April 4, 2014 (Valley Center)—What could be more delightful than a springtime English-style high tea amidst blooming fields of lavender?  Keys Creek Lavender Farm in Valley Center is serving up a delectable menu including lemon lavender scones with jam and Devonshire cream, appetizers, sandwhiches, smoked turkey, truffled egg salad, chicken tarragon, fresh fruit,  raspberry crème roulade, Viennese chocolate vanilla crescents, lavender lady kisses and an assortment of hot teas.

April 2, 2014 (El Cajon )--The City of El Cajon, Stoney’s Kids, Boys & Girls Club of East County and Foresters will join organizers from KaBOOM! (a national non-profit dedicated to ensuring all kids get the balance of active play they need to thrive) at the Wells Park on Thursday, April 3 to kick off design plans for a one-of-a-kind playground.

By Robert Clark

April 6, 2014 (El Cajon)--The recent spate of earthquakes in our area may have been triggered by an explosion at El Cajon Superior Court on March 25, when the prosecution's case against Kassim Alhimidi blew up during a hearing concerning pre-trial motions. The trial began April 1, and testimony has strongly confirmed an opinion I formed some time ago that the evidence against Alhimidi is so shaky  an immediate acquittal would be in order.

By Miriam Raftery

April 4, 2014 (San Diego’s East County)--The National Weather Service is looking for CoCoRahs. That stands for Community Collaborative Rain, Hail and Snow  Network, a nonprofit network of volunteer precipitation observers.All you need is a 4-inch rain gauge, the Internet, and a few minutes each day.

April 5, 2014 (San Diego's East County) - "Keeping illegal activity out of rental property," is the goal of the Sheriff's Department Crime Free Multi-Housing (CFMH) program. Now there is a webpage to help rental property owners/managers, as well as those looking for a new apartment to learn more about this program. Just go to www.sdsheriff.net/cfmh.

By Miriam Raftery

April 5, 2014 (San Diego) –“The San Diego County Planning Commissioners and Board of Supervisors have an obligation to look out for the greater good of the people of San Diego,” Timothy D. Schoechle, PhD, an international consultant on smart grid expert technology, engineering expert, and author of the report Getting Smarter About the Smart Grid wrote in his comments to the County’s planning director opposing Soitec’s plan to industrialize rural East County with massive solar modules that other experts have said could destroy the entire ecosystem of the region.

Instead, Dr. Schoechle lays out a detailed case for a saner, safer alternative—and why current government policies are polar opposites of what’s needed to protect the public against rapacious energy corporations.

E - The Environmental Magazine

Dear EarthTalk: What are some cool apps that work with a mobile phone that can help me get in better touch with the environment?                                                           -- Mitchell Brown, Troy, MI

Not surprisingly, there are thousands of “green” apps out there that make it easier for people to find and share information to help us all become better stewards of the natural environment.

Photo:Ahmed Idlle San Diego Somali leader, receives Director's Community Leadership Award from FBI Director James Comey at FBI Headquarters, Washington, D.C.

By Miriam Raftery

April 5, 2014 (San Diego)— In a ceremony at FBI Headquarters on April 4, 2014, Director James B. Comey recognized the recipients of the 2013 Director’s Community Leadership Award. These leaders, selected by their area FBI field office, have demonstrated outstanding contributions to their local communities through service.

Internet-based phones worry rural communities due to spotty reception, posing threats to safety and universal coverage

By Sharon Penny

April 4, 2014 (San Diego’s East County) --Many citizens are not aware that AT&T and Verizon, among other telecom giants, are lobbying the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and individual states to make telephone landlines go the way of the buggy whip. Soon, everyone in the U.S. may only have options for internet-based telephone service and cell service.

At the Boulevard Planning Group meeting held on April 3, local resident Kevin Keane, an IT and Telecommunications professional, discussed the issue with local residents, who were unaware these plans are in the works. 

Update: The Sheriff's investigation has concluded that this death was a suicide. A man who took the gun, prompting a search, said he did so to prevent students from picking up the weapon.

