COLOR GARDEN TOUR AT THE WATER CONSERVATION GARDEN
September 6, 2012 (El Cajon) — Rosalie Dosik, landscape painter and avid gardener, will walk the Garden with you and show you how to coordinate color among your hardscape, walls, pots, plants, and everything else. The principles of texture, value and hue will be clearly defined and illustrated through the Garden’s beautiful examples.This is a FREE tour open to all on Saturday, September 8, 10-11am Please meet Rosalie at the Garden’s main entrance by 10am. Water Conservation Garden, 12122 Cuyamaca College Dr. W. El Cajon CA 92019, 619-660-0614 x10 Color Garden Tour
FROM THE CHIEF’S CORNER: FLASH FLOOD SAFETY TIPS
By Fire Chief Sam DiGiovanna, East County Magazine’s “In-House Fire Chief” September 5, 2012 (San Diego’s East County) – We continue in our summer “monsoon season” which can quickly and unexpectedly bring flash floods. More people lose their LIVES in floods than in any other weather-related event. 80% of flood deaths occur in vehicles, and most happen when drivers make a single, fatal mistake – trying to navigate through floodwaters. • Watch for the following signs: o Unusually hard rain over several hours o Steady substantial rain over several days o Rains in conjunction with a spring thaw o A monsoon or other tropical system affecting your area o A weather report o Water rising rapidly in streams and rivers • In hilly terrain, flash floods can strike with little or no advance warning. Distant rain may be channeled into gullies and ravines, turning a quiet stream into a rampaging torrent in minutes. Never camp on low ground next to streams since a flash flood can catch you while you’re asleep. • DO NOT DRIVE THROUGH FLOODED AREAS! Even if it looks shallow enough to cross. The large majority of deaths due to flash flooding occur with people driving through flooded areas. Water only a foot deep can displace a 1500 lb. vehicle! 24” of water can easily carry most automobiles! Roads concealed by water may not be intact. • If the vehicle stalls, leave it immediately and seek higher ground. Rapidly rising water may engulf the vehicle and its occupants and sweep them away. Remember it’s better to be wet than dead! • Do not allow children to play around streams, drainage ditches or viaducts, storm drains, or other flooded areas! • Be especially cautious at night. It’s harder to recognize water danger then. • Don’t try to outrace a flood on foot. If you see or hear it coming, move to higher ground immediately. • When hiking, follow these steps: o Wait for everyone in the crew to arrive at stream, and make a determination to cross. o Do not walk through a flowing stream on foot where water is above your ankles. o When walking through or on rocks or logs over a stream, loosen pack buckles so if you fall you can easily get away from your pack and it will not drag you under. o Wait for everyone to cross before continuing (in case the last person needs assistance). • Be familiar with the land features where you live, work, and play. It may be in a low area, near a drainage ditch or small stream, or below a dam. Be prepared! • Stay tuned to NOAA Weather Radio for the latest statements, watches and warnings concerning heavy rain and flash flooding in your area, report it to the National Weather Service. • The National Weather Service will issue a Flash Flood Watch when heavy rains may result in flash flooding in a specific area. In this case you should be alert and prepare for the possibility of a flood emergency, which will require immediate action. A Flash Flood Warning will be issued when flash flooding is occurring or is imminent in a specified area. If your locale is placed under a warning, you should move to safe ground immediately. • Campers/hikers should always determine if local officials, such as park rangers, post local cautions and warnings. This goes along with — in those areas where it’s required — completing any local tour/entrance/trip plan.
CALIFORNIA RECEIVES FIRST-IN-THE-NATION APPROVAL OF NEW COMMUNITY-BASED CARE OPTION FOR AT-RISK SENIORS AND PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES
State to receive estimated $573 million in additional Medicaid funds. September 5, 2012 (Sacramento) – The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced its approval today of California’s State Plan Amendment (SPA) to enact the Community First Choice Option. The SPA approval will provide the state with an estimated $573 million in additional federal funds during the first two years of implementation in its effort to continue to prioritize an individual’s ability to reside in one’s community rather than in institutional care. “California continues to lead the nation in health care reform and today’s approval reinforces the support and confidence the federal government has in the Golden State,” said California Health and Human Services Secretary Diana S. Dooley. “We look forward to working with our state and federal partners as we move to provide seniors and people with disabilities with better options for self-directed care.” Community First Choice will enhance Medi-Cal’s ability to provide community-based personal attendant services and support to seniors and persons with disabilities who otherwise would need institutional care. By participating, California will receive a 6 percent increase in its federal medical assistance percentage for funds spent on these important services. This increased rate applies as long as Community First Choice is included as a Medi-Cal benefit and will help California maintain these important services for a vulnerable population during challenging budget times. “This is another vital step forward for California toward better care in the community rather than institutional settings, and it also helps preserve these programs during difficult fiscal times,” said California Department of Social Services Director Will Lightbourne. California immediately will begin claiming the Community First Choice federal funding, which is retroactive for most In-Home Supportive Services (IHSS) program services provided since December 1, 2011. For more information about Community First Choice, please visit http://www.hhs.gov/news/press/2012pres/04/20120426a.html.
