March 6, 2026 (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 round-up stories include:

LOCAL

• San Diego gas prices surge amid Middle East tensions (Times of San Diego)
• Lithium-ion battery fire at SDSU leaves at least one student injured (Times of San Diego)
• ICE in San Diego is monitoring activists through Operation Road Flare (Daylight San Diego)
• Tijuana businesses reopen, yet residents remain cautious following cartel attacks (San Diego Union-Tribune)
• Joe Musgrove completes another step on path to recovery from 2024 surgery (Times of San Diego)
• CBP’s Request for All San Diego County Parcel Data Raises Questions Among Officials (Newschunks)
• ICE agents deny US Senator, San Diego County supervisors access to Otay Mesa immigrant detention center (KPBS)
• .Federal agents detain immigration court observers in downtown San Diego (KPBS)
• County launches aging dashboard as senior population grows (KPBS)
• He saw an abandoned trailer. Then, he uncovered a surveillance network on California’s border (KPBS)

STATE

• California’s next insurance commissioner will have ‘brutal’ balancing act (Cal Matters)
• 8 dead in Tahoe avalanche; victims include moms of Sugar Bowl youth team skiers (Sacramento Bee)
• Bernie Sanders kicks off billionaires tax campaign with choice words for the ‘oligarchs’ (Politico)
• Billionaires Spielberg, Zuckerberg eyeing East Coast, stirring concerns about California’s wealth-tax proposal (Los Angeles Times)
• Canadian snowbirds are still unhappy with Trump. And Palm Springs is feeling the chill (Los Angeles Times)
• Frustrated families sue the state to stop antisemitism in California schools (EdSource)
• Senators decry surge in deaths at ICE detention facilities, citing poor medical care (Los Angeles Times)
• Part of California’s Highway 1 shut down due to rockslides and debris (San Francisco Chronicle)

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

East County News Service

March 6, 2026 (San Diego) -- SDSU will host its 54th annual pow wow on Saturday, April 11 starting at 11 a.m.

The San Diego State University Pow Wow is a cultural and social event held annually to bring together the Native American community at SDSU. SDSU has the reputation of having one of the longest running pow wows ran by a university in California.

This event is open to the public and is a partnership between the Native Resource Center, the SDSU American Indian Studies Department, the Native American Student Alliance and the American Indian Alumni Chapter of SDSU.

By Miriam Raftery

Photo by Miriam Raftery: Bishop Shaleta in May 2024 at opening of incubator business center for refugees and immigrants in El Cajon

March 5, 2026 (El Cajon) – San Diego County Sheriff’s deputies today arrested Chaldean Bishop Emmanuel Shaleta at the San Diego International Airport, where he was attempting to leave the country. He is charged with eight counts of embezzlement, eight counts of money laundering, and one count of aggravated white collar crime enhancement, according to a news release from the Sheriff’s department.

By Miriam Raftery

March 4, 2026 (Washington D.C.) – Following the U.S. and Israeli military attacks on Iran and Iran’s retaliatory bombings in cities across the Middle East, the U.S. State Department is urging Americans worldwide to be cautious. Americans in the following Mideast nations are urged to depart immediately via commercial means due to “serious safety risks”:  Bahrain, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Israel, the West Bank and Gaza, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen.  

East County News Service

March 4, 2026 (El Cajon) — El Cajon Valley High will roll out the proverbial red carpet on Friday, March 6 for the Grossmont Union High School District's 2026 GUHSD Film Festival.

The annual event will take place this year from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at the El Cajon Valley High School Event Center, a premier stage for the district’s most talented young filmmakers.

The film showcase features original creative works from students enrolled in the Career Technical Education Arts, Media & Entertainment pathway at GUHSD.

More than just a screening, the film festival is a celebration of technical mastery and artistic storytelling of students, and by students in the district -- GUHSD students who have spent months scripting, filming and editing projects that range from narrative short films to complex animation.

East County News Service

March 3, 2026 (Santee) – A motorcyclist suffered serious injury in a collision with a pickup truck yesterday around 1:50 p.m. at North Magnolia Avenue and the onramp to State Routes 67 and 52.

By Anita Lightfoot, County of San Diego Communications Office

March 2, 2026 (San Diego) - For the second consecutive year, San Diego County has reported a decline in sexually transmitted infections (STIs), a trend mirrored across California, according to newly released 2024 data from the California Department of Public Health.  

East County News Service

March 1, 2026 (Borrego Springs) -- The Borrego Art Institute is marking the 20th anniversary of its Annual Plein Air Invitational this month.

Featuring 16 nationally recognized artists and a series of public competitions, the month-long programming will culminate in the "Art for Everyone" spring fundraiser and auction on April 4.

Reviewed by Pennell Paugh

February 28, 2026 (La Mesa) -- Wanjiru Warama, a resident of La Mesa, CA has released a new memoir, The Native Daughter. The author tells stories of her family, the community, and her growing years in Kenya during the mid-1900s.

Station is still streaming online, but restoring broadcast signal requires urgent funding for engineering, equipment, and a possible new site

East County News Service

February 28, 2026 (Descanso) – “The tower where KNSJ rented space since beginning broadcasting on July 4th, 2013, is now a crumpled pile of steel and cabling,” states a press release from KNSJ 89.1 FM radio, which airs the East County Magazine radio show.  “Our volunteers have confirmed that the American Tower Company's tower on Monument Peak at 6,200 ft. elevation collapsed in the February winter storm due to severe ice accumulation and wind.”

By Alexander J. Schorr

Screenshot: President Donald Trump addresses a joint session of Congress at the Capitol during his State of the Union Speech

“It is indeed a turnround for the ages,” President Donald Trump, 2026

February 27, 2026 (Washington, D.C.) — President Donald Trump gave his 2026 State of the Union address on Wednesday, touting the first year of his second term as “a turnaround for the ages.” However, his nearly two-hour speech contained many false and exaggerated depictions, including misleading claims of an economy that has many Americans struggling amid an affordability crisis, a soaring deficit, and tariffs that have sent costs of many goods skyrocketing. The speech also omitted mention of many key issues and glossed over a dubious record on some others.

A memorial of bouquets of flowers, stuffed animals, notes and religious candles for the children who were hit by a car, with one killed, at the site of an October accident on Jackson Drive. The city of San Diego continues to make changes for safety. Photo by Karen Pearlman

By Karen Pearlman

Feb. 27, 2026 (San Carlos) -- The San Diego City Council is paving the way for safer streets in the city, including along heavily traveled Jackson Drive in San Carlos, where speeding vehicles, line of sight issues and pedestrian safety have been a growing concern.

The City Council in mid-March will consider passing a plan that will reduce vehicle traffic speeds along Jackson and in other high-priority areas where safety concerns are the most pressing.

By Alex Welling

February 26, 2026 (El Cajon) -- Last week, the Cajon Valley Union School District Board of Trustees voted to increase its monthly compensation from $630 to $2,000 — the maximum amount permitted under state law for a district of its size. That figure does not include their taxpayer-funded healthcare benefits.