EAST COUNTY ROUNDUP: TOP LOCAL AND STATE NEWS

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October 11, 2012  --  (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

  • San Diego’s Bilbray-Peters race reflects new reality in politics (Los Angeles Times)
  • Gas stations close as California gas prices skyrocket (KPBS)
  • Edison releases restart plan for unit 2 at San Onofre (KPBS)
  • Mayoral debate at Politifest: Videos (Voice of San Diego)
  • The Starting Line: UT San Diego’s Soviet-style political coverage. Are air-brushed photos next? (San Diego Free Press)
  • The Starting Life: DeMaio’s second calendar: private meetings with developers don’t count (San Diego Free Press)
  • Filner’s shaky public safety claim (Voice of San Diego)
  • Neighbors (in Lakeside) still shaken by deputies’ shootout with suspect (UT San Diego)
  • Pastors to send IRS message on political speech (UT San Diego
  • Skyline pastor tells flock he will vote for Romney (UT San Diego)
  • Proposal to double city funding on arts moves toward City Council (KPBS)
  • A guide to the media attention on Poway’s billion dollar bond (Voice of San Diego)
  • North County Times lays off one-third of staff (Sacramento Bee)

STATE

  • Brown acts to reduce gas prices (Los Angeles Times)
  • Proposition 34: Repealing the death penalty (Sacramento Bee)
  • Report: recycling fraud costs California millions (Sacramento Bee)
  • UCAN demands $474K from ex-boss  (UT San Diego)
  • California’s new migrants following the work (UT San Diego)

Read more for excerpts and links to full stories.

LOCAL

San Diego’s Bilbray-Peters race reflects new reality in politics (Los Angeles Times)

October 8, 2012 -- The new look of congressional politics in California is playing out in a district that covers most of San Diego and the suburbs of Poway and Coronado — not normally a region considered a political trend-setter.

The 52nd Congressional District race, pitting incumbent Republican Brian Bilbray and Democrat Scott Peters, is competitive, high-spending, and, as a notable San Diegan, the late singer/songwriter Jim Croce, once intoned in a different context, "meaner than a junkyard dog."

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-52nd-district-20121008,0,2109726.story

Gas stations close as California gas prices skyrocket (KPBS)

October 5, 2012 -- Californians woke up to a shock Friday as overnight gasoline prices jumped by as much as 20 cents a gallon in some areas, ending a week of soaring costs that saw some stations close and others charge record prices.

The average price of regular gas across the state was nearly $4.49 a gallon, the highest in the nation, according to AAA's Daily Fuel Gauge report.

In Southern California, the price jumped 20 cents a gallon overnight to $4.53 in Ventura. And in the Los Angeles-Long Beach area prices went up 19 cents to nearly $4.54. It wasn't any better to the north, as a gallon of regular gas in San Francisco averaged nearly $4.60.

http://www.kpbs.org/news/2012/oct/05/gas-stations-close-california-gas-prices-skyrocket/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+kpbs%2Flocal+%28KPBS+News%3A+Local+Headlines%29

Edison releases restart plan for unit 2 at San Onofre (KPBS)

October 4, 2012 -- Edison revealed this morning its plan to restart Unit 2, one of two reactors at San Onofre that have been shut down since January after premature damage was discovered to the tubes in the steam generators.

The company said the cause of the damage to the tubes was “fluid elastic instability,” a condition caused by several factors. The term refers to the vibration of the tubes inside a support structure. The excess vibration is caused by high steam velocity and low moisture around the tubes - and secondly by ineffective tube supports.

http://www.kpbs.org/news/2012/oct/04/edison-releases-restart-plan-unit-2-san-onofre/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+kpbs%2Flocal+%28KPBS+News%3A+Local+Headlines%29

Mayoral debate at Politifest: Videos (Voice of San Diego)

October 5, 2012 -- We had a packed crowd at Politifest for the debate between mayoral candidates Carl DeMaio and Bob Filner.

Watch what the city councilman and the congressman had to say in the videos of the debate below. And check out our extensive coverage of the San Diego mayor's race in our special section, The Road to 2012: Mayor's Race.