BEN KALASHO SEEKS TO BRING VOICE OF DIVERSITY, BUSINESS SAVVY TO EL CAJON COUNCIL
Three incumbents and four challengers are vying for three seats on the El Cajon City Council. ECM has requested interviews with each. Below is the first in our series of in-depth candidate profiles. By Miriam Raftery September 6, 2012 (El Cajon)—Earlier this year, when a vacancy opened on the El Cajon Council due to a resignation, the Councilmembers refused to accept applications from the public – including an Iraqi Chaldean immigrant and an African-American woman who wanted the job. Instead, they appointed an insider like themselves–a white male, who served on Planning Commission. To Ben Kalasho, that action exemplifies what’s wrong in El Cajon –and why the Council needs people from diverse backgrounds. “After getting married and resettling back in El Cajon, I saw our community here lacking representation, Kalasho told ECM. “El Cajon is so diverse. We have 38% Christian Iraqis and we are 28% Hispanic.” The City also has 5,000 Kurds and an 8% African-American population. “We need better leadership….We have an obligation to hear from everyone. What better way than to have a candidate who speaks four languages?” says Kalasho, who speaks Aramaic, Arabic, Spanish and English. His wife, a dental hygienist, is Hispanic. Kalasho, a Chaldean Christian, was born in Iraq and came here in 1990. Like many immigrant families, his came here seeking opportunities for a better life—and found it. Kalasho studied Economics at the University of California, San Diego and has worked in real estate. His sisters and brothers are all college graduates, and two are now in medical school. Kalasho and his father now o own several businesses including the county’s first eco-friendly gas station and car wash, as well as rental properties. “You’re not going to find a guy who’s more American than I am,” says Kalasho, who believes he has the strongest business background needed to understand the needs of small businesses that are struggling and to create jobs in El Cajon, which has among the highest poverty rates in the county. He also has empathy for those newcomers here who lost homes in war-torn countries—and he wants to help people from all backgrounds attain success. KALASHO ON THE ISSUES Jobs “We need jobs, jobs jobs– I don’t care if you’re Chaldean, Mexican-American, white or black. The crime rate will fall if we have jobs. That’s the answer,” he says. Kalasho contends that he has a proven record as a jobs creator. “I’m the only candidate who’s held a payroll…I’m the only candidate who won an award from the East County Small Business Association for creating over 50 jobs during a recession,” he says. Business, taxes and revenues More than 50 El Cajon business owners have endorsed his campaign. “They are fed up and angry with the Council’s miscalculation about revenue generators regarding car shows and concerts. Those are good, but they’re not enough.” He faults the Council for having the County’s highest sales tax rate in a community with one of the highest poverty rates. “In order for a city to raise funds, turning to sales tax right away equals failure,” he says. He blames the high sales tax for keeping some new businesses from relocating in El Cajon, citing Bev Mo and Costco as examples. To bring fiscal stability to the city he wants to find additional ways to raise revenues such as attracting new businesses. El Cajon needs to be more business friendly, he notes, citing as an example the city taking two years to approve permits for a new restaurant owner while the business paid a lease for two years, costing the owner tens of thousands of dollars. He also wants to provide more help to businesses that are already here, such as starting a Taste of El Cajon to showcase the city’s diverse range of restaurants, and launching a Multicultural Festival to celebrate the area’s rich cultural heritage. He would also urge the city to buy local and support El Cajon businesses through its own purchases such as office supplies and printing. “The backbone of this city are the immigrants who came to this country for a better life, and they’re looking to elect leaders to do their part,” he says. Development issues and the arts Kalasho is critical of the council for making sweetheart deals with developers and friends. “We should cut runaway spending on special interest groups—favors on development that don’t benefit the general public and projects that only benefit one person.” He opposes the Council’s prior effort to shut down the East County Performing Arts Center, a move that would have cost taxpayers $2 mililon for the tear-down. He believes the facility could eventually be reopened and once again became a draw to bring arts patrons from throughout the region into downtown El Cajon. “The Council’s priorities are out of whack. They spent millions on remodeling a duck pond,” he says of Council’s failure to fund less costly repairs needed to reopen the theater. “I put a financial model together for the ECPAC Foundation. With the right management it could be successful.” He also sees potential to boost revenues by attractive private jet traffic to Gillespie Field and building a parking lot with parking fees for visitors. He would favor a hotel, but only in the right location. Transportation His plans improve transportation include a figure-eight loop for an eco-friendly, hybrid shuttle to ferry passengers from trolley stops to the downtown and Parkway Plaza shopping areas to boost sales, as well as to major events such as the Centennial celebration and Mother Goose Parade. He also supports synchronizing traffic signals to make it easier for people to drive through El Cajon. Public Safety Kalasho’s number one priority, however, is public safety. He is endorsed by the El Cajon Police Officers Association and says he’s learned a lot about crime problems through a ride-along and meetings with police, as well as by walking door-to-door meeting voters during his campaign. “In El Cajon, if your vehicle gets stolen you’re out of luck,” he
