EAST COUNTY ROUNDUP: LOCAL AND STATEWIDE NEWS

April 3, 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

• San Diego County sued Trump Administration, seeking revival of “safe release” program for asylum-seekers (San Diego Union-Tribune)
• San Diego may explore ‘cool pavement’ to reduce temperatures in urban areas (San Diego Union-Tribune)

• Raise makes Helix Water District board members highest-paid in county  (San Diego Union-Tribune)

• Lawsuit claims women secretly recorded in San Diego (Sharp Grossmont) Hospital (10 News)
• Allergy sufferers prepare for unusually long season, expert says (NBC San Diego)
• New resort bringing more jobs (The Alpine Sun)

STATE

• Judge Moves to Curtail PG&E’s Dividends Until it Reduces Wildfire Risks (KQED)
• It’s time. It’s beyond time.’ Sex abuse victims back California priest accountability bill (Sacramento Bee)
• How healthy is California snowpack? Snow survey site has 4th-best start to April ever (Sacramento Bee)
• California adopts new wetland protections as Trump administration eases them (San Francisco Chronicle)
• As anti-fur sentiment grows, California’s oldest trappers are calling it quits (Los Angeles Times)
• California Health Officials 'Very Concerned' As Number Of Measles Cases Rise (Capital Public Radio)

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

LOCAL

San Diego County sued Trump Administration, seeking revival of “safe release” program for asylum-seekers (San Diego Union-Tribune)

San Diego County sued the Trump administration Wednesday, challenging in federal court its decision to end the so-called “safe release” policy for asylum seekers last October. Under “safe release” or “coordinated release” Immigration and Customs Enforcement helped people seeking asylum to connect with sponsors around the country and to reach their final destinations, where they would wait for the legal asylum process to play out.  The Trump administration abruptly ended “safe release” in late October, leaving thousands of migrants all but stranded in San Diego County.

San Diego may explore ‘cool pavement’ to reduce temperatures in urban areas (San Diego Union-Tribune)

San Diego may soon follow Los Angeles and other cities worldwide in exploring “cool pavement” as an alternative to traditional asphalt streets to reduce neighborhood temperatures and curb climate change. Cool pavement is an off-white mixture of materials that reflects light instead of absorbing it. That can lower temperatures on hot days by as much as 20 degrees and reduces the need for air conditioning in some neighborhoods, proponents say.

Raise makes Helix Water District board members highest-paid in county (San Diego Union-Tribune)

The five-member governing board last week voted 3-2 to hike its per-diem pay from $200 to $225./ The maximum number of meetings the directors can go to per month is 10 and they can earn no more than $27,000 a year.

Lawsuit claims women secretly recorded in San Diego (Sharp Grossmont) Hospital (10 News)

 Sharp Grossmont Hospital secretly video recorded 1,800 patients using hidden cameras at the women's health center… according to a lawsuit filed late Friday afternoon. The recordings took place between July 17, 2012 and June 30, 2013 inside three Labor and Delivery operating rooms…Among the video recordings captured by hidden cameras: Caesarean births, hysterectomies, sterilizations, dilatation and curettage to resolve miscarriages, and other procedures, according to court documents. Women were also recorded undressing, the lawsuit says.

Allergy sufferers prepare for unusually long season, expert says (NBC San Diego)

Southern California has received more rain than usual and the explosion of wildflowers on our hillsides are a result but so, apparently, is the increase in allergy sufferers. 

New resort bringing more jobs (The Alpine Sun)

Sycuan Casino Resort in El Cajon is slated to open March 27 to the general public. In September of 2018 the hotel announced they were going to fill hundreds of positions. “We’ve filled around 850 positions over the past several months and still have 15 positions for line cooks,” wrote Stephanie Lacsa, Sycuan’s communication manager in an email.

STATE

Judge Moves to Curtail PG&E’s Dividends Until it Reduces Wildfire Risks (KQED)

A federal judge on Tuesday restricted PG&E Corp. from resuming dividends to shareholders until it improves its safety practices and reduces the risks that its equipment will spark more deadly wildfires in California.

It’s time. It’s beyond time.’ Sex abuse victims back California priest accountability bill (Sacramento Bee)

A procession of sexual assault victims on Tuesday urged the Senate to pass a law requiring priests and other religious leaders to report child abuse, ending a legal exemption that allows them to keep information confidential if they learn it during confessions.

How healthy is California snowpack? Snow survey site has 4th-best start to April ever (Sacramento Bee)

Department of Water Resources officials announced a measurement of 106.5 inches of snow at Phillips Station, good for a snow-water equivalent of 51 inches. Tuesday’s result marked the fourth-highest level ever recorded at that location to kick off April.

California adopts new wetland protections as Trump administration eases them (San Francisco Chronicle)

California water regulators adopted a far-reaching plan Tuesday to prevent more of the state’s creeks, ponds and wetlands from being plowed or paved over, a move that comes as the Trump administration scales back protections under the federal Clean Water Act.

As anti-fur sentiment grows, California’s oldest trappers are calling it quits (Los Angeles Times)

After a lifetime spent trapping animals in California’s western Sierra Nevada, Tim Wion traveled to Oregon recently to make one big, final sale at the annual Klamath Falls fur auction. Unlike his fellow woodsmen, however, Wion wasn’t hawking the luxuriant pelts of wolves, bobcats, otters, coyotes, foxes and muskrat. Instead, the 75-year-old was selling off the many foothold traps and fur-stretchers that once provided him a livelihood.

California Health Officials 'Very Concerned' As Number Of Measles Cases Rise (Capital Public Radio)

There are now 16 confirmed cases of measles in California, from Los Angeles county to Tehama county, according to the latest count by the California Department of Public Health. The agency is “very concerned” with the rising tally, given that there were a total of 21 cases of measles over the entirety of 2018, said Dr. James Watt, chief of the CDPH Division of Communicable Disease Control.