East County News Service
February 11, 2025 (San Diego) -- The Roman Catholic Diocese of San Diego is working to provide information for immigrants and their families in the wake of mass deportations and stringent immigration policies imposed by President Donald Trump. The information is available in English and Spanish, as well as translation options for other languages.
Catholic Charities has launched a webpage to provide “reliable information, such as the rights of immigrants, how to find a relative if he or she has been detained, and what legal documents may be needed, like power of attorney. Resources and training also will be available to parishes,” the diocese posted.
Click on these links to view resources including rights for immigrants:
emergencysafetyplan.org (English)
plandeemergencia.org (Spanish)
The site also has “Know your rights” cards that can be carried in wallets, as well as articles and videos on a variety of topics to help immigrants and certain refugees whose legal status has been revoked by the Trump administration, putting them at risk of detention or deportation.
East County News Service
Photo: Palisades Fire, courtesy of Lakeside Fire Dept. which helped battle the catastrophic wildfire in Los Angeles County in January
February 11, 2025 (Washington D.C.) -- As Southern California recovers from devastating wildfires, U.S. Senator Alex Padilla, a California Democrat, has introduced a package of three bipartisan bills to bolster fire resilience and proactive mitigation efforts.
The package includes the Wildfire Emergency Act, to support forest restoration, wildfire mitigation, and energy resilience; the Fire-Safe Electrical Corridors Act, to authorize the removal of trees or other vegetation within existing electrical utility corridors; and the Disaster Mitigation and Tax Parity Act, to further incentivize homeowners to proactively protect their homes from disasters.
The package of bipartisan bills comes as Southern California begins the recovery from one of the worst natural disasters in state history. The Palisades and Eaton fires in Los Angeles County burned over 57,000 acres and destroyed over 16,200 structures, claiming the lives of at least 29 victims, according to Cal-Fire.
“The devastating fires in Southern California are a harsh reminder of the importance of proactive fire mitigation efforts to keep families and homes safe,” said Senator Padilla. “As these disasters become more frequent and more extreme, we need to find smarter solutions to strengthen fire resilience across the country. From expediting the removal of hazardous fuels near power lines, to supporting our wildland firefighting forces, to hardening homes and energy facilities, these commonsense bills would help reduce the threats of catastrophic fires to California communities.”
“Montanans see firsthand the effects that catastrophic wildfires have on our communities. These bipartisan bills will streamline forest management processes to mitigate the root causes of wildfires, improve community and home hardening efforts, and support our brave firefighters. I’ll work every day for more solutions to keep our state safe,” said Senator Steve Daines (R-Mont.), co-lead of the Wildfire Emergency Act and the Fire-Safe Electrical Corridors Act.
“This commonsense legislation takes a critical step toward empowering individuals and communities to better protect themselves from the devastating effects of natural disasters like Hurricane Helene,” said Senator Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), co-lead of the Disaster Mitigation and Tax Parity Act. “By excluding qualified catastrophe mitigation payments from income tax, we are incentivizing property owners to make the necessary improvements that reduce damage and save lives. This proactive approach to disaster preparedness not only helps families rebuild faster but strengthens our resilience in the face of future disasters.”
“We have seen how natural disasters have devastated communities around the country, and we must ensure we have the resources and programs in place to respond. Homeowners should not face additional taxes for wanting to protect their homes and our bipartisan legislation will provide the needed tax relief to help affected Americans recover from these disasters,” said Senator Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), co-lead of the Disaster Mitigation and Tax Parity Act.
“Louisianans understand the impact of devastating storms, but with the help of state and local programs, we have tools to rebuild and return to wholeness,” said Dr. Bill Cassidy (R-La.), co-lead of the Disaster Mitigation and Tax Parity Act. “If communities need tax relief, let’s give it to them!”
Wildfire Emergency Act
This sweeping legislation, co-led by Senator Daines, would reduce the threat of destructive wildfires through forest restoration, firefighter training, energy resilience retrofits, and wildfire-hardening home modifications in low-income communities. This bipartisan bill would take numerous steps to ensure that the Department of Agriculture (USDA), the Department of Energy (DOE), and the Department of the Interior (DOI) are better able to mitigate the risk and impact of wildfires.
