September 15, 2011 (San Diego's East County) -- East County Roundup highlights top news stories of interest to our region, published in other media. This week's top Roundup stories include:

LOCAL

• SDUSD may close 10 San Diego schools (10 News)
• East County college district adopts lean budget (San Diego Union-Tribune)
• Sewer problems highlight region’s utility weak spots (San Diego Union-Tribune)
• Grossmont High School District hopes for ‘soft landing’ in case of midyear cuts (La Mesa Patch)
• Fiery ball seen streaking across SoCal sky (10 News)
• Underlying cause of the Southwestern blackout, Sept. 8, 2011: Failure of the smart grid (La Mesa Patch)
• Congresswoman Davis: Campaign robbed of $250,000  (10 News)
• Helix grad Shoshana Hebshi makes world news (passenger detained in Detroit) (La Mesa Patch)
• Sempra announces new company president

STATE

• Jerry Brown calls for ‘war on unemployment’ (Sacramento Bee)
• Chamber of Commerce wins big on its “job killer” list (Sacramento Bee)
• Mercury chairman dumps $8 million into insurance initiative drive (Sacramento Bee)

Scroll down for excerpts of stories and links to full articles.

LOCAL

SDUSD may close 10 San Diego schools (10 News)

September 15, 2011 -- San Diego is considering closing 10 schools to help deal with a budget crisis.

http://www.10news.com/news/29192884/detail.html

East County college district adopts lean budget (San Diego Union-Tribune

September 14, 2011--The Grossmont-Cuyamaca Community College District governing board has a approved a $107 million operating budget for 2011-2012...The district anticipates a $6.3 million midyear cut that would be triggered if state revenue projections fall short.

Student enrollment fees, which rose from $26 per unit to $36 per unit this year, could rise to $46 per unit if the projections are not met.

The new budget eliminates a combined 600 classes at the district’s two colleges, Grossmont in El Cajon and Cuyamaca in Rancho San Diego. As a result of those cuts, about 2,300 students have been turned away from the colleges.

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2011/sep/14/east-county-college-district-adopts-lean-budget/  

Sewer problems highlight region’s utility weak spots (San Diego Union-Tribune)

September 9, 2011 -- Thursday’s electrical outage did more than expose vulnerabilities in the region’s power system. It also highlighted the lack of backup power at some sewer and water pump stations across the county.

Boil water orders were issued in several San Diego neighborhoods and more than 2 million gallons of sewage fouled the city’s coastline when key pieces of infrastructure failed.

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2011/sep/09/sewer-water-problems-highlight-utility-weak-spots/

Grossmont High School District hopes for ‘soft landing’ in case of midyear cuts (La Mesa Patch)

September 13, 2011 -- The Grossmont Union High School District has leftover funds that could “soften the blow” if it endures additional budget cuts from the state, said the district’s deputy superintendent for business services.

http://lamesa.patch.com/articles/grossmont-high-school-district-hopes-for-soft-landing-in-case-of-midyear-state-cuts

Fireball seen streaking across SoCal sky (10 News)

September 15, 2011 -- The director of Griffith Park Observatory said that what was seen over the skies of Southern California and Arizona Wednesday night was probably "a piece of interplanetary debris" that "passed through the earth's atmosphere and burned up."

http://www.10news.com/news/29189401/detail.html

Underlying cause of the Southwestern blackout, Sept. 8, 2011: Failure of the smart grid (La Mesa Patch) – editorial by Susan Brinchman

September 10, 2011— The newly crafted smart grid failed us. This was predicted. These blackouts will continue and may even affect the entire nation in the near future. The CPUC and AZ PUC (state regulators) are guaranteed to cover it up; they don't want bad press on smart grid problems.

http://lamesa.patch.com/blog_posts/underlying-cause-of-the-southwestern-blackout-sept-8-2011-failure-of-the-smart-grid

Congresswoman Davis: Campaign robbed of $250,000  (10 News)

September 12, 2011--A congresswoman said her campaign was robbed of about $250,000 and blamed a longtime Democratic campaign accountant who has been charged with fraud, according to a letter to supporters released Monday.

U.S. Rep. Susan Davis was not mentioned as a victim in the federal complaint against Kinde Durkee, but the San Diego Democrat told supporters her campaign was one of many that were victimized.

http://www.10news.com/news/29162396/detail.html

Helix grad Shoshana Hebshi makes world news, a “great person” (La Mesa Patch)

September 14, 2011--Scottie alumnus of 1994, now an Ohio resident, says she was strip-searched, humiliated in Detroit on the 10th anniversary of 9/11 because of her Mideastern appearance.

http://lamesa.patch.com/articles/helix-graduate-shoshana-hebshi-makes-world-news-for-story-on-detroit-airline-ordeal

Sempra announces new company president

September 14, 2011 -- San Diego-based Sempra Energy Wednesday announced a successor to its retiring president, Neal Schmale.

Effective Oct. 1, Mark Snell will head the energy company, overseeing infrastructure and international businesses, the Fortune 500 company announced in a statement. Snell, 55, currently serves as Sempra's executive vice president and chief financial officer.

 http://www.10news.com/news/29188026/detail.html

STATE

Jerry Brown calls for ‘war on unemployment’ (Sacramento Bee)

September 13, 2011--Gov. Jerry Brown said this morning that the powerful California Public Utilities Commission, which is controlled by Brown appointees, could reclaim some of what Brown lost when the Legislature last week sunk his bid to reauthorize an energy surcharge known as the public goods charge.

...The Democratic governor put blame for the Legislature's defeat of his broader tax and jobs plan on the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association and its influence on Republican lawmakers.

http://blogs.sacbee.com/capitolalertlatest/2011/09/jerry-brown-calls-for-war-on-u.html

Chamber of Commerce wins big on its “job killer” list (Sacramento Bee)

September 15, 2011--The Legislature may be dominated by liberal Democrats, but the California Chamber of Commerce emerged from the 2011 session as a big winner in its annual "job killer" duel with labor unions, trial lawyers and environmental and consumer groups.

…This year, 30 bills made the list, although business also opposes a wider array of bills. And when the gavel fell on the 2011 session early Saturday morning, just four of the 30 had survived.

A fifth, granting "card check" organizing rights to the United Farm Workers Union, also made it through the Legislature, but was vetoed by Gov. Jerry Brown, who later negotiated a package of farm labor reforms that was enacted.

http://blogs.sacbee.com/capitolalertlatest/2011/09/chamber-of-commerce-wins-big-o.html

Mercury chairman dumps $8 million into insurance initiative drive (Sacramento Bee)

September 12, 2011--A top insurance industry executive has put more than $8 million into an effort to qualify an initiative affecting auto coverage rates for the 2012 ballot.

…The proposed measure is similar to Proposition 17, a failed June 2010 ballot measure that was bankrolled with $16 million in funding from Mercury. Proponents have until early January to collect the 504,760 valid voter signatures needed to qualify for the 2012 ballot.

http://blogs.sacbee.com/capitolalertlatest/2011/09/mercury-chairman-pumps-8-milli.html