San Diego East County

DESTINATION EAST COUNTY: HOT SUMMER HAPPENINGS

 

By Miriam Raftery

June 16, 2023 (San Diego's East County) -- A Juneteenth Jubilee, outdoor concerts, the Mt. Helix Food and Wine festival, a Taste of San Diego East, a Team on a Trek challenge, comedy, the musical Grease onstage,  4tth of July celebrations and fireworks are all coming up in San Diego’s East County in June and July.

Find full details on these and many more hot summertime happenings below.


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LISTEN NOW: OUR RADIO SHOWS FROM JANUARY-MARCH 2021 ARE NOW ONLINE

Our radio shows from January through March 2021 are now online.  For links to listen plus an index with full list of topics and interviews in each show. Click here or click the "read more" link and scroll down for audio links below the index. (Audio files may take a few moments to load.)  

Interviews included Congresswoman Sara Jacobs on the Capitol insurrection and COVID, Erica Pinto, chair of Southern Calif. Indian Healthcare, attorney Scott Gottredson on PFAS lawsuits and contamination at military bases, author Roger Showley, author of San Diego Memories III: A Time of Change – The 1960s and 1970s, and Craig Unger, author of American Kompromat.

The East County Magazine Show airs Mondays and Fridays from 5 to 6 p.m. on KNSJ, 89.1 FM.  Our shows rerun on Tuesdays at 9 a.m. and Saturdays at 8 a.m. Pacific Standard Time. (Note: Due to COVID-19 quarantines, some show dates aired reruns. Original shows are listed below.) Shows also include station IDs and public service announcements.

Audio: 


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Support community news in the public interest! As nonprofit news, we rely on donations from the public to fund our reporting -- not special interests. Please donate to sustain East County Magazine's local reporting and/or wildfire alerts at https://www.eastcountymedia.org/donate to help us keep people safe and informed across our region.

SDG&E RESPONDS TO OUTAGE CONCERNS, BUT LEGISLATORS HUESO AND VOEPEL IGNORE INQUIRIES

 

 

By Miriam Raftery

Photo by Dennis Richardson

December 19, 2017 (San Diego’s East County) – SDG&E has responded to our inquiry seeking answers to questions raised by concerned readers during planned outages to 17,000 SDG&E customers due to last week’s high winds, which ECM reported on here and here.

Helen Gao,  communications manager for Sempra Energy,  parent company of SDG&E,  sent the following reply to our questions on topics including loss claims, factors that determine when to shut off power, people with medical needs, support for residents during outages in need of water and communications, adjusting bills to eliminate charges during outages, and what might be done in communities with repeated outages to reduce or eliminate that need in the future.

Below is her response in full, followed by comments from rural residents with contrasting opinions on the outages:


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EAST COUNTY ROUNDUP: LOCAL AND STATEWIDE NEWS

July 9, 2015 (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

STATE

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


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TAKE OUR POLL: SHOULD AMBULANCE RESPONSE TIMES IN EAST COUNTY BE IMPROVED?

 

March 29, 2015 (San Diego)--San Diego County only requires that ambulances response within 30 minutes in rural areas, unlike urban areas where the limit is 10 minutes. The American Heart Association reports that brain death and permanent death start to occur in 4–6 minutes after someone experiences cardiac arrest.  The County's response time requirements are far too long for a heart attack patient to survive without brain damage. In addition, these times mean it sometimes takes more than the "golden hour" to reach a hospital following a trauma, stroke or other medical emergency, the time frame that medical experts recommend for saving lives. 

Take our Poll:  Should San Diego County require faster ambulance response than the 30 minutes currently required in rural areas?

Vote here: http://eastcountymagazine.org/poll/should-county-require-faster-ambulanc...


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INCUBATING NEW BUSINESSES IN EAST COUNTY: HEAR NOORI BARKA’S PLANS TO CREATE GOOD JOBS FOR OUR REGION

 

 

Hear our interview with Noori Barka, which originally aired on KNSJ 89.1 FM:  https://www.eastcountymagazine.org/sites/eastcountymagazine.org/files/au...