2012 KIDS CARE FEST SEPT. 22: FREE HEALTH CARE SCREENINGS FOR 1,000 CHILDREN UNDER AGE 12 IN LA MESA
September 1, 2012 (La Mesa)–The Grossmont Healthcare District and the City of La Mesa have jointly announced that Saturday, Sept. 22 will be the date for the 2012 Kids Care Fest, a free, family-oriented event featuring free health care screenings at Briercrest Park, 9001 Wakarusa St., La Mesa. The event will be held from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. It will be the 11th annual Kids Care Fest event. The public is invited to attend. Organizers expect more than 1,000 children under age 12 will receive free, potentially life-saving, health care screenings, including hearing, vision and dental vision screenings, from healthcare professionals at approximately 50 exhibit booths. Also available at the event will be free medical information from pediatricians, dermatologists and pharmacists. Additional free, hand-on activities will include arts and crafts, water safety, bungee and astro jumps and ponyrides, along with demonstrations and displays from law enforcement, including police and fire officials. Free new reading books, along with coloring books and crayons, will be available for children to take home and keep. A free lunch will be served to children by volunteers with the La Mesa United Methodist Church while supplies last. Also, arts and crafts activities will be provided by church members. Kids Care Fest will be a smoke‑free event. Free parking will be available at Sharp Grossmont Hospital’s Brier Patch campus at 9000 Wakarusa St. and Grossmont Medical Arts Building at 8851 Center Dr. For more information, phone (619) 825‑5050 or visit www.KidsCareFest.org.
KEPLER DISCOVERS PLANETARY SYSTEM ORBITING TWO SUNS
Lead author SDSU astronomy professor Jerry Orosz said it’s the first transiting circumbinary multi-planet system to be found. September 6, 2012 (San Diego) — Astronomers at the International Astronomical Union meeting announced the discovery of the first transiting circumbinary multi-planet system: two planets orbiting around a pair of stars. This discovery shows that planetary systems can form and survive even in the chaotic environment around a binary star. And such planets can exist in the habitable zone of their stars. “Each planet transits over the primary star, giving unambiguous evidence that the planets are real,” said Jerome Orosz, San Diego State University Associate Professor of Astronomy and lead author of the study which is published today in the journal Science. This system, known as Kepler-47, contains a pair of stars that whir around each other every 7.5 days. One star is similar to the Sun while the other is a diminutive star only one third the size and 175 times fainter. The inner planet is only 3x larger in diameter than the Earth, making it the smallest known transiting circumbinary planet. It orbits the stellar pair every 49 days. In the “habitable zone” The outer planet is slightly larger than Uranus and orbits every 303 days, making it the longest-period transiting planet currently known. More importantly, its orbit puts it in the “habitable zone”, the region around a star where a terrestrial planet could have liquid water on its surface. While the planet is probably a gas-giant planet and thus not suitable for life, its discovery establishes that circumbinary planets can, and do, exist in habitable zones. Although much more difficult to detect than planets around single stars, the rich dynamics and wild climate changes make these circumbinary planets worth the effort to find. These two planets join the elite group of 4 previously known transiting circumbinary planets, Kepler-16, 34, 35 and 38. The new planetary system is located roughly 5000 light-years away, in the constellation Cygnus. The planets are much too far away to see, so they were discovered by the drop in brightness they cause when they transit (eclipse) their host stars. The loss of light caused by the silhouette is tiny, only 0.08% for planet b and 0.2% for planet c. By comparison, Venus blocked about 0.1% of the Sun’s surface during its recent transit. Precise photometric data from NASA’s Kepler space telescope allowed the transits and eclipses to be measured, which in turn provided the relative sizes of the objects. Spectroscopic data from telescopes at McDonald Observatory in Texas enabled the absolute sizes to be determined. “Based on their radii, these probably have masses of approximately 8 and 20 times that of the Earth,” Orosz said. Like Earth with Two Suns “Kepler-47 shows us that typical planetary architectures, with multiple planets in co-planar orbits, can form around two stars,” said co-author Joshua