YOU’RE INVITED TO OUR FEASTING & MERRYMAKING HOLIDAY PARTY DEC. 15!
You’re invited to feast and make merry at our annual VIP holiday party! RSVP today to reserve space for this popular event. When: Sunday, Dec. 15 from 3p.m. to 7 p.m. Where: Our editor’s Mt. Helix home at 4438 Hideaway Place, La Mesa, CA 91941 Live music by Paul Nichols and Cindy Burnham at 4 pm; caroling sing-along after dinner Holiday feast: We have a delicious menu including honey glazed ham, baked yams, cranberry-orange relish, red cabbage and greens slaw, macaroni and cheese, bacon-wrapped dates, veggies with spinach and crab dip, gourmet cheese platter, winter salad with pecans and pomegranates, Wassail bowl/spiced cider, wine from the award-winning Vineyard Grant James, molasses gingerbread, lemon squares, holiday cookies and more. If you wish, bring a dish to share. Special thanks to Smart & Final for donating delicious foods for our holiday feast! Raffle: prizes include Hooley’s gift certificate, Smart and final gift certificate $100 activity gift certificates to Fort Cross Ole Timey adventures, Oasis Camel Dairy special event passes, jewelry, holiday accessories, gift basket for wine lovers, locally roasted coffee, chocolates, and more. Cost: $15 with RSVP in advance, $20 at the door Prepay online at www.EastCountyMedia.org/donate RSVP to save space! editor@eastcountymagazine.org or (619)698-7617. (Please let us know if you’ll bring an appetizer, side dish, main dish or dessert). Our feast will include honey-roasted ham, pasta, spiced yams, wassail bowl/apple cider bacon-wrappe dates, cheese platter, veggie treats, stuffed mushrooms, crab and spinach dip, salad with pecans and pomegranates, red cabbage and greens slaw, molasses gingerbread, lemon bars, holiday cookies, and more! Open to East County Magazine weekly e-newsletter subscribers, East County Wildfire & Emergency Alert subscribers, East County Dining Club members, and guests—the more, the merrier! (Not a subscriber yet? Sign up free here: https://www.eastcountymagazine.org/wild-fire-alerts)
READER’S EDITORIAL: COMMUTERS FED UP WITH GRIDLOCK IN SANTEE
By Eid Fakhouri, CPA, CGMA, Commuter and Family Advocate December 13, 2019 (Santee) — Look at these photos! (Inverness Rd. and Carlton Oaks Dr. in Santee taken Dec. 12 at 7:40 a.m.). Happens ALL the time. As you can see from the photos, traffic is backed up all the way down Carlton Oaks Drive almost to Wethersfield. We cannot have more homes on this street, it is impossible for the roads to carry this traffic to the freeway. We are still waiting for the remaining 150 units at Weston to be built and occupied, the 200-plus units at the old Omelette Factory site still need to be constructed, and then there’s 50-plus homes at Marrokal Lane. This area is 100% at capacity. The Mayor and other Council Members are considering a General Plan Amendment permitting the Carlton Oaks Golf Course to become a 289 Housing Development alon g with a five-story hotel and a senior living facility. This will result in hundreds of more cars on Carlton Oaks Dr, West Hills Parkway and Mast Blvd. As seen below, Minto is thanking Golf Course Housing Developer for his support and for hosting Minto’s Re-election campaign and fundraiser. Commuters are FED UP with the Mayor and Council putting Profit Driven developers ahead of hard working parents who commute everyday and are away from their families for too long. The opinions in this editorial reflect the views of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of East County Magazine. To submit an editorial for consideration, contact editor@eastcountymagazine.org.
