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East County Roundup highlights the best stories about East County issues found in other publications.
CALIFORNIA GOVERNOR PROPOSES ONE-STOP PERMITTING FOR ELECTRICITY TRANSMISSION
New York Times (February 24, 2009) — California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) is proposing a single-stop permitting agency for electricity transmission and renewable energy projects.
The proposed state Energy Department would consolidate permitting efforts divided among at least nine agencies.
COUNTY FORECLOSURES SLOW AS LENDERS AWAIT HOMEOWNERS' AID
San Diego Union-Tribune (Feb. 23, 2009) — After surging in December, foreclosure activity in San Diego County fell by nearly 12 percent last month, as some lenders stopped repossessing dwellings in anticipation of President Obama's plan to help distressed homeowners.
"We are seeing some lenders in self-imposed foreclosure moratoriums," said Sean O'Toole, founder of the ForeclosureRadar research firm.
January was the first month to show a year-over-year decline in county foreclosures since March 2005. There were 1,107 foreclosures, a 15 percent drop from a year earlier, the MDA DataQuick research firm reported Monday.
KOPPA WILL NOT ALLOW HEDGE ON PROPERTY
Ramona Sentinel (February 20, 2009) — Saying he does not want a convicted sexually violent predator living on his property, Ramona resident Charles J. "Poppa" Koppa wrote "Return to Sender" and "Contract Void" on an envelope containing an uncashed check for $7,350 he had received from Liberty Healthcare Corporation. The check was to hold a vacant home he owns off Highway 67 off the market until a March 13 Superior Court hearing on the state Department of Mental Health proposal to house convicted child molester Matthew Hedge there when Hedge is released from in-hospital treatment and placed in outpatient treatment.
AFTER A DECADE, EL CAJON WOMAN ARRESTED AS ARMY DESERTER
San Diego Union-Tribune (February 16, 2009)EL CAJON--A woman who has been AWOL from the Army since she chose to stay home to take care of her children in 1999 was arrested Saturday for desertion.
El Cajon police took Giselle Flynn, 37, into custody about 1 a.m. at her home on North Cuyamaca Street and booked her into the Las Colinas Detention Facility. She is being held there without bail, said El Cajon police Sgt. Fenton Sue.
…Flynn's saga began in November 1998, when she enlisted in the Army after being homeless for a time and then spending years on welfare. Her marriage was failing, and she hoped the military would provide her with job training and a better financial future for her family, according to a 1999 story in The San Diego Union-Tribune.
TEEN VANISHES ON WAY TO SCHOOL
CNN (February 22, 2009) — Last Friday the 13th was supposed to be a special day for 14-year-old Amber Leeanne DuBois.
Loved ones say Amber Leeanne DuBois, 14, would never go anywhere without telling her parents or friends. She left her home in Escondido, California, around 7 a.m. for school with a check in hand, a down payment on a baby lamb that she was going to raise and care for as part of her Future Farmers of America class. It was a day that she'd been looking forward to for more than a year, her family says. But she never made it to school and hasn't been heard from since, prompting authorities to launch a massive search for the missing teen.
DISTRICT VOTES TO CLOSE TROUBLED MIDDLE SCHOOL:
Mountain Empire enrollment falling
San Diego Union-Tribune (February 14, 2009) — The middle school serving East County's backcountry will be closing within two years, school board members decided this week.
Members of the Mountain Empire Unified School District voted 6-0 Wednesday night to close Mountain Empire Middle School and instead add seventh-and eighth-grade classes to the district's elementary schools. (Board member Jeff Morrison was absent from the meeting.)
The middle school, next door to Mountain Empire High School in Pine Valley, has long suffered from academic problems and declining enrollment. It has been on the federal Program Improvement list for seven years, and less than 24 percent of the school's students scored "proficient" in English.
SDG&E ANSWERING CRITICS OF CUTOFF PLAN:
Rural customers advised to have backup power
San Diego Union-Tribune (February 13, 2009) — San Diego Gas & Electric Co. is firing back at critics of its proposal to shut off power to rural customers, saying they don't understand what it wants to do and should already be prepared for life without electricity during emergencies.
GROSSMONT DISTRICT CONSIDERS CLOSING SCHOOLS:
San Diego Union-Tribune (February 12, 2009) — The Grossmont Union High School District is proposing to close a Santee high school for students with behavioral problems – including some with criminal records – and to reassign its 125 students to other district sites.
About 25 of the students at Homestead High have been expelled from other schools or have criminal records and would not be placed at any of the district's schools, Superintendent Robert Collins said.
REGION: WITH EVICTIONS ON THE RISE, DEPUTIES MAKE THE ROUNDS TO CLEAR RESIDENTS OUT OF HOMES
North County Times (February 7, 2009) — Two San Diego County sheriff's deputies escorted the pregnant woman out of her Poway home. It didn't matter that she had no car to drive and nowhere to go. It didn't matter that her baby was due the next day. The uniformed men had no choice.
Foreclosure had led to eviction, and Jan. 29 was D-Day. Ordering the expectant mother and the little girl at her knee to leave the four-bedroom house was part of their job, just the final stop on an otherwise average day that saw them handle 21 evictions.
PROTEST MOUNTS AGAINST MATTHEW HEDGE: MEETING FEB. 19 INVITES PUBLIC COMMENT
Ramona Sentinel (February 11, 2009) — Opposition is mounting against letting a convicted child molester live in a 3,750-square-foot house in Ramona. Even the property owner is against it.
POWAY REPORT: FORECLOSURE CONCERNS AHEAD
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Pomerado News (February 11, 2009) — A new city report concludes that Poway so far has managed to escape the brunt of the recent wave of residential housing foreclosures, but resetting in coming years of adjustable rate mortgages, coupled with lowered property values, could be problematic.
ESCONDIDO: MAYOR FOCUSES ON RECESSION, DROUGHT DURING ANNUAL ADDRESS
Pfeiler promises to shrink city government, urges residents to conserve water
North County Times (February 11, 2009) — Mayor Lori Holt Pfeiler promised Wednesday night to shrink and reshape Escondido's city government, while also warning residents to conserve water and rethink landscaping decisions to help the city avoid water rationing.
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