CVUSD contends Barto interfering at school meal handouts; claim disputed by CVUSD Personnel Commission member

By Paul Kruze, Contributing Editor

April 16, 2020 (El Cajon) The ongoing legal clashes between embattled longtime Cajon Valley Union School District Board member Jill Barto continued last week when the district lobbed another salvo at her by filing a temporary restraining order (TRO) against her.

The injunction enjoins Barto from being present at the district's student food distribution efforts at its schools. Like other districts around the state, Cajon Valley continues to provide meal services to its 17,000 students, although it has shut down regularly scheduled instruction at its schools until further notice. According to a video release produced by the district, it produces 4,000 lunches a day at its child nutrition center.

By Jose A. Alvarez, County of San Diego Communications Office

Photo:  County Microbiologist Jovan Shepherd prepares a specimen for testing of the novel coronavirus.

April 16, 2020 (San Diego) - The ages of the people who died range from 64 to 100 years. Four are men and three are women and all had underlying medical conditions.

The age, gender and race and ethnic breakdown of the local COVID-19 deaths are:

San Diego-based Falcon Valley Group joins Gray Public Relations in launching “Back to Business” initiative with complimentary strategy sessions

East County News Service

April 15, 2020 (San Diego) -- The disruption to businesses from the coronavirus pandemic is staggering. According to a Goldman Sachs survey of 1,500 business owners, 96 percent say they have been impacted by the outbreak. Only 13 percent feel confident about their contingency plans to maintain business. Fifty-three percent say their employees do not have the ability to telecommute, and 51 percent say their business cannot operate beyond three months.

Public relations and communications professionals from across the U.S. including San Diego have joined forces to offer support through a new initiative, “Back to Business.” Business owners will be matched with an agency volunteering a complimentary strategy session to assist them in addressing their most pressing challenges both during and after the pandemic.

Among the participants is San Diego base strategic communication consultant Gayle Lynn Falkenthal, APR, Fellow PRSA, owner of Falcon Valley Group. “This is not the time for businesses and organizations to run silent,” said Falkenthal. “This is the time to work on new ways to communicate with customers and reposition their organization for a comeback in the post COVID-19 era. Only the prepared will survive. A smart communication strategy is a must.”

By Yvette Urrea Moe, County of San Diego Communications Office

Photo:  Flooding around Quarry Road in Spring Valley during a previous storm.

April 14, 2020 (San Diego) - A heavy week-long storm April 5-10 resulted in flooding and water damage for many homes and businesses. If your property or small business sustained damage from the rain, the County would like your help to estimate rain damages in our region.

At least $71 million will be distributed to displaced students   

Source: Congresswoman Susan Davis

April 14, 2020 (San Diego) -- Congresswoman Susan Davis (D-CA-53), Chairwoman of the Subcommittee on Higher Education and Workforce Development, announced that colleges and universities in San Diego County will receive more than $137 million in emergency funding as a result of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, which Congress passed on March 27. At least $71 million of the funding each institution receives will be distributed to students in the form of emergency cash assistance grants to help pay for housing, food, and other basic essentials.

By Rebecca Jefferis Williamson 

Photos courtesy of the California Nurses Association

April 13, 2020 (Poway) – Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, Poway’s Palomar Health laid off 221 healthcare employees.  Today, around 45 registered nurses, technicians and other healthcare workers held a protest outside Palomar Medical Center in Poway.  

“Number one-we want safe staffing, number two-proper PPE (personal protective equipment), and three-rescind the layoffs,” Lori Isham, a five-year employee who participated in the protest, told ECM.  

By Miriam Raftery 

April 13, 2020 (San Diego) — The storm surge has led to the San Diego River cresting at 12.5 feet in Fashion Valley – the ninth highest level on record in more than a century.

By Miriam Raftery

April 10, 2020 (San Diego) – A local church hoping to hold in-person Easter services this Sunday has been denied an exemption to San Diego County’s COVID-19 stay-home order. 

Abiding Place Ministries had sought a restraining order to prevent the county from enforcing its public heath directive, arguing that the order violated members’ constitutional right to religious freedom.

But U.S. District Judge Cynthia A. Bashant ruled that the county has the authority to “reasonably restrict” such rights during a public health emergency. She quoted the U.S. Supreme Court in the Prince v. Massachusetts case, which states, “The right to practice religion freely does not include the right to expose the community to communicable disease…”

April 10, 2020 (San Diego) -- The National Weather Service in San Diego has issued a Flash Flood Warning for Central San Diego County until 1130 AM PDT. Flash flooding is already occurring in a few locations. Additional rainfall of 0.2 to 0.5 inch per hour is expected for the next several hours. Below are details:

HAZARD...Flash flooding caused by heavy rain.

SOURCE...Radar indicated.

IMPACT...Flooding of small creeks and streams, urban areas, highways, streets and underpasses as well as other drainage and low lying areas.

Some locations that will experience flooding include San Diego, Oceanside, Carlsbad, El Cajon, Vista, Encinitas, La Mesa, Poway, Ramona, Del Mar and Alpine.

By Mike Allen

Photo, from top left: Rob McNelis, Laura Koval, Stephen Houlahan, John Minto, Ronn Hall, and Bill Maertz, Santee Community Services director.

April 9, 2020 (Santee) -- Santee’s City Council amended a law it passed earlier this month banning evictions of residential tenants hurting from effects of the coronavirus. The amended version now includes commercial tenants.

By Miriam Raftery

Photo by Miriam Raftery: Sanders in San Diego in 2016

April 9, 2020 (San Diego) – Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders yesterday announced that he has suspended his candidacy for the presidency, leaving former Vice President Joe Biden as the presumptive Democratic nominee.

Sanders reportedly spoke with Biden earlier in the day and congratulated him, pledging to work with Biden in the November general election against Republican President Donald Trump.

Biden, long positioned as a moderate, issued a message to Sanders’ supporters stating, “I see you, I hear you, and I understand the urgency of what it is we have to get done in this country,” adding, “I hope you will join us. You are more than welcome. You’re needed.”

By Jake Zawlacki

Audio Recording Link: https://www.lemongrove.ca.gov/city-hall/city-council/city-council-meeting-audio-recordings

April 8, 2020 (Lemon  Grove) -- In a 3-2 split, the Lemon Grove City Council voted Tuesday to approve the city’s Climate Action Plan, a plan to take advantage of $2.5 million in grant funds  from SANDAG to decrease greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 through local projects.

In accordance with Gov. Newsom’s Executive Orders in a response to mitigating the transmission of COVID-19, the meeting commenced online via Zoom.

By Miriam Raftery

Photo: Creative Commons via Bing

April 8, 2020 (San Diego’s East County) – After a rural resident told us his horse has been stabled since mid-March to prevent violating COVID-19 stay-home orders for non-essential needs, ECM reached out to San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG) Chairman Steve Vaus. Vaus, a horse owner and also mayor of Poway, provided clarification that horseback riding is legal – provided social distancing is maintained.

“Horseback activity would fall under the agricultural exemption,” Vaus stated, but added that riders should not ride in groups with anyone other than their household members.  Don’t congregate before or after rides with friends at parking lots or elsewhere. “Take a ride and go home,” he advised.