Let us know if there's anything you think we should Fact Check!

http://www.voiceofsandiego.org/government/article_a7c49c4c-0f3f-11e2-a335-001a4bcf887a.html

The Starting Line: UT San Diego’s Soviet-style political coverage. Are air-brushed photos next? (San Diego Free Press)

October 5, 2012 -- UT-San Diego editor Jeff Light has always challenged critics of the paper’s ownership to see if they can find any bias in the paper’s news coverage that reflects the unabashed right wing political leanings of publisher Doug Manchester and CEO John Lynch. One need look no further than today’s edition of the paper and its failure to report any forum or debate occurring in San Diego yesterday that might have aired views in opposition to UT-San Diego’s editorial stances.

http://sandiegofreepress.org/2012/10/the-starting-line-ut-san-diegos-soviet-style-election-coverage-are-airbrushed-photos-next/#.UHO4BlFnAyk

The Starting Life: DeMaio’s second calendar: private meetings with developers don’t count (San Diego Free Press)

October 4, 2012 -- For several weeks now mayoral candidate Carl DeMaio has been at the center of a controversy regarding his relationship with media mogul and developer Doug Manchester in connection with plans for a proposed football stadium at the site of the Tenth Avenue Port Terminal. A news account last week quoted Manchester’s CEO John Lynch bragging in an email about having a mayoral candidate in tow who was favorable towards their plans.

Since the UT-San Diego newspaper had endorsed DeMaio and the vision for the football stadium site was a pet project for Manchester, many people, including the City Councilman’s opponent Congressman Bob Filner, assumed that some sort of closed door deal had been made.

http://sandiegofreepress.org/2012/10/the-starting-line-demaios-second-calendar-revealed-private-meetings-with-developers-dont-count/#.UHO4alFnAyk

Filner’s shaky public safety claim (Voice of San Diego)

October 5, 2012 -- San Diego hoteliers could potentially raise hotel-room taxes by an estimated $2 billion over the next four decades to boost tourism promotion and expand the Convention Center. Mayoral candidate Bob Filner isn't happy about it.

Filner takes every chance he gets to denigrate the deals, which have the strong support of his opponent, Carl DeMaio. Filner argues that the public should vote on tax increases, rather than just hotel owners.

At a debate Wednesday, however, Filner went a step further. He said multiple times that the city should redirect the money generated by one of the fee increases, a 2 percent surcharge on visitors’ hotel bills.

http://www.voiceofsandiego.org/government/article_47ddb3aa-0f1b-11e2-be26-0019bb2963f4.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+voice-of-san-diego-all-articles+%28All+articles+voiceofsandiego.org+--+full+feed%29

Neighbors (in Lakeside) still shaken by deputies’ shootout with suspect (UT San Diego)

October 7, 2012 -- Almost two weeks after two sheriff’s deputies were shot in a wild gunbattle with a suspected child molester at a Lakeside apartment, neighbors who live next to the unit are still shaken.

They question why the event unfolded as it did and why law enforcement didn’t rescue them while the shootout was going on.

When the shooting started about 12:15 p.m. on Sept. 25, 18 bullets slammed into Brandi Dove-Osborn’s apartment as she and her boyfriend and a roommate took refuge in the bathroom. The gunfire lasted for 15 minutes. The three huddled on the floor.

http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2012/oct/07/neighbors-still-shaken-by-deputies-shootout-with/

Pastors to send IRS message on political speech (UT San Diego)

October 5, 2012 -- More than 1,500 pastors nationwide including the leaders of two well-known churches in San Diego County plan to challenge the federal government on Sunday by intentionally preaching politics in the face of a ban on endorsements from parish pulpits.

Jim Garlow of Skyline Church in Rancho San Diego and Chris Clark of East Clairemont Southern Baptist Church are among those set to take part in “Pulpit Freedom Sunday.” The Internal Revenue Service has said churches could lose their tax-exempt status if leaders venture too far into the political arena. Some pastors have said they plan to endorse Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney.

http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2012/oct/05/pastors-to-send-irs-message-on-political-speech/

Skyline pastor tells flock he will vote for Romney (UT San Diego)

October 7, 2012 --  Skyline Church Pastor Jim Garlow ended his Sunday sermon in La Mesa saying he'll vote for Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, but left it to his congregation to make up their own minds.

"Some came to hear to hear an endorsement," Garlow said. "My endorsement will be Jesus. I'll tell you whom I'm going to vote for, but I don't think that makes it an endorsement. I'm going to vote for Mitt Romney, but I'm not telling you to."

http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2012/oct/07/skyline-pastor-endorses-romney-defying-irs-regulat/

Proposal to double city funding on arts moves toward City Council (KPBS)

October 8, 2012 -- A proposal to more than double city funding for local arts and culture organizations over the next five years was unanimously approved today by the San Diego City Council's Economic Development and Strategies Committee.

