EAST COUNTY ROUNDUP: LOCAL AND STATEWIDE NEWS

East County News Service

January 17, 2017 (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

• Programs let U.S. families welcome Syrian arrivals (San Diego Union-Tribune)
• La Mesa mayor: City takes care of its residents (San Diego Union-Tribune)
• Public records are not always readily available in San Diego (San Diego Union-Tribune)
• Davis, Peters, others speak against repeal of the ACA (Reporting San Diego)
• Local leaders to be honored in San Diego Women’s Hall of Fame (KPBS)
• Souplantation restaurants are sold (San Diego Union-Tribune)

STATE

• California single payer health bill passes committee (Healthcare now blog)
• What’s in Brown’s new budget? (Los Angeles Times)
• Officials: Over 40% of California out of drought (10 News)
• Before-and-after photos show California storm's insane impact on water levels (SF Gate)
• Pot still illegal in national parks (Hanford Sentinel)
• California Firefighters Receive Up To 13.8 Percent Raises (KPBS)
• UC Davis: Protests shut down controversial speakers (+video) (CS Monitor)
• Jerry Brown to GOP on Obamacare: Don’t just shift costs onto states (SacramentoBee)

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

LOCAL

Programs let U.S. families welcome Syrian arrivals (San Diego Union-Tribune)

On the front stoop of her family's El Cajon apartment on Friday, six-year-old Limar Alzoubi spent hours making cupcakes. She wore an apron that Ray Salazar helped fasten over her pink, penguin sweater. Her long hair, tied in two pig tails, swayed as she moved around the toy kitchen set that Salazar and his family had just given her, one of many gifts for the Alzoubi family that the Salazars transported on a 45-minute trek from their home in San Marcos.

La Mesa mayor: City takes care of its residents (San Diego Union-Tribune)

La Mesa continues to do things well for its residents and the city known as “the Jewel of the Hills” should be proud of what it offers them.That was the gist of Mayor Mark Arapostathis’s recent “State of the City” address.

Public records are not always readily available in San Diego (San Diego Union-Tribune)

Under California law, government records are supposed to be available for inspection by the public during normal business hours. It doesn’t always work out that way…”As s a longtime user of the Public Records Act, this is the lamest of any system that I have encountered,” [Charlene] Ayers said… “Multiple delays…Turning this public service over to a private agency was a very bad idea.”

Davis, Peters, others speak against repeal of the ACA (Reporting San Diego)

This press conference was called for by members of Congress Scott Peters (D-52) and Susan Davis (D-53). Other people present were Dan Gross, Vice President of the Sharp Healthcare, Vernita E. Todd, Senior Vice President of Health Center Partners, and people directly affected by the repeal. These were Timothy Mork, a skin cancer survivor, Stefani McMahon, whose daughter has cancer, and finally Elizabeth Silva, who has an autoimmune disorder that will require a double lung transplant if she hopes to survive.

Local leaders to be honored in San Diego Women’s Hall of Fame (KPBS)

.. Selected out of more than 200 nominations, the honorees will be inducted on March 5.

Souplantation restaurants are sold (San Diego Union-Tribune)

San Diego-based Garden Fresh Restaurant Corp., which owns the Souplantation and Sweet Tomatoes restaurants, will sell its assets to a New York private investment firm as part of its bankruptcy restructuring plan…No significant changes to its day-to-day operations are anticipated, said Garden Fresh, which operates more than 100 company-owned restaurants in 11 states.

STATE

California single payer health bill passes committee (Healthcare now blog)

The Senate Health Committee today approved the California Universal Health Care Act, authored by Senator Mark Leno (D-San Francisco). Senate Bill 810 guarantees all Californians comprehensive, universal health care while containing ballooning health care costs and improving the quality of care and delivery of health services statewide. The legislation passed with a 5-3 vote.

What’s in Brown’s new budget? (Los Angeles Times)

Governor  Jerry Brown’s newly unveiled state budget calls for spending $179.5 billion in the coming fiscal year, while offering ways to avoid what he believes would otherwise be California’s first deficit in more than three years.

Officials: Over 40% of California out of drought (10 News)

Federal monitors announced Thursday that 42 percent of California has emerged from a five-year drought after some of the heaviest rain and snow in decades.

Before-and-after photos show California storm's insane impact on water levels (SF Gate)

The gallery above of before-and-after images shows the dramatic impact the heavy rains have had on water levels at lakes, reservoirs, dams and rivers across the top half of the state. More photos and a video here.

Pot still illegal in national parks (Hanford Sentinel)

Think pot is now legal in California? Try telling that to the National Park Service rangers ready to bust people caught with marijuana in Yosemite, Redwood, Death Valley and other federal lands across the state.

California Firefighters Receive Up To 13.8 Percent Raises (KPBS)

State firefighters are slated for raises as high as 13.8 percent this year as California scrambles to fill widespread vacancies before the summer fire season.

UC Davis: Protests shut down controversial speakers (+video) (CS Monitor)

Protesters gathered at UC Davis Friday night to condemn speeches from right-wing commentator Milo Yiannopoulos and pharmaceutical executive Martin Shkreli, prompting a last-minute cancellation.

Jerry Brown to GOP on Obamacare: Don’t just shift costs onto states (Sacramento Bee)

As the Republican-led Congress moved to repeal the federal health care law, Gov. Jerry Brown warned Friday that dismantling the Affordable Care Act without passing a suitable alternative wouldn’t just leave millions of Californians without care. “It will destabilize the commercial market for small-business owners and individuals,” Brown wrote in his response to House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Bakersfield, who last month solicited the Democratic governor’s input. “In a collapsing market, these business owners and individuals could face significant premium increases, out of reach for many.”