East County News Service

September 19, 2015 (El Cajon) – El Cajon Police dispatched its SWAT (Special Weapons and Tactics team) and evacuated neighbors due to an active shooter at 1400 Petree Avenue.

The incident began at 7:40 p.m. when a caller reported three gunshots from a neighbor’s apartment. While on the phone, police heard another shot.Officers responded and established a perimeter around the apartment, hearing additional gunshots from inside.

September 19, 2015 (San Diego’s East County) - - -Our June 2015 radio shows are now online!  You can listen online now (sound files may take a minute to load). For links to listen to the shows plus a full list of topics and interviews in June, click here and scroll down.

Our interviews included representatives from the Senior Gleaners providing food for people in need, International Student Exchange, the San Diego Concert Band, the Water Conservation Garden with water-wise tips,  Enviro-Dems, Lionheart Academy of fencing, Lisa Wood on a controversial Lakeside sand mining project as well as her “long rider” cross country horseback trip, Assembly candidate Tony Teora, and a delegation of Philippino authors Sarka-Jonae Miller and Cherie Kephart, visitors here through a U.S. State Dept. program seeking ways to end corruption and improve government transparency.

September 18, 2015 (San Diego's East County)-- Our Health and Science Highlights provide cutting edge news that could impact your health and our future.

HEALTH

• UCSD Researchers Discover Protein That Can Help Damaged Hearts( KPBS)
• '700 million' malaria cases stopped (BBC)
• The amazing significance of what a mother-to-be eats  (BBC)
• Cognitive Decline May Move Faster In People With Low Vitamin D (NPR)
• New device could save millions from septic shock  (Reuters)
• New blood test helps detect cancer early (U-T)
• Aggressively Lowering Blood Pressure Saves Lives, Study Finds (NPR)
• Waking up HIV to kill it (U-T)
• Why India Is A Hotbed Of Antibiotic Resistance And Sweden Is Not (NPR)
• Child deaths 'halved since 1990' (BBC)
• Modelling spread of hospital bugs (BBC)
• British Scientists Seek Permission To Edit DNA In Human Embryos  (NPR)

SCIENCE AND TECH

• Has Arctic ice loss reached a tipping point? (CS Monitor)
• Fiat Chrysler to recall 1.06 million trucks over steering glitch (Reuters)
• Former Uber driver was an employee, rules California department (Reuters)
• When Cyber Fraud Hits Businesses, Banks May Not Offer Protection (NPR)
• How robots are helping smaller dairy farms stay in business (CS Monitor)
• 1813 Alaska shipwreck: How they survived  (CS Monitor)
• Black and blue then back again: What’s going on with Beijing skies? (CS Monitor)
• Why climate change is good news to Arctic mosquitoes (CS Monitor)
• Lungs found in mysterious deep-sea fish (CS Monitor)

For excerpts and links to full stories, click “read more” and scroll down.

East County News Service

September 17, 2015 (Crest) – A brawl last weekend at the Stray Dogs Motorcycle Club’s clubhouse on Sierra Vista Drive in Crest ended in the death of 26-year-old Michael Raymond.

Originally Published on the ECOreport

By Roy L Hales

September 17, 2015 (San Diego) - San Diego County’s Board of Supervisors made history today. Californians have never voted on whether to demand the Department of Energy remove nuclear waste. As San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station is decommissioned, a toxic waste dump is being built 600 feet from the Pacific Ocean, and roughly the same distance from the I-5. Unless some action is taken, 1,400 metric tons of spent nuclear fuel will be stored there. The Board of Supervisors voted 4-0, to “add to the County’s Legislative Program support for legislation that would remove and relocate outside of the San Diego region the spent nuclear fuel stored at the decommissioned San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station.” San Diego BOS Says NO Spent Nuclear Fuel.

County News Service

September 16, 2015 (San Diego)--A San Diego County program that helps safeguard vulnerable adults in dependent care has received the California Counties Innovation Award, the highest honor given in the California State Association of Counties’ annual awards.

By Liz Alper

September 16, 2015 (San Diego) - CBS Sports reported Tuesday morning that the SDSU men’s basketball team is under investigation for alleged improper benefits allegedly given to prospective student athletes.

Originally Published on the ECOreport

By Roy L Hales

On October 14th, or possibly the 28th, the San Diego County Board of Supervisors will decide if they should rip up the dreams of a rural community so a developer can get a lot of money. As County Planning commissioners Peder Norby and Michael Beck recently pointed out, if the Lilac Hills project goes forward it will destroy 13 years of work, and close to $20 million, that went into San Diego County’s General Plan.