December 18,2014 (El Cajon) –Imagine a place where people who want to start new businesses in East County can have free space, resources and investors—if they pledge to provide jobs here in East County. That’s the concept that Noori Barka, president of Calbiotech and a leader in the Iraqi-Chaldean community in El Cajon, aspires to attain by starting up an incubator business concept here.   He’s helped to launch a new 501c3 nonprofit, the San Diego East County Business Incubator with a goal of opening its doors next year.

 “If you have an idea, you want to start a business…we will incubate you for up to three years and during this time we will give you the full support,”  Barka told East County Magazine. Start-up businesses will be given space, tools, expertise, and investors.  After graduating in three years, people can receive continuing support – provided that they launch new businesses in East County. 

Barka hopes to create good-paying jobs in the biotech industry and other fields, helping to solve the high unemployment in East County, particularly among the new immigrant community, where unemployment is nearly 50 percent.

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Support community news in the public interest! As nonprofit news, we rely on donations from the public to fund our reporting -- not special interests. Please donate to sustain East County Magazine's local reporting and/or wildfire alerts at https://www.eastcountymedia.org/donate to help us keep people safe and informed across our region.

EAST COUNTY ROUNDUP: LOCAL AND STATEWIDE NEWS

December 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

STATE

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


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Support community news in the public interest! As nonprofit news, we rely on donations from the public to fund our reporting -- not special interests. Please donate to sustain East County Magazine's local reporting and/or wildfire alerts at https://www.eastcountymedia.org/donate to help us keep people safe and informed across our region.

EAST COUNTY MAGAZINE’S APRIL RADIO SHOWS ARE NOW ONLINE: LISTEN NOW

 

In April, we interviewed top newsmakers on hot local issues ranging from closure of rural fire stations to a State Senate race.  We also covered some national and international topics including an interview with a local pastor whose family is impacted by Uganda’s new law criminalizing homosexuality.  Plus we’ll take you on the road to discover Lakeside’s colorful history, cover the 50th anniversary of the Lakeside rodeo, interview local authors and much more.

For a complete list of interviews and topics covered in April, and to listen to our shows online now, click here.

You can hear our show Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 5 p.m. on KNSJ 89.1 FM.

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LISTEN NOW: WHISTLEBLOWER INTERVIEW ON FIRE STATION CLOSURES, DANGEROUS UNDER-STAFFING

 

 

 

 

April 19, 2014 (San Diego's East County) --Listen to a tape of the fire whistleblower interview here, which originally aired on the East County Magazine Radio Show on KNSJ 89.1 FM on April 18, 2014

https://www.eastcountymagazine.org/sites/eastcountymagazine.org/files/au...

Just how effective is the new County Fire Authority at fire protection?  While some areas have improved since the 2003 and 2007 wildfires,Craig Williams, an information technology specialist with Campo Fire Department shares shocking details on fire stations unmanned across our backcountry—and what could be done to keep rural residents safe. 

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Support community news in the public interest! As nonprofit news, we rely on donations from the public to fund our reporting -- not special interests. Please donate to sustain East County Magazine's local reporting and/or wildfire alerts at https://www.eastcountymedia.org/donate to help us keep people safe and informed across our region.

IRAQI CHALDEANS FORM NEW CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

By Miriam Raftery

December 5, 2013 (El Cajon ) – The newly formed San Diego East County Chaldean American Chamber of Commerce has elected Ben Kalasho as president during the organization’s gala event at Sycuan Resort on November 22.   Kalasho hailed the event, which drew about 100 attendees, as “a great turn out of professional movers and shakers.”


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ART GONE WILD IN JACUMBA HOT SPRINGS

 

By Miriam Raftery

September 11, 2013 (Jacumba Hot Springs) – “The  people of this town came together,”  said famed sculptor Ricardo Breceda after hoisting a 1200-pound metallic rattlesnake sculpture into place in front of the Jacumba Community Park.  

Best known for his larger-than-life sculptures of present and prehistoric wildlife in the Anza-Borrego desert, Breceda yesterday sold additional sculptures to Jacumba Hot Springs art fans – works that will soon grace rocks and roadways in this high desert community seeking to reinvent itself as an arts colony.

