Is this a utilities bailout? Will it help prevent future fires? How will all this work? Here's a breakdown of the new plan California lawmakers are putting in place.

By Julie Cart, CALmatters

CALmatters is an independent public interest journalism venture covering California state politics and government.

Photo:  The deadly 2018 Camp Fire burns around PG&E transmission towers east of Pulga, near the source of the first report of the fire. (Photo by Karl Mondon, Bay Area News Group)

July 14, 2019 (San Diego) -  You will be forgiven for having the impression that California lawmakers have been talking about comprehensive wildfire legislation forever, when it has only been days since the new fire bill ricocheted  from the Assembly to the Senate and back again. Gov. Gavin Newsom signed it today, less than a week after the first elected official cleared his throat to introduce the package.

East County News Service

Photos: Map of proposed project; wildlife photos by Debbie Ekhaml, including raccoons in adjacent Sweetwater National Wildlife Refuge and mule deer in Jamul ecological preserve are among wildlife species that could be negatively impacted

July 13, 2019 (Rancho San Diego) – Significant concerns raised by the community over the proposal for a 10-year sand mining operation at Cottonwood Golf Course have been confirmed with the release of the County of San Diego’s Scoping Letter on the project.

By Miriam Raftery 

July 12, 2019 (Escondido) – The city of Escondido wants to evict Bubba and Einstein, a pair of alpacas owned by Kelly Thor and Ryan Jimenez. The couple fulfilled their dream of buying a home where they could raise animals in 2017 and were surprised to learn that the city regulates alpacas as cattle for purposes of zoning.

UPDATE AS OF 7:22 PM:  Fire is now 100 acres on the U.S. side, 650 acres total with 10% containment. The combination of ground and air resources has allowed for significant progress, and containment is likely to increase overnight.

East County Wildfire & Emergency Alert Service

July 12, 2019 (Dulzura) – A brush fire that has charred over 100 acres in Mexico has crossed the international border and near Cottonwood Creek and Barrett Truck Trail south of Dulzura.  The blaze has charred around 10 acres on the U.S. side of thee border in rural San Diego County, according to Cal Fire.

Patch.com reports 60 firefighters on scene including two air tankers, two helicopters, six engines, two dozers, two hand crews and a water tender.

Source:  San Diego County Sheriff's Department

July 11, 2019 (El Cajon) - A missing person at risk in the East County has been found safe.

79-year-old Eufemia Danaher was found around 10:00 a.m. in the 600 block of El Cajon Boulevard in El Cajon. Sheriff's ASTREA (helicopter) Deputy Gary Kneeshaw spotted a woman who matched Danaher's description and made contact with her. She has been reunited with her family.

Overall water quality not compromised, but customers are being notified

By Miriam Raftery

Photo:  When completed in 2008, the Twin Oaks Valley Water Treatment Plant was the largest submerged membrane water treatment plant in the world and the first treatment plant built by the San Diego County Water Authority.

July 10, 2019 (San Diego) -- A malfunction at the Twin Oaks Valley Water Treatment Plant resulted in a citation from the state Division of Drinking Water due to a two-day failure of one of its systems that kills harmful organisms. The plant provides water to water districts across San Diego County including East County, but the County Water Authority assures that water in regional pipelines continued to be safe for all uses due to additional treatment processes. 

By Miriam Raftery

July 9, 2019 (El Cajon) – The East County Leadership Council will host its second annual regional issues forum on July 27 from 1-3 p.m. at the El Cajon Library (201 E. Douglas Ave. in El Cajon).

By Ken Stone

Reprinted with permission from Times of San Diego, a member of the San Diego Online News Association

Photo:  Gregory A. Vega of downtown San Diego’s Seltzer Caplan McMahon Vitek law firm came to the defense of his old friend Gonzalo Curiel when the federal judge came under attack from Donald Trump. Image via YouTube.com

July 9, 2019 (San Diego) - At Monday’s hour-long hearing for Rep. Duncan D. Hunter, 22 minutes were devoted to whether two (or possibly three) assistant U.S. attorneys had a political ax to grind against the indicted Republican.

