By Miriam Raftery

Photo: Cleveland National Forest, courtesy National Forest Service

April 6, 2015 (San Diego’s East County)—The Republican-controlled House and Senate have passed measures that would allow the sale or outright giveaway of most public lands –including national forests, federal wildernesses and  wildlife preserves and Bureau of Land Management properties.  Only Republicans voted for the language slipped into a non-binding budget resolution—which passed without a single Democratic vote. 

The shocking news is revealed in a New York Times editorial by Will Rogers, president of the Trust for Public Lands, titled “Our Land, Up for Grabs.”  

While it’s unlikely that President Barack Obama would support such an extreme measure, if a Republican president is elected in 2016 and Republicans maintains control of both houses of Congress, losing our cherished public lands such could be a very real possibility.

Here in San Diego County alone, that could mean the demise of:  Cleveland National Forest,  Otay Mountain Wildnerness, Hauser Wilderness, Pine Creek , Carrizo Gorge, Sawtooth Mountains Wilderness , Agua Tibia Wilderness, San Diego National Wildlife Refuge, San Diego Bay National Wildlife Refuge , Tijuana Slough National Wildlife Refuge, McCain Valley National Recreation Area and more.

East County News Service

April 7, 2015 (Santee) -- The Sheriff's Department wants your help in identifying and locating a woman who robbed a pharmacy at gunpoint in Santee.

The woman entered a CVS store in the 9700 block of Mission Gorge Road around 4:30 a.m. Witnesses say the suspect pulled out a pistol and demanded percocet, a drug, and threatened to shoot the clerk if the demands were not met. Once the woman was given the percocet, she walked out of the store. No one was hurt.

By Miriam Raftery

Photo:  Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA's Terra satellite shows fires around the world.

April 7, 2015 (San Diego) – A powerful U.S. religious leader is speaking out about climate change, likening the issue to the civil rights movement and  suggesting that climate change denial is immoral.

Bomber was "radicalized"watching videos by a San Diego imam

By Miriam Raftery

April 8, 2015 (San Diego’s East County) --A jury has found Dzhokhar Tsarnaev guilty on all 30 counts related to the Boston Marathon bombings in 2013. Tsarnev could face the death penalty for the crimes, which killed three and wounded 264 other victims, the Boston Globe reports.

East County News Service

April 7, 2015 (San Diego’s East County)—A measure set for hearing this week in the California  Senate Public Safety Committee aims to end solitary confinement of children in our state.

April 6, 2015 (San Diego)--Want a California native garden to save water? Your choice of plants is a lot better than you think, because California plants have friends around the world. There are five regions with a Mediterranean climate including South Africa, a portion of South America, Australia, the Mediterranean and right here in Southern California. Beautiful plants that thrive in these regions can add color, texture and water-wise plantings to your garden, too. 

The County has a new video you can view by clicking the  image above.

East County News Service

Photo: Amanda Heller

April 5, 2015 (Lemon Grove) – The Lemon Grove Historical will host a series of events in May and June, including “History Alive” lectures, history essay awards, and a showing of short films from around the world.  Below is a full schedule of events scheduled:

San Diego Legends 2nd Edition by James Scheffler Innis (Sunbelt Publications, Inc., 2015 - 290 pages).

Book Review by Jacqueline Carr

April 6, 2015 (San Diego's East County) - San Diego Legends 2nd Edition by James Scheffler Innis is filled with a plethora of information about famous and infamous San Diego Legends.  The stories are all interesting; some are quite humorous, while others are important history lessons.

“Articles Concerning Trusts, Wills, Probate, Family Law & more”

By: Stephen C. Ross, Esq.

March 9, 2015 (San Diego County) – The California Probate Code invalidates gifts to certain categories of people unless one of the exceptions applies. The Code mentions categories of people, considered “disqualified persons,” who are presumed to be disqualified from receiving donative transfers (written gifts).

By Miriam Raftery

Photo: “Sea lion head” by Alexdi

April 5, 2015 (San Diego) – At East County Magazine, our focus is normally on the inland region.  But this week, there are just too many bizarre beach stories to resist.

Plus Part I in a series of essays Bell is writing on attaining sustainability for our region

April 4, 2015 (San Diego) – Last month, we sat down for an in-depth interview on our radio show with ecological designer Jim Bell, an internationally recognized expert on sustainable development. You can hear the interview, originally aired on KNSJ 89.1 FM, here: https://www.eastcountymagazine.org/sites/eastcountymagazine.org/files/au... 

Bell has a plan to make the San Diego and Tijuana region sustainable in terms of energy, water, food, and more.  Currently he is working to distribute 20,000 free copies of his newest publication, Consciousness and Knowledge, throughout our region including 10,000 in Spanish.  You can download a copy here.

Director of the Ecological Life Systems Institute and the San Diego Center for Appropriate Technology,  Bell is also the Sierra Club’s representative on the City of San Diego’s Regional Advisory Energy Committee.  He has lectured at the World Conference of the Society of International Development in Mexico City, the American Institute of Architects’ California conference, and many other prominent events.  A past mayoral candidate, he is the author of “Achieving Eco-nomic Security on Spaceship Earth” as well as many other articles and papers on creating sustainable economies.

Below is the first in a series of essays by Bell on how we can achieve sustainability in our region.

EarthTalk®

E - The Environmental Magazine

Dear EarthTalk: What is the "Dirty Dozen Guide to Food Additives?"

 -- Meredith LaGarde, New Orleans, LA

April 8, 2015 (San Diego’s East County) - The Environmental Working Group (EWG), a non-profit dedicated to protecting human health and the environment through research, education and advocacy, launched its “Dirty Dozen Guide to Food Additives” in November 2014 to educate consumers about which food additives are associated with health concerns, which are restricted in other countries, and/or which just shouldn’t be in our foods to begin with. EWG hopes the new guide will help consumers avoid unhealthy foods and also influence policymakers to develop more stringent rules for food producers moving forward.

April 5, 2015 (San Diego’s East County)--Friends of East County Arts, Inc. presents its 20^th Annual Garden Tour on Saturday, April 25, 2015 from 9 am to 3 pm.

East County News Service

April 4, 2015 (City Heights)—A suspect is under arrest for suspected Arson in City Heights.  The Metro Arson Strike Team announced the arrest of 24-year-old Rolando Resendiz.

East County News Service

April 5, 2015 (San Diego) – The San Diego Festival Chorus and Orchestra will present “Two for the Show” on Sunday, May 3^rd at 3 p.m. at College Avenue Baptist Church (4747 College Avenue, San Diego). 

The concert features two major choral works:  Gioacchino Rossini’s “Stabat Mater” and John Rutter’s “Feel the Spirit.”  The performers include a 90-voice chorus and soloists as well as a 48-piece symphony orchestra .