By Miriam Raftery

August 23, 2014 (San Diego)--As we reported Friday, State Senator Ben Hueso, a Democrat whose 40th district includes the southern portions of San Diego and East County as well as Imperial and Riverside counties, was arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol in Sacramento.  The Senator has issued an apology and will appear in court this week.

Adding to Hueso’s woes, the Sacramento Bee has posted a photo showing Hueso partying with the Latino Caucus, shirt tail untucked, shortly before his arrest. It was tweeted by fellow legislator Lorena Gonzalez (D-San Diego), who later deleted the image. A reporter at the Sacramento Bee also reportedly received an audio file purporting to be loud singing on a capitol balcony during the evening revelry.

Will Senator Hueso’s arrest for driving under the influence of alcohol spell the end of his political future? Not necessarily, based on an examination of records of prior legislators faced with similar charges.

 Hear our interview with  a local Kurdish-American woman whose family is caught up in the tragic actions unfolding in Kurdistan under the ISIS assault. Listen online now: (This interview originally aired on the East County Magazine Show on KNSJ  radio 89.1 FM)   https://www.eastcountymagazine.org/sites/eastcountymagazine.org/files/au...

Anguish hits home for local Kurdish residents

By Miriam Raftery

August 15, 2014 (San Diego) – “This is a great humanitarian tragedy, and another genocide against the Kurdish nation,” Kurdish-American Amina (who asked that her last name be withheld) told East County Magazine.  She is horrified at news reports of beheadings, mass graves and the kidnapping of young girls as sex slaves by ISIS terrorists who have laid siege to the city of Shingal and trapped 100,000 refugees atop the Shingal Mountain. She is also frightened by what she is hearing from relatives in the region.

"No one feels safe there. People are hopeless,” she says.

Now the crisis has impacted her own family, like many of the 4,000 to 5,000 Kurdish people in the San Diego region and 15,000 Kurds in the U.S. overall. 

“The Kurdish people know that their dear Peshmarga do not have weapons to defend them from these barbarians, and this makes them live and die in fear. We hear that the Kurdish government is asking people (one of them being my brother) to find themselves weapons and join the Peshmarga,” she wrote in an e-mail to East County Magazine. “Sadly, most people do not have weapons, so if they go to war, they will go with bare hands.”

August 13, 2014 (San Diego's East County)--East County Roundup highlights top stories of interest to East County and San Diego’s inland regions, published in other media. This week’s top “Roundup” headlines include:

LOCAL

• Iraqi Christians in San Diego fear U.S. airstrikes are too late in Iraq (Los Angeles Times)
• Filmmaker taking a fond look back at ‘70s and ‘80s La Mesa (UT San Diego)
• Green Technology Building Code Changes Approved For San Diego County (KPBS)
• San Diego Bucks California’s Trend in Biz Relocation (Voice of San Diego)
• San Diego Businesses, By the Numbers(Voice of SD)
• La Mesa gets a new brewery (La Mesa Today)
• San Diego's Police Officer Retention Problems Hit New Low (KPBS)
• Risk assessment report moves Valley Center closer to its own fire department (Valley Center/Times Advocate)
• Sempra under investigation, says Mexican Press (SD Reader)

STATE

• California Lawmakers Reach Compromise On Revamped Water Bond (KPBS)
• In dry California, water goes to those who drill the deepest (Al Jazeera)
• Other view: Groundwater mining is exploitation of shared resource (SacBee)
• THE NEW DIGITAL BREED OF FIRE COMMAND (FastCompany.com)

For excerpts and links to full stories, click “read more” and scroll down.

“A vote is too precious to limit.” – No Term Limits in La Mesa slogan

East County News Service

August 11, 2014 (La Mesa)--With the slogan “A vote is too precious to limit,” a group of La Mesa residents has joined together to form No Term Limits in La Mesa, to oppose a term limits initiative  in the city of La Mesa that will be on ballots this November. The group asks the public’s help to spread the word through a people-powered grass roots campaign using word of mouth, a website (www.NoTermLimitsInLaMesa.com ), social media and downloadable graphics to print your own flyers, car signs, posters and T-shirts.

