EAST COUNTY ROUNDUP: LOCAL AND STATEWIDE NEWS

October 27, 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

• Toxic Plume In El Cajon Reaches Beneath Mobile Home Park(KPBS)
• Hunter pushes Coast Guard to lease or buy ship owned by top campaign donor (San Diego Union-Tribune)
• Sister of El Cajon police shooting victim files suit against city of El Cajon (10 News)
• “Justice or else…” Activists at El Cajon City Council meeting(Reporting San Diego)
• “Wake up: Stop the genocide…” Why those T-shirts?  (Reporting San Diego)
• 3 Iran-Americans Receive Lengthy Prison Sentences In Iran(NPR)
• San Diego federal judges OK 99% of requests to cut drug sentences (Union-Tribune)
• Invasive Insect Threatens San Diego County's Palm Trees (KPBS)
• Most San Diego Hospitals Fail To Meet Goal For Reducing C-Sections(KPBS)
• San Diego State's Graduation Rate Hits All-Time High (KPBS)
• Obama lashes out at Issa in San Diego (San Diego Union-Tribune)
• Chargers advertising — lies, lies, lies (San Diego Reader – Don Bauder)

STATE

• California  Investigating Whether Wells Fargo Committed Criminal Identity Theft (NPR)
• Donors pour $450 million into California initiatives (KQED California Report)
• Calif. voters returning ballots in big numbers, election officials say (Sacramento Bee)
• Two earthquake faults meet near San Francisco, could trigger next Big One (CS Monitor)
• California judicial watchdog agency sues over state audit (San Diego Union-Tribune)
• How Doctors And The DMV Decide It’s Time For Californians To Stop Driving (KPBS)

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

Toxic Plume In El Cajon Reaches Beneath Mobile Home Park(KPBS)

State and county officials have long had a map that shows an underground plume of the toxic chemical trichloroethylene (TCE) stretching from a former aerospace firm in El Cajon for more than a mile toward the county airport, Gillespie Field. An area of high concentration runs beneath a K-5 school, Magnolia Elementary. But the map also shows the plume flows beneath manufactured homes in a mobile home park adjacent to the school. No action and little testing have taken place there — until now.

Hunter pushes Coast Guard to lease or buy ship owned by top campaign donor (San Diego Union-Tribune)

R ep. Duncan Hunter, R-Alpine, has been pushing the U.S. Coast Guard to buy or lease a polar ice-breaking ship owned by one of his top campaign contributors, although the Coast Guard has repeatedly said the vessel doesn’t meet its needs…It made national news in 2012 when it suffered mechanical failure and lost control of an oil rig it was towing. The rig ran aground off Kodiak Island in Alaska.

Sister of El Cajon police shooting victim files suit against city of El Cajon (10 News)

The attorney representing the sister of Alfred Olango, the man who was shot and killed last month by an El Cajon police officer, has filed a claim against the city of El Cajon on Thursday.  10News reporter Michael Chen has learned that Dan Gilleon, Lucy Olango's attorney, filed a claim stating that the city was negligent in training and supervising Officer Richard Gonsalves, the cop who fatally shot Olango.

“Justice or else…” Activists at El Cajon City Council meeting(Reporting San Diego)

One issue dominated the meeting General Comment section of the City of El Cajon Council Meeting. This was a demand for justice for Alfred Olango, which activists, such as Quis, Ebonay Lee, and Anthony Jimenez will only be accomplished when Officer Richard Gonsalves faces the justice system.

“Wake up: Stop the genocide…” Why those T-shirts?  (Reporting San Diego)

One of the t-shirts that have emerged in street protests in El Cajon is simple. It reads. “Wake Up: Stop the Genocide.” …for African-American, and to a lesser extent, Latino youth there is a reason for these t-shirts. They summarize their experience. It starts early in their lives.

3 Iran-Americans Receive Lengthy Prison Sentences In Iran(NPR)

…In just the past week, Iranian courts have sentenced three Americans to lengthy prison terms. All are dual nationals, Iranian-Americans. And the latest, a man from San Diego, is facing the toughest punishment yet on what appears to be a case based on his Facebook posts

San Diego federal judges OK 99% of requests to cut drug sentences (San Diego Union-Tribune)

New data shows federal judges in San Diego have granted all but one request in recent years to cut prison terms from inmates serving time for drug crimes.

Invasive Insect Threatens San Diego County's Palm Trees (KPBS)

Researchers in San Diego County are in a race against an invasive creature on a path of destruction from the border to Bonita since its arrival in 2015.

Most San Diego Hospitals Fail To Meet Goal For Reducing C-Sections(KPBS)

There's a nationwide effort underway to reduce unnecessary C-sections…. State health officials have placed 104 hospitals on a new honor roll for meeting a federal goal of reducing C-section births.  Only three San Diego-area hospitals made the list: Scripps Mercy, UC San Diego and Sharp Grossmont.

San Diego State's Graduation Rate Hits All-Time High (KPBS)

The graduation rate at San Diego State University in 2016 increased to 74 percent, and school administrators are crediting targeted programs to get students more involved on campus.

Obama lashes out at Issa in San Diego (San Diego Union-Tribune)

President Barack Obama had sharp words for Rep. Darrell Issa Sunday night, contending the Vista Republican’s “primary contribution to the United States Congress has been to obstruct and to waste taxpayer dollars on trumped-up investigations that have led nowhere.” Obama’s comments came at a La Jolla event to raise money for Democratic congressional candidates. Among those in attendance was Doug Applegate, who’s in a close race with Issa.

Chargers advertising — lies, lies, lies (San Diego Reader – Don Bauder)

Fred Maas, special advisor to Chargers chief Dean Spanos, is now the team's designated prevaricator. Maas claims in ads that the team's stadium proposal (Measure C) won't cost San Diegans a dime unless they stay in hotels. Spanos and the team's former prevaricator-in-chief, Mark Fabiani, have said this for a long time. Do not believe it.

STATE

California Is Investigating Whether Wells Fargo Committed Criminal Identity Theft (NPR)

The bank has come under fire since acknowledging that employees, trying to meet sales targets, opened millions of accounts without customer authorization.

Donors pour $450 million into California initiatives (KQED California Report)

Political donors have spent a record $450 million on 17 statewide November ballot initiatives in California, beating the state’s own record for the most spent on propositions appearing on state ballots in a single year, campaign reports filed Thursday show.

California voters returning ballots in big numbers, election officials say (Sacramento Bee)

… election officials around the state say that mail ballot returns are running higher than usual for a presidential election. Explanations include the overall increase in the number of Californians

Two earthquake faults meet near San Francisco, could trigger next Big One (CS Monitor)

Seismologists have determined that the Hayward Fault and Rogers Creek Fault connect near San Francisco Bay and could potentially trigger a devastating earthquake.  

California judicial watchdog agency sues over state audit (San Diego Union-Tribune)

The California agency that disciplines judges is suing the state auditor over the scope of an audit ordered this year by the Legislature, saying the probe is too broad and violates the constitutional separation of powers.

News In Numbers: How Doctors And The DMV Decide It’s Time For Californians To Stop Driving (KPBS)

DMV statistics reveal the agency took action against the licenses of 4,388 to 6,389 drivers with a diagnosis of Alzheimer’s or dementia each year over the last decade. That's far fewer than the estimated 50,000 people who develop the disease in the state annually.