East County News Service

March 30, 2026 (El Cajon ) -- The El Cajon City Council last week unanimously upheld a decision by the city's Planning Commission to deny the Afghan Community Culture Center a permit extension for its temporary prayer tent on East Main Street between Walter Way and East Madison Avenue.

The ruling ended an ongoing dispute between the city’s safety regulations and the center, which provides services to a community of more than 3,000 people who look to the ACCC as a spiritual, educational and social home, according to ACCC Board President Bakhtar Aminzay. 

"We have to follow the state law, which has to do with public safety issues," said El Cajon City Councilmember Gary Kendrick.

The ACCC since last November has owned a building at 1342 E. Main St., but structural damage on the inside by previous tenants have made the building uninhabitable as well as not being up to code, Kendrick said.

By Miriam Raftery

October 11, 2025 (San Diego) --  Governor Gavin Newsom has signed Senate Bill 518, authored by Senator Akilah Weber Pierson, M.D. (D-San Diego), the first law in the to move beyond study to create a commitment toward advancing reparative justice for descendants of slaves and building lasting systems of equity for Black Californians. The measure was coauthored by local Assemblymember LaShae Sharp Collins.