Join East County Magazine at our Haunted Mt. Helix Manor for our annual Halloween party!

Open to all subscribers (subscribe free at the top right side of our homepage):

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 26  

4 p.m.- 8 p.m.

4438 Hideaway Place, La Mesa, CA 91941

--Bring a devilishly delicious dish to share

--Costume contest and parade

--Prizes and surprises! (Prize donations welcome)

Thanks to our prize donors! City Tacos, La Loteria del Jamul, La Mesa Chamber of Commerce, Scare Trail at Marshal Scotty's, SoCal Axe Throwing, Pearson Brothers Winery, Reanimated Records, and more. Prizes include gift certificates to local restaurants and shops, wine lovers gifts, coffee lovers' basket, chocolate truffles, Spring Fling and Summer Bash Business Expo tickets, accessories, holiday party passes and more.

Cost $16 in advance, $20 at the door.  GET TICKETS: 

Just in time for St. Patrick’s Day, what could be finer than an evening at Hooley’s Irish Pub and Grill with East County Dining Club--featuring great food and drinks, plus prize drawings?

Hooleys will donate a portion of every food and drink item purchased to benefit East County Magazine nonprofit news in the public interest and East County Wildfire & Emergency Alerts.

Hooley’s was voted best Irish pub in the world (outside of Ireland) by an organization of international Irish pub owners.  Founder Craig McDonald has added authentic ambience along with traditional Irish foods, brews and bar offerings. 

Date:  Thursday, Feb. 28 at 6:30 p.m.

Location;  Hooley’s Irish Pub and Grill

Grossmont Center (5500 Grossmont Center Dr.), La Mesa

Please RSVP by Feb. 25 to be entered in an early bird prize drawing!

619-698-7617 or editor@eastcountymagazine.org

*We’ve priced this event for affordability!  You can order just an entrée, or as many other items as you wish off a special menu just for our dining club event!  Here are the delicious details:

November 6, 2018 (San Diego's East County) -- Our reporting team will be at Election Central tonight and on the road where our local candidates will be congregating.  Internect connectivity may be spotty; we will be reporting results first @EastCountyMag on Twitter and then posting on our site later on tonight.

May the best candidates win, and congratulations to all who ran!

By Miriam Raftery

August 30, 2018 (San Diego’s East County) – Thanks to all of you who turned out to help make our 10-year anniversary celebration, East County Fest,, a huge success! 

Hundreds flocked to Mission Trails Regional Park to enjoy foods and wines served up by over 20 local restaurants, wineries and a cider brewery, also enjoy live music, meeting local authors and artists, vying for raffle and auction prizes, stargazing, viewing our “Best of East County” video, mixing and mingling with a veritable who’s who of East County who turned out to help us celebrate our special occasion.

Special thanks to Joe Gabaldon from SDG&E for their major sponsorship of our special event. We also thank California Coast Catering for sponsoring our VIP party and Diego Party Bus for transporting our guests in style.

Bekker Catering served up our VIP party in style with ceviche, watermelon-feta skewers, cheese platters and more, showing why they’ve been voted best caterer in San Diego County in a San Diego Union-Tribune reader’s poll. Special thanks also to San Pasqual Winery for treating our guests to some wonderful summertime wines for both the VIP party and the main event!

By Miriam Raftery

August 6, 2018 (San Diego’s East County) -- NBA superstar, Hall of Famer, sportscaster and hometown hero Bill Walton has announced he will be at East County Magazine’s 10-year-anniversary party, “East County Fest” on August 25^th at Mission Trails Regional Park visitor center.

Walton was named to the NBA list of 50 best players of all time in 1997 among many other top honors -- and he started his winning sports right here in East County, leading Helix High School in La Mesa to CIF championships before going on to a legendary career in college and professional sports.

He has also generously agreed to donate autographed sports memorabilia from his personal collection for our fundraising auction. The value of these one-of-a-kind items? Priceless!

December 11, 2017 -- It's time for East County Magazine's annual festive and fabulous "Feasting and Merrymaking Holiday Party!"

