September 9, 2011 (San Diego’s East County)—Due to the power outage, this week’s World Watch has headlines only, no excerpts. Click links to view full stories.

 U.S.

• Possible Al Qaeda plot against DC, NYC investigated
http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/specific-unconfirmed-terror-threat-received-against-new-york-or-washington/2011/09/08/gIQAcD3KDK_story.html?hpid=z2  

• Texas cut fire department funding 75% this year
http://www.rawstory.com/rawreplay/2011/09/texas-cut-fire-department-funding-by-75-percent-this-year/  

• Texas fires kill destroy more than 1,000 homes
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/sep/07/texas-fires-homes-destroyed-bastrop  

• Obama lays out $447 billion plan to boost economy
http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/2011/09/08/gIQAk3ELDK_story.html?hpid=z1  

• Fact-checking the Reagan debate
The Republican presidential candidates stray from the facts at the Reagan Library
http://factcheck.org/2011/09/factchecking-the-reagan-debate/  

• Fact-checking the GOP debate at the Reagan Library
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/fact-checker/post/fact-checking-the-gop-debate-at-the-reagan-library/2011/09/07/gIQAFrz5AK_blog.html?hpid=z1  

• What you missed by not watching last night’s Reagan Library debate
http://swampland.time.com/2011/09/08/what-you-missed-while-not-watching-last-nights-reagan-library-gop-debate/  

• Need a new liver? Just print one yourself
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ibtXFG2c42A
http://english.ntdtv.com/ntdtv_en/news_asia/2011-09-01/need-a-new-liver-then-just-print-yourself-one.html  

• First Circuit Court of Appeals Rules that Citizens Can Videotape Police
http://www.dailytech.com/First+Circuit+Court+of+Appeals+Rules+that+Citizens+Can+Videotape+Police/article22587.htm  
WORLD

• Libyan leaders vow respect for law http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-14758905

• Pakistan Army says it has Al Qaeda's global operations chief in custody

By the East County Eater

Vinz Wine Bar
201 East Grand Ave. 

Escondido, CA         

(760) 743-8466
http://vinzwinebar.net/ 

September 7, 2011 (Escondido) – Situated in the heart of downtown Escondido, the Vinz Wine Bar is an ideal place to savor a quiet lunch, "happier hour", or dinner and—coming soon—night life complete with a new piano bar. The European-style eatery specializes in “small plate” offerings, such as an array of “wine bites” that are both delectable and affordable.
 

“Wine is the first thing, closest to my heart,” says owner Vinnie Griffin. “We have 40 to 50 wines by the glass.” There are also port wines, draft and bottled beers available—with cocktails to be served up next, since the establishment just got a full liquor license approved. Watch for a piano bar to open up in an adjacent space in the next 30 days.

September 8, 2011 (In-ko-pah) – I-8 westbound has been ordered to shut down due to a five-acre brush fire burning in light, flashy fuels half a mile from In-ko-pah along I-8.  In-ko-pah is located east of Jacumba near the San Diego County-Imperial County line.

For information about resources available to assist those in crisis, or those who care about them, please see the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) website at www.namisandiego.org or call NAMI San Diego at 1-800-523-5933. The County Crisis Hotline is also available 24 hours to provide help to individuals in need at 1-800-479-3339 or after Feb 14, 2012 the new number will be

(888) 724-7240.

September 8, 2011 (Spring Valley) – 2:50 p.m. – A residential structure fire that started in a split level home at Grand and Eucalyptus has spread into adjacent brush, Heartland Fire Dispatch has just confirmed. Wildland fire air support is en route. Mutual aide firefighting units from Santee and La Mesa have also been called to the scene.

September 8, 2011 (Rancho Bernardo) – A brush fire that started at West Bernardo Drive on the west side of I-15 scorched approximately three acres this afternoon, briefly slowing traffic. The fire is now out; cause is under investigation.

