SOLAR ECLIPSE VIEWING PARTY

ATMOSPHERIC RIVER TO DRENCH REGION OVER EASTER WEEKEND

GROSSMONT HIGH SCHOOL BOARD SLASHES STAFFING, OVER OBJECTIONS OF VOCAL CROWD

CONSUMER ALERT FOR SAFELY FILING YOUR TAXES

VIEW OUR INTERVIEW: LA MESA ACTIVISTS OBJECT TO CITY COUNCIL BANNING REMOTE PARTICIPATION

WINTER STORM WARNING

EASTER BRUNCH AND EGG HUNT MARCH 30 IN EL CAJON

RECENT FIRE DEATHS HEIGHTEN CALLS FOR FIRE PROTECTION BALLOT MEASURE IN SANTEE

BIA SAN DIEGO PARTNERS WITH WORKFORCECONNECT TO UTILIZE JOBS PLATFORM, WHILE ADDRESSING CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY WORKFORCE SHORTAGE

COUNTRY MUSIC LEGEND TANYA TUCKER LIVE AT THE MAGNOLIA MAY 19

MISSION TRAILS REGIONAL PARK COMMUNITY NIGHT SLATED FOR THURSDAY, APRIL 4

UNOFFICIAL ELECTION RESULTS SHOW FLIPS IN TWO KEY RACES HOLDING

News

PROBATION AWARDED GRANT TO MONITOR HIGH-RISK DUI OFFENDERS

 

The San Diego County Probation Department will use a half-million dollar grant to keep high-risk DUI offenders from getting behind the wheel again.

Nationally, nearly one-third of all drivers arrested or convicted of drunk driving are repeat offenders and 50 to 75 percent of convicted drivers continue to drive on a suspended license, according to Mothers Against Drunk Driving.


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GAS PRICES GO UP AS TAX HIKES TAKE EFFECT

 

East County News Service

November 1, 2017 (San Diego’s East County) -- The next time you pull up at the pump, you’ll be paying more.

Taxes on gasoline and diesel went up starting Wednesday this week to pay for repairing California’s crumbling roads and bridges that in danger of collapse, as well as to improve public transportation.


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KALASHO OBJECTS TO CITIZEN CALLING FOR HIS RESIGNATION; EL CAJON COUNCIL BANS FEEDING OF HOMELESS IN PARKS OVER HEPATITS CONCERNS

 

By Paul Kruze

November 1, 2017 (El Cajon) -- El Cajon’s City Council on Tuesday voted unanimously to ban feeding of the homeless in public places due to hepatitis concerns, fill a vacancy on its veterans’ commission, and approve a residential housing development. But the most contentious moments came during an impassioned plea from a citizen calling for Councilmember Ben Kalasho to resign, over objections of Kalasho, who sought to silence the resident from speaking out.


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HALLOWEEN CAN BE FRIGHT NIGHT FOR FIDO

 

He can smell something is up. Jack-o’-lanterns, decorations and all that candy! And what’s this? A funny hat for him?

But wait, what’s that sound? Strangers at the door!


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WILDOMAR FIRE NEAR LAKE ELSINORE SENDS SMOKE ACROSS NORTH COUNTY

 

Update:  The fire has grown to over 800 acres and 450 homes are evacuated, however it is now 50% contained.

By Miriam Raftery

East County Wildfire & Emergency Alert Service

Photo credit: ECM news partner 10 News

October 27, 2017 (San Diego) – The #WildomarFire has charred 700 acres in the Wildomar  are of Cleveland National Forest, which is located near Lake Elsinore in Riverside County, just over the San Diego-Riverside County line.

Two hundred homes have been evacuated. The fire is currently 15 percent contained, according to the U.S. Forest Service. Find details on evacuations here: https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/5652/

Smoke from fires in Mexico including a large forest fire near Rosarito also continue to impact air quality in San Diego County, prompting the county's smoke advisory cautioning residents to avoid outdoor activities in areas with smoke.


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TOP 10 HALLOWEEN SAFETY TIPS FOR PARENTS

 

Halloween is a holiday all about spooky, frightful and scary things, but there are a few important things you can do as parents to help make sure your child has a safe trick-or-treating adventure.


