September 13, 2012 (Jacumba) – In its heyday, Jacumba Hot Springs housed a resort that drew Hollywood elite and tourists from far and wide.  But somewhere along the way, the official name got shortened to Jacumba. 

Now a group of Jacumba residents seeks to restore the original name. On Tuesday, County Supervisors voted to support the change.  Next up,  state and federal geographic name change commissioners will consider whether to formally approve the return to the town’s historic name.

September 13, 2012 --  (San Diego’s East County) – ECM World Watch helps you be an informed citizen about important issues globally and nationally. As part of our commitment to reflecting all voices and views, we include links to a wide variety of news sources representing a broad spectrum of political, religious, and social views. Top world and U.S. headlines include:   

WORLD

• US Ambassador murdered as extremists on all sides win, again (CSMonitor)
• There may be no anti-Islamic movie at all (CSMonitor)
• Obama vows to “bring justice” to ambassador’s killers (Reuters)
• Another protest turns violent outside U.S. embassy in Cairo (CNN)
• Global drought causes concerns around the world (CNN)
• Syrian troops storm Damascus refugee area, chase rebels (Reuters)

US

• 4 years later, auto industry rebounds (CBS News)
• Federal court will review marijuana’s classification as a dangerous drug with no health benefits (Think Progress)
• New York City hit by tornadoes (BBC)
• Administration urges terror surveillance renewal  (UT San Diego)
• U.S. Policy in Mideast challenged by assaults (Wall Street Journal)
• Romney camp tries to manage fallout from Libya response (CNN)
• New report warns of smart meter failures due to temperature and weather extremes (StopSmartMeters.org UK)
• Disillusioned Obama supporter in RNC ad is actually Republican staffer (Talking Points Memo)

Read more for excerpts and links to full stories.

September 13, 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:

LOCAL REGION

• U-T San Diego to buy North County Times, Californian (North County Times)
• Security tightening at Gillespie Field flight schools that service foreign nationals (Santee Patch)
• San Diego’s low income communities want clean energy (KPBS)
• Local mom: School puts putting son’s life at risk (10 News)
• Poway man invents eco-friendly lawn mower (10 News)
• Arrest made in auto theft series involving Maseratis and Mercedes (Mount Helix Patch)
• Lakeside crime report: Three cars torched (Santee Patch)
• Guilty plea by 21st century “snake oil salesman” targeted by 60 minutes (La Mesa Patch)
• Reporters challenge SDPD credentialing process (CityBeat)

STATE

• Judge upholds Schwarzenegger reduction of Nunez son’s prison sentence (Sacrament Bee)
• Jerry Brown: Chamber clearing the way for tax bid by staying neutral (Sacramento Bee)
• Sikhs applaud as Brown signs 2 anti-discrimination bills

Read more for excerpts and links to full stories.

September 13, 2012 (El Cajon) – The East County Chamber of Commerce will be holding the Passport to the Future Business Expo on September 20 at the Elk’s Lodge, 1400 E. Washington Ave., El Cajon.  The event will be from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m.  Over 50 businesses will be on hand to display their products, services and promotions.

September 13, 2012 (Spring Valley) – Encore! Theatre presents “twi-lite” September 14 – 16 at 9620 Campo Rd., Spring Valley.  The show is a fun-filled, family friendly musical spoof on the book series, “Twighlight”.  It is styled as an old fashioned melodrama with silliness galore.

September 13, 2012 (San Diego) – Baffled over ballot propositions? Not sure who’s running for what? Or maybe you need deadlines for registering to vote or requesting a vote-by-mail ballot.  The San Diego League of Women Voters has published a guide for new and busy voters with all of this information and more. You can also log onto the LWV’s Smart Voter website to access the complete ballot for your area, including information on candidates running for local, state and national races.  Read more for details provided by the LWV:

By Jamie Reno

Several years ago I wrote a story about my two best friends - one a Christian conservative Republican ex-Marine, the other an agnostic liberal Democrat college professor. In the piece I described how much I admired both of them but always seemed to find myself in the middle. 

Well, they're still my best friends... and I'm still in the middle. My liberal friend still thinks I'm too conservative, and my conservative friend still thinks I'm too liberal. 

See more:

September 13, 2012 (El Cajon) – The Grossmont College Career Center will present “Doing What Matters to Find a Job,” a free informational workshop for job seekers, from 11 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 19, at the Career Center on the El Cajon campus. Speaking will be Pamela Benge, Grossmont College student services specialist.

Unmaned predator drones are now used for surveillance here in the U.S. and abroad

By Dave Patterson

September 12, 2012 (Poway)--Every Thursday afternoon one can see a demonstration at the General Atomics plant in Poway, home of the Predator drone.  The demonstrators are from the San Diego Veterans For Peace and their supporters, with the goal of enlightening the public on the desperate need for oversight regarding drone technology.

The Predator drone is flying over 16 countries now, loosing weapons over Yemen, Somalia and Pakistan.  The kill statistics would be unacceptable in any conflict but are somehow overlooked because we are at war with terrorism. 

SDSU News Service

September 13, 2012 (San Diego)--Hundreds of students, faculty and staff gathered in front of Hepner Hall to take part in San Diego State University’’s Patriot Day ceremony, honoring the victims and heroes from 9/11.

By Miriam Raftery

September 12, 2012 (San Diego's East County) -- Iberdrola Renewables states on its website that “Iberdrola strives to offer its energy supply and to carry out the other activities undertaken by the Group within a safe and reliable environment.”  But a look at the history of turbine collapses, serious injury, fires, safety violations and at least one death linked to Iberdrola facilities raise serious concerns about the company’s track record.

Despite these dangerous incidents, Iberdrola has been approved by the federal and county governments to install wind turbines at its Tule Wind project in McCain Valley.

September 12, 2012 (La Mesa) – The volunteer citizens committee overseeing the expenditure of millions of dollars in construction improvements at Grossmont Hospital is seeking two additional members.

The Independent Citizens’ Bond Oversight (ICBOC) is overseeing how the Grossmont Healthcare District (GHD) is spending $247 million in capital improvement construction projects at the hospital in La Mesa. ICBOC members are uncompensated East County residents with experience in project management, large-scale construction operations, finance, labor and healthcare industries.

By Chung Mao-Lo

September 12, 2012 (San Diego) -- Patients in Japan who underwent living donor liver transplantation (LDLT) for acute liver failure (ALF) were classified as having excellent outcomes, with ten-year survival at 73%. The findings, published in the September issue of Liver Transplantation, a journal of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD), suggest that the type of liver disease or treatment plan does not affect long-term patient survival following LDLT. Donor and patient age, however, does impact long-term outcome post-transplant.

State's clean fuel standard poised to drive growth in biofuels industry

September 12, 2012 (Washington D.C.) – Despite a challenging year, the advanced biofuels industry continues to grow, according to a new report from Environmental Entrepreneurs (E2). Biofuel production capacity has increased from 437 million gallons last year to more than 685 million gallons, the report shows. By 2015, the industry has the potential to produce 1.6 billion to 2.6 billion gallons of clean, renewable fuel.