Specifically, the legislation would:
- Provide the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) with a pilot authority to leverage private financing to increase the pace and scale of forest restoration projects. The USFS would be able to expand up to 20 existing collaborative forest restoration projects using this pilot authority.
- Authorize funding for programs to expand the forest conservation and wildland firefighting workforce.
- Establish an energy resilience program at DOE to ensure that critical facilities remain active during wildfire disruptions, authorizing up to $100 million for necessary retrofits.
- Expand an existing DOE weatherization grant program to provide up to $13,000 to low-income households to make wildfire-hardening retrofits, such as ember-resistant roofs or gutters.
- Expedite the placement of wildfire detection equipment on the ground, such as sensors or cameras, as well as the use of space-based observation.
- Establish a prescribed fire-training center in the West and authorize grants to support training the next generation of foresters and firefighters.
- Authorize up to $50 million to support community grants of up to $50,000 for locally focused land stewardship and conservation.
A one-pager on the bill is available here.
Full text of the bill is available here.
Fire-Safe Electrical Corridors Act
This bill, co-led by Senator Daines, would allow the U.S. Forest Service to approve the removal of hazardous trees and other vegetation near power lines on federal forest lands without requiring a timber sale, reducing the risk of catastrophic wildfires through easier material removal. The legislation advanced last year through the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources as part of the Promoting Effective Forest Management Act of 2023.
Three of the largest and most destructive wildfires in California history — the 2017 Thomas Fire, the 2018 Camp Fire and the 2021 Dixie Fire — were started by electrical equipment. Together, these wildfires burned more than 1.2 million acres, destroyed more than 15,000 homes, and killed 87 people.
Currently, the USFS allows utility companies to cut down trees and branches in existing utility corridors, but some forest managers interpret the law to forbid removal of the material off the land. This creates uncertainty and can lead to an unnecessary buildup of dead, dry fuels directly under utility lines. This bill would help reduce the risk of wildfires on forest lands by ensuring the clearing of existing corridors and give certainty to utilities.
The legislation would also require any utility that sells marketable forest products from hazardous trees removed near power lines to return any proceeds to the USFS.
A one-pager on the bill is available here.
Full text of the bill is available here.
Disaster Mitigation and Tax Parity Act
This bipartisan legislation, co-led by Senators Tillis, Cassidy, and Schiff would provide a tax exemption on payments from state-based programs for homeowners to proactively harden their homes against natural disasters.
Specifically, the bill excludes from gross income calculations any qualified catastrophe mitigation payment made under a state-based catastrophe loss mitigation program. Qualifying payments are defined as any amount received and used for improvements to an individual’s property for the sole purpose of reducing the damage that would be done by a windstorm, earthquake, flood, or wildfire.
California, North Carolina, and Louisiana are among the states that provide funding to homeowners who take steps to protect their homes from natural disasters. These improvements can include removing trees, bushes, and other fire-prone vegetation close to homes that contribute to wildfires, strengthening foundations to protect against earthquakes, and installing fortified roofs to withstand hurricanes.
However, homeowners are currently required to pay federal taxes on these payments, unnecessarily limiting money available for critical disaster-related upgrades. This fix will bring parity to the tax treatment of disaster mitigation efforts and ensure taxpayers are able to put the full amount of these payments toward securing their homes.
Senators Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), Ted Budd (R-N.C.), John Hickenlooper (D-Colo.), John Kennedy (R-La.), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), and Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) are cosponsoring the legislation.
Full text of the bill is available here.
Last month, Padilla introduced another package of three bipartisan bills to strengthen wildfire resilience and rebuilding efforts through legislation including the Wildland Firefighter Paycheck Protection Act, the Fire Suppression and Response Funding Assurance Act, and the Disaster Housing Reform for American Families Act. His legislation to strengthen FEMA’s wildfire preparedness and response efforts, the FIRE Act, became law in 2022.
East County News Service
Photo, right: Cleveland National Forest in San Diego County
February 11, 2025 (San Diego) – Congressman Darrell Issa, a San Diego Republican, has introduced the “Green Tape Elimination Act” that seeks to prevent wildfires by exempting all fuel reduction activities on federal lands from these environmental regulations for 10 years.
