EAST COUNTY ROUNDUP: LOCAL AND STATEWIDE NEWS

July 24, 2021 (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

• A plan to repair, revitalize American Legion Hall in La Mesa (La Mesa Courier)
• San Diego County tackles housing shortage with general plan changes (San Diego Union-Tribune)
• A tale of two cities’ transparency: Carlsbad and La Mesa (SD Rostra)
• SD County Planning Commission recommends building Jacumba solar project despite resident opposition (KUSI)
• Judge rules Poway synagogue shooting victims can sue Smith & Wesson (The Hill)
• Good Samaritans Rescue Driver of Burning SUV Accused of Hit-and-Run Spree (NBC San Diego)
• San Diego Police Announce Crackdown on Growing Violent Crime, Deadly ‘Ghost Guns’ (Times of San Diego)

STATE

• Gov. Newsom signs $12 billion plan to address homelessness(10 News)
• California approves 1st state-funded guaranteed income plan (AP)
• California businesses hiring homeless workers can get a $30,000 tax credit through new law (Sacramento Bee)
• California changes course on schools  enforcing mask mandate (AP)
• California’s Cliffs Are Collapsing One by One (Atlantic)
• Trump supporters linked to plot on California Democratic HQ had guns, zip ties, steroids (Sacramento Bee)
• California fires are burning faster, hotter, more intensely — and getting harder to fight  (Los Angeles Times)
• LA County Will Require People To Wear Masks Indoors  (Los Angeles Times)
• Couple charged in Southern California wildfire sparked by gender reveal(10 News)

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

LOCAL

A plan to repair, revitalize American Legion Hall in La Mesa (La Mesa Courier)

When protesters and rioters overtook La Mesa on May 30 of last year, buildings throughout the downtown Village and City Hall were vandalized, including the American Legion Post 282 building.  The morning after the riots, veterans woke to find the post’s windows and solar panels broken or damaged from rocks; the Vietnam Memorial and main building tagged with graffiti; exterior damage to the walls and even the flag left burned, hanging on the pole.

San Diego County tackles housing shortage with general plan changes (San Diego Union-Tribune)

The Board of Supervisors updated plans for housing, safety and environmental justice

A tale of two cities’ transparency: Carlsbad and La Mesa (SD Rostra)

… Is it really that big a deal, the lack of simply found information on a public agency’s website about a city council vacancy and/or a special election?...Appointments and elections are supposed to be open to other than just political insiders…The basic facts should be easily accessible, first, foremost and at the very least on a public agency’s website. In this day and age, with the ability to modify and add to website content on the fly, there should be no excuse. Let’s do better, in La Mesa and elsewhere. 

SD County Planning Commission recommends building Jacumba solar project despite resident opposition (KUSI)

With a 5-2 vote on Friday, the San Diego County Planning Commission recommended the County Board of Supervisors move forward on a construction project having to do with a solar project in Jacumba Hot Springs.

Judge rules Poway synagogue shooting victims can sue Smith & Wesson (The Hill)

A San Diego judge ruled last week that the survivors and families of victims of a 2019 shooting at a California synagogue can sue Smith & Wesson, the manufacturer of the weapon used in the incident, in addition to the gun store that sold it….An accused gunman, later identified as John Earnest, who was 19 at the time of the incident, opened fire at the Chabad of Poway Synagogue in Poway, Calif., in April 2019, killing one worshiper and injuring three other people, including a rabbi and an 8-year-old… He did not have a hunting license at the time, which would have barred him from California's minimum age of 21 for owning long guns.

Good Samaritans Rescue Driver of Burning SUV Accused of Hit-and-Run Spree (NBC San Diego)

Good Samaritans came to the rescue of a man trapped in a burning SUV in Spring Valley who had just crashed his vehicle for the fourth time on Tuesday night, according to the CHP. Investigators said the chain of events began at about 6:15 when the 21-year-old man was headed east on Jamacha Road in a 1998 Mitsubishi Montero.

San Diego Police Announce Crackdown on Growing Violent Crime, Deadly ‘Ghost Guns’ (Times of San Diego)

City officials in San Diego Wednesday announced a new slate of law enforcement strategies designed to curb a recent surge in local violent crime, and address a worrisome proliferation of unregistered “ghost guns.”

STATE

Gov. Newsom signs $12 billion plan to address homelessness(10 News)

This week, California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a $12 billion plan to address homelessness throughout the state. The investment is the state's largest in history focusing on solving homelessness, according to the Governor's office.

California approves 1st state-funded guaranteed income plan (AP)

California lawmakers on Thursday approved the first state-funded guaranteed income plan in the U.S., $35 million for monthly cash payments to qualifying pregnant people and young adults who recently left foster care with no restrictions on how they spend it.

California businesses hiring homeless workers can get a $30,000 tax credit through new law (Sacramento Bee)

California businesses hiring workers who are homeless can get up to $30,000 a year in tax credit starting 2022 under a budget bill signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom on Friday. Businesses must pay at least 120% of the state’s minimum wage to be eligible. Businesses must also get certification from a homeless service provider for each hire. Those eligible will qualify for the credit of $2,500 to $10,000 per employee hired per year, depending on hours worked.

California changes course on schools  enforcing mask mandate (AP)

When California told school districts they must still require masks for students and teachers indoors, the state left no room for doubt about its enforcement: If students refused, schools were to send them home. But hours after that announcement on Monday, public health officials in Gov. Gavin Newsom’s administration abruptly changed course and said school districts would decide for themselves how to enforce the mask mandate.

California’s Cliffs Are Collapsing One by One (Atlantic)

Researchers are stepping up their efforts to understand why—and when—bluffs come crashing down.

Trump supporters linked to plot on California Democratic HQ had guns, zip ties, steroids (Sacramento Bee)

Two Bay Area men have been indicted on charges of plotting to blow up the Democratic headquarters building in Sacramento because of their belief that former President Donald Trump won the 2020 election, and authorities have seized 49 weapons — including machine guns and bombs, court records say.

California fires are burning faster, hotter, more intensely — and getting harder to fight  (Los Angeles Times)

The fires have burned more than 140,000 acres, from soaring mountains along the California-Nevada border to forest north of Mt. Shasta and the gateway to Yosemite. But many of 2021’s biggest blazes have one thing in common: They are burning faster and hotter than some firefighters have seen this early in the year. 

LA County Will Require People To Wear Masks Indoors  (Los Angeles Times)

A rapid and sustained increase in COVID-19 cases in the nation's largest county requires restoring an indoor mask mandate even when people are vaccinated, Los Angeles County's public health officer said Thursday

Couple charged in Southern California wildfire sparked by gender reveal(10 News)

Fire killed firefighter and San Diego native Charles Morton.