Award-winning nonprofit media in the public interest, serving San Diego's inland region

Award-winning nonprofit media in the public interest, serving San Diego's inland region

COUNTY ACQUIRES 540 ACRES TO EXPAND SANTA YSABEL PRESERVE AND PROTECT SENSITIVE SPECIES

Printer-friendly versionBy County News Center County of San Diego Communications Office May 28, 2025 (Santa Ysabel) — The San Diego County Board of Supervisors recently approved the purchase of about 540 acres of property in North County for $5.1 million to expand its conservation efforts. Located within a designated conservation area in Santa Ysabel, the land will expand an existing

Read More ...

COTTONWOOD SAND MIND ON COUNTY PLANNING COMMISSION AGENDA JUNE 13

Printer-friendly version By Miriam Raftery May 20, 2025 (San Diego) – Years after the Cottonwood Sand Mine was first proposed along the Sweetwater River on the site of the Cottonwood Golf course in Rancho San Diego, the San Diego County Planning Commission will hold a hearing on the proposed sand mine. The latest draft environmental impact report can be viewed

Read More ...

BORREGO SPRINGS MICROGRID COLLABORATIVE SEEKS GRANT FOR COMMUNITY MICROGRID DEVELOPMENT

Printer-friendly versionInitiative would serve as a model for community-led energy resilience, delivering more reliable power and improved energy security for Borrego’s most vulnerable residents and businesses File photo, left:  Sunbeams over Anza-Borrego Desert near Borrego Springs By Gabriela Dow May 16, 2025 (Borrego Springs) — The Borrego Springs Microgrid Collaborative (BSMC) has submitted a grant application for funding through San

Read More ...

TRUMP ADMINISTRATION WANTS TO SELL FEDERAL LANDS, SLASHES FUNDING FROM FOREST AND PARK SERVICES

Printer-friendly versionThe Trump Administration is trying to sell off federal lands, while its budget cuts are severely impacting national parks and forests By G. A. McNeeley  Photo: Staircase Escalante National Monument, Utah May 16, 2025 (San Diego) – House Republicans have approved a provision to their budget that would allow the federal government to sell thousands of acres of public

Read More ...

RESIDENTS CHARGED UP OVER PROSPECT OF BATTERY STORAGE SITE IN LA MESA NEIGHBORHOOD

Printer-friendly versionStory and Photos By Karen Pearlman   April 11, 2025  (La Mesa) —  “No matter how it’s sugarcoated, battery storage facilities are dystopian looking, loud, detrimental to real estate values and potentially deadly,” La Mesa City Councilmember Laura Lothian says.   For several years, Lothian (pictured above, with Heartland Fire & Rescue Fire Chief Bent Koch) has been a

Read More ...

JUDGE OVERTURNS SAN DIEGO COUNTY’S TRANSPORTATION GUIDELINES

Printer-friendly version By Miriam Raftery View the court’s ruling April 9, 2025 (San Diego) – San Diego Superior Court Judge Joel Wohlfei has struck down San Diego County’s Transportation Study Guide. The decision in a lawsuit filed by Cleveland National Forest Foundation (CNFF) and the Coastal Environmental Rights Foundation (CERF) is a win for environmentalists seeking to reduce emissions from

Read More ...

Search by Specific Date

Support community news in the public interest! As nonprofit news, we rely on donations from the public to fund our reporting — not special interests. Please donate to sustain East County Magazine’s local reporting and/or wildfire alerts at https://www.eastcountymedia.org/donate to help us keep people safe and informed across our region.

LOCAL GROUPS FILE APPEAL, ASK BLM TO REVERSE POWERLINK APPROVAL

Printer-friendly versionMarch 24, 2009 (Boulevard) — An appeal to the U.S. Department of the Interior over its Bureau of Land Management (BLM) approval of San Diego Gas & Electric’s Sunrise Powerlink transmission project was filed Monday by three local organizations in San Diego County. The appeal notice to the Interior Board of Land Appeals is the first step to a

Read More ...

SPRING GARDEN FESTIVAL APRIL 25: CONSERVATION IN BLOOM

Printer-friendly versionMarch 26, 2009 (El Cajon) – If you haven’t yet experienced the Spring Garden Festival, be sure to mark your calendars for April 25th. The annual event drew more than 7,000 people last year and is quickly becoming one of East County’s premier attractions. Live music, Native American dancing, arts and crafts, food, plant sales, water-wise gardening, tree-care advice

Read More ...

