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April 12, 2012 -- (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:
STATE
- Radiation from Japan disaster found along California coast (ABC)
- If California taxpayers paid up, state’s deficit would disappear (Sacramento Bee)
- High-stakes vote nears in California water waters (KPBS)
- California deer population declines as habitat disappears (Sacramento Bee)
LOCAL
- La Mesa, El Cajon to get armored vehicle (San Diego Union-Tribune)
- Program to help chronically homeless showing results (San Diego Union-Tribune)
- Abandoned orchards must be monitored for pests (Sacramento Bee)
- 15-year-old Santana High School student injured in crash awakens from coma (Santee Patch)
- U.S. says beware of ads placed by drug smugglers (San Diego Union-Tribune)
- El Cajon City Council fills vacancy (San Diego Union-Tribune)
- La Mesa home prices trending up (La Mesa Today)
- Feds misled by SoCal Edison on San Onofre changes, group says (KPBS)
Scroll down for excerpts and links to full stories.
STATE
Radiation from Japan disaster found along California coast (ABC)
April 10, 2012 -- Kelp along the California coast was found to be contaminated with radioactive material from a nuclear plant damaged in the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami that struck Japan, according to a recent study.
Researchers at California State University, Long Beach found that the kelp contained radioactive iodine, cesium, xenon and other particles at levels unlikely to be detrimental to human health but much higher than the amounts measured before the disaster.
http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/health/2012/04/10/radiation-from-japan-disaster-found-along-calif-coast/
If California taxpayers paid up, state’s deficit would disappear (Sacramento Bee)
April 8, 2012 -- As Californians put the finishing touches on their income tax returns, tax collectors say the state's $9.2 billion deficit would drop to zero if all taxpayers submitted what they owe.
That means every resident claiming the market value of tattered jackets donated to charity. Every business reporting every dollar of income they receive even when paid in cash. Every service worker reporting every tip. And every resident paying use tax on Internet purchases.
http://www.sacbee.com/2012/04/07/4397186/if-california-taxpayers-paid-up.html
http://www.sacbee.com/2012/04/07/4397186/if-california-taxpayers-paid-up.html
High-stakes vote nears in California water waters (KPBS)
April 10, 2012 -- California's water wars have long been waged in courtrooms, but shots are now being fired on the Internet as well.
The San Diego County Water Authority launched a website last month to attack its largest supplier, the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, saying it wanted to lift a veil of secrecy. The site offers a trove of internal documents obtained under California's public records law, including references to a "Secret Society" and an "anti-San Diego coalition."
http://www.kpbs.org/news/2012/apr/10/high-stakes-vote-nears-california-water-wars/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+kpbs%2Flocal+%28KPBS+News%3A+Local+Headlines%29
http://www.kpbs.org/news/2012/apr/10/high-stakes-vote-nears-california-water-wars/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+kpbs%2Flocal+%28KPBS+News%3A+Local+Headlines%29
California deer population declines as habitat disappears (Sacramento Bee)
April 8, 2012 -- An estimated 445,000 deer live in California, or about equal to the city of Sacramento's human population. Which sounds like a lot, until you realize the deer are spread over the entire state: 99 million acres.
If there were only 445,000 people in California,how long would it take you to find somebody you really wanted to hang out with?
http://www.sacbee.com/2012/04/08/4398312/california-deer-population-declines.html
http://www.sacbee.com/2012/04/08/4398312/california-deer-population-declines.html
LOCAL
La Mesa, El Cajon to get armored vehicle (San Diego Union-Tribune)
April 10, 2012 -- By December, the city of La Mesa will be the proud owner of a new vehicle for its police department.
It won't be a Ford Crown Victoria, F-350 or Explorer, or even another Chevy Suburban.
La Mesa is going for something more rugged: a critical incident Tactical Armor Rescue vehicle. (See the website for the vehicle here).
Program to help chronically homeless showing results (San Diego Union-Tribune)
April 10, 2012 -- A program designed to help those chronically homeless and reduce the taxpayer burden at the same time is continuing to show results.
For the first time in a decade, James Marsh has a key, a bed, a kitchen and a place to call his own.
