EAST COUNTY ROUNDUP: LOCAL AND STATEWIDE NEWS

August 3, 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

• Heartbroken family hopes baby’s death from whooping cough raises awareness (Good Morning America)
• Tule Wind project takes another step (San Diego Union-Tribune)
• Sterling decides to leave council then changes mind (San Diego Union-Tribune)
• Voters to decide Lilac Hills project (San Diego Union-Tribune)
• Numbers show increase in assaults on San Diego Police officers in recent years (10 News)
• Cuyamaca College to launch fall program in Kumeyaay studies (Times of San Diego)
• Santee coach who had sex with student, 15, gets 1 year  in jail (Patch)
• Representative of CPUC addressed Alpine regarding EMF (Alpine Sun)

STATE

• State officials want these California reservoir owners to warn people not to eat the fish (Los Angeles Times)
• Big Sur fire spreads into Los Padres National Forest(San Jose Mercury News)
• Nuts, by the truckload,make appetizing targets for thieves (CNN)

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

LOCAL

Heartbroken family hopes baby’s death from whooping cough raises awareness (Good Morning America)

Ty'Ree Rodgers of San Diego told ABC News that his 3-week-old, Jaxon Rodgers, died July 15 from the effects of whooping cough. Rodgers and his girlfriend, Jonalyn Lema, both 24, hope to start an organization to educate parents..One week before Jaxon was born, his mother was offered a vaccine for pertussis at the medical clinic she attended, Rodgers said.According to the Centers for Disease Prevention and Control, the best time to get this vaccine is earlier than Jaxon's mother received it: optimally, sometime during the 27th through 36th week of pregnancy...

Tule Wind project takes another step (San Diego Union-Tribune)

Construction starts in September but opposition group fights on.

Sterling decides to leave council then changes mind (San Diego Union-Tribune)

Ruth Sterling, first elected to the La Mesa City Council in 1992, announced at a City Council meeting on Tuesday that she won’t run for a seventh term. But two days later, she said she changed her mind.

Voters to decide Lilac Hills project (San Diego Union-Tribune)

The Board of Supervisors voted 4-0 Tuesday to put a citizens initiative on the ballot that would clear the way for the controversial Lilac Hills Ranch housing development…The panel had only two options — approve the project outright or place it on the ballot — after supporters of developer Accretive Investment successfully gathered more than 100,000 signatures on a citizens petition earlier this year…(most don’t live near the project) “It makes a mockery of our new General Plan,” said Pauma Valley resident Patsy Fritz, who has been battling the project since it was first proposed.

Numbers show increase in assaults on San Diego Police officers in recent years (10 News)

Data obtained by Team 10 shows it is becoming more dangerous on the streets for San Diego police officers. Numbers from the San Diego Police Department show between January 2013 and July 2015, the numbers of assaults on officers increased…From January 2015 to July 2015, there were 254 reported assaults on officers -- that’s more than all of 2013.

Cuyamaca College to launch fall program in Kumeyaay studies (Times of San Diego)

Cuyamaca College plans to launch an associate’s degree program in Kumeyaay studies this fall and become one of the first community colleges in the state to offer a degree program focusing on the language, culture and history of a specific Native American group.

Santee coach who had sex with student, 15, gets 1 year  in jail (Patch)

A man who had sex with a 15-year-old girl who took gymnastics at the Santee club where he coached was sentenced Wednesday to a year in jail and placed on three years probation. Patrick Wehrung, 25, must also register as a sex offender for life…The judge also issued a protective order, preventing Wehrung from having any contact with the now-16-year-old victim during the three years he's on probation.

Representative of CPUC addressed Alpine regarding EMF (Alpine Sun)

Engineer Chuck Williams, an independent contractor hired to conduct studies on behalf of the Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) to determine the electronic magnetic field (EMF) levels from the Sunrise Powerlink (SRPL) project, presented his findings on Thursday, July 7 at at the Alpine Community Center. Several CPUC employees were in attendance, but only a handful of members of the public showed up..Prior to the meeting, it was made clear by another CPUC official that there was to be no formal transcript taken of the meeting.

STATE

State officials want these California reservoir owners to warn people not to eat the fish (Los Angeles Times)

… Other “mercury impaired” reservoirs include such recreational and angling hot spots as Bass Lake, Crowley Lake, El Capitan Reservoir, Lake Hodges, Lake Hughes, Irvine Lake, Silverwood Lake and Lake Arrowhead.

Big Sur fire spreads into Los Padres National Forest(San Jose Mercury News)

The fierce and hungry Soberanes fire, now eight days old, on Saturday continued to spread east and southeast into Los Padres National Forest.

Nuts, by the truckload,make appetizing targets for thieves (CNN)

Almonds, pistachios and other high-value nuts are an appealing commodity for not only health nuts, but also more recently to highly sophisticated criminal organizations in the San Joaquin valley.