EAST COUNTY ROUNDUP: LOCAL AND STATEWIDE NEWS

September 3, 2024 (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 round-up stories include:

LOCAL

• COVID positivity rate hits 21% as students return to school (KPBS)
• Cajon Valley Union School District defies new California gender identity law with 'Parental Bill of Rights' (10 News)
• San Diego County offers home protection from wildfires  (KPBS)
• Gunman In 2001 Santana High School Shooting Up For Parole (Patch.com)
• Mayor seeks to curtail independence of San Diego's boards and commissions (KPBS)
• Grossmont and Cuyamaca Continue Strong Enrollment Increases into Fall 2024 (Times of San Diego)
• San Diego’s Fire Risk Soars as Brush Inspections Lag  (Voice of San DIego)
• Sewage Fix, Sort of  (Voice of San Diego
• Ramona High School football adjusting to new CIF regulations and heat policy (10 News)
• Leak forces waste disposal shipment to return to San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (KPBS)
• Texts sent by Nathan Fletcher’s accuser in sexual assault case undermine her claims, new court filing alleges (KPBS)

STATE

• As California dam removal hits final stage, river flows freely for first time in a century (SF Gate)
• Newsom vows to take funding from cities, counties for not clearing encampments (NBC San DIego)
• New plastic bag ban comes before California Legislature (KPBS)
• UCLA Must Protect Jewish Students’ Access to Campus, Federal Judge Rules  (Times of San Diego)

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

LOCAL

COVID positivity rate hits 21% as students return to school (KPBS)

As students start the new school year, San Diego County's COVID-19 positivity rate has soared to nearly 21%, marking the second highest rate recorded since the pandemic began.

Cajon Valley Union School District defies new California gender identity law with 'Parental Bill of Rights' (10 News)

... The Cajon Valley Union School District’s Parental Bill of Rights defies the law by stating that its staff must tell parents when a child decides to change their gender identity. The California Department of Education said the SAFETY Act is for "transgender youth, who are entitled to safe school environments free from discrimination. " The department also wants to protect trans youth from the possibility of being bullied, and that includes at home, behind closed doors.

San Diego County offers home protection from wildfires  (KPBS)

A program to help residents protect their homes from wildfires has started in the Dulzura area Tuesday, according to San Diego County officials.

Gunman In 2001 Santana High School Shooting Up For Parole (Patch.com)

Charles "Andy" Williams killed two students and wounded 13 others when he opened fire at the Santee school on March 5, 2001​.

Mayor seeks to curtail independence of San Diego's boards and commissions (KPBS)

The boards and commissions that advise San Diego leaders on a broad range of issues could see their independence constricted if a new set of rules is passed by the City Council.

Grossmont and Cuyamaca Continue Strong Enrollment Increases into Fall 2024 (Times of San Diego)

For the Fall 2024 semester, which began Monday, Aug. 19, the Grossmont-Cuyamaca Community College District reports another 8.7% district wide increase in enrollment from Fall 2023.  This increase follows a remarkable 21% climb in enrollment over last academic year. On the first day of the fall term, the unduplicated student headcount increased by 10.6% from Fall 2023 totals.

San Diego’s Fire Risk Soars as Brush Inspections Lag  (Voice of San DIego)

At the pace San Diego’s brush management inspection team is operating, it would take more than six years to inspect some of the most fire-prone areas in the city.

Sewage Fix, Sort of  (Voice of San Diego

The border sewage-wrangling federal agency fumbling with a broken wastewater treatment plant says it’s ready to go full steam ahead on fixing and expanding that plant: Within about 7 years.

Ramona High School football adjusting to new CIF regulations and heat policy (10 News)

This year, new regulations go into effect when it comes to the heat, but some schools are seeing it take a toll on their everyday schedules, especially in the East County.

Leak forces waste disposal shipment to return to San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (KPBS)

An official at Southern California Edison, which owns and operates the nuclear plant, says the incident shouldn't have happened.

Texts sent by Nathan Fletcher’s accuser in sexual assault case undermine her claims, new court filing alleges (KPBS)

The filing by the former San Diego County supervisor alleges that MTS employee Grecia Figueroa claimed in her lawsuit that he assaulted her, but described the incidents as “make-out” sessions in texts to a friend.

STATE

As California dam removal hits final stage, river flows freely for first time in a century (SF Gate)

The decades-long push led by tribal communities to remove four dams along the Klamath River reached another victory this week as crews began the project’s final stages, restoring historic water flows to the river for the first time in over a century. .. The fight to remove dams along the Klamath began over two decades ago, when poor water quality and river flows caused tens of thousands of the river’s fish, mostly Chinook salmon, to die in a massive fish kill in 2002. 

Newsom vows to take funding from cities, counties for not clearing encampments (NBC San DIego)

California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Thursday had a message for local governments: clean up homeless encampments now or lose out on state funding next year...Newsom's executive order came after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned a lower court ruling that said governments could not force people to leave encampments if there weren’t any shelter beds available.

New plastic bag ban comes before California Legislature (KPBS)

A bill that would make plastic bags unavailable at California grocery checkouts awaits a floor vote as Legislative session nears an end.

UCLA Must Protect Jewish Students’ Access to Campus, Federal Judge Rules  (Times of San Diego)

The University of California, Los Angeles, cannot allow pro-Palestinian protesters to block Jewish students from accessing campus buildings, classes and services, a federal judge has ruled.... “In the year 2024, in the United States of America, in the State of California, in the City of Los Angeles, Jewish students were excluded from portions of the UCLA campus because they refused to denounce their faith,” Scarsi wrote, calling it “unimaginable” and “abhorrent.”