Carter, a Hubble Fellow at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. “We’ve learned that circumbinary planets can be like the planets in our own Solar System, but with two suns.” The work was presented at the International Astronomical Union meeting by Dr. William Welsh, Professor of Astronomy at San Diego State University, on behalf of the Kepler Science Team. “The thing I find most exciting,” said Welsh, “is the potential for habitability in a circumbinary system. Kepler-47c is not likely to harbor life, but if it had large moons, those would be very interesting worlds.” Funding for this work was provided in part by NASA and the National Science Foundation. “Kepler-47: A Transiting Circumbinary Multi-planet System” by J. A. Orosz, et al. is published on-line in Science Express athttp://www.sciencemag.org/content/early/recent; embargoed copies are available at www.eurekalert.org/jrnls/sci. For full-resolution artwork and further details seehttp://kepler.nasa.gov/Mission/discoveries Information for this article comes from http://newscenter.sdsu.edu/sdsu_newscenter/news.aspx
BILL TO LIMIT HEALTH INSURANCE RATE HIKES QUALIFIES FOR 2014 BALLOT
September 6, 2012 (Sacramento) – Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones announced this week that the Health Insurance Rate Justification and Accountability Act has enough valid signatures to qualify for the November 2014 ballot. The measure will give the California Insurance Commissioner the power to review and reject excessive health insurance rate hikes. “I applaud the consumer coalition, led by Consumer Watchdog, for their tremendous efforts to collect almost 800,000 signatures in order to qualify this critically important ballot measure to rein in excessive health insurance rate hikes,” said Jones. “Health insurance and HMO rates will continue to climb for individuals, families, businesses and labor organizations because we do not have the legal authority to rein in excessive health insurance and HMO rate hikes. This ballot measure will fill a huge missing piece of the federal Affordable Care Act and provide relief for Californians suffering under the rising cost of health insurance.” Four separate bills backed by Jones in the Legislature to rein in excessive rate hikes all failed to win passage due to opposition of the health insurance industry. “As a result, we have determined that it is important to go directly to the voters via a ballot measure to give them the chance to decide if they would like to rein in excessive health insurance rate hikes,” Jones concluded.
ENVIRONMENTAL GROUPS FILE FORMAL PROTESTS OVER FEDERAL PLAN TO EXPEDITE DESERT SOLAR PROJECTS IN 6 WESTERN STATES
By Miriam Raftery September 1, 2012 (San Diego)—Seeking to prevent massive and irreversible environmental damage, numerous environmental groups have filed formal protests against the Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS) for Solar Energy Development in Six Southwestern States. “We want the public to know that several conservation groups are not planning to go down easily on the Interior Department’s plan to destroy up to 20 million acres of southwest deserts, not even including the wind projects,” Terry Weiner of the Desert Protective Council i(DPC) in San Diego told ECM. DPC is a co-founder of Solar Done Right, one of the environmental groups that filed a protest. The formal protests against the final Solar PEIS are laying the groundwork for settlement talks or lawsuits, shes noted, adding, “I am pretty sure that Western Lands Project, Solar Done Right, Basin and Range Watch, and Western Watersheds will NOT settle.” PEIR was prepared by the U.S. Departments of the interior and Energy and aims to “facilitate utility-scale solar energy development on public lands.” Citing the need to focus solar development on degraded lands and in the already built environment, Western Lands Project, Basin and Range Watch, and Solar Done Right filed the appeal on Friday, according to a press release sent by the organizations. KCET news reports that at least three additional groups, Defenders of Wildlife, Center for Biological Diversity, and Western Watersheds have also lodged formal complaints. “The government is converting environmentally sensitive public lands into massive solar energy factories and turning multiple-use public lands into permanent industrial zones.” said Janine Blaeloch of the Seattle-based Western Lands Project. “The remote plants will require massive transmission infrastructure. To put salt in the wound, taxpayers are being forced to fund the destruction of their own public lands through multi-billion dollar loan guarantees and grants. Solar development belongs on rooftops, parking lots, already-developed areas, and on degraded sites. “ The Obama Administration plan detailed in PEIS establishes solar energy zones on just under 300,000 acres, in Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico and Utah, but the plan’s “preferred alternative” is to keep 19 million acres of public land open to industrial solar applications. Since 2010, the groups filing the protest have been working to highlight the environmental destruction and waste associated with the current policy and to raise public awareness of distributed generation (DG)—the localized, efficient, democratic, and cost-effective alternative. DG puts solar generation at the point of