EAST COUNTY ROUNDUP: LOCAL AND STATEWIDE NEWS

January 16, 2020 (San Diego) -- East County Roundup highlights top stories of interest to East County and San Diego's inland regions, published in other media.  This week's round-up stories include:  

LOCAL

• Judge orders attorney access for migrants who fear Remain in Mexico return  (San Diego Union-Tribune)
• Advocates call on the city to increase funding for pedestrian and bicycle safety (San Diego Union-Tribune)
• Campa-Najjar leads in latest 50th District poll; Issa, DeMaio close behind (San Diego Union-Tribune)
• El Cajon’s rich history dates to Gold Rush days (10 News)
• Trump Fans Aim to Buy San Diego’s One America News Network, WSJ Says (Times of San Diego)
• San Diego student named among those killed in Iran plane crash (10 News)

STATE

• California could be first state to sell prescription drugs (10 News)
• California drivers aren’t paying traffic fines. Here’s what Gov. Newsom plans to do (Sacramento Bee)
• From housing to health care: Here’s what’s in Gavin Newsom’s $222 billion California state budget (Sacramento Bee)
• Joe Biden says he’d consider Kamala Harris ‘for anything’ she wants, including VP (Sacramento Bee)
• Elementary school kids doused as jet dumps fuel before LAX emergency landing (Los Angeles Times)

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

LOCAL

Judge orders attorney access for migrants who fear Remain in Mexico return  (San Diego Union-Tribune)

 A San Diego federal judge in a pair of decisions Tuesday ruled that asylum seekers who have expressed fear about being returned to Mexico to await their U.S. immigration proceedings must be allowed access to attorneys to argue their cases. The rulings center on a crucial interview process that determines whether such asylum seekers should be part of the Trump administration’s so-called Remain in Mexico program, or whether the likelihood of persecution or torture south of the border means they should remain in the U.S. for the duration of their immigration cases.

Advocates call on the city to increase funding for pedestrian and bicycle safety (San Diego Union-Tribune)

Groups have been calling on the city for several years to increase funding to overhaul dangerous streets and intersections, like the one where the planning commissioner, Vicki Granowitz was badly injured.

Campa-Najjar leads in latest 50th District poll; Issa, DeMaio close behind (San Diego Union-Tribune)

On the day Duncan Hunter officially ended his tenure representing the 50th Congressional District, a poll released Monday shows the race to succeed him has focused more tightly around three candidates.

El Cajon’s rich history dates to Gold Rush days (10 News)

As 10News explores Life in El Cajon, we’re examining the rich history of a city that started with “gold in them thar hills.”

Trump Fans Aim to Buy San Diego’s One America News Network, WSJ Says (Times of San Diego)

With Donald Trump unhappy at times with Fox News, an effort is under way by the president’s friends to buy San Diego-based One America News Network — a more friendly media outlet.

San Diego student named among those killed in Iran plane crash (10 News)

A San Diego student has been named among those killed when an international flight bound for Ukraine crashed in Iran. Sara Saadat was a student at Alliant International University in Scripps Ranch.

STATE

California could be first state to sell prescription drugs (10 News)

On Friday, Gov. Gavin Newsom laid out several healthcare proposals designed to lower prescription drug costs, including a plan to make California the first state to make its own generic prescription drugs. The Democratic governor wants the nation’s most populous state to contract with generic drug companies to make medications on its behalf so it could sell them to its nearly 40 million residents. The goal is to lower prices by increasing competition in the generic drug market, Newsom said.

California drivers aren’t paying traffic fines. Here’s what Gov. Newsom plans to do (Sacramento Bee)

Turning right on a red light without fully stopping will cost you $500 in California. Parking blocking a wheelchair access curb could get you a $1,100 ticket. Is your license plate paint peeling? Some car owners have been hit with a $1,000 ticket for that. State officials who set those fees are now acknowledging that the high amounts are threatening the financial stability of lower-income drivers who can’t afford to pay those amounts. In his state budget proposal, Gov. Gavin Newsom is calling on judicial authorities to create a statewide program that will allow some of California’s poorer drivers to have their traffic citation amounts cut by 50 percent or more.

From housing to health care: Here’s what’s in Gavin Newsom’s $222 billion California state budget (Sacramento Bee)

Gov. Gavin Newsom wants to use a strong economy to help lower-income Californians by boosting education funding, revamping the state’s health program for the poor and getting homeless people off the streets through his second state budget proposal. During a nearly three-hour news conference on the $222 billion plan, he detailed strategies to address the state’s teacher shortage, expand early childhood programs and steer more money to Medi-Cal, the state’s health program for low-income people.

Joe Biden says he’d consider Kamala Harris ‘for anything’ she wants, including VP (Sacramento Bee)

n an interview with The Sacramento Bee’s California Nation podcast, Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden discussed his approach to the Golden State, ideas to improve California’s housing crisis and wildfire issues, as well as who could be his running mate.  California Sen. Kamala Harris’s presidential campaign is over, but she could still find herself in the White House next year…“She’s qualified to be president, and I’d consider her for anything that she would be interested in,” Biden said on The Bee’s California Nation podcast.

Elementary school kids doused as jet dumps fuel before LAX emergency landing (Los Angeles Times)

A Delta flight returning to LAX dumped fuel over southeast L.A. county, affecting some 44 people across four schools in Cudahy and South Gate.