SHAREHOLDERS TO PUT LIMITS ON SEMPRA EXECUTIVE PAY

“Felsinger’s salary is a graphic example of the grossly disproportionate salaries that CEOs continue to feast upon even in our current economic malaise. It is offensive in many ways, including the fact that it is partially paid by themoney we pay SDG&E montly.” – Michael Shames, Utility Consumers Action Network (UCAN)

By Miriam Raftery

July 8, 2010 (San Diego) Stockholders at Sempra Energy, parent company of San Diego Gas & Electric Company (SDG&E), have approved a “say on pay” clause giving them power to restrict executive compensation. The vote came in may, following disclosure that Sempra’s chief executive, Donald Felsinger, was the highest-paid executive in San Diego County last year with a $20.9 million annual salary and benefits package, plus a $35 million golden parachute retirement package he woudl receive if the company is ever sold.

July 7, 2010 (Pine Valley) -- A man is dead of injuries sustained in a rollover accident on I-8 near the Mt. Laguna exit near Pine Valley this afternooon.  The accident caused a small brush fire that was swiftly contained by U.S. Forest Service firefighters.

East County News Service
 

July 7, 2010 (Encanto) - San Diego Police Department seeks public help to locate a 2007 Dodge Charger, California license 6FOV930, which was carjacked last night at 9:55 p.m. A Hispanic man with a shaved head ran up to the driver, a 33-year-old woman driving her friend’s car, as she pulled up to 305 61st Street. He ordered her out of the car at gunpoint and stole the vehicle.

July 7, 2010 (La Mesa) – San Diego East County Chamber of Commerce will feature NBC 7/39 money advisor George Chamberlain at its Power Breakfast meeting on Friday, July 9th at 7:15 a.m. Chamberlain is also host of KOGO Radio’s “Money in the Morning” show, serves as executive editor of the Daily Transcript, pens a column for the North County Times, and publishes a national newsletter titled “Investing for Rookies.”

July 7, 2010 (La Mesa) -- Saddle up and head on over for an evening of innocent fun at the tables at Home of Guiding Hands 1st Annual Wild West Casino Night, Friday, July 16, 7–11 p.m. at Gio Bistro Wine Bar in La Mesa. Ticket includes hors d'oeuvres, a beverage of your choice, and $200 of gaming credit, opportunity drawings and door prizes. Net proceeds benefit San Diegans with developmental disabilities.

State Senate candidate Paul Clay calls on Riverside Registrar to resign for failing to pick up ballots from Post Office

July 6, 2010 (San Diego) – Candidates in two state legislative districts that span both San Diego and Riverside counties are concerned over a scandal involving 12,563 uncounted ballots in Riverside County.

Those ballots could tip the balance of victory in the 40th State Senate district Democratic primary. Juan Vargas now leads Assemblymember Mary Salas by a scant 12 votes a full month after the June 8th election.

By Miriam Raftery

July 6, 2010 – It’s not on the scale of Stonehenge. But stacked rocks popping up along an East County freeway are drawing the attention of passersby and sparking a mystery as to their origins. Just who has been balancing stones along Highway 52, and why?

Senator Boxer to meet with San Diego business leaders today on jobs plan; has support of dozens of technology leaders

July 6, 2010 (San Diego) – Senator Barbara Boxer (D-California) has launched a “Fiorina Facts and Fiction” campaign to fight back against misleading statements made by her opponent, Republican Carly Fiorina.

Independent analyses of the facts by nonpartisan groups and major media outlets support claims by Boxer, who chairs the Senate Ethics Committee, that Fiorina has distorted data on jobs, climate change legislation, and impacts of the federal stimulus bill by relying on outdated or biased sources.

View a video of Senator Boxer outlining her jobs plan during a speech at the California Democratic convention.

July 6, 2010 (Washington D.C.) -- The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services on July 1st unveiled an innovative new on-line tool aimed at helping consumers take control of their health care by connecting them to new information and resources to access quality, affordable health care coverage.

July 6, 2010 (Lemon Grove) – The City of Lemon Grove has issued a proclamation declaring July 10th “Pride Day at Your Lemon Grove Library.” Ron deHarte, emcee of the Pride Celebration, was the victim of a hate crime that occurred in Lemon Grove last summer while participating in an equal rights torch relay that passed through Lemon Grove.

Public services July 12 at Viejas Arena on SDSU campus

By Chris Mohr

July 5, 2010 (La Mesa) - Don Coryell, football coaching legend at the collegiate and professional levels, died Thursday (July 1) at Sharp Grossmont Hospital in La Mesa after an extended illness. He was 85.

July 5, 2010 (San Diego’s East County) – C. Hook Theater will present Joseph & The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat July 7-10. C. Hook Theater productions are held at the Performing Arts Center at The Salvation Army Ray & Joan Kroc Community Center, 6845 University Avenue in San Diego (one block west of 70th Street).

U.S. Supreme Court ruling to allow unlimited corporate spending on elections heightens concerns

“Most Americans, especially champions of business deregulation and the free market, but also many members of Congress and state legislatures, would be shocked to learn that the Founding Fathers firmly believed that corporations were dangerous organizations which, if left unchecked, threatened the very freedom of the nation.” – John David Rose, author, Rescuing Capitalism from Corporatism

By Miriam Raftery
 

July 4, 2010 (San Diego) – At a “Defending Democracy” forum in San Diego on July 1st, a panel of experts raised concerns over the future of democracy in America from threats posed by increasing and unchecked corporate power.

By Dawn Celapino