EAST COUNTY ROUNDUP: LOCAL AND STATEWIDE NEWS

October 10, 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

• Own your own Cailfornia town: Campo up for sale (San Diego Union-Tribune)
• This asylum seeker was shot in the head. Ice jailed him (at Otay Mesa) and gave him ibuprofen (Guardian)
• What We Know About the Otay Mesa Detention Center – and Its Future (Voice of San Diego)
• San Diego is fifth-most surveilled city in America, study says (San Diego Union-Tribune)
• Supervisor talks about challenges during her last year in office (Alpine Sun)
• Campa-Najjar, DeMaio lead race for 50th Congressional District, poll shows (10 News)
• Vaping in the boys’ room: schools grapple with surge in teens’ use of e-cigarettes (San Diego Union-Tribune)
• Grossmont Union Expels Black Students Seven Times More Than Other Local Districts (Voice of San Diego)
• Marines disciplined at San Diego boot camp for abuse and racism targeting recruits, documents show (Washington Post)
• Your 2019 guide to pumpkin patches around San Diego County (San Diego Union-Tribune)

STATE

• PG&E’s California power outage begins 2nd night as thousands restored, but more go dark (Sacramento Bee)
• Gavin Newsom gives California districts more power to block charter schools with new law (Sacramento Bee)
•  California bans pesticide linked to brain damage in children  (NPR)
• California Post Office Worker Finds Two Missing Kids in Two Weeks (Newsweek)
• An 'enormous' great white shark sank its teeth into a man's kayak (CNN)
• Trump opening California public land to fracking, gas leases. Is it ‘reckless’? (Sacramento Bee)
• Four Lessons From the Front Lines of California's Water Wars (Voice of San Diego)

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

LOCAL

Own your own Cailfornia town: Campo up for sale (San Diego Union-Tribune)

Campo isn’t a ghost town, but it is pretty close.  The rural hamlet, an example of California’s Old West, is a more than an hour drive from downtown in far eastern San Diego County. The lion’s share of its buildings were built in the 1940s. And it hasn’t changed much since then.  Most of Campo has been owned by a Las Vegas investor since the early 2000s who made few improvements and — for better or worse — continued a legacy of keeping the area frozen in time.  As of last week, much of the town’s historic center is now up for sale. It provides a rare opportunity to own nearly an entire 16-acre village about an hour from the ocean. The sale would include 28 residences, a mix of former Army barracks turned into apartments and single-family homes, as well as seven commercial properties.

This asylum seeker was shot in the head. Ice jailed him (at Otay Mesa) and gave him ibuprofen (Guardian)

… Some days, Rolando would bleed out of his eyes, ears and nose. Other days, he’d lie on the floor, dizzy or barely conscious. But every time the jailed Guatemalan asylum seeker sought help from a doctor, staff at his US immigration detention center offered the same treatment: ibuprofen. The 27-year-old migrant survived a gunshot wound to the head in Guatemala and was suffering from excruciating headaches and possible brain hemorrhaging when he presented himself at the San Ysidro port of entry earlier this year.

What We Know About the Otay Mesa Detention Center – and Its Future (Voice of San Diego)

The only ICE detention facility in San Diego County has drawn intense scrutiny since the Trump administration began ramping up immigration enforcement efforts. Last week, a Cameroonian man who’d been held there died after suffering a brain hemorrhage.

San Diego is fifth-most surveilled city in America, study says (San Diego Union-Tribune)

San Diego is among the top US cities for public surveillance cameras per 1,000 people, says Comparitech. San Diego Police officials says the study is misleading.

Supervisor talks about challenges during her last year in office (Alpine Sun)

Two local issues repeatedly reared up at the Coffee With Constituents meeting held by Dianne Jacob Friday at the Al­pine library: concern over ap­parently increasing homeless numbers in San Diego and anger about rising electricity bills. Jacob, a veteran supervisor who has overseen the largest and most rural area of San Diego since 1992 has reached her term limit and addressed how local representation might change as her final term in office comes to a close.

