DO YOU OWN THESE DANGEROUS PRODUCTS? RECALLS ON LOG-SPLITTERS,HOME HEATING VENT PIPES, AND TOY BOXES ANNOUNCED
Printer-friendly versionApril 1, 2009 (Washington D.C.) – The Consumer Product Safety Commission has announced recalls on the following items: 1. Brave Products Reannounces Recall of Log Splitters; Additional Incidents Prompt Urgent Warning of Amputation Hazard 2. May 1, 2009 Deadline Approaching for Remedy Change in Recall Program; Consumers Urged to Replace Dangerous Home Heating Vent Pipes 3. Lakeshore Learning Materials Recalls Children’s Toy Boxes Due to Choking Hazard Please scroll down to read press releases with details on each of these three items, as well as how you can report a dangerous product to the CPSC and/or subscribe to receive all recall notices. 1. NEWS from CPSC U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission Office of Information and Public Affairs Washington, DC 20207 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE April 1, 2009 Release #09-174 Firm’s Recall Hotline: (800) 350-8739 CPSC Recall Hotline: (800) 638-2772 CPSC Media Contact: (301) 504-7908 Brave Products Reannounces Recall of Log Splitters; Additional Incidents Prompt Urgent Warning of Amputation Hazard WASHINGTON, D.C. – The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, in cooperation with the firm named below, today announced a voluntary recall of the following consumer product. Consumers should stop using recalled products immediately unless otherwise instructed. Name of Product: Log Splitters Units: About 8,000 units were recalled in July 2007; 4,000 additional units were recalled in February 2005 Manufacturer: Brave Products Inc., of Streator, Ill. Hazard: The log splitter’s hydraulic cylinders can have defective rod retention, causing the seals to leak and the rods to detach. This can result in serious injury to the operator, as the rod can rapidly and unexpectedly extend the splitting wedge. Incidents/Injuries: Brave Products originally received 59 reports of leaking cylinders and/or rod retention failure. One consumer reported a hand amputation that could have been caused by this cylinder defect. There have been 26 additional reports of failure, including units previously thought to be unaffected by the earlier recalls. No new injuries have been reported. Description: The log splitters are made of steel and painted orange and black, or blue and black. They have trailer hitches and rubber tires. Each log splitter has a decal on the side that reads “Brave Products, Inc.” or “Iron & Oak” and “__ ton” (either 15, 22, 26, or 34). The following Brave Products or Iron & Oak models are included in the recall: BRAVE LOG SPLITTER MODELS SERIAL NUMBER 34 ton-Model VH0234 & VH0634: S008277 through S030562 26 ton-Model VH9926 & VH0626: S006836 through S030558 22 ton-Model VH9922 & VH0622: S006691 through S030701 22 ton-Model SSR0622: S020721 through S029688 15 ton-Model HB0115: S013853 through S017534 IRON & OAK LOG SPLITTER MODELS SERIAL NUMBER 34 ton – Model BHVH3402 & BHVH3405: S008724 through S030442 26 ton – Model BHVH2699, BHVH2602 & Duro-Glide: S006847 through S030538 22 ton – Model BHVH2299, BHVH2202 & Duro-Glide: S006735 through S030547 22 ton – Model BHVH2299/BHVH2202FC & Duro-Glide: S013853 through S030537 30 ton – Model BHH3003: S008457 through S030439 30 ton – Model BHH2003: S006746 through S030491 15 ton – Model HBHH0115: S013853 through S017534 Tractor Mount – Model TMVH95/HYD, TMVH02/PTO, & TMVH03/HYD: S006645 through S029584 The serial number is located on the hydraulic tank. Sold at: Ace, True Value, and Do It Best Hardware stores and independent power equipment dealers nationwide from January 2002 through April 2007 for between $900 and $2,000. Manufactured in: United States Remedy: Consumers, including those who contacted the firm after the previously announced recalls, should immediately stop using the recalled log splitters and contact the firm to receive a free replacement cylinder. Consumer Contact: For additional information, contact Brave Products at (800) 350-8739 between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. CT Monday through Friday, or write to: Brave Products Inc., P.O. Box 577, Streator, IL 61364-0577. Consumers also can visit the company’s Web sites at www.logsplitters-ironoak.com (PDF), or www.braveproducts.com (PDF) To see this recall on CPSC’s web site, including pictures of the recalled products, please go to: www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml09/09174.html ********************************************************************* 2. NEWS from CPSC U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission Office of Information and Public Affairs Washington, DC 20207 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE April 1, 2009 Release #09-175 Manufacturers’ Recall Hotline: (800) 758-3688 CPSC Recall Hotline: (800) 638-2772 CPSC Media Contact: (301) 504-7908 **Media & Consumer Alert** May 1, 