Mary England and George Gastil sound off in arguments for and against measure

By Miriam Raftery

September 26, 2019 (Lemon Grove) – Advocates of a ballot measure proposing a three-quarters of a cent sales tax increase argue that the measure will sweeten Lemon Grove, shoring up a structural budget deficit to fund city services wanted by residents, such as parks, road repairs, and improving public safety. 

But former Lemon Grove Councilwoman Mary England, also president of the Chamber of Commerce in neighboring La Mesa, is sour on the idea.

Both England, who opposes the ballot measure dubbed the “Lemon Grove Security Petition,” and former Councilman George Gastil, a leader of the citizens’ group advocating for the petition, agree that the city has had a structural deficit for years, with a budget that’s nearly entirely consumed by rising police and fire protection services.  But they disagree sharply on solutions.

By Jonathan Goetz 

Signature drive not on track to meet end of September deadline to make it on the ballot without massive last-minute influx of signature gatherers

September 15, 2019 (Lemon Grove) – Firefighters led volunteers who spread out through Lemon Grove yesterday to collect signatures on a ballot measure that would bring Lemon Grove's sales tax on par with La Mesa, raising it by ¾  a cent. The measure, if approved, which would nearly double the amount the City receives as its share of the sales tax.

By Helen Ofield

September 13, 2019 (Lemon Grove) -- The Lemon Grove Historical Society will celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Parsonage Museum on Sept. 21 from 2 - 4:30 p.m. in Civic Center Park between Main and Olive Streets, Lemon Grove. 

By Miriam Raftery

Roger Coppock contributed to this story

September 8, 2019 (San Diego’s East County) -- Extreme heat is poised to rise steeply in frequency and severity over the coming decades, bringing unprecedented health risks for people and communities across the country. That’s the disturbing finding of the Union of Concerned Scientists in a just-issued report titled Killer Heat in the United States: Climate Choices and the Future of Dangerously Hot Days.

East County News Service

August 20, 2019 (Lemon Grove) – The Lemon Grove Improvement Council invites you to a community cleanup on Saturday, August 31 from 8:30 to 11:30 a.m. at the Lemon Grove Community Center. 

Volunteers wishing to take pride in their community are needed to remove graffiti, clean up trash, and make the area look and feel better. Participants are encouraged to bring a team of friends, family, coworkers, or colleagues from school, church, clubs or athletic teams.

Board President Dan McMillan votes against the measure

By Paul Kruze, Contributing Editor

August 17, 2019 (La Mesa) -- Water from the Helix Water District (HWD), which serves some 276,000 residents throughout East County San Diego, is going to get a little more expensive in spite of ample water supply in storage.

By Helen Ofield, Lemon Grove Historical Society

August 15, 2019 (Lemon Grove) -- The Lemon Grove Historical Society and the Lemon Grove Library will unveil Christy Hale's new, bilingual book, "Todos Iguales/All Equal," exploring the landmark 1931 desegregation case in Lemon Grove's lone grammar school. Written as an original corrida, the book is geared to all ages, but especially to youngsters.

East County News Service

August 1, 2019 (San Diego) -- National Night Out is an annual community-building campaign that promotes police-community partnerships and neighborhood camaraderie to make our neighborhoods safer. Millions of neighbors take part in National Night Out across thousands of communities from all fifty states, U.S. territories and military bases worldwide on the first Tuesday in August—including a dozen locations in San Diego County.

You can come meet deputies who patrol your neighborhoods, learn about services the Sheriff’s department provides, and get crime prevention safety tips. You can also explore Sheriff’s programs such as senior volunteers, home vacation checks, the You Are Not Alone program for homebound seniors and the disabled, and Jr. Explorers. Visitors may also meet McGruff “The Crime Dog” and view a Sheriff’s K-9 demo. The events also offer free food and drinks, giveaways and a bicycle raffle at some locations.

Click on one of the communities below for an event flyer at each of these Sheriff's stations and substations including several  East County locations:

By Miriam Raftery

Hear our interview at the audio link and scroll down for highlights.

July 28, 2019 (Lemon Grove) – East Count Magazine sat down last week for an interview with Warsan Artan.  Born in Nairobi, Kenya, after her parents fled civil war in Somalia, she came to Lemon Grove as a refugee at the age of 10. A decade later, she is the lead Youth Organizer at Youth Will, a nonprofit dedicated to making San Diego a world-class region for children and youth. Youth Will recently rolled out a Summer of Youth Power campaign with a series of events to help young people’s voices be heard.

Her goal to create a brand-new regional master plan for San Diego's children and youth. The organization also recently held the region’s first youth county budget forum with Supervisor Nathan Fletcher, created a youth bill of rights, hosted youth presidential debate watch parties, and more.

By Miriam Raftery

July 6, 2019 (San Diego’s East County) – Three nonprofit charter schools operating within the Grossmont Union High School District (GUHSD) have been ordered shut down by a judge, but now a stay issued has been ordered for one year until an appeal can be heard. 

The schools at risk of closure are Diego Valley East charter in El Cajon and San Diego Workforce Innovation High charter schools in Lakeside and Lemon Grove. 

By Miriam Raftery

June 22, 2019 (San Diego’s East County) – The city of San Diego ranked second worst in the nation for rent hikes on  a one-bedroom apartment in 2018, at 17% with an average rent of $2,300, according to Rent.com. By contrast, the national average rent increase nationwide was 2.69% and California averaged a 4.48% increase in rents on one bedroom apartments during the same time period.

Rents are also skyrocketing in East County, where some communities had double digit rent hikes from March 2018 through March 2019 for 1 BR units:

Lemon Grove +15.66%

La Mesa +10.63%

El Cajon + 5.04%

Santee, by contrast, had only a modest 1.25% increase.

Spring Valley, the only unincorporated community in San Diego County with enough inventory to provide statistically valid data, had a 9.6% increase.