EAST COUNTY ROUNDUP
East County Roundup highlights top stories of interest to East County, published in other media.
Recent Roundup headlines include:
- East County Chamber to State: keep region intact
- Controller Chiang halts pay for lawmakers
- La Mesa-Spring Valley Schools placed on list of districts at fiscal risk
- SDG&E's big solar failure
- Council slams Helix for ending police grant
- Ramona teen sues sheriff's deputies for assualt, battery
- Gray area: public officials and private emails
- Lakeside lottery money headed to schools
- UC San Diego receives NSF support for wildfire modeling and prevention
- La Mesa jobless rate still among lowest in East County
EAST COUNTY CHAMBER TO STATE: KEEP REGION INTACT
June 17, 2011 (San Diego Union Tribune) - East County business leaders want a state redistricting panel to keep the region intact as the group redraws political boundaries.
In a June 16 letter to the Citizens Redistricting Commission, Joe Mackey, chairman of the San DiegoEast County Chamber of Commerce, says Alpine, El Cajon, La Mesa, Jamul and neighboring communities have a "history of functioning as a unified and cohesive socioeconomic unit with shared geographic and cultural qualities."
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2011/jun/17/east-chamber-weighs-in-on-redistricting/
CONTROLLER CHIANG HALTS PAY FOR LAWMAKERS
June 21, 2011 (The Sacramento Bee) -- Controller John Chiang announced today he has blocked pay for lawmakers, rejecting his own party's spending plan as insufficient to satisfy a voter-approved law on timely budgets.
In doing so, the Democratic controller exercised unprecedented authority, establishing a new role for his office under Propositions 25 and 58 to determine whether a legislative budget is balanced."
http://blogs.sacbee.com/capitolalertlatest/2011/06/controller-chiang-halting-pay.html
LA MESA -SPRING VALLEY SCHOOLS PLACED ON LIST OF DISTRICTS AT FISCAL RISK
June 17, 2011 (The La Mesa Patch) -- Local school officials are firing back at Sacramento after a new report showed that the La Mesa-Spring Valley School District has been added to a state list of districts that might have trouble meeting its financial obligations in the next three years.
SDG&E’S BIG SOLAR FAILURE:
June 19, 2011(Voice of San Diego) -- In late August 2005, San Diego Gas & Electric proposed a $1.9 billion power line to connect the region to a green future in Imperial County, the land of constant sunshine and endless renewable energy promise.
A week later, SDG&E announced what that green future would look like, unveiling a landmark deal with an upstart, unproven solar dish company that promised to turn the desert sun into a major renewable energy source for San Diegans. SDG&E told state regulators that it needed the wildly contested power line, dubbed the Sunrise Powerlink, to get all the electricity here.
http://www.voiceofsandiego.org/environment/muck/article_e06051be-994c-11e0-b2af-001cc4c03286.html
COUNCIL SLAMS HELIX HIGH FOR ENDING POLICE GRANT
June 18, 2011 (La Mesa Patch) --Helix Charter High School came in for some pointed criticism Tuesday when the City Council, before approving a preliminary two-year budget, noted the school’s governing board had decided not to fund a school resource officer from the La Mesa Police Department.
http://lamesa.patch.com/articles/council-slams-helix-charter-high-school-for-ending-police-grant
SWEETWATER SCHOOL BOARD FIRES SUPERINTENDENT
June 21, 2011 (10 news) -- The Sweetwater Union High School District fired Superintendent Jesus Gandara in a marathon meeting that ran into the early hours Tuesday.
The five board members met behind closed doors for nearly six hours before emerging to announce the unanimous vote to fire Gandara.
http://www.10news.com/news/28301569/detail.html
RAMONA TEEN SUES SHERIFF'S DEPUTIES FOR ASSAULT, BATTERY
June 17, 2011 (North County Times) -- A 17-year-old Ramona boy has filed a $1 million lawsuit in federal court against San Diego County sheriff's deputies who he says beat and wrongfully arrested him in December 2009.
http://www.nctimes.com/news/local/ramona/article_47520c20-27e6-5d03-8718-235dd013d538.html
GRAY AREA: PUBLIC OFFICIALS ON PRIVATE EMAILS
June 17, 2011 (The San Diego Union Tribune) --San Diego City Attorney Jan Goldsmithhas done it. So has Chula VistaCouncilwoman Pamela Bensoussan, Encinitas Councilwoman Kristin Gaspar and Bill Horn, chairman of the county Board of Supervisors.
There’s no telling how many elected officials use Gmail or Yahoo or other private email accounts for government matters, a ubiquitous tool that may or may not allow the transparency intended under the California Public Records Act.
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2011/jun/17/gray-area-public-officials-on-private-emails/
THE MOST INTERESTING MAN IN THE BACKCOUNTRY
June 17, 2011 (Voice of San Diego) -- Internationally renowned artist and designer James Hubbell has been making his home in the backcountry of San Diego since 1958. Even fire inspires his inventive nature. James Hubbell's mysterious, colorful compound is at the end of a dirt road, miles outside of San Diego's urban core. http://www.voiceofsandiego.org/people/q_and_a/article_2f5b5f70-9934-11e0-9b76-001cc4c03286.html
LAKESIDE LOTTERY MONEY HEADED TO SCHOOLS
June 20, 2011, (The San Diego Union Tribune) -- State officials on Monday said no one came forward to claim nearly $200,000 in California Lotterywinnings tied to a MEGA Millions ticket sold at the Lakeside Shell late last year. The window for collecting the prize closed at 5 p.m. http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2011/jun/20/lottery-winnings-revert-to-state/
UC SAN DIEGO RECEIVES NSF SUPPORT FOR WILDFIRE MODELING AND PREVENTION
June 14, 2011 (CATI)-- Wildfires are increasing in both absolute number and severity in the American southwest and this trend is predicted to continue over decades to come. Wildfire prevention has now become a major priority, and scientists at the University of California, San Diego have received federal funding to devise descriptive and predictive simulation tools to help prevent or suppress wildfires.
With a one-year grant* from the National Science Foundation (NSF) Office of Cyberinfrastructure, effective June 1, the UC San Diego researchers have opened a new phase for their SDFireSight project. They will develop a technical framework and computer models that will simulate the conditions that can spark a wildfire in San Diego’s ‘backcountry’. http://www.calit2.net/newsroom/release.php?id=1859
LA MESA JOBLESS RATE STILL AMONG LOWEST IN EAST COUNTY
June 20, 2011 (La Mesa Patch)-- La Mesa’s unemployment rate fell a click in May, dropping to 8.1 percent from April’s 8.2 percent, new state figures show. San Diego County’s jobless rate fell to 9.6 percent from a revised April rate of 9.8 percent— with 149,500 out of work. http://lamesa.patch.com/articles/la-mesa-jobless-rate-still-among-lowest-in-east-county