Vehicle Crashes Into Home

RANCHO SAN DIEGO -- Police and fire officials responded just before noon today to the report of a car crashing into a home.

A van carrying three people rammed into a home in the Corte Madera development just off of Willow Glen and Medinah/Steele Canyon Road.

Monica Zech, spokeswoman for the El Cajon Heartland Fire Department, said three people were reported transported to the hospital with injuries.

Significant damage was done to the garage area of the home.

By Monica Zech, Public Information Officer for the City of El Cajon

2011 Youth of the Year Awards Announced

The City of El Cajon Teen Coalition presented their annual Youth of the Year Awards to a well- deserving middle school and high school student at Tuesday’s City Council meeting. This year the middle school level award was presented to Taylor Gray from Emerald Middle School. The high school level award went to Kaitlin Lafreniere from Granite Hills High School. Recipients were selected for demonstration of outstanding leadership and community service accomplished between January 1 and December 31, 2011. The award recipients received a trophy and had their names placed on a perpetual plaque displayed at City Hall. Congratulations to the 2011 Youth of the Year Award recipients!

Prescription Drug Take Back Day Is This Saturday!

A good time to clear out that medicine cabinet! “National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day” will take place on Saturday, April 28, 2012, from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. around the County. This is an excellent opportunity for those who missed the previous events, or who have subsequently accumulated unwanted, unused and expired prescription drugs, to safely dispose of those medications. The El Cajon Police Department will be hosting a prescription drug drop-off site in the parking lot of the El Cajon Police Station, located at 100 Civic Center Way, in El Cajon. Go to www.dea.gov and click “Got Drugs?” for a list of other drop off sites throughout the County. For more information on the El Cajon location, please contact El Cajon Police Lt. Steve Shakowski at (619) 579-3325.

22nd Heartland Fire Academy Graduation April…

Kunze Wins State Teen Crown

LOS ANGELES -- Cassandra Kunze, Miss Teen San Diego County was crowned Miss Teenage California 2012 at the state finals held April 20-22 at the beautiful Hilton @ Los Angeles Airport before a large and enthusiastic crowd.

The 18 year old resident of El Cajon is 5'9" tall with Blonde hair and hazel eyes. During the pageant she also won the Miss Photogenic Award. Last year Cassandra competed in the pageant and was a Top 10 Finalist. She returned and won the state crown! She plans to double major in International Law and Politics at San Diego State University and has an undeniable love for film studies, which she hopes to continue at the collegiate level. In high school she was involved as the ASB Secretary, Senior Cabinet, Vice President of the Grossmont Foothiller Players Drama Club, Girls League representative, and involved in Varsity Track and Field. Her hobbies and talents include piano, acting, film, ballet, hiking, and track and field.

She is the recipient of $11,000 in college scholarships. $10,000 for winning Miss Teenage California 2012 and $1,000 scholarship for being named Miss Photogenic. She also wins a $750 gown from Crown Diva in Santa Monica, and will compete in a national pageant .

Talking Arts In San Diego's Far East

EL CAJON -- On the closing night of its latest exhibition, Studio C Contemporary, a fledgling El Cajon art studio conducted a panel discussion on the arts.

The event drew select activists in the San Diego and East County arts community for a discussion with local residents about efforts to foster what appears to be a new and growing arts presence in East County.

Studio C itself -- opened last year by Carlos Castrejon and Silvia Valentino and located at the center of El Cajon's downtown improvement district -- has been seen by many as the vanguard expression of an extension of the arts away from the core of San Diego and into East County. The studio's current show, a mix of painting, installations and performance art is clearly the kind of thing usually found in North Park or tucked away in downtown San Diego's East Village. Studio C has been joined by several other artists with nearby studios of their own.

In some ways, Friday's panel was a sort of expression of the current state of the arts in San Diego County being discussed in a new venue.

Some of the panelists clearly felt like they had landed in a foreign land and hadn't been east of the 805 in what sounded like decades. One even remarked how amazed she was that it had only taken 22 minutes, even in the rain, to make it out to this outpost of progress. Not news to the locals, of course.

Justin Hudnall, the moderator of this evening's discussion, clearly understood the sort of "chip…