AZTEC FOOTBALL PRESS CONFERENCE: THE LAST FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS
Story and photos by Liz Alper Full quotes courtesy Jen Heisel October 25, 2016 (San Diego) – With their last Friday night game of the season against Utah State this week, San Diego State head coach Rocky Long, senior linebacker Austin Wyatt-Thayer and junior running back and kick returner Rashaad Penny spoke to media at this week’s press conference. “As has been the case for the last three or four weeks, we have another important conference game this week,” Long opened. “…the crowd is loud and supportive of their team and that makes sense since the last five years or so, they’re 26-4 at home. Obviously, they play really well at home. We’ll have to play well in order to win.” Although SDSU quarterback Christian Chapman is pretty physical and likes to run the ball a lot, Utah State starter Kent Myers is even more athletic. “…he’s a very talented guy,” Long said. “He throws the ball very, very well and I think he’s the third leading rusher on their team. He’s the key because he runs the ball so well.” Wyatt-Thayer added on: “He’s a dual threat quarterback. That’s always a challenge.” There has been concern over the play of the Aztec defense, but Long says that his defense has played well over the last three weeks. On Friday night against San Jose State, there was a bit of controversy. A targeting penalty against Penny was overturned and another targeting penalty was called against Donnel Pumphrey. The SJSU player who targeted Pumphrey was ejected. As he was coming off the field, the SJSU players and staff on the sideline were congratulating him, or at least appeared to be doing so. Long didn’t think so. “I don’t think they were congratulating him for the hit. I think they were consoling him because he got kicked out of the game. He was one of their best players and he made a really good football play by old time standards. Those people on that sideline know he’s a good guy and a good player, he just got kicked out of the game and he doesn’t get to play next week. They were more consoling him than congratulating him especially because DJ was fine and in the next play, he ran for a touchdown. Why would you be congratulating him? He made DJ mad.” Penny echoed that sentiment and said that his overturned targeting penalty was just a good play and that the penalty against Pumphrey was definitely targeting. And of course, Long talked about new SDSU athletic director John David Wicker. “I had a good relationship with him. When he was here, he was in charge of football and we interacted almost daily. He and I were together a lot of the time. He’s a guy that has a lot of integrity and works really hard. He cares about this place. He cares about our success and the student-athlete experience. I thought the best thing about him being hired is the whole department knows him and he knows the whole department. He was here with Jim Sterk at the time that a lot of changes were made and has had a positive effect on this department, so you have good continuity there. He already said something about what’s most important for the football program and that’s getting a new stadium. It’s good that he’s got the right frame of mind.” Wyatt-Thayer was asked if there’s anything for the defense to work on against Utah State. “I feel like we can just work on the little things, more technique: not missing tackles or making any assignment errors, just little things like that throughout the game.” Penny said there wasn’t much for them to work on either. “Our defense is just holding these guys. It feels good when you see your defense is out there doing their job; it’s makes the job of the offense easier.” He also talked about Utah State’s defense. “They’re big, athletic and they can move. Just like any other front, we just have to prepare the same way we did the last few weeks. We just have to run straight downhill and playing to the best of our abilities. We just have to prepare. They’re pretty big and they always can move. It’s nothing we haven’t seen so we’re ready.” Penny feels that the offense is “where it needs to be.” He said there’s nothing they really need to work on, but the team as a whole needs to get better at penalties. “I feel like we just make simple mistakes with our penalties alone. I think that’s something we can get better. It’s just the little mistakes that are bothering us right now.”
