City News Service

High pressure will keep the weather warm over San Diego County this weekend as the smoke layer caused by the Valley Fire slowly thins.

Firefighters battling the Valley Fire in rural eastern San Diego County worked to take advantage of lighter winds and higher humidity Saturday morning in an attempt to increase containment of the blaze.

San Diego County public health officials reported 361 new COVID-19 infections and five deaths Friday from the illness, raising the county's total to 41,969 cases and 730 deaths.

A comprehensive outreach strategy to expand testing access for Latino residents and other communities hardest hit by the COVID-19 pandemic was announced Friday by local leaders.

Crews labored for a seventh day Friday to get full lines of control around the smoldering remnants of a wildfire that blackened thousands of acres in rural eastern San Diego County, leveling dozens of homes and forcing widespread evacuations.

San Diego County public health officials reported 284 new COVID-19 infections and four deaths from the illness, raising the county's total to 41,608 cases and 725 deaths.

The National Weather Service has issued an excessive-heat warning, effective from 10 a.m. Tuesday to 8 p.m. next Monday.

The department is looking to fill over 400 positions, and willing to pay tens of thousands of dollars in signing bonuses to attract new employees.

It's going to feel a lot like summer across much of San Diego County starting Wednesday.