It all started with a winged dragon.


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Support community news in the public interest! As nonprofit news, we rely on donations from the public to fund our reporting -- not special interests. Please donate to sustain East County Magazine's local reporting and/or wildfire alerts at https://www.eastcountymedia.org/donate to help us keep people safe and informed across our region.

VIEJAS CELEBRATES GRAND OPENING OF “WORLD CLASS RESORT” HOTEL

 

 

Story and photos by Miriam Raftery, video by Paul Kruze

March 22, 2013 (Alpine) – “This truly is a game changer for East County,” said Joe Terzi, Chief Executive Officer of the San Diego Tourism Authority, at a VIP grand opening last night of the $36 million, five-story hotel at Viejas Casino & Resort in Alpine.  He hailed the new resort as a “great new addition to the San Diego region” that will help East County benefit from tourism that drives San Diego’s economy.

Dignitaries and community leaders from across our region turned out for last night’s occasion.  A second opening for the public, including a free world premier performance of the Cirque-style show “Rise”, will be held on Saturday night, March 23 along with fireworks to celebrate East County’s landmark new  addition.

View our exclusive video, see our photo gallery and read details of this landmark occasion below.

 


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FROM THE REAL ESTATE TRENCHES: FEBRUARY 8, 2012

By Charlotte Reed, Realtor

Real estate is my business...my only business.
 
A weekly column that focuses on Real Estate news that will have an impact on buyers and sellers of real estate in San Diego East County.
 
February 8, 2012 (San Diego’s East County)--In this week's column:
 
  • Installation of local Realtor officers and directors
  • Title information outsourcing
  • Another lawsuit for B of A and other big banks 

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READER’S EDITORIAL: EXPANDING WIND ENERGY WITH SMOKE AND MIRRORS

 
By Jim Wiegand, wildlife biologist

 

 
Editor’s note:  Several massive wind farm projects are proposed for San Diego’s East County and neighboring Imperial County. The County is now considering a wind ordinance to make it easier to build wind farms.  But is the wind industry deceiving the public on bird death rates, particularly from new and larger turbines? 

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HOP TO IT: EASTER ACTIVITIES IN EAST COUNTY


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BACKCOUNTRY’S BILLIE JO JANNEN IS ON THE AIR

 

Award-winning journalist and ECM's own East of the Line columnist hosts TGIF Report on East County issues

 

Show airs Fridays from 6-7 p.m. on FM 107.9

 


By Miriam Raftery

April 12, 2011 (Alpine) – She’s won awards for investigative reporting and spent nearly 25 years writing and editing articles about East County’s hottest topics such as wildfires, wind turbines, border and land use issues. Her coverage has drawn national attention on 60 Minutes and 20-20 TV shows. She’s also rooted out tales of feral pigs and turkey hunts, offered tips on how to remove horse manure, and covered local politics. (Some might see similarity in these topics.)
 

Now the backcountry’s best-known news hound has a found a new home behind the microphone at my107.9 radio in Alpine, where her new show, the TGIF report covers news and events in San Diego’s backcountry communities and Alpine.  East County Magazine readers will recognize Jannen as author of the popular East of the Line column on backcountry issues.
 

The TGIF (Thank God It’s Friday) Report airs Fridays from 6-7 p.m. because “I don’t do mornings well,” quips Jannen. If you’re not close enough to Alpine to pick up the signal, you can listen to the show streaming live at http://www.my1079.com.


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Support community news in the public interest! As nonprofit news, we rely on donations from the public to fund our reporting -- not special interests. Please donate to sustain East County Magazine's local reporting and/or wildfire alerts at https://www.eastcountymedia.org/donate to help us keep people safe and informed across our region.

PHOTOS OF THE WEEK: FEB. 1, 2011


February 1, 2011 (San Diego's East County)--This week, we bring you some beautiful images of nature.

 

This egret paid a visit to Robin Kendall's home in San Carlos, wading right in to take a dip in a swimming pool in her backyard. 


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PHOTOS OF THE MONTH: OCTOBER 2009

This month, we bring you the many faces of our community - plus some holiday spirits!


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