JOHN DAVID WICKER NAMED ATHLETIC DIRECTOR AT SAN DIEGO STATE
Source: goaztecs.com Photo courtesy goaztecs.com October 25, 2016 (San Diego) – John David Wicker has been named San Diego State University’s new Director of Intercollegiate Athletics. The announcement was made today by SDSU President Elliot Hirshman. “It feels great to be back on the Mesa,” Wicker said. “I loved my four years here with the coaches, the staff and all the student athletes. I’m thrilled with this opportunity and I am looking forward to helping SDSU Athletics move to next level of success.” Wicker was SDSU’s Deputy Athletic Director from 2011 until leaving for Georgia Tech in July 2015. During his first term at SDSU he was responsible for the day-to-day operations of the Aztecs athletics department, overseeing business operations, human resources, events and facilities, capital projects, strength and conditioning, academics, video and sport oversight for football, rowing, and men’s and women’s basketball. “When we began this search, we envisioned a person who cares about our student athletes, whose integrity is paramount and whose competitive fire inspires greatness. In short, someone who embodies our ideal of `winning it right.’ John David Wicker is that person,” said President Elliot Hirshman. Prior to his time at SDSU, he was the Associate Athletic Director for Event and Facility Operations at Washington State from 2001-2011. While at Washington State, he was responsible for event planning and game day responsibilities for all home athletic events, conference tournaments and NCAA championships, day-to-day oversight and operations of all athletic facilities, and the liaison for the athletic department on capital projects. From 1999 to 2001 Wicker served as Director of Event and Facility Operations at Southern Miss. At USM, he oversaw regular season and championship event operations, coordinated day-to-day maintenance of facilities, and was the liaison to the university on all capital projects. He also oversaw the design and initial construction of USM’s $11 million Athletic Center, which houses administrative and coaching offices, football locker room, weight room and training area. Wicker also spent three years at Georgia, from (1996-1999), where he also worked for the Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games in preparation for the 1996 Summer Olympics as the venue logistics manager for Sanford Stadium, home to the medal rounds for men’s and women’s soccer. Wicker takes over an athletic department that has enjoyed great success in recent years. The football team, which is 6-1 this season, has been to six straight bowl games. Men’s basketball has been to the post season seven straight years. Teams, from water polo to men’s and women’s golf, to baseball and softball, have combined for 32 Mountain West championships since the beginning of the 2012-1013 year. “One of our top priorities will be to generate more excitement about Aztec Athletics on campus, in the community, and with our close to 300,000 alumni across the nation,” Wicker said. “People around the country know what an incredible atmosphere Viejas Arena is. And that is in no small part because of the fans. There is no reason why we can’t have a similar atmosphere at our football games, at Tony Gwynn Stadium for baseball, on the Sports Deck for soccer games and more.” Wicker graduated from Mississippi State in 1992 with a bachelor’s degree in professional accountancy. He received his master’s degree in education with an emphasis in sports management from Georgia in 1997. He is expected to begin work at SDSU on Nov. 28. Terms of his contract are being finalized and are not yet available. Wicker and his wife Rachel have a daughter, Scarlett Anne. Aztec Men’s Basketball Head Coach Steve Fisher on the hiring of John David Wicker: “This is a very good hire. We’re bringing a guy home who knows the landscape, knows the people, worked well with us when he was here and he gets things done. I anticipate the same thing happening now.” Aztec Softball Head Coach Kathy Van Wyk on the search for SDSU’s new athletic director: “I can honestly say he wasn’t the front runner all along. We had every intention of going in and finding the right person. As you go through the process, you’re reading a lot of paperwork and you spend a limited amount of time with people and try to get to know them as best you could. When you’re talking about morals and ethics and all of those things, we had the opportunity to work with JD before. We knew how he worked. That obviously factors into it and it was a no-brainer when it came down to it.” “We asked all of the candidates what they saw as most important factors for us moving forward and the big piece is looking at the football stadium and trying to find a way into the Power 5. We all know that that’s our next step so how are we going to do that? Our new leader is going to be key in us making those moves.”
