The city of Poway has filed a lawsuit against one of its own councilmembers to force him to comply with the California Public Records Act text messages and the encrypted messaging app Signal for city business It says Blain admitted in writing to deleting messages related to city business The state’s public records act covers “any writing containing information relating to the conduct of the public’s business prepared or retained by any state or local agency regardless of physical form or characteristics.” The city’s lawsuit states Blain sent a message asking the recipient to delete his text messages and use Signal “Delete all my texts to you ok - Poway Mayor & Attorney trying to sue me - let’s change to Signal app - they can’t access it,” he wrote U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth recently faced scrutiny over his use of the Signal app to discuss sensitive military plans with his wife and brother The city of Poway asked an outside law firm to investigate Blain and determined a lawsuit would protect the city from “significant liability.” “It’s outrageous that taxpayer dollars must be spent to compel a council member to follow the law,” Mayor Steve Vaus said in a statement Blain were truly committed to serving the public City Attorney Alan Fenstermacher said in the press release the discovery process will likely include a deposition where Blain will be under oath and subject to perjury penalties “where he can no longer make outlandish claims without proof or evidence.” who sent a statement saying Blain “stands firm in his commitment to transparency and open dialogue on all matters of city business.” The statement said Blain is currently in the process of reviewing his devices and responding to this request Jed Dickerson made his name in fishing more than 20 years ago by chasing a legendary potential world-record bass nicknamed “Dottie” on Dixon Lake near San Diego The small Southern California reservoir is widely known for harboring heavyweight largemouths and he was looking for bedding bigmouths that morning I found a great bass on a bed and tried catching her,” said the Carlsbad She finally short-hit my swimbait a couple of times and she just swam off the bed and disappeared Poway is a small San Diego recreational reservoir he found another heavyweight largemouth nesting in weeds in 6 feet of clear water near a deep drop-off to 15 feet trying not to spook her,” he told Wired2fish by phone while on vacation in Cabo San Lucas because I knew she’d be a new lake record.” Dickerson stayed well away from the bass and tried casting to it from several different boat positions — first from deep water to shallow He switched lures from a jig to a weedless-rigged 8-inch-long Mission Fish swimbait in trout color It took a few tosses to get the swimbait to ease through the weeds just right and then toward the bass the fish got mad and rushed his lure as it came through the weeds — and took it and Dickerson put pressure on her quickly to get her to the net he had the bass near the boat in short order “I had my net out and worked the bass toward it but she jumped over the net,” Dickerson said but I got her turned and then into the net I knew right away she wouldn’t weigh 18 pounds because she was too short But I figured she’d at least beat the lake record.” Dickerson called the lake’s concession headquarters and told them he caught a bass he believed was a new lake record He didn’t want to drag the fish back to the dock to weigh it hoping to avoid stressing it so he could release it A man from the concession took a boat out to Dickerson looked at the bass and immediately knew it was likely a record for Poway He returned to the dock and sent rangers back out to officially weigh and measure the catch Dickerson kept the bass safely in the water on a stringer until lake rangers Kyle and Zack arrived with a 26-inch length and a 26-inch girth,” Dickerson said and she’d have weighed much more had she been a bit longer.” Dickerson said that when he caught Dottie on May 31 Dickerson said he won’t have a replica mount made of his 14.5-pound record bass from Poway “I’ve already got a replica mount of Dottie that’s hanging in a friend of mine’s business and I can go see her anytime I like,” he said Bob McNally has been around fishing and the outdoors all his adult life He has fished throughout the much of the world pursuing the globe's important gamefish He's written over 5,000 feature magazine articles and for many years also was a full-time metropolitan newspaper outdoor writer broadcast and photography work have won dozens of state For years he hosted a daily syndicated fishing radio show and was a weekly on-camera host of a fishing TV show for Fox Sports Outdoors The best online fishing resource to learn and stay current on the latest fishing gear A political fight is brewing in the quiet “city in the country.” Councilmember Tony Blain was censured last month — a first for Poway “I am no longer intimidated by you Councilmember Blain I will not take this lying down anymore," he said at the meeting John Couvrette said the problem started soon after the election and announced that as