{"id":475543,"date":"2025-12-27T19:29:18","date_gmt":"2025-12-27T19:29:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/475543\/"},"modified":"2025-12-27T19:29:18","modified_gmt":"2025-12-27T19:29:18","slug":"la-mesas-top-5-stories-in-2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/475543\/","title":{"rendered":"La Mesa\u2019s top 5 stories in 2025"},"content":{"rendered":"

LA MESA \u2013 La Mesa experienced some difficult times in 2025 \u2013 including the tragic death of an on-duty police officer. There were some positives as well, like Grossmont Hospital celebrating 70 years of service<\/a> and local business owner Becca Title publishing her first novel<\/a>.<\/p>\n

What stood out was the city uniting to advocate and push for change \u2013 even when the odds didn\u2019t favor La Mesa or community residents.<\/p>\n

Pass by University Avenue and La Mesa Boulevard on Tuesday mornings and you will see a group of protestors, mostly seniors, waving signs. They have faithfully marched, often using canes, walkers and wheelchairs, outside the Social Security Administration office every week since March when the Trump administration first started to look at cuts to Social Security benefits.<\/p>\n

Any recall campaign is a huge challenge<\/a>, as is getting politicians to limit their own campaign donations<\/a> or stopping the construction of a battery storage facility<\/a>. That hasn\u2019t stopped the community from trying. Whether it\u2019s fighting for nurses\u2019 pay or a better future for a blighted property<\/a>, La Mesans proved themselves to be indefatigable.<\/p>\n

Here are the five stories that defined the community this year.<\/p>\n

1. La Mesa police Officer Lauren Craven becomes first killed on the job<\/p>\n

\"Lauren<\/a>La Mesa Police Officer Lauren Craven. (Photo courtesy of La Mesa Police Department)<\/p>\n

It was significant when La Mesa lost its first police officer in the line of duty. A lot of things<\/a> were written about Lauren Craven<\/a>, of course, but this from editor Jennifer Vigil was particularly gutting<\/a>: That Craven joined the force to help other women in trouble after she was a victim of a serial rapist in Hollywood. A senseless loss.<\/p>\n

2. Grossmont Union High School District cuts all librarian jobs<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Protesters gather for a photo at the Grossmont Union High School District (GUHSD) meeting on April 24, 2025 at Grossmont High School in La Mesa. (Photo by Drew Sitton\/Times of San Diego)<\/p>\n

Grossmont Union\u2019s board has been in the news constantly this year, whether for allegedly violating the Brown Act<\/a> or for hiring politically-motivated administrators with little to no experience<\/a>. But what spurred district-wide student walkouts<\/a>, hundreds-strong protests and the attempted recall of La Mesa\u2019s trustee<\/a> was the board cutting the jobs of all teacher-librarians<\/a>. That singular decision shaped the turmoil<\/a> and resistance to the board<\/a> for 2025.<\/p>\n

3. Grossmont Center sale<\/p>\n

\"Reading<\/a>File photo of Reading Cinemas at Grossmont Center in La Mesa on April 7, 2021. (Photo by Chris Stone\/Times of San Diego)<\/p>\n

The most popular article about La Mesa this year was editor Jennifer Vigil\u2019s story on Grossmont Center being sold for $21 million<\/a>. The mall has already been changed though. Walk around to find lots of community spaces \u2013 from theaters to senior centers and playgrounds, not just retail and dining options.<\/p>\n

4. Battery storage facilities plans canceled<\/p>\n

\"Location<\/a>A\u00a0proposed battery storage facility at 8135 El Paso Street is no more.\u00a0(Photo by Amy Reichert)<\/p>\n

For two years, community members shared their concerns about a proposed battery storage facility near an SDG&E substation. The difficulty of putting out chemical fires at other locations<\/a> made the suburban location, near a school, seem especially dangerous. In July, the developer pulled the plans<\/a>.<\/p>\n

5. Sharp nurses\u2019 strike<\/p>\n

\"David<\/a>David Worsham, 44, shakes the hands of members of the clinical team and first responders credited with saving his life after he suffered heart failure. (Photo courtesy Sharp Grossmont Hospital Marketing & Communications)<\/p>\n

It may have been missed over a holiday weekend, but one significant bit of news \u2013 thousands of nurses, including at Sharp Grossmont Hospital, took part in a 3-day strike<\/a> over Thanksgiving. Healthcare workers demanded<\/a> staffing and patient care<\/a> fixes at the growing hospital<\/a>, which just celebrated 70 years of serving East County<\/a>.<\/p>\n

READ NEXT<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"LA MESA \u2013 La Mesa experienced some difficult times in 2025 \u2013 including the tragic death of an…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":475544,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5134],"tags":[1444,5229,1582,276,215497,215498,215499,169467,3549,7264,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-475543","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-diego","8":"tag-1444","9":"tag-america","10":"tag-ca","11":"tag-california","12":"tag-grossmont-hospital","13":"tag-grossmont-union-high-school-district","14":"tag-guhsd","15":"tag-lauren-craven","16":"tag-san-diego","17":"tag-sandiego","18":"tag-united-states","19":"tag-united-states-of-america","20":"tag-unitedstates","21":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","22":"tag-us","23":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115793192505154102","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/475543","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=475543"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/475543\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/475544"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=475543"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=475543"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=475543"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}