EAST COUNTY ROUNDUP: LOCAL AND STATEWIDE NEWS

August 13, 2014 (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

• Iraqi Christians in San Diego fear U.S. airstrikes are too late in Iraq (Los Angeles Times)
• Filmmaker taking a fond look back at ‘70s and ‘80s La Mesa (UT San Diego)
• Green Technology Building Code Changes Approved For San Diego County (KPBS)
• San Diego Bucks California’s Trend in Biz Relocation (Voice of San Diego)
• San Diego Businesses, By the Numbers(Voice of SD)
• La Mesa gets a new brewery (La Mesa Today)
• San Diego's Police Officer Retention Problems Hit New Low (KPBS)
• Risk assessment report moves Valley Center closer to its own fire department (Valley Center/Times Advocate)
• Sempra under investigation, says Mexican Press (SD Reader)

STATE

• California Lawmakers Reach Compromise On Revamped Water Bond (KPBS)
• In dry California, water goes to those who drill the deepest (Al Jazeera)
• Other view: Groundwater mining is exploitation of shared resource (SacBee)
• THE NEW DIGITAL BREED OF FIRE COMMAND (FastCompany.com)

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

LOCAL

Iraqi Christians in San Diego fear U.S. airstrikes are too late in Iraq (Los Angeles Times)

One of the biblical readings at the Sunday Mass at Our Mother of Perpetual Help Syriac Catholic Church here contained a passage from Ephesians, complete with the warning "do not leave room for the devil." The passage had a particular poignancy for the 300-plus parishioners attending the overflow Mass because, as one parishioner explained, "The devil is loose in our homeland."

Filmmaker taking a fond look back at ‘70s and ‘80s La Mesa (UT San Diego)

Nostalgia has struck a Grass Valley man, and because of it, La Mesans — and those who have fond memories of the city in the 1970s and ’80s — are going to take a trip down memory lane.

Green Technology Building Code Changes Approved For San Diego County (KPBS)

 The San Diego County Board of Supervisors voted 4-1 in favor of all but one of the staff's recommendations.

San Diego Bucks California’s Trend in Biz Relocation (Voice of San Diego)

San Diego and California aren’t singing the same song when it comes to business relocations. From 1989 to 2011, San Diego enjoyed a net increase in businesses and jobs due to company moves. During that same period, the state saw net drops on both fronts.

San Diego Businesses, By the Numbers(Voice of SD)

 Tens of thousands of businesses call San Diego home. It’s crucial to understand some basics about the business landscape here. For one, smaller companies dominate. Just a few major companies are headquartered here. 

La Mesa gets a new brewery (La Mesa Today)

When city officials changed local zoning laws to allow a winery to open, it took just a few months until La Mesa's first vintage was in the barrels of the San Pasqual Winery on Center Street. And now, just a few months later, the Jewel of the Hills is about to get its first commercial brewery. The Bolt Brewery will begin brewing Tuesday at its 8179 Center Street location.

San Diego's Police Officer Retention Problems Hit New Low (KPBS)

As the city continues to struggle with recruiting and retaining its police force, the San Diego officers union says the number of patrol officers has fallen below the minimum requirement.

Risk assessment report moves Valley Center closer to its own fire department (Valley Center/Times Advocate)

Fireboard director Oliver Smith summed it up at the end of the July 17 board meeting when directors accepted the Risk Assessment Committee’s report on director Phil Bell’s proposal for Valley Center to run its own fire district. “Something’s coming,” declared Smith, who chaired the committee. “And the community needs to start talking about it.”

What You Need to Know About the Big Push to Give Residents an Energy Menu (Voice of San Diego)

The City Council is taking a vote Thursday to tell Mayor Kevin Faulconer it really, really wants him to get cracking on passing the Climate Action Plan. The plan is basically a bundle of policies meant to get the city to cut 49 percent of its greenhouse gas emissions by 2035.

Sempra under investigation, says Mexican Press (SD Reader)

The Mexican press reported this past weekend that Sempra Energy is under investigation by the Department of Homeland Security. Imagen del Golfo, a news agency in Veracruz, reported that Sempra is being investigated for corruption, influence-peddling, money-laundering, and organized crime.

STATE

California Lawmakers Reach Compromise On Revamped Water Bond (KPBS)

The proposal that emerged after hours of negotiations between Gov. Jerry Brown and leaders from both parties totaled $7.5 billion, with $2.7 billion dedicated to storage.

In dry California, water goes to those who drill the deepest (Al Jazeera)

The only sign of life sprouting out of a vast expanse of land in this unincorporated corner of Tulare County is a large drilling rig and two trucks laden with 1,000-foot-long drill pipes.

Other view: Groundwater mining is exploitation of shared resource (SacBee)

 Who owns the water? That’s the essential issue in a controversial plan to pump 26,000 acre-feet of groundwater over two years and sell it to a water district that runs from western Merced County into San Joaquin County. 

THE NEW DIGITAL BREED OF FIRE COMMAND (FastCompany.com)

As California suffers through another cataclysmic fire season, its next generation firefighting weapon is set to lose funding in a month.