October 17, 2010 (Santee) – Caltrans will completely shut down all northbound lanes on State Route 67 between Prospect and Woodside in Santee from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m. for five nights, starting tonight. The shut-down is needed for construction as part of a $520 million extension of State Route 52 to connect with State Route 67.

First-in-the-county retail licensing program credited for decline

New law will expand and update benefits for veterans

October 15, 2010 (Washington, D.C). – House Veterans’ Affairs Committee Chairman Bob Filner (D-San Diego) announced yesterday that President Obama signed H.R. 3219 into law. The Veterans’ Benefits Act of 2010, authored by Filner, improves and modernizes certain benefits administered by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) for veterans and their families.

By Miriam Raftery

October 14, 2010 (El Cajon) – A white car plunged over the side of westbound I-8 shortly after noon today, landing upside in a drainage ditch just west of Second Street.

Emergency workers extricated those inside and transported two patients to a local hospital, according to Monica Zech, spokesperson for the City of El Cajon.

October 13, 2010 (Jamul) – An East County Magazine reader asks, “I want to know who else saw the blue and whitish-orange meteor I saw from my house in Deerhorn Valley in Jamul at approximately 8:50 pm on Monday evening, October 11.”

Update:  Chinese and Iraqi hackers also attempted to hack this election, a startling report today reveals.  
By Miriam Raftery

October 11, 2010 (San Diego's East County) -- The U.S. military has cancelled Internet voting for U.S. troops after hackers infiltrated an online election in Washington D.C., playing the University of Michigan “Fight” song on the voting system--and accessing the ability to change votes.

Development interests seek to make it easier to build housing projects in rural areas

Photo credit: https://precondo.ca/

East County News Service

October 8, 2010 (San Diego’s East County) -- Do you know how to protect your home and your family when a major quake strikes?  Recent seismic activity in San Diego has shown the importance of being prepared. All County residents are urged to participate in the Great California ShakeOut October 21 at 10:21 a.m. Schools, colleges, businesses, churches, and community organizations can register at www.shakeout.org. To date, more than 6.6 million Californians have registered to participate; over 530,000 are from San Diego County.

Here are tips from Shakeout on what to do -- and what NOT to do in a quake:

October 7, 2010 (San Diego County) – Incident Page Network reports two breaking emergencies late this afternoon. In Carlsbad, a 5,000-gallon sewage spill from the sewage treatment plant is flooding city streets in the area of Avenida Encinas and Palomar Airport Road. North County residents are asked to reduce water usage, 10 News reports.

The second incident is a large diameter natural gas line break at Towns Gate Drive in Carmel Country Ranch.  Evacuations of a complex are underway.  A Haz-Mat crew and SDG&E have been dispatched.

La Mesa man's long battle to recover Pissarro painting stolen by Nazis ends, but family vows to pursue his dream

October 5, 2010 (La Mesa) – Claude Cassirer, who survived an internment camp during World War II and became a lecturer in schools teaching students about the Holocaust, died on September 25, 2010. A portrait photographer, he later became a volunteer and licensed ombudsman for the State of California for more than  20 years, striving to assure proper healthcare for seniors. He and his wife, Beverly, were also prominent political activists and co-founders of the La Mesa Foothills Democratic Club.

Recently, Cassirer made headlines by winning a court battle in September that allowed him to sue the government of Spain.  His lawsuit sought to recover a Pissarro painting stolen from his grandparents by the Nazis, but he passed away before he could see his long-time dream fulfilled.

October 5, 2010 (Carroll Canyon) – All southbound lanes on I-15 are closed due to a truck carrying a backhoe that struck the Carroll Canyon Bridge at 12:32 p.m. The truck cleared the bridge, but the backhoe struck a beam. After striking the bridge, the backhoe fell off onto a van in a roll-over collision.

 WARNING ISSUED DUE TO  AL QAEDA ATTACKS THAT MAY BE EMINENT IN FRANCE, BRITAIN & GERMANY

East County News Service

Update Oct. 3, 2010 (Washington D.C.) - The U.S. State Department has issued an alert recommending that Americans traveling to Europe register their travel plans with the Consular Section of the U.S. Embassy. Citizens are urged to get information on general security issues at the Department's website, CNN confirmed today. 
 

 BBC News in London reported last night that the U.S.officials confirm the U.S. plans to issue a travel alert warning citizens to be “vigilant while travelling in Europe because of the threat of an al-Qaeda commando-style attack.”  The advisory comes in response to intelligence indicating an al-Qaeda plan to send teams of gunmen into crowded places to kill western civilians, similar to the 2008 attacks in Mumbai that killed 173 people, the BBC reports.

October 2, 2010 (San Diego) – The National Weather Service has issued a hazardous weather statement for San Diego County. Skywarn spotter activation is requested through this evening.

Isolated showers and thunderstorms are forecast tonight, mainly in the mountains. “Thunderstorms have deadly lightning and may have heavy rain,” the statement said, adding that strong gusty winds and hail are also forecast.

October 1, 2010 (San Diego) – A 22-month-old toddler accidentally run over by her mother yesterday has died. She has been identified by the San Diego Coroner’s office as Lauren Garibay, daughter of Florence Street.