Passages: Danny Tucker, Sycuan Tribal leader, 73
By Karen Pearlman, with additional reporting by Miriam Raftery Oct. 26, 2025 (East County) — One of the original champions for First Nation independence through gaming on Native American reservations in California, Daniel “Danny” Tucker, longtime leader and tribal member of the Sycuan Band of the Kumeyaay Nation, has passed away. Tucker, born Feb. 5, 1952 at Mercy Hospital, died Friday, Oct. 24 due to complications from diabetes, at the home he shared with his wife, Lori, in El Cajon. A private event was held the evening of Oct. 27 with public services coming this month. There will be a traditional wake at 5 p.m., Friday, Nov. 7 at Sycuan Church and a graveside service at 10 a.m., Saturday No.v 8 at Sycuan Reservation, with a Celebration of Life to follow. Daniel James Tucker, who was 73 when he passed away, was involved in Native American politics for most of his life. A 1970 Santana High graduate, Tucker was 18 when he served as vice chair with Sycuan Chairwoman Anna Prieto Sandoval during the development of Class II high-stakes bingo on Sycuan. Tucker was tribal chair of Sycuan for most of the development of Class III Vegas-style gaming. He served as chair from 1993-96 and again from 2003-14). Tucker was chairman of California Nations Indian Gaming Association during key Indian gaming propositions in California. He was once vice chairman of National Indian Gaming Association, and along with Chairman Rick Hill, the two traveled extensively doing radio and television interviews as well as lobbying Congress. As chairman of Sycuan, chairman of CNIGA, and vice chairman of NIGA, Tucker was at the head of the bargaining table during the 1990s, which were known for gaming wars — the legal and political battles fought by Native American tribes in the United States to establish and maintain casino gambling on their sovereign land. He also led efforts to create the film, Our People, Our Culture, Our History which told the history of the Kumeyaay nation and was distributed to local schools. Read more here. In a 2013 interview with East County Magazine aired on KNSJ radio, Chairman Tucker said, “As an elected tribal Chairman, he believes it’s important to “do the right thing for our people- not just one individual, but everybody.” He also spoke on the importance of helping the broader community, stating, “We live in San Diego. We’re part of our community. We’ve always been taught by our elders, give something back,” Chairman Tucker told East County Magazine in an interview. “We’re doing the right thing. We are giving back to our community.” Hear full interview here and read highlights here. True to that spirit, the Sycuan tribe has donated generously to build fire stations, support local schools, and Rady Children’s Hospital, among other charitable endeavors. The tribe also has a tradition of feeding those who are hungry. That includes undocumented immigrants who have crossed the border where a fence now divides the Kumeyaay nation, which has many members of its own in what is now Mexico. “Those people are hungry, too, so we feed them. We don’t anybody to starve. We don’t want anybody to be harmed,” Tucker told ECM in his 2013 interview. In a 2010 interview with Global Gaming Business Magazine, Tucker said, “Being Native American in this country has come a long way. Being a Native leader has significant meaning to me. Now that we have gaming and we have a little income coming in, it doesn’t change the fact that we’re a government. That’s the most important thing people have to understand. “Gaming is a means to an end, but it’s not the means to a whole answer, because we still have a government to run.” Memories of a leader and friend Photo of Danny Tucker, below right, from a recent Santana High reunion, from Christy Bobof Carter Facebook page His longtime friend and contemporary Anthony Pico, former Viejas Tribal Chairman, first met Tucker when they were children, with Pico a few years older than Tucker. The two went their separate ways through the years, but found connection at different points in their lives. He remembers watching Tucker excell at playing baseball as a youth, and years later watched Tucker regale groups of people as a comedian, singer and entertainer, Tucker basically unparalleled in his ability to make people feel good. “He knew how to turn on a crowd and he fed on that, because when the crowd was turned on, Danny was turned on,” Pico said. Pico said the two reconnected stronger when they became contemporaries in the 1980s when the tribal gaming issues were at the forefront. “That’s when Danny and I became good friends and I got a chance to really get to know him. I remember when we bcame engaged with the state of California and we did that for about 20 years, negotiating compact, treaties and gaming compacts… For probably 20 years or more he provided for us emotional stability and a great sense of humor. He was a very, very, very hard worker who went through so much during negotiations. He provided the stability that leaders need to keep an organization together.” Pico added some more insight on how important Tucker was to the gaming issue when meeting with legislators and other government officials. “I remember that Danny hadn’t gotten there yet to the meeting room, and and we had been in debate serious debate, Indian and non-Indians, and people are starting to lose their temper,” Pico recalled. “You know people were starting to say, ‘You know what? If it’s gonna be like this, I’m out of here,’ but then here comes Danny. Danny walked in with his great sense of humor… We said, ‘How you doing?’ ‘Nothing but a party,’ he would say… And he said, ‘Let’s all sit down.’ This was a historical event, the whole gaming compact thing. I can say that if it wasn’t for Danny,
Nonprofit saves San Diego County’s tallest waterfall
