June 29, 2012 (San Diego) – The Society of Professional Journalists' San Diego chapter has awarded East County Magazine editor Miriam Raftery the James Julian Memorial Award for best community service series.Raftery received the honor, along with a $100 prize, for her series titled FEMA refund demand sparks firestorm of controversy.
The series also won an honorable mention in daily news reporting. In addition, Raftery won a second place award for environmental reporting for an East County Magazine article titled County issues draft wind ordinance; backcountry leaders level harsh criticism.
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June 29, 2012 (San Diego)--Your Independence Day celebration can be ruined if fireworks injure one of your family or friends. Cal Fire reminds everyone that all fireworks are illegal throughout San Diego County. Their use, transportation or possession could result in a fine or jail. Cal Fire also advises anyone causing a fire with fireworks would be responsible for the damages.
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June 27, 2012 (San Diego)--Your Online Weather for SD: A system moving inland to the north will weaken the high pressure with a deepening of the marine layer this weekend. High pressure will start to rebuild through Tuesday, with a slight cooling trend with more clouds and higher humidity over the mountains and deserts.
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June 28, 2012 (Sacramento)—At least 65 of the 70 state parks slated for permanent closure on July 1 will remain open—even though Governor Jerry Brown made a line-item veto to cut $31 million of the $41 million in funds earmarked to keep parks open.
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June 28 (El Cajon)—El Cajon City Council, under its role as successor agency to the San Diego East County Economic Development Council, voted to approve funding for Saint Madeline Sophie’s Center and the El Cajon Scholarship Association.
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June 26, 2012 (El Cajon)- At the El Cajon Council meeting today, one of the items on the agenda concerned changing the zoning requirement so El Cajon residents can own chickens in their own backyards. The public was able to voice their concerns to allow backyard chicken ownership.
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June 27, 2012 (La Mesa) – La Mesa Police responded to a vehicle crash yesterday afternoon in the 4900 block of Mills Street, where they discovered that a motorist had parked a vehicle on the street and failed to apply the parking break or put the vehicle in park. After the driver left the area, the vehicle began rolling backwards and across to the west side of the street colliding into an elder care home.
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June 27, 2012 (La Mesa) – By a 4-1 vote with Director Kathleen Hedberg dissenting, the Helix Water District board of directors voted to approve a water rate study that recommends rate hikes. The increase would average 4.7 percent, or $2.75 a month for the average water user, though owners of larger properties face substantially heftier increases.
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June 26, 2012 (Sacramento)—If you owe a hefty tax bill to the state, time to pay up or pay the consequences is running out. Starting July 1, California will suspend most occupational, professional and driver’s licenses for people with the highest unpaid state tax bills.
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June 25, 2012 (El Cajon) – Councilman Gary Kendrick’s proposal to legalize backyard chicken ownership will be back on the agenda at tomorrow’s El Cajon City Council meeting.
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June 24, 2012 (San Diego)--Cleveland National Forest (CNF) and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) have released an Environmental Assessment (EA) for feral pig management on public lands in San Diego, Riverside and Orange Counties, as well as on the Capitan Grande Indian Reservation.
Feral pigs, which are not native to our region, have caused extensive damage by rooting that destroys riparian waterways, habitat and forage for wildlife. The plan includes 600,000 acres of public lands, including many in East County.
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June 24, 2012 (San Diego) -- The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) this week approved San Diego Gas & Electric's (SDG&E) East County (ECO) Substation Project, a development that involves two electric substations along SDG&E's Southwest Powerlink transmission line.
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Support community news in the public interest! As nonprofit news, we rely on donations from the public to fund our reporting -- not special interests. Please donate to sustain East County Magazine's local reporting and/or wildfire alerts at https://www.eastcountymedia.org/donate to help us keep people safe and informed across our region.
Support community news in the public interest! As nonprofit news, we rely on donations from the public to fund our reporting -- not special interests. Please donate to sustain East County Magazine's local reporting and/or wildfire alerts at https://www.eastcountymedia.org/donate to help us keep people safe and informed across our region.
