San Diego

March 21, 2025 (San Diego’s East County) -- East County Roundup highlights top stories of interest to East County and San Diego's inland regions, published in other media.  This week's round-up stories include:

LOCAL

• Issa Sues State, Saying Counting Mail-in Ballots After Election Day Violates Law (Times of San Diego)
• Supervisor pushing for notice to residents as federal funding in question (City News Service)
• Marni von Wilpert Announces Candidacy For State Senate in District 40 (Times of San Diego)
• Quiz: Where do the candidates for county supervisor in District 1 stand on the issues that matter to you? (KPBS)
• El Cajon-based raw cat food recalled after 2 pets sickened: Here's which products are affected (CBS)
• Fire destroys family-owned McDonald's restaurant in Spring Valley (KGTV)
• Imperial Beach mayor's EPA superfund request for Tijuana sewage denied (KGTV)

STATE

• California joins 19 Democratic states in suit to stop massive Education Department layoffs (Los Angeles Times)
• California’s Medi-Cal shortfall hits $6.2 billion with ‘unprecedented’ cost increases (KPBS)
• SoCal Edison investigating ‘zombie’ power line as possible start of Eaton Fire (KTLA)
• California has 30 new proposals to rein in AI. Trump could complicate them (Cal Matters)
• Gavin Newsom shocks LGBTQ allies with criticism of transgender athletes (Cal Matters)

For excerpts and links to full stories, click “read more” and scroll down.

February 13, 2025 (San Diego’s East County) -- East County Roundup highlights top stories of interest to East County and San Diego's inland regions, published in other media.  This week's round-up stories include:

LOCAL

• After D.C jet crash, a closer look at San Diego air traffic controller numbers (10 News)
• Investigation continues into military fighter jet crash in San Diego Bay (10 News)
• How getting rid of the Dept. of Education would impact San Diego schools (10 News)
• Jewish Family Service of San Diego announces potential layoffs of its migrant shelter workers   (NBC 7)
• Expecting budget shortfall, Lawson-Remer wants 'no stones unturned' on plans to raise revenue  (KPBS)
• How a Poway City Councilman earned the city’s first-ever censure (Voice of San Diego)
• Residents shocked to learn hundreds of ADUs proposed in Encanto (NBC)
• Friends clash in county special election (La Prensa)
• Peaceful immigrant rights protest turned 'unlawful' in National City  (10 News)

STATE

• CA Wildfire Recovery: Want To Help? These Charities Are Verified. (Patch.com)
• Feds won’t test soil after L.A. wildfire cleanup, potentially leaving contamination behind   (Los Angeles Times)
• Trump suggests getting rid of FEMA, conditioning federal aid for California (10 News)
• Massive Salton Sea lithium project gets judge’s go-ahead, ending advocates’ lawsuit (KPBS)
• The water unexpectedly released from dams on Trump's order didn't help farms or L.A. (MSN)

For excerpts and links to full stories, click “read more” and scroll down.

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)

January 30, 2025 (San Diego’s East County) -- East County Roundup highlights top stories of interest to East County and San Diego's inland regions, published in other media.  This week's round-up stories include:

LOCAL

• Local businesses and nonprofits feeling the impact of federal immigration operations (KPBS)
• San Diego Fire Rescue Department tries out new fire prevention product (KPBS)
• Measuring the potential impact of mass deportations in San Diego  (KPBS)
• How San Diego's 1978 plane crash led to technology included in DC crash investigation (10 News)
• San Diego Council Bashes County Water Authority Over Costs (Voice of SD)
• Ukrainian volunteers from San Diego bring comfort and cuisine to LA fire victims (10 News)
• Despite uncertainty, Comic-Con to remain in San Diego through 2027  (KPBS)
• SDSU plans 7 new dorm towers to house nearly 4,500 more students on campus (KPBS)
• Survey of South Bay households find majority report health issues from sewage (KPBS)
• Oversupply and regulations hit San Diego cannabis revenue amid budget crisis (CBS8)
• Amtrak boosts LA-SD service on Pacific Surfliner (CBS)

STATE

• Trump's California water claim denied by state: "The military did not enter California." (MSN)
• Co-founder of life-saving Watch Duty App awarded for heroism in SoCal fires (KTLA)
• Trump says he wants voter ID laws as condition for wildfire aid for California (ABC)
• Fact check: What really happened with the Pacific Palisades water hydrants? (LAist)
• Cheat sheet: A very short guide for how to leave your house if you need to evacuate (LAist)
• Newsom orders investigation into dry fire hydrants that hampered firefighting in L.A.  (Los Angeles Times)
• Calif. Republicans weigh in on Trump allies’ calls for fire aid conditions (Washington Post)

For excerpts and links to full stories, click “read more” and scroll down.

By Miriam Raftery

Photo: screenshot of aerial video by ECM news partner 10 News shows military troops with razor wire at a staging site in the South Bay, as troops prepare to deploy to fortify U.S. - Mexico Border and aid in Trump crackdown on border crossings.

January 26, 2025 (San Diego) – A tough crackdown on immigrants has begun, after President Donald Trump declared a national emergency at the Southern Border. On Thursday, 1,500 active-duty military troops have been deployed to patrol the borders in San Diego and San Antonio, Texas, with the first soldiers arriving Thursday. 10 News shot footage showing troops, including hundreds from Camp Pendleton, arriving at staging area in Imperial Beach along with concertina razor wire, tents, and military trucks.