- The National Environmental Policy Act
- The Endangered Species Act
- The National Historic Preservation Act
- The Clean Air Act
- The Migratory Bird Treaty Act
- The Migratory Bird Conservation Act
"For years, environmental rules have become regulatory ‘green tape’ — locking in dangerous conditions and contradicting common sense reforms," said Rep. Issa. “That’s why this is no time for tinkering around the edges. We can’t wait for the next deadly disaster."
The environmental regulations that would be waived are intended to protect wildlife habitat, natural resources, clean air, historic sites, and recreational uses on public lands such as national parks, national forests, and federal wildlife refuges.
Issa's bill would provide a decade for firefighters to clear brush, cut shrubs, prescribe control burns, and utilize other strategies to stop the fires we know will occur in the future.
San Diego County is home to multiple federal lands including Cleveland National Forest, Bureau of Land Management properties, and federal wlidlife refuges. California has many forested federal lands, including Yosemite National Park.
“Eliminating USAID means no more food for millions of Sudanese refugees who’ve fled a civil war, no more medical care for displaced Palestinians, no more HIV treatment on the African continent, and more." -- Congresswoman Sara Jacobs
By Miriam Raftery
Photo via X: Congresswoman Sara Jacobs speaks at a rally to save US Aid.
February 11, 2025 (San Diego) – Congresswoman Sara Jacobs (D-San Diego) today introduced legislation declaring it illegal for the Trump administration to dismantle the USAID agency without an act of Congress, and to prohibit any funding of such efforts. Jacobs calls the action a "coup" and warns other agencies could be illegally dismantled next.
Elon Musk and his Dept. of Government Efficiency (DOGE) have shut down the USAID agency’s headquarters and website, put thousands of staffers on leave, and issued a stop work order on most foreign aid.
As a result of those actions, Jacobs says in a press release, “HIV/AIDS clinics have closed across Africa, hospitals in war-torn Syria have locked their doors, millions of Sudanese refugees will be at risk of catching diseases like cholera, malaria, and measles that are spreading, and so much more.”
Jacobs is the ranking member on the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Africa and Global Development, which oversees USAID. She also worked on international conflict resolution prior to her election and has been schooling other members of Congress on why U.S. Aid is important.
“USAID keeps Americans safe from diseases and terrorism and promotes American farms and businesses,” she says. Jacobs also warns that if the U.S. does not restore USAID programs, our adversaries such as China are likely to fill the gap, replacing the U.S. as allies for nations in need of aid.
On social media, Jacobs elaborated that providing services such as life-saving healthcare, food and more builds goodwill for the U.S. and helps prevent the rise of violent extremism.
The bill authored by Jacobs and coauthored by 15 other Democrats called the Protect U.S. National Security Act. It aims to prove that USAID reform should abide by laws and “not harm American soft power” as the newly created Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) looks to cut federal spending at various agencies and departments.
The future of USAID remains in limbo after a federal judge temporarily paused the Trump administration’s plan to put thousands of its employees on leave. A preliminary injunction hearing is set for Wednesday.
Jacob’s bill faces an uphill battle in the Republican-controlled House and Senate. Jacobs, in a rally with USAID supporters, urged them to contact their Congressional representatives. She notes that numerous Republicans have historically supported USAID.
Jacobs highlights her career working to reform and support USAID, noting that if the U.S. eliminates the international aid agency, it will be “a death sentence for millions of people.”
On social media, Jacobs has posted, “Freezing U.S. foreign assistance means people will starve, babies will die, and poverty will skyrocket. Millions of Sudanese children are starving – and President Trump just cut off their live-saving support...Eliminating USAID means no more food for millions of Sudanese refugees who’ve fled a civil war, no more medical care for displaced Palestinians, no more HIV treatment on the African continent, and more.”
The Trump administration has accused USAID of “wasting massive sums of taxpayer money” and highlighted 12 projects as examples found by DOGE, but many of those claims have been debunked.
U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols, in his February 2025 order blocking the Trump administration from placing certain USAID employees on leave, stated that "despite Trump's claim of massive 'corruption and fraud' in the agency, government lawyers had no support for that argument in court,” Politico reports.
Jacobs concludes, “There’s a lot of disinformation about USAID grants – both their recipients and what they actually do. Does there need to be some reform? Yes. But Republicans’ cherry-picking of grants and data misrepresents ALL the good work that USAID has done.”
