Memoir by Stu Stall
Reviewed by Pennell Paugh
April 1, 2025 (San Diego) -- Stu Stall, a life-long resident of Coronado, has released a second memoir -- Dark Side: True Stories from a Teenage Pot Smuggler.
Residential customers will receive the first two installments of bill credits this month; electric and gas-bill credits total more than $200 per household for 2025.
Source: SDG&E
March 31, 2025 (San Diego) - San Diego Gas & Electric® residential customers will get a break on their energy bill, thanks to the California Climate Credit administered by the California Public Utilities Commission as a result of the state’s effort to fight climate change. In April, residential electric customers and qualifying small businesses(link is external) will see a $81.38 credit on their statement. Residential customers with natural gas will also receive a $54.21 credit on the same statement.
East County News Service
East County News Service
March 30, 2025 (La Mesa) – Bright Star, a sweeping tale of love and redemption set against the rich backdrop of the Blue Ridge Mountains in the 1920s and ’40, takes stage at Lamplighters Theatre. The play opens April 18 and runs through May 19.
By G. A. McNeeley
Photo courtesy of Brian McNeeley
March 19, 2025 (Washington D.C.) — The Agriculture Department predicts egg prices could rise by more than 40%, on top of already steep price rises in 2024. While egg producers blame bird flu outbreaks, the Justice Department this month announced an investigation into whether egg producers might be sharing information and engaging in price gouging, ABC News reports.
President Donald Trump’s campaign platform including a pledge to bring down inflation including egg prices, but so far, prices continue to skyrocket. Now, the administration is offering its first details on its plan to fight avian flu and ease costs.
By Mike Allen
Photo by Scott Lagace: Santee firefighters saved the life of an unconscious woman during a July 2024 fire that engulfed her mobile home, also administering oxygen to save a cat.
March 14, 2025 (Santee) -- Santee knows it has to be better when it comes to providing fire protection to its residents, and after a sales tax-funded plan for new fire stations failed in November, its City Council made improving that essential service as its top priority.
In fairness, the Council was already focused on getting a couple of new stations to double the current number—two—to serve a population of more than 60,000.
It was building a temporary station off Olive Way where it formerly used to keep its maintenance operations, and was planning a new station in the north part of the city. Yet the Council was hoping the half-cent hike to local sales taxes would finance the improvements. Not so fast, said voters who rejected the plan.
At its March 12 meeting, the Council set building new fire stations—along with finding new ways to pay for them--as its No. 1 goal from a list of ten.
By Karen Pearlman
Photo via San Diego County Sheriff: Homeless encampment fire in Santee, February 2025
March 14, 2025 (San Diego’s East County) -- With an estimated one out of every five fires in San Diego County started in encampments where homeless individuals congregate, San Diego County Supervisor Joel Anderson has said enough is enough.
“Nobody has a right to burn my constituents’ homes down, whether they intend to or not,” Anderson said, two days after the Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to update the county’s Unsafe Camping Ordinance. It would apply to property that the county owns or leases and specified areas such as parks, open space and certain public works facilities.
At their meeting on Tuesday, March 11, the supervisors voted 4-0 to empower appropriate authorities “to ensure public safety and do more than just cite repeat offenders,” Anderson said. A final draft ordinance is expected to be presented by county staff to the board in about two months, when a final vote will take place.
East County News Service
Last week’s storms brought 6-10 inches of snow to our mountains with up to 1.5 inches in urban portions of our county. Now, multiple new storms are moving into the area, with rain now falling across the region and multiple atmospheric rivers soon to drench our region, with the heaviest rains Thursday, the National Weather Service predicts. A flood watch has been issued now through Thursday afternoon for San Diego’s inland and coastal areas, including cities such as La Mesa, Santee, Poway, and Escondido as well as San Diego. Excessive runoff may result in flooding of rivers, streams, and other low-lying and flood-prone locations.
Wednesday night through Thursday afternoon could bring rainfall rates of .5 to 0.75 inches per hour, with up to an inch per hour possible in lower mountain areas, along with thunderstorms. Two to three inches of snow are forecast at higher elevations locally. A winter storm warning will remain in effect from Wednesday afternoon through Friday morning.
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.
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.