February 14, 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/REGIONAL

• Ramona solar farm wins approval (UT San Diego)
• RCPG Chair says County getting mixed signals from Ramona residents on housing projects (Ramona Patch)
• Ruling puts SD pension overhaul in doubt  (U-T San Diego)
• Local DMV Staffers Were Bribed $100,000 for Driver’s Licenses, Feds Say (La Mesa Patch)
• San Diego Hospice faces critical moment (U-T San Diego)
• Boxer Wants Probe Into Equipment Problems At Troubled San Onofre Nuclear Plant
• Helix Star RB Michael Adkins Will Play Football for the Colorado Buffaloes (La Mesa Patch)
• Santee Farmer’s Market to move west (Santee Patch)
• Council acting on well at Town Center despite other claims to water  (Santee Patch)

STATE

• Christopher Dorner's charred body is positively identified  (Los Angeles Times)
• Controller: California is $4.3 billion ahead of forecast in January (Sacramento Bee)
• Governor Brown, Republicans float proposals to change fire fees (Sacramento Bee)
• California Seeks To Adopt Nation's Toughest Gun Laws (KPBS)
• Environmental groups, unions team up to resist CEQA push (Sacramento Bee)
• Many in Calif. Rely On Contaminated Water Sources (KPBS)
• Delta Smelt Deaths Means Less Water for Central and Southern California (KPBS)

Read more for excerpts and links to full stories.

February 7, 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/REGIONAL

• Local ACLU defends data critical of Grossmont HS District (Santee Patch)
• Somali terrorism trial gets under way (U-T San Diego)
• Local ACLU defends data critical of Grossmont HS District (Santee Patch)
• Somali terrorism trial gets under way (U-T San Diego)
• Judge Strikes Down Plaza de Panama Approval (Voice of San Diego)
• Helix Honors Veterans with Heroes' Garden(La Mesa Patch) 
• School Board to fill La Mesa-Spring Valley vacancy on school board by appointment (La Mesa Patch)
• Gregory Canyon pits water against trash (KPBS)
• Video: Dynamite Brings Down Eyesore Power Plant, Sends Booms Across South Bay (Patch.com)
• Customer Advocates Accuse Regulators Of Capitulation In San Onofre Probe (KPBS)
• An interview with Terry Weiner, Desert Protective Council (Canyon Country Zephyr)
• Man accused of setting Rancho San Diego Church on fire pleads not guilty (10 News)
• Levy joins hospital construction oversight effort (La Mesa Today)
• Sea turtles coming out of their shells (U-T San Diego)
• Argument Between Ex-Housemates Blamed in Fatal La Mesa Shooting (La Mesa Patch)
• Thirsty farmers turn to wine  (Wall Street Journal –subscription required)

STATE

• Report questions how Calif. schools managed lands (Sacramento Bee)
• Solar development absorbing Calif. farmland UT San Diego)
• Calif. quake warning system proposed (Sacramento Bee)
• Second Snow Survey Shows Below Normal Conditions (KPBS)
• Another state agency caught hiding funds (U-T San Diego)
• Stolen ancient rock carvings in Calif. found (Sacramento Bee)
• State Abandons Algebra Requirement For 8th Graders (KPBS)
• Calif misses millions in federal money for inmates (U-T San Diego)

 Read more for excerpts and links to full stories.

January 16, 2013 (San Diego’s East County)--ECM World Watch helps you be an informed citizen about important issues globally and nationally. As part of our commitment to reflect all voices and views, we include links to a wide variety of news sources representing a broad spectrum of political, religious, and social views. Top world and U.S. headlines include:

U.S.

• Obama to offer most comprehensive gun control in decades (Washington Post)
• Under Construction: The World's Largest Thermal Solar Plant (NPR)
• Can police use your silence against you? Supreme Court to decide. (CS Monitor)
• Computer Users Should Disable Java 7 Owing To Security Flaw, Experts Say (NPR)
• From Corn Belt To Main Street: The Drought's Far-Reaching Grasp (NPR)
• Widow sues psychiatrist in Colo. theater shootings (U-T San Diego)
• For energy solutions, 'think small' (+video)(Christian Science Monitor)
• 'Python Challenge' Asks Floridians To 'Harvest' Snakes (NPR)  

WORLD 

• Northern Irish youths pelt Catholic church in latest "flag riots" (Reuters)
• U.S. Provided 'Technical Assistance' In Botched French Raid, Obama Says (NPR)
• Bad Even For Beijing: Smog Hits Extreme Levels (NPR)
• Shi'ite protests spread across Pakistan after killings (Reuters)
• Palestinian premier urges Arabs to pay pledged aid (U-T San Diego)
• Storm heightens crisis for Syrian refugees (Jerusalem Post)
• Preacher alarms many in Egypt with calls for Islamist vice police (Reuters)

HEALTH

• Women With A Berry-Snacking Habit May Have Healthier Hearts (NPR)
• UCSD team invents brain cell breakthrough (U-T San Diego)
• Flu reaches epidemic level in U.S.: CDC says (Reuters)
• Pap Test May Detect More Than Just Cervical Cancer (NPR)
• FDA requires sleeping pill makers to lower dosage (KXII)
• Diet drinks 'linked' to depression (BBC)
• Does lead poisoning make you violent? (BBC)
• U.S. Ranks Below 16 Other Rich Countries In Health Report (NPR)
• UC San Diego Sulpizio Cardiovascular Center Listed among Nation’s Best Heart Hospitals (Scoop San Diego)

Read more for excerpts and links to full stories.

