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<p>Residential trash cans and business garbage bins are overflowing around Chula Vista after more than three weeks of a workers’ strike that has delayed pick ups throughout the county’s second-largest city and City leaders have not taken actions allowed under the contract to enforce the continuation of services.</p>
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<p>The City of Chula Vista spent nearly $16,000 in legal fees to investigate whether the Hispanic Mayor calling a White Councilman a “Gringo” constitutes discrimination.</p>
<p>The answer, apparently, is no.</p>
<p>The investigation stems from a formal complaint filed by Chula Vista Councilman John McCann (pictured above) back in February 2021. McCann complained that Chula Vista Mayor Mary Casillas Salas called him a “Gringo” when he said he couldn’t handle spicy food at a Mexican restaurant.</p>
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<p>A now-former San Diego County Sheriff’s Deputy pled guilty to a manslaughter charge for shooting an unarmed suspect who was attempting to escape before being booked into the downtown jail, and avoided the possibility of spending the rest of his life in prison.</p>
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<p>An air ambulance jet crashed during its landing attempt at Gillespie Field in Santee two days after Christmas, killing its two pilots and two nurses who were returning from a previous transport trip, and experts now believe the accident was caused by pilot error, not mechanical problems. </p>
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<p>Recent storms dumped enough snow in the Sierra Nevada Mountains to bring the annual snowpack back above normal levels as the state enters the traditional rainy season.</p>
<p>State officials estimate that the state’s snowpack is at 160% of normal for this time of the year, a welcomed sign after having just ended the second-driest year on record and the driest since 1924.</p>
<p>Snowpack readings at this time last year were 52% of normal levels.</p>
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<p>The union of San Diego County Sheriff Deputies is poised to spend $25,000 to “whip” votes in an attempt to influence the local Democratic Party’s endorsement of a candidate for Sheriff, even though the Party has banned itself and Democratic candidates from accepting any contributions from law enforcement unions.</p>
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<p>The San Diego region’s unemployment rate came in lower than expected in November, falling to 4.6% from 5.3% in October, and more than two points lower than the predicted rate of 6.8% set last year.</p>
<p>The new figures were released this week by the California Economic Development Department (EDD) which showed that the overall unemployment rate for the state fell from 7.3% to 6.9%, the lowest rate since the COVID pandemic began in March 2020.</p>
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<p>The San Diego County Sheriff Department’s highest-ranking officials inserted themselves into the usual process of executing evictions during the COVID-19 pandemic moratorium and put deputies at risk during a warrant arrest for the purpose to carry out an eviction, according to a long-time Sergeant who retired last week and is now exposing improper conduct at the highest levels within the county’s largest law enforcement department.</p>