JUDICIARY COMMITTEE VOTES TO SEND IMPEACHMENT TO HOUSE FLOOR
By Miriam Raftery December 13, 2019 (Washington D.C.) – The House Judiciary today voted to send two articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump to the full House. The causes for impeachment listed are abuse of power and obstruction of Congress including the President ordering the White House, executive branch agencies and officials to defy subpoenas and withhold documents and records. “In the history of the Republic, no President has ever ordered the complete defiance of an impeachment inquiry or sought to obstruct and impede so comprehensively the ability of the House of Representatives to investigate `High Crimes and Misdemeanors’, the obstruction of Congress article state, noting that federal agencies including State, Defense, and others “refused to produce a single document or record.” Trump also banned witnesses from testifying. “This abuse of office served to cover up the President’s own repeated misconduct and to seize and control the power of impeachment – and thus to nullify a vital constitutional safeguard vested solely in the House of Representatives,” the article continues. The other impeachment article, abuse of power, accuses Trump of ”conduct for corrupt purposes in pursuit of personal benefit” that “compromised the national security of the United States and undermined the integrity of the United States democratic process,” also injuring the interests of the nation. Specifically, the article accuses Trump of soliciting interference in the 2020 election by pressuring the Ukraine to announce investigations of his rival’s son, Hunter Biden. Trump suspended $381 million in military aid approved by Congress in a bipartisan vote to help Ukraine oppose Russian aggression. The vital military funds were withheld, along with a promised visit with the Ukrainian president at the White House, according to the article. Judiciary Chairman Gerald Nadler stated, “Today is a solemn and sad day. For the third time in a little over a century and a half, the House Judiciary has voted articles of impeachment against the President for abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. The House will act expeditiously.” The articles were approved 23-17 on a party-line vote in the Judiciary Committee. The full House will likely vote next week, which will mandate that a trial be held in the Senate. If two-thirds of the Senators present during the vote support impeachment, then Trump would be removed from office and Vice President Mike Pence would become president. “There is no chance the president is going to be removed from office,” Mitch McConnell, Senate Pro Tem president of the Republican-controlled Senate, has told Fox News. Trump called the impeachment vote “a sham, hoax.” Republicans on the Judiciary Committee focused largely on criticizing the process, not disproving the actual allegations. They faulted Democrats for relying in part on hearsay despite the fact that witnesses to the President’s actions were prohibited by the President from testifying or turning over records, in violation of lawfully issued subpoenas. A spokesperson for Vice President Pence called the testimony “one-sided,” the Washington Post reports, adding, “Democrats in Congress should heed the voice of the American people and reject this partisan impeachment that has been a complete waste of time. Democrats in Congress need to get back to work for the American people!”
EL CAJON CITY COUNCIL RAISES FINES FOR ILLEGAL TOBACCO SALES; REJECTS BAN ON VAPES AND FLAVORED TOBACCO
“My responsibility is to keep these extremely dangerous devices out of the hands of our children…This is a disaster in the making.” – Councilman Gary Kendrick “I’m very afraid of a trend I see in our country of slowly giving away our freedoms for safety,” – Mayor Bill Wells By Paul Kruze, Contributing Editor Photo from City of El Cajon presentation Watch complete coverage with public participation Watch council members discussion before voting December 13, 2019 (El Cajon) – The El Cajon City Council took up Councilman Gary Kendrick’s proposal last month to increase fines for illegal tobacco sales to minors and to ban flavored tobacco and vapes disguised as USB memory sticks, lipstick tubes, pens and other objects. The hike in fines passed, along with added teeth to the ordinance, including suspension of a retailer’s business license for numerous violations. But despite many El Cajon residents and others voicing concerns over health impacts of vaping, Kendrick fell short of the votes needed to enact a ban on flavored vapes and vaping devices attractive to minors. Councilmen