ECM ROUNDUP: LOCAL AND STATEWIDE NEWS

August 1, 2013 (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

• Calif. judge hears case of slain Iraqi-American (Sac Bee—regarding El Cajon case)
• The sting of juvenile detention in San Diego County (CityBeat)
• Madrid Protests City Travel Cutbacks (Scoop San Diego)
• SDSU has record fundraising year (UT San Diego)
• Backcountry philosopher (Duncan McFetridge) in touch with truth (U-T San Diego)
• People's plaza: Shady scene (U-T San Diego)

Filner scandal:

• Dueling Filner recall efforts could join forces (10 News)
• Filner sued by the city he leads (U-T)
• Campaign disclosures: developers help pay Mayor Bob Filner’s debt  (10 News)
• Could Filner face criminal charges as well? (CBS8) 
• Councilman Says City Code On Recall Elections Should Be Amended (KPBS)
• Filner's old boss had his own scandal (U-T San Diego)
• 8th Woman Accuses Filner Of Unwanted Sexual Advances (KPBS)
• Four More Women Accuse Filner (KPBS)
• France trip not paid by nonprofit (10 News)
• Feds inquire on project Filner halted (U-T San Diego)
• Filner: Taxpayers should pay my legal fees (U-T San Diego)

STATE

• Revised trust act immigration bill clears California Assembly – again (Sacramento Bee)
• California city becomes first to adopt eminent domain plan (Reuters)
• Desert storm brews over Obama renewable energy plan (National Geographic)
• The Case for Prison Reform (Reason)
• PG&E’s CEO says tougher rules needed on fracking (San Jose  Mercury News)

Click “read more” and scroll down for excerpts and links to full stories.

LOCAL

Calif. judge hears case of slain Iraqi-American (Sac Bee—regarding El Cajon case)

 The daughter of an Iraqi-American man accused of fatally beating her mother at their California home testified Thursday that her father could not accept that his wife wanted to get divorced and move to Texas.

The sting of juvenile detention in San Diego County (CityBeat)

Only 14 states, including California, still allow use of pepper spray to discipline young offenders--experts say it has no place in a modern justice system.

Madrid Protests City Travel Cutbacks (Scoop San Diego)

Mayor Art Madrid and his colleagues crossed swords once again during budget deliberations over a previous La Mesa City Council decision to strip much of the funding earmarked for travel and related ex

SDSU has record fundraising year (UT San Diego)

SDSU says it has raised $413.8 million toward its goal of raising $500 million by 2014.

Backcountry philosopher (Duncan McFetridge) in touch with truth (U-T San Diego)

After wandering the roads of Descanso, lost again (you would not want me navigating your lifeboat), I stopped at Perkins Market and asked an old-timer where Duncan McFetridge lived.

People's plaza: Shady scene (U-T San Diego)

First the parking was banned, then the surface was redone. Now come tables, chairs.

Filner scandal:

Dueling Filner recall efforts could join forces (10 News)

Filner sued by the city he leads (U-T)

Campaign disclosures: developers help pay Mayor Bob Filner’s debt  (10 News)

Could Filner face criminal charges as well? (CBS8) 

Councilman Says City Code On Recall Elections Should Be Amended (KPBS)

Filner's old boss had his own scandal (U-T San Diego)

8th Woman Accuses Filner Of Unwanted Sexual Advances (KPBS)

Four More Women Accuse Filner (KPBS)

France trip not paid by nonprofit (10 News)

Feds inquire on project Filner halted (U-T San Diego)

Filner: Taxpayers should pay my legal fees (U-T San Diego)

STATE

Revised trust act immigration bill clears California Assembly – again (Sacramento Bee)

A new version of a California bill that would limit deportation of undocumented immigrants held by police has cleared its third Assembly vote in three years and is on its way to the Senate. But after a previous version was vetoed by Gov. Jerry Brown last fall, there's no telling how far it will go.

California city becomes first to adopt eminent domain plan

(Reuters) - The city of Richmond, California, said on Tuesday it will use its power of eminent domain, if necessary, to seize "underwater" mortgage loans to keep its residents in their homes, becoming the first U.S. municipality to adopt such an approach.

Desert storm brews over Obama renewable energy plan (National Geographic)

America's deserts are stark, quiet places, where isolation and the elements have long kept development at bay. To outsiders, these arid expanses may not seem like prized land. But they are poised to play a key role—and perhaps, to serve as a battleground—in President Obama's plan to double U.S. electricity from wind, solar, and geothermal sources by 2020. To help ramp up that amount of clean energy, the White House has urged approval of an additional 10,000 megawatts of renewable energy production on public lands.

The Case for Prison Reform (Reason)

… California’s massive prison system spends nearly $50,000 a year to house each inmate. Californians are accustomed to outrageous displays of fiscal profligacy and they manage to grin and bear it. What’s really unbearable is the human tragedy unfolding at out-of-sight, out-of-mind places such as Pelican Bay and Corcoran state prisons. The latest news is a hunger strike. It started with about 30,000 prisoners across the state who, earlier this month, refused food to protest what they say are inhumane conditions.

PG&E’s CEO says tougher rules needed on fracking (San Jose  Mercury News)

Highlighting varying views in the energy industry over one of the nation's most controversial environmental issues, the head of California's largest utility on Tuesday said that tougher rules are needed on hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, a position advocated by environmental groups.