October 22, 2014 (San Diego's East County)-- East County Magazine's World Watch helps you be an informed citizen about important issues globally and nationally. As part of our commitment to reflect all voices and views, we include links to a wide variety of news sources representing a broad spectrum of political, religious, and social views. Top world and U.S. headlines include:

U.S.

• US military denied treatment to soldiers exposed to chemical weapons in Iraq (+video) (CS Monitor)
• The secret casualties of Iraq’s abandoned chemical weapons (New York Times)
• Your Car Won't Start. Did You Make The Loan Payment?
• Supreme Court denies request to block Texas voter ID law (Reuters)
• For More Millennials, It's Kids First, Marriage Maybe (NPR)

WORLD

• Islamic State flying three jets in Syria: monitor(Reuters)
• Britain warns of 'exceptionally high' level of anti-terrorism activity (Reuters)
• Japan jets scrambling to counter rising Russian incursions (Reuters)
• In Greece, free press pays the price for crossing the government (CS Monitor)
• Hong Kong leader confesses that real democracy is 'impossible' (CS Monitor)
•  Canadian soldier killed in attack by driver with links to radical Islam (CS Monitor)
• Mexican rights agency says army executed 15 of 22
• Were jihadists training in a French park? (CS Monitor)
• Nearly 500 new FGM cases identified

For excerpts and links to full stories, click “read more” and scroll down.

East County News Service

Four candidates are running for two seats on the Helix Water District Board.  We invited all four to be interviewed on our radio show and two of them responded. In our radio interviews, we asked candidates their views on the drought, creating new regional water supplies, the tiered rate structure, budget priorities, the future of Lake Jennings, and transparency, among other issues.

You can listen to their interviews here:

Kathleen Hedberg interview: https://www.eastcountymagazine.org/sites/eastcountymagazine.org/files/au...

Steven Rotsart interview:  https://www.eastcountymagazine.org/sites/eastcountymagazine.org/files/au...

Hedberg is an incumbent and civil engineer who is running as a ratepayers’ advocate. She voted against rate hikes passed by the board majority.  Her opponent is Maria Mariscal, who has worked for the County Water Authority. 

Rotsart says he’s running because rates are too high, having nearly tripled in the past nine years. He He believes his experience in nonprofits will help him bring financial accountability to the board. He is running against incumbent Deana Verbeke, whose website says she is a voice of ratepayers but who voted consistently to raise rates despite objections from the vast majority of ratepayers who submitted public comments.

By Dennis Moore

October 22, 2014 (Valencia, California) - Steve Springer, co-author of Laker Girl, with Jeanie Buss, the NBA Los Angeles Lakers President and Governor, will be one of 10 authors at the annual Barnes & Noble “Local Author Night” in Valencia, California on Friday, October 24^th, 2014 at 7:00PM. This writer had the distinct pleasure and honor of writing a review of Springer’s book for the East County Magazine in San Diego several months ago. Steve Springer is a former sportswriter who spent 25 years at the Los Angeles Times. He is the author of 11 books, including four on the Los Angeles Lakers, and the coauthor of the New York Time bestseller American Son with Oscar De La Hoya. Another memorable book by Springer, and a keepsake, is 50^th Anniversary: The Los Angeles Times Encyclopedia of the Lakers. This is a must have for all Lakers fans, me included.

PARTY WITH THE PRESS!

Yes we still have space available -- so come on out and "Party with the Press" & benefit East County Magazine's nonprofit community media:

Sunday, October 26 from 4-7 p.m.  at Next Door Wine & Craft Beer Bar

7235 El Cajon Blvd.in San Diego  (just east of La Mesa; take I-8 to 70^th, left on El Cajon Blvd.)

Includes wine tasting & craft beer tasting, a fabulous feast, lots of prizes, & fun galore! 

 Details below. Cheers!

East County News Service

Photo: Bureau of Land Management

October 21, 2014 (San Diego) – Five bats have tested positive for rabies in North County, the County reports. County health officials are asking for public help to identify five children who found a bat on Saturday outside the Pizza Nova outlet on North Twin Oaks Valley Road in San Marcos. The bat later died and was confirmed to have rabies.

“Articles Concerning Trusts, Wills, Probate, Family Law & more”

By Stephen C. Ross, Esq.

October 10, 2014 (San Diego County) – The primary benefit of a revocable trust is often considered to be avoidance of probate. Although it is true assets held in trust avoid probate, there are several other benefits of a revocable trust to consider. The following are trust benefits that may, or may not, be important to you.

Consumer urged to take immediate action 

October 22, 2014 (Washington D.C.) -- The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration urges owners of certain Toyota, Honda, Mazda, BMW, Nissan, and General Motors vehicles to act immediately on recall notices to replace defective Takata airbags. This is the latest in a series of recalls that now span from 2001 to 2013.

East County News Service

October 20, 2014 (San Diego)--If you’re a minimum wage worker in San Diego, the raise that the City Council voted for won’t be taking effect after all – at least, not until voters weigh in on the June 2016 ballot.

A joint report by East County Magazine and Reporting San Diego

By Miriam Raftery and Nadin Abbott

October 21, 2014 (La Mesa) – How prepared is East County's major hospital to handle an Ebola patient?

