Update: The fire is now out but the roadway remains flooded and there are many other hazards. Lightning strikes are reported in the Warner Springs area and other locations including the bolt shown at left, taken by Bob Kutscher. This strike apparently ignited the fire, with smoke visible on a second image moments later shot from Borrego.

September 6, 2013 (San Diego’s East County) – A fire truck en route to a fire reported in the Scissors Crossing area near Julian has become stuck in the mud.  Highway S2 is shut down from State Route 79 to S 22 and a Sig Alert has been issued.  The fire truck initially became stuck after encountering a road washed out by flooding at 79 en route to Montezuma, according to the California Highway webpage. Smoke is also reportedly visible form Vista Point; it is unclear if this is the same fire.

  On Mt. Laguna, mudslides are reported on Sunrise Highway between I-8 and mile marker 18; Cal Trans is responding. Rockslides are also occurring on Old 80, the National Weather Service reports. In the desert, downed powerlines are reported on Rango Way and Borrego Valley Road.

A flash flood warning remains in effect until 430 p.m. for Southeastern San Diego County.Shortly before 3 p.m. National Weather service Doppler radar continued to indicate moderate to heavy rain in the area from Cuyamaca Peak to Campo. Storm spotters reported flooded roads in Pine Valley. Locations in the warning include but are not limited to Morena Village, Potrero, Campo, Descanso, Cuyamaca Peak, Highway 79, Sunrise Highway, Tierra del Sol and Interstate 8. A flash flood watch remains in effect across many other areas, along with a high heat warning.

August 29, 2013 (Julian) --The Julian Arts Guild will present "September Song" a Fine Art Show at the Julian Town Hall, 2129 Main Street, Julian, CA, over the Labor Day weekend, August 30 through September 2, 2013. The show will be open each day from 10 a.m. - 6 p.m. Included will be local and regional artists working in a rich diversity of artistic media: oil, acrylic and watercolor paintings; drawings in pen, pencil and pastel; photography; printmaking; ceramics, jewelry, collage, assemblage, glass, mosaics, sculpture, and more.

Meet the artists at the show opening in the Town Hall on August 30th from 6–8 pm. Admission to the Julian Arts Guild Labor Day weekend art show is FREE. Each day different artists will be available to talk about their work.  The theme, “September Song” will be reflected in landscapes but also in other creative motifs.

See our new story with many more updates here: http://www.eastcountymagazine.org/node/13562

Photo left:  View from Mason Valley near Butterfield Ranch, by Brett Stallbaum

Update July 6, 2013 5:00 p.m. -- The fire is now 500 acres and Cal-Fire has entered into a unified command with the U.S. Forest Service.  The blaze is burning approximately nine miles east of Julian.  Firefighters have been dispatched to scene from Riverside for mutual aid. 

 

June 8, 2013 (Julian) – The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service released its proposal this week to remove Endangered Species Act protections for gray wolves across most of the country. Only the Mexican gray wolf, a subspecies of which only about 75 exist in the wild in Arizona and New Mexico, would retain federal protections. Without federal protections, states can decide whether to protect wolves or remove or reduce populations that begin to establish.

“This proposal is bad news for wolves still on the path to recovery, including in California,” says Patrick Valentino, director of California wolf recovery efforts for the California Wolf Center in Julian, a nonprofit wildlife conservation, education and research center that has been working to reestablish gray wolves to their native habitat. “Wolves have a long way to go before they are fully restored to their crucial role on the landscape.”

Dozers ordered to Volcan Mountain

By Miriam Raftery

“Something will have gone out of us as people if we ever let the remaining wilderness be destroyed.” – Wallace Stegner

May 24, 2013 (Julian) Updated May 29, 2013 – The quote above is inscribed on the Volcan Mountain Foundation webpage, a site devoted to protecting the wilderness preserve. But today, as a raging wildfire that started as a controlled burn encroached, bulldozers were ordered to cut a firebreak on the crest of Volcan Mountain, ECM has learned.

Meanwhile an ECM investigation has raised growing questions over whether this fire could have been prevented.  Those questions include:

• Why did Cal-Fire order a controlled burn in hot weather just hours after a high wind advisory had expired?
• Why did the National Weather Service issue a spot fire weather report to Cal-Fire advising lower wind speeds when it has no wind monitor in the valley where the fire occurred?
• Why was Volcan Mountain Foundatiion advised conditions were too dangerous for it to conduct pile burning, yet Cal-Fire conducted its own controlled burn?
• Why did fire officials underestimate the potential size of this fire at 500 acres? (It has burned over 1,800 acres and is 60% contained.)
• Should Cal-Fire’s plan to sharply increase the number of acres it clears statewide be axed given the consequences of this out-of-control burn?
  

April 29, 2013 (Julian)--Following last year’s success, Julian’s 2nd Annual Wild and Scenic Film Festival, benefiting Volcan Mountain Foundation, returns May 17 – 19, 2013. This year's festival features an expanded program of 44 new films, almost 12 hours of unrepeated screening time broken into 9 sessions from Friday evening to Sunday evening.