This year's event will be held on Sunday, December 17th from 3 to 7 p.m. at 4438 Hideaway Place, La Mesa, 91941. The event is open to our newsletter and wildfire alert subscribers, dining club members and invited guests. Subscriptions are free! Sign up here:  http://www.eastcountymagazine.org/wild-fire-alerts.

This year's party includes a potluck international feast, so bring your best holiday dish or international dish to share.  We will also have live music with Paul Nichols playing folk, pop and holiday carols (yes, you can sing along!). Plus we'll have a treasure trove of prizes and surprises.

Next event is Sept. 21 at Tiramisu Trattoria in La Mesa

September 1, 2017 (La Mesa) – Thanks to all who turned out to help make the launch of our East County Dining Club a big success! 

Over 75 people attend our premiere party  at Fabrison’s Country French Restaurant in  Jamul, where guests feasted on all-you-can-eat crepes and  savored wines from the award-winning Deerhorn Valley Vineyard.

If you haven’t yet joined our dining club (just $10 a year!) we strongly recommend doing so now since we expect future events to sell out.

East County Dining Club members  will receive early invitations and  first options to reserve space at all of our future special culinary events, two free drawing tickets at their next event, and a free “Best of East County” cookbook we are compiling with recipes from top restaurants, wineries, farms and more in our region. Join us to savor the flavors of the world at great restaurants here in East County!

July 2, 2017 (San Diego's East County)-- Our May  2017 radio shows are now online. For links to listen to the shows plus a full list of topics an interviews,  click here, or click "read more" and scroll down. (Sound files may take a few moments to load).

Our newsmaker interviews included  author Mollie Moon, author of Five Wishes, Ammar Campo-Najir, Congressional candidate running against Duncan Hunter, paleontologist Tom Demere from the Natural History Museum on a discovery suggesting early man occupied our area thousands of years earlier than previously believed,  Mark Hanson and Terri Steele from Heartland Youthbuild  on opportunities for young people locally thanks to a federal grant.

Plus we  have highlights of last year’s Julian Fiddle and Pickin’ Contest with clips from winner Shira Ellison and national champion Matt  Hartz.  We also had coverage and analysis of hot national issues including Attorney General Jeff Sessions and FBI Director James Comey’s testimony,  and hot local issues ranging from a gas pipeline proposed in Santee to toxic vapors in El Cajon to a revival of La Mesa’s summer car shows.

 The East County Magazine Show airs Mondays and Fridays from 5 to 6 p.m. on KNSJ, 89.1 FM.  Our shows rerun on Tuesdays at 9 a.m. and Saturdays at 8 a.m. Pacific Standard Time.  Read more and listen to our May shows:

Photo by Darin Sefcik:  First place winner in East County Magazine's 2013 photography competition

March 15,  2017 (Santee) -- Assemblyman Randy Voepel (R-Santee) and East County Magazine announced today that they are hosting a photography contest that features photographs taken in San Diego’s East County.  The winning photographs will be displayed in Assemblyman Randy Voepel’s Capitol Office and published in East County Magazine.  Categories include wildlife, landscapes, cities and towns, activities, and people. 

“Eastern San Diego County is full of beautiful scenery and iconic landmarks, and I can’t wait to showcase photos of our wonderful community in our State’s Capitol,” Voepel said.  

Miriam Raftery, Editor of East County Magazine said, “We’re pleased to partner with Assemblyman Voepel to showcase the best of East County’s beautiful scenery, unique communities, people, wildlife, and activities.” 

Click "read more" or scroll down for for details:

East County News Service

October 27, 2016 (San Diego’s East County) -- East County Magazine editor Miriam Raftery picked up three awards in San Diego Press Club’s 2016 Excellence in Journalism Awards competition.

Our entry titled “Border Fire Leaves Residents Burned Over Bureaucratic Bungling” won the Wildcard category; this year the wildcard topic was “life on the border.”  Our media outlet beat out media in all categories for this prestigious award including TV, radio, newspapers and magazines countywide.