BILBRAY COAUTHORS BILL TO EXEMPT SOLAR FARMS FROM ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW; FEINSTEIN SEEKS TO BLOCK DESERT SOLAR FARM DUE TO SEVERE ENVIRONMENTAL DAMAGE

Printer-friendly versionBy Miriam Raftery March 23, 2009 (San Diego)–Congressman Brian Bilbray (R-San Diego) has coauthored H.R. 964, a measure that would exempt any solar energy project on Bureau of Land Management (BLM) lands from Environmental Impact Report requirements. Sempra Energy, Bilbray’s third largest campaign contributor, seeks to import power from desert solar farms on BLM lands.   On Friday, California’s

Read More ...

MORE THAN PLANTS AT WATER-WISE PLANT FAIR

Printer-friendly versionBy Miriam Raftery Flowering perennials from Daylily hill Maic Palmiere of Crest displays baskets and jewelry made from pine needles March 14, 2009 (El Cajon) — Birdhouses, eco-friendly jewelry, and water-saving wizardry awaited visitors at the Water-Wise Plant Fair, held today at the Water Conservation Garden at Cuyamaca College. If you thought low-water landscaping means gravel and cacti, think

Read More ...

IT’S NO LONGER SANTEE, BUT MORE LIKE SANTREE

Printer-friendly versionBy Karla Moran (Karla Moran) March 14, 2009 (Santee) —The working power of a city makes a difference–as evidenced at the 8th annual SanTree Fest and Earth Day Celebration. Sponsored by the City of Santee, this year’s event had its best turn out yet. The community worked together to improve the environment and create a cleaner tomorrow. Parents and

Read More ...

POWERLINK MEETING DRAWS PROTESTS IN ALPINE; PARENTS OPPOSE HIGH-VOLTAGE LINES NEAR ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

Printer-friendly versionBy Miriam Raftery Megan Werland, right, worries about health effects of Powerlink on children including her 5-month old daughter, Eleanor March 10, 2009 (Alpine) — Children and parents staged a protest rally outside the Alpine Community Center, where SDG&E held a public meeting on Sunrise Powerlink. Holding signs that read "Class 1 Fire Risk" and "Save the Cleveland National

Read More ...

CUYAMACA COLLEGE HOSTS ITS FIRST SUSTAINABLE URBAN LANDSCAPE CONFERENCE

Printer-friendly version2-day event to be followed by plant fair open to the public March 10, 2009 (El Cajon)–Cuyamaca College is hosting a conference featuring leading landscape professionals and bus tours of eco-friendly sites Thursday and Friday, March 12 and 13, a precursor to it becoming among the first community colleges in the nation to offer a degree in sustainable urban

Read More ...

SANTREE FEST AND EARTH DAY CELEBRATION MARCH 14

Printer-friendly versionMarch 10, 2009 (Santee)–Santee invites the public to participate in "SanTree Fest," an Earth Day celebration from 9:45 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday, March 14th at Mast Park, located at 9125 Carlton Hills Blvd. Festivities begin at 9:45 with a nature walk departing from a trail entrance at the northwest side of the Wal-Mart parking lot. A community

Read More ...

WATER-WISE PLANT FAIR MARCH 14

Printer-friendly versionMarch 10, 2009 (El Cajon)–Cuyamaca College hosts a water-wise plant fair on March 14th from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. A large selection of water smart perennials, shrubs, trees, grasses, cacti and succulents, and more will be on sale from Southern California vendors. Now you can shop for water-wise plants–and support public education in an era of dwindling funds.

Read More ...

SUSTAINABLE JULIAN: IS IT POSSIBLE? MARCH 21 WORKSHOP WILL UNVEIL AMBITION COMMUNITY PLANS

Printer-friendly version Kathleen Beck and Jeanette Hartman (Brian Kramer) March 8, 2009 (Julian) — Julian residents and environmentalists are embarking on an ambitious plan to make this historic mountain town energy-self-sufficient using renewable resources. Starting with a wind demonstration project at the library, the plan calls for 200 homes in Julian to become self-sustaining through wind and solar energy. "The

Read More ...

Search by Specific Date

Support community news in the public interest! As nonprofit news, we rely on donations from the public to fund our reporting — not special interests. Please donate to sustain East County Magazine’s local reporting and/or wildfire alerts at https://www.eastcountymedia.org/donate to help us keep people safe and informed across our region.