By Fernanda Lopez Halvorson, County of San Diego Communications Office
February 11, 2025 (San Diego) -- County public health officials are reminding everyone, particularly families with children and teenagers, that it is not too late to get the flu vaccine.
This flu season, which is between fall and winter, three teenagers have died from the flu. None were vaccinated.
“These recent flu deaths among our youth are tragic and concerning as we head into what historically is the peak of flu season,” said Dr. Ankita Kadakia, Interim Public Health Officer. “The flu vaccine is the best protection against getting seriously sick and preventing death. This has been a particularly long and difficult flu season compared to recent years and it’s not over yet. I highly encourage the flu vaccine, it’s not too late.”
In San Diego County, nearly 80 percent of 5- to 17-year-olds have not received this flu season’s vaccine.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends that everyone 6 months and older get a flu shot yearly since the components of the vaccine change year to year to match the circulating strains.
The influenza vaccine is available at doctors’ offices and retail pharmacies and is covered by medical insurance. People with no health care coverage can get vaccinated at one of the County’s six public health centers or a local community clinic. To find the nearest location, visit the County’s Flu Vaccine Locations page, myturn.ca.gov, or call 2-1-1 San Diego.
In addition to getting vaccinated, people should also do the following to avoid getting sick:
- Wash hands thoroughly and often
- Use hand sanitizers, if unable to wash hands
- Stay away from sick people
- Avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth
- Clean commonly touched surfaces
- If you are sick, stay home and avoid contact with others
County Health and Human Services Agency publishes the Respiratory Viruses Surveillance report, which tracks key flu, COVID-19, and RSV indicators and summarizes respiratory virus surveillance in the region.
In total, there have been 73 people who have died from the flu this flu season. Most were people 50 years and older.
East County News Service
February 11, 2025 (Rancho San Diego) – A head-on collision in Rancho San Diego has left two people dead and three others injured. The deadly crash occurred on February 7 around 8:25 p.m.
An El Cajon man, 26, was driving a 2022 BMW M3 eastbound on Willow Glen Drive east of Murfield Drive when for unknown reasons, the vehicle crossed over the solid, double-yellow lines. It struck the front of a BMW 330i traveling westbound. A Toyota Tacoma also traveling westbound was unable to avoid the other two vehicles and collided into both, causing the Toyota to overturn.
The BMW 330i’s driver and passenger were both pronounced dead at the scene by medical personnel. The driver, 48, and passenger, 32, were both men from El Cajon.
The driver of the BMW M3 sustained major injuries and was transported to Sharp Memorial Hospital.
The driver of the Toyota, 31, and his passenger, a 30-year-old man, sustained minor injuries. Both are from El Cajon.
“This is an ongoing investigation; it is unknown at this time if drugs and/or alcohol were a factor in the crash,” says Officer Jasmine Lopez with the California Highway Patrol.
East County News Service
February 11, 2025 (La Mesa) – Two La Mesa residents, ages 79 and 77, have died as the result of a four-car accident that occurred last night around 7:18 p.m. on Interstate 8 east, just east of 70th Street in La Mesa. They were the driver and passenger in a 2004 Toyota.
According to the California Highway Patrol, the Toyota was traveling at a slow rate of speed or stopped in the #3 lane. It was struck from behind by a 2016 Dodge driven by a San Diego woman, 34, with a 4-year-old passenger.
A 2017 Kia driven by an El Cajon woman, 63, was unable to avoid the crash and struck the Dodge from behind. Flying debris caused damage to a fourth vehicle, a 2017 Mercedes driven by an El Cajon man,30.
The senior man driving the Toyota was pronounced dead at the scene by medical personnel. His passenger was transported to Sharp Memorial Hospital, where she died of her injuries.
The driver and passenger of the Dodge were transported to Sharp Grossmont Hospital for precautionary reasons. The driver of the Kia sustained minor injuries. The driver of the Mercedes sustained no injuries.
This is an ongoing investigation; it is unknown at this time if drugs and/or alcohol were a factor in the crash, according to Officer Jasmine Lopez.
This story was originally published by ProPublica.
By Jodi S. Cohen and Jennifer Smith Richards, ProPublica
ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up to receive our biggest stories as soon as they’re published.
