By Miriam Raftery

View video of forum

Hear audio aired on KNSJ: part 1; part 2

July 23, 2023 (San Diego’s East County)—Ballots have been mailed for the special election in the 4^th Supervisorial District to fill the vacancy left by Nathan Fletcher’s resignation. East County Magazine hosted a forum for the candidates, who spoke out on issues including homelessness, housing, energy, policing, drug addiction, sand mines, wildfire safety, and more. ECM editor Miriam Raftery moderated the forum.

August 15 is the last day to vote in the special election primary.

The three candidates who participated are Monica Montgomery Steppe, an attorney and president pro tem of the San Diego City Council, Amy Reichert, a private investigator and founder of Reopen San Diego, and Janessa Goldbeck, a former Marine and CEO of a nonprofit helping veterans.  (A fourth candidate, Paul McQuigg, a military veteran and U.S. Labor Dept. employee, RSVP’d that he would attend but said he was unable to get connectivity for the forum on Zoom while traveling overseas.)

Click the video to view highlights of the forum,  listen to audio for the version aired on radio (edited slightly for length), and scroll down to read highlights.

"Republicans are making clear they will defend their corrupt allies on the Supreme Court no matter what," said one campaigner. The bill is not likely to become law, due to opposition in the GOP-controlled  House.

By Jake Johnson, Common Dreams

Photo: Justice Clarence Thomas,via Library of Congress 2012. Thoms has drawn criticiism for accepting lavish trips and other gifts from a billionaire, actions which would be illegal for judges at any other level of the court system.

July 20, 2023 (Washington D.C.) -- The Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday advanced legislation that would require the U.S. Supreme Court to adopt an enforceable code of ethics and adhere to stronger disclosure rules following a series of revelations about the luxury trips and other gifts justices have received from right-wing billionaires.

Led by Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), the Supreme Court Ethics, Recusal, and Transparency (SCERT) Act advanced out of committee without any Republican support.

By Branda Gorgies

Images:  Creative Commons via Bing

July 15, 2023 (San Diego) – Whenever a major political event occurs, misinformation becomes rampant. With the upcoming presidential nominee election, false information can be spread to influence public opinion from various people, organizations, and even foreign governments.

To be a well-informed voter, it’s necessary to protect against this misinformation. While reputable news organizations including East County Magazine strive to report factual and unbiased information, not all publications will–let alone social media memes that may go viral without links to verify sources.

This article brings to light some tactics that might appear in future elections or issue discussions to ensure that people vote with only the truth in mind.

East County News Service 

July 15, 2023 (San Diego) -- Congressman Darrell Issa (CA-48) was joined by House colleagues Richard Hudson (NC-09), Michael Waltz (FL-06), and Jimmy Panetta (CA-19) this week to introduce H.R. 4334 – “The HERO Act.”  If enacted, it would grant service members who are victims of medical malpractice in a Dept. of Defense medical treatment facility the right to take their claim to District Court.

By Daniela Torres

June 30, 2023 (Washington D.C.) -- Representatives María Elvira Salazar of Florida and Veronica Escobar of Texas have proposed a bipartisan immigration bill, the Dignity Act, that will address issues like providing immigrants with a path to citizenship, while also strengthening border security.

East County News Service

Photo and budget breakdown via County News Service

June 28, 2023 (San Diego) – A new fire station in Jacumba and an animal shelter for Santee are among the projects funded by the County’s $8.17 million budget for fiscal year 2023-24, which Supervisors unanimously adopted on Tuesday.

The budget also has substantial allocations to the homeless and those at risk of becoming homeless, build affordable homes, plant trees and help communities reduce greenhouse gas emissions, boost investment in mental health and addiction services, foster youths, justice reforms, and more.

Story and photos by Christianne McCormick

Photo, left: Director of Finance Clay Schoen presents budget breakdown

June 25, 2023 (El Cajon) -- El Cajon’s City Council on June 13 received a presentation on the Preliminary Annual Budget for fiscal year of 2023-2024.  Council also moved forward on a ban on homeless camping on public property that would be similar to the City of San Diego’s new ordinance.

By Miriam Raftery

Photo: Hunter Biden during a 2014 meeting with India's prime minister

June 20, 2021  (Washington D.C.) The son of President Joe Biden, has reached a plea bargain deal with the U.S. Department of Justice. Hunter Biden will plead guilty to two misdemeanor counts of filing his 2017 and 2018 taxes late, according to court documents released today, the New York Times reports.  A judge must still approve of the plea deal; Biden is expected to appear in federal court in Delaware for arraignment.

