Communities

Source: Cal Fire

March 2, 2025 (San Diego) – Cal Fire law enforcement investigators have arrested Ruben Vasquez on multiple felony arson charges following an extensive investigation into two wildland fires that ignited on January 21. The fires, known as the Pala Fire and the Lilac Fire, started 25 minutes apart near Interstate 15 and State Route 76 in the Pala Mesa and Bonsall areas.

Together, they burned nearly 100 acres and prompted evacuations affecting hundreds of residents. Witness reports and investigative efforts led to the identification of Vasquez as a suspect.

On February 28, Cal Fire Law Enforcement Investigators arrested Vasquez for two counts of felony arson, and he was transported to the Vista Detention Facility. The investigation report will be referred to the San Diego County District Attorney’s Office. 

Cal Fire indicates that arson investigations are complex and require thorough evidence collection, scene examination, and witness interviews, which can be time-consuming. Accurate findings are essential for accountability and preventive measures.

Cal Fire extends gratitude to its partners at the San Diego County Sheriff's Office, North County Fire Protection District, U.S. Customs and Border Protection and the San Diego County District Attorney’s Office for their valuable support and assistance during the investigation.

East County News Service

March 2, 2025 (San Diego) – Supervisor Terra Lawson-Remer held a public briefing this week to inform the community on how the Trump Administration is disrupting essential local services in San Diego County. This includes active federal funding freezes, administrative delays, and policy changes that are “making it harder for us to protect public health, provide housing assistance, and respond to emergencies,” Lawson-Remer warns.

Problems she highlighted include, in her words:

FEMA is refusing to release disaster relief funds—even after a federal court told them they had to. That includes funding for the Shelter and Services Program (SSP), which forced the closure of the Migrant Shelter run by Jewish Family Service (JFS)—leaving more people without a safe place to go and adding strain to our homelessness services.

The CDC has stopped regularly communicating with us about critical public health data. They haven't released the results of a federal study on chemical exposures in the TJ River Valley (ACE survey), leaving us without key information we need to protect public health. If there’s a toxic exposure risk, we don’t even have the data to act.

HUD has frozen grants for Public Housing Agencies and removed essential resources that local housing programs rely on. That means delays in rental assistance and real risks for affordable housing projects that were already in progress.

“This isn’t just frustrating—it’s dangerous,” Lawson-Remer states. “The Trump Administration is blocking federal funding that San Diegans already paid for, and instead of those dollars coming back to our community, Washington is playing games with the services people rely on.”

By Mike Allen

Photo:  Santee Fire Department responding in 2023

March 1, 2025 (Santee) -- The chaos and disruption happening daily at the federal government isn’t permeating to the local level in Santee, where the City Council took several significant actions this week, including funding the remaining balance on a $2 million temporary fire station, adopting a new specific plan for its Town Center area, and hearing that its finances are in sterling shape.

The East County city of 60,000 has long acknowledged that it lacks adequate fire protection, making due with the same two fire stations that existed decades ago. At the prompting of the local firefighters’ union last November, the Council unanimously backed their plan to raise some $54 million through a half-cent sales tax increase and bond issuance to build two new stations, and hire additional staff.

Santee voters rejected the idea, forcing the Council to address the issue without imposing new taxes on the public.

The temporary station, which converted a maintenance operations yard to a fire station off Olive Lane, was approved in 2023, and is close to completion. Initially, the Council appropriated $1 million for the temporary station, but the final bill will be about twice that amount.

To finish the project, the Council allocated some $425,000 it still had left of federal stimulus funding to go with earlier allocations and transfers. The contract was awarded to Horizons Construction Co. of Orange, CA, the same one that did the living quarters building.

The slew of provisions contained in the vote gives Fire Chief Justin Matsushita the power to make change orders to a maximum of $151,000 or 15 percent of the contract, which will be done in a design-build mode.

The action triggered little comment from the five elected officials except from Councilman Rob McNelis who said he was under the impression the new financing arrangement would result in a surplus to the city. Matsushita said he didn’t recall stating that.

