EAST COUNTY ROUNDUP: NOVEMBER 22, 2011

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 November 22,  2011 (San Diego's East County)--East County Roundup highlights articles on top regional and state issues of interest to East County and inland San Diego County, published in other media. This week’s top Roundup headlines include: 

 
 
 
 
LOCAL
  • SDG&E not telling the truth: Turko investigates smart meters (KUSI)
  • Wildfire reduction program faces funding cuts (KPBS)
  • Navy moves closer to green fleet (San Diego Union-Tribune)
  • SDG&E wants higher rates for solar homeowners (San Diego Union-Tribune)
  • SDG&E solar charge attacked at San Diego City Council meeting (San Diego Union-Tribune)
  • New service lets you pay by the minute to rent electric car: (San Diego Union-Tribune)
  • Escondido Marine loses legs in Afghanistan blast (North County Times)
 
STATE
  • Studies show climate change impacts in California (San Diego Union-Tribune)
  • Statewide unemployment declines to 11.7 percent (Sacramento Bee)
  • California Supreme Court deals major blow to gay marriage advocates (Sacramento Bee)
  • California Higher Education Commission shuts down (Sacramento Bee)
  • Community college reforms seek higher completion rates (San Diego Union-Tribune)
  • Community college reforms make sense (San Diego Union-Tribune 
Click "read more" to see links, and stories
 
LOCAL
 
Wildfire reduction program faces funding cuts (KPBS)
 
November 21, 2011 -- There's a proposal in a U.S. Senate committee to cut funding for a program which helps reduce the risk of catastrophic wildfires. The proposal comes at a time when studies show wildfires are getting bigger.
The hazardous fuels reduction program pays for tree thinning and the removal of dead trees and vegetation to reduce the chance for wildfires to become destructive and dangerous mega-fires.
http://www.kpbs.org/news/2011/nov/21/federal-wildfire-reduction-program-faces-funding-c/ 
 
SDG&E not telling the truth: Turko investigates smart meters (KUSI)
November 15, 2011 -- KUSI's Michael Turko has been investigating SDG&E's new "Smart Meters" since they were first installed over a year ago. Now Turko says he's uncovered new evidence that the power company may not be playing fair when it comes to testing those meters after a customer complains.
When you do a story questioning the accuracy of SDG&E's Smart Meters, you generally have to take their word for it. They control the meters and the testing, and they're the only power company in town. But here's a case that shows how risky that can be, a case that backs up a customer's claim that they're just not telling the truth!
http://www.kusi.com/story/16059006/not-telling-the-truth
Navy moves closer to green fleet (San Diego Union-Tribune) 
November 16, 2011 -- If the retired destroyer Paul F. Foster arrives in Ventura County Thursday without breaking down or catching fire, the Navy will be one ship closer to its “great green fleet.”
The Navy launched its largest test of algae as a ship fuel Wednesday at a San Diego Bay pier.
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2011/nov/16/navy-moves-closer-to-great-green-fleet/
SDG&E wants higher rates for solar homeowners (San Diego Union-Tribune)
November 17, 2011 -- One of the major selling points of going solar is the savings users get on their electric bill. But now, SDG&E wants to change the way it charges those users, and ask them to pay more.
Ranie Hunter went solar to be green, but a new plan by SDG&E has her white with rage.
"It feels like corporate greed to me. It really does," she said.
http://www.cbs8.com/story/16070729/sdge-wants-higher-rates-for-solar-homeowners
SDG&E solar charge attacked at San Diego City Council meeting (San Diego Union-Tribune)
 
November 9, 2011 -- A proposal by San Diego Gas & Electric Co. to add a "network use charge" to monthly bills ran into criticism Wednesday at the City Council's Natural Resources and Culture Committee meeting.
The utility wants to tack on a "network use charge" across the board to help pay for maintaining its system. The charge would have minimal impact on traditional customers, but would raise monthly bills on solar customers. The charge must be approved by the California Public Utilities Commission as part of the utility's application to change its rates. The city of San Diego is one of a few official "interveners" in the case before the commission, and official opposition could weigh heavily in the minds of regulators.
http://www.nctimes.com/blogsnew/business/energy/energy-sdg-e-solar-charge-attacked-at-san-diego-city/article_8c80bcef-6458-5794-b276-84528f9addcd.html
 
