By Miriam Raftery

June 4, 2009 (La Mesa)—Deluged by protests from ratepayers, the Helix Water District Board unveiled a new rate hike plan at its meeting yesterday. The new proposal differs dramatically from earlier plans, which had proposed hikes of up to 90% on some residential users. The new proposal would assess a 24% rate increase on all residential users, regardless of lot size or family size. (The full revised water rate proposal may be viewed in the Board packet here: http://www.hwd.com/board/pack060309.pdf.)

By Miriam Raftery May 27, 2009 (San Diego’s East County) – The California Supreme Court ruled this week to uphold Proposition 8 banning gay marriage, though the court also held that gay marriages that occurred before Prop 8’s passage will remain valid. (View the high court opinion here: www.courtinfo.ca.gov/courts/supreme/). In East County and across the state, leaders on both sides of the controversial issue weighed in with their views.

May 27, 2009 (San Diego’s East County)—“This is a time where we need equality,” says Eve Parker, lead organizer of the East County Equality Torch Relay slated for June 6th in Santee, El Cajon, La Mesa and Lemon Grove. The relay is part of a county-wide event for supporters of equal rights for gay and lesbian people. “I am actually a heterosexual, but I felt so strongly that I believe it is important that I stand up and take the lead,” said Parker.

May 27, 2009 (El Cajon)-- El Cajon Fire crews responded to a trailer home fire at the Horseshoe Trailer Park, located at 150 South Anza, Space 1B early this morning. As crews arrived, they found a 30-foot trailer home fully involved. Firefighters had the fire knocked down in less than 10 minutes. Their quick action kept the fire from spreading to other nearby trailers, and the fire was contained to the one trailer and an attached patio area. An elderly man was at home inside the trailer when the fire started, he was able to escape unharmed.

May 26, 2009 (San Diego)--Tomorrow, Congressman Bob Filner is hosting a Veterans Town Hall at San Diego State University (SDSU) to publicly discuss the impact of the new Post-9/11 GI Bill on our veterans. Congress passed legislation to significantly expand the educational benefits for veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. The Department of Veterans Affairs recently began accepting applications for these benefits.

by Gayle Early

May 20, 2009 (Mt. Helix)—Residents poured into Fuerte Elementary School’s auditorium Thursday evening, May 15th to get a status update on Helix Water District’s (HWD) rate-increase proposals and express outrage over what they contend is an unfair tier-pricing system. GMIA, representing the large unincorporated area of East County around La Mesa, offered eight recommendations to residents as well as to the water district for ways it can make the system fairer.

By Miriam Raftery

May 19, 2009 (San Diego's East County)--Helix Water Board’s management withheld 68 letters sent by ratepayer from at least one Board member until after a vote was taken on rate hikes at the April 27 meeting. Below are excerpts from those letters. All opposed the rate hikes; many accused the board of unfairly targeting homeowners over businesses, particularly owners of large properties even if they have already reduced water consumption sharply.

By Miriam Raftery

May 13, 2009 (San Diego’s East County)—Senate Republicans blocked the nomination by President Barack Obama of David Hayes to serve as deputy secretary of the Interior Department. Hayes, who held the same position in the Clinton administration, has drawn opposition from some community leaders and environmentalists locally due to his recent role as lobbyist for Sempra Energy. Sempra’s Sunrise Powerlink Project must be approved by the Interior Department for federal lands in San Diego’s East County in order for the project to be constructed.

May 8, 2009 San Diego, CA – Lestat’s West, the showroom next to the eclectic San Diego coffee house in Normal Heights, will screen “Running Dry”, a powerful documentary on the growing global water crisis on Tuesday, May 12 at 7:00 pm. “Running Dry” is a comprehensive public information/education project, established to raise awareness about the worsening global humanitarian water crisis. The project’s centerpieces are two explosive and in-depth documentaries, “Running Dry” and “The American Southwest: Are We Running Dry?”

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May 11, 2009 (Sacramento)--Gerry Giguere and his wife Kit live on a fixed income and don’t want to lose their home over a new septic regulation.

“This is big-government insanity,” said Gerry Giguere, whose home in rural east county requires a septic system and well.

California will soon impose a new fee of up to $650 for all septic tank owners. The fees would pay for mandatory inspections of all septic tanks and could force many to pay for costly upgrades, angering rural property owners who rely on septic systems.

May 2, 2009 (El Cajon)—Speaking at an East County Chamber of Commerce breakfast at Grossmont College yesterday, Supervisor Dianne Jacob took a cue from President Barack Obama and offered her own “100 days” post-election report. But she noted one key difference, “I did not take over any banks,” she quipped, then offered her own “to do” list. Mayors of several East County cities also offered their perspectives.

May 3, 2009 (San Diego)—Health authorities have traced origins of the H1N1 swine flu outbreak to a 10-year old son of a military family in San Diego, UPI reports today. The Centers for Disease Control conducted tests on samples from the boy, revealing the never-before-seen strain of flu virus on April 15, though his brother had symptoms two weeks earlier. Today, the County Health & Human Services Agency confirms four new cases of the flu, bringing the total of cases locally to 15, with several more suspected.

WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION DECLARES PHASE 5 EPIDEMIC

April 29, 2009 (San Diego)—Eight cases of people infected with swine influenza have been confirmed in San Diego County, confirms Tom Christensen, Health & Human Services media spokesman. Details on new cases will be released later today. Several other local cases are suspected, including an SDSU student. President Barack Obama today said that schools with an infected student should close down, raising the possibility that SDSU could shut down shortly before final exams scheduled May 4-8.

Update April 28: Despite strong public protest, Helix Water District approved eliminating agricultural meters for 900 customers and accepted other staff recommendations. Watch for details soon.

By Miriam Raftery April 26, 2009 (La Mesa)—Deluged by hundreds of calls from residents irate about steep rate increases for heavy water use, and by many seeking irrigation meters to qualify for cheaper water rates, Helix Water District’s Board of Directors will convene a special meeting at 2 p.m. Monday, April 27th.

By Miriam Raftery

ECM intern Marissa Kerizan also contributed to this story.