February 11, 2025 (Washington, D.C.) - The Trump administration has terminated more than $900 million in Education Department contracts, taking away a key source of data on the quality and performance of the nation’s schools.
The cuts were made at the behest of Elon Musk’s cost-cutting crew, the Department of Government Efficiency, and were disclosed on X, the social media platform Musk owns, shortly after ProPublica posed questions to U.S. Department of Education staff about the decision to decimate the agency’s research and statistics arm, the Institute of Education Sciences.
A spokesperson for the department, Madi Biedermann, said that the standardized test known as the nation’s report card, the National Assessment of Educational Progress, would not be affected. Neither would the College Scorecard, which allows people to search for and compare information about colleges, she said.
IES is one of the country’s largest funders of education research, and the slashing of contracts could mean a significant loss of public knowledge about schools. The institute maintains a massive database of education statistics and contracts with scientists and education companies to compile and make data public about schools each year, such as information about school crime and safety and high school science course completion.
Its total annual budget is about $815 million, or roughly 1% of the Education Department’s overall budget of $82 billion this fiscal year. The $900 million in contracts the department is canceling includes multiyear agreements.
The vast trove of data represents much of what we know about the state of America’s roughly 130,000 schools, and without a national repository of data and statistics, it will be harder for parents and educators to track schools or compare the achievement of students across states.
There’s been a federal education statistics agency since 1867, though the current iteration was established in 2002 under President George W. Bush. Congress sets aside funding for the institute’s work.
Biedermann, the Education Department’s deputy assistant secretary for communications, told ProPublica she could not provide details about the canceled contracts, saying that “my understanding is we don’t release specific information.”
But she said there were 90 contracts that had been identified as “waste, fraud and abuse.” She said canceling them was “in line with the department’s goal of making sure it is focused on meaningful learning” and to “make sure taxpayer funds are used appropriately.”
She directed a reporter to the DOGE account on X for more details.
DOGE wrote in a post: “Also today, the Department Of Education terminated 89 contracts worth $881mm. One contractor was paid $1.5mm to ‘observe mailing and clerical operations’ at a mail center.”
The Trump administration has repeatedly expressed a desire to “return” responsibility for schools to the states, although state and local governments already control the largest share of funding for education. There’s no national curriculum; states and districts decide what to teach and dictate their own policies.
The American Institutes for Research, a nonprofit that conducts research in education and other areas, said Monday that it had received termination notices for multiple contracts that are underway, and that canceling them early would be a poor financial decision.
“This is an incredible waste of taxpayer dollars, which have been invested — per Congressional appropriations and many according to specific legislation — in long-standing data collection and analysis efforts, and policy and program evaluations,” spokesperson Dana Tofig said in an email. The nonprofit has contracted with the department for years.
Schools and districts across the country rely on research from the IES and contractors such as the American Institutes for Research to guide best practices in classrooms.
“These investments inform the entire education system at all levels about the condition of education and the distribution of students, teachers, and resources in school districts across America,” Tofig said.
“If the purpose of such cuts is to make sure taxpayer dollars are not wasted, and used well, the evaluation and data work that has been terminated is exactly the work that determines which programs are effective uses of federal dollars, and which are not.”
Sen. Patty Murray, a Washington Democrat, blasted the contract terminations at IES. “An unelected billionaire is now bulldozing the research arm of the Department of Education — taking a wrecking ball to high-quality research and basic data we need to improve our public schools,” she said in a statement. “Cutting off these investments after the contract has already been inked is the definition of wasteful.”
We are continuing to report on the U.S. Department of Education. Are you a former or current Education Department employee? Are you a student or school employee impacted by changes at the department? You can reach our tip line on Signal at 917-512-0201. Please be as specific, detailed and clear as you can.
By Gig Conaughton, County of San Diego Communications Office
February 10, 2025 (San Diego) - With the National Weather Service predicting the first heavy rains across San Diego County this week, the County and CAL FIRE are offering advice and free sandbags to residents and businesses in the unincorporated areas.
To date, San Diego County’s winter has been relatively dry but that is expected to change this week with potentially heavy rains.