Steve Goble, Phil Ortiz, Mayor Bill Wells prevailed with “no” votes, over Councilmen Gary Kendrick and Bob McLellan who voted “yes.” For several years now, the City of El Cajon has followed through on cracking down on gas stations, convenience stores, and liquor shops caught selling tobacco products to minors under 21 years of age. The city has given the option to these businesses of suspending tobacco sales for 30 days instead of paying a $1,000 fine. Retailers who end up getting a second offense of selling to a minor within three years will now pay $2,500, plus suspend sales of tobacco products for 30 days. A third offense will subject a retailer to a $2,500 fine with a mandatory 60-day suspension of tobacco. A fourth violation in three years will result in suspension of the retailer’s business license. The city stresses that a process exists for accused retailers who are cited for breaking the law to appeal their citation. When the city does its retail monitoring stings action during the year it includes regular retailers, liquor, tobacco and vaping device shops. Those retailers all must comply with a mandatory inspection fee. Kendrick’s proposal would have gone farther, prohibiting the sale of vaping paraphernalia and disguised vaping devices. It came after when the Cajon Valley Union School District unanimously passed Board Trustee Jill Barto’s proposal to ban the personal smoking devices on district property. The hearing including many speakers for and against the ban. East County Magazine has not been able to independently verify that the makers of JUUL vaping devices in anyway influenced the number of people who filled the council chamber. However, business cable TV channel CNBC has acknowledged that JUUL records the e-mail addresses of vape smokers and urges its users to attend public meetings where the vaping and flavored tobaccos are before lawmakers. El Cajon would have been the first city in San Diego County to have actually enacted and implemented such a ban. County Supervisors voted 3-2 on Oct. 15 to make it illegal to buy or sell flavored vaping products within unincorporated areas of San Diego County. The law puts a one-year moratorium on the sale of vaping devices and permanently bars flavored nicotine. The county’s chief administrative officer is expected to return to the Board of Supervisors in January with more details on how the county expects to enact the ban. Supervisors Greg Cox, Nathan Fletcher and Dianne Jacob voted in favor of the ban, while Supervisors Jim Desmond and Kristin Gaspar voted against the measure. Other cities, counties and states are taking aim at vaping products. The states of Michigan. Massachusetts, and Los Angeles County Supervisors have all recently enacted bans on some vaping products despite great pressure from pro-vaping forces. The bans come as the rate of teens who are vaping grows, a fact that has triggred warnings from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). In addition, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control warns that in the U.S. 47 sudden deaths have occurred due to vaping and 2,290 vaping-related serious lung illnesses have been reported nationwide, many of them in young people. San Diego County health officials have reported at least 25 confirmed or probable cases in San Diego County. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control now urges consumers to refrain from using e-cigarettes and to avoid any with THC and/or Vitamin E-acetate, especially those from informal sources like friends, family, or in-person or online dealers. In addition, the CDC also urges smokers not to add any substances to e-cigarette or vaping products that are not intended by the manufacturer, including products purchased through retail establishments. THC-containing products continue to be the most commonly reported e-cigarettes, or vaping, products used by patients with sudden onset of lung illness, and it appears that vitamin E acetate is also associated. However, the CDC warns,”many substances and product sources are being investigated, and there might be more than one cause. Therefore, while the investigation continues, persons should consider refraining from the use of all e-cigarette, or vaping, products.” While the members of the El Cajon City Council have generally been unified in their rulemaking, November’s City Council meeting revealed cracks when the members discussed their opinions about the proposed ban. Kendrick said that at the bare minimum, the Council should ask city staff to “come back with some ordinances that would ban the sale of the USB look-alike devices and other devices that don’t look like e-cigarette devices.” Pressing the point, he added, “We have a number of people who came here who made some really good points who have affiliation with the Neighborhood Market Association. We’ve been dealing with that group for many years. They have said, “Let us do it” – but they never have been successful with alcohol and tobacco. Never. They don’t have a whole lot of credibility with me.” Kendrick continued, “My responsibility is to keep these extremely dangerous devices