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STATE GRANTS PERMANENT LIQUOR LICENSE TO CASINO IN JAMUL

 

Updated to include remarks from Kim Hamilton.

By Miriam Raftery

October 27, 2017 (Jamul) --The Hollywood Casino Jamul-San Diego has been granted a permanent license to serve alcohol by the state department of Alcoholic Beverage Control’s Administrative Law Judge Adam Berg.  The ruling came over the objections of Supervisor Dianne Jacob, the Sheriff, the Jamul-Dulzura School District, and numerous residents in rural Jamul. 

The decision makes permanent a temporary alcohol license granted when the casino opened approximately a year ago, but also mandates that the tribe continue its previously voluntary restriction to limit alcohol sales to the hours of 10 a.m. to 1:30 a.m..  View the decision.


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NORTHBOUND SR-15 CONNECTOR TO WESTBOUND SR-94 CLOSED SATURDAY

 

Source: Caltrans

October 26, 2017 (San Diego) - Maintenance crews will close the northbound State Route 15 (SR-15) connector to westbound State Route 94 (SR-94), Saturday from 3-11 a.m. for drainage cleaning, according to Caltrans.


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COUNTY ISSUES SMOKE ADVISORY

 

Smoke from fires in Mexico drifting into San Diego County

October 26, 2017 (San Diego) -- The County of San Diego’s Air Pollution Control District (APCD) issued a smoke advisory Thursday, suggesting people should limit their outdoor activities if they smell smoke from the fires burning in Mexico. Portions of North County were also impacted by a brush fire in Riverside County.


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MASSIVE PACKAGED VEGETABLE RECALL INCLUDES MULTIPLE BRANDS OF PRODUCTS, SOME SOLD AT WAL-MART AND TRADER JOE’S

 

By Miriam Raftery

October 25, 2017 (San Diego) – The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has announced a massive recall of processed vegetable products due to possible Listeria contamination.  The products were packaged by Mann Packing of Salinas, California and sold through multiple brands at major retailers in the U.S. and Canada including Trader Joe’s and Walmart.


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ECM WINS PRESS CLUB AWARDS FOR PUBLIC SERVICE, BREAKING NEWS, GOVERNMENTAL AND MULTICULTURAL REPORTING

 

By Miriam Raftery

October 25, 2017 (San Diego) -- East County Magazine picked up four more awards at the San Diego Press Club’s Excellence in Journalism Awards dinner held on Tuesday night, bringing our total to 105 journalism awards over the past nine years.


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NAACP ISSUES NATIONAL TRAVEL ADVISORY ALLEGING RACIAL BIAS BY AMERICAN AIRLINES

 

By Miriam Raftery 

October 25, 2017 (San Diego) – The NAACP, the nation’s original and largest social justice advocacy organization, has issued a travel advisory alleging racial discrimination by American Airlines and warning African-American travelers about risks to their safety and well-being aboard American flights.


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SANTEE COUNCIL TO HEAR MOVIE THEATRE PROPOSALS, WEIGH MOBILITY STUDY AT WEDNESDAY’S MEETING

 

By Miriam Raftery

October 25, 2017 (Santee) – The Santee City Council will hear proposals from two companies vying to build the city’s first multiplex movie theatre at today’s 7 p.m. meeting. In addition, the agenda includes  a hearing on adopting a mobility element that could include expansion of Mast Boulevard to Santee, as well as bike lanes and other items.


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COUNTY EXTENDS EMERGENCY OVER HEPATITIS A, DECLINES TO TEST SAN DIEGO RIVER WATER

 

East County News Service

October 24, 2017 (San Diego) — County Supervisors voted Tuesday to again extend the public health emergency declaration over Hepatitis A for two more weeks.  As of Oct. 18, 516 cases have been diagnosed, including 19 fatalities.


