Photos by Maria Teresa Fernandez and Miriam Raftery

July 10, 2014 (San Diego) – Border Angels, a nonprofit San Diego organization, has received over 10 tons of donated clothing, toys, diapers and food for the Central American refugee families coming to our region.  Now the group has launched a teddy bear drive to “share the love with our refugee children,”  said Enrique Morones, founder of Border Angels.  Donated items can be dropped off at the Border Angels office at 2258 Island Avenue in San Diego.  The group also seeks an East County drop-off location.

This is not the group’s first effort to help people in need locally.  Border Angels successfully raised donations to help wildfire survivors in our region, as well as to help victims of the Easter Sunday earthquake just over our border several years ago. 

The wave of Central American immigrants fleeing violence and risk of death in their homelands have been the subject of controversy.  Anti-immigration protesters blocked several busloads of the refugees in Murrietta, chanting racial slurs. Five of the protesters were arrested after some tackled law enforcement officers.  Now, as people across the nation and around the world have seen video of the controntation, many have stepped forward to help the immigrant children and their families.

Dear  Readers:

A year ago when KNSJ radio launched, the station promised to air our live wildfire and emergency alerts. Saturday is their anniversary party - please send a message TODAY asking them to honor this promise!

In the July 2013 Chariot Fire the station did go live and I reported on the fire on Mt. Laguna.  For a few weeks, KNSJ aired our alerts with a delay of an hour or so, promising to improve technology to get real live alerts. Later KNSJ stopped airing wildfire alerts at all. I’ve pleaded with KNSJ to air Viejas Wildfire Alerts as promised, which we offer them free, to save lives and keep you safe. In the backcountry when power lines burn and some have no cell service,  battery-powered radio is often the only way to get news during fires.

KNSJ’s CEO says having the federal emergency broadcast system  in place is enough, but it’s not. It wasn’t activated during recent fires in East County.  KNSJ's CEO and Board  refuse to even guarantee a start date for alerts or an exact dollar figure that would guarantee these would air. They ask for more money, without delivering on promises made to donors who already gave to support getting alerts on the air.  KNSJ also has zero live broadcasting, even for breaking news during fires.

TAKE OUR POLL AND SEND A MESSAGE TO KNSJ:  Should the FCC ask KNSJ to keep its promise and air live Viejas Wildfire & Emergency Alerts & have live news broadcasts during wildfires?

PLEASE VOTE HERE:  http://www.eastcountymagazine.org/poll/should-fcc-ask-knsj-keep-its-promise-air-live-viejas-wildfire-emergency-alerts-and-have-live-ne

July 3, 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/REGIONAL

• San Diego County property value is up 6% (Santee Patch)
• La Mesa: Legion Post Out of Park Station Project (La Mesa Today)
• Maybe Potrero residents sensed something (SD Reader)
• Protesters force buses carrying undocumented immigrants to Murrieta to turn around (10 News)
• Filings show November slate growing (La Mesa Today)
• Yes, full transit can work. Just look at Lemon Grove (Voice of San Diego)
• Central American children find help in SD (UT San Diego)
• Crimestoppers offers reward to locate Ramona fugitive (Ramona Sentinel)

STATE

• California Voters To Weigh Reducing Some Felonies To Misdemeanors (KPBS)
• Immigrants arrive in El Centro (Desert Sun)
• Butts fire grows, threatens nearly 400 homes in Napa (Sacramento Bee)
• Yosemite’s anniversary: For Indians, there’s little to celebrate (Sacramento Bee)

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

East County News Service

July 2, 2014 (San Diego)--MyLife, a social media website, recently did an analysis of data to determine the most patriotic cities in the U.S. The results are in -- just in time for the 4th of July -- and San Diego is ranked number one. 

MyLife’s analysis included four sets of data:

July 1, 2014 (San Diego) – The San Diego Area Middle Eastern Dance Association will present Sameda Faire 2014, a day long festival of dance on Sunday, July 20 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the Scottish Rite Event Center. 