2009 Deadline Approaching for Remedy Change in Recall Program; Consumers Urged to Replace Dangerous Home Heating Vent Pipes WASHINGTON, D.C. – The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) and various home heating furnace, boiler, and high-temperature plastic vent pipe (HTPV) manufacturers are urging home owners who have not yet responded to the previously-announced 1998 recall, to do so immediately. After May 1, 2009, the remedy consumers receive will change. The recall originally included about 250,000 Plexvent and Ultravent HTPV pipe systems attached to gas or propane mid-efficiency furnaces and boilers in homes. The HTPV pipes can crack or separate at the joints and leak deadly carbon monoxide (CO) gas. After checking the vent pipes, consumers should call (800) 758-3688 between 8 a.m. and 7 p.m. ET Monday through Friday to sign up for HTPV pipe system replacement. To see this recall on CPSC’s web site, including a link to the previous press release, please go to: www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml09/09175.html ********************************************************************* 3. NEWS from CPSC U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission Office of Information and Public Affairs Washington, DC 20207 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE April 1, 2009 Release #09-176 Firm’s Recall Hotline: (800) 421-5354 CPSC Recall Hotline: (800) 638-2772 CPSC Media Contact: (301) 504-7908 Lakeshore Learning Materials Recalls Children’s Toy Boxes Due to Choking Hazard WASHINGTON, D.C. – The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, in cooperation with the firm named below, today announced a voluntary recall of the following consumer product. Consumers should stop using recalled products immediately unless otherwise instructed. Product: What’s Inside? Soft Toy Boxes Units: About 3,600 Manufacturer: Lakeshore Learning Materials, of Carson, Calif. Hazard: The head of the stuffed butterfly toy can detach from the body, posing a choking hazard to children. Incidents/Injuries: Lakeshore has received three reports of the head of the butterfly detaching from the body. No injuries
MEDIA WATCH: DEMISE OF NEWSPAPERS, INCREASED MEDIA CONSOLIDATION THREATEN DEMOCRACY, WARN MEDIA EXPERTS AT LEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS EVENT
Printer-friendly versionBy Miriam Raftery “If we don’t find a way to save investigative journalism, our democracy will not only suffer, it will die." – Jeanne Brown, vice president, San Diego League of Women Voters “The good news is the rise of online, nonprofit journalism organizations like East County Magazine.” – J.W. August, managing editor, Channel 10 News “We believe the Internet has broad ability to improve democracy.” –Jon Bartholomew, associate director of media reform, Common Cause April 1, 2009 (San Diego)—The demise of major newspapers and consolidation of broadcast media threatens the future of a free press and puts the public’s right to know at risk, speakers warned at a League of Women Voters luncheon held in San Diego on March 19th. Jeanne Brown, vice president of the San Diego League of Women Voters, noted that an informed electorate is vital to the LWV’s mission to educate voters. She quoted Thomas Jefferson, who once observed that “whenever the people are well-informed, they can be trusted with our government.” Brown emphasized, “We need the media to inform us.” Until recently, most cities in America had more than one newspaper publishing dissenting views, she observed. But today, media consolidation allowed under federal rule changes, competition from Internet, cable and satellite TV, talk radio and a weak economy have led to a string of major newspaper closures. Others are slashing budgets and cutting back on investigative reporting. Some survivors are looking after advertiser interests at the expense of the public interest, speakers suggested. Speakers voiced concern that sales of San Diego’s only major newspaper to Platinum Equity, a private equity firm, could result in a reduced commitment to journalism or even closure of the newspaper. (A recent article in Voice of San Diego speculated that the buyer may be more interested in acquiring the Union Tribune’s Mission Valley real estate than its newspaper operations) “This takeover of the Union-Tribune has me worried because the company that took it over has no experience in these things,” Joe August, managing director at KGTV Channel 10 News, said, noting that only newspapers have traditionally had the large budgets to fund extended investigative reporting. “I believe in investigative journalism. It’s heart and soul of what I do. But that’s under attack now.” Corporate takeovers of newspapers such as the Union-Tribune can have dire consequences. “When corporations are only interested in the bottom line, they’re going to cut investigative journalism,” he said, adding that reporters are pressured to cover more