EAST COUNTY ROUNDUP: JUNE 2, 2011

June 2, 2011 (San Diego's East County)--East County Roundup highlights top news stories of interest to East County, published in other media.

Latest Roundup headlines include:
 

• Wildfire debris haulers settle for $900,000 (Watchdog Institute/Union-Tribune)
• Officials plan to exterminate county’s wild pigs (San Diego Union-Tribune)
• Mayor candidates eye your checkbooks (Voice of San Diego)
• Bill to curb pension spiking and double-dibbing moves forward (Sacramento Bee)
• County fines `Covert Canyon’ operators for illegal shooting (CBS)
• Boutique farm taking root near Mount Helix (San Diego Union-Tribune)
• Councilman garners another award (San Diego Union-Tribune)
• Ninth in Hispanic population (Voice of San Diego)
• Governor’s powers on trial in Nunez case (San Diego Union-Tribune)
• War memorial building not to be, but Vietnam monument rose from the ashes (La Mesa Patch)
• Report says streets put pedestrians at risk (San Diego Union-Tribune)
 

WILDFIRE DEBRIS HAULERS SETTLE FOR $900,000
They admit no wrongdoing after allegations of overbilling the city
 

5-28-11 (Watchdog Institute/Union-Tribune)--Two contractors will pay $900,000 to settle a lawsuit accusing them of overcharging to haul away the charred remains of 112 Rancho Bernardo homes after wildfires in 2007.
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2011/may/26/wildfire-debris-haulers-s...for-900000/

OFFICIALS PLAN TO EXTERMINATE COUNTY’S WILD PIGS
 

June 1, 2011 (San Diego Union-Tribune)--When it comes to controlling the spread of feral pigs in San Diego County, the public hunting effort isn’t doing the job.
 

That has led federal agencies to launch an ambitious program that will use cage traps, corral traps, federal hunters with guns and dogs and even shooting from helicopters to exterminate the area’s population of wild swine. Officials see the pigs as a threat to fragile ecosystems and public health and safety. Environmentalists worry about the damage wild pigs will do to the county’s sensitive habitat, much of it rebounding from Southern California’s catastrophic wildfires of the last decade.
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2011/jun/01/forest-service-and-blm-pl...

MAYORAL CANDIDATES: EYE YOUR CHECKBOOKS
 

June 1, 2011 (Voice of San Diego)— When the mayoral election is over in November 2012, San Diego could have its first openly gay elected mayor, first Democratic mayor in two decades or continue its long line of coastal Republican leaders.
 

The high-profile free-for-all that's the San Diego 2012 mayoral election begins in less than a week with the start of official fundraising. Already, it's attracted Republican and Democratic star power from city, county, state and federal elected offices. It's the rare election with no incumbent or obvious successor, and it comes with greater powers to set the direction of the nation's largest cities.
http://www.voiceofsandiego.org/government/thehall/article_16a1c162-8cbf-...
 

BILL TO CURB PENSION-SPIKING AND DOUBLE DIPPING MOVES FORWARD
 

June 1, 2011 (Sacramento Bee)--The Senate today passed without objection a bill aimed at blocking public employees from spiking their pensions and restricting double-dipping after retirement.

http://blogs.sacbee.com/the_state_worker/2011/06/bill-to-curb-pension-sp...

COUNTY FINES ‘COVERT CANYON’ OWNERS FOR ILLEGAL SHOOTING
 

May 28, 2011 (CBS) For the past four years, Halcon has tried to obtain a major use permit to operate Covert Canyon, but fire safety regulations have blocked his efforts. Neighbors recorded home video on April 28 showing submachine gun fire on the property....
http://www.cbs8.com/story/14737198/county-orders-2000-penalty-against-co...

BOUTIQUE FARM TAKING ROOT NEAR MOUNT HELIX
Half-acre spread will produce produce for two Mission Hills eateries
 

May 27, 2011 (San Diego Union-Trbiune) -- Aiming to grow their own produce, two San Diego eateries are planting stakes in East County.
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2011/may/27/boutique-farm-taking-root...
 

COUNCILMAN GARNERS ANOTHER AWARD
 

May 27, 2011 (San Diego Union-Tribune) -- La Mesa City Councilman Mark Arapostathis, who moonlights from his day job as second-grade teacher at Rolando Elementary School to direct Peter Pan Junior Theater and its sister group, Captain Hook Theater, has received the Bravissimo Award of Excellence in Theatre Education.
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2011/may/27/councilman-garners-anothe...
 

NINTH IN HISPANIC POPULATION
 

May 27, 2011 (Voice of San Diego) -- A new Census brief published yesterday shows that the city of San Diego ranks ninth in the nation in being home to Latinos or Hispanics in 2010. The ranking remains unchanged since 2000 Census, even as Hispanic population grew nationally by 43 percent during the 2000-2010 decade. The rate of growth of Hispanics in the city of San Diego (21 percent) was half that of the national rate, but three times faster than total city population.
http://www.voiceofsandiego.org/peoplespost/themiddleclassthinker/article...

GOVERNOR’S POWERS ON TRIAL IN NUNEZ CASE
Schwarzenegger’s surprise sentence reduction in SDSU killing at issue
 

May 27, 2011 (San Diego Union-Tribune) -- A bereaved family gets their day in court Wednesday to argue that California’s constitution demands that crime victims deserve a chance to be heard when a governor is weighing whether to cut prison sentences short.
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2011/may/27/governors-powers-on-trial...

WAR MEMORIAL BUILDING NOT TO BE, BUT VIETNAM MONUMENT ROSE FROM THE ASHES
 

May 28, 2011 (La Mesa Patch)-- La Mesa’s latest recognition of local veterans continues a tradition of Memorial Day efforts dating to the 1890s.
 

On June 3—four days after Memorial Day—the city of La Mesa will designate Fletcher Parkway as Veterans Memorial Parkway. This represents the latest in over a century of La Mesa efforts to honor local U.S. armed forces who have given the ultimate sacrifices in service to our country.
http://lamesa.patch.com/articles/war-memorial-building-fell-out-of-the-d...

REPORT SAYS STREETS PUT PEDESTRIANS AT RISK
National and local studies lay out danger, remedies
 

May 24, 2011 (San Diego Union-Tribune)-- American streets are no place for pedestrians, according to a pair of studies released Tuesday, one local and one national.
 

… In metro areas ranked by percentage of traffic deaths that were pedestrians, only four cities ranked higher than San Diego. According to “Dangerous by Design,” the 623 pedestrians killed in the San Diego metro region between 2000 and 2009 represented 21.8 percent of all traffic fatalities.
 

…San Diego fares better on Transportation for America’s Pedestrian Danger Index, a weighted formula that incorporates population, number of pedestrian commuters, traffic accidents and fatalities. The region ranks 28th among the 52 most-dangerous cities. In a previous version of this study, San Diego ranked 33rd.
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2011/may/24/these-streets-werent-made...