EAST COUNTY ROUND-UP, JULY 1, 2009

 Top Stories About East County in other publications, including:

• FIRE SERVICES PARTNERSHIP EMERGING
• LAKESIDE YOUTH IS COUNTY’S 44th WITH WHOOPING COUGH
• OFFICIALS’ SUPPORT SCRIPTED BY SDG&E
• WIND FARM SET FOR CAMPO RESERVATION
• DESCANSO AREA TARGET OF USFS GRANT TO GREATER SAN DIEGO RCD
• GOVERNMENT AGENCIES’ OPENNESS ON WEB VARIES
• NEW AERIAL FIREFIGHTING AGREEMENT

FIRE SERVICES PARTNERSHIP EMERGING

San Diego Union-Tribune (July 2, 2009) – Three East County cities have taken a formal first step toward combining fire services. The Lemon Grove City Council was the first to approve an agreement June 16 with El Cajon and La Mesa to provide joint senior fire staff coverage after hours. The city councils in El Cajon and La Mesa approved the agreement last week.

http://www3.signonsandiego.com/stories/2009/jul/02/fire-services-partner...

LAKESIDE YOUTH IS COUNTY’S 44th WITH WHOOPING COUGH
 

San Diego Union-Tribune (June 30, 2009)— Noting that whooping cough has become more prevalent locally, health officials said Tuesday that a Lakeside elementary school student is the latest person in San Diego County to develop the highly contagious illness.
The 10-year-old student attends Lemon Crest Elementary School. The last day of classes was June 19.
 

http://www3.signonsandiego.com/stories/2009/jun/30/san-diego-8212-noting...
 

OFFICIALS’ SUPPORT SCRIPTED BY SDG&E
 

San Diego Union-Tribune (June 28, 2009) -- Just before Tuesday's debate over a plan to prevent backcountry wildfires by cutting off power during the worst conditions, county supervisors received letters from elected officials across the region urging support.
 

El Cajon Mayor Mark Lewis, La Mesa Mayor Art Madrid and Escondido Mayor Lori Holt Pfeiler sent a joint e-mail. Letters with similar wording came from San Diego City Council members Marti Emerald, Tony Young and Ben Hueso.
 

All of the correspondence closed with the suggestion that county officials work with the plan's sponsor, San Diego Gas & Electric Co., to improve the overall response to regional emergencies.
 

The letters were written by the utility's public-relations staff, according to documents obtained by The San Diego Union-Tribune, and confirmed by elected officials who signed them.
 

http://www3.signonsandiego.com/stories/2009/jun/28/1m28sdge005532-offici...

WIND FARM SET FOR CAMPO RESERVATION
 

San Diego Union-Tribune (June 11, 2009) -- An Indian tribe, an energy company and San Diego Gas & Electric Co. are announcing today that they are partnering to build California's second-largest wind-power project in the mountains east of San Diego.
When completed in two years, the 160-megawatt wind farm on the Campo Indian Reservation would produce more than three times the power generated by a similar project on the same reservation 60 miles east of San Diego.
 

http://www3.signonsandiego.com/stories/2009/jun/11/wind-farm-project-set...

DESCANSO AREA TARGET OF USFS GRANT TO GRAETER SAN DIEGO RCD
 

The Alpine Sun (June 25, 2009) -- SAN DIEGO — During the May 29 open house and grand opening of the new Resource Conservation District of Greater San Diego building, resource conservation district and other officials noted that a $3 million U.S. Forest Service grant to the RCD would focus on removing dead, dying, and diseased oak trees in the Descanso area.

In some areas of Descanso the oak tree mortality rate has reached 85 percent.
 

http://www.thealpinesun.com/June%2025/as%20inside.html

GOVERNMENT AGENCIES’ OPENNESS ON WEB VARIES
 

Posting agendas online not required
Online: For a listing of Web sites for East County government agencies, go to uniontrib.com/ecgov
 

San Diego Union-Tribune (June 13, 2009) EAST COUNTY — Information about the business being discussed at Helix Water District meetings is now just a computer click away, with the water district joining other East County government agencies in providing more access to the public on the Web.
 

…The San Diego Union-Tribune reviewed the Web sites of East County's major government entities: four cities, 10 school districts, the Grossmont-Cuyamaca Community College District and the Grossmont Healthcare District. Each site was studied to determine whether viewers could view board agendas and reports provided to board members and whether the e-mail addresses of staffers and elected officials were provided.
 

http://www3.signonsandiego.com/stories/2009/jun/13/1ez13web21323-governm...

NEW AERIAL FIRE PROTECTION AGREEMENT MORE FLEXIBLE, COST-EFFECTIVE
 

The Alpine Sun (June 4, 2009) — In 2008 the San Diego County Board of Supervisors approved a lease of two Superscooper firefighting fixed-wing aircraft along with a tactical aircraft. The $3 million lease covered the risky months of September, October, and November.

This year the county supervisors approved a different plan, which obtains aerial firefighting assets on a "call when needed" basis. The supervisors' 5-0 vote May 12 is not only expected to reduce the county's expenditure amount but would also allow the aircraft to be available throughout the year.
 

http://www.thealpinesun.com/June%204/as%20inside.html