for less.. “The good news is the rise of online, nonprofit journalism organizations like East County Magazine.” Existing media outlets are facing pressure to post news online quickly amid “a revolution called the Internet,” August observed. To survive, local media outlets need to boost emphasis on local news, he believes, rather than hyping the latest Brittany Spears exploits. “People like intelligent reporting. They don’t like dumb stuff,” he said, citing results of a survey of viewers conducted by Channel 10. “We won’t do any more features on cute ducks.” To help fill that need, Channel 10 plans to launch a beat system where each reporter will have an area of expertise. Jon Bartholomew, associate director of media reform issues for Common Cause flew in from Maine to address the group. It proved to be his last appearance here on behalf of Common Cause, which announced lay-offs including Bartholomew’s position the next day, due to budget cuts.) Bartholomew emphasized the need for investigative reporting to investigate actions of public officials and assure an informed electorate. “The press lets people know when we should be fomenting revolution,” he quipped, noting that it was the press that played a key role in inciting colonists to start the American Revolution. “We believe the Internet has broad ability to improve democracy,” he said. Besides access through traditional media, politicians can utilize the Internet to reach voters and individual citizens can start their own blogs. Bartholomew also foresees a key role for nonprofit online media, and predicted that ultimately nonprofits could be funding investigative journalism through philanthropic sources or donations from the public and selling stories to broadcast media. Two barriers impede access to information on the Internet. One is broadband access. The Obama administration aims to spend $7.2 million for broadband infrastructure to bring high-speed Internet access to rural areas and low-income citizens. The second issue is net neutrality. “Once on the Internet, all users should be able to go to all sites and use them equally,” Bartholomew explained. “But there’s not much to stop a Cox or Verizon from making their sites and services get more access.” For example, a broadband provider that also owns a newspaper might block access to classifieds on Craig’s List. Verizon drew criticism recently for blocking text messages sent by a pro-choice organization to its members. Bi g business has spread myths about Net Neutrality, claiming it would regulate the Internet, the Common Cause spokesman noted. Just as the First Amendment preserves rights to freedom of the press, Net Neutrality would protect Internet users from control of the Internet by powerful special interests. “Groups like Common Cause and the League of Women Voters cannot pay extra to get on a faster service,” Bartholomew said. “The new Federal Communications Commission (FCC) chair is a big net neutrality supporter,” he added. “We hope to see the FCC pass net neutrality rules, but it may need help from Congress.” He favors requiring broadcasters that use the public airways to dedicate more time to local news including local politics. “TV viewers are seven times more likely to see a political ad than actual news about a local politician, "he said." San Diego has followed the national trend of cutting out local voices in favor of national syndicated programming to save money, but that raises serious questions about how quickly the public would be served during an emergency, such as a wildfire. “The more disconnected ownership of media is to the community, the more disastrous the result,” Bartholomew said, adding that
VOTER’S WATCHDOG: ELECTION OFFICIALS ARRESTED FOR RIGGING ELECTRONIC VOTING MACHINES; PLUS DIEBOLD ATM MACHINES FOUND TO CONTAIN SECRET ID-STEALING SOFTWARE
Printer-friendly versionBy Miriam Raftery April 1, 2009 (La Mesa)—The prospect of election-rigging via electronic vote machines is no longer a theory. In Kentucky, election officials have been arrested for reportedly buying and selling votes—and manipulating votes using electronic voting machines without the knowledge of voters. Officials arrested and charged under Racketeering Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) laws normally reserved for organized crime included a circuit court judge, the county clerk, a school superintendent and other members of the Clay County elections board, Brad Friedman reported in an article titled “Kentucky Fried Clickin’” at Bradblog.com. According to the indictment, the officials’ alleged criminal actions affected outcomes of federal, local and state primary and general elections in 2002, 2004 and 2006. Charges include extortion, mail fraud, obstruction of justice, conspiracy to injure voters’ rights and conspiracy to commit voter fraud. The scheme involved both Democrats and Republicans, though a poster claiming to be from Clay County alleged that the Democrats