TODAY’S GUEST IS CANDIDATE NURSE BRENDA MILLER

Brenda Miller, PhD, RN, CLNC, PHN, PCC, a healthcare professional with 40 years of experience, is running for the Grossmont Healthcare District Board of Directors. She discusses continuing the partnership and collaboration between Sharp Grossmont Hospital and the Board of Directors to meet East County’s long-term health needs, and more. Nurse Miller has lived in San Diego County for over two decades and owns a home in La Mesa

AL CHILE ONLY ON KNSJ. Produced by the Employee Rights Center, AL CHILE is a show with music, news, interviews and topics of common interest including worker’s rights, immigration, housing, health and technology.  The host and producer is Ariana Gallegos joined by DJ Peet O Perez.  Covering issues important to San Diego, discussions you will not hear on other San Diego stations — AL CHILE, Always Fresh, Always Relevant.

“Information is the currency of democracy.” –Thomas Jefferson

THE LIBRARY FOUNDATION SD ANNOUNCES The San Diego Freedom to Read Day of Action at the San Diego Public Library on Saturday, October 19^th, from 10 to noon at the City Heights/​Weingart Library to celebrate the freedom to read. Enjoy Drag Queen Story Hour with Barbie Q and a bounce house. Write a postcard on why you support the #FreedomToRead, make your own buttons with the Library Shop SD, and hear why our city and civic leaders support the right to read!

More information can be found online: .https://libraryfoundationsd.org/events/freedom-to-read-rally

Libraries are essential public spaces that welcome everyone, offering access to knowledge, community, and personal growth. Regardless of one’s background, race, or identity, libraries are inclusive hubs where people can gather to learn and discover a love for reading. For over a century, libraries have represented American values such as freedom of thought, speech, and equal opportunity. By providing free access to diverse books, libraries help broaden perspectives and foster understanding among people from all walks of life.

Central to libraries’ mission is the fundamental American right to read. The freedom to access books and reliable information is vital to a functioning democracy, as informed citizens are the backbone of a healthy society. Reading is a gateway to knowledge and a means of personal empowerment. Everyone should have the right to choose what they read, which upholds the principles of intellectual freedom and personal agency.

However, there is a growing threat to this freedom. The rise in book bans across the country, particularly targeting LGBTQIA+ communities and people of color, is alarming. In 2023, the American Library Association reported a dramatic increase in censorship attempts, with nearly half of the challenged titles representing marginalized voices. These book bans restrict access to essential resources, stifling the diversity of thought and experience that books provide. Such actions, driven by a vocal minority, are a dangerous attack on free expression and are at odds with the foundational values of American society.

Now is the time for action. On Saturday, October 19, libraries nationwide will unite to oppose book bans and demonstrate that the freedom to read is a core American value. Citizens must actively participate in civic engagement to protect access to information and ensure diverse voices are heard. Voting, speaking to elected officials, and supporting libraries are crucial to preserving intellectual freedom. Get involved, get a library card, and stand up for your community’s right to read.

GET TO KNOW THE CANDIDATES RUNNING FOR LEMON GROVE CITY COUNCIL

Host Miriam Raftery, editor of East County Magazine and an award-winning investigative journalist, moderates a candidate forum for the Lemon Grove City Council. In this hour, hear the views and visions of candidates Councilman George Gastil, a history professor, Seth Smith, Chair of the Lemon Grove Planning Commission, architectural designer and project manager, high school coach Steve Faiai, and Jessyka Heredia, a small business owner, community volunteer, and reporter who previously covered Lemon Grove issues for East County Magazine.

About East County Magazine

One of KNSJ’s first shows, its mission is to provide in-depth news, views and events coverage for the inland areas in San Diego County, reflecting the broad diversity of people and issues in our region, particularly those under-represented in other media.

East County Magazine is your community media organization! ECM has won 146 major journalism awards. The San Diego Press Club named its site the best general interest website and second best news site in San Diego County for 2009. ECM has racked up awards each year since then, including many special awards from the Society of Professional Journalists. Its team of writers has won major prizes for investigative reporting, news, features, multi-cultural coverage, environmental reporting and more.

Miriam Raftery has over 35 years experience as a journalist and editor.  She has won more than 400 major journalism awards, including the American Society of Journalists & Authors’ national Arlene Award for community journalism and San Diego Press Club’s Best of Show award prior to founding ECM.

She has covered major news stories including the California wildfires, Congressional and presidential elections, and Hurricane Katrina, as well as topics ranging from politics and election integrity to health, nutrition, homes and gardens.  

