EAST COUNTY ROUNDUP: LOCAL AND STATEWIDE NEWS

June 23, 2016 (San Diego's East County) -- East County Roundup highlights top stories of interest to East County and San Diego’s inland regions, published in other media. This week’s top “Roundup” headlines include:

LOCAL

• SDG&E nears OK for lobbying on public energy program (San Diego Union-Tribune)
• Inside the Fight on the Left Over SANDAG’s Big Tax (Voice of San Diego)
• Lawsuit over gas plume under Qualcomm stadium settled (KPBS)
• U.S. Border Patrol ramps up presence in East County to catch smugglers (KPBS)
• San Diego Registrar of Voters faces lawsuit (CBS8)
• Rep. .Darrell Issa may face a strong challenge in November (Times of San Diego)
• District may be headed toward fiscal slowdown (Ramona Sentinel)
• Planners scrap park project (Ramona Sentinel)
• Inside The Deal That Shaped San Diego County’s Power Picture(KPBS)
• Imperial Beach Braces for Rising Sea Levels (Voice of San Diego)

STATE

• Twin fires in San Gabriel Mountains force hundreds of evacuations amid brutal conditions (Los Angeles Times)
• PG&E to close Diablo Canyon, California’s last nuclear plant (Los Angeles Times)
• Congress will not fund gun violence research, so California will do it on its own (Intellectualist)
• Q&A: What got done in California’s state budget and what didn’t (Los Angeles Times)
• Up to 700 gallons of oil spill in VenturaCounty (Los Angeles Times)
• What’s going on around the San Andreas fault? (CS Monitor)
• No Easy Path To Implementing California Groundwater Law (KPBS)

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

LOCAL

SDG&E nears OK for lobbying on public energy program (San Diego Union-Tribune)

San Diego Gas & Electric could soon become the first utility in California allowed by regulators to set up a division that could publicly lobby against an alternate energy program gaining momentum in many parts of the state.

Inside the Fight on the Left Over SANDAG’s Big Tax (Voice of San Diego)

Labor groups and environmentalists have emerged as the loudest opponents of a proposed tax increase for countywide transportation projects, and Democrats pushing the initiative can’t quite figure out where they went wrong.

Lawsuit over gas plume under Qualcomm stadium settled (KPBS)

… As part of the settlement, Kinder Morgan, owner of a gasoline tank farm across Friars Road from the stadium in Mission Valley, will pay the city $20 million, according to a joint statement from the city and company. The firm also agreed to pay additional future costs that might be incurred by the city.

U.S. Border Patrol ramps up presence in East County to catch smugglers (KPBS)

Assaults on agents, the robbing and kidnapping of migrants, and wrong-way freeway traffic have been attributed to smuggling organizations in East County. This week, the Border Patrol's San Diego sector launched an operation called "Campaign Eastern Front" to stifle the organizations' criminal activity, according to an agency statement.

San Diego Registrar of Voters faces lawsuit (CBS8)

Members of the Citizens' Oversight met Friday at the San Diego Registrar of Voters to blast the voter registrar on what they call a mishandling of ballots…The lawsuit concerns the "Audit of the Count," suing for election processing irregularities. It alleges that the audit contains only about half the mail ballots as required by law and includes no provisional ballots. It states about 285,000 ballots are missing from the audit, which could be used to help Bernie Sanders win California.

Rep. .Darrell Issa may face a strong challenge in November (Times of San Diego)

Rep. Darrell Issa may face the strongest challenge of his eight-term Congressional career in the November general election based on primary results and a new Democratic Party poll.

District may be headed toward fiscal slowdown (Ramona Sentinel)

School budgets the past several years have been rosy, but signs are this may be changing, David Ostermann, assistant superintendent of administrative services for the Ramona Unified district, said.

Planners scrap park project (Ramona Sentinel)

Efforts to use an area of Wellfield Park for active recreational use have been scrapped due to the recent surfacing of a 2009 biological study that has caused the project to be cost-prohibitive.

Inside The Deal That Shaped San Diego County’s Power Picture(KPBS)

San Diego's two biggest sources of electricity were approved in a deal brokered by Michael Peevey, the embattled former president of the California Public Utilities Commission.

Imperial Beach Braces for Rising Sea Levels (Voice of San Diego)

Imperial Beach is surrounded by water on three sides: the Pacific Ocean to the west, the bay to the north and the Tijuana River to the south. That means it’s always endured storm surges and cross-border pollution, but the city is now coming to terms with another environmental reality: rising sea levels that could eventually impact 30 percent of the city’s properties, 40 percent of its roads, an elementary school and more.

STATE

Twin fires in San Gabriel Mountains force hundreds of evacuations amid brutal conditions (Los Angeles Times)

The battle to contain two large wildfires burning out of control above San Gabriel Valley foothill communities became something of a smoky slog Tuesday as firefighters took on the flames in rugged canyons, evacuated residents anxiously awaited word, and the surrounding region endured a bad air day.

PG&E to close Diablo Canyon, California’s last nuclear plant (Los Angeles Times)

California’s last nuclear power plant will be phased out by 2025, under a joint proposal announced Tuesday morning by Pacific Gas & Electric Co. and labor and environmental groups.

Congress will not fund gun violence research, so California will do it on its own (Intellectualist)

Scientists have been collecting data on car crash deaths and casualties for decades. Studies of the dangers of tobacco number in the many hundreds. But the US government has never funded a research center to study gun violence. Yesterday, the California legislature approved a budget allocating $5 million to establish the California Firearm Violence Research Center…What scientists don’t know about the public health impact of guns could fill an armory

Q&A: What got done in California’s state budget and what didn’t (Los Angeles Times)

Every year in California’s state Capitol, some budget issues get resolved and others get pushed further down the road. And it’s a mixed bag in the new deal passed by lawmakers on Wednesday. More work on budget-related bills is expected next week.

Up to 700 gallons of oil spill in VenturaCounty (Los Angeles Times)

Ventura County firefighters have stopped thousands of gallons of crude oil from flowing toward the ocean after a leak was spotted at Prince Barranca valley, officials said.

What’s going on around the San Andreas fault? (CS Monitor)

A new study finds that areas along the southern San Andreas fault are rising and falling, reflecting centuries-long buildups of seismic energy that could potentially trigger a major earthquake.

No Easy Path To Implementing California Groundwater Law (KPBS)

New groundwater management laws mean Californians no longer have unfettered use of underground water. State law will require the creation of local agencies with sweeping powers to meter wells, tax and penalize anyone who overuses groundwater.