By Taina Fonseca, Times of San Diego, a member of the San Diego Online News Association Photo: Mildred Falls. Photo by Alexander S. Kunz October 26, 2025 (San Diego) – The San Diego River Park Foundation has successfully purchased a 58-acre parcel from a private owner, the organization announced this week. Why is that important? Because that land includes the one and only Mildred Falls, San Diego County’s tallest waterfall, located about five miles west of the Pine Hills community. Its dramatic cascade drops roughly 300 feet to where Ritchie Creek plunges toward the San Diego River. This is a huge accomplishment for the San Diego River Park Foundation, especially as Scenic Treasure Ritchie Creek is a key tributary to the San Diego River. Ownership of Mildred Falls will help the foundation protect a golden eagle nest, a California gnatcatcher habitat, southwestern pond turtles, arroyo toads, cougars, and other large mammals. More than 250 donors raised more than $300,000 to buy the property. With the sale closed, the waterfall and surrounding land are now conserved and held in trust for the public. Alexa Lewis-Rosenfeld, the philanthropy and communications manager for the San Diego River Park Foundation, shared that Matthias Blume – one of their longtime donors and volunteers – is a prime example of the community’s dedication to preserving the waterfall. “I am beyond excited. Supporting this acquisition is literally a high point of my life,” said Blume. “Like a trophy, it is not the falls themselves that are so important, but it is a 400-foot-tall tribute to successful conservation. “It is the tallest waterfall in San Diego County. You can see it all the way from Ramona,” she added. Photo, right: Mildred Falls. Photo by Alexander S. Kunz “It is absolutely awesome that the San Diego River Park Foundation was able to acquire and protect it. There is a bald eagle nest in the face of the cliff over which Mildred Falls flow. Isn’t that amazing?” With ownership complete, the foundation ’s immediate priorities are now land stewardship and public access planning. They are focusing on taking care of the land and creating a safe viewing area for visitors. “One of the most inspiring things for me is just to know that this land will be conserved forever, and its use will only be to protect it and conserve it for the wildlife,” said Lewis-Rosenfeld. The Mildred Falls purchase is one more step in the foundation’s multi-decade effort to protect land along the 52-mile San Diego River. The foundation has completed dozens of acquisitions in its 23-year history, conserving more than 2,600 acres of at-risk privately owned open space. Those efforts aim to safeguard a globally significant ecosystem, while still preserving public access and environmental resilience for the San Diego region. The conservation of Mildred Falls thus preserves not only a dramatically beautiful natural landmark, but an important stretch of riverine habitat – ensuring that future generations can experience the roar of San Diego’s tallest waterfall and the wildlife it supports. “Truly, every dollar mattered in this campaign, and together, we saved an iconic natural treasure in the region, and the falls, the tallest waterfall in San Diego County, will always be protected,” Lewis-Rosenfeld said. For those who want to be notified when the waterfall is flowing, or learn about special guided trips, can sign up for Mildred Falls alerts by emailing mildredfalls@sandiegoriver.org.
Reader’s Editorial: Why I support the recall or resignation of the GUHSD Board majority
By Chris Fite, Trustee, Grossmont Union High School District board October 26, 2025 (El Cajon) — When the dust settles after all of the lawsuits and media stories and packed and contentious board meetings, these facts will remain: the GUHSD board majority repeatedly if not exclusively tried to make vital decisions regarding hiring, firing and curriculum choices on the basis of their ideological and personal biases, instead of based on what was good for the students and the district. Instead of meeting the needs of all students, parents, and community members, they exclusively catered to the wishes and desires of a tiny fraction (of which they belong): a far right religious faction who are fundamentally opposed to the mission of public education: educating all Americans, newly arrived and native born alike, to prepare them with the academic and vocational tools to thrive economically to achieve their American Dream however they define it and to civically educate students to get along with others who have different ideas or cultures than they do and to think critically because they are exposed to ideas that may be difficult or complicated or contrary to their established views. In short, to learn how to be a democratic citizen. Make no mistake, this reactionary sect is not based on love and forgiveness but on punishment and power. This is why reforms to get them to comply with Brown Act provisions and become more transparent are necessary but not sufficient: these are changes on the margins, a rearranging of the deck chairs on the Titanic, or whatever metaphor you’d like to use. They do not want to act differently! They got into educational politics precisely to affect these changes. Transparency would allow those on the outside to see the real workings of their ‘mission’ (along with a handful of powerful allies) to transform the district into an insular, us against them dichotomy, with those in the ‘they’ category fearful and compliant or else! I can attest to the secrecy – I was routinely left out of policy decisions and have never been given any real explanation or involvement in deciding staffing cuts or other major decisions and/or why they are needed, and I have been on the board for over eight years! They do not want to act differently. Here is one of the many secret messages sent between board members revealed by the UT public records requests: “I think it is best for us to come