The new station will provide much better response times to calls emanating from the southern part of Santee, and relieve pressure on the city’s two aging stations, one on Carlton Oaks Drive, and the other on Cottonwood Avenue. The overwhelming number of calls are for medical emergencies. Of the total 919 calls the Santee Fire Dept responded to in January, 708 were medical related, and only 18 involved fire, according to numbers posted on the department’s Facebook page.

In other actions, the Council adopted a revised Town Center Specific Plan, setting a framework of planning concepts for the city’s core section, roughly bounded on the north by Mast Boulevard, on the south by Mission Gorge Road, on the east by Magnolia Avenue, and on the west just past Town Center Drive. Hired consultant Mark Steele said the vision that developed from several public workshops held in Santee was for “an American village” with five distinct neighborhoods anchored by an Arts and Entertainment neighborhood.

Mayor John Minto said adopting the new plan that replaces the first specific plan of 1986 is one more step in a process of transforming the city to having “communities and amenities that are just dynamic enough for people to want to be here.”

Santee has been trying to change its image in recent years as not just a convenient shopping destination, but for enjoying the benefits of a concentrated group of restaurants, art galleries, and live performing venues that would attract both residents and visitors, as well as generate more sales tax revenue through visitors’ spending.

For the most part, that effort has failed. A lynchpin project, a Karl Strauss brewery/restaurant/office complex along the San Diego River behind Trolley Square approved more than a decade ago, was downsized to a tasting room, and even that is still in limbo. A combined movie theater/restaurant project called Studio Movie Grill planned to go next to Karl Strauss didn’t happen when the company went bankrupt. And a 97-room hotel at Trolley Square that was approved in 2023 got mired in litigation, and hasn’t broken ground.

The city’s longstanding summer concert series at Town Center Community Park is successful in drawing folks, and the city continues to bring in new restaurants, but some venues that have shuttered several years ago such as Mimi’s remain closed.

At least the city’s financial condition remains well in the black. In a report on the soon to be completed 2024-25 fiscal year, Finance Director Heather Jennings said the city should end up with a balance on its general fund of $16.7 million from a budget of about $64 million at the end of June. That essentially is a net profit on its revenues after paying expenses and provides Santee with an envious reserve balance of 27 percent of the total, well above a target threshold on reserves of 22 percent.

Among the main contributors to the city’s heftier balance sheet are some $206,000 more in property taxes that was projected; about $235,000 more in sales taxes; and $436,000 more in interest income. It is also saving money from job vacancies not being filled to the tune of $1 million, Jennings said in her report.

 Among the unexpected expenditures listed in the report but not commented upon was $61,470 for “materials and supplies related to a cyber incident.”

By Miriam Raftery

File photo:  Ben and Jessica Kalasho

Updated Feb. 28 at 7:20 p.m. with additional details and clarifications.

February 28, 2025 (San Diego) – Former El Cajon Councilman Besmon “Ben” Kalasho and his wife, Jessica, appeared via video at a San Diego Superior Court hearing today, asking the court to set aside arrest bench warrants ordered back in May 2023.  Those warrants were issued after the Kalashos were found guilty of criminal contempt of court and ordered to report in September to serve eight days in jail, but failed to appear.

The judge refused to let the Kalashos off the hook, following arrguments on both side.

The Kalashos indicated at the time that they did not wish to travel to San Diego because it would be unsafe for Jessica was pregnant; she appeared in today’s court video with a toddler on her lap.

However, attorney and plaintiff Lina Charry said she had video of the Kalashos attending a wedding in San Diego County around that time.

She objected to any further delays, stating, “This is their sixth attempt to try and dismiss their warrants.”

Ben Kalasho fired back, “That’s not true.”

Judge Wendy Behan made clear that while she would  set aside the bench warrants, but this does not terminate their guilty convictions for contempt charges. The judge indicated that a new date must be set for the couple to appear and serve their jail sentence; failure to do so will result in reissuance of the arrest warrants.

Kalasho asked for a hearing in late November and December, when he said the couple planned to visit relatives over the holidays.

The judge insisted that such a long delay would not be allowed.

