EAST COUNTY ROUNDUP: LOCAL AND STATEWIDE NEWS

September 20, 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

• Supervisors OK fee waivers for those affected by Border Fire (KPBS)
• The Group Seeking to Educate Conservatives to Influence Local Politics(Voice of San Diego)
• Homicide puts further scrutiny on troubled El Cajon nursing home (KPBS)
• The Navy arson trial for the burning of USS Bonhomme Richard will soon start (NPR)
• ‘Fat Leonard’ escapes weeks before sentencing in Navy bribery scandal(Washington Post)
• San Diego Fire Department sees wave of heat-related injuries at Snapdragon Stadium(10 News)
• Five sex offenders being housed in a single Lakeside home (KUSI)
• Spring Valley Kids, 2 and 6, Found Safe After Mom Fatally Shot in Tijuana: SDSO (NBC San Diego)

STATE

• Gov. Newsom OKs mental health courts for homeless (KPBS)  
• California school district is asking families to rent rooms to teachers (NPR)
• Bill to track and report toxic ‘forever chemicals’ in California heads to Gov. Newsom (Environmental Working Group)
• The impact of California's environmental regulations ripples across the U.S. (NPR)
• California becomes first state with a law to protect children's online privacy (KPBS)

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

LOCAL

Supervisors OK fee waivers for those affected by Border Fire (KPBS)

County supervisors Wednesday unanimously approved giving residents affected by the recent Border Fire a break by waiving permit and document fees, including for vital records. Along with birth, death and marriage certificates, supervisors allowed waiving permit and document fees for improvements to legally permitted structures, septic systems, water wells and property-related documents.

The Group Seeking to Educate Conservatives to Influence Local Politics(Voice of San Diego)

… The RMNNT, a conservative political activist organization,… is run by husband-and-wife duo Alana and Scott Sorensen, and its messaging is stark. The RMNNT’s website states it seeks to raise up an “army to effectively influence local politics” and “take back” the San Diego region by educating voters and training candidates to run for office… The RMNNT has repeatedly posted misinformation about COVID-19 vaccines causing injury or death, referenced the “plandemic” conspiracy theory that purports the pandemic was designed to exercise greater control over the population and claimed the 2020 presidential election was stolen. Individuals associated with the group have also frequently popped up at local school board and supervisor’s meetings to tout variations of those beliefs. 

Homicide puts further scrutiny on troubled El Cajon nursing home (KPBS)

The warning to Sally Renee Johnson-Komzelman could not have been more ominous or prophetic. A social worker at Sharp Grossmont Hospital’s emergency room cautioned Johnson-Komzelman in July 2021 not to return her 90-year-old father to the Avocado Post Acute nursing home in El Cajon. ... the 256-bed home has received more than 620 complaints since 2019, which is four times the state average for facilities with 100 or more beds. ….But with just a few thousand dollars a month to cover her father Robert Bradley’s care, and little time to find alternative help during a pandemic, she felt she had no choice but to place him back at Avocado. Six weeks later, Bradley was dead, allegedly murdered by his roommate.

The Navy arson trial for the burning of USS Bonhomme Richard will soon start (NPR)

than two years after fire destroyed the USS Bonhomme Richard, the arson trial is set to get underway. The Navy continues to unravel why the fire became one of its worst peace-time disasters.

‘Fat Leonard’ escapes weeks before sentencing in Navy bribery scandal(Washington Post)

The Malaysian defense contractor who pleaded guilty to bribing Navy officials with sex parties, fancy dinners and alcohol in a massive corruption scandal has escaped just weeks before his sentencing date. Leonard Glenn Francis, also known as “Fat Leonard” for his overshadowing frame, fled Sunday while under house arrest in San Diego, where he was awaiting a Sept. 22 hearing. A multiagency search by the San Diego Regional Fugitive Task Force and Naval Criminal Investigative Service is underway…

San Diego Fire Department sees wave of heat-related injuries at Snapdragon Stadium(10 News)

The San Diego Fire Department says it dispatched multiple units to Snapdragon Stadium on Saturday to treat people suffering from heat-related illnesses. Thousands of people attended the first game at San Diego State's new home field as a heat wave continues to impact the Southwest.

Five sex offenders being housed in a single Lakeside home (KUSI)

Residents of the Blossom Valley neighborhood in Lakeside are outraged after learning five registered sex offenders just moved into a home on their family-friendly street.

Spring Valley Kids, 2 and 6, Found Safe After Mom Fatally Shot in Tijuana: SDSO (NBC San Diego)

The two children were last seen Sept. 2 with their mother. who was found shot to death on a highway in Tijuana, according to Baja California officials

STATE

Gov. Newsom OKs mental health courts for homeless (KPBS)  

Newsom signed the Community Assistance, Recovery and Empowerment Act on Wednesday. It would let family members, first responders and others ask a judge to draw up a treatment plan for someone diagnosed with certain disorders, including schizophrenia. Those who refuse could be placed under a conservatorship and ordered to comply.  Right now, homeless people with severe mental health disorders bounce from the streets to jails and hospitals. They can be held against their will at a psychiatric hospital for up to three days. But they must be released if they promise to take medication and follow up with other services.

California school district is asking families to rent rooms to teachers (NPR)

A Northern California school district is testing out a novel solution to its housing shortage for teachers: asking community members to rent them rooms.  The Milpitas Unified School District put out the call to families in late August in response to staff losses and sky-high housing costs that have made it difficult for educators to live near where they work.Superintendent Cheryl Jordan said in a statement to NPR that the district had already gotten 55 responses to its request.

Bill to track and report toxic ‘forever chemicals’ in California heads to Gov. Newsom (Environmental Working Group)

The California legislature today advanced Assembly Bill 2247, a measure to collect and report on the products and substances sold in the state or brought into California that contain the toxic “forever chemicals” known as PFAS. The law now goes to Gov. Gavin Newsom.

The impact of California's environmental regulations ripples across the U.S. (NPR)

California is home to some of the country's strictest environmental regulations. Those standards can sometimes spread to other states and beyond. It's known as the "California Effect."

California becomes first state with a law to protect children's online privacy (KPBS)

The bill requires tech companies that provide online services attractive to children to follow age-appropriate design code principles aimed at keeping children safe. Companies will eventually have to submit a “data protection impact assessment” to the state's attorney general before offering new online services, products, or features attractive to children.