soon as he was sworn in He was going to recall another councilmember." Former Poway Councilmember Anita Edmondson said Blain’s actions and behaviors since taking office are “disturbing,” and “jarring.” "This is not what the district voters were expecting It's making a mockery of our local government.” Couvrette and former Councilmember John Mullin have launched a recall effort “The district attorney is investigating potential felony allegations — criminal — that he has wanted to trade votes and then extorted councilmembers who wouldn't vote the way he wanted,” Mullin said The District Attorney’s office said it cannot confirm any investigations Blain declined an interview but said this via text and email: “Write anything you want — political lies and attacks are irrelevant and don’t work Blain was served the notice of intent (NOI) for a recall at the March 18 meeting The Registrar of Voters accepted the petition Tuesday triggering a seven-day period for Blain to respond “There were people that signed the NOI that voted for him," Mullin said "It didn’t take long for them to realize that we have a problem and we need to fix it.” The petition still needs to be publicly posted or published and that published notice confirmed and approved by the City Clerk's office before the group can start collecting signatures for a recall campaign which they hope to happen by the end of April The Poway Unified School District board voted Thursday night to eliminate dozens of staff positions special education staff and those who work with English language learners “We help new immigrants adjust to a new school environment and a new language,” Dayna Yamada an ELL instructional assistant at Rancho Bernardo High School “We give them the language and confidence to talk to our teachers and peers and become an active member of their school community.” The cuts also affect student services assistants like Beth Wells-Whitwam She told the board she’s taught elementary school students lessons on listening I see the students needing even more support in their days at school,” she said Board Vice President Michelle O'Connor-Ratcliff said temporary state and federal pandemic funds helped the district pay for some staff “The problem is that once we had those extra people to support our students it was clear that we needed them all along “Just because the money is gone now or nearly gone doesn't mean our students don't still need those extra supports.” The district is facing a $10 million deficit enrollment and birth rates continue to decline State funding is based on average daily attendance Gov. Gavin Newsom has also proposed a lower cost-of-living adjustment for the state’s school funding formula than districts previously expected “This isn’t about right-sizing,” O'Connor-Ratcliff said “The right size would be even more people to support our students than we have now is the best we can with not enough money.” Superintendent Ben Churchill said district management will also lose 10 positions District leaders are still exploring other ways to cut spending but they have to warn staff of potential cuts by March 15 “My hope and my sincere desire is that they will find enough nonpersonnel cuts that we will have to make very limited personnel cuts,” board member David Cheng said A revised state budget in May will also shape the district’s budget The board will approve a final budget in June Editor's note: This story contains strong language During a contentious Poway City Council meeting on Tuesday City Attorney Alan Fenstermacher accused Councilmember Tony Blain of threats Fenstermacher revealed that Blain has sent him multiple emails threatening to have him fired or demanding his resignation These threats were often in retaliation to Fenstermacher declining to answer some of Blain’s questions or giving Blain an answer he wasn’t pleased with “I am no longer intimidated by you Councilmember Blain,” Fenstermacher said at Tuesday’s meeting “I don’t give a flying fuck if you fire me Blain also allegedly asked Fenstermacher to call the police on two different residents who criticized Blain via email Blain allegedly called the Sheriff’s Office on a resident who had asked Blain to resign via email In his emotional statement at Tuesday’s meeting Fenstermacher said that was “the most offensive thing [he’s] ever seen as a government attorney.” Fenstermacher’s comments were a response to Blain implying that Fenstermacher had a conflict of interest when Fenstermacher donated to Poway Mayor Steve Vaus’ failed Board of Supervisors campaign in 2020 (Blain, like Vaus, is a Republican. He was endorsed by another controversial conservative politician: incoming state Assembly Member Carl DeMaio.) Fenstermacher said his contributions to Vaus’ supervisor campaign were not illegal and did not constitute a conflict of interest because it was a race entirely unrelated to Poway He revealed that Blain has consistently bombarded him with questions and emails over the past several months many of which are related to topics Fenstermacher can’t discuss because of his role as city attorney “When I told him it was illegal for me to provide advice on