SDSU MEN’S SOCCER: ADAM ALLMARAS NAMED PAC-12 PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Redshirt junior garners Aztecs’ fifth conference weekly award this season Source: goaztecs.com press release Photo courtesy goaztecs.com October 25, 2016 (San Francisco) – San Diego State goalkeeper Adam Allmaras (San Diego, Calif.) was named Pac-12 Men’s Soccer Player of the Week for the second time this year after helping the Aztecs to a 1-0-1 record in a pair of home matches against Stanford and California, as announced Tuesday by the league office. With his award, Allmaras gives SDSU five Pac-12 weekly accolades so far this season, the most of any team in the conference. In addition, the redshirt junior becomes the Aztecs’ second repeat honoree of the 2016 campaign, joining redshirt senior Travis Nicklaw, who was recognized in consecutive weeks on Sept. 27 and Oct. 4, while junior Jeroen Meefout also earned the distinction on Sept. 13. Against No. 12/10 Stanford on Oct. 20, Allmaras tied his season high with seven saves, helping SDSU snap the Cardinal’s five-match winning streak in a 1-1 draw. Stanford, which entered the match leading the Pac-12 in shots and goals, had outscored its previous nine opponents by a 21-5 margin. However, the La Costa Canyon High alumnus came up huge with three stops in the first 14 minutes of play. Three days later, Allmaras made three additional saves against Cal on Oct. 23 to complete his conference-leading ninth shutout of the season in the Aztecs’ 1-0 triumph on Senior Day. He also recorded the 19th clean sheet of his career in the process, as San Diego State swept the Golden Bears for the first time since 2009. For the season, Allmaras leads the conference with an .870 save percentage and a .563 goals against average, which rank fifth and 12th in the nation, respectively. As a team, the Scarlet and Black is seventh in the country with a .600 shutout percentage, including a 1-0 upset of No. 1 Akron on Sept. 2, after which Allmaras received his first Pac-12 Player of the Week honor of the year. San Diego State (8-3-4, 3-2-2 Pac-12), which is No. 22 in the latest NSCAA coaches poll, will enjoy an open date this week before returning action on Thursday, Nov. 3, with a road clash at Oregon State. Match time is set for 3 p.m. PT.
GROSSMONT HIGH FOOTBALL PLAYER HURT BY LIGHTNING: WHY WASN’T PRACTICE CANCELLED DURING THUNDERSTORM?
By Miriam Raftery Photo courtesy ECM news partner 10 News October 25, 2016 (El Cajon)—A 14-year-old football player at Grossmont High School was injured by lightning that struck nearby while walking toward the locker room after football practice yesterday around 6:15 p.m. In 2010, we reported on a coach at El Capitan High School who kept players on a field during a lightning storm in violation of district policy. “The policy of the GUHSD in thunder/lightning storm conditions would be to immediately seek safe shelter at the first sound of thunder and to remain in said shelter until at least ½ hour after the last sound of thunder,” Larry Pear, director of extended and co-curricular activities at the Grossmont Union High School District, told us at the time. Numerous witnesses report seeing lighting strikes throughout the afternoon in the community, right up until the time the student was struck. So why wasn’t yesterday’s football practice at Grossmont High, in the same school district, cancelled? ECM reached out to the district and also emailed the football coach. Catherine Martin, public information offier for the GUHSD, offered this response to our inquiry. “Student safety is paramount in GUHSD. We cannot comment on individual student matters due to HIPAA Privacy Rules.I’m able to confirm the following: All District protocols for inclement weather were followed to the letter yesterday at Grossmont High School. The coaching staff, which includes first responders (a fire battalion chief and a retired peace officer), prepped the team before practice began and had them leave the field immediately at the first sign of lightning. “ She adds, “When there was a reported injury, 9-1-1 was immediately notified and aid was rendered in the meantime. Paramedics responded, conducted a patient assessment, found no injuries and released the student to his parent on scene.” But questions remain. The National Weather Service had warned of severe thunderstorms and numerous witnessese report seeing lighting throughout the late afternoon in the neighborhood before the student was struck. Lightning was visible in the area for hours before the strike, which resulted in hospitalization of DennisTutaggaloa. The student has been undergoing tests, but fortunately is expected to recover. 