EAST COUNTY ROUNDUP: LOCAL AND STATEWIDE NEWS

August 5, 2015 (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

• Sempra earnings edge up on power plant sale (San Diego Union Tribune)
• Edison didn't provide blackout emails to regulator (SD Reader)
• Saving water adds up to rate hikes (San Diego Union Tribune)
• Helix water board discussing new rates (San Diego Union Tribune)
• Counting Customer Costs For San Onofre Closure: $10.4 Billion (KPBS)
• Some San Diegans Wonder, Can You Stop Phone Book Deliveries? (KPBS)
• City Ethics Commission picks get political (San Diego Union Tribune)
• Supes To Consider Backing Penalties For Drone Operators Interfering With Firefighting (KPBS)
• San Diego County Supervisors Approve Additional Funding For Stadium Consultants (KPBS)

STATE

• CPUC invites public to reform confab
• California Rocky Fire: why it fits a global trend (CS Monitor)
• California fires lead Gov. Brown to declare state of emergency (Sacramento Bee)
• California officials float state-run bank for marijuana industry (Sacramento Bee)
• Obamacare checkup: millions of previously uninsured Californians now have health coverage, but cost and access worries persist (Orange County Register)
• Mike Huckabee to address California Republican Convention (Sacramento Bee)

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

LOCAL

Sempra earnings edge up on power plant sale

Earnings at Sempra Energy rise on performance, sale of solar farm.

Edison didn't provide blackout emails to regulator (SD Reader)

The San Diego law firm of Aguirre and Severson on Friday (July 31) filed a lawsuit against the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, charging that it has suppressed evidence about the failure of the San Onofre nuclear plant on September 8, 2011, during the largest blackout in California history.

Saving water adds up to rate hikes (San Diego Union Tribune)

As Californians conserve water, they're going to pay higher rates. It's just economics.

Helix water board discussing new rates

Meeting to be held this Wednesday at 5 p.m. to allow for public comment.

Counting Customer Costs For San Onofre Closure: $10.4 Billion (KPBS)

The $3.3 billion ratepayer tab contained within the controversial settlement over the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station is but a fraction of the decades-long bill customers are left to cover because of the shutdown. Read, Roundup

Some San Diegans Wonder, Can You Stop Phone Book Deliveries? (KPBS)

Some San Diego residents are trying to opt out of their annual phone book deliveries, saying in this day and age paper books listing information is wasteful.

City Ethics Commission picks get political (San Diego Union Tribune)

Nominees to oversight panel have party ties, and have been fined themselves. The nominations of longtime Republican Party general counsel William “Bill” Baber and Democrat Xavier Martinez – a campaign treasurer, former county party treasurer and current member of the state party finance committee – has added intrigue to the nomination process.

Supes To Consider Backing Penalties For Drone Operators Interfering With Firefighting (KPBS)

The San Diego County Board of Supervisors will consider Tuesday morning whether to support state and federal legislation that would establish penalties for people whose unmanned aircraft interfere with firefighting efforts.

San Diego County Supervisors Approve Additional Funding For Stadium Consultants (KPBS)

The Supervisors voted to allocate $500,000 to continue retaining experts who can provide advice on different issues for a possible football stadium in Mission Valley. In April, they agreed to spend $250,000.

STATE

CPUC invites public to reform confab

Subjects include backroom communications, code of conduct.

California Rocky Fire: why it fits a global trend (CS Monitor)

As California grapples with the fast-moving Rocky Fire and 21 total blazes, a new study shows that the area of landscapes affected by wildfires globally has more than doubled since 1979.

California fires lead Gov. Brown to declare state of emergency (Sacramento Bee)

Move clears red tape, opens California to outside help

California officials float state-run bank for marijuana industry (Sacramento Bee)

With legalized recreational marijuana possibly on the horizon in California, tax board officials signaled their interest Friday in forming a state-run bank that would allow pot-industry operators to transition from what has traditionally been a cash business.

Obamacare checkup: millions of previously uninsured Californians now have health coverage, but cost and access worries persist (Orange County Register)

Helen Gardner’s quest to see a specialist through her Obamacare health insurance hit a roadblock during one maddening morning last year. She took time off from work, drove from Mission Viejo to Anaheim, and ventured inside a strip mall medical office with bars on the windows.

Mike Huckabee to address California Republican Convention (Sacramento Bee)              

Republican Mike Huckabee, the folksy former governor of Arkansas, will fill a lunchtime speaking slot at the California Republican’s fall convention in Anaheim, officials said Friday