The project spreads across 608 acres in the Valley Center area. There are currently 16 “dwelling units” and a total of  just 110 are allowed under current zoning. Accretive Investments wants to build 1,786 units over the course of a decade. This would support a larger population that the city of Del Mar. Why plunk a city in the middle of nowhere?

County News Service

September 16, 2015 (San Diego)--The San Diego County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved new rules Wednesday that will promote beekeeping and local agriculture while protecting the public. 

Supervisors approved a new “tiered” beekeeping ordinance that will allow beekeeping hobbyists and businesses to keep bees and hives closer to roads, property lines and homes in unincorporated areas — but still far enough away to keep people safe.

East County Alert Service

September 16, 2015 (Orange County, California) -- An 8.3  magnitude earthquake has occurred off the coast of Chile has led to issuance of a Tsunami Advisory for the California coast from Orange County north to San Luis Obispo. San Diego County is  not included in the advisory. 

A Tsunami Advisory is issued for Tsunamis (or tidal waves) expected to be 1 to 3 feet higher than normal--capable of producing strong currents or waves dangerous to persons in or near the water.  Greatest threats will be the strong underwater currents early Thursday which will be hazardous to boaters and swimmers; coastal structures may also be damaged.  The tsunami arrival time ranges from 4:46 a.m. to 5:10 a.m. tomorrow (Thursday) morning along the southern California coast.

The tsunami in Orange County is expected to be a foot high, with 4 to 8 inches expected in San Diego County. 

Hawaii is also on alert for a tsunami.

September 16, 2015 (Washington D.C.) – Wildfires, unlike  earthquakes or hurricanes, are not funded as natural disasters---and the money to fight devastating fires is running out.  Now as wildfires ravage our state, Senator Dianne Feinstein, a California Democrat, has issued a statement urging Congress to pass the Wildfire Disaster Funding Act. Here is her statement in full:

"This is fiscal irresponsibility...The bond oversight is a joke." -- Nick Marinovich, bond oversight committee member who recently resigned in protest (photo, left).

"I don't think the public is aware of the damage being done by a handful of special interests." -- Jim Kelly, board member, referring to Alpine parents and taxpayers who sued the district over its failure to build the Alpine high school

By Janis Russell; Miriam Raftery also contributed to this report

September 15, 2015 (El Cajon)- At the September 10^th Grossmont Union High School District board meeting, president Robert Shield gave his report regarding a lawsuit the board is facing filed by citizens of Alpine. An update on Propositions H and U was presented to the board. The majority approved an agreement with CliffordMoss and John Hoy to study  the likelihood that voters would re-authorize Prop U bonds or issuance of new bonds.

That could be a tough sell to voters, since the district is being sued by Alpine taxpayers for failing to spend Prop H and U bonds on building an Alpine high school as spelled out in the bonds. The district has claimed enrollment triggers weren't met, though multiple knowledgeable insiders have repeatedly reported that triggers were met.

Roberts issues response to settlement decision

East County News Service

File photo by Nadin Abbott

September 15, 2015 (San Diego) – Today, the majority of County Supervisors voted to pay $310,000 to settle claims filed by three ex-staff members against Supervisor Dave Roberts. 

In a prepared statement, Supervisors indicated they determined the settlement to be “in the best interest of taxpayers” and said Roberts “at a minimum, showed poor judgment.” The statement added that “although not conclusive, the investigative material surrounding the inappropriate use of County funds, promoting a hostile work environment, an alleged bribe, campaigning on County time, improper use of a County vehicle and retaliation against District 3 staff members is significant and a matter of concern for the Board of Supervisors.”

Asked his response, Roberts, who has consistently denied the staffers' allegations, provided East County Magazine with the following statement:

As arrests and incarcerations decline, county will put greater emphasis on prevention, intervention

East County News Service

September 15, 2015 (San Diego’s East County)--A major decrease in juvenile arrests and detentions has caused significant savings for the county, and now government officials are looking to transfer money into services that help keep young people out of serious trouble. In 2009, 5,000 juveniles were under supervision, but now there are approximately 2,100. Detention rates have had a similar decline, down from 842 to 438, said Ron Lane, deputy chief administrative officer.

On Tuesday, the Board of Supervisors voted 5-0 to transfer this savings to training for law enforcement officers dealing with young offenders, increased mental health services, and a program that helps stop juvenile family violence.

By Buck Schott

September 15, 2015 (San Diego’s East County)--Who’s talking about issues people care about on the presidential campaign trail--and who's trashing whom?  Who’s showing some backbone, and who’s breaking from the herd?  Which candidate is trouncing Trump in a saucy new ad—and which climate-denying candidate got a science lesson from our own California governor?

Find these juicy details and more in this week’s column, as well as an update on who’s in, who’s out, and who will be onstage at the upcoming debates.