We contacted Grossmont Hospital to find out.  Although the risk of this occurring here is considered low by experts, errors in a Dallas hospital's handling of an Ebola patient pointed out the importance of proper planning.  Moreover, a survey published last week by National Nurses United revealed that 85 percent of hospitals had reportedly not provided any training for nurses on Ebola and most are short on equipment for handling a patient with the infectious disease that kills 70% of victims.

We sent a detailed list of questions to Sharp Grossmont Hospital’s director of marketing and communications, Bruce Hartman, on topics such as training and protective equipment for healthcare workers, whether patients are asked about their travel histories, and plans for sanitizing areas where an Ebola patient might have been waiting or treated. He responded with this detailed statement, followed by answers to our questions below.

The Hospital's responses include changes in procedures being made to reflect new guidelines just issued by the federal government, such as providing full protective suits with no skin exposed and training in how to safely remove such gear. Below is the full text of Hartman's response:

Open letter sent to District Attorney, Grand Jury, ratepayers and regulators

October 18, 2014 (Descanso) – An open letter sent to ratepayers, the County Grand Jury, health officials, legislators, media and District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis accuses the Descanso Community Water District board of covering up matters that could endanger health and property values—including uranium contamination. (ECM has previously reported on uranium in Descanso's water supply; see story here.)

The letter, titled “Secrecy—The Diseases of Corrupt Public Officials” urges ratepayers to attend the water board’s next meeting on Monday, October 27th at the Descanso Town Hall on Viejas Grade Road.  It is signed by Jeff Rzendal, BoardVice President, GarySanner, incoming Director, John LaPlante, former Director and Treasurer, and Ivan Heckscher, a ratepayer. Below is the text in full. We have asked the Board President, Lee Jonnson, for a response to the allegations raised and will publish his response once received.

By Miriam Raftery

Photo: Wind turbines dwarf homes and barns in rural Illinois

October 17, 2014 (San Diego’s East County)--Neighbors battling wind energy projects locally just got some new ammunition in two separate cases. 

In Wisconsin, the Brown County Board of Health this week voted to declare Duke Energy’s Shirley Wind energy project a human health hazard to residents, visitors, workers and other people  up to six miles away from the wind turbines. Here in San Diego’s East County and neighboring Imperial County, wind turbines have been built within a half mile of homes and new setbacks proposed remain much less than six miles, raising questions over potential dangers to residents if those projects are built.  

In Vermont, a federal district court has found that plaintiffs provided ample evidence to allow a private nuisance claim over the Sheffield Wind Project to proceed in court for creating unreasonable noise.

Forum on unification of Alpine, Grossmont districts set for Oct. 20 in Alpine

 

East County News Service

October 17, 2014 (Alpine) – Two lawsuits have been filed against the Grossmont Union High School District this week over its failure to fund construction of an Alpine High School. The litigation was filed by Alpine Taxpayers for Bond Accountability (ATBA) along with individual Alpine taxpayer plaintiffs who allege waste and misuse of Propositions H and U bond funds under the California Code of Civil Procedure. The ATBA law suit was filed simultaneously with an action by the Alpine Union School District (AUSD). Both suits seekan injunction to prevent the further expenditure of Prop H and Prop U bond funds until a decision is rendered by the State Board of Education in the coming months on how GUHSD assets will be allocated with regard to Alpine’s proposed unification of its school district. 

Amid the controversy, a forum on the proposed unification of the GUHSD and Alpine Union School District organized by supporters of unification is scheduled for Monday, October 20^th at 6:30 p.m. at Alpine Elementary School’s auditorium, 1950 Alpine Blvd. in Alpine.

Sticks and Stones and Broken Bones: What a Charmed Life I Lead, by Linda Lee King (Abbott Press, Bloomington, Indiana, 2014, 269 pages).

Book Review by Dennis Moore

October 17, 2014 (San Diego)--Linda Lee King, a recovering Catholic, news reporter, and publisher of a weekly newspaper, the Free Press News, who has struggled with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) since childhood, encapsulates that and all her experiences in a riveting book, Sticks and Stones and Broken Bones: What a Charmed Life I Lead. Growing up in 1950s America where children did not speak until spoken to and when the Catholic Church concealed many occurrences of inappropriate behavior, one moment in her young life caused trauma that would haunt her into adulthood. That sets the tone for this well-written book.

Part IV in a series

By the East County Eaters

Week 4:  Downtown Café (El Cajon) and Anthony’s Seafood Grotto (La Mesa)

October 16, 2014 (San Diego’s East County) –In our fourth week of savoring great happy hours across our region, we stopped in at two establishments with deep roots in the community: Downtown Café, located in a historic brick that dates back to El  Cajon’s pioneer past, and Anthony’s Fish Grotto, a landmark restaurant serving up fresh seafood in La Mesa since 1946.

Key issue: Does the city need a full-time mayor, or can the job be done part-time?

By Miriam Raftery

Photo: Mayor Art Madrid (left) and Councilman Mark Arapostathis (right)

October 15, 2014 (La Mesa) – La Mesa’s mayoral race is shaping up to be one of the hottest political contests in East County this election season, with two long-time community leaders vying for the city’s top job.  Both are long-time La Mesa residents with extensive experience in politics and community service. East County Magazine sat down for in-depth interviews with both candidates to talk about their records, their views on leadership, and their visions for La Mesa.