EAST COUNTY ROUNDUP: LOCAL AND STATEWIDE NEWS

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August 17, 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

STATE

 

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

 

LOCAL

Sea level rise would redraw the map (San Diego Union-Tribune)

Many San Diego properties would have a lot more 'ocean' in their 'oceanfront' if climate predictions come true.The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration keeps track of various climate scenarios, and maps what areas would be affected. Current estimates suggest that in 2100, the sea could rise by six feet, which would look like this:

Dumanis, Filner subpoenaed in Azano trial (10 News)

District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis and other San Diego politicians have been subpoenaed to testify in the illegal campaign finance trial of José Susumo Azano Matsura…Also subpoenaed are ex-Mayor Bob Filner and Rep. Juan Vargas, both Democrats, the attorney said. Dumanis is a Republican…San Diego developer and hotelier Douglas Manchester, who previously owned The San Diego Union-Tribune, also has been ordered to testify in the Azano case, as has the current publisher and editor of the newspaper, Jeff Light.

2 Ramona medical pot shops can proceed (Ramona Sentinel)

The County of San Diego has determined that two medical marijuana dispensaries have the vested right to open in Ramona despite a moratorium, and has issued a 30-day public review of draft amendments to its ordinance addressing such facilities. Comments must be received by 4 p.m. Sept. 9.

Water authority’s electricity plan kicks off power struggle with SDG&E (Voice of San Diego)

The San Diego County Water Authority is making moves to become part of the energy world in the future. That’s a problem for SDG&E, which is worried about being able to expand and maintain its vast energy grid.

Auditor finds insider hiring at San Diego utilities department (San Diego Union-Tribune)

The San Diego Public Utilities Department abused the hiring process to unfairly favor job applicants with inside information from City Hall, putting the city at legal risk, according a new report from City Auditor Eduardo Luna.

News In Numbers: Data Shows Proposed San Diego Election Change Would Help Democrats(KPBS)

Data from past elections suggests San Diego Democrats could get a boost from a more liberal electorate under a proposed change to the city's voting format.http://feedpress.me/13288/4151295.gif Two weeks ago, the San Diego City Council voted to put on the November ballot a proposal to send the top two candidates in June primaries to November general elections, regardless of whether any candidate achieves a majority.

STATE

Scathing audit bolsters critics’ fears about secretive state gang database (Voice of San  Diego)

An explosive state audit confirms many of the fears that San Diego Assemblywoman Shirley Weber and others have long expressed about the state’s gang database: that it cannot ensure individuals’ privacy, that people can be entered in the database without proper substantiation and that people are kept in the database long after their names should have been purged.

California Bill Would Make It a Felony for Prosecutors to Withhold Evidence(Reason)

Responding to several highly publicized district attorney scandals that have tainted numerous murder cases, a California state legislator has introduced bill that would make it a felony crime for prosecutors to intentionally withhold or falsify evidence.  Democratic California Assemblywoman Patty Lopez introduced the bill, which would raise prosecutorial misconduct from a misdemeanor to a felony imprisonable by up to 16 months to three years. The bill moved through committee to the full state senate last week.

Mass migration missing from Salton Sea (Borrego Sun)

Despite the steps being taken to raise awareness and pull in ideas and funding, the rising salinity and an increase in detritus accumulating from farm runoff, sees the plight of wildlife ill equipped to wait for human intervention. Scientists are observing an increase in birds washing up dead on the shores, starved to death through the lack of young fish available.

California’s largest utility found guilty of obstructing investigators after a deadly explosion (Business Insider)

A federal jury found California's largest utility guilty on Tuesday of misleading investigators about how it was identifying high-risk pipelines after a deadly pipeline explosion in the San Francisco Bay Area… The blast of a Pacific Gas & Electric Co. natural gas pipeline six years ago sent a giant plume of fire into the air, killing eight people and destroying 38 homes in the city of San Bruno.

California Freeways Will Soon Generate Electricity (L.A. Weekly)

The office of L.A.-area Assemblyman Mike Gatto announced recently that the California Energy Commission has agreed to fund multiple piezoelectric pilot projects in the Golden State.  According to a state energy commission report, "Piezoelectric crystals give an electrical discharge when mechanically stressed." So as vehicles roll over a highway embedded with these crystals, an electrical current is created, which can be harvested to feed the grid.

California university chancellor resigns after ethics probe (Reuters)

The embattled chancellor of the University of California, Davis resigned on Tuesday, the university system president said, after allegations the school spent $175,000 to quash negative internet posts prompted an ethics probe.

California’s Six Figure Pension Club Has More Than 20,000 Members (Reason)

If public service truly is a sacrifice, then join me in shedding a tear for the 20,900 public workers in California who pulled down more than $100,000 in retirement benefits during 2015. Thanks to Transparent California, a project of the Nevada Policy Research Group, you can now check out the retirement benefits for the more than 625,000 people who drew a pension last year from the California Public Employees Retirement System, or CalPERS.

 


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