Yet according to Associated Press, data doesn’t back up Trump’s contention of an “invasion” of immigrants.  In fact,  AP reports, “arrests for illegal border crossings plummeted more than 80% to about 47,000 in December from an all-time high of 250,000 the same period a year earlier. Arrests fell by about half when Mexican authorities increased enforcement within their own borders a year ago and by about half again when former President Joe Biden introduced severe asylum restrictions in June.”

Immigration sweeps have also begun across the nation, striking fear into immigrant communities as Border Patrol agents in some areas reportedly demanded documentation of everyone stopped, including citizens. Tom Homan, Trump’s border czar, told Fox News that ICE arrested over 308 “serious criminals” in the first 24 hours after Trump took office.

One day later, Newsweek reports, Trump’s Acting Secretary of Homeland Security  Benjamine Huffman lifted a long-standing ban, now allowing ICE to target immigrants in sensitive locations including schools, churches and hospitals.

In addition to fortifying the border to block crossings by migrants, including many seeking asylum and fleeing violence or persecution, Trump's administration has disabled the app which formerly allowed asylum-seekers to apply online without crossing the border, effectively blocking all asylum efforts, NPR reports. 

Impact has left refugee aid groups locally and nationally in shock

By Miriam Raftery

Photo via Pentagon:  Troops evacuating Afghans after fall of Kabul

January 26, 2025 (San Diego) – Following an executive order issued by Donald Trump to suspend refugee resettlement,  the Trump administration has cancelled all flights for over 10,000 refugees already approved to resettle in the United States. According to Associated Press. This includes over 1,660 Afghans who helped America’s military as well as relatives of active-duty U.S. military personnel, Reuters reports.

The impacts hit hard in San Diego County, which in recent years has resettled more refugees from around the world than any other county in the U.S. including refugees from Africa, Asia, war-torn Middle-Eastern countries such as Iraq and Syria, Ukraine and other European nations, Haitian refugees fleeing natural disasters, and many more.

“This executive order is a step backwards for America,” the International Rescue Committee states on its website, urging the Trump administration to reverse the order. 

The Trump administration has taken down entirely the State Department's page on the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program.

East County News Service

Photos courtesy of U.S. Customs and Border Patrol

January 25, 2025 (Jacumba Hot Springs, CA) – Two hikers in the Jacumba Wilderness were robbed and attacked, with one man shot by “suspected Mexican cartel terrorists,” according to a press release issued by U.S. Customs and Border Patrol.

According to the CPB, agents from the El Centro sector were dispatched following a 911 call reporting that a man had been shot and needed assistance. The agents found  a group of hikers about 1,000 feet north of the international border in the Jacumba Wilderness, which is near the San Diego County and Imperial County line. The hikers reportedly stated that two of the hikers, an American and a Canadian, were ordered by armed men to approach.

When the hikers refused, “the assailants fired a volley of shots toward the hikers, striking one victim in the leg. The assailants advanced on the downed hiker and his Canadian companion, robbing them of their cell phones and backpacks,” the release states.

January 8, 2025 (San Diego’s East County) -- East County Roundup highlights top stories of interest to East County and San Diego's inland regions, published in other media.  This week's round-up stories include:

LOCAL

• Man sentenced 35 years to life for sex offenses with teen at El Cajon motel (10 News)
• Scripps Health Now Out-of-Network for Anthem Blue Cross Policyholders (Times of San Diego)
• Judge rules Humane Society should not send domesticated cats back outside (KPBS)
• La Mesa man saves passenger of burning car crash in his front yard (10 News)
• Nathan Fletcher’s Accuser Drops Sexual Assault Claim — for Now (Voice of San Diego)
• Spring Valley man faces federal charges over El Cajon bank robbery (10 News)
• Parents sue Grossmont hospital alleging negligence in death of 4-year-old son (San Diego Union-Tribune)

STATE

• Hundreds of new laws in California take effect this year. Here's what to know for 2025. (CBS 8)
• Minimum car insurance coverage requirements are going up in California (KPBS)
• 2 dead and more than 1,000 homes, businesses, other buildings destroyed in fires (Los Angeles Times)
• California 2025: The Next Wave of New Employer Compliance Obligations Is About to Hit (National Law Review)

For excerpts and links to full stories, click “read more” and scroll down.

McElroy speaks out against mass deportations as "incompatible with Catholic doctrine" in first appearance as Archbishop

By Miriam Raftery

Photo of Cardinal McElroy by Chris Stone, Times of San Diego

January 8, 2025 (San Diego) – Pope Francis on Monday named San Diego’s Cardinal Robert McElroy has the new Archbishop of Washington D.C., where is expected to provide a strong moral voice opposing some policies of the incoming Trump administration.

McElroy was appointed by Pope Francis to serve as Bishop in San Diego in 2015 and in 2022 was elevated to Cardinal. He replaces retiring Cardinal Wilton Gregory,77, as Archbishop in the district that includes the nation’s capitol and is home to more than 667,000 Catholics.

Archbishop McElroy, in an online press conference Monday, acknowledged that each nation has a right to control its borders, but he denounced Trump’s call for mass deportation of immigrations.  “We are called always to have a sense of the dignity of every human person, and thus plans which have been talked about...of having a wider indiscriminate massive deportation across the country would be something that would be incompatible with Catholic doctrine.”