Multiple Wildfires Force Thousands to Evacuate in San Diego County

At least nine separate wildfires throughout northern San Diego county have forced thousands of residents in the cities of Carlsbad, Escondido, San Marcos and Fallbrook, CA as well as the 4S Ranch section of San Diego and the nearby Camp Pendleton Marine Corps base to flee their homes as firefighters battled the approaching blaze.

Most of the fires were sparked on Thursday and spread quickly due to dry vegetation, unseasonably warm weather and 50 MPH Santa Ana winds blowing in from the desert. Although firefighters have been going after the wildfires with a sustained air and ground attack, the Poinsettia fire in Carlsbad has destroyed at least 30 homes while the San Marcos fire was large enough to spawn its own weather system as it moved southeast to the neighboring city of Escondido.



Authorities have not ruled out arson and arrests have been made in Escondido and Oceanside, CA of individuals who were seen staring small brushfires in a dry riverbed and city parks. A 57 year old man in Oceanside was arrested after witnesses saw him fanning flames of a fire in the San Luis Rey riverbed while two teenagers were arrested in Escondido on Thursday after multiple witnesses saw them trying to start brush fires in a city park and by a street adjacent to a shopping mall. In Escondido, the fires were quickly doused by nearby homeowners and investigators believe the two teenagers- identified as 19 year old Isiah Silva and a 17 year old accomplice- were copycats who played no role in the larger fires in San Marcos, Carlsbad and Camp Pendleton.

The Poinsettia fire in Carlsbad has already caused one fatality- on Thursday night, firefighters checking an already-burned area for hot spots discovered the charred remains of a man in what was believed to be a transient camp in Carlsbad. A local TV station also broadcast amateur video of what they believe to be the ignition point for the Carlsbad blaze- a golf course along Poinsettia Lane.

Authorities were able to get the San Marcos fire 10% contained on Thursday night and evacuation orders were lifted for parts of San Marcos and Fallbrook overnight- although police set up a checkpoint and would only allow local residents with ID into some of the affected areas.

Meanwhile, military and civilian crews were battling to contain a 14,500 acre wildfire on USMC Camp Pendleton on Friday- although the Marine Corps base is generally wide open, evacuation orders were given to for some housing areas and the town of Fallbrook at the eastern end of Camp Pendleton.

Anti-Social Club Episode of Borderline Psychosis- 53 Killed After Gunmen Torch Monterrey Casino; NM Police Chief Admits Cartel Ties; Iraqi Connection?

UPDATE 8/31: Acting ATF director Kenneth Melson was reassigned to a lesser post in the Justice Department on Tuesday in the wake of further fallout from the Fast & Furious investigation. US Attorney for Minnesota B. Todd Jones was named as acting director after Melson's departure- a permanent head for the ATF would need to be confirmed by the US Senate.

Also on Tuesday, the US Attorney for Arizona resigned effective immediately. US Attorney Dennis Burke stepped down two weeks after testifying before a House Oversight Committee regarding Fast & Furious, which Burke was in charge of as the state's US Attorney.


NUEVO LEON: At least 53 people were killed when eight gunmen burst into a casino in the northern industrial center of Monterrey, doused the place with gasoline and ignited a fire that trapped dozens of patrons and gamblers.

With shouts and profanities, the attackers told the customers and employees to get out. But many terrified customers and employees fled further inside the building, where they died trapped amid the flames and thick smoke that soon billowed out of the building.

Video footage showed workers continuing to remove bodies well into the night.

Monterrey Mayor Fernando Larrazabal said many of the bodies were found inside the casino's bathrooms, where employees and customers had locked themselves to escape the gunmen.

In an act of desperation, authorities commandeered backhoes from a nearby construction site to break into the casino's walls to try to reach the people trapped inside.

The attack took place on August 25th. The following day, Mexican President Felipe Calderon declared three days of mourning and the Mexican government offered a reward of 30 million pesos ($2.4 million) for information leading to any of the assailants in the Casino Royale attack.

On Monday night, Federal Police in Monterrey announced that they had arrested five suspects and were still seeking the whereabouts of two more. Authorities believe a likely motive in the casino attack is nonpayment of extortion money and the five detained suspects are said to be members of the Zetas. Surveillance footage of the suspects filling up five gallon canisters of gasoline at a gas station not too far from the Casino Royale was shown at the conference announcing the arrests Monday.

The attack shocked and angered many Mexicans because instead of career criminals, the victims were mostly middle aged women who frequently visited the casino to play bingo.

MEXICO CITY: 21 of Mexico's 31 senior federal prosecutors abruptly quit earlier this month. Mexican press outlets report this as being the single biggest mass resignation of federal officials in recent history.

The office announced late last month that in Morales' first 100 days on the job, 462 prosecutors and other officials had been dismissed and 111 more were facing criminal charges involving a range of infractions, including fraud, theft, abuse of power and falsification of documents. An additional 386 employees were in the process of being dismissed.