arrested were actually Republicans who re-registered in order to wrest control of precinct leadership positions and influence primary election outcomes. The machines in the Kentucky scam were ES&S touch-screens capable of flipping votes. ES&S machines are not used in San Diego County, which relies on Diebold electronic voting equipment instead. Last month, Voter’s Watchdog reported on how Diebold machines in California have been found to contain a secret “delete” option capable of wiping out large numbers of ballots in a virtually undetectable way. But Diebold’s unreliability isn’t limited to voting equipment. In late March, ITWire revealed that anti-virus provider Sophos has discovered malware coding on Diebold automated teller machines (ATM). The software code creates a skimmer capable of secretly recording ATM card details and personal identification numbers (PIN numbers) without the customer’s knowledge. Sophos concluded that the software was pre-installed at the Diebold factory. “It appears to be an inside job, as it uses undocumented functions of the ATM software and appears to use the printer,” stated an article in ITWire. Similar undocumented functions have repeatedly been found in Diebold voting software. My bank uses Diebold ATM machines. On my next visit, I will be visiting the bank manager and asking them to remove these untrustworthy machines capable of committing identity theft and/or robbing customers of our funds. I suggest that all of you do the same. Printer-friendly version
VOTER’S WATCHDOG: CIA WARNS E-VOTING NOT SECURE; PROOF EMERGES THAT CA’S DIEBOLD VOTING MACHINES DROP VOTES & AUDIT LOGS ALLOW DELETION OF VOTING RECORDS
Printer-friendly versionBy Miriam Raftery March 28, 2009 (San Diego’s East County)—In testimony before the U.S. Election Assistance Commission in Florida, CIA cyber security expert Steven Stigall said that voting equipment connected to the Internet could be hacked and that even machines not connected could be hacked with wireless devices. Stigall warned that foreign governments could potentially alter outcomes of U.S. elections, noting that “wherever the vote becomes an electron and touches a computer, that’s an opportunity for a malicious actor to…make bad things happen.” This testimony was delivered in February, but the full transcript was not made public by the EAC until Voters Unite obtained the document through a Freedom of Information Act Request. This month, proof has emerged that Diebold voting machines dropped countless numbers of votes in California—and the company was forced to admit that all of their voting machines fail to record ballot deletions, Brad Friedman, one of the nation’s most prominent reporters covering election integrity issues, reported at Bradblog.com. Moreover, Diebold audit logs were also found to allow deletion of records with what Friedman describes as a “magical `clear’ button.” The problem was found in Humbolt County, which has since terminated all contracts with Diebold. Diebold voting machines are used in San Diego elections. But to date, San Diego’s Registrar of Voters has turned a blind eye to repeated evidence suggesting the machines were insecure. Also this month, Diebold Inc.’s chief financial officer has stepped down amid a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission investigation into alleged violations of federal securities laws. CFO Kevin Krakora sold a large amount of stock at historically high rates—just before the company announced it was selling off its election equipment division in 2007, a move that led to a rapid plummet in stock prices which have not recovered. The company has also faced a class-action securities fraud lawsuit and other legal woes. So why do San Diego officials continue trusting your votes to Diebold? If you wish to voice your concern to your representative on the County Board of Supervisors, which oversees County election officials, you can find their contact information in the “Sound Off” section of our website. Printer-friendly version
PEARLS – PARALLEL PASSIONS
Printer-friendly version By Charlavan Baker Hart April 1, 2009 (El Cajon)– I spend part of each week and sometimes a portion of each day doing what I call ‘social cancer research’. My team of researchers is large but in my universe it is just me. Chief, cook and bottle washer. I had cancer 9 years ago. An advanced case of breast cancer! It hit me like a ton of bricks because I had not even considered such a thing. I thought cancer happened to people who maybe had abused their bodies, had inherited a tendency, perhaps, or other vague but unproven notions. No, without warning, I had breast cancer. So, I had the mastectomy, had the chemotherapy, and decided on a few other things to get over it. But basically, I was just lucky. I plan a lot on luck. It has always worked for me. In those years, it became very apparent to me that no one else knew much about it either. So I began to study. Then I ‘re-studied’ because the medical field kept changing their views about it also. ENTER the pharmaceutical companies. One more time, we trusted to luck. Some of the treatments worked, others didn’t. I have written a book about breast cancer that is ready to publish and am looking for sponsors (everything costs so much money) to help fund it. Most projects of this type are funded by drug companies and I refused to go there. Some of them work. Some don’t. I don’t know which is which. I have to keep remembering that ‘I am well’. What I think that means is neither the cancer nor the treatments killed me. I was just lucky. I know that is not always the case. So, my mission is just to study, discuss and share the things we DO KNOW. I know the odds. 12% of the women population will have breast cancer sometime in their lifetime if they live to be 80. I know a lot of them won’t make it. I want to know why. All I have to go on is the research I do. And you know me; I am going to have an opinion and am driven to share it. You already know I can’t keep anything to myself. These are things I believe. Everyone at some point in their lives has cancer cells in the body. The immune system fights them off. The immune system can be compromised by a number of things but the most obvious is stress and trauma. The overage of breast cancer compared to other types is because there are constant changes in within the breast. Changes in the cell structure can accelerate the spread of cancer if those cancer cells are in the breast. The changes cause it to spread quickly when the cells divide. That last paragraph is based on my own opinion, my own history and has very little to do with the medical field. It also avoids the drug field. It is simply what I have concluded and I reserve the right to change without warning. We need to keep the body detoxified and stress free to keep the immune system strong. I don’t need to tell you to stop smoking and limit the booze. We need also to change the diet. Too much processed food compromises the system in general. All of this just helps solve the problem before it starts. Now, on to my other passion. I have played poker since I was 21 years old and have played professionally, recreationally and even taught it for a few years. I intend to win the World Series of Poker before I cash in. You may think that those passions are unrelated and in the real world they are. But they both involve a great deal of dedication to the task at hand, knowing the odds and hedging your bets. And LUCK. The odds in breast cancer are one out of eight. That of winning the World Series is much closer to one in a million but I’ll just bet it would be easier to find sponsors for the poker passion than the other one. We’ll see. Just feed the passion. Both of them. Printer-friendly version
LOCAL ARTIST AND AUTHOR CHARLAVAN PUBLISHES BOOK FOR BREAST CANCER SURVIVORS
Printer-friendly versionBy Miriam Raftery April 1, 2009 (El Cajon)—The indomitable spirit of Charlavan Baker Hart shines like a beacon of hope in her new book, Tit Tatts: Life After Breast Cancer. The El Cajon artist has owned four galleries, authored the newspaper column “Pearls”, produced Internet radio programs, worked as an image consultant and reaped rewards as a professional poker player. But she faced life’s biggest gamble when she was diagnosed with cancer. With characteristic artistic aplomb, Charlavan tattooed flowers to conceal the scars left by a modified radical mastectomy. Now she shares her survivor’s wit and wisdom with others. Psychotherapist and designer Anita W. Horowitz observed, “Tit Tatts is an honest and compelling account of how Charlavan dealt with a potentially life threatening and disfiguring illness. Charlavan moves towards health utilizing conventional medicine, alternative medicine, humor and art…Laughter is always good medicine. Although she is very frank about how she struggled with her expectations and accommodations to the disease, she makes the reader feel pride in her feisty resilience.” Dr. Mcihael Halls, Alvarado Institute in San Diego, also offered high praise. “After twenty-five years of practice and thousands of patients, Charlavan has finally written the book I have waited for. Not the medical text with the statistics, options and risks, but the personal side of the breast cancer experience. This is a must read for anyone at any stage of their journey, from disease to wellness.” Below is an excerpt from her book, which is available currently on CDs and soon, in a print version. For more information on the author, visit www.charlavan.com. To order books or get more information on breast cancer, including tips such as skincare advice for cancer survivors, visit www.tittatts.net. Excerpt from Tit Tatts: Life After Breast Cancer Charlavan’s column, Pearls (named for offering pearls of wisdom on what to wear with a black dress), debuts this month in East County Magazine. “It is all designed to let cancer patients see a lighter side of life,” writes the author, who prides herself on her irreverant sense of humor. Printer-friendly version