things like campaign issues planned recalls or ballot initiatives as an unauthorized use of city funds he’d threaten to fire me in 10 months or 23 months when he says he’ll have control of the City Council for 10 years,” Fenstermacher said Blain has also threatened to report Fenstermacher to the state bar more than once for “reasons unstated,” Fenstermacher said Fenstermacher said that he has considered quitting because of the harassment he’s experienced from Blain “I’ve never been harassed by someone in a position of power like you’ve done It’s been the most personally draining several months of my entire career,” Fenstermacher said “You are a walking liability that has consistently ignored my advice on numerous important issues and I take no responsibility for the legal trouble you will inevitably get the city into and have already gotten yourself into.” He concluded by asking Blain to never email him again and said he will never answer any of his questions again unless a council majority directs him to do so Blain did not respond to Fenstermacher’s allegations during the meeting and he was the first to get up and leave the council chambers once the meeting was adjourned When reached by phone on Wednesday for comment More accusations: The allegations from Fenstermacher come as Blain is already being accused of threatening another councilmember and vote trading The Jan. 21 council meeting was supposed to focus on filling a vacant City Council seat left open because of former Councilmember Brian Pepin’s resignation city staff attached two emails sent from Blain to Councilmember Peter De Hoff saying he would drop his recall effort against De Hoff if De Hoff voted for a special election Blain wrote that he would vote for De Hoff to become deputy mayor if he votes for a special election Blain sent other similar emails to De Hoff ahead of the Jan an applicant who was seeking the District 1 appointment and was ultimately chosen for the seat also received a threatening email from Blain urging Pikus to vote for a special election if he is appointed Blain wrote that he would lead a recall effort against Pikus Legal experts, including City Attorney Fenstermacher, have indicated that the threats and offer of vote trading could violate state laws they are a callus and calculated betrayal of the public’s trust,” Mayor Vaus told Voice of San Diego via email “And while the felonies Blain appears to have committed are shocking enough— his use of police threats to intimidate constituents cross every line of decency.” Also: Councilmember De Hoff said Tuesday that the council will consider a formal censure of Blain at the Feb adding that Blain has violated his role as a councilmember A censure is an official reprimand or formal statement of disapproval It’s a way for a legislative body to publicly express an opinion on the conduct of one of their members censures can include penalties such as loss of committee assignments City Manager Chris Hazeltine also said at the meeting that he has submitted a complaint against Blain to the city’s Human Resources Department for bullying SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — The woman who was removed from a storm drain in Poway has died according to the San Diego County Medical Examiner's Office was pronounced dead by a Palomar Medical Center doctor at about 4:15 p.m a little under two hours after she was pulled out of the man hole San Diego Fire and Police departments carried out the confined space rescue in the area of 14710 Beeler Canyon Road from roughly 1 to 2:35 p.m police were not releasing more information "out of respect for Yafang and her family." A department Facebook post from April 3 says Zhou was last seen around midnight on March 25 in the 1000 block of Union St When investigators pinged the missing woman's phone it led them to an area near Beeler Canyon Road As they were searching in that general vicinity triggering the confined space rescue response In the immediate aftermath of the rescue operation SDFD Battalion Chief Erik Windsor said Zhou was in serious condition so first responders took her to a hospital in the area where she was undergoing life-saving measures "Units entered into the sewage system into what we call a confined space They went through all the processes to permit it to make a safe entry and then firefighters were literally inside the sewage or storm drain crawling on their stomachs to try and locate the victim," Windsor said "Firefighters were opening manhole covers all along the storm drain system and then they were eventually able to finally locate here in an area uphill from where we had been searching at which point they reestablished the rescue efforts and lowered personnel down into the storm drain." WATCH: Interview with battalion chief on the scene of the rescue Windsor said he was unaware if the woman was conscious or not and he said he wouldn't expand on her medical status "It is very possible from what I'm hearing that she's been there for days I will let our partners from the police department address that if they know anything But it is very unusual to have somebody in there." Windsor also said it