East County News Service

December 1, 2015 (Alpine) -- San Diego County Crime Stoppers and investigators from the Alpine Sheriff's Station are asking for assistance from the public to help identify and locate a man wanted for annoying a child.  Authorities have released a sketch of the suspect.

On November 4 and November 18, 2015, a 16 year-old girl was reportedly followed by a black man driving an older model tan Toyota Camry or similar vehicle while walking near Alpine Boulevard and West Victoria Drive in Alpine.  On November 4th, the suspect drove up to the girl and asked if she needed a ride to her car. When she ran away, the suspect circled the block several times to try and find her. On November 18th, the girl told deputies she saw the man again as she was walking to school and he followed her to the bus stop.

East County News Service

November 30, 2015 (Ramona) – On Tuesday, December 8^th, the Ramona Municipal Water District will consider options to fund ambulance services. Those options include keeping the same paramedic transport services and replacing three ambulances (requiring a public vote to raise a fire fee), or outsourcing service to  private company.  The 2 p.m. meeting will be held in the Ramona Community Center,434 Aqua Lane.

November 24, 2015 (Ramona) -- San Diego Sheriff's Deputies assigned to the Ramona station working with FBI agents have made an arrest as a result of the investigation into the November 19^th robbery of the Bank of America branch located at 1407 Main Street, Ramona. Timothy Grahman, 64, was arrested Friday on Hanson Lane in Ramona and has been booked into San Diego Central Jail.

East County News Service

November 20, 2015 (San Diego’s East County) – The National Weather Service is forecasting snow Wednesday and Thursday down to 3,000 feet, potentially including I-8 in East County.  Significant levels of snow are forecast above 5,000 feet, bringing a white Thanksgiving to our mountain areas. 

Holiday travelers should use caution due to slippery roads and strong west winds, as well as potential for ice, snow, and of course, wild turkeys!

By Miriam Raftery

Photo: U.S. Army marksmanship training

November 19, 2015 (Alpine) –The County Planning Commission last week voted to allow two additional appeals of an interim permit issued by the planning director for Covert Canyon to operate firearms training for military, governmental and law enforcement. The groups have 10 days to file appeals. A December 11^th hearing is set to hear all appeals.

The appeals requests were filed by Danielle Belliveau on behalf of 15 Alpine residents and from attorney Marco Gonzalez of Coast Law Group representing Cleveland National Forest Foundation, Save Our Forests and Ranchlands, and the Coastal Environmental Rights Foundation.  Those requests were in addition to a previously accepted appeal filed by neighbors Clark and Robin Williams, who live within 300 feet of Covert Canyon. (See ECM ‘s previous article on the appeals and on the County’s interim approval of a stipulated administrative enforcement order. )

Board to vote Nov. 19 on whether to incur $550,000 in new debt to fund continuing legal battle

By Miriam Raftery

November 16, 2015 (Alpine)— Superior Court Judge Joel Pressman  has set a December 17^th hearing date for a trial filed against the Grossmont Union High School District by supporters of an Alpine High School. The suit seeks to assure that a fair share of bond money approved by voters will be used to build the long-promised school.  

The San Diego Union-Tribune reported that Judge Pressman urged both sides to settle and even offered to help—after an appeals court ruled that Grossmont violated an obligation to voters by failing to build the Alpine high school and upheld Pressman’s decision to order funds set aside.

But far from seeking to settle, the GUHSD this week will be considering approval of $550,000 in additional legal fees to continue the battle. The GUHSD already has authorization to spend $1.8 million and had spent $1.4 million as of June on the case, board documents reveal.

November 10, 2015 (Flinn Springs)--You are invited to start your holiday season at Summers Past Farms, which is hosting a holiday open house on Thursday, Nov. 12 from 5 to 8 p.m. featuring fall and Christmas gifts plus home decor. The barn will be filled with lights and the trimmings of the season. The store will glisten with holiday sparkle and  scents of the season. The Soap Shoppe will also be open with special holiday soaps and gifts .

Making this an old fashion open house please bring a plate of your favorite homemade cookies for the cookie table. Summers Past will have Christmas music & hot wassail for you to enjoy at this most enjoyable event under the Christmas lights.