10 News reports that the teen was unable to move and could barely speak after the impact that he described as the worst pain of his life, but suffered no heart damage. He told 10 News that he still had pain and numbness in his limbs. He reported seeing another lightning bolt before the one that injured him. This news editor saw several lightning flashes around 5:15 while diving near the intersection of Grossmont Boulevard and Fuerte, just blocks from the school. I also heard thunder around 4:30 at my home nearby and again around 6 p.m., when heavy rain began. Several neighbors on theMt. Helix Next Door forum confirmed additional lightning sightings in the area. One mother wrote: “Lightning was present on campus at 2:55 p.m…in the area in general with thunder from campus to Lake Murray/Dallas st at 3:15….rain drops, thunder and lightning began around 5:45 p.m. in the Fletcher Hills area. It continued for some time as we had a family dinner and discussed why son could not be playing basketball. “ Another resident reported,”We had lightning on Mt Helix at 6:00.” Yet another said she and her daughters were swimming at Helix High School around the same time as the strike.”We got out because of the lightning.” AlexTardy, Warning Coordination Meteorologist for the National Service in San Diego,told East County Magazine that in the 15 minutes before the student was struck “There were 12 strikes in and around theEl Cajon region…The forecast had thunderstorms for late afternoon/early evening timeframe,and across Southern California we had over3,000 total strikes which is extremely rare. About2,000 of those actually hit the ground.” Tardy, who also coaches youth baseball, had this to say when asked if a sports practice should have been cancelled.”When you have a forecast that says you will have thunderstorms, and there have already been 2,000 strikes, and you seek black clouds, what other onfirmation do you need?” He acknowledged that some parents may become upset when practice is cancelled, but he affirmed,”If we were asked, we would advise to call it off if you hear thunder. The common sense rule is if you see a dark, ominous cloud coming your way—and we don’t see those very often around here—and thunderstorms are forecast, you’ve got to take action.” School safety rules for lighting should extend beyond sports teams to also cover students on campus or on busses, Tardy adds. He says his own son’s school in Carlsbad ignored his plea to postpone a bus trip to El Cajon for a half hour due to a thunderstorm coming in.”They drove with the storm. There were accidents all around. The lightning was so close….If someone had gotten hurt….it would have been a slam dunk,” he said of any legal challenge filed. Dennis Richardson is the photographer who notified the GUHSD back in 2010 when he saw El Capitan teams practicing during a thunderstorm with lightning striking about a half mile away. He says even after the coach was told to dismiss the practice, “they released kids to a parking lot where they were hanging on a metal chain length fence while lightning was striking all the way around.” Richardson, after the Grossmont incident, told ECM back in 2010 he called several East County school districts to ask about policies to protect kids from lightning in other circumstances, such as while waiting for rides home after school.”They have no plan for lightning,” he says. He added that one student said a coach told him a fiberglass helmet would protect him from lightning, which is not true. Richardson adds that when he used to head up construction crews, “if I heard thunder I’d take my whole crew to cover.” The Nationa l Weather Service has new guidelines that advise taking cover as soon as the sky appears threatening, since the
BOLTS STUN FALCONS IN OT THRILLER