LEMON GROVE INITIATIVE CHALLENGE WON’T BE HEARD IN TIME TO BLOCK BALLOT MEASURE
By Miriam Raftery December 11, 2019 (Lemon Grove) – A challenge seeking to block the Lemon Grove sales tax initiative on technical grounds won’t be heard until February 21 – too late to keep the measure off the March 3, 2020 ballot. But if a judge rules the process was invalid, the vote could later be voided and the sales tax hike would not take effect. The initiative, Measure S, would raise the sales tax by three quarters of a cent, from 7.75 to 8.5 percent. The city is facing serious financial shortfalls, with a budget deficit of nearly $1.2 million projected by the end of its fiscal year 2021-22. More than 85% of the city’s budget is spent on public safety, police and fire protection, leaving not enough money for other needs. The initiative would raise an estimated $3 million, supporters say, if the measure is approved by voters and allowed by the court to take effect. But if a judge finds the measure invalid, citizens would have to repeat the signature-gathering process and the city would have to incur thousands of dollars in new costs to place the measure on a future ballot a second time. The lawsuit filed by resident John L. Wood on behalf of Lemon Grove Neighbors Against the Lifetime Tax contends that the Vote Yes for the Lemon Grove Sales Tax group failed to comply with a state election code requirement to publish names of the backers. A published notice included only the title and summary of the measure. The initiative backers named in the suit include newly appointed Councilmember Yadira Altamirano, former Councilmember George Gastil, and Jay Bass, as well as Registrar of Voters Michael Vu and City Clerk Shelley Chapel. Gastil has acknowledged the error but said voters were not harmed by the mistake, and that their names were on the petitions signed by voters, on the city website, social media and in news article. “The harm to the public would be much greater if this wasn’t voted on,” he told the San Diego Union-Tribune.
SPRING VALLEY MAN ARRESTED AFTER POSTING MOCK MASS SHOOTING VIDEO
By Miriam Raftery December 14, 2019 (Spring Valley) — A Spring Valley father was arrested after a tip to the FBI revealed two videos posted on YouTube showing Homoki simulating a mass shooting from a window in the Sofia Hotel in downtown San Diego. A search of his home turned up 14 guns including assault rifles and illegally modified weapons. Steve Andrew Homoki, 30 pleaded not guilty on Monday to charges of owning illegally modified firearms and child abuse due to loaded guns accessible to his three children. The prosecution contends that the videos amounted to rehearsals for a mass shooting, though Homoki has not been charged for making or posting the videos. Homoki claimed in a jailhouse interview with KFMB-TV that his actions were meant as a”miniature art project” because he wanted to do something “a little fun and different.” The videos, posted under the alias Stephen Anderson, showed Homoki pointing an assault rifle and handgun out the hotel window and firing without ammunition. “You drop one mag, you pick up another, right?” he states on one of the videos. “Then you drop it, you drop the gun, pick up another gun.” Although the video carried a disclaimer calling it satire and a private video, it was available to the public online. The tipster told the FBI that Homoki’s posts over several months were disturbing and indicated he had “gone off the deep end,” CNN reports. The FBI was notified of the videos on November 30, three months after Homoki posted them, and made the arrest within three days. Scott Brunner, head of the FBI’s San Diego office, issued a statement praising the “extraordinarily swift investigative efforts” of the San Diego Joint Terrorism Task Force. San Diego Police led the investigation. The suspect has no prior criminal convictions, according to his court-appointed lawyer, but was considered a suspect for stalking a former girlfriend in 2017. He is charged with three felonies and a misdemeanor. If convicted, he could face over ten years in prison. Superior Court Judge Joseoph Brannigan set bail at $1 million.