New service lets you pay by the minute to rent electric car (San Diego Union-Tribune)
 
 
November 19, 2011 -- North America’s first car-sharing service using only electric vehicles has opened for business on the streets of central San Diego.
Car2go, a one-way rental service that allows you to pay by the minute to drive an electric car, started releasing 300 “smart fortwo” vehicles on Friday.
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2011/nov/19/all-electric-car-sharing-plugs-in/
Escondido Marine loses legs in Afghanistan blast (North County Times)
 
November 19, 2011 -- A 26-year-old Marine raised in North County has lost his legs to a roadside bomb in Afghanistan's Helmand province, his mother and other family members said Friday.
Margaret Fox Jones of Escondido said the call she received from a Marine Corps official about her son, Cpl. Michael Fox, was among the worst type of news a parent can get.
http://www.nctimes.com/news/local/military/military-escondido-marine-loses-legs-in-afghanistan-bombing/article_319d9bc3-5b32-59c5-a999-12813ebe0b3b.html
 
STATE
 
Studies show climate change impacts in California (San Diego Union-Tribune)
 
November 20, 2011 -- A spate of recent research offers new insight into how global warming is changing or could change California, from the mountains to the seashore, in both predictable and unusual ways.
The studies show that common trees are fading from their current ranges, premium wine grape varieties are under siege, marine creatures are shifting locales, the hub of the state’s water system faces increasing risks and — surprisingly — birds in the state are getting bigger as the weather warms.
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2011/nov/20/grapes-birds-trees-fish-respond-climate/
 
Statewide unemployment declines to 11.7 percent (Sacramento Bee)
 
November 18, 2011 -- Unemployment in California is falling, as the economy seems to be emerging from its spring-summer slumber.
Statewide unemployment dropped to 11.7 percent in October, down two-tenths of a point, the Employment Development Department said Friday.
http://www.sacbee.com/2011/11/19/4066200/statewide-unemployment-declines.html
 
California Supreme Court deals major blow to gay marriage advocates (Sacramento Bee)
 
November 17, 2011 -- In a major lift for proponents of California's same-sex marriage ban, the California Supreme Court ruled this morning that they have legal standing under state law to defend the measure in court.
The opinion is expected to increase the likelihood that the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals will rule the proponents of Proposition 8, approved by voters in 2008, have authority to defend the measure, allowing the case to move forward.
http://blogs.sacbee.com/capitolalertlatest/2011/11/california-supreme-court-issues-blow-to-gay-marriage-advocates.html
 
California Higher Education Commission shuts down (Sacramento Bee)
 
November 18, 2011 -- A longtime state agency, felled by the budget ax, closes its doors today.
The California Postsecondary Education Commission got zeroed out in June by Gov. Jerry Brown, whose veto message called the agency "ineffective" and requested the state's three higher education systems to explore other ways of coordinating and developing higher education policy.
http://blogs.sacbee.com/capitolalertlatest/2011/11/am-alert-california-postsecondary-education-commission-unemployment-insurance-appeals-board.html
 
Community college reforms seek higher completion rates (San Diego Union-Tribune)
 
November 20, 2011 -- With resources dwindling, the California Community College system has unveiled a reform package meant to maximize the good it can do for students and the state in general. The U-T Community Editorial Board recently discussed the draft proposal with Jack Scott, chancellor of the system, and Constance Carroll, chancellor of the San Diego Community College District and a member of the Student Success Task Force, which drafted the plan at the behest of the state Legislature, which will review the plan after it is finalized next month. The following is a condensed, edited transcript of the interview, beginning with an opening statement by Scott.
http://web.signonsandiego.com/news/2011/nov/20/stressing-success-community-college-reforms-seek/
 
Community college reforms make sense (San Diego Union-Tribune)
 
November 20, 2011 -- On the cover of today’s Dialog section, Jack Scott, chancellor of the California Community Colleges system and Constance Carroll, chancellor of the San Diego Community College District, make a strong case for a series of reforms developed by a Student Success Task Force created at the direction of the Legislature. Driving the reforms: the view that California needs a more focused community college system that uses its limited resources in a more productive fashion. 

 


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