For more sports coverage, visit ECM’s Sports section. By Liz Alper Photos courtesy Joel Price and Jamaal LaFrance October 25, 2016 (Atlanta) – The Bolts traveled to Atlanta to take on the Falcons on Sunday. The Chargers started the scoring right away in the first quarter with Melvin Gordon’s two yard touchdown run that put the Bolts up 7-0 after the PAT. The Falcons got on the board with Matt Bryant’s 42-yard field goal attempt and the score was 7-3. After an interception, the Falcons couldn’t do anything with it except another field goal that made the score 7-6 Chargers. In the second, Josh Lambo gave the Bolts some breathing room with a field goal that gave them a 10-6 lead. But the Falcons took everything away. After a long completion to Julio Jones, Matt Ryan fired a bullet into the endzone to Jacob Tamme for a 17-yard touchdown pass. Atlanta took a 13-10 lead. They scored again as halfback Tevin Coleman got a big burst of speed and ran into the endzone after a good drive down the field. 20-10 Falcons. Things just kept getting worse. Deep in their own zone, Philip Rivers dropped back to pass and coughed up the ball. It was recovered by Adrian Clayborne who took it in for the score. 27-10 Falcons. The Chargers inched closer with Gordon’s second rushing touchdown that made the game a 10-point game, 27-17, at the half. In the second half, the Chargers marched downfield, but couldn’t put it in the endzone, so Lambo came on again and kicked the field goal to make it a one-score game in the third, 27-20. But in the fourth, the Falcons pulled further away with a Bryant field goal that got their lead back up to 10 at 30-20. The Chargers narrowed the deficit to three when Rivers threw to Gordon at the goal line wide open for the score. 30-27 Falcons. Even though the Chargers failed at getting the game-winning touchdown with seconds left in the fourth, they did force overtime with Lambo’s game-tying kick. In overtime, after an impressive stand by the defense, Lambo made winning look easy with a field goal to give the Chargers a 33-30 win after coming back from 17 points down. On Halloween Eve, the Chargers head to Denver for a rematch against the Broncos. Kickoff is at 1:05 p.m. Transaction news: Caraun Reid on injured reserve
HEALTH AND SCIENCE HIGHLIGHTS
East County News Service October 25, 2016 (San Diego’s East County) — Our Health and Science Highlights provide cutting-edge news that could impact your health and our future. Meet the baby who was born twice (CNN) Pediatricians Release New Guidance for Preventing Sudden Infant Deaths (NPR) More than half a million heart surgery patients at risk of deadly infection (CNN) Researchers tackle metastatic breast cancer (CBS) Brain Implant Restores Sense of Touch to Paralyzed Man (NPR) Why Is the News About TB So Bad? (NPR) Healthy mice from lab-grown eggs (BBC) NPR Poll: Are Parents Overrating the Quality of Child Care? (NPR) SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY ‘Smart’ home devices used as weapons in website attack (BBC) Companies urged to use multiple vendors in wake of cyber attack (Reuters) Widespread cyberattacks take down sites worldwide (CNN) China launches longest manned space mission (Reuters) The Universe Has Almost 10 Times More Galaxies Than We Thought Great Barrier Reef pronounced dead by scientists (Outside Online) UK spy agencies broke privacy rules says tribunal (BBC) DOJ Uses Vague Court Request to Try to Demand People Unlock Any Fingerprint-Locked Phones (Reason) Police Facial Recognition Databases Log About Half of Americans (NPR) In insurance Big Data could lower rates for optimistic tweeters (Reuters) The rise of ‘citizen astronomers’: An era of new discoveries and collaboration (CS Monitor) For excerpts and links to full stories, click “read more” and scroll down. Meet the baby who was born twice (CNN) Baby removed from womb for surgery, then returned. Pediatricians Release New Guidance For Preventing Sudden Infant Deaths (NPR) Infants should sleep in the same room as their parents for the first six months of their lives, and ideally, the entire first year. That’s a key recommendation from the American Academy of Pediatrics. More than half a million heart surgery patients at risk of deadly infection (CNN) More than half a million patients who had open-heart surgery in the United States in the past several years could be at risk for a deadly bacterial infection linked to a device used during their operations, federal health officials said Thursday. Although rare, such infections may cause serious illness or death. The infection is particularly insidious because it is difficult to detect. Patients may not develop symptoms or signs for months after initial exposure. Researchers tackle metastatic breast cancer (CBS) When Miriam Slome was