County emergency services and public works road crews say people should stay alert and take precautions and drive carefully on the roads and offered the following tips:
Be Careful on the Roads
Avoid driving in heavy rain conditions but if the trip is necessary:
- Slow down to avoid getting into an accident. It takes longer to stop when roads are wet. Allow yourself at least an extra 15 minutes or so to arrive at your destination to adjust for slower traffic.
- Turn on your headlights to see better and make it easier for other drivers to see you. It’s the law.
- Try to drive toward the middle lanes as water tends to gather in outside lanes.
- Defog your windows for better visibility. Rain can cause windows to fog up. Along the same lines, check your windshield wipers preferably before it rains again and replace them as needed.
- Avoid driving through deep water because it can affect your brakes. If you cannot avoid it, test your brakes afterward to make sure they’ve dried out and are working properly.
- Turn around, don’t drown. In heavy rains, never drive through a flooded roadway if you cannot see the pavement. Even a few inches of water running at the right velocity can sweep a car, and even a truck, and its occupants off the roadway and downstream. You should not walk or swim across a flooded roadway either.
- Give the cars in front of you extra distance. The spray from their vehicles — particularly from larger trucks and buses — can hamper your vision. And giving extra space to the guy in front of you also gives you more time to brake or adjust if you need to do so.
- Keep calm, don’t oversteer or stomp on the brakes if you start to hydroplane or skid when your tires lose traction with the wet road. The Department of Motor Vehicles says keep the steering wheel straight and take your foot off the accelerator so your vehicle can slow down slowly.
- Stay focused. Remember, it’s illegal, and dangerous, to try to text or use a hand-held cell phone when you’re driving.
- Slow down for the cone zone if you see highway or road workers ahead or to your side. Watch out for public works crews and equipment.
- As they have in the past, the County and CAL FIRE are providing free bags and/or sand at numerous fire stations for people who live in the unincorporated areas.
Rain can cause flooding and erosion, particularly in areas that are not covered by plants, landscaping, grass and trees. Rain runoff can sweep topsoil, mud, plant material and debris off land and downstream where it can damage homes, clog culverts and storm drains, and flood and damage roadways.
Sand and bags, or bags alone, will be available for unincorporated residents at the fire stations located below.
People should call ahead to double-check availability and remember to bring a shovel to fill the bags. Some stations may have a limited supply.
Sand and bags
- Bonita: Bonita-Sunnyside Fire Station #38: 4900 Bonita Road, Bonita, CA 91902, P: 619-479-2346
- Boulevard: Boulevard Fire Station #47: 40080 Ribbonwood Road, Boulevard, CA 91905, P: 619-390-2020
- De Luz: De Luz Fire Station #16: 39431 De Luz Road, Fallbrook, CA 92028 P: 760-728-2422
- Dulzura: Dulzura Fire Station #30: 17304 Highway 94, Dulzura, CA 91917, P: 619-468-3391
- Fallbrook: Pala Mesa Fire Station #4, 4375 Pala Mesa Drive, Fallbrook, CA 92028, P: 760-723-2005
- Palomar Mountain: Palomar Mountain Fire Station #79, 21610 Crestline Road, Palomar Mtn., CA 92060, P: 760-742-3701
- Potrero: Potrero Fire Station #31 25130 Highway 94, Potrero, CA 91963 P: 619-478-5544
- Ramona: Ramona Fire Station #81, 24462 San Vicente Road, Ramona, CA 92065 P: 760-789-9465
- Ramona: Ramona Fire Station #82, 3410 Dye Road, Ramona, CA 92065, P: 760-789-0107
- Rincon: Rincon Fire Station #70: 16971 Highway 76, Pauma Valley, CA 92061, P: 760-742-3243
- Valley Center: Valley Center Fire Station #2, 28205 N. Lake Wohlford Road, Valley Center, CA 92082, P: 760-751-7605
- Warner Springs: Sunshine Summit Fire Station #59, 35227 Highway 79, Warner Springs, CA 92086, P: 760-782-9113
Bags only
- Alpine: Alpine Fire Station #17 1364 Tavern Road Alpine, CA 91901 P: 619-445-2635
- Borrego Springs: Ocotillo Wells Fire Station #61 5841 Highway 78, Borrego Springs, CA 92004 P: 760-767-7430