Excerpt from Tit Tatts: Life After Breast Cancer
Printer-friendly version PRELUDE Little girls can hardly wait to have boobies. When I was about 13 I started to notice a difference in my body. I wasn’t all LITTLE GIRL anymore. By 14 it was pretty evident and at 15, I was verifiably a WOMAN. My goodness, there is a lot of attention paid to those adornments! It may not have been prime time but it was certainly getting there and I was proud of it. Wow. I didn’t have to do ANYTHING, but wait. The day I returned home from the doctors’ office where I learned I had breast cancer, I went to the bedroom and I skinned out of my sweater. I looked into the mirror and saw that 15 year old staring back at me and we both cried. NO!!!! This is not fair. Crying is a necessary step and once you are thru with that, you embark upon the journey of a lifetime. Then you become very religious. If you hadn’t been before, you know what it means now. Everyone does. Then you feel it is not just YOUR problem. You push that up the ladder. So, while God is doing His thing, you start making your plans. “OK. I will have this done. I will do whatever it takes to get over it. They can remove my breast and replace it and then I will get on with my life. There. The parts that I can’t control, I choose to ignore for now.” God’s part had to kick in. I didn’t know enough regarding what was about to happen but I knew I had no choice, so I was up for it. (Ignorance is bliss.) After the ordeal you learn to actually LIVE instead of to just ‘stay busy’ with life. It is empowering to overcome such a horrific thing and be allowed to go on stronger than before. It makes you more alive, more determined to live your life on your own terms. It gives you courage, to try things you never would have tried or accomplished before. You don’t even have to pass “GO” to get your $200. You have ALREADY fought the battle and won. Now you are back in front of the same mirror and after all the cutting and the scarring, things are beautiful again because the scars are just memories and it had a great deal to do with something as shallow and simple as TIT TATTS……………………… The 15 year old me is smiling back. Printer-friendly version
EAST COUNTY ROUND-UP — MARCH PART TWO
Printer-friendly version East County Roundup highlights the best stories about East County issues found in other publications. JAMUL’S PLAN TO BUILD CASINO MAY NOT STAND TEST OF HISTORY San Diego Union-Tribune (March 30, 2009)— OVERVIEW Background: The Jamul Indian Village partnered with Lakes Entertainment to build a casino in East County that faced significant local opposition. What’s changing: A U.S. Supreme Court ruling over tribal land in Rhode Island raises legal questions about Jamul’s casino plan. The future: In addition to any impact the ruling may have, Lakes Entertainment says the project will be delayed at least five years because of financial concerns and a suit over access to the casino site. COUNTY ADOPTS STRATEGY FOR MANAGING BRUSH: Local environmentalists say approach relies too much on controlled burns North County Times (March 25, 2009)–The county on Wednesday adopted a strategy for managing the dry brush that fueled two of the region’s catastrophic wildfires, but environmental regulations and a lack of funding could make it difficult to implement key pieces. The strategy, which emphasizes controlled burns as a way to clear vegetation, was outlined in a staff report that was criticized by local environmentalists as too narrow in its scope. "If you don’t look at the full equation, you may put vegetation treatment where it’s not needed," said Richard Halsey, director of the Chaparral Field Institute in Escondido. "And, in fact, you may actually increase fire hazards by converting some of this shrub land into (more fire-prone) weedy grasslands." THE END OF MOBILE COUNSELING San Diego Reader (March 20, 2009)– Today, March 20, marks the final day of mobile counseling services for residents of the rural East County communities affected by the Harris Fire. The October 2007 wildfire burned 90,440 acres across Dulzura, Potrero, Tecate, and Jamul. In its wake, hundreds of homes were damaged or destroyed, 55 people were injured, and 5 were killed. Numerous recovery efforts were put in place after the fire, including a free door-to-door counseling and community outreach service. For the past four months, the nonprofit San Diego Foundation provided the service, but because the grant money that funded the program has run out, the program must end. HUSH-HUSH ARCHAEOLOGY How scientists and Native Americans pulled off a major dig before the feds triple border fence destroyed everything By Gayle Early San Diego CityBeat (March 17, 2009)–During the past year, archaeologists have been digging like mad to preserve one of the last remaining ancient Indian village sites in