EAST COUNTY ROUNDUP: LOCAL AND STATEWIDE NEWS

Printer-friendly versionPrinter-friendly version Share this

May 28, 2014 (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

Vote like you mean it on June 3 – the bad guys certainly will (SD Free Press)

The 2014 primary elections in California are just a week away. I’ll go out on a limb here and predict victories for well-funded incumbents and many causes supported by a minority of the public. The reason is simple. People aren’t voting. When people don’t vote, bad things can and do happen. It wasn’t supposed to work out this way. The “top-two” primary system opening the ballot to all voters, reformers told us, would increase turnout as decline-to-state voters, once excluded from partisan races, became more engaged. What the experts haven’t taken into account is the collateral damage from increasingly cynical and factually challenged campaign advertising.

Jim Wood, the populist candidate with some people problems (Voice of San Diego)

When Oceanside Mayor Jim Wood first filed papers to run for county supervisor, he was relatively unknown outside of his beach city. That anonymity was considered an asset, though: All people needed to know was that he was not Bill Horn. Horn is a Republican who has served on the Board of Supervisors for two decades. His penchant for polarizing positions and inflammatory rhetoric earned him a slew of enemies over the years, including those willing to put forth hundreds of thousands of dollars to unseat him.

Native linguists and speakers fight to keep Kumeyaay language alive (KPBS)

On a wildly windy day in the Kumeyaay community Juntas de Nejí, about an hour south of Tecate, Mexico, Norma Meza-Calles watches as her 6-year-old grandson, Matt, cracks open acorns. She gives him pointers in her native tongue. Matt is Meza-Calles' hope for keeping the Kumeyaay language and culture alive.

Except for Issa, San Diego delegation supports NSA changes (Times of San Diego)

With the lone exception of Rep. Darrell Issa (R-49), San Diego County’s Congressional delegation voted with the House majority on Thursday in favor of legislation ending the National Security Agency‘s ability to collect and hold telephone metadata and other bulk data.

55,000 in SD underwater on mortgages (UT San Diego)

More than 55,000 San Diego County homeowners are still underwater

Study: Most Adults Arrested In San Diego County Not On Probation (KPBS)

 A new study by the San Diego Association of Governments finds that contrary to what some had feared, prison realignment has had little impact on countywide arrest rates.

San Diego County to treat e-cigarettes like tobacco (Scoop San Diego) -- The San Diego County Board of Supervisors today adopted an amendment to the county code to prohibit the use of electronic smoking devices in places where tobacco smoking is banned.

GOP analysts give Tea Party tips on countering `bigotry of the left’ (Times of San Diego)

In the 1980s, Barry Jantz was a member of the conservative Young Americans for Freedom while a student at San Diego State. It was there that he learned how to deal with ideological opponents.

 

STATE

California's flawed water system cant track usage (The Sacramento Bee)

Nearly 4,000 California companies, farms and others are allowed to use free water with little oversight when the state is so bone dry that deliveries to nearly everyone else have been severely slashed.

 California Democrats call for gun restrictions after Isla Vista killings (The Sacramento Bee)

Democratic Assembly members Das Williams of Santa Barbara and Nancy Skinner of Berkeley announced they will introduce a bill that would allow concerned family members or friends to notify authorities when a loved one is at risk of committing violence. That would allow law enforcement to investigate the person and potentially prevent him from buying firearms.

 Calif. Senate leaders promise new laws after Isla Vista massacre (The LA Times)

Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento) said Friday’s killings in Isla Vista raised several questions about the adequacy of current efforts to identify people who may be a threat to themselves or others. The alleged shooter in Friday's rampage, Elliot Rodger, had long been in therapy and had been prescribed psychotropic drugs but declined to take them.

UCLA echoes of McCarthyism (Jewish Journal)

…Who would have thought that McCarthyite tactics would be used to target, harass and intimidate pro-Israel students — Jewish and non-Jewish — at UCLA? There are ominous echoes here of both the medieval witch hunts against Jews and Stalin’s show trials.


Error message

Support community news in the public interest! As nonprofit news, we rely on donations from the public to fund our reporting -- not special interests. Please donate to sustain East County Magazine's local reporting and/or wildfire alerts at https://www.eastcountymedia.org/donate to help us keep people safe and informed across our region.