The group objects to term limits on principle, Kristin Kjaero explained, saying “The Founding Fathers didn’t give us term limits, they gave us the Bill of Rights which guarantees our right to free expression. The most fundamental form of that expression is our vote, which allows us to put teeth behind our opinions.”

By Miriam Raftery

August 12, 2014 (El Cajon)—El Cajon’s City Council will vote at today’s 3 p.m. meeting on directing staff to pursue a draft final agreement with Rock Church for establishing a partial lease of the East County Performing Arts Center (ECPAC).  The deal would also authorize Rock Church to lease land adjacent to the theater to construct a new building for the church that would be partially available for city use.

The measure is on the consent calendar, however ECM has received several e-mails from community members who are concerned  about separation of church state issues and about the long-term loss of the theater for public use during a significant number of hours each year.  They want to see any leasing decisions halted until the city follows up on its promises to hire a professional theater management company.

"Politics in Paradise" showcases hot issues--and partisan divide in East County

Story and photos by Sharon Penny

Hear an audio report by Janis Russell: http://kiwi6.com/file/t3ud7qryhp

Photo, left to right:  CA Senator Joel Anderson, County Treasurer Dan McAllister, Supervisor Dianne Jacob, Assemblyman Brian Jones, Lemon Grove Mayor Mary Sessom, and Congressman Duncan Hunter

August 8, 2014 (El Cajon)--Six East County politicians participated in a lively question and answer session under the stars at Cuyamaca College's Water Conservation Garden during a mild summer evening on August 7.

The location for the annual event hosted by the joint Chambers ofCommerce in East County was apropos because the state’s water issue was a hot topic discussed by local leaders. The site exemplified ways that constituents could help with the current drought. Other issues debated at the event were welfare, immigration, the local craft beer industry, using public pension funds to invest in affordable housing, providing incentives to private developers, Proposition 13, high-speed rail, and even Shamu.

Source: Helix Water District

August 7, 2014 (La Mesa)--Helix Water District’s board of directors voted yesterday to put Drought Level 2 into effect in response to the State Water Resources Control Board’s passage of mandatory water conservation measures to deal with the current drought.

Since February, the district had been in Drought Level 1, which called for numerous voluntary actions to eliminate water waste. Drought Level 2 makes them mandatory.  Residents and businesses are required to take the following conservation steps:

Hear our audio promo in our new studio:  http://kiwi6.com/file/pk5dpheb7i

August 1, 2014 (El Cajon) – As the newest tenants in the El Cajon Medical Center, the East County Magazine & Media Center will provide media coverage and community radio broadcast demonstrations during the East County Wellness Center’s grand opening event on August 5^th.  We invite our readers to stop by and join in the celebrations!

The wellness center offers zumba, yoga and pilates classes as well as massage services.  The grand opening festivities begin at 5:30 p.m. with a ribbon cutting by the San Diego East County Chamber of Commerce at 6 p.m.  All event guests can enjoy a Wellness seminar, free chair massages, beverages and hors d’oeuvres, prize drawings and more. The East County Wellness and Yoga Center is located at 1625 East Main Street, Suite 205 in El Cajon, CA 92012.

East County Magazine & Media Center now offers audio services and more for local community members in our new recording studio. Stop by our suite 204 for a tour, radio broadcast demonstration, and drawing for prizes( including a free ad on East County Magazine (averaging 150,000 visits each month) and a complimentary 15-minute recording session/podcast  for your organization.)

By Miriam Raftery

July 30, 2014 (El Cajon) – Outliers Collective (www.outco.com), the only legal,  licensed medical marijuana dispensary  in East County’s unincorporated areas, will open this Saturday, August 2 near Gillespie Field.  A grand opening party is set from 1 to 4 p.m. at the collective dispensary, located at 8157 Wing Avenue in unincorporated El Cajon.

The grand opening will feature raffles, prize giveaways, meet and greet with model “Queen Esther”, poster signings, a food truck, 619 clothing and more.

A quarter of all rural stations were closed –at the same time—during April

An East County Magazine special investigative report

By Miriam Raftery

July 31, 2014 (San Diego’s East County) – The County Fire Authority has touted its successes in preventing the May wildfires in North County from destroying thousands of homes despite a county-wide disaster declaration.  Granted, a lot has improved since the devastating 2003 and 2007 firestorms in our region--the worst in California's history. But if fires were to start in East County today, the outcome could be tragic. An East County Magazine investigation raises serious doubts over  inadequate volunteer firefighter staffing and the ability to respond even to routine house fires and medical calls in some rural communities.

