EAST COUNTY ROUNDUP: LOCAL AND STATEWIDE NEWS

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September 19, 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

In San Diego, Trump praises border wall, rallies supporters, provokes outrage  (San Diego Union-Tribune) 

 

President Donald Trump raised millions at a luncheon fundraiser at the US Grant Hotel downtown before touring the U.S.-Mexico border… Trump first landed at 11:18 a.m. at the Marine Corps Air Station Miramar. Lined up in a place of honor on the tarmac was Poway Mayor Steve Vaus, who greeted the president while wearing his signature cowboy hat, and Rabbi Yisroel Goldstein, who offered an outstretched hand still bandaged from wounds suffered in an anti-Semitic attack at his Chabad of Poway synagogue.

San Diego’s climate crisis: the risks and costs of living in the backcountry (KPBS)

Pete Beauregard squints in the morning sun as he thinks back to October 22, 2007….He’s talking about the Witch Creek Fire, which engulfed San Diego County that fall… destroying more than 1,000 homes. Among them was the Ramona home shared by Beauregard and his wife Amy McQuillan.  But they have paid a high price for staying in a home that's so special to them. When they rebuilt after 2007, their insurance doubled, and last year it tripled again.

San Diego Has 3rd Most Homes At Risk Of Wildfire Damage: Report (Patch)

The Los Angeles, Riverside and San Diego metropolitan areas have the most homes in the Western United States considered to be at high or extreme risk of being damaged or destroyed in a wildfire, according to a report released Thursday by a real estate information service.

East County needs to make streets safer for pedestrians, bike riders, group says (San Diego Union-Tribune) 

A report released Tuesday by a group that keeps tabs on transportation in San Diego County shows some of the most dangerous streets for pedestrians and bicyclists in East County. The report by the nonprofit Circulate San Diego offers broad recommendations for El Cajon, La Mesa, Santee and Lemon Grove to curb collisions involving automobiles that injure or kill pedestrians and bicyclists.The report says that from 2008-2018 there were 1,710 bike or pedestrian collisions in the four East County cities, including 71 fatal collisions.

SANDAG board moves forward with formulas to set housing quotas (San Diego Union-Tribune)

Elected leaders and residents who pushed back said the number of units their cities were assigned is unfair, unrealistic or both...Under the proposed formula, the San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG) will assign Carlsbad 3,873 units; Chula Vista, 11,105; Coronado 1,001; Del Mar, 163; El Cajon, 3,280; Encinitas, 1,554; Escondido, 9,607; Imperial Beach, 1,375; La Mesa, 3,797; Lemon Grove, 1,359; National City, 5,437; Oceanside, 5,443; Poway, 1,319; San Diego, 107,901; San Marcos, 3,116; Santee, 1,219; Solana Beach 875; San Diego County, 6,700; and Vista, 2,561.

SDPD Lowered Testing Standards to Help Clear Rape Kit Backlog, Analysts Say (Voice of San Diego)

The city’s crime lab analyzed dozens of rape kits this year under a less rigorous procedure that requires the examination of only one swab from certain rape kits, instead of the usual six. Five crime lab employees told VOSD that crime lab management explicitly told them the less rigorous procedure was being done to “check a box” showing they had been tested.

La Mesa taking another look at historical buildings (San Diego Union-Tribune)

La Mesa is finally getting around to updating the city’s Historic Resources Inventory, a comprehensive list that keeps track of buildings and properties in La Mesa that are of special historic interest. 

Fanita Ranch traffic project drives Santee public opinion (San Diego Union-Tribune)

Developers continue to work to sway public opinion, push Highway 52 fixes. 

'Papa Doug' Manchester Delivers Hurricane Relief to Bahamas (San Diego Union-Tribune)

San Diego developer and President Donald Trump's choice for U.S. Ambassador to the Bahamas, "Papa Doug" Manchester traveled to the islands to see the damage from Hurricane Dorian firsthand…Through his charitable organization, Manchester is collecting donations to help the Bahamas rebuild…His nomination to serve as ambassador to the Bahamas has yet to be approved by the U.S. Congress. However, Manchester said U.S. representation is vital for the islands to recover..Manchester pledged to "match every dollar that comes in.”

Largest Industrial Development in Years Coming to Otay (NBC 7)

The Otay Crossings Commerce Center will be located adjacent to the planned new U.S. Port of Entry, and along the final extension of State Route 11

Man and woman sentenced for La Mesa robbery, murder (10 News)

A man and woman were sentenced Tuesday to life in prison without the possibility of parole for the 2017 shooting death of a man in a botched holdup in the parking lot of a Burlington Coat Factory store in La Mesa, in which they made off with cash and three pairs of shoes taken from the victim.

STATE

Trump officials tour unused FAA facility in California in search for place to relocate homeless people (Washington Post)

A team of Trump administration officials toured a California facility once used by the Federal Aviation Administration this week as they searched for a potential site to relocate homeless people, according to three government officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the private tour.

California bans private prisons, including ICE detention centers (Guardian)

The private prison industry is set to be upended after California lawmakers passed a bill on Wednesday banning the facilities from operating in the state. The move will probably also close down four large immigration detention facilities that can hold up to 4,500 people at a time.

Trump to revoke California auto emissions rules (San Jose Mercury News)

 In its latest move to roll back environmental standards, the Trump Administration is expected to announce Wednesday that it will revoke California’s authority to set tougher pollution rules than the federal government for greenhouse gas emissions from passenger vehicles. 

Automakers defy Trump, stick with California in climate change standoff (Sacramento Bee)

 California officials, teeing up an epic fight with President Donald Trump’s administration over climate change and air pollution rules, have potentially powerful allies in their corner: four of world’s largest automakers. Ford, Honda, BMW and Volkswagen are sticking with an agreement they made to meet California’s stricter standards on greenhouse gas emissions, the head of the California Air Resources Board said Thursday. 

Calls mount for investigation of Inspire charter schools  (San Diego Union-Tribune)

 The California Charter Schools Association has expelled the Inspire home charter school network from its membership and is now calling for a third-party investigation, citing concerns about the network’s operational and governance practices…San Diego County’s Dehesa School District is conducting a special audit of all its charter schools, including two Inspire schools, to scan for potential conflicts of interest, gifting of public funds and more.

 


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