By Miriam Raftery

December 4, 2021 (La Mesa) – This holiday season, why not spread some cheer by shopping local to find some unique gifts right here in East County? 

If you haven’t ventured out lately, you may not realize that many new stores have opened amid the pandemic in 2020 and 2021. 

In this series, we’ll be focusing on new retail outlets perfect for your gift-giving needs – starting with La Mesa’s downtown village.

August 9, 2021 (San Diego) -- East County Roundup highlights top stories of interest to East County and San Diego's inland regions, published in other media.  This week's round-up stories include:

LOCAL

• San Diego parent group sues state to end school mask mandate (San Diego Unon-Tribune)
• San Diego County substitute teacher, Boy Scout leader arrested on child pornography charges (10 News)
• Navy Charges Sailor With Starting USS Bonhomme Richard Fire (Patch.com)
• San Diego County to employees: Get the COVID-19 vaccine or get tested regularly (San Diego Union-Tribune)
• After Caltrans takes down 100 American flags, Lakeside residents put them back up (10 News)

STATE

• California says federal ‘let it burn’ policy is reckless as wildfires rage out of control (Los Angeles Times)
• Thousands of California residents are ordered to evacuate as the Dixie Fire nears 500,000 acres (CNN)
• Map: Dixie Fire perimeter and evacuation (San Jose Mercury News)
• California's PG&E to bury 10,000 miles of power lines to prevent wildfires (Reuters)
• California orders vaccine or testing for health care workers, state employees (Cal Matters)
• Newsom’s biggest recall danger: Complacent Democrats who don’t turn out to vote (Los Angeles Times)
• Half of California community college students lack money for food. New funding aims to help  (Sacramento Bee)

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

July 10, 2021 (San Diego) -- East County Roundup highlights top stories of interest to East County and San Diego's inland regions, published in other media.  This week's round-up stories include:

LOCAL

• County Nixed Spending $1.5 million for Fire Retrofits in Backcountry (iNewsSource)
• Number of Delta variants in San Diego County more than doubles in a week (San Diego Union-Tribune)
• Search on for trio who broke into popular San Diego restaurant DZ Akins (10 News)
•  State auditor to investigate deaths in San Diego County jails (San Diego Union-Tribune)
• La Mesa’s new police chief didn’t let tough childhood drag him down (San Diego Union-Tribune)
• U.C. San Diego forced to cut out of state admissions (KPBS)

STATE

• Delta variant now California’s dominant coronavirus strain (Los Angeles Times)
• Gov. Newsom files lawsuit against his secretary of state over recall filing 'mistake' (KCRA)
• Gavin Newsom recall election date officially set: California voters to cast ballots in September
• FEMA Rejected 95% Of Aid Applicants During California's Last Wildfire Disaster. Why? (NPR)

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

June 15, 2021 (San Diego) -- East County Roundup highlights top stories of interest to East County and San Diego's inland regions, published in other media.  This week's round-up stories include:

LOCAL

• San Diego County reaches key benchmark: herd immunity (San Diego Union-Tribune)
• Publisher’s cancer battle endangers future of Julian’s newspaper (San Diego Union-Tribune)
• El Cajon-based Taylor Guitars hit new highs and lows during pandemic (10 News)
• Scripps Health Notifying 147,000 Whose Data Possibly Compromised in Cyber Attack (Times of San Diego)
• Number of ‘ghost guns’ seized by San Diego police on pace to double last year’s take (San Diego Union-Tribune)
• 2 SDPD officers among three people killed in wrong-way crash on I-5 in San Ysidro (San Diego Union-Tribune)

STATE

• Ticks on a ‘quest’ for blood at California’s beaches. Is Lyme disease a rising risk?(Los Angeles Times)
• Gov. Newsom: A vaccination verification system is coming ‘very shortly’ (San Diego Union-Tribune)
• Biden restores $929 million for California high-speed rail withheld by Trump (Reuters)
• Been vaccinated? California wants to give you a dream vacation (Los Angeles Times)
• Disneyland increases attendance capacity, drops masks and physical distancing as pandemic rules end (Los Angeles Daily News)
• The Central California town that keeps sinking (HCN)

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

By Miriam Raftery

November 19, 2020 (San Diego’s East County) – This holiday shopping season amid a pandemic, we’ve scoured the shops and online stores across San Diego’s East County to find our recommendations for gift items unique to our region.  Our picks include many artisan and locally hand-crafted treasures, farm-fresh humanely raised foods, delicious sweet treats, warm and stylish wearables, and gifts that benefit local nonprofits including a wildlife sanctuary. This year, we’ve chosen many places offering online ordering  as well as locations allowing ample social distancing.