Campa-Najjar, DeMaio lead race for 50th Congressional District, poll shows (10 News)

A recent poll shows how residents of the 50th Congressional District are feeling a week after Darrell Issa entered the race.  According to the poll, Democrat Ammar Campa-Najjar is leading the race, followed by Republican Carl DeMaio and Republican Darrell Issa. Meanwhile, the poll is also an indication of how district residents feel about a number of issues, including impeachment proceedings against President Donald Trump.

Vaping in the boys’ room: schools grapple with surge in teens’ use of e-cigarettes (San Diego Union-Tribune)

More than a quarter of high school juniors in San Diego County have tried vaping, and experts warn that teen vaping is erasing the gains from decades of smoking prevention.

Grossmont Union Expels Black Students Seven Times More Than Other Local Districts (Voice of San Diego)

Grossmont’s expulsion rate for black students has been seven times higher than the county average for the last two years, according to state data. Meanwhile, the expulsion rate for black students across San Diego County has decreased by nearly 50 percent during the same time.

Marines disciplined at San Diego boot camp for abuse and racism targeting recruits, documents show (Washington Post)

 In one case, a drill instructor used a staple gun on a recruit and ordered another to eat a pine cone.

Your 2019 guide to pumpkin patches around San Diego County (San Diego Union-Tribune)

Fields of ripe pumpkins are ready for picking to create spooky or whimsical holiday decorations…

STATE

PG&E’s California power outage begins 2nd night as thousands restored, but more go dark (Sacramento Bee)

Northern California’s electric company turned the power off for hundreds of thousands of customers Wednesday – and then back on for some – during a dramatic day that caused confusion and angry reactions from both the public and public officials.  Pacific Gas & Electric Co. shut down power to more than 500,000 homes and businesses, an estimated 2-million-plus Northern California residents, creating the largest blackout in state history.  The move was billed as a last-resort defensive tactic to avoid wildfires amid high winds that whipped through the state Wednesday…The utility warned that power likely would be out for days and possibly a week in some places.

Gavin Newsom gives California districts more power to block charter schools with new law (Sacramento Bee)

…The new law will let districts consider how proposed charter schools, which are publicly funded but privately run, would affect traditional schools in the district and whether they would siphon money from schools already in financial distress. High performing charter schools will be eligible for seven-year renewals, compared with five years for middle-performing charter schools. It will also let districts close charter schools that aren’t serving some student populations, such as students with disabilities.

 California bans pesticide linked to brain damage in children  (NPR)

Beginning in early 2020, California will ban the sale of the pesticide chlorpyrifos which state environmental officials say has been linked to brain damage and other health defects in children.

California Post Office Worker Finds Two Missing Kids in Two Weeks (Newsweek)

October 09, 2019 Chyanne Thomas, an employee of the U.S. Postal Service in Vista, California, became a hero twice over when she helped return a pair of missing children to their homes in the space of two weeks. FOX 5 San Diego reports that Thomas received a pair of awards for going above and beyond in the line of duty in April of this year. While she was delivering her route, she spotted missing kids twice in 14 days and followed up with authorities to ensure they got where they needed to be.



An 'enormous' great white shark sank its teeth into a man's kayak (CNN)

A kayaker came up close and personal with a great white off the coast of California this weekend, and has the shark teeth to prove it. Danny McDaniel and his friend, Jon Chambers, were kayaking near Ship Rock, about two miles east of Santa Catalina Island, on Saturday when McDaniel felt something hitting the side of his kayak.

Trump opening California public land to fracking, gas leases. Is it ‘reckless’? (Sacramento Bee)

The agency received more than 400 objections of its proposed leasing plan over a 30-day protest period, according to its final report. BLM officials ruled that none of them was valid.

Four Lessons From the Front Lines of California's Water Wars (Voice of San Diego)

From mandatory drought restrictions to billions of dollars' worth of drought-proofing projects, San Diego and the entire West has for years had a complicated relationship with its water – and it’s not going to get any easier or any cheaper any time soon.