diagnosed with stage 4, or metastatic, breast cancer two years ago, it had spread to her bone marrow, abdomen and ovaries…Slome is on a different drug, approved just last year, that inhibits tumor growth for certain types of metastatic breast cancer. Right now, she has no detectable level of cancer. Brain Implant Restores Sense of Touch to Paralyzed Man (NPR) A mind-controlled robotic arm has pressure sensors in each fingertip that send signals directly to a paralyzed man’s brain. It’s still experimental, but could eventually help thousands, engineers say. Why Is the News About TB So Bad? (NPR) A report from the World Health Organization shows that it’s not a disease of the past — it’s a disease of the present and likely to be a continuing problem in the future. Healthy mice from lab-grown eggs (BBC) Japanese scientists say they have created healthy baby mice from eggs they made entirely in the lab using a sample of mouse skin cells. NPR Poll: Are Parents Overrating the Quality of Child Care? (NPR) Almost all parents rate their child care as very good or excellent, according to a new NPR poll. But researchers say that’s off base, and that just 10 percent of child care is high quality. SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY ‘Smart’ home devices used as weapons in website attack(BBC) Hackers used internet-connected home devices, such as printers and web cameras, to attack popular websites on Friday, security analysts say. Companies urged to use multiple vendors in wake of cyber attack (Reuters) Companies can reduce the risk from the type of cyber attack that took out major websites on Friday by using multiple vendors for the critical internet service known as a domain name service, or DNS, companies and security experts said on Sunday. Widespread cyberattacks take down sites worldwide (CNN) A number of popular websites like Twitter and Netflix went down for some users on Friday in a massive cyberattack with international reach. Affected sites included Twitter (TWTR, Tech30), Etsy (ETSY), Github, Vox, Spotify, Airbnb, Netflix (NFLX, Tech30) and Reddit. China launches longest manned space mission (Reuters) China launched its longest manned space mission on Monday, sending two astronauts into orbit to spend a month aboard a space laboratory that is part of a broader plan to have a permanent manned space station in service around 2022. The Universe Has Almost 10 Times More Galaxies Than We Thought A new analysis of Hubble Space Telescope data finds there are almost 10 times more galaxies in the universe than we once thought there were — about 2 trillion of them, up from about 200 billion. Great Barrier Reef pronounced dead by scientists(Outside Online) The Great Barrier Reef of Australia passed away in 2016 after a long illness. It was 25 million years old. UK spy agencies broke privacy rules says tribunal (BBC) Spy agencies breached privacy rules when they collected bulk data about UK citizens, the Investigatory Powers Tribunal rules. DOJ Uses Vague Court Request to Try to Demand People Unlock Any Fingerprint-Locked Phones (Reason) Fun fact about fingerprint lock “Touch ID” system on iPhones or iPads: If its owner hasn’t unlocked his or her device in the past 48 hours, it reverts back to a passcode system. Police Facial Recognition Databases Log About Half of Americans (NPR) A new report from Georgetown Law’s Center on Privacy and Technology says all it takes is a driver’s license to be included in the searchable databases. Rachel Martin talks to co-author Alvaro Bedoya. In insurance Big Data could lower rates for optimistic tweeters (Reuters) When people take to Twitter to comment on the great evening they enjoyed with good food and wonderful friends,
STEAK-OUT NOV. 5
East County News Service October 25, 2016 (Lakeside) – The 29th Annual Steak-Out, sponsored by the Kiwanis Club of East San Diego County will be held Saturday, Nov. 5, 6 pm at the Lakeside Community Center, 9841 Vine Street, Lakeside, 92040. There will be a social at 6 p.m. followed by dinner at 7 p.m. Investment in fun is $45 and includes BBQ dinner, dancing, silent auction, raffles, best western dressed contest and listening to the live award-winning country band, Three Chord Justice. Proceeds from this event support East County charities. For reservations or information call 619-540-5971. For information or tickets, contact Dan Rodgers at danrodgers2@gmail.com or at (619) 54-5971.