Rosa Elena Torres Davila, a senior official in the attorney general's office, made Monday's announcement and said the resignations were tendered on Friday. They included the top federal prosecutors in some of Mexico's most violent states where drug traffickers have intimidated local authorities and killed thousands of people in cases that have largely gone unprosecuted. They also included the top federal prosecutor in the capital, Mexico City, which is a federal district with a status similar to that of a state.

Attorney General Marisela Morales declined to cite specific reasons behind the mass departures

CALIFORNIA: Local, state and federal law enforcement officers raided an Iraqi-Chaldean social club in San Diego County and arrested 60 men in a multi-agency investigation dubbed 'Operation Shadowbox'. The social club had been a source of complaints from both neighboring businesses claiming drug dealing and prostitution were rampant and wives of some patrons said that their life savings was being gambled away at the club.

More ominously, members of the club were alleged to have purchased drugs and explosives from the Sinaloa cartel. Marijuana was sold out of the club while methamphetamine smuggled in from Mexico would be forwarded to a sister organization in Detroit.

Since January, the DEA and El Cajon police have purchased narcotics, firearms, improvised explosive devices and pharmaceuticals from people at the club, Sprecco said. In April, an undercover operative was shown a hand grenade and was told more were available from a Mexican military source. Suspects in the investigation reportedly arranged narcotics shipments from El Cajon to Detroit.

During the course of the investigation, operatives discovered a suspected association with the Sinaloa Cartel, a Mexico-based drug trafficking organization, and the Chaldean Organized Crime Syndicate, which began in Detroit in the early 80s and has been linked numerous crimes, including murder, arson and kidnapping, Sprecco said.

The investigation resulted in the seizure of drugs including more than 13 pounds of methamphetamine, more than four pounds of ecstasy and pharmaceuticals and about 3,500 pounds of marijuana, Sprecco said. Authorities confiscated more than $630,000 and three luxury cars.

Officers seized 34 firearms, including semi-automatic rifles and four explosive devices, which were processed with the help of the San Diego County Sheriff's Department's Bomb Squad and the FBI, Sprecco said.

The city of El Cajon has the second-highest Chaldean population in the United States after Detroit- the San Diego suburb is home to about 47,000 Iraqi Chaldeans, many of them having immigrated there before the 2003 fall of Saddam Hussein's regime in their native Iraq.

NEW MEXICO: The former police chief of the small New Mexico border town of Columbus has pleaded guilty to trafficking firearms and tactical gear across the border into Mexico on behalf of enforcers for 'La Linea'- a gang of enforcers for the Juarez cartel.

As a participant in the conspiracy, Vega conducted counter-surveillance, used a village-owned Ford F150 truck to transport firearms from the country, pulled over a car of ATF agents at La Linea's request, and tried to get ATF agents to return firearms to Gutierrez after they were seized, Spitzer told the court.

And on Feb. 10, Vega purchased thousands of dollars in body armor, boots, helmets and clothing, including a bulletproof vest for a La Linea leader, whose name was not mentioned in court.

Vega had previously pleaded not guilty to taking part in the conspiracy, in which he and his co-defendants allegedly purchased about 200 firearms - including AK-47-type pistols, weapons resembling AK-47 rifles, but with shorter barrels and without rear stocks, and American Tactical 9 mm caliber pistols - from Chaparral Guns in Chaparral and smuggled them to members of the Juárez-based La Linea cartel between January 2010 and March 2011.

In raids, law enforcement seized 40 of the AK-47 type pistols, more than 1,500 rounds of ammunition and 30 high-capacity magazines before they crossed the border, and found another 12 firearms in Mexico that were traced back to the defendants. Three others were found on three dead individuals in an SUV in Juárez, and others were found at a narcotics bust there, according to federal prosecutors

Former police chief Angelo Vega faces up to 35 years in prison and a $750,000 fine. The village's former mayor- Eddie Espinoza- and village trustee- Blas Gutierrez- have already pleaded guilty for their role in the weapons smuggling case.

Since the arrests, the small 4-man police department has been disbanded and the area is patrolled now by the Luna County Sheriff's Department.

Sports Chowdah Update- LA Lakers win NBA title- LA Hardest Hit; Can't Dodge Papi-Manny Reunion; FIFA Robbery in South Africa; Utah to Leave Mtn. West

Well...the Lakers beat the Celtics in a come-from-behind 83-79 win in a decisive Game 7 of the NBA finals Thursday night. But instead of relying on my description of it, let's go straight to the highlights....i.e the torching and rioting of downtown LA by celebrating Lakers 'fans'.

Well, besides this looted shoe store, the trash bins, newspaper stands and kiosks torched, the smashed storefront and restaurant windows, buses and light rail trains pelted with rocks, bottles and more trash bins there was also the taxi driver who was assaulted and had his cab torched by 'rowdy' Lakers fans. But don't worry! There's going to be a parade or something.

In the meantime, the cabbie (who actually works for a living- a foreign concept to the genius arsonists posing for the cameras) is going to be out at least $10,000 thanks to the numerous braindead thugs and shitstains chanting 'light it up!'. Anybody who can identify the persons seem setting the blaze is asked to call the LAFD Arson section at (213) 485-6095.

