EAST COUNTY ROUNDUP: LOCAL AND STATEWIDE NEWS

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October 27, 2015 (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

Ambulance firm seeks better response times (San Diego Union-Tribune)

Fined $230,000 earlier this month for failing to meet required response times, San Diego’s ambulance provider said Monday it plans to offer double-time pay to current employees and $3,000 signing bonuses to qualified applicants to reduce delays in service.

Filner sexual battery suit settled for $99K (San Diego Union-Tribune)

San Diego agreed to pay $99,000 on Tuesday to settle one of five unresolved sexual battery and harassment lawsuits against former Mayor Bob Filner.

Costly Turing drug gets competition (San Diego Union-Tribune)

Turing Pharmaceuticals sparked nationwide outrage and government investigations when it raised the cost of a generic drug used for AIDS and cancer from $13.50 to $750 a capsule.Today, a San Diego biomedical company today introduced a competitor to that drug that sells for $1 a capsule.

Edison reaches $400 million settlement with nuclear insurer (Los Angeles Times)

Southern California Edison has reached a $400-million settlement with its insurer over the shuttered San Onofre nuclear plant that the utility says will help cut customers' costs.

Major drug tunnel shut down at Otay Mesa (San Diego Union-Tribune)

The latest drug tunnel discovered between Tijuana and San Diego featured ventilation, lighting and a rail system capable of moving loads of wrapped marijuana across the border. Within hours of launching operations on Wednesday, the passageway was shut down, 22 suspects were under arrest and 12 tons of marijuana had been seized by U.S. and Mexican authorities.

Warner Springs Golf Course to reopen (Ramona Sentinel)

With Roxanne Mueller as its director of golf, Warner Springs Ranch Resort plan the grand re-opening of its newly-renovated golf course for Nov. 5.  Warner Springs Ranch Golf Club is a 6,850-yard, 18-hole, par-72 championship course surrounded by 60-year-old oak trees, natural vegetation and sweeping views of the area mountain ranges.

San Onofre case judge must go (San Diego Union-Tribune)

Judge Melanie Darling shouldn't be lavishing praise on a utility she regulates.

STATE

FEMA urges Californians to buy flood insurance before El Niño (Los Angeles Times)

With drenching El Niño rains anticipated to begin more than a month from now, the Federal Emergency Management Agency is urging Californians to buy flood insurance, even if they live in areas of low to moderate risk.  "If there was ever a time to buy flood insurance, this is the time," said Roy Wright, FEMA's deputy associate administrator for insurance and mitigation. "You cannot get it at the last minute. There's a 30-day wait period for new flood insurance policies to go into effect," Wright told reporters…

CHP sued over nude photo-sharing scandal (Inside Bay Area)

A woman who had racy photos secretly copied from her phone by a California Highway Patrol officer during a DUI stop last year in San Ramon filed a lawsuit against the former officer and the CHP.  The lawsuit filed in federal court is the first related to the nude photo-sharing scandal involving multiple women as victims of what the Dublin-area CHP officer described as a “game” among patrolmen…Harrington said he learned of the game while in a Los Angeles-area CHP office.

Anthem Blue Cross Will Refund $8.3 Million To California Consumers (KPBS)

The $8.3 million will settle two lawsuits that claim Anthem Blue Cross illegally raised the co-pays and deductibles of 50,000 individual policyholders when it made changes to their policies in mid-2011.

El Niño or Not, Water Use Restrictions Likely to Continue (Voice of San Diego)

…This spring, Gov. Jerry Brown ordered urban water users to reduce their demand by an average of 25 percent. Those restrictions expire in February, but limits on water use seem certain to continue past then – even if it rains a lot this winter because of El Niño.

Judge suggests $16.7M Edison fine (San Diego Union-Tribune)

A California Public Utilities Commission judge on Monday recommended that Southern California Edison receive a fine of more than $16 million for failing to report backchannel communications about the failure of the San Onofre nuclear plant.

Will California lawmakers ever again override a veto? (CAP Radio)

Gov. Jerry Brown vetoed more than 130 bills this year, 14 percent of the measures that reached his desk. Senate President pro Tem Kevin de León (D-Los Angeles) has ruled out any votes to overturn this year’s vetoes. And that’s not surprising. The Legislature hasn’t overridden a veto since 1980 when the governor was also named Jerry Brown. Lawmakers haven’t even voted on a veto override since 2003.

 


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