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

LAKE JENNINGS PHOTO CONTEST RUNS THROUGH MARCH

Printer-friendly version  February 29, 2012 (San Diego’s East County) –  Photos taken at Lake Jennings during March may be entered in Helix Water District’s Lake Jennings Photo Contest.  Prizes of up to $100 will be awarded in adult and student categories. Photos can be of any aspect of the lake—wildlife, wild flowers, camping, fishing, boating, scenic views.    Photographers must stop

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EAST COUNTY VIDEO ADVENTURES: FINDING TRANQUILITY AT KITCHEN CREEK FALLS

Printer-friendly version    Story and photos by Billy Ortiz View video by Billy Ortiz and Pam Wilmers: http://youtu.be/0Aelray-VZU   February 17, 2012 (Kitchen Creek) — The name Kitchen Creek brings up many thoughts of times gone by.  One can only imagine gold miners giving this creek its name.      My friends and I came to the falls in mid-May 2011.

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PHOTO OF THE WEEK: FLIGHT OF THE SUNBIRD

Printer-friendly versionFebruary 7, 2012 (Lakeside) — No, it’s not an insect or an invader from outer space. It’s an up-close view of the Erickson air crane "Sunbird" erecting the Sunrise Powerlink in Lakeside’s Wildcat Canyon/El Monte Valley area. Billy Ortiz snapped this head-on closeup image of the massive helicopter, which is capable of hoisting heavy loads including transmission towers. Printer-friendly version

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PHOTOS OF THE WEEK: A MID-WINTER HIKE IN LAKESIDE

Printer-friendly version  January 24, 2012 (Lakeside) — What could be more beautiful than a mid-winter’s sunrise over an East County mountainside?    Photographer Billy Ortiz shot these stunning images while hiking in Lakeside’s El Monte Valley, along El Capitan, over the Lunar New Year, marking an idyllic start to this Year of the Dragon.              

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PHOTO OF THE WEEK: FULL MOON

Printer-friendly version  January10, 2012 (Lakeside)  – ECM photographer Dennis Richardson snapped this photo of the unusually bright full moon this weekend at his home in Lakeside.   “I took it from my back yard using a 100 X 400 mm Canon lens set on 400 mm,” he said.    Do you have a fabulous photo taken in East County or

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PHOTO OF THE MONTH: MCCAIN VALLEY

Printer-friendly version January 6, 2011 (McCain Valley) — Charles and Laurie Baker sent in this birds-eye shot, taken from a rocky precipice while hiking in McCain Valley.  The scene encompasses portions of a site proposed for the Tule Wind Farm. Printer-friendly version

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EAST COUNTY VIDEO ADVENTURE: RIVER PARK COMMUNITY DAY

Printer-friendly version  View East County Magazine’s video of this event:  http://youtu.be/NrWud3-lEGM   By Billy Ortiz Photos and video by Billy Ortiz   December 21, 2011 (Lakeside) —  Early in the morning on December 10 at the Lakeside River Park Conservancy, students from El Capitan High School AP Environmental Science Group, Lakeside River Valley High School, and biology students from Cuyamaca Collage joined members

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PHOTO OF THE WEEK: CHRISTMAS AT VIEJAS

Printer-friendly version December 16, 2011 (Alpine) – It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas at the Viejas Outlet Centers and Viejas Casino. ECM editor Miriam Raftery snapped this shot of holiday lighting at Viejas, where you’ll find San Diego’s largest outdoor ice skating rink, a holiday fountain light show, national-brand shops and more this holiday season.   Viejas employees pitched in to help collect over 3,000

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PHOTOS OF THE WEEK: GOLDEN TIMES AT THE JINGLE PAWS WALK

Printer-friendly version                 By Miriam Raftery November 20, 2011 (El Cajon ) – ECM editor Miriam Raftery snapped these images during a “Jingle Paws Walk” sponsored by El Cajon Animal Center for Education and Services (ACES) Foundation.  A new secret weapon for the Chargers was revealed: “Air Bud”, golden retriever of Disney movie fame put

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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.