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CALTRANS ANNOUNCES 15 LOCAL PROJECTS THAT WILL IMMEDIATELY BENEFIT DUE TO PASSAGE OF SB 1

 

Source:  Caltrans

October 24, 2017 (San Diego) -- Caltrans has 15 fix-it-first projects in San Diego and Imperial counties that will benefit from the passage of the Road Repair and Accountability Act of 2017, Senate Bill 1 (SB 1), the Road Repair and Accountability Act.  Almost half of those projects will began much sooner than expected due to the passage of SB 1, the state’s transportation agency announced today.  The list includes one East County project, fixing a dangerous curve on State Route 94 in Dulzura.  Another will impact commuters from East County, including a paving improvement project on a section of State Route 52.


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MERCURY INSURANCE CASE AGAINST CA INSURANCE COMMISSIONER GOES TO U.S. SUPREME COURT

 

Source: California Insurance Commissioner

October 23, 2017 (Washington D.C.) -- Mercury Insurance Company and a coalition of insurance industry groups filed a petition against Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones in the U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday, again challenging his authority to protect California consumers from excessive and unfair insurance rates.


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AFFORDABLE CARE ACT HEALTH PLAN ENROLLMENT NOV. 1-DEC. 15

 

East County News Service

October 23, 2017 (San Diego) - Open enrollment to get coverage under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) for 2018 begins on November 1st and ends December 15th.  Many Americans aren’t getting this important information, since the Trump administration has taken the following steps to sabotage getting word out and discouraging people from signing up.


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BORREGO SPRINGS BREAKS GROUND ON NEW PARK, LIBRARY AND SHERIFF STATION

 

East County News Service

October 23, 2017 (Borrego Springs) -- The County broke ground over the weekend on a public park, a new library and a Sheriff’s station in Borrego Springs. 

The modern library will be 13,500 feet and equipped with energy efficient features for zero net energy use—also provided plenty of air-conditioned space for residents to escape extreme heat. The new library will be three times the size of the old one that it will replace and will also include a homework center, children’s area, community room and more.  Read details: http://www.sdcl.org/PDF/sdcl_br-faq.pdf


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AEROBATICS STUNT PILOT AND PASSENGER PRESUMED KILLED IN FIERY CRASH; COMPANY HAD PRIOR FATAL ACCIDENT AND SAFETY VIOLATIONS

 

By Miriam Raftery

Photo: Smoke from crash visible on UCSD’s HP Wren camera

October 23, 2017 (San Diego’s East County) – The small plane that crashed late Saturday afternoon east of the El Capitan Reservoir, sparking a 20-acre brush fire during a red flag warning for high fire danger, was an Extra EA-300/L plane registered to KD Leasing in Henderson, Nevada, National Transportation Safety Administration (NTSA) records indicate. 


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EAST COUNTY RESIDENTS TO RALLY AGAINST DOMESTIC VIOLENCE OCT. 24

 

 

East County News Service

October 22, 2017 (El Cajon) – The East County Coalition will hold a Hope Rally on Tuesday, October 24th  in El Cajon, where community residents and professionals will walk, rally and give presentations to raise awareness about domestic violence on.  Last year, there were 16,719 domestic violence incidents reported in San Diego County and up to a dozen homicides related to domestic violence. 


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EXCESSIVE HEAT AND RED FLAG WARNINGS ISSUED

 

East County Wildfire & Emergency Alert Service

 

October 22, 2017 (San Diego) - The National Weather Service in San Diego has issued a red flag warning for high fire danger as well as an excessive heat warning. Temperatures on Monday and Tuesday could top 100 degrees in our inland region and may stay above 70 degrees even at night. 


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PLANE CRASH IN LAKESIDE SPARKS BRUSH FIRE


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EVACUATIONS LIFTED IN CAMPO FROM CHURCH BRUSH FIRE

 

 

 

 

East County Wildfire and Emergency Alert Service

Photo by Don Lumb, taken minutes after the fire was reported.

Update Octoer 22, 2017 7:45 a.m.:  The Church Fire in Campo is now 75% contained, and Cal Fire has revised size downward to 100 acres.