coastal Southern California, racing against the claw of the bulldozers and massive grind of the steam rollers to get the work done before the federal government erases in one year what had managed to survive for millennia. And they did it in almost complete secrecy. By April 2008, then-Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff had waived 36 environmental and cultural laws that could otherwise block completion of a triple border fence. Congress granted him this authority in 2005, with the passage of the so-called REAL ID Act. That amounted to an end run around the National Environmental Policy Act, Native American Graves and Repatriation Act, Indian Religious Freedom Act, National Historic Preservation Act, Archaeological Resources Protection Act and so on, down to the Clean Water Act and Endangered Species Act—laws protecting communities, farms, forests, watersheds, wildlife, antiquities, habitats, migration corridors and cultural resources. ROAD 3A AND 3,000 HOME DEVELOPMENT IS NOT DEAD Maps from 1960s onward show no such road Valley Roadrunner (March 11, 2009)–It’s nowhere near Halloween nor yet April 1. So the County isn’t fooling when it says that the proposed Road 3A, lovingly referred to locally as the Hornsville Road, is rising from the dead. In fact, they say it never died—although if that is true, the County is apparently disregarding a directive passed by the Board of Supervisors last July. The Valley Center Planning Group thought that it had killed the road, which, if built, could lead to a 3,000 home development near the corner of Old Hwy 395 & I-15. But when the subject came up at the March 9 planning group meeting, the County’s representative made it clear that 3A is still part of the proposed General Plan Update (GPU) map. CITY MANDATES 45% OUTDOOR WATER CUTS Andrew Donahue at Voice Of San Diego posted this on his blog this week: I just got off the phone with reporter Rob Davis, who called in from Mayor Jerry Sanders’ press conference to provide details of the city’s long-awaited mandatory water cut plan . Here are the details: The city is going to call for a 45 percent reduction in outdoor water use from all of its customers and a 5 percent reduction in interior use from single- and multi-family residential users. It will also call for a 3 percent reduction for businesses indoors. The cuts are mandatory and will begin July. Printer-friendly version
YOU’RE INVITED! JOIN US AT “ON THE ROAD WITH THE EAST COUNTY EATER” APRIL 20 AT THE VINE WINE BAR & BISTRO IN ALPINE
Printer-friendly versionApril 7, 2009 (Alpine)—East County Magazine invites our readers to join us in a festive culinary experience—and the unmasking of our very own East County Eater restaurant reviewer. For the occasion, we’ve chosen one of our favorite spots: the Vine Wine Bar & Bistro in Alpine. The place is a cozy mountain retreat complete with lodge-like stone fireplace and a tree growing straight through the roof! Blues guitarist Paul Nichols has generously donated his services to entertain us—so we can offer you live music, wine tasting, a delicious array of food and a chance to win some great prizes—all for just $25! Help us make our first fundraiser a success-and support independent community journalism. Please reserve early—the more early-bird RSVPs, the more fun and surprises we can plan! Read the “Eater” review of Vine Wine Bar & Bistro: http://www.eastcountymagazine.org/?q=node/819 Listen to Paul Nichols’ music, visit: http://www.myspace.com/paulnicholsmusic. Download the flyer here. Then make your reservation to join in the fun—all for a good cause! E-mail leon@eastcountymagazine.org for reservations to our April 20th event. Questions? Call (619-316-0657 or (619)698-7617. Early-birds get a discounted rate of $25. After the 16th, the price goes up to $30—if seats are still available. Make checks payable to our publisher, the Heartland Coalition-ECM, and send to the attention of Miriam Raftery, East County Magazine, 4438 Hideaway Place, La Mesa, CA 91941. We’ve had 1.2 million hits to our website in our first 6 months—and we’re growing like wildfire. Now we need funds to cover our rapid growth and expand to continue bringing you the most in-depth coverage of East County events possible. In an era when newspapers are going out of business and cutting back, the future of journalism is in online media. More Americans today get news online than from newspapers—and 60% of people under 30 get the majority of news on the Internet! Plus as a nonprofit media outlet, East County Magazine is not beholden to corporate interests, so we bring you truthful reporting—plus the best events and restaurants East County has to offer. We’re hoping to make “On the Road With the East County Eater” a monthly event, each sharing a great restaurant with our readers. So help us make this a succeses! RSVP now to join in our merry-making and please, tell your friends! Miriam Raftery, Editor Printer-friendly version