PHOTO OF THE WEEK: OCOTILLO SUNRISE

Printer-friendly version August 13, 2012 (Ocotillo) — ECM photographer Jim Pelley shot this beautiful sunrise this morning from the yard at his home in Ocotillo.  Soon this dramatic landscape may be only a memory, vanished in the dust as towering ocotillo cacti are torn down and replaced by 112 wind turbines, each 500 feet tall.  That’s the plan for Pattern

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PHOTOS OF THE WEEK: EAST OF EAST COUNTY

Printer-friendly versionBy Tom Lemon   August 10, 2012 (San Diego’s East County) — When you’re driving east on Interstate 8 past Jacumba and the Desert View Tower there’s a sharp left turn and you begin to descend Mountain Springs Grade. You will drop about three thousand feet to the desert in ten miles, and can see the remains of Old

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PHOTOS OF THE WEEK: WILD RIDES AT THE BULLS ONLY RODEO

Printer-friendly version     July 29, 2012 (Lakeside) — Barry Claessens (www.bcphotography.biz) snapped these action shots at the Optimist Club’s "Bull’s Only Rodeo" at the Lakeside Rodeo arena on July 21. Rodeos began to help cowboys hone their skills and, in the case of bull-riding, showcase their bravado. Isn’t this the original extreme sport? Today there are some modern-day twists. Some local bull riders

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PHOTOS OF THE WEEK: ON THE ROCKS

Printer-friendly version  July 23, 2012 (McCain Valley) – ECM reader Tom Lemon sent in these spectacular photos of McCain Valley, site of the proposed Tule Wind facility in San Diego’s East County. "I first visited McCain Valley around 1995 after reading Jerry Shaad’s book Afoot and Afield in San Diego County. I began camping and hiking in the Valley and

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PHOTO OF THE WEEK: SPACE INVADERS?

Printer-friendly version   July 25, 2012 (Ocotillo) – No, this isn’t the mother ship that’s landed in Ocotillo. It’s another alien power – the first wind turbine foundation poured at Pattern Energy’s Ocotillo Express project.  Photographer Jim Pelley measured a single turbine foundation hole measures 286 feet. More than 100 turbines, each 450 feet tall, are planned to invade this

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PHOTOS OF THE WEEK: SNOWFALL AT MCCAIN VALLEY

Printer-friendly version July 19, 2012 (McCain Valley) – Tom Klimek of Lemon Grove shared these photos that he took of McCain Valley “as few have seen it,” blanketed in snow, isolated in its pristine beauty. “On March 18, 2012 I drove to Laguna Mountain and then to McCain to enjoy the late winter storm that brought wind, rain, hail, and

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PHOTOS OF THE WEEK: STORM OVER OCOTILLO

Printer-friendly version   By Miriam Raftery Photo by Jim Pelley July 15, 2012 (Ocotillo) — Photographer Jim Pelley captured this inspiring image of sunbeams illuminating the proverbial silver lining of this storm cloud over the desert in Ocotillo. There is a tragic irony to this spectacular image, however. The landscape in shadow beneath the stormcloud is being destroyed, as excavation

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DOWN ON THE FARMS: A VIDEO TOUR OF LOCAL AGRICULTURAL IN LAKESIDE

Printer-friendly versionIn honor of Harold Hilliker Farm Day at Lakeside Middle School, videographer Billy Ortiz created a video documentary tour of local agricultural sites Story, photos and video by Billy Ortiz June 30, 2012 (Lakeside)– Lakeside Middle School held  its first annual Harold Hilliker Farm Day on May 30.  It  was a day full of information on agriculture, highlighting several

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PHOTO OF THE WEEK: HORNED DESERT LIZARD

Printer-friendly version   June 20, 2012 (Ocotillo) — Photographer Jim Pelley snapped this image of a horned desert lizard, whose camouflaged appearance blends right in with its desert surroundings. Pelley spotted the reclusive reptile on the site of the Ocotillo Express wind energy facility, which is now under construction. Printer-friendly version

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PHOTOS OF THE WEEK: REFLECTIONS AT SANTEE LAKES

Printer-friendly version               By Miriam Raftery May 30, 2012 (Santee) – ECM editor Miriam Raftery took a break from the hustle and bustle of news editing for a stroll at Santee Lakes.  There, she spotted a majestic great blue heron and a colorful wood duck, both with images reflected in the water’s surface, as

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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.