By Nadin Abbott and Miriam Raftery

June 27, 2014 (San Diego’s East County) – San Diego Supervisors heard heated testimony on Wednesday regarding plans to change densities for lands on private property within the Cleveland National Forest boundaries. The Forest Conservation Initiative (FCI) passed by voters in 1993, which limited development on these lands to one home for each 40 acres, expired in 2010.  The County has rejected calls to enact the FCI protections into law. Instead, Supervisors directed staff to create an Environmental Impact Report based on staff recommendations that would increase densities in some areas and reduce them in others.

The hot potato is Alpine, where the Alpine Planning Group’s majority called on Supervisors to allow increased densities and development that could double the size of their rural town.  That has drawn opposition from environmentalists, board member Lou Russo, the Cleveland National Forest Foundation and the U.S. Forest Service itself, which raised concerns over fire dangers and preservation of federally protected wild lands adjacent to proposed development.

Residents question high cost of weed cutting by private contractor

By Grey Feathers

June 24, 2014 El Cajon – The City Council of El Cajon considered issues from a retired police dog to hookah lounges as Mayor Bill Wells gaveled in Tuesday’s meeting.

Councilmember Star Bales displayed items purchased at the El Cajon ‘America on Main Street’ event that she will proudly wear at the Fourth of July celebration at Kennedy Park (photo, left). The Council then voted to retire and release ownership of El Cajon Police dog “Turbo” to Officer Thompson, Turbo’s experienced and sole handler.  Happy retirement Turbo!

The longest discussion of the meeting concerned filing liens on properties of owners who owe money to the City for weed abatement, mandatory trash service and sidewalk repair. The staff recommendation was to authorize the City Clerk to record the amount owed as a lien on the property  and forward the list to the County Tax Assessor for billing on the owner’s next property tax bill.

By Miriam Raftery

June 22, 2014 (San Diego’s East County)--Here are highlights of important issues on the agenda this week impacting San Diego's unincorporated areas as well as residents in the cities of El Cajon, La Mesa and Santee.

The San Diego Board of Supervisors meets on Tuesday and Wednesday this week with many important items slated to be heard. On Tuesday, Supervisors will deliberate the county budget and a joint powers agreement with Caltrans for the Next Generation regional communications system and more.

On Wednesday, supervisors will hold a public hearing on proposed changes to the Forest Conservation Initiative Lands General Plan amendment.  This is a controversial  issue that will determine what sort of development will be allowed on properties in the vicinity of Cleveland National Forest in East County.

By Miriam Raftery

June 20, 2014 (San Diego)--Hundreds of millions of dollars in emergency upgrades made over the past decade helped to minimize losses in last month's devastating wildfires and enable a successful response by the County of San Diego.  That’s the conclusion of the After Action Report  prepared by County staff and presented to Supervisors this week.

The report cites dramatic improvements made since the 2003 wildfires struck our region, and what additional upgrades could be made as the region braces for what appears to be a severe fire season.  It stops short, however, of addressing the biggest gap in coverage for rural residents.

By Miriam Raftery

June 17, 2014 (Ramona) – A search is underway in Ramona to locate Carl Salayer, 66, who was last seen when he went to bed last night. He left his home in the 17000 block of Handlebar Road in Ramona between 2:30 and 6:30  this morning. 

He suffers from Alzheimer’s Disease and has other medical conditions and needs to take his medications.   He had a feeding tube and may only be wearing his undergarments. He is white, 6 feet 3 inches tall, weighs 150 pounds, with blue eyes , balding grey hair and a moustache  He could run when approached, so if you see him please call the Sheriff’s department at 858-565-5200. Refer to Sheriff’s missing persons case 14130623.

By Stevon Marshall

June 10, 2014 (San Diego)--Most say the hardest feeling in the world is for a parent to bury a child, but how about a child having to bury a parent? That’s the reality for a hit and run incident victim’s child.