By Mayan Avitable

December 15, 2012 (San Diego's East County)--With all of the news surrounding the Mayan Apocalypse supposedly taking place on December 21, 2012, one aspect of the coverage has been glaringly incorrect. The graphic above has been used as an example of the Mayan Calendar. It is not. It is the Aztec Calendar. In fact, the Mayan Calendar is much more complicated.

The Mayans used a combination of three calendars: Haab, Tzolkin, and the Calendar Round. The Mayan calendar of 365 days is called Haab.  It is divided into 18 months of 20 days, each with a period of 5 days left over at the end of the year. This short 5 day month Uayeb was often seen as a dark time.  

September 5, 2012 (San Diego) – Smart City San Diego and the San Diego Zoo today announced they will install a solar photovoltaic canopy that will charge electric vehicles (EV) in the Zoo parking lot. Smart City San Diego is a collaboration that combines the resources of San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E), City of San Diego, GE, UC San Diego and CleanTECH San Diego to drive projects forward that improve the region’s energy independence, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and assert San Diego as a clean energy leader.

 Feds Urged to Avoid Sensitive Lands, Support Renewable Energy;  

Critics contend damaging impacts of renewables ignored by settlement

By Miriam Raftery

July 9, 2012 (San Francisco)— A coalition of conservation organizations and a western Colorado county has reached a landmark settlement agreement with federal agencies, including the Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Forest Service and Department of Energy, requiring the agencies to revise a Bush-era plan creating energy corridors in the West. 

The agreement, filed in federal court in San Francisco, requires the agencies to revise a “West-wide Energy Corridors” plan to facilitate renewable energy, avoid environmentally sensitive areas and prevent webs of pipelines and power lines across the West.

Vermont’s latest energy statute expands its statewide Clean Local Energy Accessible Now (CLEAN) Program and removes program cap for projects with locational benefits to the power grid.

May 26, 2012 (Montpelier, Vermont)– On May 18, Vermont’s Governor Shumlin signed into law the 2012 Energy Bill, which contains a groundbreaking acknowledgment of the locational benefits of distributed generation and more than doubles the amount clean local energy that will be brought online through the state’s CLEAN program. Similar programs could well be applied in places such as San Diego to encourage locally-generated rooftop solar and other local power as alternatives to massive industrial-scale energy projects and high-voltage transmission lines running long distances.  

• Ramona wines beat French varieties in competition (UT San Diego)
• La Mesa Council deadlocked on PBID approval, will make decision in July (La Mesa Patch)   
• $1 billion hospital opens (Valley Roadrunner)
• DEA “accidentally” left forgotten suspect in holding cell for 5 days (UT San Diego)
• 6 La Mesa officers exonerated in fatal shooting of Andrew Yacko (La Mesa Patch)
• Lloyd Jr pleads guilty to manslaughter in Santee teen Carioscias’ death (Santee Patch)
• Lemon Grove School District cuts 30 jobs (UT San Diego)

• Voice of San Diego series:  Who is….

Bob Filner
Nathan Fletcher
Bonnie Dumanis
Carl DeMaio

• Other mayoral coverage:
• Filner releases pension plan (UT San Diego)
• Fletcher pledges to make cycling, transit a priority (Reader) 
• Fletcher-GOP feud still going strong: party sues candidate over $5,000 fundraiser (UT San Diego) 
• The Fletcher Flim-Flam (OB Rag) 
• The unfortunate trajectory of Carl DeMaio (Citybeat)
  

STATE

• San Diego takes water fight public (New York Times)
• UCAN reaches settlement to allow group to go on (UT San Diego)
• California rakes in healthcare grants (Saramento Bee)
• Environmentalists feeling burned by rush to build big solar projects (Los Angeles Times)
• Discovery of Indian artifacts complicates Genesis Solar project (Los Angeles Times)
• Calif. Public Utilities Commission: PG&E smart meter “opt out” fees suspended
• Diablo Canyon reactor gets some unwelcome guests  

“We believe that DOI [Department of the Interior] is poised to violate the law and our rights to religious freedom and our cultural identities guaranteed by DOI’s own policies, the United States Constitution, and international declarations. We need your help.” --Chairman Anthony Pico, Viejas Band of Kumeyaay Indians, in a letter to President Barack Obama

Part I in an ECM special report series on potential impacts of the Ocotilllo Wind Express project

By Miriam Raftery

March 23, 2012 (Ocotillo) – For months, Ocotillo residents and conservationists have been waging a David and Goliath battle seeking to stop Pattern Energy’s proposed Ocotillo Wind Express project. Now Kumeyaay, Cocopah,Quechan and other Native American tribes have banded together to oppose the massive project-- joining residents, desert conservation groups and outdoor enthusiasts who seek to protect resources from destruction—including hundreds of cultural and archaeological sites. 

On March 28, the Imperial Valley Planning Commission will rule on whether to approve the controversial project, which would generate power for San Diego County.  At the federal level, the Secretary of the U.S. Department of the Interior  is expected to issue a final decision  by May 1.  A petition seeking to stop the project has been launched by Ocotillo residents:  http://www.change.org/petitions/say-no- ... y-project#.  

 
January 28, 2012 (San Diego) – With a focus on the San Diego region’s job growth, smarter technology development, solar energy storage integration and increased electric vehicle infrastructure and deployment, Smart City San Diego is delivering results.  The collaborative is made up of City of San Diego, GE, UC San Diego, CleanTECH San Diego and San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E).  It formed to leverage each entity’s strengths to create and implement initiatives to improve the region’s energy independence, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and assert San Diego as a clean energy leader.

September 23, 2011 (Alpine) –On the site of a run-down ex-chicken farm in Alpine, Sol Orchard wants to harvest sunshine.