El Cajon Stories
Membership: 300 Pastor: David Hazel Age: 47 Born: Los Angeles Formation: Point Loma Nazarene University, Point Loma; Nazarene Theological Seminary, Kansas City Years Ordained: 22 San Diego Reader: What’s your favorite subject on which to …
A city councilmember in El Cajon has proposed rescinding the controversial ordinance that prohibits people from giving food to the homeless in city parks. In a January 18 memo, councilmember Ben Kalasho said that as …
“I moved to San Diego from Philadelphia, and nothing really changed for me besides the weather,” says classically trained violinist Alex DePue. “I spilled out of the airplane with a suitcase and a fiddle and …
A group of El Cajon residents and business owners is accusing city officials of criminalizing commercial marijuana activity. El Cajon Residents for Responsible Governance filed a lawsuit in Superior Court over a newly adopted land-use …
A local imam, a city councilman, Iraqi-Americans, and their American friends protested child marriage Friday evening (November 17) in El Cajon. They gathered to speak out against a proposal in the Iraqi Parliament that would …
An act of civil disobedience ended peacefully on Sunday afternoon (November 19th), as dozens from across the county gathered at Wells Park in El Cajon to offer food to the homeless in defiance of a …
Membership: 100 families Pastor: David Madsen Age: 65 Born: La Junta, CO Formation: Cornerstone University, Grand Rapids, MI; General Theological Seminary, New York City; New York Theological Seminary, New York City Years ordained: 9 San …
New evidence links El Cajon city councilmember Ben Kalasho to false Facebook profiles used to slander his political opponents. The evidence was included in court filings in a case against Kalasho, reported by the Reader. …
I moved from Normal Heights to La Mesa in 1999, mostly because I wanted a yard for my kids. But also because an old woman was attacked across the street from my house on East …
The City of El Cajon has begun installing street signs discouraging local motorists from giving money to panhandlers. Announced Monday (October 9), the "Real change, not spare change" campaign "encourages the public to contribute in …
A pet-friendly bill hit the governor's desk on September 21. The bill (AB 1137) would mandate that new multi-family housing developments allow tenants to have pets if those developments receive financing through state programs. @media …
Cruising Main Street in El Cajon, I spotted a sign with both English and Arabic script reading Nahrain Fish And Chicken Grill. It's a small, sparsely decorated restaurant, and the first thing you're bound to …
“The plastic bag ban is the main reason for the hepatitis outbreak,” says the homeless man who writes the Homeless Survival Guide. “The hepatitis outbreak was completely predictable — it's why I left San Diego.” …
An El Cajon woman is one of 73 plaintiffs in a lawsuit filed in San Diego Superior Court against the Bayer Corporation. The major pharmaceutical company is being sued over their permanent contraceptive device, Essure. …
San Diego County's unemployment rate rose to 4.3 percent in June, up from a revised 3.6 percent in May. However, total non-farm jobs rose by 6400 during the month, and that is a more important …
Two local tax preparers and the recruiter who brought them victims were sentenced to 30 months in prison yesterday (June 19). Rahim Ali Cummings and Rashad Abdul-Rahim were sentenced for conspiring to commit mail fraud, …
The $2,000 oversized check Zhala Tawfiq received upon being crowned Miss Middle East was not a real check. The accompanying cosmetic procedures, sponsorships, wardrobe, and television auditions, that accompanied the check, were just as fake, …
In the past year, the 7-Eleven corporation — which now holds more than 20 percent of the beer and wine sales licenses in the county — has launched a push into at least five San …
Denomination: Pentecostal Membership: 400 Pastor: Marc Stevenson Age: 45 Born: Anaheim Formation: Christian Life College, Stockton; Urshan Seminary, St. Louis, MO. Years Ordained: 15 San Diego Reader: How long do you spend writing your sermon? …
“Being that it’s springtime in San Diego, it didn’t take long to figure out that it’s [cat] mating season,” said Anne Joseph, “thus the howling and the roaming behaviors.” Joseph, a yoga personal trainer, recently …
The Grossmont Union High School District is looking to put to rest two sexual abuse lawsuits filed by former students against a drama teacher at Granite Hills High School in El Cajon. On March 17 …
Community leaders in San Diego are continuing their quest to have a special prosecutor review the fatal September 2016 police shooting of 38-year-old El Cajon resident Alfred Olango. On March 24 activist Shane Harris, president …
Joseph and Adriana Shayota, a married couple from El Cajon, were convicted late Monday (November 28) of criminal copyright infringement and trafficking in misbranded food by a federal court in San Jose. They were considered …
The family of Alfred Olango, an unarmed black man who was shot and killed by El Cajon police in September, have filed a second claim against the police department, accusing the officers involved of excessive …
They say location is everything, and seeing as El Cajon doesn’t get a lot of my business, I guess they may be right. Of all the communities in San Diego, the east county burg is …