Anouchka  Mihaylova (photo), 62, a Bulgarian immigrant and professor at UC San Diego, died in her husband’s arms after being struck by a hit and run driver on May 17th while walking to their favorite restaurant in Rancho Bernardo. She is among a growing number of victims countywide killed  this year by drivers who fled the scene.

The accident has left her family surprised and  heartbroken. Her death is also a blow to the medical community.  Before her passing, Anouchka Mihaylova worked in the Department of Bioengineering at UCSD, where she was doing research on the artificial heart.

By Stevon Marshall and Trevor Hill

June 6, 2014 (San Diego) — Results of Tuesday’s primary races for City Council have raised hopes among Republicans of reducing the power of San Diego’s Democratic majority.

Two Democratic Council members, Myrtle Cole and David Alvarez, won their races outright in districts 4 and 8, with over 50% of the vote in Tuesday’s primary, so they won’t have to vie in a run-off race in November. Republican Lori Zapf, a Councilwoman who had to run in a different district due to reapportionment, also won her district 2 race with over 50%.

But in district 6, Republican Chris Cate will face off against Democrat Carol Kim in the fall. If Cate wins, Republicans would narrow Democrats’ balance of power on the Council to a slim one-vote majority.

By Jaden Jimenez

Jessica Richmond and Miriam Raftery also contributed to this report

May 29,2014 (San Diego)- Updated June 2, 2014 - This year if the current District Attorney, Bonnie Dumanis, would like to keep her job, she will need to defeat two opponents who have stepped up to the plate to take swings at the incumbent.  Bob Brewer, ex-Sempra Energy lawyer and Terri Wyatt, 26-year Deputy District Attorney in San Diego County, are both challenging Dumanis in the June 3^rd primary.  The top two vote getters will then square off in November—unless one candidate  receives over 50% of the votes in June to win outright.

The race has shaped up to be very intriguing due to allegations flying among two of the candidates, Dumanis and Brewer. (Wyatt seems to be free of scandal.)  Accusations in the race include corruption, illegal campaign contributions,  federal probes,  a corporate cover-up and a good old April fool’s joke, just to name a few.  In an election for the role of the top prosecutor in San Diego, you might ask, shouldn’t candidates vying for the DA seat uphold the letter of the law,  not appear to break it?

This is the first time in 12 years that someone has challenged Dumanis, giving her a lot of time to build up her portfolio as DA.

An analysis on the impacts of energy policies and projects on the future of East County

By Jessica Richmond and Miriam Raftery

May 29, 2014 (San Diego’s East County) – A growing number of East County residents, fire chiefs, environmentalists and elected officials are voicing alarm over the proposed large-scale destruction of natural and scenic resources for numerous industrial-scale “renewable” wind and solar energy projects and related powerlines, substations and more.  A map reveals that East County is targeted for a disproportionate share of these projects, pushed forward by energy companies and politicians who contend such development is needed to disrupt disastrous effects of global warming and fill the regional energy gap left by closing San Onofre nuclear generation stations.

But opponents say these projects are not green or sustainable, instead setting up our region for an ecological disaster in the making. They raise some crucial questions:

How did San Diego’s East County come to be targeted for fast-tracking by federal, state and county governments to facilitate construction of so many massive-scale solar and wind projects and related transmission lines in rural, mountain and desert areas instead of urban locations where demand for power is highest? 

Why isn’t preference given to incentivize less destructive renewable options, such as rooftop and parking lot solar or small-scale wind turbines for use by residents, schools, municipal governments and businesses?

By Miriam Raftery

May 25, 2014 (San Diego) Campaign signs posted by Ken Gosselin’s judicial campaign  are raising ethical questions In large letters, the words Judge Gosselin are displayed.  Nearly invisible to motorists and passersby, the word “for” in small italics is also present on the signs.

Gosselin, a candidate for Superior Court Judge seat 25, has previously worked as a temporary judge pro tem handling traffic and small claims court cases. He is currently not listed on the Superior Court’s roster of judges pro tem and has stated he is on leave due to the campaign. However, judicial candidates by law are not allowed to call themselves judges, even if  the candidate is currently serving as a judge pro tem.