April 2015
East County Magazine

TIKRIT FREED FROM GRIP OF ISIS
Printer-friendly version Photo: Syrian monastery in Tikrit, public domain image from Wikipedia April 1, 2015 (San Diego’s East County)—Iraqi forces backed by U.S. air strikes have been pummeling the city of Tikrit in Iraq, seeking to wrest control away from Islamic State terrorists, or ISIS. Now the Iraqi Defense Minister Khalid al-Obeidi has declared a “magnificent victory” in the

EMT ACCUSED OF SEXUAL ASSAULT IN EAST COUNTY
Printer-friendly version East County News Service April 1, 2015 (San Diego’s East County) – A emergency medical technician with Rural/Metro of San Diego is charged with sexual assault of a minor in East County, 10 News reports. Court documents indicate that 23-year-old Zachary Stinchcomb met a 15-year-old girl in an online forum called Meetme.com and pretended that he was

REVIEW: PETER PAN, BROADWAY’S TIMELESS MUSICAL
Printer-friendly version By Kathy Carpenter, Associate and Youth Reviewer, SDTheatreReviews Presented by Young Actors’ Theatre at the Encore Theatre in Spring Valley March 20-29 http://www.yatsandiego.org March 31, 2015 (Spring Valley) – Neverland the place where we don’t have to grow up. Many adults wish they could go back to this imaginary time of their life. For a couple of

BREW BEAT: 4 LOCAL BREWERIES MAKE BREWERS ASSOCIATION TOP 50 IN U.S.
Printer-friendly version Covering San Diego’s craft beer industry in East County By Ed Barrena April 1, 2015 (San Diego’s east County) – The Brewers Association is a non-profit trade group, based in Boulder, Colorado, which represents small and independent craft brewers. On March 31st they released their annual list of the Top 50 craft brewing companies for 2014. Four

DRY TIMES
Printer-friendly version By Miriam Raftery April 1, 2015 (San Diego’s East County) – Unfortunately, this isn’t an April Fool’s joke. The Sierra snowpack is “the worst in a century,” according to Jeff Anderson, snow surveyor for the U.S. Conservation Source. Anderson adds that the dismal snowfall shattered the previous record, calling it “scary.” Lake Tahoe Basin got just 3%

MORE ARSON FIRES IN CITY HEIGHTS
Printer-friendly version East County News Service April 1, 2015 (City Heights) – Two mattresses were ignited in City Heights early Tuesday morning just before 1 a.m. A half hour later, a commercial garbage bin erupted into flames. These are the latest in a string of a dozen or more fires in the past two weeks in City Heights that

ALL THE PERKS: LA MESA COFFEE SHOP SUPPORTS YOUNG MILITARY FAMILIES WITH 15-DAY FUNDRAISER
Printer-friendly version April 1, 2015 (La Mesa)—All the Perks Espresso Café has announced a 15-day fundraiser to benefit young, disadvantaged families of U.S. soldiers. From April 1 through April 15, the coffee shop at 8046 La Mesa Blvd. (in the La Mesa Springs Shopping Center) will donate 10% of sales to Support the Enlisted Project (STEP). The shop will

LOCAL POP COUNTRY ARTIST DANNIE MARIE VISITS CA RADIO STATIONS ON SPRING BREAK TOUR
Printer-friendly version East County News Service April 2, 2015 (San Diego’s East County)–Singer-songwriter Dannie Marie from San Diego’s East County is embarking on a Spring Break radio tour April 2-13 to promote the release of the first single and title track from her forthcoming CD, and bring her brand of “bro country with a dose of estrogen” to the

BAJA FARM WORKERS ON STRIKE
Printer-friendly version By Miriam Raftery March 31, 2015 (San Diego’s East County) – Farm workers in the Valley of San Quintin in Baja California, Mexico staged a strike last week, including many Native Americans protesting low pay and deplorable working conditions. With food left rotting in the fields, shoppers in Southern California and Mexico may pay more for your

WHY IS ROUNDUP, A PROBABLE CARCINOGEN, BEING SPRAYED OVER OCOTILLO’S ONLY WATER SUPPLY?
Printer-friendly version By Miriam Raftery April 1, 2015 (Ocotillo) – Residents of Ocotillo after discovering in late March that a powerful herbicide was been sprayed on desert soil over a federally protected aquifer – the town’s sole-source water supply. ECM photographer Jim Pelley, an Ocotillo resident, photographed workers spraying the substance on Bureau of Land Management public property. “A