In the meantime, I'll just cry myself to sleep over the 17 or so banners hanging up in the gahden.

Not that I'm bitter or anything. Congratulations and stay classy, LA- good luck with that Arizona boycott!

Elsewhere in the NBA: Manute Bol- the 7ft 7 Sudanese shot blocker who spent a decade in the NBA before working on humanitarian causes in his native country- passed away at the University of Virginia hospital in Charlottesville, VA Saturday. Bol, 47, was being treated for liver and skin problems at the facility. A spokesman for the nonprofit Sudan Sunrise aid group said that Bol was working to complete construction of a school in his home village of Turalei in southern Sudan and the organization was aspiring to build 40 more schools throughout the strife-torn country.

MLB: OK....so one Boston-LA series didn't go our way, but there's always the MLB and inter-league play. Which as you know, means the long-awaited Papi-Manny reunion at Fenway. Papi held up his end of the deal, getting a 2-run homer in the bottom of the first along with JD Drew's solo shot in Friday's game. PawSox call-up Felix Doubront pitched five innings, giving up 3 earned runs on 6 hits (as well as two unearned runs on Doubront's 3rd inning error) good for his first Red Sox win while Manny went 1 for 5 with a run scored and two strikeouts while Papi went 1 for 2 with 2 RBI. Boston took Game 1 of the series 10-6 on Friday.

Saturday's game was a little closer and Manny managed to generate some offense for the Dodgers. Tim Wakefield got the start and went 5 innings giving up 3 earned runs, including a solo home run from Manny to cut the Boston lead to 4-2. LA would tie it up in the 7th with a Bill Hall fielding error on Blake DeWitt's double and a Matt Kemp sac-fly.

Garrett Anderson had a leadoff single off of Papelbon to start off the ninth, but Pap left the pinch-runner Reed Johnson on third after getting Blake DeWitt to ground out and Matt kemp to fly out. In the bottom of the ninth, Daniel Nava reached on a fielder's choice and scored from second on Dustin Pedroia's single off of Jonathan Broxton for the walk-off 5-4 win.

Tomorrow's series finale will feature Hiroki Kuroda taking the mound for the Dodgers against Clay Buccholz. The game will be nationally televised on ESPN. The Red Sox have won 5 in a row heading into Sunday's game.

WORLD CUP: Damn- first I miss the USA's 1-1 tie with England (which apparently isn't the powerhouse everybody expected it to be) and then I miss Team USA getting robbed of a come from behind win over Slovenia thanks to rookie Mailian referee Kouman Koulibaly disallowing what would've been the go-ahead goal for team USA in the 86th minute of Friday's game against Slovenia. It's probably worth noting that the equalizer for USA came off of Micheal Bradley- the son of USA coach Bob Bradley- in the 82nd minute as well.

The USA had to settle for a 2-2 tie with the Slovenes and face a must win scenario against Algeria next week if they want to advance [the conspiracy theorist in me thinks that this was arranged by FIFA to see if the USA would have it's 1st ever full-fledged soccer riot, but that's just me- NANESB!].

NCAA FOOTBALL: More moving and shaking going on out West. With the addition of Boise State to the Mountain West Conference, the Utah Utes announced they'd be leaving for the Pac 10 conference effective 2011. The Utes football program last played in the increasingly less-sucky Poinsettia Bowl at San Diego in December 2009, getting a 37-27 win over the Cal Golden Bears.

Northampton Arson Update- Court Documents Allege Suspect Sought to Establish Alibi By Text Messaging

Police serving a search warrant on 25 year old Northampton resident Andrew Baye earlier this month found five text messages sent from Baye's iPhone sent in a 10-minute span in an effort to fabricate an alibi on the night of the December 27th 2009 arson spree in the Western Massachusetts town. The fires allegedly set by Baye killed Paul Yeskie Sr, 81, and Paul Yeskie Jr, 39, just two days after Christmas.

Baye entered a 'not guilty' plea to two counts of murder and single counts of armed burglary and arson of a dwelling. According to affidavits, Baye was stopped twice by police in the vicinity of the fires in the early morning hours of December 27th. Northampton Police noted that Baye had a lighter in his pocket and was soaking wet (it had been raining that night) when he was taken into custody. A detective for the Northampton police said Baye appeared nervous and said he was visiting his girlfriend before changing his story under further questioning.

2 Killed in Deadly Post-Christmas Arson Spree in Western Massachusetts

(Jessica Hill/AP)

An arsonist in Northampton, MA set at least nine seperate fires in the early morning hours of December 27th 2009. Two people identified as Paul Yeskie Senior, 81, and his son Paul Yeskie Junoir, 39, were killed when their Fair Street residence was among the structures burned. The Hampshire County DA and state medical examiner are ruling the deaths a homicide.

The State Fire Marshall announced a $5000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the arsonist while the Northampton Rotary Club is raising funds to match the state's reward money. A fund for those affected by the fires has also been set up at hampshirecountycares.com