If approved by the full City Council at a future meeting, the amount given to the city's Commission on Arts and Culture would increase by 129 percent to $17.9 million, according to the city's Independent Budget Analyst.

http://www.kpbs.org/news/2012/oct/08/proposal-double-city-funding-arts-moves-toward-cit/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+kpbs%2Flocal+%28KPBS+News%3A+Local+Headlines%29

A guide to the media attention on Poway’s billion dollar bond (Voice of San Diego)

October 8, 2012 -- Since we wrote about Poway Unified School District’s $105 million in borrowing that will end up costing taxpayers almost $1 billion to repay, the district has gotten a wave of national attention.

Most recently Reuters' finance blogger Felix Salmon said Poway may still have a way out of its exotic borrowing plan, which the district doesn't start to repay for 20 years.

As district residents start to ask “what can we do now?” Salmon had some suggestions:

http://www.voiceofsandiego.org/education/article_4cb11054-fd12-11e1-8c4e-0019bb2963f4.html

North County Times lays off one-third of staff (Sacramento Bee)

October 2, 2012 -- The Times reports that it is laying off one-third of its staff, including 24 in the newsroom.

The San Diego-area newspaper reports that employees were notified Monday upon completion of the sale to the region's dominant newspaper, U-T San Diego. Hotelier Doug Manchester bought the North County Times for $12 million from Lee Enterprises Inc., less than a year after buying U-T San Diego.

http://www.sacbee.com/2012/10/02/4875070/north-county-times-lays-off-one.html#

STATE

Brown acts to reduce gas prices (Los Angeles Times)

October 7, 2012 -- Gov. Jerry Brown took “emergency steps” Sunday to try to bring down record gas prices in the state.

He directed the California Air Resources Board to increase the fuel supply by allowing the immediate sale and import of cheaper and more available winter-blend gasoline.

The move would reduce the price of gas in California by 15 to 20 cents per gallon, probably within a few days, said energy expert Chris Faulkner of Dallas-based Breitling Oil and Gas.

http://www.latimes.com/business/money/la-fi-mo-gov-brown-gas-prices-20121007,0,2291534.story

Proposition 34: Repealing the death penalty (Sacramento Bee)

October 7, 2012 -- The initiative to repeal California's death penaltycomes as opponents have experienced success nationally in ending capital punishment.

Last spring, Connecticut became the fifth state in five years to eliminate the death penalty, joining Illinois, New Jersey, New Mexico and New York.

A total of 17 states do not have the death penalty.

http://www.sacbee.com/2012/10/07/4888290/proposition-34-repealing-the-death.html

Report: recycling fraud costs California millions (Sacramento Bee)

October 7, 2102 -- Rampant fraud within California's recycling redemption program is costing the state millions of dollars, as scammers drive trucks full of cans across the border from Nevada and Arizona to collect nickels on deposits that were never paid.

California recyclers also are claiming redemptions for the same containers several times, or for containers that never existed, according to an investigation by the Los Angeles Times ( http://lat.ms/QW1sg8).

http://www.sacbee.com/2012/10/07/4889459/report-recycling-fraud-costs-california.html

UCAN demands $474K from ex-boss  (UT San Diego)

October 4, 2012 -- The Utility Consumers’ Action Network is demanding that former Executive Director Michael Shames return more than $474,000 of the bonuses he was awarded while running the advocacy group.

In a letter obtained by The Watchdog on Thursday, Chairman Kendall Squires told Shames he can find no record that the group’s board ever approved the awards.

http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2012/oct/04/ucan-demands-474k-ex-boss/

California’s new migrants following the work (UT San Diego)

October 6, 2012 -- Why would anyone want to leave California? That’s easy: To find a job. Nowhere is this fact clearer than in the southern regions of the state, which in recent years have seen something like the migration depicted in “The Grapes of Wrath,” only this time played backward.

This trend shows up in IRS data tracing movements of tax filers from state to state over the past decade. A new study by the Manhattan Institute, focusing in this data for California from 2000 to 2010, shows how the drive for a better life, for so long a westward quest, now starts at the coast and runs east – into the interior of California and out of the state from there.

http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2012/oct/06/californias-new-migrants-following-the-work/


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