up with our own curriculum because when you ask others their opinion, there is tremendous pressure to go along with their ideas even when you don’t agree with them. They will show their loyalty by supporting our suggestions.” This is neither “caring, nor collaborative”. They are East County Dons. In a way, I’d respect them more if they just came out and said, “We believe that this country, this district should be for a certain type of American. Our side should make the rules, and we are accountable to that constituency only”. At least they would be honest. But of course if they were to reveal their core beliefs and motives honestly, they wouldn’t appeal to those outside their bubble and would not get elected. Many of their election mailers over the last few election cycles blatantly misrepresented their beliefs and goals. Why? Because they couldn’t attract enough voters with honesty. If your true motivations and agendas were popular, it seems to me that you would want to share them openly. A large part of the rage that the community has expressed over and over and over again at board meetings is this sense of secrecy and duplicity in justifying cutting jobs as a budget decision, when in fact, a large factor was the board’s ongoing and well-known attempt to reshape staff and culture along extreme ideological lines. The board’s reaction? Instead of listening and maybe rethinking their positions, the board doubled down on the subterfuge and arrogance and reprimanded the public for being disrespectful (of course they were disrespectful! Anything less would be insulting; dupes and rubes they are not!) Recently, the board majority concocted a half-hearted non-apology (we did nothing wrong but we won’t do it again!) regarding their lengthy and long-occurring Brown Act violations revealed by the UT data dump. To much of the public and myself this seemed the worst of possible responses: a toothless and insincere gesture to tamp down controversy while refusing to acknowledge or stop the incessant meddling behavior that landed them in hot water in the first place. At a recent board meeting a board member stated, “the recall seems politically motivated”. That’s an amazing grasp of the obvious. Reasons for recalls are whatever the district community decides. While school board races are categorized as non-partisan or non-political, in reality that is rarely the case. That is the nature of modern politics, in which every single election race is seemingly crucial for both major parties, “non-partisan” or not. No less than Steve Bannon has called taking over school boards as one of the most important political tasks of modern MAGA Republicanism. But my fellow board members have taken ‘partisan’ to a whole new level: firing or not hiring ‘woke’ administrators, targeting teachers and librarians who have the audacity (also the 1st Amendment right) to disagree. Shutting down or slow walking curriculum/trainings/courses that support what they deem ‘DEI’ or multi-cultural or whatever the Extreme Right is against this week. Banning books with LGBTQ or Black or Middle Eastern themes. Courtesy of the UT data dump: “Remember to say that ‘making choices’ is not banning books”. Uh, yes it is! More: “…he (board member) was coming up with a strategy…which would be impossible for “woke” books to be adopted.” Sprouting lawsuits targeting non heterodox employees and favoring harassment claims (and payouts) to “whistle blowers” or “truth tellers” supposedly “standing up to district corruption” when it too often seems that some of these folks just can’t get along with others and seemed possessed of a litigious streak. I was once told (and believe) that
Puppy recovering from severe collar injury; County seeks public’s help
By Sir Milo Loftin, County of San Diego Communications Office October 26, 2025 (San Diego) – County Animal Services is asking for the public’s help to learn more about a puppy found with a severe neck injury caused by a collar that had become embedded in his skin. The puppy was brought into the County’s Bonita shelter as a stray on Monday, Oct. 13. The 10-month-old male shepherd was wearing a chain collar that had not been loosened as he got older. The collar had tightened around his neck, causing a wound. The puppy was immediately examined and treated by County veterinary staff, who had to surgically remove the chain to treat his wound. He is now recovering comfortably at the shelter. Veterinary staff are providing daily bandage changes, and he is expected to undergo additional surgery in the coming days to help the wound heal fully. Despite his injury, staff describe him as happy, silly and playful. The puppy has a microchip, but Animal Services has not been able to trace it to a registered owner. “Once he’s fully healed, he’ll be neutered, vaccinated, and ready to find a loving home, said Animal Services Director Vaughn Maurice. “Despite everything he’s endured, the puppy remains cheerful and full of life—wagging his tail at anyone who stops by to say hello.” If you recognize this dog or have information that could help identify his owner, please contact San Diego County Animal Services at 619-236-2341. Callers may remain anonymous. The County reminds pet owners to check their animals’ collars frequently, especially as young pets grow, to prevent injuries like this. Microchipping—and keeping contact information up to date—is one of the most effective ways to reunite lost pets with their families. County Animal Services promotes responsible pet ownership and the humane care of animals through 24-hour rescues, cruelty and neglect investigations, and community education. The department works closely with more than 300 local rescue partners to find foster and forever homes for every healthy, adoptable animal that comes into the shelter and provides services such as low-cost microchip and vaccination clinics daily at its Bonita and Carlsbad locations.