EAST COUNTY ROUNDUP: LOCAL AND STATEWIDE NEWS

July 19, 2022 (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

• East County has waited 20 years for a new hospital. Should it wait another decade? (San Diego Union-Tribune)
• La Mesa, flush with federal cash, is now accepting pitches for new businesses (San Diego Union-Tribune)
• Dozens of Cars Involved in Street ‘Takeovers' Seized: San Diego Police (NBC San Diego)
• Philanthropists Joan and Irwin Jacobs give $10 million to Planned Parenthood (San Diego Union-Tribune)
• Heated hearing over possible placement of sexually violent predator in Borrego Springs (10 News)
• Tribe Runs State's Only On-Reservation Brewery – in Valley Center (San Diego Business Journal)

STATE

• Californians can vote to make abortion a part of the state's constitution (NPR)
• Yosemite wildfire updates: Firefighting force grows; Wawona, Mariposa Grove remain threatened (Fresno Bee)
• Newsom Signs Law Allowing Californians to Sue Gun Manufacturers for Negligence (Times of San Diego)
• Politicians punch holes in California’s sunshine laws  (Cal Matters)
• Gavin Newsom plants flag on climate, spurring 2024 chatter (The Hill)

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

LOCAL

East County has waited 20 years for a new hospital. Should it wait another decade? (San Diego Union-Tribune)

The delay in El Cajon raises broader questions about who gets easy access to health care

La Mesa, flush with federal cash, is now accepting pitches for new businesses (San Diego Union-Tribune)

If you’re willing to open in La Mesa, the city’s open to giving you $20,000. Applications opened Friday for the La Mesa Entrepreneurship Accelerator Program, known as LEAP, potentially making the city the first in the region to use federal relief funds toward new stores. “This program is gonna fill a gap,” Mayor Mark Arapostathis said in an interview. Residents were constantly asking for more retail and restaurants, he said, and this allowed the city to take a more direct role in supporting entrepreneurs, who in turn could fill buildings that emptied amid the pandemic.

Dozens of Cars Involved in Street ‘Takeovers' Seized: San Diego Police (NBC San Diego)

SDPD has seized 49 cars, with affidavits filed for the seizure of 24 others.

Philanthropists Joan and Irwin Jacobs give $10 million to Planned Parenthood (San Diego Union-Tribune)

Joan and Irwin Jacobs have given $10 million to Planned Parenthood of the Pacific Southwest, a contribution that the organization says will be used to expand its already broad network of health centers in San Diego, Imperial and Riverside counties. Reached Monday afternoon, Irwin Jacobs said the decision to make the donation occurred before the U.S. Supreme Court’s June 24 ruling overturning a woman’s constitutional right to abortion and is in support of the much-broader spectrum of reproductive health care that Planned Parenthood offers.

Heated hearing over possible placement of sexually violent predator in Borrego Springs (10 News)

Neighbors spoke out during a court hearing on Friday to discuss the possible placement of a convicted pedophile in their Borrego Springs community. Michael Martinez is what’s considered a sexually violent predator (SVP).

Tribe Runs State's Only On-Reservation Brewery – in Valley Center (San Diego Business Journal)

… The Rincon Band owns Harrah’s Resort Southern California and use the casino resort’s profits to provide government services, cultural programs and economic development resources for tribal members and surrounding communities. Mazzetti, the tribe’s leader since 2007 and chairman of the California Tribal Chairpersons Association, said he has long believed that the band should not stake its entire financial future on its casino operations….with Rincon Reservation Road Brewery, also known as 3R Brewery… the tribe says that it offers the only Native American-made beers produced at a brewery actually located on a reservation in all of California.

STATE

Californians can vote to make abortion a part of the state's constitution (NPR)

Residents of California will be able to vote to add abortion rights to their state's constitution on their midterm election ballots in November. The state Assembly voted Monday to amend Article 1 of the California Constitution to say, "The state shall not deny or interfere with an individual's reproductive freedom in their most intimate decisions, which includes their fundamental right to choose to have an abortion and their fundamental right to choose or refuse contraceptives."  Midterm elections are Nov. 8.

Yosemite wildfire updates: Firefighting force grows; Wawona, Mariposa Grove remain threatened (Fresno Bee)

The wildfire inside Yosemite National Park that threatens the community of Wawona and the Mariposa Grove of giant sequoias continued to grow overnight, expanding to more than 2,300 acres by Monday morning. But fire crews reported gaining some success in establishing containment lines around some parts of the fire, including near Mariposa Grove. As of midday Monday, the fire was reported at 25% contained.

Newsom Signs Law Allowing Californians to Sue Gun Manufacturers for Negligence (Times of San Diego)

Gov. Gavin Newsom has signed into law an Assembly bill that allows California victims of gun violence to sue manufacturers and retailers for negligence.

Politicians punch holes in California’s sunshine laws (Cal Matters)

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has affected virtually every aspect of our lives, mostly in the negative, and one effect is disconnecting California’s public officials from their constituents. 

Gavin Newsom plants flag on climate, spurring 2024 chatter (The Hill)

California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) is positioning himself and his state as a national leader on climate issues amid speculation of a possible 2024 White House bid. Newsom, even as the Biden administration is increasingly stymied by the Supreme Court and Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), hopes to show how the Golden State can lead the way on tackling climate change while Washington is in a quagmire