117-mile, 500,000-volt transmission line improves electricity reliability, but increases concerns over fire safety for region
June 21, 2012 (San Diego) – San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E) announced June 18 that it had completed and put into service Sunrise Powerlink, a 500,000-volt transmission line linking San Diego to Imperial Valley.
“Putting the Sunrise Powerlink into service is the final milestone in a complex and challenging energy project that ranks among the largest and most significant in the history of San Diego Gas & Electric,” said Jessie J. Knight, Jr., chairman and chief executive officer of SDG&E.
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Bill also jeopardizes national parks along U.S.-Mexico and Canadian borders;
2 local Congressmen vote to kill environmental protections for all federal lands within 100 miles of borders--encompassing vast swaths in San Diego
By Miriam Raftery
June 19, 2012 (Washington D.C) - The U.S. House of Representatives has passed legislation that would give the Department of Homeland Security the power to override dozens of environmental laws on all federal lands that lie within 100 miles of the Mexican and Canadian borders--even though Homeland Security opposes the bill.
That would encompass virtually all federal lands in San Diego County, wiping out protections not only for Bureau of Land Management, Cleveland National Forest and military properties throughout San Diego County.
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June 20, 2012 (San Diego) – Amid vocal community opposition, the city of San Diego’s Planning Commission will soon consider whether to approve a zoning change that would allow the proposed gas-fired Quail Brush power plant to be built next to Mission Trails Regional Park. The public hearing will be held on Thursday, June 28, 2012 at 9 a.m. in the City Administration Building, 202 C Street, 12th floor in downtown San Diego.
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June 21, 2012 (San Diego's East County) -- While attempting to send out an alert about a missing person today, we discovered that Twitter is offline. News and blog sites worldwide are now reporting this as a global outage. Twitter has thus far offered no explanation for the outage.
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Update June 22: Joe Rodrigues is safe after walking into a medical clinic; he was hospitalized overnight for observation.
June 21, 2012 (Bonita) – The Sheriff seeks public help to find Joe Rodrigues, an 80-year-old Hispanic man who uses oxygen at night and walks with a cane. He walked away from his residence at 3709 Glen Verde Court in Bonita between 4 and 7:50 p.m. yesterday.
Although his destination is unknown, authorities say he may be heading toward his prior residence in downtown San Diego.He may have been wearing a dark baseball cap, long-sleeve blue shirt and glasses.He is 5 feet 10 and weighs about 180 pounds.
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June 20, 2012 (San Diego)--The San Diego Police Department today asked for help from the public to find Beverly Simmons, 57. She was last seen in the area of 2400 Fairmount Ave. on Wednesday of last week, according to an SDPD bulletin.
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June 20, 2012 (Washington, D.C.)The U.S. Senate is taking up the Farm Bill, which will set the nation's food policy for the next five years. The legislation's title - the Agriculture Reform, Food and Jobs Act of 2012 - includes the word "reform," although some California farmers question the amount of reform it contains.
Dave Runsten, policy director for the Community Alliance with Family Farmers, supports eliminating direct payments to farmers who may or may not plant crops. He adds that the bill shifts much of that money into federally subsidized crop insurance.
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June 20, 2012 (San Diego)--A brand new online news and commentary daily has appeared in San Diego. It's the San Diego Free Press - SanDiegoFreePress.org - and was launched by the OB Rag (obrag.org) last week. It aims to provide progressive views and neighborhood news.
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Government accused of illegally approving “ineligible” project that failed to meet minimum federal wind speed standards
Violations of other laws alleged, including discrimination against low-income residents
June 20, 2012 (Ocotillo) –A fourth lawsuit seeking to halt the Ocotillo Express wind facility has been filed in federal court.The plaintiff in this case, Community Advocates for Renewable Energy Stewardship, filed suit yesterday against Pattern Energy, the U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management and top government officials.
The suit, which seeks a permanent enjoinment or halt to the project, differs from prior lawsuits filed by other groups on several fronts.
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June 20, 2012 (La Mesa) -- The purpose of the scoping meeting is to provide an opportunity for La Mesa residents and interested parties to review project information, ask questions, and provide oral and written testimony.
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