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A REPORTER’S REFLECTIONS ON THE FIRESTORMS OF 2007

 

 

Story and photos by Miriam Raftery

Photo, left:  Harris Fire viewed from Barrett Junction, the morning of October 21, 2007

October 21, 2017 (San Diego’s East County) – Ten years ago today, I was among the first reporters on the scene when the devastating 2007 firestorms began.  I couldn’t believe that just four years after the deadly Cedar Fire, the nightmare was occurring again –on what turned out to be an even more horrific scale.  

Out of the ashes of those fires, East County Magazine and our East County Wildfire and Emergency Alerts were born, to help fill a need for critical information in real-time.


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ON WILDFIRES’ ANNIVERSARY, CONCERN THAT RESIDENTS ARE LESS PREPARED

 

Photo by Miriam Raftery: 2007 Harris Fire in Rancho San Diego

Video by José Eli Villanuevahttps://youtu.be/kgnVYh3lQrM

By Yvette Urrea Moe, County of San Diego Communications

October 20, 2017 (San Diego) -- As firefighters struggle to get deadly wildfires under control in Northern California, San Diego County and City officials marked the 10th anniversary of the 2007 Wildfires and called upon residents to do their part to prepare for another emergency.


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CA ATTORNEY GENERAL BECERRA ANNOUNCES SETTLEMENT WITH GENERAL MOTORS OVER DEFECTIVE IGNITION SWITCH

 

East County News Service

October 20, 2017 (Sacramento) – California Attorney General Xavier Becerra has announced a $120 million multi-state settlement with General Motors Company (GM) over allegations that the company concealed safety issues related to defective ignition switches in GM vehicles. California will be receiving over $7 million and GM must cease making misrepresentations to consumers regarding unsafe vehicles.


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60 TO 80% OF MIGRANT WOMEN AND GIRLS ARE RAPED ON WAY TO U.S., STUDIES FIND, BUT TRUMP ADMINSTRATION BLOCKS ABORTIONS FOR DETAINEES

 

Federal judge rules action violates Constitutional rights of detained immigrants

By Miriam Raftery

October 19, 2017 (San Diego) – A federal judge on Wednesday ruled that the Trump administration has violated the rights of a 17-year-old undocumented immigrant detained in Texas by refusing to allow her to have an abortion.  The Trump administration has appealed.  “Failure to comply with this order may result in a finding of contempt,” wrote D.C. Circuit Judge Tanya Chutkan.


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BROWN SIGNS BILL TO LET SAN DIEGO WAIVE BUILDING CODES FOR THREE YEARS TO PROVIDE SHELTER FOR HOMELESS

 

By Miriam Raftery

October 19, 2017 (San Diego) – Governor Jerry Brown has signed Assembly Bill 932 authorizing suspension of state and local building standards for three years upon declaration of a shelter crisis in specified areas, including the City of San Diego, in order to create homeless shelters on an emergency basis.


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LAKE JENNINGS CLOSED TO RECREATION OCTOBER 30-NOV. 16

 

Source: Helix Water District

October 19, 2017 (Lakeside) -- Lake Jennings – the lake, not the campground -- will be closed to all activities, including fishing and boating, from October 30 to November 16 so Helix Water District can study the lake’s hydraulics.


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JOIN OUR “FEAST FROM THE EAST” AT HIMALAYAN CUISINE WITH EAST COUNTY DINING CLUB OCT. 19

 

 

 

October 5, 2017 (La Mesa) – You’re invited to join our East County Dining Club in a “Feast from the East” at Himalayan Cuisine (7918 El Cajon Blvd., La Mesa) on Thursday, October 19 at 6:30 p.m.  The restaurant features delicious  foods from Nepal, India and Tibet. 

For this event, you can order food and drinks off the extensive exotic and affordable menu, plus we’ll have a wealth of prizes. View the delicious menu options:  www.HimalayanCuisineOne.com.   

 

You can pay at the door for this event, but please RSVP early to reserve space—our last two events sold out!  RVSP to reserve space:  (619)698-7617 or email editor@eastcountymagazine.org .

The restaurant will donate 15% of proceeds to benefit East County Magazine and East County Wildfires & Alerts.  More delicious details:


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