“I live half the year in North Carolina and half the year in Dubai,” said Kalasho, who has been working under the pseudonym Chef Benjamin Epicure at Smithmore Castle, a luxury hotel and wedding venue in North Carolina. 

According to a Facebook page for Benjamin Epicure, he is also currently employed at the Dubai Creek Gold & Yacht Club Residences in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

Ultimately the judge ordered Ben and Jessica Kalasho to report in to Superior Court Department 66 on June 9 at 8:30 a;m. to serve out their eight-day sentences in jail.

The contempt of court charges came after Kalasho was found by the court to have defamed Charry by falsely claiming she had had sex in public places, in retaliation after she sued him for damages suffered when a car in a carwash he owned crashed into Charry’s business next door.The Kalasho's were found guilty of multiple counts of contempt for violating court orders, lying under oath, failing to comply with orders,intentionally failing to produce financial documents pursuant to court orders, failing to appear for mandatory court appearances, and unlawfully interfering with court proceedings by  providing false, misleading, or obstructive testimony under oath.

A court ordered the Kalashos to pay damages to Charry, but the couple stonewalled during a series of 15 judgement debtor examinations, where the Kalashos were supposed to answer questions on record about their financial assets. According to Charry, the couple refused to answer some questions and failed to produce account statements that they were required to bring.

Charry then filed an order asking the court to find the Kalashos criminally guilty of contempt  in the civil case, a tool that attorney Charry says is “rarely ,if ever, used” in a civil case. But in this instance, the judge concluded that the Kalashos’ failure to fulfill the requirements of the judgment justified finding them  guilty on criminal counts and ordering them both incarcerated.

If the pair shows up on June 9 as ordered, their eight-day incarceration is slated to commence. Left unresolved is the question of how Charry may recover assets to satisfy the civil judgment against the Kalashos, or what will happen if the Kalashos fail to appear.

East County News Service

February 28, 2025 (Jamul) – Jamul Casino will open the doors to its high-rise boutique hotel tower this spring, featuring 200 rooms, 52 spacious guest suites, 360-degree views and a curated collection of leisure experiences.

"This all-new hotel represents a proud moment in our tribe's journey and further supports our continued dedication to self-sufficiency," said Erica M. Pinto, Chairwoman of the Jamul Indian Village. "We’re not just transitioning from Jamul Casino to Jamul Casino Resort – we're building a legacy that honors our community while inviting visitors to experience the beauty and hospitality of our ancestral lands."

The 16-story hotel tower was originally imagined as a crystalline jewel box floating against the Jamul mountains, ultimately allowing visitors to now stay where they play. Guests will have access to the state-of-the-art hotel and its offerings through a climate-controlled, enclosed pedestrian sky bridge. The rooms’ sleek and elegant design creates a calming place of tranquility with one-of-a-kind views.

The all-new boutique hotel tower at Jamul Casino Resort aims to earn the AAA Four Diamond Rating – North America’s premier hotel rating program recognizing the most important aspects of luxury such as cleanliness, comfort, cuisine and consistency.

Among the many amenities will be an approximately 4,800-square-foot restaurant with sweeping views of the surrounding area, retail space, meeting and banquet facilities, a full-service spa and salon with an outdoor deck, a fitness center, and an 11,000-square-foot rooftop pool deck with a jetted hot tub, cabanas and a rooftop bar.

"We are thrilled to unveil this beautiful new hotel that our guests have been eagerly anticipating," said Mary Cheeks, President and General Manager of Jamul Casino. "With exceptional dining destinations, wellness-focused amenities, and curated experiences, we have created a space that truly caters to gaming enthusiasts, business professionals, and leisure travelers alike. We invite all guests to visit, unwind, play, and discover the very best of San Diego.”

Opened in 2016, the Jamul Casino is owned and operated by Jamul Indian Village Development Corporation (JIVDC), a wholly owned enterprise of the Tribe. The $430 million, award-winning casino features nearly 1,700 slot machines, 46 live table games, a dedicated poker room, and various restaurants, bars and lounges.

Jamul Casino supports more than 1,400 permanent jobs throughout the region and is the closest casino to downtown San Diego, which is the eighth-largest city in the United States by population.