FEDERAL ANTI-IMMIGRATION POLICY HURTING CHILDREN, REPORT SAYS
By Suzanne Potter, California News Service December 10, 2019 (San Diego) — In California, 1.3 million children younger than age five may lose out on essential services because of a hostile immigration climate, according to a new report. Researchers from two children’s advocacy groups found that the Trump administration’s anti-immigrant policies and heightened law enforcement have had major impacts on children up to age five. Andrea Lopez, family and community engagement coordinator at Para Los Ninos, which runs Head Start child care centers in Los Angeles, says families are dropping out of crucial programs for fear of being deported. “That’s been the most heart-wrenching thing for us, is seeing their struggle and the fear that has been embedded in them,” she states. Lopez says many families are refusing all forms of public assistance, even for their American citizen children, mistakenly believing that this would be held against them when applying for residency. President Donald Trump says his policies are designed to reinforce the rule of law and save taxpayer dollars. Mayra Alvarez, a report coauthor and president of The Children’s Partnership, an advocacy organization focused on children’s health equity, says many children suffer, terrified that their parents won’t be there when they get home from school. “The kids are becoming more aggressive,” she points out. “There’s also greater separation anxiety. Social withdrawal, being more stressed out as a result of this environment.” Patricia Lozano, another coauthor and executive director of Early Edge California, an advocacy organization focused on early learning, encourages state policymakers to pass a law that declares preschools and day care centers off limits to immigration officers – something already in place at K-12 schools in the state. “Early childhood programs should be safe places for families, and the providers and teachers need the support to provide the right resources to face this hostile environment,” she stresses. California demonstrated its commitment to early childhood programs by allocating funds in the new state budget to train home visitors from the Cal Works program on ways to blunt the impact of federal immigration policies and help families connect to needed services.
TRUMP ADMIN. OKS FRACKING, DRILLING ON 1 MILLION ACRES IN CALIFORNIA
East County News Service Compiled from California News Service and California Attorney General’s office resources December 13, 2019 (Ventura) — The Trump administration yesterday took the final step to allow oil and gas drilling on over 1 million acres of federal public land on California’s central coast and San Joaquin Valley, despite a flood of public comment in opposition. The U.S. Bureau of Land Management will now allow new lease sales in 2020 on land that stretches across Fresno, Kern, Kings, Madera, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Tulare and Ventura counties. Rebecca August, director of advocacy for the Santa Barbara-based group Los Padres ForestWatch, calls fracking “a very toxic process.” “Fracking certainly causes impacts to local water supplies, to air quality,” she states, California News Service reports. “There’s a lot of associated truck traffic. There’s toxic chemicals that are known to cause cancer that can be forced through water supplies.” August also complains that fracking wastewater creates a disposal issue and notes the drill sites emit methane, a potent greenhouse gas linked to climate change. The BLM’s environmental impact study declared that fracking will pose no significant impacts to wildlife, water, public health or the environment. The BLM had not approved a new oil or gas lease in California since 2013, when a judge ruled that prior leases had violated federal environmental law. August says the oil in the Santa Barbara area poses a particular threat to air quality. “And the Central Coast is home to some of the dirtiest oil – most fossil-fuel-intensive, carbon-intensive oil, you know – that there is,” she points out. “And that generally requires a good deal of refinement, and that causes a lot of emissions.” A separate office of the BLM opened up more than 725,000 additional acres to drilling around the Monterey area in October. Conservation groups are already suing over that decision, and are expected to challenge these new lease sales in court as well. California Attorney General Becerra today issued a statement in response to the Trump Administration’s decision to open up more than one million acres of public lands in Central California to oil and gas drilling, including hydraulic fracturing (fracking). In June, Attorney General Becerra filed a comment letter responding to the BLM’s deficient draft supplemental environmental impact statement (EIS), which fails to fully evaluate the project’s impact on the communities and environment of Fresno, Kern, Kings, Madera, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Tulare, and Ventura Counties. “The Trump Administration’s Bureau of Land Management wants to expose more than a million acres of public land in Central California to drilling and fracking using a patently deficient environment impact study,” said Attorney General Becerra. “That’s not how we do things in California. We’re prepared to do whatever we must to protect the health and safety of our people. We intend to be good stewards of our public lands.” On April 26, 2019, BLM issued a draft supplemental EIS evaluating its plan to open more than one million acres of federal lands to oil and gas leasing. Fracking is a procedure in which oil and gas producers inject water, sand, and certain chemicals at high pressure into tight rock formations to extract oil and gas. While most of the fluid is water, the process also includes toxic chemicals that pollute nearby groundwater and flow back to the surface for above-ground storage. A growing body of evidence points to fracking as a significant cause of water and air pollution and low-level seismic events, the California Attorney General’s office notes.