East County News Service

November 7, 2015 (San Diego’s East County) – The 45-day review period for public comments on proposed changes to the County’s Tiered Winery Ordinance ends November 23^rd. 

In 2010, Supervisors established a Tiered Winery Ordinance. A key component of it was creation of a Boutique Winery tier, which allowed for tasting rooms in conjunction with ongoing agricultural vineyard operations. Since its adoption, a number of issues have arisen that affect implementation of the ordinance. Planning & Development Services (PDS) held workshops on January 17, 2014 and July 1, 2015  to gather information and comments to utilize in formulating the proposed amendments to the Tiered Winery Ordinance. See our prior coverage of the July hearing here, when some wineries voiced alarm over proposals they feared could put some wineries out of business, while others voiced support for suggestions such as limiting food offerings and sharply restricting entertaining at smaller wineries. 

One set of stakeholders whose voices have been largely ignored thus far have been consumers--the wine tasting public who may want to weigh in on whether they want to hear music at weekend wine tastings or be able to savor food along with wine when visiting local wineries. 

November 5, 2015 (Alpine) - The next Alpine Woman’s Club monthly meeting will be held on November 17, 2015 at 12:00 p.m. The Club is open to all East County Women. Its mission is two-fold: to provide opportunities for Alpine women to meet and socialize and to maintain its clubhouse which is the Historic Alpine Town Hall at 2156 Alpine Blvd.

East County News Service

November 4, 2015 (Alpine)—Superior Court Joel Pressman today announced he will vacate his dismissal of a case filed by the Alpine  Union School District and Alpine Taxpayers for Bond Accountability and set a status conference with counsel November 6th. 

The move comes on the heels of an appellate court ruling yesterday which found the Grossmont Union High School District violated its promise to build an Alpine High School and affirmed Pressman’s earlier order for the Grossmont district to set aside $42 million bond money sufficient to build the school, pending full adjudication of the claim’s merits at trial, as ECM reported.

Judge Pressman issued the following statement today, though his court reporter:

East County News Service

October 31, 2015 (Alpine) – The County’s Planning & Development Services department has issued a Stipulated Administrative Enforcement Order (SAEO) allowing the  owner of the controversial Covert Canyon LLC site in rural Alpine to conduct government military and law enforcement firearms training on an interim basis while pursuing a discretionary permit.

The order is a written decision by the director that may be appealed if a request for appeal is filed within 10 days of the decision date. Any appeal must be received by the department before November 5 at 5 p.m.

By Miriam Raftery

October 29, 2015 (Alpine) – For Alpine parents, it sounds like a Halloween horror story.  But it's an unexpected treat for the board majority at the Grossmont Union High School District.  Today, Superior Court Judge Joel Pressman (photo) issued a tentative ruling granting Grossmont 's motion to dismiss the lawsuit filed by Alpine parents and taxpayers. 

The suit sought to  force the district to turn over funds to build an Alpine high school, which voters twice voted to approve in Propositions H and U. The board's action drew scrutiny from the County Grand Jury, which issued a scathing report titled "Fool us once, fool us twice?"

The tentative ruling comes as a shock since Judge Pressman  previously denied an attempt by Grossmont to dismiss the case and set a trial date for early December, as ECM reported. In his earlier ruling, the judge rejected Grossmont’s arguments that it did not have a contract commitment with Alpine to build a high school and that the text of Prop U did not compel the district to build the long-promised school.

East County News Service

October 14, 2015 (Julian) – The Julian Triangle Club’s  59^th annual October melodrama, “Keeping the Doctor Away”  or “Take Two Apples and See Me in the Morning” continues this weekend and next at the historic Julian Town Hall. 

This year’s director, Sandi Bennett, is cracking the whip over the all-volunteer local cast, who come from all walks of life to put on the traditional Melodrama and raise money for our local charities including scholarships for local students.

East County News Service

Photo: Ambiguous on Flickr

October 9, 2015 (Ramona)--Bald tires are being blamed for a collision in which a Mercedes Benz sedan struck a county van that was transporting five senior citizens for the Ramona Senior Center.