By Leon Thompson and Miriam Raftery

Photos by Leon Thompson; video by Billy Ortiz

April 3, 2014 (Lakeside) -- High school students walking home from El capitan HIgh School today made a grisly discovery--finding the body of a man who had been shot in an alley behind a laundromat and the KK Market. 

"At first it looked staged, it was so unreal, as if we were watching a movie," Markise Carter (photo, below right), one of the students who found the body, told East County Magazine.  "Then I saw the blood was still running."  Markise said the victim, a young white male perhaps 18 to 25 years old, had a bloody hole in his chest and a puddle of blood in his lap. He was bleeding from his ears, nose and mouth.

April 3, 2014 (San Diego’s East County)--ECM World Watch helps you be an informed citizen about important issues globally and nationally. As part of our commitment to reflect all voices and views, we include links to a wide variety of news sources representing a broad spectrum of political, religious, and social views. Top world and U.S. headlines include:

U.S.

• Fort Hood shooting spree: `Texans hearts are once again very heavy ‘(CNN)
• House panel subpoenas on wind power, eagle deaths (UT San Diego)
• Facing near certainty of rape, women illegally crossing border turn to birth control (RawStory)
• Yellowstone National Park rattled by largest earthquake in 34 years (Reuters)
•  Colorado River begins flooding Mexican delta (KPBS)
• Local partisans divide on Supreme Court ruling (UT San Diego)
• GM Bailout Claims the Legal Rights of Americans (Reason)
• Why do we make students sit still in class? (CNN)
• Facing the development of U.S. wind energy with a DOE map (ECO report)
• Fallen Marine's Dad Wants Peace At Fred Phelps' Funeral (Video) (KPBS)

WORLD

• Mexico finds 370 abandoned immigrant children (Reuters)
• Iraq electoral commission resigns en masse weeks before vote (Reuters)
• With $1B In Aid For Ukraine, Congress Puts Money Where Its Mouth Is (NPR)
• U.N. official says 'terrifying' level of hatred in Central African Republic (Reuters)
• ‘Black-clad army’ rallies for democracy in Taipei (Taipei Times)
• Obama ready to expand covert aid to Syrian opposition: report (Reuters)
• Exclusive: Russia threatened countries ahead of UN vote on Ukraine - envoys(Reuters)
• New Zealand tops social progress index, world's biggest economies trail (Thomson Reuters Foundation)

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

By Mark Gabrish Conlan • for East County Magazine, www.eastcountymagazine.org

April 2, 2014 (Washington D.C.)--The U.S. Supreme Court sure picked a weird way of celebrating the 50^th anniversary of the landmark 1964 Civil Rights Act this year. On March 24, they heard arguments in a case called Sebelius v. Hobby Lobby, in which a chain of art supply stores claimed that the mandate under the Affordable Care Act (so-called “Obamacare”) that employer-provided health insurance cover birth control is an infringement on their freedom of religion. Stated that boldly, Hobby Lobby’s claim that its for-profit business has the capability of worshiping God in its own way and the government can’t dictate the terms under which it can provide employees health insurance because that would violate its freedom of religion is preposterous.

U.S. evangelicals, including a Southern California pastor, have been linked to passage of repressive bill

Hear our radio interview with Bishop Terry Angel Mason on KNSJ 89.1 FM Descanso today at 5 p.m. along with the full East County Magazine Show, or listen to a podcast of his interview here: https://www.eastcountymagazine.org/sites/eastcountymagazine.org/files/au...

By Miriam Raftery

April 2, 2014 (San Diego’s East County) – Bishop Terry Angel Mason wants to bring his fiancé and their two adopted, orphaned children to America from Uganda. But his family is now in hiding –because of a new law in Uganda that  criminalizes homosexuality and imposes a life in prison sentence on gay people, as well as anyone falsely accused of being gay.

The law further requires that doctors, pastors, journalists and others  inform authorities about the identities of gays and prohibits all discussion of gay rights issues.  The law is fueling hate crimes, including beatings and burnings of gay people.  Nor is Uganda alone; other African nations have also passed restrictive laws penalizing gay people, creating a climate of fear.