By Miriam Raftery

September 8, 2011 (San Diego) – The San Diego Medical Examiner’s office has identified the man who died at Mission Trails yesterday morning as Jeffrey Andrew Martin, 33. Martin, who was single, resided in San Diego. Cause of death has not yet been determined, pending autopsy.

September 7, 2011 (La Mesa) –Today the Helix Water District Board of Directors voted 5-0 to suspend the El Monte Valley Mining, Reclamation, and Groundwater Recharge Project in Lakeside.

“The El Monte Valley Project halt is primarily due to a delay in the availability of advanced treated recycled water and increased project cost,” said Helix General Manager Mark Weston in a statement issued to media.

September 8, 2011 (Spring Valley)--Fleet & Family Support Center in partnership with Housing Opportunities Collaborative, and the San Diego County Library will hold a FREE Home Clinic for active duty military, reservists and retirees. The home clinic will be held on Saturday, September 10 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the recreation center behind the Spring Valley Library, 836 Kempton Street in Spring Valley.
 
Members of the military and their families face unique financial challenges but also have a variety of financial options available to them.  HUD Approved housing counselors will be on hand to provide members of the military and the general public all possible options in their home ownership situation.

Nothing but the truth!

September 8, 2011 (San Diego) -- Texas Governor Rick Perry denies there is such a thing as Global Warming, but this week the Governor had to quit the campaign trail to address a huge wildfire that burned 1,000 homes to the ground.  Texas has been in a tremendous drought for several years, decimating the cattle industry and leaving most of Texas smoldering.

September 8, 2011 (Spring Valley)--Members of the military and their families face unique financial challenges, but also have a variety of financial options available to them whether they are buying a home, renting, refinancing, or fighting to avoid foreclosure.

Fleet & Family Support Center in partnership with Housing Opportunities Collaborative, and the San Diego County Library will hold a FREE Home Clinic for active duty military, reservists and retirees. The clinic will be held Saturday, September 10 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the recreation center behind Spring Valley Library, 836 Kempton Street in Spring Valley.

Resources are available to help if you or a loved one is in crisis

September 7, 2011 (San Diego) -- Recent local tragedies, including murder suicides in San Diego and East County, highlight the importance of seeking help for yourself or a family member during times of emotional crisis. Suicide prevention is everyone’s business--and anyone can participate in National Suicide Prevention Week, September 4-10, 2011.

The San Diego Police Department, which recently lost one of its own officers in a murder-suicide tragedy, invites everyone to “Call Before Crisis” and realize that suicide is a preventable health problem.

September 7, 2011 (San Diego)--Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. joined San Diego business leaders at Gen-Probe, Inc. yesterday to urge the state Legislature to pass his California Jobs First plan, which offers over $1 billion a year in tax relief for businesses that create jobs in the state.

“My plan eliminates a toxic tax loophole that undermines job growth in California and gives manufacturers and small businesses incentives to invest and hire in California,” Brown said. “It’s time to set aside partisan differences and come together to put Californians to work.”

September 7, 2011 (East County) – A new foundation that will strengthen fundraising for East County’s two community colleges has been established to better connect with alumni and broaden the sources of money coming in to support the schools.

Rural Video Interviewing Program Garners National Award

New hours of operation also announced

September 7. 2011) -- There are three new opportunities for people to volunteer to help the environment in September, all through the San Diego River Park Foundation.

September 7, 2011 (San Diego) –A man found dead this morning in Mission Trails Regional Park had “small puncture wounds on his lower extremities” that “may have been snake-related,” Lt. Andra Brown with the San Diego Police has informed East County Magazine. An autopsy is pending to determine cause of death.

Meanwhile, authorities are seeking the identity of the man, who carried no identification. According to Lt. Brown, the victim was a white male around 30 years old. He was wearing clothes and shoes consistent with a runner or jogger.

By Miriam Raftery

September 7, 2011 (San Diego) Updated 12:00 p.m. – The body of a “young man” has been found along  a popular trail at Mission Trails Regional Park, a park employee has informed East County Magazine.

The body was found in a brush-covered area about a half mile north of the Visitor's Center, down the slope from the road known as Father Junipero Serra Trail. 