Protests continued Wednesday morning (September 28) outside the El Cajon Police Department, after officers shot and killed an unarmed black man they say was "not only endangering himself, but motorists." On Tuesday afternoon, Alfred Olango's …
San Diego area gas prices jumped 10 to 15 cents per gallon last week, with many stations pushing their cash price for regular gas over the $3.00 threshold. Surprisingly, the oil companies are not offering …
I arrived too early. For Ramadan, that is. This was before last Sunday, when Ramadan began. I came because I was curious about what you eat if you are Muslim and fasting for the month. …
There are several places in San Diego where local laws ban smoking, such as beaches and parks. But for the 46 percent of residents who are renters, unless they live in public housing, landlords make …
Membership: “less than 100” Pastor: Kurt Bergquam Age: 54 Born: Grand Forks, ND Formation: Berean Bible College, San Diego; Christian Bible College and Seminary, Blue Springs, MO Years Ordained: 25 San Diego Reader: What’s your …
Earlier this month the Public Policy Institute of California released a report outlining recommendations for the state if any of several competing measures to legalize the recreational use of marijuana passes this November. The main …
El Cajon's brewing scene came back to life on February 29, the soft-opening date for Burning Beard Brewing Company. Founded by a pair of homebrewing friends, Burning Beard debuted — as many new breweries do …
For a moment there, the El Cajon was on the verge of having three breweries. But last week, incoming Knox Corners Brewing announced via Facebook it had ended its efforts to open in El Cajon, …
El Cajon's efforts to combat public drunkenness include a "Do Not Sell Alcohol List.” The lists — with names and photos of what authorities refer to as "serial inebriates" or "habitual drunkards" — have been …
An Imperial Beach church is holding a "community conversation" on December 10 to discuss a ban on the Four Loko alcoholic beverage, which has been linked to deaths and binge-drinking problems. The action comes a …
The County of San Diego has released its annual Air Toxics "Hot Spots" report, highlighting pollution problems around the county. "Motor vehicles, area sources, and natural sources are key contributors to the toxic air contaminants …
Last week, the City of El Cajon closed on the sale of land at the northeast corner of Magnolia and Rea avenues that will one day be occupied by a hotel. The Marriott will be …
Twenty-five-year-old Robert Branch has filed a lawsuit against sheriff's detective Paul Ward for putting him in a "carotid-restraint" and illegally detaining him in May 2015, after their cars nearly collided while merging onto Interstate 8 …
Jerome Navarra, co-founder and owner of Jerome's Furniture, kept his 2014 promise to move — rather than demolish — the formerly historic Sanford B. Myers Spec House on 16th and J Street on Wednesday, October …
The day promised to be warm as the bikers arrived at the designated staging area. Mainly older and grayer, the earlier arrivals found places in the shade on this Saturday morning. Parking their bikes (the …
Volkswagen and Audi owners in cities throughout the U.S. are rushing to file class-action lawsuits days after the Environmental Protection Agency discovered the Volkswagen Auto Group installed "defeat devices" in more than 480,000 diesel-powered vehicles …
After dark, parking a home is a problem. That was clear in 2010, when advocates for the houseless opened the first overnight safe parking lot. And the need goes on. “The program was a direct …
“I know what the weather’s like back home. My wife keeps bloody complaining about it.” This, followed by a case of the giggles. It’s Pinch, the Damned’s drummer of the past 16 years, on the …
On July 27, El Cajon dentist Husam Aldairi filed a suit in federal court against Gus Dahleh. According to the suit, Dahleh "has contacted [Aldairi's] wife and falsely informed her that [Aldairi] had engaged in …
It was almost 40 years ago that my boyfriend Ralph introduced me to a Nicolosi’s Torpedo Special Sandwich. I ate it while standing in the parking lot at San Diego Stadium before an Aztec football …
“Jerry Lee Lewis just beat the hell out of the piano. He used his feet on it. He broke three keys.”
An attempted home-invasion robbery on Monday (June 29) resulted in the shooting of a man in El Cajon. Sheriff's deputies said that a preliminary investigation suggests the robbery was the culmination of a dispute over …
Police in El Cajon reported the arrest of a 31-year-old transient for residential burglary and indecent exposure on Thursday afternoon (June 25). Last Sunday (June 21), officers responded to a call originating on the 500 …
Post Title: Quote Post Date: August 25, 2012 I read a review of The Boxer and the Goal Keeper, an upcoming book on the friendship between Sartre and Camus. Apparently they were both “smitten” by …
Three suspects have been arrested following a five-month string of burglaries across the county where thieves targeted individuals who were attending a family member's funeral. According to a report from El Cajon police lieutenant Frank …
A former Padres pitcher and San Diego native has filed a lawsuit in Los Angeles, claiming that Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance fraudulently duped him into signing up for a life-insurance policy that had a $600,000 …