FLASH FLOOD UPDATE FOR SAN DIEGO COUNTY TUESDAY NIGHT
YOUTH BASKETBALL CAMP OFFERED AT GROSSMONT COLLEGE, AUGUST 6-9
July 31, 2012 (El Cajon) — The Grossmont College Athletics Dept. and Grossmont College men’s basketball coach Doug Weber are inviting all boys and girls entering the 3rd through 9th grades to Grossmont College’s annual youth summer basketball camp, from 8 a.m. to noon, Monday through Thursday, Aug. 6-9. The camp will feature instruction on fundamental skills, group and individual contests and three-on-three tournaments, along with life lessons about sportsmanship, communication and goal setting. Cost is $75 per camper, which includes t-shirt, contest prizes and giveaways. Since arriving at Grossmont College from Salt Lake Community College in 1998, Weber has won a Pacific Coast Conference title and Coach of the Year honors. He has been coaching at the college level for 25 years. During the past 12 years, more than 40 of his athletes have transferred to four-year universities. For more information, visit www.grossmont.edu/athletics, e-mail to doug.weber@gcccd.edu, or phone (619) 644-7878. Grossmont College is located at 8800 Grossmont College Dr., in El Cajon. For driving directions and a campus map, visit www.grossmont.edu.
EL CAJON HOSTS ANOTHER CENTENNIAL COMMUNITY MEETING AUGUST 6
July 31, 2012 (El Cajon )–The excitement grows for El Cajon’s big Centennial celebration on November 12. Another Community Centennial planning meeting will be held on Monday, August 6, 5:30 p.m. at the Ronald Reagan Community Center, located at 195 E. Douglas Avenue in El Cajon. City staff will again be sharing the latest in Centennial plans. Mark your calendars – the City of El Cajon’s 100th Birthday celebration is being held Monday, November 12, from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Fun activities, historic displays, kids’ crafts, entertainment, and a marketplace are all planned. To register to receive updates, to be a volunteer, for supporting sponsorship information, to share your memories and/or photos of growing up in El Cajon, or if know of someone turning the age of 100 during 2012, go to www.elcajon100.com. Help make this the biggest event of the century!
COUNTY SELECTED TO HELP LAUNCH NEW NATIONAL HEALTH APP
$100,000 Prize in U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Contest July 31, 2012 (San Diego) — Want to help save lives? Can you create an app? The County of San Diego has been selected as one of four communities nationwide to help launch a mobile app development challenge to help prevent a million heart attacks and strokes as part of the Million Hearts initiative. The County is gaining a reputation as a leader in health innovation with the county’s Live Well, San Diego! 10-year plan to build a healthy, safe and thriving community. “San Diego County has been leading the way in making sure our residents have access to information and opportunities to improve their personal health,” said Chairman Ron Roberts, San Diego County Board of Supervisors. “It’s exciting that once the new mobile app is created, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has chosen San Diego to be a launching point for this important national education campaign.” The Million Hearts Risk Challenge invites developers to create a mobile app that will help people take a heart health risk assessment, find places to check their blood pressure and cholesterol and use the results to improve their heart health. The app is part of a public-private effort led by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services that aims to prevent a million heart attacks and strokes through clinical and community prevention. “Controlling blood pressure and managing cholesterol are essential to reducing the risk for heart disease and stroke,” said Nick Macchione, director, San Diego County Health and Human Services Agency. “The Million Heart initiative aligns with our local Live Well, San Diego! efforts to reduce healthcare costs and improve the health of our region.” The winning app developer will receive $100,000 and up to five finalists will each receive $5,000. The challenge begins today, July 27, and the winners will be announced in December. More information about the challenge is available at www.challenge.gov/ONC/398-the-million-hearts-risk-check-challenge. “This new challenge and the supporting consumer education campaign are examples of how new consumer health information technology, using information, data and electronic tools that many health care systems and physicians are already using, can help individuals better manage their health and working closely with their care providers,” said Farzad Mostashari, M.D., Sc.M., national coordinator for health information technology.
ASPIRE CENTER STORY SHOULD INSPIRE – AND CAUTION
By Rick Rogers Host of Front & Center: Military Talk Radio July 31, 2012 (San Diego)–The big news recently for San Diego County veterans was both expected and relieving. The Aspire Center, the Department of Veterans Affairs’ proposed 40-bed medical facility in Old Town, finally won approval. Local veterans suffering mental and emotional wounds after their service will finally have a place of their own to recuperate under the best care available. That San Diego County, home to the most Afghanistan and Iraq war vets in the country, waited a decade for such a center is a real puzzler. But at least there’s one on the way. On Tuesday the San Diego City Council unanimously approved the conditional use permit allowing the $30 million Aspire Center to move forward. Had countervailing forces succeeded, the San Diego VA Healthcare System would’ve lost crucial VA funding and the Aspire Center would’ve been setback at least 18 months. The decision did not surprise. The San Diego City Council had signaled its intention to approve the center last month at a standing-room-only meeting packed with Aspire Center backers. Elected council members had little choice but to vote for the much-needed project. To do otherwise would’ve risked political doom in such a pro-military town on such a hot topic. To the Council I offer a polite golf clap. But the standing ovation goes to the veterans and their advocates who showed what’s possible when people rally behind an important issue and stand toe to toe with a bully and tell him where to go. Once the substantial forces of the San Diego County veteran community were fully engaged – and enraged – it was no contest. That’s what Old Town Academy Charter School officials found while stopping at little in attempts to derail the Aspire Center. Old Town Academy shouldn’t be faulted for opposing the Aspire Center. Who really wants struggling veterans moving in across the street? Neither is stirring up public sentiment or seeking political redress necessarily wrong. And their security concerns were altogether fitting. But what they did went well beyond what was prudent, civil or decent. Their public disrespect of veterans and their reliance on fear mongering instead of facts undid them and painted them as nothing more than elitists and NIMBYs. With no history of service themselves, they never let irony stop them from impugning the character of those willing to do a job they were not. Their suggestion that Aspire Center veterans would harbor sexual or violent predators waiting to pounce on Old Town Academy school children would be comic if not for the stakes. Well now all that is all sorted out. Old Town Academy and the VA have come to a living arrangement. Let’s move on without forgetting. All it takes for the Old Towns of the world to triumph is for good people to do nothing. Rick Rogers has covered defense and veterans issues for nearly 30 years. He hosts Front & Center: Military Talk Radio Sundays, 11 to noon, Pacific Time, on KCBQ AM 1170 (www.kcbq.com). Podcasts at www.DefenseTracker.com. Contact him at (760) 445-3882 or Rick.Rogers@defensetracker.com
BOMB SQUAD IN LA MESA
July 30, 2012 (La Mesa) – La Mesa Police and San Diego Sheriff’s Bomb and Arson unit are investigating a suspicious device at 5800 Clay Avenue near Amarillo in La Mesa, Incident Page Network reported at 10:46 p.m.
ANOTHER FLASH FLOOD WATCH TUESDAY: GARY KELLEY HAS THE STORY
FLASH FLOOD WARNING WILL EXPIRE AT 6PM
A flash flood warning will expire at 6pm for east central San Diego county. Earlier at 4:24pm national weather service doopler radar indicated heavy rain producing flash flooding, with one hour rainfall rates between 1.5 and 3 inches. CHP reported roadway flooding in Ocotillo Wells.