Hunter Biden will not be sent to prison or charged for failing to disclose drug use when he purchased a hand gun in 2018, provided he abides by terms of a two-year probation that includes remaining drug-free and agreeing to never own a gun again.  This sentence is consistent with how tax and gun registration misdemeanors are customarily handled for other non-violent first-time offenders, though questions remain over whether or not the Justice Department has dropped or is continuing to investigating questions over Hunter Biden's controversial actions while serving on a Ukrainian energy company's board of directors.

President Biden has avoided commenting on his son’s legal issues. A  White House spokesman, Ian Sams, issued a statement which reads, “The President and First Lady love their son and support him as he continues to rebuild his life. We will have no further comment.”

Former President Donald Trump, who is awaiting trial on criminal charges relating to mishandling of classified documents and alleged hush money payments made to a porn star, criticized the deal on social media, claiming, “Our system is  BROKEN.”

By Ken Stone,Times of San Diego, a member of the San Diego Online News Association

Photo:  Former Rep. Duncan L. Hunter, shown in 2019, says NPR “twists things” on the April 2004 friendly fire incident. Photo by Ken Stone

June 13, 2023 (San Diego) - Ex-Congressman Duncan Lee Hunter, the father of disgraced Rep. Duncan Duane Hunter, says he traveled to Iraq at least four times when he was House Armed Services Committee chairman in the early 2000s.

By Jacob Pamus

June 12, 2023 (San Diego) -- Former president Donald Trump’s second indictment, this time by federal prosecutors who allege that he compromised national security by mishandling classifeid documents,  is big news around the world.  Here’s a sampling of how the international press is covering the story.

Timeline analysis prepared by ECM documents efforts to conceal records from FBI

By Miriam Raftery

Photo, from indictment: Boxes with classified records stored insecurely in a bathroom at Trump’s Mar a Lago Club.

June 10, 2023 (Washington D.C.) – Special Counsel Jack Smith yesterday unsealed a 49-page indictment charging former president and current presidential candidate Donald Trump with “felony violations of our national security laws as well as participating in a conspiracy to obstruct justice,” Smith announced, after a Florida grand jury voted to indict. Trump is charged with 37 felonies; if convicted, he could face decades in prison.

His chauffeur and former White House aide Waltine Nauta also faces charges, including conspiring with Trump to obstruct justice.

Prosecutors allege that Trump:

• Showed a secret Pentagon plan of attack against a foreign country to unauthorized persons including a writer and publisher in a taped meeting in July 2021, in which he stated, “See as president I could have declassified it…Now I can’t, you know, but this is still a secret.”
• Showed a political action committee member without a security clearance a classified map of a foreign country during a military operation that he stated was “not going well” in summer 2021.
• Asked his lawyers to defy a subpoena, withhold documents and lie to the FBI;
• Ordered an aide to move boxes of subpoenaed documents without telling his attorneys, shortly before the FBI raid on Mar a Lago;
• Stored highly sensitive documents in an insecure manner in a bathroom, ballroom, storage closet and other areas with unlocked doors Mar a Lago, where thousands of guests attended over 150 events while records were there;
• Mishandled documents on nuclear weaponry of the United States, America’s vulnerabilities,  nuclear capabilities of a foreign country, a foreign country’s support of terrorism against U.S. interests,and plans for possible retaliation in response to a foreign attack.

Smith says of the indictment, “I invite everyone to read it in full to understand the scope and the gravity of the crimes charged…Our laws that protect national defense information are critical to the safety and security of the United States and they must be enforced. Violations of those laws put our country at risk….We have one set of laws in this country, and they apply to everyone.”

By Mike Allen

June 9, 2023 (Santee) -- Padre Dam Water District’s board is fed up with having to pay higher rates for the water it purchases from the San Diego County Water Authority, and voted unanimously not to go along with any rate hike unless the CWA gets serious about its long-range planning.

By Miriam Raftery

June 5, 2023 (Lemon Grove) – On May 30, Lemon Grove Mayor Raquel Vasquez picked up nomination documents from the Registrar of Voters to run for County Supervisor District 4 in the August 15 special primary election to fill the vacancy left by Nathan Fletcher’s resignation. But today, one day before the filing deadline, Mayor Vasquez announced in an e-mail to followers that she has decided not to run.

“Though I have the experience, qualifications, and ability to serve the residents of District 4, I will be taking a step back. I will continue to build consensus on other pathways to help our communities grow and prosper,” she stated. “Residents who live, work and play in Rancho San Diego, Spring Valley, Casa de Oro and Lemon Grove are worthy of a leader who will invest in our communities. I wish the candidates all the best with their campaigns and look forward to working with the elected County Board of Supervisors for District 4.