"They found the body nine feet off the trail; the trail is actually a road,"  Rory Johnson of Santee, who was rock-climbing in the area with a partner early this morning, told ECM in an interview.  "My climbing partner heard coyotes howling, he said they were just going crazy, more so than usual."

By Miriam Raftery

September 7, 2011 (San Diego) — A load of hot sauce hauled by a Mexican trucker had a secret ingredient: more than a ton of marijuana, with a street value of $1.4 million.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers at the Otay Mesa cargo facility disiscovered the marijuana hidden in boxes of hot sauce on Friday.

"I left my job to run for Congress - to fight for you - the working men and women who are the true heart and soul of America. Like you, I have known what it is to stand in the unemployment line. I've been without health insurance...Like you, I will not give up. I will not be invisible...All of us, employed and unemployed must make our voices heard, because we have become the new "Silent Majority."

- David Secor, who aims to run against Congressman Duncan Hunter and represent East County

Reprinted with permission from OB Rag; Secor comments added by ECM

September 6, 2011 (San Diego)--Under gray skies, over 350 people gathered along Broadway yesterday in downtown San Diego at a Labor Day “Rally for the Jobless.” Organized by MoveOn and Rebuild the American Dream, the noon event was designed to gather unemployed San Diegans and put pressure on the White House and Congress for jobs.

“When the flag came down dozens of people volunteered to help catch and fold it. Some were moved to tears.” – Leonard Villareal, San Miguel Fire Department

September 7, 2011 (Rancho San Diego)--On September 11, 2011 the 30 x 56 foot Patriot Flag will fly in New York as a tribute to the Armed Forces, first responders, second responders, families of the 9/11 victims and those who lost their lives in the worst terrorist attack ever on U.S. soil ten years ago.

Yesterday, the 75-pound flag flew over Rancho San Diego, ending a 223,000 mile trek across the United States. The Patriot Flag flew in 50 states in 50 weeks, and was displayed 225 times.

September 6, 2011 (Spring Valley)—Two fires briefly threatened homes this evening in Spring Valley. A careless cigarette has been blamed for one blaze, while the other appears to be natural in cause, according to Leonard Villareal, spokesman for the San Miguel Fire District.

September 6, 2011 (Rancho Penasquitos) San Diego Police Department Sex Crimes detectives are investigating a sexual assault on two teen girls at knifepoint in a Rancho Penasquitos park on Saturday night, September 3. The suspects, both Hispanic men, remain at large.

September 6, 2011 (Rancho San Diego)-- As a first-generation college graduate, Mark Zacovic, Cuyamaca College’s new president, understands well the challenges facing students. As a finisher of several marathons, he also knows the value of tenacity and goal-setting.

September 6, 2011 (San Diego) – Nile Sisters, a City Heights-based nonprofit organization specializing n helping African refugee women and their families, invites the public to the 2011 Nile Sisters Banquet. The event celebrates the organization’s ten year anniversary of serving African women in San Diego. The banquet will be held on Saturday, September 17 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at 7715 Draper Avenue. Tickets cost $25.

September 6, 2011 (San Diego) – On Saturday, September 24, many museums across America will offer free admission. It’s all part of the Smithsonian Institute’s annual “Museum Day.”

To participate, you must print out tickets from the Smithsonian’s website at http://www.smithsonianmag.com/museumday/Museum-Day-Faqs.html. At least 10 museums in San Diego County are participating, including three in East County and San Diego's inland region (Barona Museum and Cultural Center in Lakeside, Creation and Earth History Museum in Santee, and the San Diego Archaeological Center in Escondido.

By Miriam Raftery

September 5, 2011 (Washington D.C.) – The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), conservator for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, filed lawsuits September 2 against 17 financial institutions as well as key officers.  The suits seek damages and civil penalties, also alleging fraud. The lawsuits allege that companies violated federal securities laws and common law in the sale of residential private-label mortgage-backed securities (PLS) to the Enterprises.