September 18, 2020 (San Diego) -- East County Roundup highlights top stories of interest to East County and San Diego's inland regions, published in other media.  This week's round-up stories include: 

LOCAL

• Former SD Sheriff's Captain Pleads Guilty to Trafficking ‘Off-Roster' Firearms (NBC San Diego)
• In Jamul, two hemp farms lost in Valley Fire (San Diego Union-Tribune)
• Your say: How is virtual learning going so far? (San Diego Union Tribune)
• Blue Lives Matter Is the Wildfire Cavalry No One Asked For (Daily Beast)
• Federal Jail Downtown Now Has One of the Country's Worst COVID Outbreaks (Voice of San Diego)

STATE

• California eviction moratorium is ‘a real nightmare’ for renters to understand — here’s what you need to know (Marketwatch)
• Fast-moving Snow fire, sparked by burning car, prompts evacuations near Palm Springs (Los Angeles Times)
• In California, Trump continues to deny climate change is real: “It will start getting cooler” (Los Angeles Times)
• Another California firestorm where warnings did not prevent mass deaths (Los Angeles Times)

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

May 27, 2020 (San Diego) -- East County Roundup highlights top stories of interest to East County and San Diego's inland regions, published in other media.  This week's round-up stories include: 

LOCAL

• San Diego County Supervisors approve coronavirus stimulus package (Patch)
• Homeless Residents Around the County Confront Lack of Shelter, Resources (Voice of San Diego)
• San Diego County revives human relations commission in wake of racist incidents in Santee (San Diego Union-Tribune)
• Lemon Grove Could Be Running on Fumes Within Two Years (Voice of San Diego)
• Choir Featuring Members of San Diego’s Homeless Community Shines on ‘America’s Got Talent’ (NBC 7)
• Anthony’s Fish Grotto Reverses Closure Due to Customer Support (La Mesa)
• San Diego Courts Grapple With Issues Over Resuming Jury Trials in COVID-19 Era (City News Service)
• Protests persist as distress deepens over economic crisis (San Diego Union-Tribune)

STATE

• Several CA retailers closing due to coronavirus (Patch)
• California records second-deadliest single day ever; more than 2,000 new cases (San Jose Mercury News)
• California cracks down on rogue bars (CalMatters)
• Gym, motorcycle dealer, hair salon among 60 businesses charged with violating stay-at-home rules  (Los Angeles Times)
• California recommends testing all residents and staff at nursing homes (San Francisco Chronicle)
• Newsom greenlights testing for coronavirus at California pharmacies (San Francisco Chronicle)
• State Sen. Hueso introduces bill to address California’s digital divide (San Diego Union-Tribune)

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

December 2019

‘Twas the night before Christmas and all across East County

Not a creature was stirring, from Borrego to El Monte.

Cowboy boots were hung by chimneys with care

In hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there.

From Barona to Ramona, Jacumba to Jamul

East County residents celebrating the Yule

Have taken time from gift wraps and home-cooked dishes

To send Santa their heartfelt holiday wishes.

August 8, 2019 (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

• East County woman loses hundreds in pet scam (10 News)
• Lemon Grove residents working on sales tax measure for city  (San Diego Union-Tribune)
• As San Diego increases use of streetlight cameras, ACLU raises surveillance concerns (Los Angeles Times)
• Navy sailor acquitted in deadly East County love triangle trial (Patch)
• Can new homes on the edge of San Diego stop wildfires? (Desert Sun)
• Video: Female duo raids La Mesa house as owner watches on doorbell cam (10 News)
• San Diego Explained: An Earthquake Could Impact San Diego's Water Supply (Voice of San Diego)  
• 3 hurt, 2 killed in Leucadia cliff collapse: Sheriff (NBC 7)

STATE

• States sue Trump administration over fuel economy penalties (Associated Press)
• Calif.’s new law requiring candidates’ tax returns appears unconstitutional — or does it?  (San Francisco Chronicle)
• What is a ‘California Indian tribe’? How a proposed law unearthed a decades-old wound (Sacramento Bee)

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

By Miriam Raftery

Photos (top left to bottom right):  Steve Vaus, Joel Anderson, Tom Lemmon, and Kenya Taylor

Update:  Lemmon has opted not to run.

