EAST COUNTY ROUNDUP: LOCAL AND STATEWIDE NEWS

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March 21,  2019 (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

Tijuana ranked most dangerous city in the world as spring break approaches (10 News)

Tijuana is the most dangerous city in the world, according to a report by the Citizens’ Council for Public Security and Criminal Justice. The Los Angeles Times reports that five cities in Mexico are among the most dangerous in the world. The list includes Acapulco, Victoria, Juarez, Irapuato and Tijuana.

Stingrays out in 'full force' as people flock to the beach, lifeguards warn (10 News)

The weather has recently taken a turn for sunny and warm, making for the perfect day at the beach. But lifeguards are warning people expected to flock to the shores of San Diego about stingrays.

San Diego installs more than 3,000 cameras and sensors on street lights (Fox News)

The streetlights in San Diego are doing more than illuminating sidewalks. Around 3,200 cameras and sensors have been installed atop street lights or lamps posts that collect temperature, air pressure and humidity levels. … video data could help city engineers and software developers solve issues at certain intersections…. The cameras and sensors are not used as a surveillance system …. footage will be retained for up to five days and will only be available to police if a crime has been committed in the vicinity. 

San Diego County to boost wildfire protection plan (10 News)

The Board of Supervisors Tuesday directed San Diego County's chief administrative officer to create a stronger wildfire protection plan.

Humpback whale feeding frenzy off San Diego’s Coast (10 News)

Whale watchers have been delighting over an invasion of humpback whales off San Diego’s coast. Domenic Biagini is a photographer for San Diego Whale Watch. He says the numbers in recent days have been unprecedented in San Diego

Four Men Accuse San Diego Unified Trustee Kevin Beiser of Sexual Misconduct, Abuse (Voice of San Diego)

Four men say they were groped, harassed or assaulted by San Diego Unified Trustee Kevin Beiser. One of them this week filed a lawsuit against Beiser, alleging sexual harassment and assault.

Driver crashes through El Cajon restaurant and flees, leaving massive mess (10 News)

…The vehicle careened through the Ali Baba restaurant at 421 E. Main St. before 2:30 p.m., before the driver fled the scene a short distance to park the vehicle and continued to flee on foot…

City Water Department Resisted Oversight, Downplayed Smart Meter Problems (Voice of San Diego)

Amid hundreds of complaints of water bill spikes and problems with new smart water meters, the city water department has resisted public records requests, dodged its oversight board and misled the public about the extent of the issues, VOSD and NBC 7 found.

La Mesa mulls raising sewer rates (San Diego Union Tribune)

 La Mesa customers will likely see hikes in their sewer bills this year and through 2021….  

Restaurant Owners, Styrofoam Cup Maker Sue San Diego Over Styrofoam Ban (Vice UK)

Local restaurant groups and a styrofoam cup maker claim that the city did 'zero environmental analysis.'

U-Haul Truck Slams Into County Health Building (NBC 7 San Diego)

 A U-Haul truck crashed through a wall of a county office building in Kearny Mesa on Monday.…Police are investigating the incident as a possible intentional act.  An expletive-ridden message regarding treatment of veterans was written in white spray paint across one side of the U-Haul truck.

A Look at San Diego’s Financial Battles Over the Public Records Act (NBC 7)

City data shows taxpayers have paid $576,000 in judgments over the release of public documents since 2010. This as the city attorney looked to change the state's public records law. // The $576,494 in court payouts do not include amounts the city spent to pay outside attorneys nor does it indicate the number of staff hours used to fight the lawsuits.

STATE

‘The Budget Just Changed’: Governor Gavin Newsom Responds To Big City Mayors’ Call For More Homelessness Funding (Capitol Public Radio)

Gov. Gavin Newsom says the mayors of California’s largest cities have persuaded him to rework his budget proposal for emergency homelessness aid. “We need to step up our game,” the governor of the state said after meeting with mayors of its 13 largest cities.

Medieval diseases are resurging in California — and hitting the homeless especially hard (Kaiser Health News)

 Outbreaks of infectious diseases such as typhus and hepatitis A are resurging in California and around the country, particularly among homeless populations. Public health officials warn that such diseases could spread broadly.

California is now drought-free, monitor says. Wait, didn’t that happen 2 years ago? (Sacramento Bee)

The data, gathered Tuesday and published Thursday by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Centers for Environmental Information, illustrates how rapidly California’s water health has healed with January and February’s heavy rain and snowfall.  By the end of December, 75 percent of the state was still in drought stages D1-D4, according to the monitor. That figure shrank to 0.6 percent by March 5.

Schwarzenegger Pulls No Punches in a Rare Rebuke of Trump (The Atlantic)

Arnold Schwarzenegger and John McCain saw in each other a willingness to buck the Republican Party and became fast friends and political allies. Mindful of McCain’s legacy, the former California governor said on Wednesday he couldn’t stay silent in the face of President Trump’s recent spate of attacks on the late senator.

Advocacy group pushes for inclusion of Laos history in California's curriculum (NBC News)

The push comes after then-Gov. Jerry Brown signed a bill in 2018 adding lessons on Vietnamese-American refugees, the Cambodian genocide and the Hmong history. 

 


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