EAST COUNTY ROUNDUP: LOCAL AND STATEWIDE NEWS

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September 20, 2018 (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

STATE

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

LOCAL

Group aims to change school board (La Mesa Courier)

Election season has officially begun and races for local public office are now underway. One such race is for three seats on the La Mesa Spring Valley School District (LMSVSD) board. And while not as headline grabbing as other local elections — such as the fight for the now legally embattled Rep. Duncan Hunter’s Congressional seat — this school board election has a bit of drama of its own. Three incumbent board members have decided not to run for their seats.

Farewell to a professional love: Don Bauder retires (San Diego Reader)

In 1960, I entered the journalism profession with a Master’s degree and an addiction to work in a field I already knew that I loved: writing and reporting.

San Diego's Catholic diocese adds eight priests to list of sexual predators (San Diego Union-Tribune)

…The new names — the Revs. Jose Chavarin, Raymond Etienne, J. Patrick Foley, Michael French, Richard Houck, George Lally and Paolino Montagna, plus Monsignor Mark Medaer — were released in piecemeal fashion, with critical details missing.

Grossmont School District Paid Worker Who Made Lewd Comments $80K to Leave (Voice of San Diego)

Grossmont Union High School District paid a warehouse worker accused of routinely ogling female students and making sexual remarks $80,000 to leave, and agreed to keep misconduct reports secret from prospective employers. The worker said he participated in lewd talk among coworkers but not in front of students. Luciano Ortiz, 60, was investigated by the Grossmont district in 2016 after colleagues reported Ortiz said things like, “I’d like to get that one into bed” and other vulgar sexual remarks to a coworker while watching Grossmont High School students arrive for school.

Our Immigrant Story (San Diego Union-Tribune)

San Diego County is home to 799,357 foreign-born residents, according to the most recent estimates by the U.S. Census Bureau. That’s 24.1 percent of the region’s total population, higher than the national average, which is 14 percent. The immigrant population here has gone up 8.5 percent since 2011….  About 20 percent of the county’s foreign-born residents are undocumented, 163,509 [people]…. 

SR-52 Coalition Discusses Traffic Relief at Inaugural Meeting (NBC 7)

Santee said it will enlist the help of a lobbying firm to help gather at least $50 million for a highway widening project

Independent voters overtake Republicans in San Diego County (San Diego Union-Tribune)

The number of independent voters in San Diego County has surpassed the number of registered Republicans. As of the end of August, there were 509,359 voters who registered as “no party preference” compared to 487,259 registered Republicans, according to the latest numbers from the San Diego County...

Planner’s warned about contact with developer’s agent (San Diego Union-Tribune)

Top lawyers for the County of San Diego have warned members of the Planning Commission against improper contact with a consultant for a developer whose application will be considered Friday…The letter, which is rare or even unprecedented for members of the county planning panel, was e-mailed directly to all seven commissioners approximately two weeks ago. It contained a specific reference to Chris Brown, a former land-use policy adviser to Supervisor Bill Horn, and his contacts with four of the appointees.

The County's Climate Plan Promises a New Land Use Battle (Voice of San Diego)

San Diego County's climate action plan is meant to control the growth of greenhouse gas emissions in the county. As written, the plan will let suburban sprawl projects offset their carbon footprint by planting trees on the other side of the world.

STATE

By announcing California's first satellite launch, Gov. Jerry Brown ends climate summit with a cosmic boom (Los Angeles Times)

When Brown said the state should launch its own satellite in the 1970s, critics dubbed him Gov. Moonbeam. On Friday, Gov. Moonbeam struck back.

California voters will be able to fix sloppy signatures and track their ballots under new election laws (Los Angeles Times)

A California voter whose signature can’t be verified on an absentee ballot will have eight days to fix the problem under a law signed Monday that takes effect immediately. It was one of two laws signed by Gov. Jerry Brown to boost the rights of those who vote by mail. Brown also signed legislation requiring elections officials to create a system in which voters can track the status of their ballot, a service that wouldn’t be available until 2020.

California’s gender-wage gap is now the narrowest in the country (SCPR)

According to new statistics from the U.S. Census Bureau, women in California are now making 89 cents for every dollar earned by a man. That's up slightly from last year, and it's now the narrowest gender wage gap of any state. Pay equity advocates say California has strong policies in place…

Firefighter’s death caused by retardant drop from 747 (Sacramento Bee)

A firefighter battling the largest wildfire in California history was killed last month when thousands of gallons of flame-suppressing liquid were dropped from an aircraft flying barely above the treetops because spotters mistakenly sent it on a route too close to the ground, according to state investigation findings released Friday

Anger in California's carpool lanes as more than 200,000 drivers are set to lose decals (San Diego Union-Tribune)

On Jan. 1, the owners of as many as 220,000 low- and zero-emission vehicles stand to lose the white and green clean-air decals that allow them to drive solo in the diamond lanes.

The Number of Youth in Juvenile Detention in California Has Quietly Plummeted (Voice of San Diego)

Major portions of San Diego’s juvenile detention facilities sit empty. And it’s not just San Diego. Falling crime rates, combined with more money for prevention and a changing juvenile justice culture, have virtually emptied California’s juvenile halls.

 

 

 


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