The weekend is packed full of entertainment to delight audiences of all ages, as well as other activities ranging from wine-tasting to a hike up  Volcan Mountain to a party with dancing and live music for festival attendees.

National tour of “films to change our world” comes to East County

April 13, 2013 (Julian) -- May 17-19 brings the 2nd Annual Julian Wild & Scenic Film Festival-Films To Change Your World, with countless inspiring titles, to the Julian High School for the benefit of the Volcan Mountain Foundation and its work to protect and preserve Volcan Mountain in its natural state for all generations.

“The selection committee believes these are the best of over 100 films screened at the annual Wild and Scenic Film Festival hosted every January in Nevada City, California,” said Nancy Kramer, co-founder of the Julian Film Festival.  Click here for a full list of films.

By Nadin Abbott; photos Tom Abbott

April 5, 2013 (Julian) At this morning’s meeting of the Julian-Cuyamaca Fire Protection District board held at the Women’s Club, the Board voted 2-2 (with one unexcused absence) on the proposal to join the County Fire Authority and dissolve the District. Chairman Jack Shelver and Alan Marvin voted yes; Aida Tucker and Janet Bragdon voted no.

This means, according to Shelver, that “a tie is no action, and therefore we have taken no action, on the motion we have set in motion. We are no longer talking to the County about a contract and we will continue as an independent district.” At this announcement,  the crowd, 50 strong, broke into cheers.

March 28, 2013 (Julian ) – A motorist found a gunshot victim left wounded on Banner Grade along State Route 78 this morning and brought him to the Julian fire station.  The victim was taken to Palomar Medical Center and is expected to survive his injury.

Two people have been arrested for the shooting.  Jeffrey Roberson, 47, is charged with attempted murder.  Jennifer Minor, 40, faces a conspiracy charge.

March 17, 2013 (Julian) – All of Julian is invited to join the Fourth of July Parade Committee for an evening of fun, festivity and fundraising at Wynola Pizza on March 25.  The fun starts at 5:30 p.m. at the Red Barn.

You can enjoy a pizza dinner plus locally produced wine and cider while supporting the parade. The committee will also offer raffle tickets for a ride on a vintage aircraft, an opportunity to purchase t-shirts worn on parade day 20 years ago, and share in the 50/50 drawing.

By Miriam Raftery

March 4, 2013 (Julian) – Julian’s all-volunteer fire department, faced with a budget crunch, is weighing a proposal to turn over firefighting responsibilities to the County Fire Authority. But some residents are voicing fears that they could wind up burned.

Dozens of firefighters and property owners packed into the Julian Town Hall Thursday night.  Many expressed concerns that out-of-town firefighters would not be familiar with rural areas and  may not find homes in a firestorm.  Relying on firefighters far away would also mean longer response times to fight fires in this historic mountain community.

By Miriam Raftery

February 9, 2013 (San Diego’s East County) ---Heavy snowfall has transformed our local mountains into winter wonderlands.  Mount Laguna received 10 inches of snowfall in the past 24 hours, followed by Palomar Mountain with 7 to 8 inches.  Cuyamaca also received significant snowfall, as this image sent in by reader Grace Schlesier shows. Frost and freezing temperatures are expected through Monday in inland valleys.

Other areas dusted in white include Julian (3-6 inches), Ranchita (5 inches), Santa  Ysabel (2 inches) and Pine Valley (2 inches) .  Snow even dipped down to Descanso and Campo, which received less than a half inch each.

December 29, 2012 (San Diego’s East County ) -  A storm moving through our region today and tomorrow is expected to bring rain and in mountain areas, snow.  By tomorrow, snow is forecast to drop down to 4,000 feet—low enough to include Julian and  Lake Cuyamaca—popular destinations for families seeking to frolic in the snow.

Gusty winds are also forecast in mountains and on desert slopes late Sunday. The storm system is expected to move east and out of our county on Monday,  so if you’re planning a trip to the mountains it’s best to wait until after the weekend.

December 13, 2012 (Julian)--A Julian holiday tradition, Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol," will be performed this weekend at the Julian Town Hall at 2129 Main Street. Adapted by best-selling novelist Don Winslow and directed by Sandi Bennett, the show will take stage on Thursday Dec. 13, Friday Dec. 14 and Saturday, Dec. 15. There will also be a matinee on Saturday, Dec. 15.

Come and enjoy the charm of Christmas in Julian, with spiced cider, apple pie, horse drawn carriages and strolling carolers. And maybe even a visit from St. Nick himself.

By Nadin Abbott. 

November 14, 2012 (San Diego)-- Today U.S. State Attorney Laura Duffy called a press conference to announce the arrest of six out of 10 suspects wanted by federal authorities in relation to running illegal marijuana farms on state and federal lands in the East County and Riverside County. 

"Drug agents on routine aerial surveillance happened to spot and remove a marijuana farm in Julian in the summer of 2010," said Duffy, explaining how the operation started. after the “Chariot Canyon Grow” operation.