"I wake up in a bed, not in a bush," he said. "It means a lot to me. I don't have to worry about someone stealing my belongings."
http://www.10news.com/news/30864729/detail.html
http://www.10news.com/news/30864729/detail.html
Abandoned orchards must be monitored for pests (Sacramento Bee)
April 10, 2012 -- Growers in northern San Diego County are being told to monitor their citrus and avocado groves for pests, even if they've abandoned the trees because of soaring water costs.
The North County Times ( http://bit.ly/HvkFF4) says the county's agriculture department is preparing a letter to the growers reminding them of their responsibility.
Officials say farmers have been abandoning orchards in the Valley Center area in recent years because soaring irrigation costs have made them unprofitable.
http://www.sacbee.com/2012/04/10/4403335/abandoned-orchards-must-be-monitored.html#mi_rss=AP%20State%20News
http://www.sacbee.com/2012/04/10/4403335/abandoned-orchards-must-be-monitored.html#mi_rss=AP%20State%20News
15-year-old Santana High School student injured in crash awakens from coma (Santee Patch)
April 9, 2012 -- A 15-year-old Santana student critically injured in a crash that killed two of her friends on State Route 52 last week awakened today from the coma she had been in for five days.
Charlotte McQuillen of Santee began responding to her parents at Sharp Memorial Hospital this morning, squeezing their hands, puckering her lips for kisses and making a peace sign with her hand at their request, family spokesman Ashi Fachler said.
http://santee.patch.com/articles/15-year-old-santana-student-injured-in-crash-awakens-from-coma
http://santee.patch.com/articles/15-year-old-santana-student-injured-in-crash-awakens-from-coma
U.S. says beware of ads placed by drug smugglers (San Diego Union-Tribune)
April 10, 2012 -- "Would you like to work in San Diego?" asked the small want ad placed in a Tijuana daily newspaper. "A company that is a leader in its field is looking for male employees."
It sounded like a good opportunity, but what appeared to be an honest job offer had a major hitch: The work involved smuggling narcotics, and the employer was a drug trafficking organization.
The scenario has become increasingly familiar to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents at the San Ysidro and Otay Mesa border crossings. Over the past year, more than three dozen drivers caught with drug loads claimed that they had answered want ads, and were simply complying with their new employer's request that they drive a vehicle across the border.
http://www.10news.com/news/30866946/detail.html
http://www.10news.com/news/30866946/detail.html
El Cajon City Council fills vacancy (San Diego Union-Tribune)
March 27, 2012 -- Amid boos from some in the crowd of nearly 250 who thought the decision was preordained, Tony Ambrose of the El Cajon Planning Commission was chosen Tuesday afternoon to fill a vacant position on the City Council.
The council voted 4-0 on the appointment of Ambrose, 64, a Hoover High graduate who has lived in El Cajon since 1970.
“I wanted to help out and felt I would be able to do that,” said Ambrose, who served on the planning commission for 20 years and was on the city’s traffic commission for four years before that.
http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2012/mar/27/el-cajon-city-council-fills-vacancy/
http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2012/mar/27/el-cajon-city-council-fills-vacancy/
La Mesa home prices trending up (La Mesa Today)
April 10, 2012 -- Home prices in La Mesa are beginning to show signs of trending in a good direction.
For the third month in a row, prices in La Mesa and the number of transactions have beat year-over-year totals, including a 10 percent rise in median sales prices during March for the 91941 zip code. To hear a report on La Mesa home prices and see statistics for your neighborhood click here.
The good signs in La Mesa seem to be mirroring some other hopeful signs on the national scene as well.
http://www.lamesatoday.com/profiles/blogs/gina-garcia-the-homefront-3
http://www.lamesatoday.com/profiles/blogs/gina-garcia-the-homefront-3
Feds misled by SoCal Edison on San Onofre changes, group says (KPBS)
March 27, 2012 -- An environmental group is reporting that Southern California Edison failed to tell regulators about equipment changes at the San Onofre nuclear power plant. The group's study of available documents shows that new tubing carrying radioactive water wears out at alarming rates, creating the risk of leaks.
Edison didn't tell the Nuclear Regulatory Commission it had made design changes inside new steam generators it installed one year ago at San Onofre.
http://www.kpbs.org/news/2012/mar/27/feds-misled-socal-edison-san-onofre-changes-group-/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+kpbs%2Flocal+%28KPBS+News%3A+Local+Headlines%29
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