To learn more about Jamul Casino, visit www.jamulcasino.com.

Many people and their dogs came together at Town Center Community Park East for the ninth annual Fido Fest in Santee. 

By G.A. McNeeley 

Photos by Scott Lagace and G.A. McNeeley

February 26, 2025 (Santee) - The city of Santee invited lots of people (and their dogs) for fun times at this year’s Fido Fest. People were also able to adopt their own furry friend from one of the many rescue groups present at the event hosted by the city of Santee on February 22 at Town Center Community Park East in Santee. 

Contests were held for the smallest dog, the biggest dog, the best costume, and the best trick. There were also demonstrations for the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department K-9 Unit and the Santee Fire Department Search & Rescue Dog, as well as arts and crafts. 

Agility courses were also present for dogs of all sizes to show off their skills and abilities. There were also off-leash areas, and over 50 vendors that were offering pet-friendly products, services, treats, and more. 

Donation drives were also accepting unopened dog food, bedding, blankets, toys, and other items that got donated to the rescues who participated in the event. 

The San Diego Humane Society was offering free microchipping, and they were also offering paid pet licensing services on-site (at varying costs). Pet health experts and veterinarians were also available to provide attendees with helpful tips and information. 

ECM spoke with a representative at the Amazing Strays Rescue Booth, who said that the organization is non-profit, foster-based, and volunteer-run. The group also had binders for the dogs (and cats) that were available for adoption. The binders included success stories and “medical cases,” which are dogs and cats who need extra care. Their organization is also known for rescuing homeless and at-risk pets, providing safe environments for them as well as trying to combat the spread of diseases in pets. 

Event organizers from the city of Santee told ECM said that this was their ninth year organizing the event. The event used to be in the summer, but it was too hot, so the event was moved to February. Organizers gave us an event schedule, an activity guide for other events in Santee, and a park map (all of which can be found online). They also told us that they help organize all of the big events in Santee. 

“I think this a great event, because I can bring my dogs, Ella and Russel, with me to the park. There’s a lot for them to see and sniff,” said, an attendee. “They got to feast on all of the different treats that vendors had available.” 

We also reached out to the San Diego Humane Society, via email, after speaking to a representative at their booth who gave us their contact information. We asked what sorts of programs they have that our readers should know about. 

“San Diego Humane Society offers multiple programs to prevent unnecessary pet surrender and to keep pets with their families through challenging times,” said Nina Thompson, Director of Public Relations, San Diego Humane Society. “Services focus on all things related to pet care, including assistance with behavior and training, pet food and supplies and veterinary care. We also offer additional resources for military members and community members experiencing domestic violence and housing insecurity.” 

Thompson also told that we can visit the following link to learn more about these services: 

sdhumane.org/supportservices

Rescue Groups that attended this year’s Fido Fest included 4 Patas, A Way Home for Dogs, Amazing Strays Rescue, Friends of Cats, Friends of Humane Services Tijuana, Frosted Faces Foundation, Heart of Gold’s Shelter, K9 Connection Pet Adoption, Leonberger Rescue Pals, Lionel’s Legacy Senior Dog Rescue, Mutt Luv, Open Arms Rescue, Passion for Pitties, Paws 4 Thoughts Animal Rescue, Rescue Fenix, Ruger’s Rescues, The DeTommaso Dogs, and Woofs and Wags. 

For more information on the adoption groups, other events in Santee and additional information: 

https://www.cityofsanteeca.gov/calendar/events/fido-fest/45710

By Miriam Raftery

February 27, 2025 (El Cajon) -- At 4:30 today, the Grossmont Union-High School District is holding a special meeting to considering firing 49 employees including all high school librarians.  Others targeted include English teachers, psychologists and more.

Opponents of cutting librarians have set up a website at  https://sites.google.com/view/save-guhsd-librarians/home. It includes a petition which has gathered over 1,100 signatures as of late this afternoon.

“The Grossmont Union High School District Board majority is pulling the same shady tricks as last year. They are planning layoffs claiming no money when they are holding a 13% reserve fund. This is well over state requirements,” says Jay Steiger, former GUHSD candidate who previously served on the district’s bond oversight committee.