Last October,  our investigative report,"Closed for Fire Season" revealed that Boulevard’s fire station was closed for two months during fire season and Jacumba’s station also had some dark days- -including one when a resident died of a medical emergency after a delay in emergency services arriving. The County responded by funding emergency staffing and according to Supervisor Jacob’s staff, these two stations remained open every day  for at least several months thereafter, an ECM records check in late April revealed.   

But on July 9, Craig Williams, an information technology provider for the Campo Fire Department, advised ECM that “without any notification to the community leaders."  two days ago Cal Fire “moved the overtime, off-budget, paid Cal Fire firefighters out of Boulevard to Jacumba Hot Springs. Now  Boulevard is stuck with Fire Authority `volunteers’ only, just like Campo.’”

Worse,  a new investigation by ECM reveals that this is the tip of an iceberg--with many stations understaffed and some closed for months. 

July 30, 2014 (San Diego's East County)--East County Roundup highlights top stories of interest to East County and San Diego’s inland regions, published in other media. This week’s top “Roundup” headlines include:

LOCAL

• Open spaces program to help Lemon Grove design its own public art (EC Californian)
• Home appreciation pace continues its dive (UT San Diego)
• Skydiver falls to his death in Otay Lakes (KUSI)
• Microsoft cutting 378 jobs in San Diego (UT San Diego)
• San Diego recovers poorly (SD Reader)
• Report: Increased Meth Use By Minors Booked Into Juvenile Hall (KPBS)

STATE

• In Mexico, a new Jerry Brown comes around to free trade (Sacramento Bee)
• Suspended California lawmaker Leland Yee faces new conspiracy charges (Reuters)
• Lawmakers scrap controversial section of energy bill (Mission Times Courier)
• Brown: California Willing To Shelter More Migrants (KPBS)

For excerpts and links to full stories, click “read more” and scroll down.

Grossmont CBOC Member Nick Marinovich Resigns After Pressure From Asking Tough Questions

By Sharon Penny

July 13, 2014 (San Diego’s East County)--The Grossmont Union High School District’s (GUHSD) Citizens’ Bond Oversight Committee (CBOC) serves on behalf of  San Diego County taxpayers to  “independently review the planning and execution of the Proposition H and Proposition U bond programs to validate to the public and the Governing Board that bond funds are spent within the intent of the bond measure.” East County Magazine has raised questions over problems with the CBOC’s watchdog role in a radio interview a few months ago.

Since his appointment to CBOC in June 2013, Nick Marinovich has a history of questioning the GUHSD Board about what many view as its inadequate responses for plans for an Alpine High School (funded by Proposition U) and for not properly addressing the Grand Jury’s report criticizing the Boardm as ECM has reported.

Effective June 19, Marinovich “resigned” from the CBOC. GUHSD Board member Priscilla Schreiber has told East County Magazine that she believes Marinovich was ”indirectly forced” to resign due to his probing questions and failure of the board to respond to his follow-up efforts.

San Diego has sixth highest rate of valley fever in California; concerns voiced that Imperial County cases may be under-reported

By Janice Arenofsky

July 13, 2014 (San Diego)--More than 160 scientists, researchers and regional activists met in Phoenix on April 5^th to learn about and exchange views on the human and economic costs of Coccidioidomycosis (valley fever). Due to recent national and local media coverage of the valley fever epidemic across the Southwest and formation of a Cocci Congressional Task Force headed by two U.S. House Republicans from California and Arizona-- Kevin McCarthy and David Schweikert--the 58th Annual Meeting of the Cocci Study Group brought together a historic number of attendees.

Keynote speaker Steven Holland, MD, deputy director for intramural clinical research at the National Institutes of Health, spoke about human DNA mutations that leave a percentage of people especially vulnerable to valley fever, mycobacterial disease and Job’s Syndrome (immune-mediated disease). Holland concluded that in certain extreme cases of cocci, bone marrow transplants should be considered. He anticipates receiving more referrals of seriously ill cocci patients from Arizona and California physicians.