- Borrego Springs: Borrego Springs Station #60, 2324 Stirrup Road, Borrego Springs, CA 92004, P: 760-767-5436
- Campo: Campo Fire Station #40 31577 Highway 94, Campo, CA 91906 P: 619-478-5516
- Campo: Lake Morena Fire Station #42 29690 Oak Drive, Campo, CA 91906 P: 619-478-5960
- Descanso: Descanso Fire Station #45 24592 Viejas Grade Road, Descanso, CA 91916 P: 619-445-7508
- El Cajon: Harbison Canyon Fire Station #24 551 Harbison Canyon Road, El Cajon, CA 92019 P: 619-445-5001
- Escondido: Deer Springs Fire Station #11 8709 Circle R Drive, Escondido, CA 92026 P: 760-749-8001
- Escondido: Miller Fire Station #15 9127 W. Lilac Road, Escondido, CA 92025 P: 760-728-8532
- Flinn Springs: Flinn Springs Fire Station#21 9711 Flynn Springs Road, El Cajon, CA 92021 P: 619-443-7121
- Jacumba: Jacumba Fire Station #43 1255 Jacumba St., Jacumba, CA 91934 P: 619-766-4535
- Jamul: Jamul Fire Station #36 14024 Peaceful Valley Ranch, Jamul, CA 91935 P: 619-669-6580
- Jamul: Deerhorn Fire Station #37 2383 Honeysprings Road, Jamul, CA 91935 P: 619-468-3030
- Julian: Julian-Cuyamaca: Fire Station #56, 3407 Hwy 79, Julian, CA 92036, P: 760-765-2885
- Julian: Shelter Valley Fire Station #62, 7260 Great Southern Overland, Julian, CA 92036 P: 760-765-0155
- Laguna: Mt. Laguna Fire Station #49 33947 Mt. Laguna Drive, Mt Laguna, CA 91948 P: 619-473-8281
- Mount Woodson: Mount Woodson Fire Station #86 16310 State Highway 67, Ramona, CA 92065 P: 760-789-1150
- Pine Valley: Pine Valley Fire Station #44 28850 Old Highway 80, Pine Valley, CA 91962 P: 619-578-6621
- Ranchita: Ranchita Fire Station #58 37370 Montezuma Valley Road, Ranchita, CA 92066 P: 760-782-3467
- Ramona: Intermountain Fire Station #85, 25858 Highway 78, Ramona, CA 92065 P: 760-789-3710
- San Pasqual: San Pasqual Fire Station #84 17701 San Pasqual Valley Road, Escondido, CA 92025 P: 760-480-9924
- Warner Springs: Warner Springs Fire Station #52 31049 Highway 79, Warner Springs, CA 92086 P: 760-782-3560
Residents are encouraged to visit AlertSanDiego.org for information on what to do during an emergency.
You may also want to check out this how-to video, “You’ve Got Your Sandbags, Now What?” that explains how to properly fill and use sandbags to protect your property.
Major funding for schools nationwide is at stake
By G.A. McNeeley
February 10, 2025 (Washington D.C.) – The Trump administration has begun drafting an executive order that would begin the process of eliminating the Department of Education, CNN reports. This order would instruct the Secretary of Education to create a plan to diminish the department through executive action. Since Congressional approval is required to eliminate any agency created by Congressional action, Trump also plans to push Congress to pass legislation that would abolish the department.
In an Oval Office press briefing, Trump stated, “I believe strongly in school choice, but in addition to that, I want the states to run schools.” He added that he wants his Secretary of Education nominee Linda McMahon to “put herself out of a job.”
Potential Impacts: State and National
The prospect of dismantling the Department of Education has led to questions and fears over potential chaos over how key responsibilities and billions in federal funding — including handling federal financial aid, grants for disadvantaged students and civil rights enforcement — would be affected.
First, many Department of Education programs carry out mandates explicitly created by Congress that just can’t be abolished by executive fiat. And second, some of these functions, and the existence of a federal department focused on education, are very popular, even among Republicans.
The Department of Education also has authority over financial lifelines that so many campuses and students rely on. The department’s K-12 programs serve more than 50 million students attending 130,000 public and private schools; federal grant, student loans, and work-study assistance benefits more than 13 million post-secondary students
California has a massive stake in how the department is run. The state receives more than $2.1 billion in Title I grants to counteract the effects of poverty — more than any other state — with $417 million provided to Los Angeles Unified, the nation’s second-largest school system, according to the California Department of Education.
