READER’S EDITORIAL: DENALI NAME SHOULD BE RESTORED

Former national park worker speaks out on Trump renaming tallest U.S. peak

By Walt Meyer

March 2, 2025 (San Diego) -- Because I worked in Denali National Park during the summer of 2024, lately people have asked me about the naming of Mount McKinley. I talked about this in one of the lectures I gave at the Denali Education Center.

ARREST MADE FOR SUSPECTED ARSON IN PALA AND LILAC FIRES

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.

TRUMP ADMINISTRATION HALTS FEMA PAYMENTS TO SAN DIEGO COUNTY, ALONG WITH HOUSING FUNDS AND HEALTH DATA

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:

NATURE DAY ON MT. HELIX MARCH 15

East County News Service

March 1, 2025 (Mt. Helix) --  Mt. Helix Park invites you to Nature Day atop Mt. Helix on March 15 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

This event will feature live animals, a butterfly release, booths from over 30 nature organizations, activities, crafts and a native plant sale.

DESTINATION EAST COUNTY: MERRY MARCH EVENTS

By Miriam Raftery

February 27, 2025 (San Diego’s East County) – March brings some merry events including farm tours, a stargazing party, live music concerts, a Spring Fling business expo, Tomatomania at the Water Conservation Garden, Daffodil Days in Julian, St. Patrick’s Day festivities, Nature Day atop Mt. Helix, a Pirates of Penzance production at Grossmont College, a desert homes tour, and the Price is Right game show at Sycuan.

Scroll down for these events and more, all in San Diego’s East County.

SANTEE FUNDS TEMPORARY FIRE STATION, SETS NEW PLAN FOR TOWN CENTER

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.

READER’S EDITORIAL: AMERICA IN RETREAT, AN APPALLING DISPLAY

By Mel Gurtov

March 1, 2025 (Washington D.C.) -- Imagine that during World War II, at the height of Nazi Germany’s blitz of Britain, President Roosevelt invited PM Winston Churchill to Washington and humiliated him with derisive comments about Britain’s looming defeat and failure to thank the President for US support. Unthinkable, of course, but that’s exactly what happened when Ukraine’s President Volodymir Zelensky visited Washington and had to endure Donald Trump’s appalling interrogation.