EAST COUNTY ROUNDUP: JANUARY 27, 2011

East County Roundup highlights top stories of interest to East County, published in other media.

Latest Roundup headlines include:

• National Guard finds pot-firing catapult (National Public Radio)
• California hunters at risk from illegal pot growers, law enforcers say (Sacramento Bee)
• Marine deserves same outpouring of financial support that Oreo got, Mayor says (La Mesa Patch)
• Don’t look back: Darrell Issa, the Congressman about to make life more difficult for President Obama, has troubles of his own (The New Yorker)
• El Cajon considers booze crackdown (San Diego Union-Tribune)
• California’s consumers grow more optimistic (Sacramento Bee)
• Sixth grades moving back to elementary schools? (La Mesa Today)
• Small crowd, big news at La Mesa townhall meeting (San Diego Union-Tribune)
• Extra CHP enforcement along Route 67 loses funding (Santee Patch)
• Brown’s prison plan has a hitch: County jails are overcrowded, too (Sacramento Bee)
• California cities race to shield funds from state (Los Angeles Times)
• Grossmont High School District seeks three bond district overseers (Mount Helix Patch)

NATIONAL GUARD FINDS POT-FIRING CATAPULT
January 27, 2011 (NPR)-- National Guard troops near the border with Mexico operate surveillance cameras. Those cameras recorded images of men on the Mexican side as they set up a catapult. They used it to fling drugs across the border.
http://www.npr.org/2011/01/27/133266644/national-guard-finds-pot-firing-...
 

CALIFORNIA HUNTERS AT RISK FROM ILLEGAL POT GROWERS, LAW ENFORCERS SAY
January 24, 2011 (Sacramento Bee) -- Hunters beware: California's public lands are threatened by more and more illegal marijuana growing operations, with armed crews toting powerful weaponry.
http://www.sacbee.com/2011/01/24/3346197/california-hunters-at-risk-from...

MARINE DESERVES SAME OUTPOURING OF FINANCIAL HELP THAT OREO’S FAMILY GOT
Josh (McClintock) currently has veterinarian medical care bills totaling $2,300 for his dog Minnie Moo and is paying from his limited income.
http://lamesa.patch.com/articles/ex-marine-deserves-same-outpouring-of-f...

DON’T LOOK BACK: DARRELL ISSA, THE CONGRESSMAN ABOUT TO MAKE LIFE MORE DIFFICULT FOR PRESIDENT OBAMA, HAS HAD SOME TROUBLES OF HIS OWN
January24, 2011 (The New Yorker)—A few days before Christmas, the mood in Representative Darrell Issa’s office was jovial…Issa, a six-term California Republican, had recently been elected chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, which, according to House rules, “may at any time conduct investigations of any matter.” Now that he had been given the power to subpoena, investigate, and harass the Obama Administration, Issa was being described as a future leader of his party—and the man most likely to weaken the President before the 2012 election.
http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2011/01/24/110124fa_fact_lizza?curren...

EL CAJON CONSIDERS BOOZE CRACKDOWN
January 21, 2011 (San Diego Union-Tribune)--El Cajon city officials are looking at banning the sale of cheap, fortified beer and wine, along with single-serve containers of alcohol, as part of a citywide crackdown on public drunkenness.
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2011/jan/21/el-cajon-considers-booze-...

CALIFORNIA’S CONSUMERS GROW MORE OPTIMISTIC
January 19, 2011 (Sacramento Bee) -- If consumer confidence in California means anything, this year's economic fortunes might be an improvement over 2010.
Half of Californians expect both the state and national economies to improve this year, according to the latest quarterly California Pulse survey by Citi, the financial services company.
That's a sharp contrast from past Citi surveys, when around 70 percent were skeptical about the economy.

Read more: http://www.sacbee.com/2011/01/19/3334297/californias-consumers-grow-more...

SIXTH GRADES MOVING BACK TO ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS
January 18, 2011 (La Mesa Today) - The impact of the state budget crisis continues to take its toll on local schools.
In an appparent cost saving move, the La Mesa/Spring Valley school district is expected to move its sixth graders back to elementary campuses in September.
The move, which has not been officially approved by the district's school board, would mean Parkway Middle and La Mesa Middle schools in La Mesa and Spring Valley Middle and La Presa Middle in Spring Valley will revert to being junior high schools with just seventh and eighth grades.
http://www.lamesatoday.com/profiles/blog/show?id=4327660%3ABlogPost%3A68...

SMALL CROWD, BIG NEWS AT LA MESA TOWN HALL MEETING
January 18, 2011 (San Diego Union-Tribune)-- LA MESA — There were plenty of empty seats Tuesday night as almost as many city officials as residents showed up at Parkway Middle School for the first of two La Mesa town-hall meetings this week.
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2011/jan/18/small-crowd-big-news-at-l...

EXTRA CHP ENFORCEMENT ALONG ROUTE 67 LOSES FUNDING
January 18, 2011 (Santee Patch.com) The last few years Route 67 has seen an education and safety campaign to try and bring down the number of accidents on the roadway, and the extra enforcement no longer has funding in 2011.
http://santee.patch.com/articles/extra-chp-enforcement-along-route-67-lo...

BROWN’S PRISON PLAN HAS A HITCH: COUNTY JAILS ARE OVERCROWDED, TOO
January 18, 2011 (Sacramento Bee) -- Gov. Jerry Brown's plan to transfer state inmates to county jails faces a simple obstacle: Many jails don't have the space to hold them.
Just as the state has struggled with prison overcrowding, some counties have had their own problems keeping inmates locked up. Statewide, tens of thousands of inmates are released early from county jails each year because of space constraints
http://www.sacbee.com/2011/01/18/3330962/browns-prison-plan-has-a-hitch....

CALIFORNIA CITIES RACE TO SHIELD FUNDS FROM STATE
January 18, 2011 (Los Angeles Times)-- As Jerry Brown seeks to kill redevelopment agencies, officials move to protect the groups' money. They see a raid by Sacramento, while the state says the funds are needed to protect vital services.
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-revolt-20110119,0,1726727.story

GROSSMONT HIGH SCHOOL DISTRICT SEEKS THREE BOND-WORK OVERSEERS
CBOC panel needs two community members and one parent to help oversee spending and bird-dog Proposition H and U construction projects.
January 14, 2011 (MountHelix.Patch.com) --The Grossmont Union High School District is looking for a few good watchdogs. The community board that oversees Proposition H and U spending and construction has openings for three new members, the district says.

http://mounthelix.patch.com/articles/grossmont-high-school-district-seek...