More than 200,000 low-income students in the California State University system, the largest and most diverse four-year higher education system in the nation, annually rely on $1 billion in federal Pell grants to afford college. At the University of California, more than 80,000 undergraduate students received about $454 million in Pell Grants in the 2023-2024 academic year.
Support and Opposition
Becky Pringle, President of the National Education Association, said, “If it became a reality, Trump’s power grab would steal resources for our most vulnerable students, explode class sizes, cut job training programs, make higher education more expensive and out of reach for middle class families, take away special education services for students with disabilities, and gut student civil rights protections. Americans did not vote for, and do not support, ending the federal government’s commitment to ensuring equal educational opportunities for every child.”
Tony Thurmond, the California State Superintendent of Public Instruction, said on X (formerly Twitter), “While the Trump Education Department no longer protects students from discrimination, California law is unchanged. My office remains committed to defending the rights of all California students.”
Liz Sanders, a California Department of Education spokesperson, said, “We are incredibly concerned about what seems to be a thoughtless approach to changing essential federal programs that support our kids every day and support our most vulnerable kids every day. We’re talking about essential academic support services. We want to make sure that these services are able to have a level of continuity for our educators and our families and our students. Simply a one-sentence hatchet job is not how we should make changes that impact our kids.”
Michael Petrilli, president of the right-leaning Thomas B. Fordham Institute think tank, said, “It would take an act of Congress to dismantle the department and Republicans simply do not have the votes, let alone the fact that it would be an unpopular move in many Republican districts.” He also said that closing down the department was “pretty hypothetical.”
Rick Hess, a senior fellow and director of education policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute, said it was “perfectly reasonable” to abolish the department, or at least downsize it, because of what he called wasteful spending, political biases toward teacher unions and misplaced responsibilities.
Hess and Petrilli have questioned why educational bureaucrats should manage a trillion-dollar student loan portfolio rather than financial experts in the Treasury Department — a shift advocated by Project 2025, the conservative policy playbook written in part by many members of the first Trump administration.
Educational Ranking
Trump lamented US educational performance and cost. “We spend more per pupil than any other country in the world, and we’re ranked at the bottom of the list.”
As of 2023, the annual Best Countries Report ranked the United States, on the basis of education rankings, at the top. Ironically, despite the United States having the best-surveyed education system on the globe, U.S. students consistently score lower in math and science than students from other countries. A Business Insider report in 2018, ranked the U.S. 38th in math scores and 24th in science, out of 195 recognized countries.
Can Trump’s plans succeed?
While calls to abolish the Department of Education aren’t new, the move has historically failed to get support from Congress.
In 2023, 60 Republicans joined 205 Democrats in voting against an amendment that would have expressed Congressional support for ending the authority of the Department of Education to administer K-12 programs. The amendment failed.
But, cuts and changes are being made already via executive action, and more could occur once a Secretary of Education is confirmed. Dozens of employees at the Education Department were placed on paid administrative leave Friday as part of the Trump administration’s larger effort to rid the federal workforce of employees associated with diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility efforts.
“We will drain the government education swamp and stop the abuse of your taxpayer dollars to indoctrinate America’s youth with all sorts of things that you don’t want to have our youth hearing,” said Trump, who has targeted programs such as diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) and critical race theory.
But public opinion may play a role. A recent Wall Street Journal poll showed 61 percent of Americans oppose plans to eliminate the Department of Education. And a bipartisan November 2024 survey showed rank-and-file Republicans opposing this idea by a two-to-one margin.
Even if Donald Trump, Elon Musk and Christian Nationalists want to kill the Department of Education, many Democrats, Republican members of Congress from swing districts, and Americans in general may feel otherwise. Trump’s effort to eliminate the Department of Education will prove to be a key test for Republicans in Congress, to determine whether they will choose loyalty to Trump when their constituents learn of the effort, even if most are opposed.
Sources:
https://nymag.com/intelligencer/article/trump-plan-kill-education-department-may-fail.html.
https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/education-rankings-by-country.