was relayed to him that there were no removed manhole covers when the firefighter crews got there "It is possible that she entered into the storm drain system from one of the outlets which would naturally be open where water would flow out into the creek or some other way but one of the things that we investigated when we first arrived here was to see if there were any open or disturbed manhole covers which would have indicated to us a great starting point," he said so we picked a central one and started searching from there that we would just get lucky going in one direction or the other POWAY—A new lake-record largemouth bass was hauled out of Lake Poway almost exactly a year from when the previous high mark was set and the angler in the top spot is no stranger to making headlines in the trophy bucketmouth department Jed Dickerson took over the largemouth lead at the diminutive San Diego County fishery with a 14.8 pounder that finally picked up his swimbait after a lot of convincing and a couple swings and misses Known throughout the trophy bass community for the years he dedicated to chasing the world-record class largemouth in Dixon Lake that would later become famously known as “Dottie,” Dickerson has been fishing under the radar ever since that mission that became an obsession that lasted nearly a decade and ended in 2008 when Dottie was found belly up in the lake Despite taking on a more reclusive approach to fishing he reached out to Western Outdoor News after bumping off the 14.1-pound largemouth caught by Jesse Lamar in late March of 2024 but I knew I just had to stick with the program,” said Dickerson it was foggy and cold and there weren’t many people there Right out of the gate I found a fish that looked to be 10 to 12 pounds I got her to bite the tail of my swimbait twice before she figured out the game and swam off never to be seen again I just chalked it up to the type of spring I’ve been having.” Dickerson told WON he’s visited Lake Poway a few times over the last few years and knew it had monster-bass potential and he figured he had a good shot of beating it             “I was playing poker at Oceans 11 Casino and it was 530 a.m.,” said Dickerson “I told the players I was playing with that I was taking off because I was going fishing Dickerson came across another monster bass he decided was worth spending some time on the belly was massive but I couldn’t tell how big she was,” said Dickerson so I circled the boat around and from deep water I could see she was back on the nest and I knew it was probably the lake record The nest was in a hole in the weeds and kind of steep and she had all the characteristics of a massive bass I thought she might be close to 17 or 18 pounds which if she had more length she would be.” retied his baits and decided to take a stealthy approach by casting from the deeper water “I threw a jig in there first and brought it thru the weeds to the nest,” he said but with the steepness of the nest the jig just went down too fast out of the strike zone I took two casts with the jig and then decided to switch to the Mission Fish swimbait which is pretty weedless but the same thing happened as the Mission Fish just rolled down the nest and as I brought it through she went in there 100 miles an hour all pissed off and nailed it.” that bite happened so fast he didn’t have time to set the hook and he was hoping he would get another chance knowing full well there are times you only get one shot on these bigger “I knew I had to try and get a better angle on the nest so I went shallower and to the side hoping she wouldn’t spook off,” he said Now I knew she didn’t like it in the weeds so I brought a cast into the weeds in shallow water and as soon as it got into the weeds she immediately came all the way up to look at it.” Dickerson went on to say there was an old tree branch at the back of the nest and he casted into deeper water while the bass was up shallow and put the swimbait right on that branch “She hated that and dove down there and inhaled it,” he said “I set the hook and immediately she came to the surface I fought her to the boat as fast as I could and got her in the net and I knew she was big but also knew she wasn’t long enough to be 17 or 18 pounds Now I was just hoping she would be the new lake record and I put her on my scale and knew she was over 14 I still wasn’t sure what the record was so I called the concession stand and told them i might have the record I was on the other side of the lake and I didnt want to drag her all the way to the dock Dennis from the dock came out and I showed him the fish and he decided to go back and get the rangers and she was amazingly 26 inches long by 26 inches fat.” While playing e-mail tag with Jed Dickerson for over a week after he broke the lake record for largemouth bass at Lake Poway I couldn’t help but ask him to give WON readers an update on what he’s been up to since all those years making headlines with his fishing partners who were on a mission to bag the next world-record largemouth I took some time off caught up on a lot of sleep,” said Dickerson I was a guide for a couple of years and had