May 30, 2019 (San Diego’s East County) – Stepping down due to term limits in 2020 after 28 years, San Diego County Supervisor Dianne Jacob leaves some big shoes to fill.  Four candidates, two Republicans and two Democrats, have thus far announced plans to run for the 2^nd Supervisorial district, which covers 2,000 square miles encompassing the eastern two-thirds of the county.

The contenders for the ostensibly nonpartisan race are Poway Mayor Steve Vaus and former State Senator Joel Anderson, both Republicans. Democrats Tom Lemmon, a labor leader who heads up the San Diego Building and Construction Trades Council, and Kenya Taylor, a mental health counselor and NAACP board member, are also in the running.

Below are highlights of their backgrounds and goals if elected, as well as analysis of the challenges each may need to overcome to win the race.

Hear audio version

By Miriam Raftery

‘Twas the night before Christmas, and all across East County

Not a creature was stirring, from Julian to El Monte.

The stockings were hung by the chimneys with care

In hopes that St. Nicholas soon will be there.

By Miriam Raftery, Editor

December 20, 2018 (San Diego’s East County) – It’s been a turbulent year across East County.  Some of our top stories were purely local issues – a fire that ravaged Alpine, battles to stop sand mines in Lakeside and Rancho San Diego, debate over the future of Julian’s fire department, the controversies embroiling El Cajon Councilman Ben Kalasho, the indictment of Congressman Duncan Hunter, growing pains in Santee, and protests over a proposed parole office in La Mesa, to name a few. 

Other top stories reflect local impacts of national  and statewide actions, such as  impacts of marijuana legalization, concerns over a child migrant detention center in El Cajon, protests over gun violence in schools, the e-scooter craze, homelessness, and new faces swept into office during the election.

Here are the issues and events with the biggest impacts across East County that East County Magazine has covered in 2018, from January 1st through year's end.

By Buck Shott

Hot on the campaign trail in East County, we’ve got the latest claims, controversies, mud slinging and... singing!

Here’s our rundown of the juiciest campaign tidbits as Election Day draws near:

August 2, 2018 (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

• What Happens if Lemon Grove Sours on Cityhood? (Voice of San Diego)
• Local activist sues El Cajon City Councilman Ben Kalasho, claims he's blocking critics on Facebook (San Diego Union-Tribune)
• Audit Reveals Tough Decisions Coming at SANDAG  (Voice of San Diego)
• Searing temperatures claim seven lives, send hundreds to Mexicali shelters (San Diego Union-Tribune)
• Study: county pension benefits soar (San Diego Reader)
• Supervisors approve hundreds of new homes in north San Diego County (KPBS)

STATE

• Northern Calif. wildfire claims sixth victim (The Hill)
• State regulators approve San Onofre nuclear settlement, trimming $750M from original deal (San Diego Union-Tribune)
• CPUC wipes away Peevey/Edison collusion, criminal investigation (SD Reader/Don Bauder)
• California farmers and Mexican cheese sales, U.S. trade war takes a toll (Reuters)
• She desperately put a wet blanket over her great grandchildren as their home burned. All three died. (San Diego Union-Tribune)
• Yosemite fire: Flames threaten park’s giant Sequoia trees (San Jose Mercury News)
• 40 California Hospital Employees Lost Their Homes In A Wildfire. They Showed Up To Work Anyway. (BuzzFeed News)
• CA State Parks Revises Reservation Rules After Complaints From Campers (NBC 7)
• PG&E spends more than $1 million to lobby California officials on wildfire laws (Sacramento Bee)

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