use. Germany has proven that massive installations of distributed solar photovoltaics can be achieved rapidly when it is a policy priority. The groups agree that clean, alternative energy and addressing climate change are important, but disagree on the means to achieve those goals. In their formal protest, the environmental organizations assert that the BLM must examine two addition alternatives: a distributed generation (DG) alternative, and an alternative in which solar energy facilities would be sited on previously degraded or damaged lands. The groups, as well as the Environmental Protection Agency, called for analysis of these alternatives in previous comment letters, but BLM ignored them. Solar Done Right has advocated to put solar development on rooftops, parking lots, already-developed areas, and degraded sites. “Instead,” an e-mail from Western Land Project states, “the government is converting sensitive habitat into massive energy factors and turning public lands into permanent industrial zones. To put salt in the wound, taxpayers are being forced to fund the destruction of our own public lands through multi-billion dollar loan guarantees.” The group notes that Germany has proven that massive installations of distributed photovoltaics can be achieved rapidly when a government makes it a policy priority. Germany has far more rooftop solar than the U.S., even though Germany is less sunny and located at a higher latitude than the U.S. Southwest. Over 80% of solar PV in Germany are on rooftops. See also: http://www.ilsr.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/rooftop-revolution-ilsr.pdf Desert solar projects has potential for devastating consequences on sensitive species such as desert tortoises, burrowing owls and bighorn sheep through vast habitat destruction. A recent Los Angeles Times article cited additional concerns, including the potential for concentrated solar facilities to cause planes to veer off course, blind motorists, incinerate birds, or even attract heat-seeking missiles from military testing facilities. Massive solar and wind projects can also have negative economic impacts, according to research provided by the newly formed Tourism Economics Commission. For example, Joshua Tree National Monument brings in $64 million in tourism revenues annually; 90% of visitors surveyed said they are attracted to the area by unobstructed views of nature. See http://29palmsinn.wordpress.com/2012/08/25/the-death-of-the-california-desert/ for more information. As of July 2012, eleven solar projects on over 36,000 acres had been approved on public lands. The projects range from 618 to 7,025 acres, with the average power plant exceeding 3,300 acres. As of July, pending proposals numbered 76, and would cover a total of 695,387 acres of public land. The scale, intensity, and pace of development on public lands are unprecedented. Massive solar power plants will have irreversible, essentially permanent, impacts. The BLM admits that ecological recovery after public lands solar plants are decommissioned, if even possible, could take 3,000 years. About the groups: The Western Lands Project monitors federal land transactions and public land policy across the West and beyond. Its mission is to keep public land public. Basin and Range Watch is a group of volunteers in the deserts of Nevada and California working to stop the destruction of their desert homeland. Basin and Range Watch’s goal is to identify the problems of energy sprawl and find solutions that will preserve our natural ecosystems and open spaces. Solar Done Right is a coalition of public land activists and renewable energy experts and biologists working to promote, and educate the public about, the better alternative of distributed generation in the built environment and on already developed, degraded, or contaminated lands. Several groups’ formal protest can be viewed at http://www.scribd.com/doc/104091087/Protest-of-BLM-Solar-Energy-Programmatic-EIS. The EPA’s comments on the PEIS can be viewed at http://www.epa.gov/region9/nepa/letters/solar-energy-six-states-DPEIS.pdf
MULES TO THE RESCUE AS CALIFORNIA BATTLES FIREFIGHTING BUDGET CUTS
By Miriam Raftery September 1, 2012 (San Diego’s East County) – They’re sure-footed and low tech. They can reach rugged terrain that firefighting equipment and helicopters often can’t—and they’re a lot less expensive. That’s why in this era of shrinking budgets to battle a growing number of wildfires, California is turning to an old-fashioned means of packing firefighting supplies into remote areas: mules. “Can firefighting mules balance California’s budget?” asks the BBC in a report on how these four-footed support teams are aiding firefighting efforts in California during the worst fire season in years. For more, see the BBC video report at http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-19402385 .
SAN DIEGO CHARGERS FORECAST: PARTLY OPTIMISTIC WITH A SLIGHT CHANCE OF REIGN
By Jamie Reno September 6, 2012 (San Diego)–Will the 2012 San Diego Chargers energize this city the way they did a few years ago and again reign supreme in the AFC West? Without consulting a meteorologist, I’d say the chances of lightning striking this season in Mission Valley are about 50-50. Read the full post at The Reno Dispatch: http://therenodispatch.blogspot.com/2012/09/san-diego-chargers-forecast-partly.html.