By Miriam Raftery

July 8, 2019 (San Diego) - U.S. beekeepers lost 40.7% of their honey bee colonies for the year ending April 2019, according to the latest survey by the Bee Informed Partnership, a nonprofit led by the University of Maryland.  That continues a national decline in recent years that has alarmed scientists, with causes ranging from pesticides to climate change to colony collapse disorder of unknown causes. 

Update July 9:  This photo has been deleted off Hunter's social media. The San Diego Union-Tribune reports Hunter spokesman Michael Harrison stated, “Congressman Hunter has never supported or been accused of supporting white supremacy and if anyone were to espouse any such beliefs in a photo with Congressman Hunter they did so without his knowledge or consent,” Harrison said in an email. “To be clear, Congressman Hunter does not personally know this individual, or what his views may be.”

Updated July 7 with information on identity of the man standing next to Hunter: Kristopher Wyrick, founder of an avowed white nationalist organization.  Updated July 8 with statement from Ammar Campa-Najjar.

By Miriam Raftery

July 6, 2019 (Alpine) – A photo making the rounds on social media claims Congressman Duncan D Hunter spent the Fourth of July in the company of white nationalists.  A photo shows Hunter standing next to a man flashing a hand signal that’s commonly used as a white power symbol as well as A-okay sign.  The image was cropped down from a group photo taken in Alpine, where Rep. Hunter participated in the town’s annual 4th of July Independence Day Parade.

However, the man in the photo has an apparent history of participating in and leading groups that espouse white nationalist positions and of  violence against protesters as shown in videos.

According to a Times of San Diego report published July 7, the man flashing the white power sign is believed to be Kristopher Wyrick, a cofounder of the Bordertown Patriots, a white nationalist group that organized an event at Chicano Park that reportedly resulted in clashes with counterprotesters and multiple arrests. Wyrick is also reportedly a former member of San Diego Proud Boys and the United Patriot National Front. Will Johnson, who has had two court battles with Wyrick, told Times of San Diego that he's certain it's Wyrick in the photo because  "I've seen him so many times."  Johnson sought a restraining order against Wyrick but lost; Wyrick later won a small claims court against Johnson over lost work time and gun storage costs.

East County Wildfire & Emergency Alert Services

July 5, 2019 (Ridgecrest) -- A powerful 7.1 earthquake has struck 11 miles northeast of Ridgecrest tonight at 8:19 p.m., the same area rocked by a 6.4 earthquake yeserday morning. KCFD reports over a dozen small outdoor fires with larger vegetation fires burning north and east of the city. Kern County spokesperson Megan Person confirmed to CNN that fires and multiple injuries have occured. Structure damage is also reported.

Seismologist Lucy Jones tweeted, "There is a 1 in 20 chance of Friday night's magnitude 7.1 earthquake "being followed by somethign even bigger." Earthquake of magnitude 5 are likely and a magnitude 6 is quite possible, she said. 

An 8.5 quake in Chile was once a precursor to a 9.2, a seismic expert in a live press conference held by the Kern County Fire Department stated.

The U.S. Geological Survey originally reported the quake at 7.1, downgraded it to 6.9 and then upgraded it back to 7.1. That's 11 times stronger than the earlier 6.4 quake since the Richter scale is logorhythmic.

Southern California Edison reports some 26,000 customers are without power due to the quake.

Los Angeles Fire Dept. reports downed powerlines in L.A. 

View video of the KTLA newscasters ducking for cover when the quake hit:  https://twitter.com/i/status/1147353969674448896.

In San Bernadino County, the county fire department reports som homes have shifted off their foundations, according to KTLA.

Highway 178 is closed due to a rockslide in Kern County.

July 5, 2019 (La Mesa) – Should La Mesa form a citizens’ police oversight or advisory commission? Jack Shu, a former Superintendent of California State Parks and Janet Castaños, a former dean in the Grossmont-Cuyamaca Community College district and past president of Helix Charter High School’s board, have a proposal that will soon be considered by the La Mesa City Council. 

We interviewed them on our East County Magazine Show on KNSJ.   You can hear the entire interview by clicking the audio link, or scroll down for highlights.