MISSION ARTS & CRAFTS FAIR SAT. OCT. 29
East County News Service October 25, 2016 (El Cajon) – The Mission Arts & Crafts Fair will be this Saturday, October 29 fro 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Jewelry, woodworking items, craft, artwork, plants, books of all kinds, baked goods, homemade candy and more. There will be a drawing for handmade quilt and other opportunity drawings. There will also be drawings for homemade candyand nuts. There will also be succulents, bulbs, accessories, gifts and collectibles, canned food goodies, church memorabilia and a cafe. Also inside the hall will be book signings by local authors Gale Gene, Tom Hom, Del Hood and Sharon Snyder. The event will be held at First Presbyterian Church, Richardson Hall, 501 Farragut Circle, El Cajon, 92020. For information call 619-442-2583.
LOCAL AUTHORS’ BOOK SIGNING SAT. OCT. 29
East County News Service October 25, 2016 (El Cajon) – There will be a local authors’ book signing on October 29 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. This is a chance to meet authors Gale Giffin with her new book Magic and the Venetian Amulet, Tom Hom with his memoir Rabbit on a Bumpy Road, Del Hood with History in the Headlines: Half a Century of the Most Notable Events in El Cajon Valley and Surrounding Areas 1950 -2000 and Sharon Snyder with her mystery Moment of Insanity. Authors have written other books that will also be available. They will be situated in the book sales area of Mission Arts & Crafts Fair, Richardson Hall, First Presbyterian Church, 501 Farragut Circle, El Cajon. For information call 619-442-2583. Gale Gene is a native southern Californian who resides in San Diego and is a graduate from San Diego State University. Gale has been teaching school for the past eighteen years. Traveling and photography have always been Gale’s hobbies. Gale’s love of reading quickly developed into the love of writing. She enjoys writing thriller and adventure novels reflecting on family travels, experiences and values. Her new book is Magic and the Venetian Amulet. Tom Hom, the first minority ever elected to the San Diego City Council, won a seat to the California State Assembly, helped transform San Diego’s skid row into the vibrant Gaslamp Quarter Historic District and led efforts to establish the San Diego Chinese Historical Museum. He has written his memoir Rabbit on a Bumpy Road. Del Hood, a native of Nebraska earned his master’s degree in journalism from the University of Oregon in Eugene while working for the Eugene Register-Guard. He came to El Cajon in 1964 and was associate editor of The Daily Californian for 30 years and received many awards for his editorial and feature story writing. He has written two books: History in the Headlines: Half a Century of the Most Notable Events in El Cajon Valley and Surrounding Areas 1950 -2000 and his memoir The Triumph of Belva Jane. Sharon Snyder met co-author Laura Spears and found they each had a passion for writing and travel. Their friendship formed and have co-authored two books: The River Calls and Moment of Insanity. They have just finished a third book that should be out around Thanksgiving. Sharon’s first book was Memoirs of a Prisoner’s Wife, which has now been republished under a pen name LS Taylor. They were both members of the San Diego Writers/Editors Guild. And they both live in the San Diego area. There will be these and over 200 kinds of books available at the fair.
HEARING WED. ON RESTRAINING ORDER SOUGHT BY NAACP AGAINST EL CAJON POLICE AND SHERIFF
East County News Service October 25, 2016 (El Cajon) – A hearing is set for tomorrow at 3 p.m. in U.S. District Court in downtown San Diego on a restraining order sought by the NAACP and several individuals who claim they were falsely arrested for holding peaceful protests and vigils in the wake of the Alfred Olango shooting by an El Cajon Police officer. The protesters claim that El Cajon Police and San Diego Sheriff departments are violating constitutional freedom of assembly and free speech rights at the vigil site, amounting to “martial law” according to a Facebook event page posted by the law office of Bryan Pease. Police have contended they had a report of a gun, though no gun was found. They have since said the property owner has requested help to keep protesters off private property. The hearing will be held at the U.S. District Court,221 West Broadway (Courtroom 4A, 4th floor-Schwartz), San Diego 921010. No photography, video or audio recording is allowed in the federal courthouse. The NAACP also plans to hold a press conference outside after the hearing.