Source: Caltrans

May 14, 2021 (Spring Valley) -- Crews will close all lanes of westbound State Route 94 (SR-94) from Avocado Boulevard/Calavo Drive to Kenwood Drive Sunday through Thursday from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m., according to Caltrans. The westbound SR-94 nightime closures include the on-ramp from Avocado Boulevard/Calavo Drive, the off- and on-ramps at Sweetwater Springs Road/Campo Drive, and the Kenwood Drive off-ramp.

By Tracy DeFore, County of San Diego Communications Office

May 13, 2021 (San Diego) - A limited number of people can attend and provide public comment in person at the County Board of Supervisors meetings next week as long as certain COVID-19 safety measures are followed.

By Miriam Raftery

Photo via The Mountain Community on Facebook, posted by Laura Palmer Vikara

Update May 13, 2021 -- The California Highway Patrol reports that the  driver was trapped in the vehicle and died. The body of a second male victim as found later in the afternoon. Both of their identities are unknown. Around 7:48 p.m. the driver hauling a semi-trailer (big rig) lost control and struck the center divider, hit a bridge rail and rolled down an embankment off I-8 east of Sunrise Highway, where the truck became engulfed in flames. CHP, Border Patrol and Cal Fire arrived shortly after the crash. It is unknown what caused the accident and whether the victims wore seatbelts. CHP asks anyone who witnessed this crash to call the CHP in El Cajon at (619)401-2000.

May 12, 2021 (Pine Valley) – Westbound Interstate 8 is shutdown from Buckman Springs Road to Sunrise Highway due to a big rig truck that caught fire, crashed and damaged a bridge. Traffic is being diverted onto Old Highway 80.

According to the CHP Incidents page, the accident occurred near the Border Patrol Checkpoint, which is three miles east of Pine Valley.  Damage to 30 feet of metal and concrete on the bridge is reported.

By Miriam Raftery

Image, left: Dept. of Water Resources  map shows precipitation is far below average statewide

May 11, 2021 (Sacramento) – Following months of below normal rainfall in one of the driest years on record, Governor Gavin Newsom yesterday expanded his  April 21 drought emergency proclamation to include a total of 41 counties. San Diego is not included in the proclamation, which covers primarily Northern and Central California, areas representing about 30 percent of the state’s population. However all state residents are asked to help conserve water, a criitical resource.

Extraordinarily warm temperatures in April and early May separate this critically dry year from all others on California record. Climate change-induced early warm temperatures and extremely dry soils have further depleted runoff water from the Sierra-Cascade snowpack, resulting in historic and unanticipated reductions in water flowing to major reservoirs. The drastic reduction in water supplies means these reservoirs are extremely low for water users including farmers, also threatening fish and wildlife in the counties the drought proclamation covers.

Newsom announced $5.1 billion in funding for a menu of measures to address the drought and related water challenges. His proposal takes timely advantage of a massive $75.7 billion budget surplus, a surplus due largely to wealthy Californians who profited during the pandemic.

East County News Service

May 10, 2021 (Washington d.C.) -- Today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration expanded the emergency use authorization for Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine to include adolescents ages 12 through 15, Previously, the Pfizer vaccine was approved only for people age 16 and up.

Acting FDA Commissioner Janet Woodcock, M.D., says the action is “a significant step in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic,” adding, “Today’s action allows for a younger population to be protected from COVID-19, bringing us closer to returning to a sense of normalcy and to ending the pandemic. Parents and guardians can rest assured that the agency undertook a rigorous and thorough review of all available data, as we have with all of our COVID-19 vaccine emergency use authorizations.”

By Miriam Raftery

Photo: Creative Commons image of refugee children via Bing

May 9, 2021 (San Diego) – President Joe Biden announced Monday that the U.S. will raise the cap on refugee admissions to 62,500 for this fiscal year – up from a historic low of 15,000 under the Trump administration “which did not reflect America’s values as a nation that welcomes and supports refugees,” President Biden said. 

By Miriam Raftery

Photo via San Miguel Fire on Instagram

May 9, 2021 (Spring Valley) - Crews from San Miguel and Heartland Fire Rescue rescued a tree trimmer Friday.  “Units arrived on scene to find the worker pinned to the tree approximately 75 feet up. His rigging, harness, and legs were compressed by the weight of the heavy skirt of dead fronds which had given way,” San Miguel posted on Instagram.

By Miriam Raftery

Photo, left, by Henri Migala:  protest in La Mesa on May 30 called for justice for George Floyd

May 7, 2021 (San Diego) – San Diego County’s Board of Supervisors voted Tuesday to endorse the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, a federal police reform measure aimed at improving law enforcement accountability and addressing racial disparities. Supervisors split 3-2 on the issue, with East County Supervisors Jim Desmond and Joel Anderson opposed while Supervisors Nathan Fletcher, Terra Lawson-Remer and Nora Vargas supported the action.

Source: East County Leadership Council

May 6, 2021 (El Cajon) - East County Leadership Council’s grant has allowed it to triple the prize money for its COVID-19 essay contest. ECLC has also extended the deadline for entries to May 29 to allow broader participation.

By Gig Conaughton, County of San Diego Communications Office

May 4, 2021 (San Diego) - With temperatures rising and summer coming, the County’s Vector Control Program is scheduled to conduct its first routine mosquito-fighting aerial larvicide drop this week on dozens of waterways to help stop mosquitoes from potentially spreading diseases like West Nile virus.

By Miriam Raftery

Photo: Annual motorcycle ride honoring veterans in our nation’s capital; Creative Commons image by Cristiano Del Riccio via Wikipedia

May 3, 2021 (Washington D.C.) – Veterans’ groups and members of Congress are criticizing the Department of Defense for denying a permit request to use the Pentagon parking lot as a staging area for the annual “Rolling to Remember” motorcycle ride. The ride organized by AMVETS, a veterans’ organization, honors fallen American soldiers, prisoners of war and those missing in action, as well as calling attention to the crisis of veteran suicides.