Local News Matters
Stay Informed With East of 52's Stories
Bringing you the latest updates and insightful coverage on what matters in your community.
Santana High shooter resentencing: a 2001 case collides with modern juvenile sentencing law
A resentencing ruling in the Santana High School shooting case is setting up a new legal fight—over juvenile sentencing, the scope of recall authority, and what happens next in juvenile court.
The Golden Retriever Who Wanted a Tax Break
A lawsuit asks the IRS to treat a dog as a “dependent.” The legal problem is easy. The policy problem is worse.
When the Board Is Mom, Stepdad, and Brother: Dehesa’s Data Job and the Daughter They Want to Put in It
With three members of the White family holding a board majority, Dehesa is moving to place the board president’s daughter in a key data-compliance job—despite its own anti-nepotism rules and serious questions about her qualifications.
Thirteen Points of Spin: How Dehesa’s Superintendent Tried to Rewrite the Record
When Dehesa’s superintendent fired off a thirteen-point defamation threat over my coverage of his tiny district’s massive charter empire, he didn’t just dispute a story—he became part of it. What began as an investigation into Dehesa’s charter footprint, land deals, and sliding Dashboard scores is now also a case study in how a public official tried to intimidate a critic, and instead guaranteed that every uncomfortable fact would be pulled into the light and laid out in one place.
Erasing the Public Square: Dehesa Scrubs Its Facebook Page After Parent Pushback
When the questions got uncomfortable, the forum disappeared. That choice tells parents more about governance culture than any press release ever will.
Your Source for Local News
Latest Updates from Our Community
Method Musical Chairs: How Dehesa’s Enrollment Shuffle Fueled ADA Funding, Charter Growth, and Audit Flags
Dehesa’s enrollment skyrocketed—on paper. But the math doesn’t track. Resident students were displaced. Outsiders were brought in. Funding followed the fiction. At the center: inflated ADA, a $253K superintendent, and a board bound by family ties. Call it creative governance. Or call it what it looks like: Method Musical Chairs.
Adjacent, Apparently: How Dehesas Definition Could Cost Taxpayers Millions
Let’s talk about the word “adjacent.” It’s simple, right? You’d think so. But in the world of charter authorizing loopholes, definitions get stretched—then warped—until they snap.
The Tale of the Three Whites and the Two Phams — A one-school district. Five board members. Two families. And a growing rebellion.
In the rural hills outside El Cajon, where wildfire season sparks fear each summer, another kind of fire has begun to smolder. But this time, it wasn’t fireworks that started it — it was the slow burn of unchecked power, financial collapse, and a board so tightly held by two families that Dehesa parents have now sent up a smoke signal of their own.
Superintendent in One-School District Paid $2,522 Per Student Without Required Credential
A tiny school district in rural East San Diego County is paying a $252,000 salary to a superintendent overseeing fewer than 100 students — without a valid administrative credential. A closer look reveals a pattern of unchecked power, family-run governance, and public funds under questionable management.
“The power of the press is the power to hold the powerful accountable — and we hold that power fiercely.”