Friends of missing teen Mickey Guidry’s family are mounting a search this weekend in the Anza Borrego desert. Volunteers are needed to scour a massive area. To date some 200 have signed up to participate. Searches will begin Saturday, March 20 at 9 a.m. and end Sunday, March 21 at 5 p.m. Volunteers should meet northwest of the intersection of S2 and Highway 78. 

December 22, 2009 (Anza Borrego) – San Diego Sheriff reported on December 18 that Mickey Guidry, 16, has been missing since November 26th when he ran away from his parents’ home in San Marcos. Guidry reportedly took his parents’ 1995 Jeep Cherokee without permission. On November 30th, the Jeep was located unoccupied in an extremely remote area of the Anza Borrego Desert.

October 25, 2009 (Vallecito) – Looking for a chilling Halloween adventure? Paranormalist/ historian Charles Spratley will lead visitors on a ghostly tour of the reportedly haunted Vallecito Stage Station and stagecoach route on October 31st, telling true tales of the colorful characters whose ghostly apparitions are rumored to roam the desert landscape along what was known in the 1850s as the Devil’s Highway.

Choose from an evening program with chuckwagon-style dinner, or for the brave at heart, an overnight campout (gear provided), or opt for lodging in Borrego Springs. The Anza-Borrego desert has claimed hundreds of lives--and what the desert spared, the hand of man sometimes took in strife or the murderous pursuit of gold. By campfire, hear tales of spirits said to inhabit the station (including the forlorn Lady in White) and hear stories of their untimely demise.

 
August 4, 2009 (Borrego Springs) -- On Friday, July 31, Borrego Springs was designated by the International Dark-Sky Association (IDA) as only the second official International Dark Sky Community on earth—and the first in California.
 

July 17, 2009 (San Diego’s East County)—Over a thousand letters poured into the office of Assemblyman Joel Anderson in just three days. The letters came from concerned citizens, mostly in the Borrego Springs community, in response to a state budget proposal that would close almost all state parks, including Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, as a cost-saving measure. A poll by East County Magazine found area residents overwhelming opposed to closure of two East County jewels: Anza-Borrego and Rancho Cuyamaca State Park.

 
By Ryan Lescure
 
July 1, 2009 (San Diego)--Faced with the prospect of closing 220 state parks, including two in East County (Anza-Borrego Desert State Park and Cuyamaca Rancho State Park), the California Legislature passed a bundle of tax and fee increases by a simple majority, though a two-thirds majority is required to raise taxes. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has vowed to veto the budget, which did not meet the two-thirds majority due to lack of Republican support for tax increases on tobacco, alcohol and other items proposed by Democrats.

March 19, 2009 (San Diego's East County)--What's up this weekend and next week? Plenty! Flowers are still in bloom in portions of Anza-Borrego Desert State Park. Stop by the visitor center for info on best viewing areas to view wildflowers; also ask for tips on where to spot bighorn sheep, including young lambs. There's lots more coming up in East County, including a vineyards party, an NCAA basketball championship, museum showings, a wind farm tour, dance and tumbling recital, a homebuyers fair, an open house for fire survivors, guided nature walks, a national healthcare presentation, and more.