EAST COUNTY ROUNDUP: LOCAL AND STATEWIDE NEWS

September 5, 2013 (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/REGIONAL

• San Diego-Based Ships In Red Sea As Syria Situation Heats Up (KPBS)
• Lightning knocks East County man off his feet (10 News)
• San Diego’s Best Lakes (U-T San Diego)
• An identity crisis for Julian? (U-T San Diego)
• Water board leaves Division II seat as is (Ramona Sentinel)
• Preventing Wildfire In San Diego County
• Doing time on the fire line ( U-T San Diego)
• Solar Power Advocates Challenge California Bill Regulating Rates
• Fire damages Lemon Grove BBQ restaurant (U-T San Diego)
• Sprawl  is still sprawl, even if it’s green (Atlantic Cities)
• Expected front-runners (Todd Gloria and Carl DeMaio) bow out of mayoral race (Reuters)
• Fletcher on Jacobs’ Balboa Park plan (Voice of San Diego)
• The pawns line up in San Diego’s Mayoral Race (San Diego Free Press)

STATE

• Smoke from Sierra fire reaches Yosemite Valley (Yahoo news)
• Siskiyou County votes to pursue secession from California (Sacramento Bee)
• Senate, Calif. Governor Clash On Prison Spending (AP)
• Tsunami would swamp California’s economy (Sacramento Bee)

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

LOCAL/REGIONAL

San Diego-Based Ships In Red Sea As Syria Situation Heats Up (KPBS)

The Navy has sent the San Diego-based destroyers USS Stockdale and USS William P. Lawrence, and the cruiser USS Princeton, to the Red Sea as the situation in Syria heats up.

Lightning knocks East County man off his feet (10 News)

An East County man narrowly escaped major injury after lightning struck the ground about 10 feet away from where he was standing and knocked him off his feet. At about 4 p.m. Tuesday, the clouds were rolling in above Chambers Park in Lake Cuyamaca, prompting Hans Nansen and a friend to take a look.

San Diego’s Best Lakes (U-T San Diego)

When you come to San Diego from wetter parts of the country, it might seem the region is a tad short on fresh water recreation areas. But if you look closely, the county has a fine collection of lakes where one can fish, boat, and in rare circumstances, even take a dip. Henry David Thoreau categorized lakes as the Earth's eyes "looking into which the beholder measures the depth of his own nature.” Take a look into some of San Diego County's best lakes.

An identity crisis for Julian? (U-T San Diego)

The mountain town of Julian with its apple pies, beds & breakfasts, restaurants and quaint shops, is changing for those who call it home. Fewer people live in the community, and some of the businesses that catered to the local crowd for decades have closed.

Water board leaves Division II seat as is (Ramona Sentinel)

The fate of Director Christopher “Kit” Kesinger’s Division II seat on the Ramona Municipal Water District Board is in the hands of his constituents, say board members.

Preventing Wildfire In San Diego County

(KPBS) -- The threat of devastating wildfires is a fact of life in California. CalFire says it has a prevention plan. But critics in Southern California say using prescribed burns to clear vast tracts of land isn't the answer

Doing time on the fire line ( U-T San Diego)

Warner Springs -- If they aren’t actively working a fire, cutting lines and saving homes, the women of Puerta La Cruz Conservation Camp stand at a red line every weekday morning exactly at 8:30.At that moment they are prisoners, detained by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation and serving sentences for felonies committed in places far removed from their present circumstances.

Solar Power Advocates Challenge California Bill Regulating Rates

(KPBS) -- The Sierra Club, solar power installers and concerned citizens are challenging a CaliforniaAssembly Bill. If passed, AB 327 would change how much utilities pay residents for the solar power they generate.

Fire damages Lemon Grove BBQ restaurant (U-T San Diego)

A chimney fire broke out inside a Lemon Grove barbeque restaurant Friday morning about 90 minutes before it was to open for the day. The 9:30 a.m. fire forced the temporary closure of Coops West Texas BBQ on Lemon Grove Avenue, in a strip mall at Cypress Avenue, Heartland fire officials said.

Sprawl  is still sprawl, even if it’s green (Atlantic Cities)

Does the lead photo with this article look like a good place to put over 1,700 new homes on a little over 600 acres? What if I told you it was working agricultural land in a remote location 45 miles north of San Diego and 61 miles south of San Bernardino, California? What if I added that the developer is doing everything it can to make the project green? Those are the questions currently facing San Diego County authorities.

Expected front-runners (Todd Gloria and Carl DeMaio) bow out of mayoral race (Reuters)

(Reuters) - Two politicians viewed as potential front-runners to replace disgraced former San Diego Mayor Bob Filner, who resigned in the face of a sexual harassment lawsuit, said Tuesday they would not run, leaving the race wide open.

Fletcher on Jacobs’ Balboa Park plan (Voice of San Diego)

San Diego mayoral candidate Nathan Fletcher works for Qualcomm, which Irwin Jacobs founded. 

In his previous mayoral run, Fletcher was a big booster of Jacobs' plan for Balboa Park's Plaza de Panama, which failed in court after intense opposition from preservationists. Mayor Bob Filner then did his own low-cost solution.  I asked Fletcher during my recent Q-and-A about reviving Jacobs' plan. 

The pawns line up in San Diego’s Mayoral Race (San Diego Free Press)

It was a day to remember in San Diego’s political history.  Three high-profile politicians opted to decline the opportunity to enter the contest for the top spot in the eighth largest city in the United States. 

STATE

Smoke from Sierra fire reaches Yosemite Valley (Yahoo news)

ense smoke from a wildfire burning in and around Yosemite National Park on Saturday hampered both suppression efforts and the prized views sought by holiday weekend tourists.

Siskiyou County votes to pursue secession from California (Sacramento Bee)

Fed up by Sacramento's regulations and Southern California's political sway, residents in one rural Northern California county are taking steps to leave the state.

Senate, Calif. Governor Clash On Prison Spending (AP)

 Gov. Jerry Brown's plan to deal with a federal court order to lower the state's prison population faces an uncertain future in the state Legislature because of opposition from key members of his own political party./ If lawmakers fail to reach agreement quickly, they risk having federal judges override state law and take the step that is opposed by the governor, lawmakers and law enforcement -- releasing 9,600 felons by the end of the year.

Tsunami would swamp California’s economy (Sacramento Bee)

If a monster earthquake struck off Alaska's coast, tsunami waves would rush toward California, crippling the nation's busiest port complex and flooding coastal communities, a report released Wednesday suggests.