A former columnist and freelance writer for the San Diego Union-Tribune, Miriam has also worked as an editor of a national nutrition journal and a literary magazine as well as senior national investigative reporter for RawStory.com. Her works have appeared in many national and regional publications, from Woman’s Day to Arizona Highways, as well as in many local community newspapers and magazines. An East County native, she takes pride in exploring East County’s back roads and byways, leaving no stone unturned in the quest for news and feature stories.

https://www.eastcountymagazine.org

Recorded Live: Sindy Escobar Alvarez: The Intersection of Medical Research and Philanthropy

In this special episode of Stop & Talk, which was recorded live, Dr. Sindy Escobar Alvarez, Program Director for Medical Research at the Doris Duke Foundation, joins host Grant Oliphant. This interview was recorded at a community forum hosted by the Prebys Foundation that explored the evolving landscape of medical research funding and its impact on community health. They discuss the many important issues facing the field, including equity in research, the role of philanthropy in driving innovation, and many others.
StopAndTalkPodcast.org

TODAY JOIN THOM AS HE DISCUSSES THESE TOPICS

— America’s Descent into Darkness: Trump’s 2025 Takeover Strategy

— Cat eats fox?

— Dirty tricks? Trump Super-PAC Sent Out Bogus Medicare Cancellation Notice to Scare Voters About Kamala Harris

— Phil Ittner – Ukraine Update 

— A confession? We Created a Monster: Trump Was a TV Fantasy Invented for ‘The Apprentice’

— Could chaos in Georgia create chaos elsewhere?

— Trump has repeatedly threatened to deploy the military inside major cities run by Democrats – Would he do it? 

— It’s getting really bad out there – Are Government workers are being hunted?

Live Monday-Friday, The Thom Hartmann show covers US politics and political news commentary, science, culture, and economics. Thom Hartmann is a progressive national and internationally syndicated talk show host whose shows are available in over a half-billion homes worldwide. He’s the New York Times bestselling, 4-times Project Censored Award-winning author of 24 books in print in 17 languages on five continents. Leonardo DiCaprio was inspired by Thom’s book “The Last Hours of Ancient Sunlight” to make the movie “The 11th Hour” (in which Thom appears), and the movie “Ice On Fire.”

Talkers Magazine named Thom Hartmann as the 10th most important talk show host in America in 2019 and has been in the top ten for over a decade and is the #1 most important progressive host, in their “Heavy Hundred” ranking.

IS IT PROTECTION OR GENOCIDE BY ISRAEL?

Host Patricia Law and her guests delve into the history and reality of the attacks on Palestine. What is future of the conflict and can it be resolved?  Listen and learn about the conflict in a conversation with voices not represented on mainstream media.

Yabbering Scribes? What’s that About?

Author and Poet Susan Taylor is in conversation with prose writers from the Alliance for Literary Writers, Authors and Yabbering Scribes–“ALWAYS.” If you are curious about how to go about writing, you will hear tips and experiences about a journey to authorship, observations, inspirations, story telling. You can use this information to write the history of your own family to pass down to your children so that those memories, stories and anecdotes live forever and give everyone an understanding of their own roots.

What is the Alliance for Literary Writers, Authors, & Yabbering Scribes (ALWAYS)?

ALWAYS is an informal collective of established fiction and nonfiction writers in the Phoenix area who want to support one another’s work, share ideas and best practices, and discuss writing topics. Their informal meetings are designed to help one another…sharing support, resources, and roundtable discussions to better their craft of writing.

About Host Susan Taylor–Susan is a wife, mother, and six-time grandmother.  She loves living in a diverse and friendly neighborhood in San Diego, and can be seen walking her dog Duffy to coffee shops and happy hours.  Susan writes poems and short stories, tutors English, and is an avid volunteer with social justice organizations. She is the author of The Electric Picnic: Poetry For Nice People And Good Dogs.  Her poems can also be found on  haikuuniverse.com, thepoetryhighway.com, and in the San Diego Anthology of  Poetry, and Verbatim Bookstore.  Susan has also been selected for inclusion in A Year in Ink, Volume 17, 2024. 

The Shawnee Take on ‘Civilization;

There is a decidedly imperialistic thrust to the Civilization video games. That’s why Shawnee tribal leaders were wary at first when game developers approached them about including famed Shawnee chief Tecumseh in the next version of Civilization. But after four years, the collaboration has introduced Shawnee language and culture and a new direction for the Civilization franchise. We’ll hear about this intersection of Native representation and video games and explore some new uses for video games.