fun doing that and I put a lot of people on their personal best bass and trout Around 2012 or ‘13 I started going a lot again just having fun with it I really just fell off the radar because I chose not to publicize my catches I probably caught close to 40 fish over 10 pounds and at least half of them were between 12 and 14 I think in 2017 or 2018 my son and I caught 25 fish over 10 In more recent years I’ve been taking friends and family fishing and making sure that their kids catch a bunch of fish and are hooked for life.” Dickerson said he is still a regular at Oceans 11 Casino playing at night and “trying to win a few hands.” And it sounds like his son is following right along in his fishing footsteps was lucky enough to catch the biggest bass that year in California for a junior so he qualified for the junior big bass championships in Idaho,” he said “His bass was similar to the one I just caught and I think he finished middle of the pack but had a great experience.” DFW Announces publication of the black bear conservation and management plan for California WON/Ventura Harbor Sportfishing Rockfish Rumble: Island Spirit knocks out competition Fish and Game Commission finalizes new sand bass regs Pearl breaks 3-day record in locking up WON BASS Clear Lake Open championship Sport king salmon season returns to California Ramona Municipal Water District and the city of Poway have entered into a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to look at the feasibility of sharing water resources Poway has been looking to diversify its water resources for the past 30 years but the city is at a point where it needs to develop this In 2019, backed-up storm drains contaminated the drinking water, leading to Poway’s first-ever boil water advisory said that event paved the way for the current MOU but (what's) really important to know is that about four or five months before that event happened we had sent a letter to the San Diego County Water Authority initiating conversations to get this project going,” he said it's a way for the community to lower water costs “Right now, we buy water solely from the (San Diego) County Water Authority," said Erica Wolski, general manager of the Ramona Municipal Water District "And those costs are very high for treated water because of the (desalination) plants that’s included And all the storage and everything that’s included.” there is a Water Authority flow control facility on Espola Road between Blue Sky Ecological Reserve and Country Day Road that connects Poway and Ramona The MOU allows both sides to explore the feasibility of building a two-way valve send it to Poway and then they treat it for is it would be a lower cost per acre-foot than if we buy it from the County Water Authority,” Wolski said Because of the short connection between the two communities the treated water does not have to sit in Ramona's pipelines for a long time This saves the water district money from adding more chlorine to bring the water up to safe standards will get another source of treated water when its water treatment plant is offline Poway can send water to Ramona on an emergency basis install kind of a bidirectional meter that will allow flows to go both ways," Heidemann said we would be sharing this facility with Ramona.” The preliminary results of the feasibility study won’t be ready until early next year Both agencies would still need to formally approve the project before work can begin CA — Crafts retailer Joann announced Wednesday that it plans to close hundreds of stores nationwide This comes after the company filed for bankruptcy for a second time last month The company has not released a specific list of the stores closing. However, court filings show that Joann will close stores in all 50 states, with California, Florida, Indiana, Michigan, New York, Pennsylvania and Washington among those affected most, according to CNN The 81-year-old Ohio-based retailer has identified four San Diego area stores for potential immediate closure in court documents, according to NEXSTAR: A company spokesperson said that "right-sizing our store footprint is a critical part of our efforts to ensure the best path forward." The spokesperson also told USA Today it was "a very difficult decision to make given the major impact we know it will have on our Team Members our customers and all of the communities we serve." The company will decide which stores to close after "a careful analysis" of how those stores are performing the retailer filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and kept all of its stores open the company said it had acquired $132 million in new funding which it planned to use to reduce its debt by approximately $505 million Sales at Joann had slumped after a jump during the pandemic when Americans were isolated in their homes and spent more money on sewing and craft supplies many people had to cut back on their discretionary spending The news comes as other major retailers have announced closures as well with Kohl's notably among those last month Patch editor Chris Rhatigan contributed reporting Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.