DEADLINE SUNDAY TO GET COVERED CA INSURANCE BY JAN. 1: ALL RESIDENTS MUST HAVE COVERAGE OR PAY A PENALTY
By Suzanne Potter, California News Service December 12, 2019 (Sacramento) – This Sunday is the deadline for people to sign up for Covered California health insurance and have the coverage begin on Jan. 1. Starting in 2020, the state will require everyone to get coverage or pay a penalty. Rachel Linn Gish, director of communications for the advocacy group Health Access California, says insurance coverage leads to healthier families. “Making sure that you can get the primary and preventive care for you and your family and the peace of mind that that comes with is priceless,” she stresses. “And so we hope that, regardless of whether there is a penalty or not, people will go and sign up for care.” If you miss Sunday’s deadline for coverage starting New Year’s Day, all is not lost. The open enrollment period runs through the end of January. Some 1.5 million people are expected to enroll in coverage through the CoveredCA marketplace. Another 4 million low-income Californians have gotten health insurance since the state expanded Medi-Cal via the Affordable Care Act. The state has invested $1.5 billion to increase subsidies that make insurance significantly cheaper than in past years. So Gish encourages people who are uninsured to give CoveredCA.com another look. “People would be surprised just how much financial assistance is available in Covered California,” she states. “More than 90% of people who signed up for coverage get some level of financial assistance.” California was the first state to extend subsidies to families that make more than four times the federal poverty level. That means you could qualify for help with premiums if you make up to $72,000 a year for an individual, and up to $150,000 a year for a family of four.
JOIN AUDOBON’S CHRISTMAS BIRD COUNT: SIX DATES IN SAN DIEGO COUNTY
By Miriam Raftery Photos: Lazuli Bunting, by Eric Kallen; orioles by Greg Dunne December 12, 2019 (San Diego) — Audubon’s 120th Christmas Bird Count starts on Saturday, December 14, 2019, and ends on Sunday, January 5, 2020. Each year, thousands of volunteers go outside together to count every bird they see or hear all day. It’s a fun and festive way to bird watch and contribute to an important winter bird census. Join the Christmas Bird Count. In California, there are over 100 Christmas Bird Count events. San Diego Audubon Society is hosting Christmas Bird Counts on multiple dates, including Dec. 14, 15, 16, 21, 28 and Jan. 4 at locations across our region including our mountain, desert and urban areas. Sign Up. The Christmas Bird Count (CBC) is a program of the National Audubon Society and is over 100 years old. This community science project is a bird census wherein thousands of volunteers from across the US, Canada, and many other countries in the Western Hemisphere coordinate to systematically count the number of bird species—as well as the individual numbers of each species— seen within a specifically defined geographical area. Each count area is called a “circle” and is headed by a count compiler or coordinator. Each circle is further divided into many smaller survey locations. The CBC provides an invaluable profile of bird population numbers, avian movements, and associated trends, such as climate pressures and the impact of land use policies on birds and other wildlife. Volunteers are encouraged to contribute to this critically important field work by joining a circle. Dates and points of contact for each of the San Diego County circles are listed below. Please contact the leader if you are interested in participating. San Diego Circle Saturday December 14th Justyn Stahl justyn.stahl@gmail.com Anza-Borrego Circle Sunday December 15th Jim Dice dicej@uci.edu Lake Henshaw Circle Monday December 16th Gretchen Cummings gretchen.bc@sbcglobal.net Oceanside Circle Saturday December 21st Tim Burr tburr@san.rr.com Escondido Circle Saturday December 28th Ken Weaver gnatcatcher@sbcglobal.net Rancho Santa Fe Circle Saturday January 4th Robert Patton rpatton@san.rr.com Explore an interactive map of all of the CBC locations in the United States here.