 View the full list of 49 positions on the chopping block.  The 4:30 p.m. meeting of the GUHSD board will be held today at El Cajon Valley High School’s multipurpose room, 1035 East Madison Avenue in El Cajon.

On Facebook, Steiger states, “Teacher librarians are essential to support student research, digital literacy, responsible use of AI, helping find reading material that matches student interests (so they are more likely to read!), managing a library and tech budget, supervising Chromebook laptops, and building essential trust with students.”

The district’s agenda states,” On February 27, 2025, the Board of Trustees determined it needs to reduce or eliminate 49.2 full-time equivalent certificated administrative and/or teaching positions at the end of the current school year, and that potentially impacted certificated employees be provided written notice prior to March 15, 2025. Potentially affected employees were notified by the deadline.” The agenda adds the seniority will be taken into account in eliminating positions.

Trustee Chris Fite has indicated he opposes these cuts, as he has previously voted against other recent controversial staffing cuts including teachers and the district’s public safety director, but the other four members have supported those cuts.

By Miriam Raftery

February 27, 2025 (Rancho San Diego) – Tomatomania returns to the Water Conservation Garden at Cuyamaca College on Friday and Saturday, March 7-8.  The free, two-day event celebrates 75-80 incredible varieties of your favorite summer treat—tomatoes. You can purchase tomato plants including some rare varieties, cherished heirlooms and legendary classics—plus get tips from experts on how to grow the most flavorful tomatoes.  Hours are 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on March 7 and 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on March 8.

Admission to Tomatomania is free, though there is a $25 charge to reserve space in the “Totally Tomato Cooking Demonstration” on March 7 from 12-1 p.m. Garden chef and instructor Nicolai Winkler will showcase tomato soup paired with a fresh tomato Panzanella salad.  Class includes a personal portion of soup and salad, take-home recipe and up-close demonstration. REGISTER HERE

You can also sign up for a free workshop titled “That’s Swale” on March 8 from 10-11 a.m. with Eric Saline of Wild Made Design.  Soil is the most efficient water storage you can have on your property, and building good healthy soil benefits every level of a garden ecosystem. Before you install plants, rain tanks, and grey water systems, be sure your landscape is designed to handle and harvest as much water as possible – passively.  REGISTER HERE

Registration is required for both special classes.

Cuyamaca College is located at 12122 Cuyamaca College Drive, El Cajon, CA 92019. For more information, visit Events at The Garden - The Water Conservation Garden

Bidders must register at sdttc.com by March 6th to participate in auction featuring 640 properties

February 26, 2025 (San Diego) - San Diego County Treasurer-Tax Collector Dan McAllister reminded those interested in participating in the County’s 2025 online property tax auction that bidder registration must be completed by March 6. This year’s auction features more than 600 properties for sale.

By Miriam Raftery

February 26, 2025 (El Cajon) – El Cajon Police responded to a call yesterday from a man who found his mother’s body in the trunk of her car, a black Hyundai Sonata. The caller said he had gone to check on his mother after she didn’t return home from visiting her other son, Richard Leyva, 24, who was staying at the motel.

Following an altercation between the two brothers, Leyva got into the Hyundai and drove off, striking his brother, who was not injured.  Officers responded and attempted a stop, by Leyva fled, initiating a pursuit that ended when Leyva crashed into two other vehicle.  He was taken into custody after officers deployed a Taser to subdue him, according to Lieutenant Nick Sprecco.

“Upon inspecting the vehicle, officers discovered a deceased woman in the trunk. The woman has been identified as 51-year-old Jamison Webster and her death is being investigated as a homicide,” Lt. Sprecco says.

Leyva has been booked into San Diego County Jail on charges of homicide, assault with a deadly weapon and evading law enforcement. 

Detectives are continuing to investigate the circumstances that led to the woman's death.

The other drivers involved were uninjured.

Anyone with additional information is asked to call El Cajon Police at 619-579-3311 or anonymously at sdcrimestoppers.org.