policies as San Diego further prices out the working class under his leadership 

By Mike Allen

January 12, 2024 (Santee)-- Both Karl Strauss and Trader Joe’s have  announced plans to open retail outlets in Santee, although the latter company isn’t saying much other than its intention to come.

By Miriam Raftery

January 10, 2024 (El Cajon) – Wal Mart has announced that it will not renew its lease for the Walmart store in the Parkway Plaza shopping mall in El Cajon. The company plans to close the store on February 9.

By Miriam Raftery

January 7, 2024 – A day before the anniversary of the deadly Jan.6,2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol, President Joe Biden and his likely campaign opponent Donald Trump presented sharply divergent messages.

In a speech near Valley Forge, Biden spoke of General George Washington crossing the Delaware with patriot soldiers in 1777 to defeat the British and win freedom and democracy—the then radical idea that the people could govern themselves, without a king or dictator. “But if democracy fails, we’ll lose that freedom,” the President said.  He warned that Trump has openly announced plans to dismantle our democracy, stating bluntly, “Democracy is on the ballot.  Your freedom is on the ballot.”

Trump meanwhile posted a video on his social media platform that proclaimed “God created Trump” to be a “shepherd to mankind” who would be “willing to go into the den of vipers, call out the fake news for their tongues as sharp as the serpents” as well as “wrestle the deep state” and  “wield a sword.”

East County News Service

January 7, 2023 (El Cajon)—The parents of three children are dead of in an apparent murder-suicide at their home in the 1600 block of Hilton Head Court in unincorporated El Cajon. The deceased have been identified as Jose Benjamin Lopez Valle, 41, and his wife, Brenda Valle, 38.

Sheriff’s deputies responded to a call reporting an assault with a deadly weapon and gunshots. Inside the residence, they found the victims with a firearm nearby. Deputies and paramedics provided medical care but could not save the couple. 

“It appears that Jose’s injuries were self-inflicted,” says Lieutenant Joseph Jarjura with the Sheriff’s homicide unit.

They were parents to three children, ages 18, 16 and 11.

By Miriam Raftery

Photo via ECM news partner 10 News

January 5, 2024 (San Diego) – The body of an elderly woman found Dec. 22 in a chest freezer at an Allied Gardens home has been identified as Mary Margaret Haxby-Jones, who formerly lived there. According to Lt. Jud Campbell with San Diego Police, she may have been missing or  dead for as long as nine years and would have been 81 years old if she had survived.

By Donald H. Harrison, San Diego Jewish World, a member of the San Diego Online News Association

Photo:  Adela de la Torre. Photo by SDSU

January 4, 2024 (San Diego) - San Diego State University is under investigation for alleged “Islamophobia” in the wake of SDSU President Adela de la Torre’s condemnation of the Oct. 7 Hamas attack and statement of support for impacted members of the campus community.  The U.S. Department of Education has not discussed the merits of the complaint from unidentified complainants, only that the complaint has come under its jurisdiction.

Here, in full, is what President De La Torre said: