April 20, 2016 (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

• What Elections Have San Diego Political Candidates Missed? (KPBS)
• San Diego County Water Authority Files Lawsuit Against MWD (KPBS)
• MTS Compass Card Was Insecure From The Beginning (KPBS)
• DA won’t file charges against Supervisor Dave Roberts (KPBS)
• Political fine from 2012 mayor's race sets record (San Diego Union-Tribune)
• The California Democrat setting the national agenda (Atlantic)
• Hunter repaid funds spent on surf shop, garage door (San Diego Union-Tribune)
• San Diego County Crime Rate Up 6 Percent (KPBS)

STATE

• Harris Questioned For Representing Gov. Brown During San Onofre Probe (KPBS)
• Donald Trump to speak at California Republican convention (Sacramento Bee)
•  Your Speeding Ticket Might Not Be Enforceable (Voice of SD)
• Calif. university spent $175,000 to counter negative Internet posts: newspaper  (Reuters)
• State nabs more than 80 for unlicensed contracting(San Diego Union-Tribune)
• Brickbat: Youthful Offender taken off terrorist watch list (Reason)

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

March 30,  2016 (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

• In San Diego, Syrian refugee family finds safe haven (San Diego Union-Tribune)
• U.S. Border officials accused of denying food to asylum seekers (KPBS)
• Janitors carry the cross and have feet washed (Reporting San Diego)
• Elderly man robbed at his Rancho San Diego home (10 News)
• Sheriff investigates Ag Boosters missing funds (Ramona Sentinel)
• UCSD caught in debate over fetal tissue research (San Diego Union-Tribune)
• HIV trial set for next year (San Diego Union-Tribune)
• Many Latino, African-American Students Opting Out Of AP Classes (KPBS)
• Records show dead frogs, moldy classrooms (San Diego Union-Tribune)
• Transit Funding Emerges As Key Issue For SANDAG Tax Increase (KPBS)
• Water bill jump hard to swallow in Rainbow (San Diego Union-Tribune)

STATE

• Despite the Porter Ranch disaster, the top executive at SoCalGas is getting an enormous bonus (Los Angeles Times)  
• Audit: University of California undermines resident students (KPBS)
• Kamala Harris the `female Obama’ plots her course on the road to Washington (Guardian)
• Solar arrays in the desert: killing more birds than you imagine (Memories of the People)
• FPPC opens limited probe of Brown aide  (San Diego Union-Tribune)
• Dianne Feinstein to Obama: Turn on the Taps! (Breitbart News)
• Everything We Thought We Knew About the Two-Thirds Voter Requirement Could Change if New Ruling Holds (Voice of San Diego)
• As Chinese Investors Sweep Into Bordeaux Region, French Winemakers Are Buying Up California Vineyards (The Daily Meal)

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

By Miriam Raftery

Updated March 31 with new info from the County Office of Education.

March 15, 2016 (San Diego’s East County) – The County Committee on School District Organization will hold six hearings to get public input on the Grossmont Union High School District’s proposed shift to electing governing board trustees by districts.  The GUHSD board voted 4-1 to adopt a controversial map and seek a waiver of a public vote despite opposition from members of the public who spoke, some alleging gerrymandering to oust a dissenting board member and break up a vocal minority voting block, as ECM reported.

The six hearings are set for March 17 in La Mesa, March 28 in El Cajon,  April 4 in Alpine,  April 5 in Jamul, April 6 in Lemon Grove, and April 11 in Lakeside.  The public can testify at the meetings and also submit written comments up until April 7.  The County’s committee will vote to approve or disapprove the district’s request at its April 13 meeting. The Alpine hearing was added after ECM and community members asked that Alpine be added as a location due to the many controversies involving the Alpine area.

For the full schedule of meetings, rules and details, click "read more" and scroll down.

To view the San Diego County Office of Education hearings announcement in English, Spanish and Arabic, click here.

To view data on the GUHSD redistricting plan including demographic details and maps, click here.

March 10,  2016 (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

• Luxury development approved for Julian (U-T)
• Heavily redacted memo shields notes in fatal San Diego police shooting (KPBS)
• Charity accused of improper billing (U-T)
• MTS Board Members Ask For Faster Data Security Upgrades (KPBS)
• Contractors lose appeal on 'free speech’ gifts (U-T)
• San Diego Politicians Asked To Stop Voting On Their Own Salaries (KPBS)
• Is ballot crowding at work in San Diego city council races? (KPBS)
• Southern California aerospace industry continues to lose jobs (U-T)

STATE

• Brown’s judge friend removed from CPUC case (San Diego Union-Tribune)
• Motivating the state’s refugee voters (KPBS)
• My $54,000 helicopter ride (Los Angeles Times)
• California advances bills to raise smoking age, regulate vaping (Sacramento Bee)

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

Hear our interview, which originally aired on the East County Magazine Radio Show on KNSJ  89.1 FM on December 14, 2015: https://www.eastcountymagazine.org/sites/eastcountymagazine.org/files/au...

By Miriam Raftery

Photo: Ice core sample, Creative Commons image from AntarcticGlaciers.org

February 27, 2016 (San Diego’s East County) – Jeffrey Severinghaus, PhD, is one of the world’s top climate scientists.   A professor of geosciences at Scripps Institute of Oceanography at the University of California, San Diego, he was recently appointed to the prestigious National Academy of Sciences.   Dr. Severinghaus has pioneered research efforts measuring trapped gas bubbles in ice cores in Antarctica and Greenland to detect past ocean temperature changes – with astonishing results.

Asked about climate skeptics who claim climate change is merely cyclical, he quickly dispels the theory that recent warming is part of an age-old trend.  That’s because molecules from burning fossil fuels are chemically different from carbon naturally seeping from the ocean floor.  The differences are obvious, measurable, and provide clear evidence that man’s actions are rapidly accelerating climate change.

February 17,  2016 (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/REGIONAL

• Porter Ranch Natural Gas Leak Temporarily Controlled (City News Service)
• Hungry? Amazon delivers from local eateries in an hour (San Diego Union-Tribune)
• Obama to designate new national monuments in the California desert (The Washington Post)
• Hasty water policies don’t mix well with long-term planning (Voice of San Diego )
• Officials Show Off Facility Where Passengers Apply For TSA Pre-Check Program (KPBS)
• Dueling SANDAG Proposals Pit Transit Against Local Infrastructure (Voice of SD)
• CPUC boss and energy innovator were friendly (San Diego Union-Tribune)
• Cell-tracking 'Stingray' device was kept secret (San Diego Union-Tribune)

STATE

• Coastal Commission fires executive director over objections of hundreds of supporters (Los Angeles Times)
• Governor Brown’s budget includes Salton Sea funding (The Sun)
• California farmers reap record sales in record drought (Chron.com) (AP)
• How the drought boosts your utility bills, and global warming (SF Gate)
• 2 Golden Gate Bridge pedestrians hit by blow darts (SF Gate)
• US hospital held to ransom by hackers (BBC)

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

“May the road rise up to meet you. May the wind always be at your back. May the sun shine warm upon your face, and rains fall soft upon your fields.” – Irish blessing

January 26, 2016 (San Diego’s East County)—Those winter rains have left our drought-parched hills wearing a lovely coat of green.  In fact, some areas in San Diego’s backcountry now bear a striking resemblance to Ireland!  Can you tell which photo was taken in East County yesterday, and which was shot in the Irish countryside? (Click “read more” for the answer.)

By Miriam Raftery

January 14, 2016 (San Diego) – The San Diego City Council has proclaimed 2016 as the Year of Inclusion.  The proclamation notes that immigrants comprise 23 percent of the population in our region, with over 100 languages spoken by San Diego residents from around the world.

The proclamation recognizes organizations in San Diego dedicated to helping s build a “culture of civic participation among new generations” that empower leadership and activism. The city's welcoming gesture toward immigrants comes at a time when anti-immigrant has been on the rise nationally and among some prominent political figures, most notably Republican presidential frontrunner candidate Donald Trump.

East County News Service

January 2, 2016 (Borrego) -On Wednesday January 6^th,  San Diego Supervisors’ agenda  includes a public hearing on authorizing the County to become a groundwater sustainability agency, giving it jurisdiction over the Borrego Valley groundwater basin—the sole source of water for the Borrego region, jointly with the Borrego Water District.

The Borrego Valley area uses four times more groundwater than is replenished annually, on average.  As a result, groundwater levels have declined over 100 feet in some parts of the Borrego Valley, due to heavy water use for irrigated agriculture, residential, and commercial users including golf courses and resorts that draw tourists to the region, as well as Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, according to a  U.S. Geological Survey study on the Borrego Valley groundwater basin from 1945-2010, done in cooperation with the Borrego Water District. View study  here.

December 22, 2015 (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 /Regional

• San Diego’s Big Homeless Housing Problem, in One Chart (Voice of SD)
• FAA regulations won’t diminish danger of drones (San Diego Union-Tribune)
• District attorney releases police shooting video (KPBS)
• SD employers created most of the state’s jobs (San Diego Union-Tribune)
• Law Enforcement Spending Up In San Diego County (KPBS)
• San Diego County Adds 28,000 Residents In 1 Year (KPBS)

State

• Solar industry declares victory in California net metering battle (PV Tech)
• California man, 22, accused of trying to join al-Nusrah Front (Reuters)
• U.S. to charge man who supplied guns to California shooters: sources (Reuters)

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

Fears of school violence spark concerns among parents

By Miriam Raftery

December 16, 2015 (San Diego’s East County) – On Tuesday, an e-mail that threatened bombings and shootings caused Los Angeles Unified School District to shut down and 1,500 schools, impacting 650,000 students. Searches proved the threat was a hoax. A similar threat was received in New York City, where the school district opted to remain open, deeming the threats not credible.

Today,10 News reports that the L.A. e-mail  also warned, “If you cancel classes, the bombings will take place regardless, and we will bring our guns to the streets and offices of Los Angeles, San Bernardino, Bakersfield, and San Diego.”   

The e-mail writer claimed to be a Muslim who had been bullied in L.A. schools and claimed to be working with “32 comrades” willing to die. The hoaxter claimed to have pressure cooker bombs hidden in backpacks to be detonated with cell phones as well as “nerve gas agents” set to go off at lunch time,automatic weapons and grenades to massacre students “mercilessly.”

December 16, 2015 (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

• Drinking water starts flowing from Carlsbad desalinization plant (KPBS)
• Public weighs in on ambulance service (Ramona Sentinel)
• Police arrest homeless man for living in donated house given to him by good Samaritans (10 News)
• Protests filed over SDG&E’s move to lobby against energy choice (KPBS)
• Biometric test begins at Otay Border (San Diego Union-Tribune)
• Dianne Jacob asks state to block SDG&E’s plan to lobby against community choice (Jacob letter on Facebook)
• Border Report: For Affordable Homes, San Diegans Go to Tijuana (Voice of San Diego)

STATE

• Natural gas leak in California raises health, environmental concerns (NPR)
• Gun and bomb attack threats close Los Angeles schools in likely hoax (Reuters)
• 10-year old Wukchumni boy’s refusal to sing derogatory song leads to its removal from school(Native News Online)
• Sources: Farook planned another attack years ago (CNN)
• Fire at Southern California mosque ‘intentional act’ (KNSD)
• Brown is no stranger to CPUC involvement (San Diego Union-Tribune)
• San Onofre: Gov. Brown, PUC inspire public cynicism (San Diego Union-Tribune)

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

By Rebecca Paida

December 13, 2015 (San Diego)--Now is the time to welcome refugees, not shut them out. Given the recent controversy over refugees, I am compelled to write about my refugee story and call on cities to create an inclusive Citizen Commissions on Refugee and Immigrant Affairs.

By Ed Barrena

November 9, 2015 (San Diego)--San Diego is the worst major metropolitan area to build wealth, according to a report by financial website Bankrate.com.  The findings may not be entirely surprising to residents of San Diego, where rent and mortgages continue to climb and wages remain fairly stagnant.

East County News Service

November 8, 2015 (San Diego’s East County)—Hikers in the Japatul Valley area east of Alpine found human remains this morning, the Sheriff's department confirms.

Deputies from the Pine Valley sub-station responded at 9:30 to a call in the 24000 block of Japatul Valley Road and confirmed the grisly finding in a nearby canyon. The Sheriff’s Homicide detail is investigating the death, said Lieutenant Kenn Nelson.