GUESTS

Chief Ben Barnes (Shawnee Tribe), chief of the Shawnee Tribe, board member of the National Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition, and chairman of the United Indian Nations of Oklahoma

Dillon Dean (Shawnee Tribe), actor and voices Tecumseh in Civilization 7

Anangookwe Hermes-Roach (Ojibwe), co-director and game developer for Reclaim!

Dr. Lee Francis IV aka Dr. IndigiNerd (Laguna Pueblo), CEO of A Tribe Called Geek

in Person and on Zoom

Location: The Spacebar Cafe & Wine Bistro, 7454 University Ave., La Mesa, CA 91942

KNSJ Host Jim Moreno announces this month’s 2nd Sunday–Jihmye Poetry-Open Mic

Featuring Poet ANGÉLICA M. YAÑEZ

2nd Sunday is in solidarity with Activist San Diego, The World Beat Center, 100,000 Poets for Change, The San Diego/Tijuana ReEvolutionary Poets Brigade, Black Lives Matter, The New Georgia Project, Seed the Vote, The Border Angels, The Binational Friendship Garden, The Brown Berets, and defenders of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84142725900

Zoom Master: Alfred Williams

ANGÉLICA M. YAÑEZ holds a PhD in Ethnic Studies from UC San Diego. She is the editor of United States History from a Chicano Perspective. Her activism and research interests center in community building, race, and cultural revitalization of Mexican Indigenous traditions in the United States.

Dr. Yañez is a traditional Aztec Dancer that honors the legacies of her Indigenous ancestors. She has served as a dedicated advisor to both a writing group and M.E.Ch.A., fostering activism within her college campus and the wider community. She is also the founder of The Ancestral Teachings Institute, a place for cultural learning and Indigenous wisdom. Visit The Ancestral Teachings Institute and email her at info@ancestralteach.com.

Poets have 2 poems or five minutes. Musicians have two songs or 10 minutes. Info: (619) 461-7100 or (760) 802-2449

Jim Moreno, Artivist (Artist and Activist) talks about 2nd Sunday-Jihmye Poetry-Open Mic:

In the fall of 2010, Jihmye Collins asked me to have breakfast on a Saturday morning at the Big Kitchen, South Park’s bastion of great, abundant food, the warm, welcoming magic of owner Judy the Beauty, and clientele who mostly lean to the left as they keep the 60s social activism alive and well. As he enjoyed his eggs & toast he explained he wanted me to help him co-host an open mic at the only Black-owned coffeeshop/deli in La Mesa, The Spacebar Cafe & Wine Bistro Internet Cafe.  We set the target date for the 4th Thursday in October, 2010. He told me he had arranged for San Diego treasure Michael Klam to feature. As I enjoyed my oatmeal, fruit, and huge warm muffin, I told him I was in.  Poets get 7 minutes to recite. Musicians get to perform 2 songs.  Our feature could be a poet or a musician. A feature is allotted 25 minutes   Any art project shared with Jihmye Collins was an exercise in cooperation, creativity, and imagination . His combined experience with the United States Army,  

the Black Panther Party For Self-Defense, and his Bahai Faith paved a road for his students lined with respect and innovation. In the following months, Lizzy Wann and Bennie Herron energized the Space Bar stage as Jihmye’s and Lanetta’s art adorned the walls.  The usual suspects showed up for the open mic:  award winners, youth, elders, beginners, the serious, the outraged, the wounded, the thinkers, the feelers, the seekers of poetry community. The latter described Jihmye and me as our main reason for co-creating the gathering.  We wanted a diverse, talented community to share extremely deep creativity with one another about this beautiful and troubled world we inhabit.  We were especially interested in voices that corporate media is shy about: voices that inhibit the corporate world’s bottom line, voices that we felt many Americans and non-Americans make audible during our day, but are denied any public vehicle by a war government and a war society corrupted by the lies of the worshippers of the god of profit.  When Jihmye passed away in March of 2011 from a stroke, I was one of many who were not ready for him to be absent from our art and political scene.  The owners of the Spacebar, Frank and Patricia, and I agreed that we would continue Jihmye’s vision.  The 2nd Sunday Jihmye Poetry Open Mic will continue.  We gather from 3-5:30 PM every 2nd Sunday of every month. We’ll read and recite in person and on Zoom now: ID: 990 814 5215, password: poets write, the 2nd Sunday of each month.  Jihmye’s legacy and spirit will guide us in love for the spoken word and cultural respect. You bring your muse and a poem, a song, a dance, a vibe. I’ll bring energy, rhythm, and a happiness to engage and inspire our poetry community. Just like Jihmye said, See you then.