October 20, 2016 (San Diego's East County)-- Our August 2016 radio shows are now online! (sound files may take a minute to load).  For links to listen to the shows plus a full list of topics an interviews,  click here.

Our newsmaker interviews included bighorn sheep expert and author Mark Jorgensen, La Mesa City Council candidate Colin Parent, Helix Water District candidates Mark Gracyk and Dan McMillan, author and wordsmith Charles Harrington Elster, plus Mark Umphries andMike Urhammer from Helix Water District on water quality issues and more. We talked about hot issues, from the County’s controversial Border Fire report to local council actions to the presidential race.

 The East County Magazine Show airs Mondays and Fridays from 5 to 6 p.m. on KNSJ, 89.1 FM.  The shows rerun on Tuesdays at 9 a.m. and Saturdays at 8 a.m. Pacific Standard Time.  Read more and listen to our August shows:

Win autographed Chargers and Padres memorabilia,Aztecs tickets, a pizza party package and much more!

October 7, 2016 (La Mesa) -- Bring you friends, family or favorite team to  East County Magazine's  "Good Sports" night out at the Hills Local Pub in La Mesa (8753 La Mesa Blvd.,  near Jackson Drive and La  Mesa Blvd) this Wednesday, October 12 between 5 p.m. and  9 p.m.!  There's no cover charge, but the Hills wil donate a percentage of all food and drinks sold to benefit East CountyMagazine and our coverage of  East County youth and high school sports, as well as Aztecs and pro sports.

September 2, 2016 (San Diego's East County) -- Our latest newsletter just came out --with all the hottest news and events impacting you in East County all in one single-page newsletter.  You can view the latest edition here.   

To get a free subscription to our weekly newsletter-- and also the option to get free wildfire and emergency alerts, click here. 

Tell your friends and family!

By Miriam Raftery

July 24, 2016 (San Diego’s East County ) – East County Magazine received five awards in the Society of Professional Journalists San Diego Pro Chapter’s 2016 Journalism Awards Contest.  Journalists honored include ECM editor Miriam Raftery, reporters Mike Allen and Janis Russell, and sound editors Ed Barrena and Leon Thompson.

Honors include the special First Amendment Award and a $100 prize for our series on county efforts to suppress free speech and first place in the multicultural category for our story on local Chaldeans’ efforts to obtain release of Iraqi Christians in an Otay immigration detention facility, including both written reporting for our website and audio coverage that ran on our radio show on KNSJ.

Emergency SOS!  KNSJ, which has the emergency broadcast network for East County, is off the air due to vandals. Help us get KNSJ back on the air -- and also support East County Magazine!

SATURDAY, JUNE 18:  4 to 7 p.m.

Don't miss our summer solstice celebration of artists, authors, musicians, and thinkers will support East County Magazine and KNSJ, nonprofit media in the public interest.

Performers include: Fabio Rojas playing Latin music, comedians Benji Garcia  Karl Weiss, classical Indian dance by Nilanjana, dancer Gargi Chttopadhyaya, Indian drummers Sai Payan and Dijan Ashtianti, novelist Scott Sigler, and hip-hop by Poalypse Gotadajuice.

Savor delicious foods and libations! Plus win fabulous prizes in our opportunity drawings and silent auction, includnig Julian carriage rides, harbor cruises, dinners, dance classes, designer hand-crafted jewelry(coral/turquoise/shells and hand-painted stone), wine lovers baskets, boutique gift certificates, original art "Neptune's Capture" by Denver Native American artist Michaela Beavers, museum-quality Central AmericanMata Ortiz pottery, music CDs, books, gallery framing, butterfly kite, restaurant and cafe gift certificates,  yoga lessons, bakery basket of goodies, old time photography shoot, antiques, Fiesta basket, yoga lessons,and more!

Open to East County Magazine subscribers (subscribe free at the top right side of our homepage), KNSJ members, and invited guests. 

RSVP today for early bird rates: ($19, or $17 each with purchase of two tickets, groups of 6 or more $13 each.)   At the door: $22.  Call 619-698-7617 or email editor@eastcountymagazine.org to RSVP.